Banished to the Abyss After Defying the Author-Chapter 22: Noon That Refused to End

Noah’s fingers tightened around the formless entity’s throat.

They were far from Kurugshetra now. Beyond the outer fields, where broken stone and empty plains swallowed sound.

"Because of you," Noah said evenly, "I had to leave the kingdom."

The being writhed in his grip, its shape flickering between smoke and fractured light. When it screamed, the air vibrated. Pebbles shattered. Cracks ran through the earth in jagged lines.

Noah’s expression did not change.

"Shout," he said softly. "It changes nothing."

He squeezed harder.

The distortion around the entity collapsed inward. Its essence, thin threads of luminous energy, began to splinter under the pressure.

"Just because I went easy," Noah continued, voice cold, "because most of my authority and power are sealed, does not mean you can do anything you want."

He tightened his hold.

The being shrieked.

Rocks disintegrated. The ground caved slightly beneath Noah’s feet.

"Every existence," Noah murmured, "has an essence. That is what proves it lives. Even gods. Even devils."

His fingers crushed inward.

"Do you know what happens when that essence breaks?"

The entity convulsed and shattered.

The distortion imploded in a soundless collapse.

For a fraction of a second, a small fragment of golden warmth flickered free.

Victoria.

Her soul fragment wavered, unstable, about to disperse into nothing.

Noah’s hand moved instantly.

He caught it.

The warmth pulsed weakly against his palm.

"...Victoria."

The whisper left him before he could stop it.

He absorbed the fragment carefully into himself, sealing it within his core. The warmth settled inside him like a dying ember he refused to let fade.

Then he turned toward Kurugshetra.

He ran.

The wind split around him as he moved at full speed.

And a spear screamed through the air.

Noah twisted at point-blank range.

The weapon missed his skull by inches.

Still, thin red lines opened across his cheek and forearm.

He skidded to a stop.

Ahead stood the golden-armored man he had seen twice before.

The same pale glow.

The same sun-bright aura.

This time, his presence no longer hid itself.

Divinity burned around him. Not divine like a goddess, but close.

High level. Lower than the goddesses he’d encountered.

Semi-divine? A Demi-God?

Noah narrowed his eyes.

The man stepped forward.

His disguise peeled away like ash.

Long orange hair fell across his shoulders. Yellow eyes burned like a miniature dawn. His pale skin shone as if lit from within.

"You carry the sun’s essence," Noah said quietly. "Or a fragment of it."

The man said nothing.

Noah opened his King’s Vault and summoned the spear he had taken from the abandoned house.

"My higher weapons are sealed," he said calmly. "So I will use what I have."

The man lifted a hand.

"’O Sun, Abide to Death.’ Return."

The spear vanished from Noah’s grip.

It reappeared in the man’s hand.

"Thank you for finding my spear for me," he said evenly. "It was stolen by a certain someone."

He moved.

Noah barely shifted in time. A streak of solar fire cut across the land, carving a molten trench through the earth.

Another slash followed. Noah dodged again, but more cuts opened across his skin.

Then a wave of energy tore outward from Noah’s position, large slashes of compressed force racing toward the man.

The man raised his second spear and swept it through the air.

The energy shattered.

Then a third presence crashed into the field.

Steel rang.

Nakula landed beside Noah, katana drawn, fury radiating from him.

"So," Nakula said, voice tight with anger, "here you are... Karna."

Karna.

The name settled heavily.

Noah glanced at Nakula, startled by the sudden rage in his voice.

Karna’s expression remained unreadable.

"Nakula," he said quietly. "Join me. Help me kill the Great God. You know what he has done. It will not end well otherwise."

Nakula’s jaw tightened.

He drew his katana fully. ASI gleamed in the distorted light.

"I will not listen to your blasphemy," Nakula said coldly. "You are already a murderer."

He slashed.

The blade carved through space.

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

Something was wrong.

Nakula wasn’t moving. Not physically. The slash itself moved, cutting something it shouldn’t be cutting. Not air. Not distance.

Something deeper.

The strike hit Karna’s golden armor.

And nullified.

The energy vanished on contact as if the armor itself rejected the concept of damage.

Karna exhaled slowly.

"Nakula," he said, voice quiet but firm. "I am saying this for the last time. Be on my side. Otherwise, you will die."

Noah watched them both carefully.

Nakula raised ASI again, his stance unwavering.

"As the prince of Kurugshetra Kingdom," Nakula said, "I will not let you destroy the people’s belief."

Karna sighed.

He raised both spears.

They began to glow.

Noah and Nakula both stiffened.

The weapons fused.

Light swallowed the sky.

Karna’s hand trembled as he gripped the combined spear.

Noah noticed.

His hand is shaking.

Something deeper is happening here. He doesn’t want this.

Karna rose into the air.

The sun, already past noon, snapped back into its peak.

The light intensified.

Heat rolled outward in crushing waves. Stone liquefied. Grass ignited. The air itself distorted.

Noah stared upward.

A mortal.

Resetting the sun.

The fused spear burned white-hot, flames coiling around it like the surface of a star.

Noah felt the heat press against him. Rocks beneath his feet began to melt.

Nakula inhaled once.

Calm.

He raised ASI toward the blazing sky.

"Garden of Fire—Stars Fall."

He leapt.

Karna’s voice echoed across the plains.

"O Great Sun, All Abide to Death!"

Their attacks collided.

A sphere of impossible brightness expanded between them.

Noah’s eyes widened.

The energy was falling.

If it hit the ground—

Kurugshetra would vanish.

The palace.

The people.

Nyx.

Noah’s breath caught.

I can’t let Nyx die.

He moved.

He forced power through sealed channels, tearing past restrictions that should never be breached.

His vision fractured.

Blood ran from the corners of his eyes.

The world shook.

He summoned the Void Spear.

With everything he could still command, he hurled it.

The spear pierced the collision point.

Silence.

Light folded inward.

Both attacks dissolved.

The Void Spear shattered into nothing.

The sky dimmed.

Noah dropped to one knee.

Blood spilled from his mouth, then more surged upward. He vomited onto the scorched ground, his body rejecting the strain.

"Those idiots..." he muttered, wiping his mouth with a trembling hand. "Really forced me to use that."

Pain throbbed behind his skull like a world splitting in half.

He shook his head, forcing himself upright.

"You both," he rasped. "Stop now."

Karna and Nakula had landed, both staring at him.

Shocked.

Blood still flowed from Noah’s eyes, warm trails running down his face.

Nakula stepped forward, worry breaking through his anger.

"But Noah... your eyes—"

Noah smiled faintly, cutting him off. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Hmph! These are just mortal wounds," he said. "They cannot kill me."

He stepped forward, blood still dripping.

"Now."

His gaze hardened, locking onto both of them.

"Tell me everything."