During the time that Neriah was conducting his dialogue with Aria, Noah was on his side, inside the nightmare, Noah was in the bathroom still lying on the ground holding his stomach from pain and from disgust, while he cries and moans in silence, the faucet was still running so the water began to overflow from the sink and spill to the ground, so much so that the entire hall was covered with water, and Noah's clothes got wet.
"I want to escape... I want to get out... Why am I so weak like this?... If I were just a little stronger maybe this situation would change... And i would never be the person who cries in this damn place..." thought Noah to himself, biting his lower lip until it started bleeding and dripping onto the water beneath, merging with it.
"...I cannot continue more in this... I do not have the necessary strength to do this... I am just a weak coward pretending to be strong... but... I cannot pretend anymore... this is painful, this is burning, this is tight, this is frightening... I cannot... I still feel more pain... I am... I am..." thought Noah to himself before he hit the ground with his fist and rose slightly on all fours looking towards the ground at the reflection of his face in the water.
Noah clicked his tongue when he saw his blurred reflection crying and his lip bleeding, his tears dripped onto the reflection, which made it blur even more.
"Why me?! Why me?! Why me?! Why me?! Why me?!" shouted Noah while hitting the ground with his hand strongly making the water splash everywhere in the air.
"There were many options... I could wait for everyone and we would just analyze the crime scene like fools... just why?!... Why did I do that?! If I had waited a little I wouldn't have gone through this... Is this my fault?... Yes, it is my fault... who did I think I was... just because I have this damn system does not make me special... it makes me just another fool... Did I think I was special? That I am an important person? That I am the center of attention? Or that I am a superhuman who can surpass everything?.... Exactly... what..." thought Noah to himself as his fingertips started bleeding from pressing hard on the ground and trying to dig his fingers into the floor and hold it.
"Who exactly did I think I was?!" said Noah in anger before he hit the ground for the last time with both hands strongly making the marble beneath crack.
"... But will this crying help me?... I still have a way to escape... That 'entity' promised me it would help me in exchange for that offer... It's not completely hopeless... The only desperate thing is me... Yes... that's the problem... The problem is not the place I am in, or the pain I'm going through... The problem is me..." thought Noah to himself before he got up from his place and wiped the tears and blood from his lips.
"I have died before... many times... I have felt pain many times... I have gone through torture many times... and my only solution was to adapt... adaptation is my salvation... I choose weakness and despair instead of change, that is what the old Don made me realize... and adaptation is my way to change..." thought Noah to himself then raised his hands to see his bloody fingers and fingernails.
"... I will change through adaptation..."
———————
In the outside world, Neriah entered room 247, to find everyone sitting on chairs, before all eyes turned towards him.
"How did it go?" asked Livia with curiosity and confusion, excited to hear good news but without raising her hopes too high.
"It went well, Aria promised me full freedom to handle the evidence, and also we will be able to leave the investigation whenever we want, in addition, she will not approach Noah if none of us are near him," said Neriah in a proud tone raising his head upwards waiting for praise from the others.
"Is that all?" asked Livia in confusion and surprise expecting more.
"Y-yes," said Neriah awkwardly, he did not expect such a negative response.
"Didn't you say you have a trump card or something like that?" asked Livia tilting her head to the side in confusion.
"A trump card?... Ah, right, I completely forgot about it," said Neriah rubbing his chin as he remembered his card that was supposed to turn the table.
"For fuck sake... what was the card anyway?" asked Livia after letting out an annoyed sigh.
"Ah, that Noah is the son of Adonis Aries, The Emperor of Flame and one of the ten Rankers," said Neriah calmly as if it was normal information he says every day.
Silence spread suddenly in the room, and each of them looked at the person next to them as if doubting what Neriah said, except Lou Yan and Sirius who knew this from the beginning.
"Yes, correct, and I am Zeus the God of Lightning," said Livia sarcastically not believing Neriah's words.
"He is telling the truth," said Lou Yan raising her hand, attracting all eyes toward her, before the truth reached everyone's minds and they realized Neriah was not lying.
"Wait, are you serious?!" said Livia shocked, her eyes widened and she stood from her place.
"N-Noah is the son of one of the ten Rankers..." whispered Calli in shock and confusion before looking down where she was holding Noah's hand, then she let it go nervously.
"I-I have defiled a holy body!!!" said Calli terrified and scared after holding Noah's hand for several consecutive days.
Livia looked around to see that except for Calli, Sirius was not shocked.
"D-Did you hear what this bastard said?! That Noah is the son of the Emperor of Flame!" said Livia confused and holding Sirius by his collar shaking him.
"Yes, I know, I was the one who told Neriah about this from the beginning," said Sirius in a calm tone while a silly smile was on his face.
"W-What?" said Livia after letting go of Sirius who twisted his collar, then she turned to Lou Yan.
"L-Lou Yan, why didn't you tell me?" asked Livia confused, starting to approach Lou Yan with slow steps.
"I... forgot," said Lou Yan with a spontaneous smile, before Livia pounced on her.
With all lightness and cunning, Livia slipped behind Lou Yan, and before she caught her breath, she wrapped her arm like a snake coiling around its prey, pulling her under her armpit, then began to rub her head roughly with her knuckles.
"You bitch! I'm in an embarrassing position just because you forgot!!" said Livia while mercilessly rubbing Lou Yan's head.
"N-No! Livia! Stop that! My hair!!" screamed Lou Yan trying to free herself from Livia's grip.
Livia rubbed harder, and only released Lou Yan after her hair looked like a crow's nest.
"That's what you deserve," said Livia puffing in anger and annoyance while crossing her arms.
"I'm sorry," apologized Lou Yan with tears stuck in her eyes.
"I can hardly believe this bastard is the son of one of the ten Rankers, I treated him casually most of the time... H-His father won't try to kill me, right?" thought Livia to herself nervous and confused.
"B-But, why didn't you use this card while talking with Aria? Aria would have been scared if she knew Noah is the son of the Emperor of Flame," said Calli interrupting Livia's thoughts, drawing attention toward Neriah.
"Ah, the conversation went smoothly, so I thought it was better to keep a card like that for another time," said Neriah calmly, his fingers intertwined.
"Smoothly? As if that bitch would be lenient, she must be planning something filthy like her," said Livia in an annoyed tone before letting out a sigh of anger and hitting her leg on the ground.
"The thing is I followed Calli's hunch about what she said about Aria, instead of protecting Noah, maybe that offer exposed him to more danger, after all, the heads of the sons of the ten Rankers have a ridiculous price in the black market, especially the children of the Emperor of Flame, his children are the most exposed to danger because their father is always active in Antarctica and their mother is in the hospital... Well, no one needs to know Noah's family background exactly," thought Neriah to himself before leaning on the wall behind him and looking toward Sirius.
Sirius noticed Neriah's look at him before smiling broadly from ear to ear mischievously, which worried Neriah more. Then, Sirius looked outside between the balcony curtains, the sun was at its zenith, with a few black clouds covering the entire presence of the sun leaving a small space for the sunlight to enter.
"I will leave now, see you tomorrow," said Sirius then stood from his place and headed to the door.
"He always leaves at this time of day, what exactly is he doing?" thought Livia to herself following Sirius with her eyes as he left and closed the door behind him.
"Alright, I have to throw some food for him or else he will die," thought Sirius playfully to himself.
After about an hour, Sirius arrived at Sector 10, carrying a bag with him that looked full and heavy and headed to the cabin where Derek held enel, then he pulled a key from his pocket and opened the door slightly leaving room for the light to enter.
"Hello, dog," said Sirius in a playful tone while smiling slightly.
Inside the room was a person, with black eyes and black hair, naked wearing only torn short pants, he was very thin to the point his chest bones were visible, his cheeks sunken inward, and his jaw bones clearly visible, his eyes tired and terrified, he was crawling on the ground dragging his knees behind him, pulling himself with the remaining strength in his hands, he was the third person among the three pictures Cyprian gave to the killer.
"Still alive, that's great," said Sirius in a happy and joyful tone.
"Please... let me go..." said the man, his red eyes teary.
"What did I tell you about talking? Dogs do not talk, they bark," said Sirius in a disappointed tone while clicking his tongue continuously.
"Bark... bark..." barked the man a tired howl like a wounded dog, his voice weak when it came out and shaking heavily.
"This person is the next target of the killer, 'Ethan Ward' I brought him here a few days ago, but he thinks months have passed for him in this place, he lost his sense of time, this helped enough, in addition to some talks with him and deceiving him a little, he is now under the effect of a placebo, even his body started to be affected by the power of his imagination, I did not expect him to dissolve to this degree in just a few days, he really is like a dog," thought Sirius to himself leaving a light muffled laugh slipping between his lips.
"The only reason I detained him is to reenact another scene from my childhood, like 'The sinner swing' and 'The Tears of Hell,' the killer will be very angry because I used his victim for such a thing, he might even reveal who he is or a mistake might happen, then I will be able to find him quickly... and kill him for what he did to Noey-kun," thought Sirius coldly before plunging his hand into the bag.
"I brought you some food," said Sirius in a friendly tone which made Ethan raise his head and his eyes sparkle with hope, but the sparkle quickly disappeared as soon as he saw what Sirius brought.
Sirius pulled from the bag intestines and real human entrails, the intestines were long and winding, dark red with a purplish hue, covered with a transparent layer of sticky liquid. Their surface was shiny, thick threads of blood hung from them, dripping slowly onto the floor. Some parts were swollen, others shrunken, as if subjected to irregular pressure. The smell was sharp, acidic, saturated with the scent of iron and blood. The texture seemed moist and heavy, and it made a faint sound like the friction of flesh soaked in fluids.
"These are Derek Miller's intestines," thought Sirius happily before throwing the intestines in front of terrified Ethan whose face turned pale from fear and who trembled on the verge of vomiting and urinating.
"Eat them."