Chapter 2242: H-HOW ARE YOU H-HERE ALREADY!? "There’s no point shouting, Vexarion Aurendor. My puppets do not fear you." Nux spoke as he looked at Vexarion with an indifferent look on his face. Vexarion’s body flinched as he remained on the ground, his gaze shifted from Nux to Ythric, who, just like Nux, looked at him with indifference, like he didn’t even recognize him. For a moment, Vexarion was still hopeful, he believed that, like before, Ythric was still pretending, waiting for the opportunity to help him but... "Have you lost your mind? That quickly?" Suddenly, Nux asked a question. "H-Huh...?" Vexarion quickly turned towards him, unable to understand, and Nux just tilted his head in confusion. "Did you truly believe we would let a Transcendent watch over an Eternal like you?" That question made Vexarion’s expression change. "No matter how injured you were, how could a mere Transcendent ever stop an Eternal? Think about it. One of your subordinates somehow wasn’t turned into a puppet while all others were, all this while, he pretended to be one, waiting for the opportunity to meet you, and when he finally does, he gives you a map that magically leads you to the exit. Doesn’t all this... feel a little too absurd to be a mere coincidence?" Nux asked, and the more questions he asked, the more Vexarion’s mind began to question things around him, and the more... despair he felt. "T-Then..." He began to stutter. "Then why...?" He asked, glancing at Nux. And that was when Nux finally grinned. "Did you forget already?" He began, his grin distorting his face. For a moment, Vexarion felt Sharnoth’s chaotic face superimposing with his and just then— Nux repeated the words that were... extremely familiar. "Because it’s fun." Vexarion’s body shook. The moment his mind registered those words, he felt... intense anger and hatred so strong that he wanted nothing more than to tear these two bastards into pieces, but before he could do that— "Playing with you is fun, Vexarion Aurendor." Nux stepped forward with a grin on his face, his golden eyes shining brightly. "The Herald of Justice, the man who had brought ’judgement’ to thousands of worlds— It is now time for you to receive your own judgement by the hands of none other than the one you judged the harshest." Nux then got close to the Aurendor Progenitor, their foreheads barely a centimetre away, while their eyes were still locked on each other. "Trust me, Vexarion Aurendor." Nux continued with the same grin on his face. "For the rest of Eternity, I will make your life miserable." Those words echoed throughout the space. "I will make you regret every choice you ever made, I will make you regret ever being born, I will make you regret... your very existence. I will plunge your entire self into a hole of self-hatred. You will become nothing but a pile of fear and self-loathing. I will make you lose your mind, forget everything you knew about yourself, and become habitual to the constant pain and torture I am going to inflict on you. And while I do that, every time you break, every time your mind is about to collapse because of everything that is happening, I will give you hope. A sliver of a thread, something that you would believe would pull you out of this hell, something that will make you crawl desperately, clinging to that rope like your very life depends on it, pushing past your limits multiple times just to hold that thread, and just when you are about to reach the end— I will cut that thread. And I will do it again and again and again. Constantly. Until you no longer try, no matter how many threads are placed right in front of you." Nux whispered those words into Vexarion’s ears, and as he heard him, Vexarion couldn’t even react. His mind pictured everything Nux said and everything that had been happening to him, and a true fear hidden very, very deep inside him came out. And Nux— He just continued— "Vexarion Aurendor, for destroying the life of the woman I love, I will end you. Not physically, because you will live, I assure you of that. I will end you inside your own mind, to the point that even if Seraphielle herself is standing right in front of you, you would not move. And I will keep going at it no matter how many centuries it takes. That, Vexarion Aurendor, will be my revenge." Nux declared, and before Vexarion could say or do anything, Nux moved away. Then he glanced at Sharnoth, who he had dropped a few meters away, and nodded at her— "Do whatever you please with him." Saying those words, he disappeared together with Ythric. Leaving Vexarion with the monster he feared the most in his entire life. "I’ll do as you say~" Sharnoth smiled, her crimson eyes shining lovingly as she stared in the direction Nux was standing before he disappeared. Then, her eyes turned towards Vexarion and an amused, dangerous, sadistic grin appeared on her face. A grin that Vexarion remembered well, a grin that he saw every time he closed his eyes, and every time he did see it, his entire body trembled in fear. Then, Sharnoth began walking towards him. Step Step Step Slowly, step by step, her bare feet touching the dirty ground, but never once did the dirt stick on her. Her messy grey hair covered some parts of her face, her crimson eyes shined, her blood-red lips looked dangerously delicious. She looked like a mad goddess who had descended on the world to destroy everything and begin it anew. It was... a divinely beautiful sight. A sight that would bring any man to his knees and make him lose all his strength. But... But Vexarion was different. When he saw Sharnoth walk towards him, he didn’t feel awe or any other described emotion. He only felt... fear. And instead of losing all his strength, he... he became even stronger. His body, now set in flight mode, pushed itself past its limits, increasing its speed as he pushed off the ground and dashed away, flying at a speed he never thought he would reach. A speed not many Eternals should be able to match but... Sharnoth wasn’t just any Eternal. The Chaos Heir began her chase. Of course, credit where credit’s due—Vexarion was indeed fast, even faster than Sharnoth, since he truly was pushing himself beyond his limits. But... Sharnoth did not give up. Instead, she just continued the chase with a smile on her face. After all, the hunt was only fun when the prey tried to run and survive. For an entire day, Vexarion gave his all and continued running desperately. He had created quite a bit of distance between them, so much that if they were facing each other in normal circumstances, he might have actually lost Sharnoth. But... Inside Nux’s Universe, that simply wasn’t possible. Sharnoth knew where he was all the time. So when finally, after running for an entire day, Vexarion’s body gave in and he finally slowed down, Sharnoth appeared right behind him in three hours, making him widen his eyes in horror. "H-HOW ARE YOU H-HERE ALREADY!?" Vexarion screamed. Once again, he pushed his body beyond its limits and ran. Or at least, that was what he tried to do but... Thud He slipped. And with a thud, he fell while Sharnoth walked towards him with the same grin on her face, without even a single drop of sweat on her skin. It was clear that the Chaos Heir wasn’t even trying, and while Vexarion tried to fight back— BOOOM An absurd amount of black-purple energy appeared around Sharnoth. The battle between the two began. And just like that— Vexarion’s torture began. Again. And once again, the same cycle began. Fight. Exhaustion. Pain. Revival. And fight again. And the cycle continued for... a few more weeks until once again— Vexarion stopped resisting, even his screams stopped. Yes, once again, his mind was broken. And once again, both Sharnoth and Nux did not give up. They knew the toy was broken, but it could still be repaired, so that was what they did. Another scenario. Another thread of... hope. This time, it came in the form of Auren. Like Vexarion, Auren was devoured too, and the Strongest Child of Light was turned into just another puppet for Nux’s immortal army. So Nux used Auren, making him the saviour who had finally come to save Vexarion. For the first few minutes, Vexarion did not buy it, but once again, his hopes were lit again, especially when Auren abused him like he used to when they met, treating him like a dog. That abuse, which once made him feel humiliated, now filled him with endless happiness, making him think that the torture was finally over. But after flying with Auren for a few weeks, forced to keep up with the Light Born’s insane speed, Auren brought him to... Sharnoth again. Once again, Vexarion broke. The torture began again. His body and mental state, which had just recovered, were ruined again. And once the toy was broken— Nux and Sharnoth came with another plan to repair him again.