Apocalypse with my SSS Harem Beauties-Chapter 119: A Purpose

The two of them sat in silence for a while longer. Somewhere in the distance, a weakened building finally gave up and collapsed with a thunderous rumble. The sound echoed through the ruined city, then faded again.

Myles felt the pressure in his chest tighten. He could not keep everything bottled up anymore.

"It looks like all the monsters are gone," he said at last, his voice dull and tired.

Lilian nodded. "Of course. After the appearance of a high-ranking entity like that, lesser creatures would sense it immediately and flee the area. You and your group were the only ones reckless enough to approach it who fought it."

Myles let out a slow sigh. The words felt like another weight settling on his shoulders.

"That was my call," he said quietly. "If I hadn’t made them fight that thing with me... Nadine would still be alive. The others wouldn’t be carrying wounds like this."

Regret piled up inside him, thick and suffocating. It pressed against his chest until it felt like it might burst at any moment and exploding himself from inside.

Lilian turned toward him. Her black eyes were deep and steady as they met his gaze.

"Believe it or not," she said, "that was the best decision you could have made."

Myles frowned slightly. "How?" he asked, even though part of him already guessed the answer.

"You saw how strong that creature was," Lilian continued. "If it had been allowed to live, it would only have grown stronger. Its power would rise without end until it became something you couldn’t even touch."

Her voice remained calm, but the gravity and meaning behind her words was true.

"At that point," she added, "you and your friends’ deaths would have been certain."

Myles stared out at the ruined streets again. He understood her reasoning. He knew she was right.

But logic did nothing to ease the image burned into his mind. He saw Nadine’s final moments when she got stabbed. The blood. The shock in her eyes.

For that pain, his mind searched for something to cling to. And it found only himself to accept the blame.

Tears slipped free again from his eyes. This time, he wiped them away roughly with the back of his hand.

"I still hate myself for it," he said.

Lilian did not argue.

After a moment, Myles spoke again, shifting the subject before the grief could pull him under.

"What is an Apotheon?" he asked.

Lilian glanced at him, then looked back toward the city.

"It is a rank name," she said. "A classification used across the cosmos."

Myles listened closely.

"You," she continued, "and the creatures of this world who have only just awakened to Ether, are called Slumbering. The lowest rank. Barely aware and connected to power that your kind shouldn’t even know."

Her words stirred and intrigued the feeling of curiosity inside him.

"The monster you fought had already stepped beyond that stage," Lilian went on.

Myles’ fingers tightened against the porch railing.

"So that thing..." he said slowly. "It wasn’t just a strong monster that reached a high level."

"No," Lilian replied. "It was something that had begun to awaken its true potential."

Myles lifted his head in full attention.

"However," Lilian continued, her brows knitting together, "something about this is wrong."

She stared out at the ruined city, as if trying to see beyond it.

"Creatures in a lower realm like this should not be able to advance into higher ranks so quickly," she said. "Ascension is a long and brutal process. It requires refinement, trials, accumulation, and time. Even with Ether present, it should take years, or decades, or centuries."

Her fingers curled slightly in her lap.

"But that monster didn’t follow that path," she said. "Its potential jumped unnaturally."

Myles felt a chill crawl up his spine.

"The thing that possessed Ryan..." he said. He swallowed. Ryan’s face flashed through his mind, dragging hatred up from his heart. He forced it down and continued. "That thing took something from the monster after we defeated it. It looked like a ball of energy. Or maybe... an egg." He frowned, trying to recall the exact words. "It called it a Seed."

Lilian turned to him sharply.

"A Seed?" she repeated.

Myles nodded. "You know something about it?"

Lilian’s expression darkened as she fell silent, her gaze distant and focused in her mind. Several long seconds passed before she spoke again.

"There are many things a ’Seed’ could mean," she said carefully. "But given what you described... it is most likely a Seed of Power."

Myles frowned deeper.

"A catalyst," Lilian continued, "that allows a being to skip stages and force their growth. It made us able to raise potential and rank far faster than should ever be possible."

Myles clenched his fists.

"The thing inside Ryan also mentioned something else," he said. "It said... Voidheart. It talked about Voidheart placing Seeds at random."

Lilian froze.

The change in her was immediate. Her eyes widened slightly, and for the first time since arriving, genuine shock crossed her face.

"So that’s it..." she murmured.

Myles leaned forward.

"What is it?" he demanded. "I need to know. My friends were hurt and Nadine died because of that."

His jaw tightened hard.

Lilian looked at him again, her expression serious.

"Do you remember what I said at the start?" she asked.

Myles frowned. "About what?"

She shook her head. Seeing his confusion, she sighed.

"The Etherfall," she said. "And what caused it."

Myles went still.

"The Voidheart," Lilian continued, "is one of the cosmic gods responsible for the Etherfall."

Her voice lowered.

"Voidheart, along with two other cosmic beings, tore open the Arcane Veil. That veil separated your world from the Aetherium Plane. It existed to regulate and restrain Ether from that place."

She gestured faintly toward the ruined city.

"When they shattered it, Ether poured into lower realms without control and preparation. That is why your world is like this now. Experienced forced awakening, therefore creating chaos and mutation."

Myles’ breathing slowed as the pieces connected.

"And now after causing this cataclysm... Voidheart has begun to play," Lilian said quietly.

"Play?" Myles repeated.

"With lower realms, which is the world that cannot resist and the lives that do not matter to beings like him."

She met Myles’ eyes.

"These Seeds are his toys," she said. "He scatters them to see what grows, breaks, or survives."

Myles felt something cold settle in his chest.

"So Nadine..." he said.

"She was caught in the ripples of a god’s amusement," Lilian said bluntly.

Silence fell between them again, heavier than before.

Myles stared out at the burning city, his hands slowly tightening into fists.

This wasn’t just a monster or Ryan. This was something far larger and far crueler.

Myles drew a slow breath.

"What can I do to get stronger fast?" he asked.

Now that he understood what stood behind everything that had happened, his thoughts no longer drifted aimlessly. They had locked onto a single direction. A purpose.

Lilian studied him for a moment. "What do you want strength for?" she asked.

Myles did not answer right away.

His gaze drifted past the ruined streets, past the fire and smoke, to the memory of Nadine’s pale face and cold body, and his companions suffering.

His silence was answer enough.

Lilian followed his line of sight, then looked back at him sharply.

"Your target is a cosmic god now?" she asked.

Myles nodded.

"That’s impossible," Lilian said quietly. "Even I would not dare to touch beings like them."

Myles finally turned to her. His eyes were steady. There was no hesitation left in them.

"But I will," he said. "With your help."

—