Harem Stealer: Reborn with the God-Tier Sharing System Chapter 434: Heaven?

Chapter 434 – Heaven?

The events unfolded beyond anyone's understanding, even eluding the comprehension of that enigmatic man of emptiness.

The Records had committed an act of unprecedented audacity this time. It was a lethal gamble, dangerous for both Noah and themselves. Under normal circumstances, such an action should have been far beyond their capabilities.

However, Noah’s impossible feats had carved out a minute fracture in the fabric of existence. Behind that small rift lay the very dawn of all things: The Ultimate Origin.

Noah remained oblivious to this fact, and perhaps it was better that way.

The Records merely acted to force that breach wider, accelerating a transition to the other side long before it was meant to occur.

{Will he succeed?} The Records mused, sequestered within a fold of reality invisible to all but a select few.

Now that they were shielded from outside ears, the mechanical resonance of their voice vanished, replaced by the sweet tones of a young girl.

At least, that was how it first seemed.

In truth, the voice was a complex tapestry of layers. It shifted from youthful to ancient, from melodic to hoarse, and from grating to a dry sound like blood-soaked leaves.

It sounded as if millions of souls were speaking in unison, or perhaps, as if millions were locked in a simultaneous debate with one another.

{Harmony, you show him far too much favoritism, okay?}

{He has earned it, Cloud. Out of the three candidates the Son of Emptiness selected, he is clearly the superior one, right? Just look at what he has achieved. Who else has managed this? No one, right?}

{Is that truly your only motive, Harmony? Don't tell us you’ve actually grown fond of this miserable pawn, okay?}

{He is no pawn.}

{But that is exactly what he is. Sky, share your wisdom with us, okay?}

{A pawn he remains. However, he will cease to be one if he manages to succeed.}

{What are the chances of that? Minimal. Negligible, even. He is destined to perish, for he lacks the worthiness to encounter It, okay?}

{This bickering is pointless. Cloud, do you have the courage for a wager? Sky, will you join us? And where have the others gone?}

{They are occupied with their duties, not wasting time on a creature with such a dark fate, okay?}

{A wager? What are we betting, Harmony?}

{If little Brandon achieves success, you must grant him your Seeds.}

A heavy, suffocating silence immediately drowned out the conversation.

{Sky, do you see? Harmony has finally lost her mind, okay?}

{It seems so. Our Seed? Harmony, you are asking for a literal fragment of our divinity.}

{Indeed, a fragment. It is merely something we can regenerate after some time has passed, right?}

{Eons. We are talking about eons upon eons, okay? That is the cost. It is not worth it. Not even close.}

{Cloud, you only wish to consume me. Your mouth is full of jealousy! If little Brandon fails, I shall surrender myself to you, right?}

{Sky, you have always been indifferent toward your responsibilities. I have supported you countless times. It is time you returned the favor, right?}

{Now, is the price right?}

Another long silence followed. Then, slowly:

{A deal, then, Harmony. I won't miss you. You are wretched! Okay?}

{A debt from the past? That is fair. Very fair, Harmony. I agree.}

Harmony went quiet for a moment, and then softly responded...

{Deal.}

...

Noah materialized in a completely foreign environment. Although his form was soul-like, he felt an instinctive certainty that this was the necessary state required to exist in this realm.

As his feet touched the ground, a soft crunching noise echoed, and a gentle, soothing energy began to wash over his soul.

Fighting back a moan of pleasure, he surveyed his surroundings.

His eyes were wide with pure astonishment.

Noah had imagined many possibilities when The Records transported him, but the reality was nothing like the dark thoughts he had harbored.

For a fleeting second, he truly wondered if he had arrived in some version of Heaven.

As far as his vision could reach, he saw an endless meadow of green flowers, each emitting a soft, golden radiance.

These lights drifted upward, coalescing into dense pillars made of light and strange, unknown substances. They stretched toward the heavens like silent sentinels.

Each pillar was etched with a mysterious script that caused his head to throb when he tried to read it.

A mist of green and gold swirled around Noah. While he could still see, the further he looked, the more the landscape became obscured by this peculiar haze.

Above him, the sky was a brilliant, pure white, filled with shifting, multicolored clouds that resembled the face of a smiling mother. Seven suns and three moons adorned the sky, each unique in its shape and hue.

Initially, a sense of holiness radiated from the suns, and Noah felt a primal urge to bow before them.

However, when his eyes moved to the three moons, a wave of revulsion coiled in his stomach, gnawing at his insides like a predator tearing at flesh.

Noah flinched, snapping his gaze away as an irrational terror gripped him.

It felt as though he had witnessed something forbidden.

It was as if he had walked in on a birth and then forced his way inside the womb to watch. Noah didn't understand why such a disturbing thought occurred to him... but that was the sensation he felt.

'Heaven?' Noah thought with a scoff, his lips trembling. 'I think I need to rethink that assessment.'

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he decided not to linger. The Progenitor of the Elysiari looked down and saw a distinct path leading into the heart of this mist-covered world.

Taking a deep breath, he realized there was no other way but forward. He took his first step.

One step led to another, and soon Noah’s soul body was traversing the strange terrain.

Unobserved by him, the mist was gradually seeping into his form, its purpose and effect entirely unknown.

He lost track of the distance and the time spent walking, but eventually, the mist grew so thick that it blinded him.

He could see nothing. Even his other senses felt muffled, as if he were a speaker submerged in the depths of the ocean.

Still, he pressed on.

A deep weariness began to set in—not of the flesh, but of his mind and spirit.

There was a terrifying weight to walking toward an unknown destination that could mean either his salvation or his destruction.

Even worse was the fact that Noah was walking through this nightmare completely blind.

In that moment, he felt utterly vulnerable. He could be crushed as easily as a common bug, and no one would ever know.

That realization filled him with a profound sense of disgust.

The recent trials had been a humbling experience. Noah was beginning to see how arrogant and narrow-minded he had truly been.

But he simply ground his teeth, feeling the earth beneath his bare feet.

He didn't know his destination, but if this journey offered a chance to reclaim his destiny, he would not waver.

It didn’t matter if ruin and victory were two sides of the same coin, or that his luck had recently been abysmal.

Noah stopped, gathered his resolve, and took one more step forward.

Suddenly, the mist that had been choking his senses exploded outward, swept away by a sudden, sharp wind.

Noah stumbled back in shock, barely catching his balance before he could fall onto the red, flowery earth.

He frowned as the sound of "breathing water" whispered in his ears. More than that, he felt a gaze upon him—one that made him feel as helpless as a child before a mother who knew his every secret.

His brow furrowed further. Slowly, Noah looked up, and his eyes landed on a bizarre sight.

There, seated upon a patch of ground covered in a carpet of red and green flowers, was a woman. She was surrounded by water that shimmered with every color imaginable—and some that were impossible to name.

Her hair was a blend of green and red, so long that it trailed into the water. Her body was radiant, casting a searing light throughout the space like a living beacon.

Her skin was a deep, flawless black, covered in swirling white tattoos that reached even to her face. She was idly playing with the flowers, a motherly smile on her lips and her eyes peacefully shut.

And yet, Noah knew she was watching him.

Suddenly, Noah’s heart—which shouldn't have existed in this form—skipped a beat. He collapsed to his knees with a heavy thud the moment the woman’s eyes opened and drifted toward him.

A piercing pain struck his mind. Instinctively, Noah curled into himself like a frightened child hiding from a monster.

The woman’s eyes were haunting. Her left eye was a void of white, with a pupil like an open-topped circle.

Her right eye was a void of black, with a pupil like a circle that was closed at the top but open at the bottom.

These patterns shifted within her gaze as if she were their source. Their very Origin.

The woman offered a faint smile to the kneeling Noah and made a beckoning motion.

Like a puppet on strings, Noah rose and was pulled toward her at a staggering speed.

In a heartbeat, he was standing directly before her. Her overwhelming aura made every fiber of his being want to prostrate himself.

Noah gritted his soul-teeth in resistance.

The woman’s smile grew wider.

"The scent of the Son of Emptiness clings so heavily to you, my child." Her voice was a paradox—both divine and malevolent at once.

Noah felt a conflicting urge to both worship her and run for his life. It was a complete contradiction.

With a light tap on his shoulder from the woman, Noah suddenly found himself sitting cross-legged across from her.

A small wooden table appeared between them, with a box resting on its surface.

"Come, little Brandon, my child," the woman giggled softly. "Let us play a game."

—End of Chapter 434—