Harem Stealer: Reborn with the God-Tier Sharing System Chapter 461 - Disaster rarely comes alone.
Previously on Harem Stealer: Reborn with the God-Tier Sharing System...
The passing of a being as significant and high-ranking in the cosmos as Aurelia could be felt with absolute clarity.
It was a bizarre sensation. An oppressive weight descended upon everyone who knew her, instilling a profound sense of finality deep within their souls.
Asaemon was no exception to this grief; Aurelia was his sister, and the connection they shared transcended all else.
Far away, concealed in the deepest reaches of the universe where mana could not penetrate, Laeh also sensed the demise of Aurelia Sightless Vaelgrim, the First Abomination.
Deep in the bowels of that world, Laeh was curled into a fetal position, her form shuddering violently as the reality of Aurelia's death washed over her.
Foxy, Fated, Caus, and Destiny stood nearby, their expressions masked by agony and sorrow.
However, the mourning of the three Origins could not compare to the intensity of Foxy’s pain.
She stood tall and lithe, her vulpine features frozen in a mask of grief. With her head bowed low, she clenched her fists so hard the blood drained from her knuckles.
Her entire frame was trembling.
'I-I am failing my father!' Foxy whispered despairingly in the silence of her mind, consumed by shame for hiding here while her kin were being slaughtered across the stars.
'Even Aunt Aurelia has fallen!'
The thought was impossible to grasp.
Foxy couldn't help but fear that if even someone as powerful as Aurelia could perish, then her brother might be next.
For some time, a gnawing intuition had been whispering to her that their time was running out.
Premier would soon draw his final breath.
The former Elysiari of Dream, her silver hair now dull and ruined due to the loss of her bloodline, suddenly turned her gaze toward Laeh.
The World’s Will remained on her knees, clutching her skull as a torrent of tears streamed down her face.
She was chanting a desperate plea under her breath.
"I-I can’t, Noah... I can’t do this... I need you... I... I need you, Noah."
The agony was soul-shredding.
Never since the moment of her birth had Laeh experienced such a void. Aurelia’s death felt like a savage, crushing blow to her very essence.
"N-Noah, I—!"
"Father is not here," Foxy interrupted, kneeling before Laeh to pull her into a firm embrace. She fought with everything she had to hold back her own sobbing.
Two people could not afford to break down at once. One had to remain steady to anchor the other.
This was no time for grief. Not for her.
She had to find a path to safeguard her family and preserve her father’s legacy.
Thus, the First Daughter of Noah forced herself to swallow her sorrow, numbing her own heart to provide the comfort Laeh so desperately required.
"Father isn't here, but we are," Foxy whispered softly. "We must do our utmost to protect our faction. My... my brother, your nephew, is still out there fighting."
Laeh went still for a moment before slowly raising her tear-streaked face to look into Foxy’s wide, trembling eyes.
"He cannot die, Aunt," she gasped, her voice cracking with emotion. "He cannot die. He simply cannot die."
The more she spoke the words, the more her tears flowed, spilling over without restraint.
She was unable to keep her emotions in check.
"We have to reach him before he commits an act of folly," Laeh said, forcing a faint, pained smile. "You know his nature. He hungers for glory and loves Father too much to let his death go unavenged."
"So—!"
"I-I know," Laeh replied, returning the embrace. "I know. We will save him."
Behind them, Fated, Caus, and Destiny traded somber glances.
Just as they had finally discovered a family that offered them love and acceptance... was it all to be snatched away? Was their kin to be swatted down like insects one by one?
Their gazes turned cold, their expressions hardening into masks of iron. They were determined to repay their father for the fleeting happiness he had granted them.
...
They were not the only souls in mourning.
Deep within Laeh, inside the domain of Ester, the Elysiari of Shadow, another woman was drowning in sorrow.
It was Aerica, the wife of Eric.
While Foxy, Laeh, and the others sensed Eric’s death but were too distracted by their immediate grief to fully grasp it...
Aerica’s world revolved solely around Eric. Her husband was gone, his very soul annihilated.
She lay collapsed on the floor of her chambers, her eyes fixed vacantly on the Soul Crystal that had chronicled Eric’s life. It was now nothing but shattered shards.
Her eyes were hollow. With Eric’s death, her entire world had turned to ash.
Her face was a mess of tears and salt, her mind trapped in a loop of every memory they shared, right up until the day he left for his mission to the elven realm.
She recalled her playful threats about killing any woman he might bring home, never dreaming he would be the one never to return. The agony Aerica felt was absolute, a pain so vast that existence itself felt pointless.
Eric was her entire universe.
He was her partner, her lover, and her husband. He was the one who handled the cooking because of her lack of skill. He was the constant presence who comforted her with a lazy grin, promising that everything would be alright.
In his presence, every burden had felt light.
Aerica cherished that about him. Eric was her anchor, the man who had taught her the true meaning of love.
As she replayed these thoughts over and over, she arrived at the only possible conclusion.
"I... I cannot go on without you, Eric," Aerica whispered, her voice devoid of life.
Eric’s soul had been wiped from existence, cast into the void.
She would follow him there.
"I told you, didn't I?" She let out a fractured smile. "Not even death could keep us apart."
Gathering her internal power, she began the process of self-detonating her own soul.
Fear had vanished. Emotion was gone. Eric was gone, and he had taken her heart with him.
The mere thought of reuniting with Eric—regardless of how or where—brought a smile to her lips as she prepared to end a life that had lost its purpose.
And so Aerica—!
BAAAAAMMMMM!!!
Aerica was jolted out of her trance as a massive, unfathomable force struck the world of Laeh.
Instinctively, she struggled to her feet, her dead eyes looking upward in confusion.
"What is happening?" she murmured.
She wasn't the only one; the entire world was thrown into a state of panic.
Laeh and Foxy were even more horrified, as they could see a section of the very universe being violently torn asunder.
Through the rift, strange beings began to pour into their reality. Their skin was a dull gray, and their faces were featureless—no eyes, no noses, no ears.
Only a massive, jagged maw remained, a sight that chilled the very marrow of their bones.
Their forms were elongated and skeletal, shimmering with a strange, illusory energy.
The moment Laeh and Foxy laid eyes on them, the truth was undeniable.
These were invaders from a foreign universe. And they had arrived at their very doorstep.
As they watched the gaping maws of these alien entities fixate on their world, a single thought echoed in the minds of both Foxy and Laeh.
'When one thing falls apart, everything follows.'
It was a bitter truth.
Calamity never travels alone.
And so,
The remnants of Noah’s Fallen Faction stood face-to-face with horrors from another universe.
At that same moment, the death of Aurelia—her soul burned away by Esmeray’s breath—caused the Records she had plundered to return to their original owners.
Every soul she had robbed cursed her name, wishing her nothing but eternal torment in the afterlife.
Simultaneously, the Golden Tree of Aurelia’s world shriveled and perished, reverting to a seedling before being erased entirely as the world itself detonated.
All of this transpired while, within the Spirit World, Noah remained oblivious. The Records chose to stay silent as he subjected Luelle to a torment beyond human comprehension. Behind him, his wives had finished their evolution into their new bloodline, the Ataraxia. Their crimson-gold hair and towering statures gave them an air of chilling, regal authority.
"Shall we go another round, Luelle?" Noah asked with a gentle, terrifying smile. He knelt beside Luelle, who lay broken on the ground in her own filth, her eyes vacant after endless cycles of agony.
Despite the trauma, her body remained unscarred. "P-Please..." she croaked. "No more... I beg you. Mercy. I will do whatever you ask... anything."
Luelle, the Progenitor of Elves, was reduced to a begging wreck before Noah.
"Mercy?" Noah repeated, locking his gaze with hers. "Didn't I make myself clear, Luelle?"
He rested his hand upon her head.
She shrieked like a lunatic, sobbing hysterically as she pleaded for forgiveness over and over, her mind repeating the same desperate words.
"I do not offer forgiveness," Noah stated icily. "Especially not to someone like you."
"So, let us begin again."
With a mere touch, Noah shattered Luelle’s psyche, rewriting her neural pathways to force her through thousands of simulated realities simultaneously.
In every single one, Luelle met a gruesome end.
Each death was unique. In one, Orien was her executioner. In another, she took Orien’s life before ending her own. In yet another, the other Progenitors tore her limb from limb.
Suddenly, a foul, unbearable stench filled the air.
By now, they were accustomed to it.
It was simply the result of Luelle losing all bodily control in the face of absolute terror and pain.
Those standing around Noah watched the cold vacuum in his eyes as he tortured a Progenitor without a hint of remorse.
It was a vision of horror that none of them would ever be able to erase from their minds.
-End of Chapter 461-