Noah had done many nonsensical things since he became Noah. He had done things even abominations would find utterly absurd and yet, the action he was about to take was something even more ridiculous.

When they learned of his goal, Aurelia and Asaemon looked at him as if he had grown a second head. They couldn't even speak, their mouths opening and closing in soundless attempts to form words.

A world? As a heart?

No matter how much they thought about it, they couldn't understand how such a thing could be possible. But Noah simply smiled and said that if he could hold a world within his body…

…then why couldn't he make a world his heart?

Once again, the siblings were left stunned by what they heard. In the end, they fell silent, deciding to wait and see what would come of it.

Inwardly, a strange mix of excitement and inadequacy swelled in their chests and stuck in their throats, refusing to be swallowed down.

They were thrilled and happy to have such a brother, and yet deeply apprehensive and afraid to have such a brother.

Noah was intimidating.

Not because he wished to be, but because it was impossible not to feel that way when standing near him.

He was like the sky…vast, eternal, enveloping the sun, the moon, the stars, and everything within its embrace.

He was like the sky…so close, and yet so utterly unreachable.

At that moment, they glanced at his wives, silently wondering how they could stand beneath that immense shadow and not feel crushed by it.

But Aurelia and Asaemon didn't understand…

…that you do not fear the shadows that protect you. Instead, you deepen them, you welcome them, so they may shield you even more completely.

The women knew Noah's blasphemous nature better than anyone, and yet, all of them had chosen to be the stars that decorated the sky he was building, not the hands that tried to shatter it into pieces.

Yet you couldn't blame the siblings for their unease. They loved Noah, no doubt, but no one loved Noah more than his wives did.

Noah knew this. And yet, he didn't mind. He accepted the love they were able to give him, because it was a love he had never known, one he hadn't realized he needed and so, he treasured it deeply.

And he would honor that love by elevating them.

That was his extravagant way of showing affection…through creation, through transcendence.

But all of that was for later. Because right at that moment…

"…How should I proceed?" Noah murmured as he stood within the void, gazing at the swirling Earth, its sun and moon orbiting in solemn harmony before him.

He had already sent his wives back to Laeh, along with Asaemon and Aurelia.

Behind him, in some far and unreachable space hidden from the folds of reality, he could feel the gaze of Evadam fixed on the back of his head.

He was watching him eagerly.

Noah raised his hand, resting it thoughtfully against his chin, considering how best to proceed with what he intended to do.

'To make Earth my heart,' he thought, 'I need to take out my current one. Then I have to connect Earth to every part of my body, make it function as a heart would.'

'That means creating pathways that link it to my blood, my muscles, my brain… everything.'

His thoughts began to swirl, twist, and reorganize until a clear pattern started to take form within the cage of his mind.

'But Earth alone won't be enough. I'll need the sun and the moon as well. I could make Earth function without them, yes, but the goal is to create an evolution pathway distinct and unique to Earth itself.'

That meant their living conditions must remain unchanged. Only through Evadam's study could they slowly evolve Earth along that desired path.

By making Earth his heart, he wasn't remaking it, but merely shifting its emplacement from the universe to his own body.

Now, both he and the planet would gain something from this transformation, many things, perhaps. He didn't yet know what, but he could feel in his core that it would be useful, meaningful.

'So… Earth, sun, and moon, all of them together inside me, just like Laeh. But different.'

He thought again, and soon… everything halted.

He slowly closed his eyes, breathing in and out in a rhythmic tempo. His chest drummed and quivered, as if something were raking at it from within.

The void around him began to waver like disturbed water, and a faint scent of dread could almost be tasted in the air.

Moments later, with eyes still closed, Noah slowly raised his arms, like the wings of a phoenix, wide and encompassing.

From behind, one might think the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon were all digging into his embrace.

And they were.

He clicked his fingers, and instantly, they stopped, frozen completely, paused in motion as if the universe itself had obeyed his command.

With disturbing ease, he began to compress them, unhurriedly and steadily, until they shrank to a size small enough to enter his body.

He made a beckoning gesture, and they appeared before him.

It was staggering.

The heart of the Sun burned incandescent and searing, the Moon exuded darkness and cold, and the Earth radiated a rich, life-filled aura that made one's very soul feel at ease.

Still with his eyes closed, Noah raised his right hand and plunged it into his chest, to the side where his heart lay, his chest ripped out open.

His hand sank deep until his fingers brushed against the beating core. He shuddered instinctively, feeling the weight of the madness he was about to commit.

But he smiled.

'Madness. That's the only path left in this universe if you wish to go far. The only path.'

The Records rewarded madness, after all.

So he continued. His hand gripped around his heart, tightened, and then…

CRACK—!

In a single motion, Noah tore his beating heart out of his chest. Pristine white blood sprayed outward, smearing itself across the void. The void recoiled in horror, as if terrified of the blood itself.

His blood vessels and capillaries still remained inside him, though they were badly damaged.

Silver-white threads manifested within him, weaving themselves through his torn vessels and capillaries, repairing and reinforcing them until they were once more functional.

He didn't stop there. He guided the threads deeper, letting them seep through every part of his body, strengthening it beyond measure.

Then, without hesitation, he took the Earth and placed it inside his open chest.

His silver-white vessels and capillaries snapped toward it like hungry serpents, piercing through its surface and burrowing deep, linking themselves to its very core.

The Earth, like every world, had a Will.

Noah had claimed it. He didn't destroy it — doing so would have shattered the planet — but instead, he reshaped it into a special organ that would ensure the bond between his body and Earth remained seamless, eternal.

He called it the Connector.

Through it, the link between his body and the planet became whole but Noah went further, fusing them completely into himself, making it impossible for anyone or anything to separate them.

His chest was split wide open for the universe to witness and inside, one could see the blue planet Earth nestled among silver-white threads, the Connector embracing it like two outstretched arms.

Next, he reached for the Sun and the Moon.

He paused for a moment. He had thought about this countless times and each time, the answer remained the same.

He needed the natural cycle of the Sun and Moon, their eternal dance and their influence upon Earth. Which meant he needed them to orbit within him, exactly as they did in the cosmos.

But now… Noah wanted to change some things.

He took the Sun and the Moon and melted them until what remained were two shimmering essences — a deep, golden, viscous liquid, and a bluish-silver one that pulsed with a soft, cold light.

He took a portion of each and guided them into his body, letting them mix with his blood before fusing all three together.

Noah's eyes snapped open in that instant. His body, from head to toe, became a network of slithering veins glowing white, gold, silver, and blue with light coursing through him like rivers of molten divinity.

He clenched his jaw, a low growl escaping him as pain gnawed deep within his being.

His blood was changing, being rewritten, in a way it hadn't been for ages. The process lasted several agonizing minutes before finally ceasing, leaving Noah gasping.

He quickly steadied himself, his breathing even, and then made the final touch.

"Your name shall be… Circle of Day and Night," Noah murmured, naming his blood, now pure white, streaked with threads of gold, silver, and blue that shone like distant stars scattered across a pale sky.

The blood blazed brightly for a moment, then dimmed, flowing once more through his body and beyond, spreading through and around the Earth itself.

This new blood would act as the cycle of day and night for Earth. As it flowed in and out of the planet, it would carry and reflect the attributes of the Sun and then, of the night, even manifesting the celestial bodies as vividly as the real ones once did.

With that, Noah's chest began to etch itself closed.

For a moment, it was still. Then…

BADUM—!

His chest thundered.

The Earth began to rotate inside his body, seamlessly pumping the divine blood, fulfilling the duty of a heart.

Noah lifted his head and exhaled a steamy breath that blurred the void. From his body spilled an overwhelming light. blinding and pure, staining the void in hues of white, gold, blue, and silver.

The void shrieked in harrowing horror, its fabric cracking apart like glass struck by a hammer, shattering into splinters of nothingness that rained down upon Noah.

He didn't move. He didn't even flinch. His eyes remained fixed upward, as if seeing or sensing things no mortal, no god, no being should.

Then he chuckled softly.

And then…

DIIIIIIINNNNNGGGG!

Once again, Noah made the universe tremble.

—End of Chapter 376—

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