Chapter 425: Chapter 425: Void Lord Chapter 425 – Void Lord Noah watched the Void Lord intensely after blocking away his attack. It didn’t seem to be the Lord’s best attack, yet his left hand was shaking from the impact. White steam was being emitted from it. Despite his outward appearance and confident demeanor, his mind was actually spiraling in a dizzying circle. Noah sighed inwardly, clenching his left fist, and analyzed the Void Lord. The Void Lord was not the monster Noah expected to see. At least, appearance-wise, he was not displeasing to look at. His whole skin was black, but not simple black, this one was radiantly black and smooth. Only by looking one could tell it must be nice to touch. In place of his eyes were two empty sockets where an ocean of void flowed smoothly. His nose was sharp, pointed, arched slowly upward and perfect for his slightly oval face. His hair, compared to his skin, was pure white, reaching his lower back. On his forehead was a mark shaped like a slit, and Noah could see it pulsing from time to time. The Void Lord wore a long white coat that draped over his whole lean-built body mesmerizingly, fluttering behind him like ashes of light. Except for that coat, and a black pant, he didn’t wear anything else, letting his bare chest for anyone with a sight to admire. As he stood above, gazing down at Noah, the latter could sense the void around him clinging against his skin, seeping inside and wanting to corrupt him. Alongside that was the fact the very environment around became hostile to Noah. At that time, even one single twitch of his finger required him to exert strength equivalent to what a mortal would need to shoulder a boulder. It was staggering. Already, Noah could feel the harrowing battle about to be unleashed. Yet he was frowning internally, expression crunching into one of confusion. ’I sensed more than only this. The threat of the Void Lord is not enough to make me feel that way.’ He thought, ’Am I missing something?’ His left hand finally stopped shaking, and the Void Lord spoke once more. This time, there was nothing of the little amusement and intrigue he had moments before. And this time, Noah could feel the danger rising from zero to one hundred instantly. His skin began to prickle sharply. "This will be my last proposal." Void Lord began, and the void itself shattered into a multitude of black shards. Those shards floated around, and what they left in their wake was emptiness. Pure and unfettered emptiness. Noah spared it a glance before unconsciously averting his gaze away in the same breath. His heart was at his throat. For a brief moment, he would have sworn that he had seen hundreds of eyes staring down at him deep inside the emptiness. Eyes that were nothing like anything he had ever seen or even could have imagined. The universe worked immediately to close that little breach in not even a second, but that second was enough to send Noah reeling. Now he knew why he was feeling danger. "You are interesting. So I will humor you, and will repeat myself. Work on my behalf." Void demanded once more. At this point, Noah knew better than to take this as his usual game of domination. ’Master! We could help!’ Nephis’s voice echoed inside his head, burning with worry. Not only her — Leona, Katy and Sonomi too were the same. Noah could sense their determination and readiness to help him oozing out from their very thoughts. He smiled, suddenly feeling his nerves calming down considerably. He didn’t even know he was this tense. He closed his eyes for a heartbeat then opened them back, now glowing with intensity. ’I accept your help.’ Noah said, as he took his stance, ’But not now. I am counting on you to know when and how to act.’ His muscles tensed, and an aura exploded outward from him, covering a whole thousands-of-miles radius around him. The void pressure on him disappeared immediately, making him able to move correctly. At that instant, one strand of Noah’s purple hair flew away from his head. ’You get me?’ He asked at last. "So be it." The Void Lord said. He flicked his finger. ’Yes!’ the maids answered in unison, just in time for Noah to duck his head, escaping from above a vicious attack from the Void Lord. The space above him was ripped apart mercilessly, followed by explosions that sent him flying away, cannon-like. The black expanse around became veiled by thick black smoke, with the blood of Noah spitting on it. Yet the Void Lord frowned, looking at the surrounding in confusion. His eyes widened next, before he clicked his tongue in irritation. "Sneaky little bastard." He murmured. Next he clasped his palms together, then slowly pulled them apart. His action was accompanied by a sound akin to flesh ripped apart by sharp jaws. Between his palms was a growing void gate that pulsed once, twice, and at the third time the void gate expanded unnaturally until it was the only thing one could see kilometers away. Then it swallowed all the surrounding in deep blankness. Sounds of threads being cut followed the attack, causing the fake reality they were in to wear down, revealing the true one with Noah standing behind the Void Lord. He pulled his fist back in a punching stance. Wordlessly, Noah pulled the power of Causality and Destiny then struck mercilessly. Without turning his back, another swirling portal of black miasma appeared behind the Void Lord, intending to swallow the attack. It never succeeded. For some strange reason, the attack of Noah — that appeared in the objective reality like an immense clenched fist made of swirling threads — bypassed the gate as if it wasn’t there and landed on the Void Lord. The impact was calamitous. The strange Lord found half of his back exploded into splintered flesh, before being propelled outward with blistering speed. At that instant, something invisible entered the Void Lord’s body. Noah still didn’t ease his stance. He created and stacked together multiple realities and futures around his opponent, where the same attack echoed for thousands of times upon the Void Lord. A series of explosions blasted the void, making everything rattle and shake. The surrounding, as far as Noah could sense, was curtained by the flesh and blood of the Void Lord. Seeing the sight, instinctively Noah paused, staring at them. They were pulsing. Then, his eyes widened. For a brief second, a dreadful future appeared inside his mind. It disappeared soon after, but Noah cursed, "Damn it!" He immediately summoned his Providence power, scribing on the void around him a runic formation made with Destiny and Causality. He touched the power of Luck and twisted it into his favor, making the attack coming his way completely miss. He didn’t stop at that, he fixed the fate of his barrier to be indestructible. Noah finished just in time to see the flesh and blood of his opponent transform into a mysterious language he had no idea of. The moment they were formed, Noah’s eyes widened. He raised his hand and touched his cheek, his finger brushing something sticky and cold. Blood. ’I... am bleeding?’ Noah wondered in shock, and his whole barrier began to turn black, creak, then crack before being absorbed by the void around. Yet, the attack hadn’t even landed yet. The mere sight of that language corrupted his very Law. His very Providence. Noah’s mind was reeling, yet he focused on the fight. Just in time, he transformed himself into his Elysiari form and the attack detonated, followed by the Void Lord’s voice. "Everything came from Void." He intoned, voice echoing all around. "Everything shall return to Void." For a brief heartbeat, one too brief to be noticed, Noah found himself stripped of his power by Void. But that split of time was enough for the attack to land on his flesh, earning him a raw growl of pain, followed by white pristine blood spraying the surrounding, waterfalls-like. Noah was hurled down into the bottomless void with creaking body, his flesh skinned and turned into black ashes, his left side of face ripped apart showing his inside. At that instant, a small dark wiggling beast took that opportunity and entered deep inside him. Noah’s body jolted like lightning was coursing through him, then convulsed erratically, eyes whitening then blackening. His mind was hazed by a thick black fog, before being pulled out by the chorus of worried voices of his Maids and Providence. ’MASTER!’ ’NOAH!’ Noah’s eyes flickered open, showing a taint of black in his mesmerizing eyes. Instantly, he felt something inside his body going straight for his soul. On its path, everything was laid to waste, corrupted and swallowed by void. His power was being devoured. And that power was being received by the Void Lord who was now standing in the sky, his body pristine clean of any wounds, his face filled with overwhelming ecstasy. "Your power..." he growled, white hair waving behind like a calm sea, "Your power is incredible." The Void Lord was growing stronger, and now one could feel a hint of Providence beginning to erupt around him. Alarm bells rang sharply inside Noah’s mind. The beast would reach his soul, and that would mean reaching Providence and his Maids. Noah’s eyes hardened, then he cursed, "Bloody hell." His voice was hoarse. Yet instantly after, with his body deteriorating and slowly blackening with corruption, Noah smiled with bloodied teeth at the Void Lord. The latter felt something wrong, but before he could pinpoint the bad feeling, he found himself kneeling on the ground, coughing blood. Noah’s voice echoed next. "Entering inside of me? Bold." He laughed, then, "Fusion." Noah ordered to his skill, fusioning the parasite inside of him with himself. Agony bathed his whole body, before everything turned dark. —End of Chapter 425—