Chapter 542: The Cries That Echoes [2]
"Arghh!!!" Long Xiang's tormented scream pierced through the silence as one hellish scene after another unfolded before Noah and Xin Yan.
"Why are there only men in this world?!"
"Why am I a slave to these ugly beasts?!"
Each world was a custom-made nightmare, a special kind of hell created by Noah for Long Xiang to suffer in. He ensured that Xin Yan did not see the most depraved scenes to prevent her mind from being tainted by such filth.
"Arghh!!! Stop! I don't want to kill them anymore!!" In one illusion, Long Xiang was forced to slaughter his own family, while in another, his family turned on him and killed him.
He was tortured in countless ways. Each life was more unbearable than the last. In some of the illusions, the torment became so overwhelming that he chose to end his own life.
Drip!
Noah felt something wet on his hand and turned to see a tear escaping Xin Yan's eye.
*She keeps too much of her emotions bottled up,* Noah thought, understanding that Xin Yan was finally getting the closure she needed to move on with her life.
He didn't say anything but tightened his hold around her to show his support. Xin Yan responded with a warm smile of her own, grateful for his comforting presence.
*It's time,* Noah muttered as he watched the last of Long Xiang's consciousness crumble and the seal around his mind begin to shift.
"Shall we leave?" Noah nudged Xin Yan gently, who nodded, not wanting to move away from his embrace. Noah smiled warmly at her actions.
With one last look at the seals surrounding each small fragment of consciousness, Noah vanished from the soul realm, taking Xin Yan with him.
---
"What happened? Why is everything so quiet?" Back in the arena, the spectators exchanged confused glances.
Although a long time had passed in the soul realm, only a few minutes had elapsed in the real world.
The crowd saw nothing of the torment Noah and Xin Yan had witnessed. All they saw was Noah standing before the kneeling Long Xiang, his hand resting on his head.
Suddenly, Noah opened his eyes, pulling his hand away from Long Xiang's head. The crowd leaned forward, curiosity etched on their faces, wondering what had transpired.
Noah's gaze swept across the arena. He looked at the unfamiliar faces in the crowd, then at some familiar ones seated at the top of the stands, before finally settling on the figure hovering above the arena.
The commentator, sensing Noah's gaze, looked back at him and deactivated the soundproof array around the stage. "Are you done with him? If you held him any longer, I would've thought you were growing fond of the man and couldn't bear to let him go."
Noah's lips twitched at the insinuation, but he simply shook his head. "Just one more thing."
Snap!
The snap of his fingers echoed through both the arena and Long Xiang's soul realm.
Under the puzzled eyes of the spectators, the seals around each fragment of consciousness within Long Xiang's soul realm began to glow and drift closer to one another.
As the seals overlapped, the soul realm began to shake. Cracks appeared throughout the space, but another energy quickly mended them. The entire realm glowed as the small fragments of consciousness merged, forming a chaotic, writhing mass. Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire
Noah smiled, sensing the changes within Long Xiang's soul realm. *It's time.*
As if obeying his silent command, all the faces on the writhing mass opened their eyes simultaneously. The memories sealed within each clone were released all at once.
The small faces opened their mouths in a silent scream, a scream that reverberated through the entire soul realm. The collective agony and torment of countless lives flooded into Long Xiang's primary consciousness.
"AraRGrghhh!!!!" The heart-wrenching scream, like that of a tormented demon, tore through the once-silent arena, sending chills down the spines of everyone present. The children, too young to understand, were more frightened by their parents' reactions than by the scream itself.
It was the kind of scream that clawed at the inside of your mind, leaving a trail of ice-cold terror in its wake. Long Xiang's voice cracked and broke, his screams turning into desperate, choking sobs.
His body convulsed violently, his limbs flailing as if trying to tear themselves away from his own skin to escape the agony coursing through him. His eyes rolled back in his head, showing only the whites, and his mouth hung open in a silent, gaping wail.
His muscles moved as if something was crawling under them, veins convulsed on his face as blood started to seem out from his seven orifices.
"Whhaa!" People in the audience closed their eyes, not able to bear such a torture.
No one could blame them. The sheer horror of the scream was beyond comprehension.
But somehow the kids in the audience seemed more scared of the expression their parents were making. It was not because their mental fortitude was better but because Noah had prevented them from seeing the gruesome scene.
Some parents who were unaware of this tried to cover their children's ears, while others held them close, shielding them from the nightmare unfolding before them.
Rather than the person writhing in pain, they were more scared of the person who caused this scene. But when they thought about the man who was dying from pain, they could not help but wonder who was right or wrong.
Unaware of the dilemma of the people watching Noah stood calmly, watching the final moments of Long Xiang's torment. His eyes were cold, devoid of any empathy or pity for the man who had caused so much suffering.
Long XInag who was on the verge of collapsing used last remaining will inside his body to open his eyes. His gaze remained blurry as they caught the sight of a figure floating in the air.
Even though pain made him unable to do anything but scream, Long Xiang somehow caught the sight of the look on the commentator's face. Unlike his usual sadistic and indifferent look, there was a warm and contended smile on his face as the man watched him dying.
The look on his face overlapped with another image in his mind as he muttered, "so that's how it is…"
Long Xiang's scream long died away with his last breath but the people could still hear his voice in their head as if he was still alive and screaming, the arena fell silent once more, no one but one person was capable of overcoming such event instantly.
"The Winner of the second semi finale is LONG TIAN!"