Banished to the Abyss After Defying the Author-Chapter 24: The Name I Gave

Noah lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling carved from gold and crystal.

Outside, the air trembled faintly.

Inside, his thoughts did not rest.

What should I do?

The question lingered.

Should I care about these mortal lives?

He turned slightly, one arm over his eyes.

They are temporary. Replaceable. Weak.

And yet—

Victoria’s warmth still lingered inside him.

Nyx’s trembling earlier still echoed in his hands.

He closed his eyes.

Sleep took him abruptly.

Crows screamed.

The sky was gone.

The Real Sky yawned open above a torn world.

Black veins stretched downward like roots of something ancient. Lands uprooted. Cities folded inward. People dissolved into dust before they could even scream.

Death did not walk.

It floated.

And Noah stood in the center of it all.

Watching.

Not stopping it.

Not intervening.

Just watching.

He woke with a sharp breath, body shaking.

The room was intact.

His hands were steady.

"What kind of view was that?" he muttered. "Is that some clairvoyance effect or what?"

He sat up and looked toward the corner.

Nyx wasn’t there.

Noah stood instantly.

"Nyx? Where are you?"

No response.

He moved into the corridor. The palace was unnaturally still. Servants gone. Guards tense in distant halls.

Beyond the windows, he saw it.

Thin black tentacles descending from cracks in the sky.

Noah sighed.

"That idiot Chaos really coming here because I wrote that prophecy... well, I can’t even blame him. Hmph!"

He moved into the courtyard.

Nakula stood with four other men. Identical bearing, identical royal aura.

Noah paused, watching them issue orders.

Nakula said he has five princes as his brothers. So these four with him right now must be his brothers.

The five princes of Kurugshetra.

Noah turned to a nearby guard.

"Hey. Did you see the black unicorn come out from the chamber?"

"No, Master Noah. We did not see the black unicorn leave the chamber."

Noah sighed and moved forward.

Karna stood in the far chamber.

Noah walked toward him. "Karna. Do you see any black unicorn here?"

Karna looked at him and shook his head. "No. I did not see any black unicorn here. I just saw him in the market when I met you the first time."

Noah sighed. "He’s not here either. So where did he go?"

Karna stepped forward. "Let me help you. I attacked you before, so let me help you now."

Noah looked at him. "Okay. Let’s find him together."

They searched the palace together.

Noah noticed something.

Karna helped everyone who asked. He didn’t say no to anyone. When a worker struggled to shift iron spears from one corridor to another, Karna stepped in without hesitation, lifting the heavy weapons and carrying them himself.

Noah watched silently.

These mortals really do anything for their arrogance, for just a useless title.

After some time, Karna glanced at him.

"Don’t get me wrong, Noah, but can you tell me who you are? I’m really curious."

Noah looked at him. "Is this question really important for you now?"

"I mean, it’s not that important," Karna said, "but it will let me know who you are and what you can do."

Noah’s expression didn’t change.

"What I can do is beyond the word ’can do,’" he said with arrogance and pride. "Everything you can imagine and can’t imagine—that’s all I can do."

Karna nodded and resumed searching.

They moved outside the palace.

The streets were totally silent. People had been relocated elsewhere.

Noah looked at Karna.

"Tell me why Nakula hates you so much and calls you a betrayer."

Karna paused.

"Nakula doesn’t hate me," he said quietly. "He doesn’t like my actions. What I did in the past."

He stopped walking.

"He calls me a betrayer because I killed my own father. And I was about to kill my own mother."

Noah looked at him. "Why? There will be a reason, right?"

Karna’s voice dropped, sad and despiteful. Like he hated his own past.

"Nope. No reason. It was pure arrogance. Proving myself as the best out of the best."

Noah studied him.

The regret was real.

They kept searching.

Then Noah looked at the ground.

Blood.

Paws prints.

His eyes widened.

"Karna. It’s Nyx’s paw prints. He must be here or somewhere nearby."

Karna nodded. "It’s good. Let’s find him."

Noah started following the trail, then looked back at Karna.

"Do you hate your past self? The actions you did in the past?"

Karna looked at him.

"I hate my past self, but not in the way you think. I hate my past self due to immaturity and arrogance. But my past self is the reason my present self is strong. So hating your own past is not a good thing. I hate my actions in the past, not my past."

Noah smiled faintly.

"Your wisdom is really vast. Nice. You will do very well in the future."

Suddenly, the world trembled.

Noah looked at the sky.

Small, twisted creatures fell like burning meteors. Upon touching the ground, both the creature and the matter it touched vanished.

"It must be Chaos minions," Noah said sharply. "Karna, use your power and deal with them. But do not let them touch you. If they do, you will cease to exist instantly."

Karna launched upward, twin spears blazing. Sunfire cleaved through the falling shapes, detonating them midair.

Noah ran.

He found Nyx at the main gate of Kurugshetra Kingdom.

Noah exhaled in relief. "Finally. I found you, Nyx."

He started walking closer.

But Nyx wasn’t moving.

Not a step.

Not even shivering.

Noah’s confusion grew.

As he got close, Nyx spoke.

With his mouth.

Not telepathy.

"Noah... I’m sorry."

Noah stopped.

"But I lied to you. I am not cursed."

The air thickened.

"I am Chaos. And Chaos is me."

The world seemed to narrow.

Noah stared at him.

"So, all this time, you were that Great God? All this time, you were Chaos?"

He felt something inside him.

Sharp.

Painful.

His heart was aching.

Nyx’s form shimmered faintly.

"So, Noah, all the best. And thanks for naming me. I love it."

Then he vanished.

Gone.

No explosion.

No sound.

Just absence.

Noah stood frozen.

The space where Nyx had stood felt colder than the Real Sky.

Chaos minions crashed down around him, clawing, tearing at his body. Their touch scraped against him, scratching his flesh because his body was not made of matter and physical existence like theirs.

He did not move.

For one second.

Two.

Then—

He punched.

The blast shattered the courtyard, annihilating the swarm in a single shockwave that shook the entire world.

He stood in the crater.

Breathing slowly.

Looking upward.

Not at the minions.

At the sky.

At Chaos.

His heart ached.

And for the first time, he looked at Chaos with new emotions.

Emotions he couldn’t name.