Chapter 2189: Let’s see if you still dare to laugh once I am done with you. "Vexarion Aurendor—" An ecstatic, crazily chilly voice was heard. "Are you ready for our duel?" Hearing those words, Vexarion froze, his molten veins faintly glowing in the dark land until finally— He decided to move and look where the voice was coming from. At the same time, a surge of gold light flared around him as he raised his hand, cutting through the dark, gloomy atmosphere. The glow pushed the darkness back, just enough for him to see her. Sharnoth Nocthys. The woman stood barefoot upon nothing, her long grey hair floating gently as if the air itself moved for her. Her crimson eyes gleamed brightly—unnaturally brightly—and that grin... that wide, stretched-out grin of excitement that pretty much distorted her face... It... it froze his blood. "Sharnoth..." Vexarion called out in a low, uneasy voice. For some reason, as he stared at the woman in front of him, something did not feel right. Something felt... different. He just... couldn’t point it out. "What is this place?" He asked, demanding to know what was happening. "Where have you brought me? What did you do? Why can’t I contact anyone? Where is the Anomaly?" It was a series of questions, questions that... overwhelmed Sharnoth. The woman tilted her head, some of her long grey hair coming in front of her face, but she simply didn’t care. She... she seemed like she was thinking hard and then— "Oh, so many questions..." She giggled. Her voice was soft, almost gentle, so much that Vexarion almost felt at ease but then— "HAHAHAHA!!" It twisted halfway through, splitting into loud laughter that echoed far too loud in the empty space. "You talk too much, Vexarion Aurendor. Still the same self-righteous tone... so serious... so scared." She spoke, her crimson eyes shining brightly as she watched the being in front of her. Her laughter didn’t stop either; instead, it rolled, becoming sharper and sharper until finally, it turned into a shrill, maniacal melody. "HAHAHAHAHA!!" Vexarion’s expression darkened. "Enough games!" He raised his voice, the black halo over his head burned brighter behind him. "Answer me!" He commanded. And Sharnoth... She blinked once, as if processing his words, as she tilted her head again. "Oh, I will," she whispered, the grin on her face still didn’t disappear. "I always keep my promises." Then she leaned forward slightly, her crimson eyes narrowing, her smile splitting even wider, even her skin began cracking under the distortion. "But you shouldn’t do what you have been trying; it’s useless. Your precious Light won’t be able to hear your screams from here." The woman answered kindly, and Vexarion’s stomach tightened at those words. "...What are you talking about?" He spoke as the call artifact behind his back flickered ever so softly, as if making sure Sharnoth did not see it. But then— BOOOOM The artifact exploded, and Vexarion’s entire body jerked in shock. Without waiting, he took his battle stance, as if prepared to face Sharnoth who might jump at him any moment now, but... The moment he turned towards the Chaos Heir, instead of seeing Sharnoth preparing her attack, he just saw her... grinning at him. "Good boys shouldn’t lie, you know?" The woman grinned again, her crimson eyes now shining even more brightly. What Vexarion found more concerning was... the skin of her cheek that had fallen on the ground because her mouth distorted a little too much. Even the being who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years gulped at that sight. This... this definitely wasn’t normal. None of the reports he had read said anything about Sharnoth’s race being able to... shed its skin, and he would know since he was the one who destroyed Sharnoth’s race from the face of the Universe. Vexarion felt a strong chill down his spine, his white eyes darted around, trying to find a way out, but the place he was in was still as gloomy as before. He... he couldn’t find a way out. And when Sharnoth saw what he was trying to do—she giggled again and extended her arms. "This is... nowhere." She announced with a big bright smile on her face as she spun once, her crimson eyes flaring as she moved. "It’s beautiful, isn’t it? 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 No rules. No walls. And no... screams that escape." Her hair fluttered across her face, her grin trembling with delight. "I like it here," She whispered. "It reminds me of... me." Vexarion stepped back instinctively. If it was just a hunch before, now it had become even stronger. Something in her voice—something in her very presence—felt wrong, very, very wrong. This wasn’t the same woman he’d spoken to before. The cold, expressionless Chaos Heir he had seen just a few moments ago or heard about from reports was... nowhere to be seen. This one... she was alive in a different way. She seemed... unstable. She seemed... hungry. "Sharnoth..." He said her name carefully, as though saying it too loud would shatter the fragile stillness that was keeping everything together. "Compose yourself." He instructed. "Whatever madness has taken hold of you—it won’t help you win this battle." "Battle...?" Sharnoth blinked, looking genuinely confused. Her eyes locked onto his—crimson pools that reflected not him, but the seemingly endless dark land around them. "What made you think this was ever going to be a... battle?" She asked. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!! HOW FUNNYY~~" Then she laughed again—this time, much louder, longer, and... darker than before. Even her voice began cracking the more she laughed, the sound echoing and layering upon itself, until it felt like there were hundreds of Sharnoths laughing together. And finally— "STOP THIS MOCKERY!!" BOOOOM Vexarion’s aura exploded as he shouted, the golden veins across his dark skin began glowing brighter than before. And Sharnoth... She recognized this sight. She recognized it clearly. This was Vexarion’s battle stance—the stance he took before he unleashed his pressure, destroyed Nocthys, and took every single person she cherished hostage. "You think this amuses me!? Tell me where we are! What is this space!? What has happened to you!? Is this the Anomaly’s doing!?" He demanded more answers. And for a slight moment, Sharnoth stopped laughing and... Silence fell over the place. It was only momentary, but for Vexarion, who was already on edge, this was... much more intense than he expected. Still, he stood still, his chest up, his stance clear, putting up a brave front, as if Sharnoth’s antics did not intimidate him. But then—the woman’s grin returned, this time much smaller and sharper than before. "Oh, him?" She whispered, then she shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he’s here. Maybe he’s not. Maybe even you aren’t here in the first place. What if all of this is an illusion? What if you are just lying on a cold floor, bleeding and dreaming all of this...? Wouldn’t that be fun?" She clapped her hands and jumped up and down with a laugh, her voice becoming playful, almost... childlike. "And who knows? Maybe I’m real. Maybe I’m not. Or maybe you’re talking to the wrong me. Or... could it be that all this while... the Sharnoth you were facing or interacting with was... the wrong Sharnoth?" "The wrong... Sharnoth?" Vexarion blinked. If it was a normal situation, he wouldn’t even bother listening to this woman’s words, but... the place he was in was different. And no matter how far he extended his senses, other than the woman standing in front of him, he couldn’t sense anyone. The only one who could tell him about this place was... her. Yes, he had no choice but to listen to her, and it was... it was getting exhausting. "HAHAHAHA!!" The woman laughed again, pointing her finger at Vexarion while her other hand held her stomach, as if all this laughing was making her stomach ache. "Look at you!! You actually believed me!! HAHAHAHAHA! How foolish! How amusing!! How so very entertaining!!" "..." Once again, Vexarion couldn’t say anything. He... he just stood still, his fists trembling in rage and... humiliation. Yes, humiliation. This was the first time something like this had happened to him. To think... someone would constantly make fun of him and not put him in her eyes at all. And to think this... this is the same woman who put him in this situation in the first place. Vexarion had had enough. She was the only one who seemed to know about this place, wasn’t she? Since it didn’t look like she had any intention to answer his questions through normal means— He was going to use... forceful means. "Alright then—" Vexarion began as he took a deep breath. "You wanted a duel, did you not?" He asked. Yes, he was going to defeat her and torture the answers out of her. After all, this time, the Anomaly or the other Eternals weren’t here to help her. In here, there were only two of them, and if it was just the two of them... This wasn’t a battle Vexarion believed he would lose—not when the enemy was barely a hundred thousand years old. "Let’s do it. Let’s see if you still dare to laugh once I am done with you." He called out, his voice laced with all the anger and frustration he had been holding back all this while and— And the instant Sharnoth heard those words— Her grin widened even further. This... This was going to be fun.