Codex Null: Simulation Through Madness-Chapter 97: When the Veil Broke

’How did things suddenly escalate to this extent?’

Hilda’s chest tightened as the thought tore through her mind. Her eyes, wide and unblinking, refused to believe what was unfolding before her.

Just yesterday — only yesterday — her young master Noel had been training at her side, sparring with her as he deepened his understanding of the Destruction Law.

She could still see it if she closed her eyes: his confident grin, the sharp brilliance in his gaze, the way his voice carried that unshakable certainty of someone destined to stand above all.

But then — what was this?

How had it all twisted so quickly, so violently, that stripping everything from him became the only solution? Why was the tide of events moving with such merciless speed, as if pushed by unseen hands? And why... why was everyone just fine with it?

He is Noel!

Noel Cross!

Do they not remember? Do they not know what that name meant only a few hours ago? The Cross house, with all its formidable might, still harbored many enemies, but the hostilities had suddenly grown more subdued when he was born... why?

Because they feared him more than they feared his father.

Because he was brilliant. Because he was special.

No one doubted his rise. Not a single soul.

So how, Hilda’s nails dug into her palms as she bit back the tremor in her chest, how could they suddenly accept this fucked up turn of events? How could they just stand by while everything was taken away from him?

Unable to organize her chaotic feelings and thoughts, Hilda could barely keep her breath steady as she watched the ritual’s glow intensify. Circles of power pulsed across the ground like veins of light, and the air carried a ringing hum that scraped at the edges of her nerves.

Noel lay unconscious within the center, his chest rising faintly, his brilliance dimmed to a fragile ember.

It was then — Edith, the leader of the Order of Veil, turned.

She didn’t use the gate. She didn’t even spare a glance at the gathered lot, nor at the countless eyes that clung to her in silent awe. Her figure simply dissolved, as if the world itself bent to her will and yielded her a path.

Her presence lingered long after her departure, pressing into their bones and nerves like a weight no one could shake. It had grown heavier, sharper, ever since the moment Noel’s consciousness slipped away.

And the message was carved deep into every heart: none of them mattered.

Not Derek. Not the elders. Not even the Cross name itself.

Only the child in the center did.

Many of them seemed to have their pride wounded by her dismissal, but none dared give voice to their resentment.

No, rather, they were relieved when she vanished... Derek, the head of the Cross Noble house, included!

Hilda observed the ritual’s final stages in heavy silence, absorbing every detail of the scene around her.

Her gaze would drift toward one of the two ritual centers where Noel lay battered and sprawled upon the ground... only to tear her eyes away moments later, unable to bear seeing him in such a state. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Time dragged like chains through the silence, broken only by the echo of Elaine’s muffled sobs.

When the ritual finally concluded, Hilda remained rooted in place. She watched as Elaine approached her son with unsteady steps, and observed Derek wearing a satisfied smile while gazing at his daughter, who was still quietly absorbing everything she had stolen from her brother.

Parent and their two children — each seemed focused on entirely different priorities...

It was then, as Hilda contemplated the enigma that was the Cross house she had been born into, that everything changed.

The dimension itself trembled, space rippling as if struck by an unseen hammer. Cracks of pale light split across the air, and through them surged wave upon wave of intruders.

Almost in the same breath, members of the Cross house — those who had stood moments ago as part of the ritual — launched their attack from within.

Their targets were clear. Three stood marked for death.

Derek, the head of the Cross house.

Lilith, who bore the stolen power.

And Noel, broken but still Noel.

Logic demanded Derek should be first. Remove the head, and the house collapses.

Prudence demanded Lilith. She carried the future, the threat of tomorrow.

But fear — fear decided otherwise.

Even in ruin, even unconscious, Noel was still Noel Cross. To them he was not a wounded boy, but a monster veiled in human flesh. A terror that might rise again if given even the faintest chance.

So their choice was unanimous. Their blades, their Laws, their killing intent — nearly everything turned to him.

The storm of betrayal fell not on Derek. Not on Lilith.

But on the boy who had lost everything... yet was still feared more than them all.

It all erupted in the span of a heartbeat. Lightning-quick, merciless.

Hilda reacted instantly, Aura flaring as her body moved, but she was still too far — several paces that felt like miles. Her breath caught, her vision narrowing on Noel. She knew she couldn’t reach him in time.

But someone else was already there.

Elaine.

The woman who had always been the most calm in the Cross house, steady as stone, never reckless, never impulsive. And yet now — now she moved without hesitation, as if reason itself had shattered.

Instead of using her Law.

Instead of raising her hand to defend herself and her son.

She dropped to her knees, pulled Noel against her chest, and threw her arms around him — her own body the only shield she offered.

"Elaine—!" Hilda’s voice tore from her throat, but the crash of the first strikes drowned it.

Blades carved down. Laws flared. The ground shook.

Hilda’s body blurred forward, eyes burning, Aura lashing the air as she cut through the traitors who dared aim their killing intent at her young master. Flesh tore, and in mere seconds the first wave was nothing but bodies crumpling at her feet.

But by then...

Elaine’s blood was already everywhere. It ran hot across her arms, streaked down her sides, spilled over Noel’s pale skin, soaking the cold stone beneath them.

And yet she did not seem to notice. Her trembling hands cupped Noel’s face, brushing his hair back, checking his skin as though nothing else in the world existed. Her lips trembled, whispering his name, relief flickering in her eyes only when she saw he bore not a single scratch.

Hilda’s chest twisted. She wanted — desperately — to kneel beside them, to make sure herself that Noel was untouched. But she couldn’t. The battlefield gave no mercy.

The second wave was already upon them. Stronger this time. These were not the hesitant cowards of the first assault — these were predators, killers who knew hesitation meant death.

So Hilda swallowed her anguish, forced her feet to move. Her Destruction Law swept up, cutting toward the next threat, her mind a furnace of rage.

Still, part of her couldn’t help but glance aside — toward Derek.

He stood unshaken, his Law blazing like a wall of death. He cut down those who lunged at him with casual ease, his hand sweeping lives aside as if swatting flies. Beside him, Lilith too was shielded, her father’s might wrapping her like armor.

The battle’s center of gravity was already shifting to Derek’s side. Screams and clashes thundered there, a storm unto itself.

But Hilda tore her gaze away. None of that mattered to her.

Her world was reduced to one truth, one oath carved into her bones.

Kill every last one who showed their fangs against Noel.

That was all that remained in her mind.

Kill them all.

She didn’t know how much time had passed after that — minutes, hours, or just the endless blur of strikes and screams.

But at last, the expensive dimension prepared for the ritual fell silent. The echoes of clashing Laws faded. The air, once vibrating with murderous Aura, hung thick and motionless.

Hilda stood in the center of it, her body carved with wounds that burned and bled. Her eyes still radiated killing intent, sharp and alive, though her limbs trembled beneath the weight of exhaustion.

Slowly, she forced herself to look around, to take in what remained.

Noel was still alive.

Cradled in his mother’s arms, his chest rose faintly, stubbornly clinging to life.

Elaine — who had regained her senses partway through the battle — had fought with a fury Hilda had never seen in her before. Now she was slumped, her skin pale, blood soaking through her torn robes. Her breaths came ragged, shallow, each one sounding like it could be her last.

Beside her knelt Nadine, her body battered, clothes torn, her face streaked with tears. Even so, she held her ground, silently weeping as her shaking hands tried to steady Elaine, as if she could will her to stay in this world a moment longer.

And Derek...

Hilda’s gaze found him at the far side of the ritual. The head of the Cross house lay collapsed amidst the corpses, his body motionless, eyes closed in a final calm. He had fallen, but not alone — his blood mingled with that of his brother, and the leader of the invaders, whom he had dragged down with him in their last clash.

Lilith stood frozen nearby, her wide eyes staring blankly at the carnage. She seemed unable to comprehend the scene before her, as if her mind refused to accept what her eyes showed her.

And then there was Hilda herself.

No one remained. No voices, no footsteps, no traitors left to kill.

Only them.

This dimension — once meant to be a place of sacred ritual — had become a slaughterhouse.

The space itself cracked, and was on the verge of breaking, the polished floor was drowned in blood, blackened flesh and shattered bone scattered like debris from a nightmare.

The stench clung thick in the air, iron and rot, searing the lungs with every breath.

It looked less like a battlefield and more like something torn straight from a horror tale.

And in that silence, the survivors stood alone, surrounded by the ruin of everything that had just been lost.

-------

"My hands were already full, trying to deal with the enemies who were coming after you, young master. So, that’s all I know about that battle," Hilda said, her tone steady as she recounted to Noel what had taken place after he lost consciousness back then.

And Noel, with clenched hands and nails digging deep into his palm until blood stained his skin and the fabric of the sofa beneath him, sat unmoving. A faint aura leaked out, sharp enough to make the room itself feel like it was cracking, while his unfathomable gaze never left her.

He only nodded.

He had already known this story from the memories he received. He had been prepared for it. Yet hearing it in person, from Hilda’s own mouth, still struck differently — heavier, more real.

And knowing, even before she said it, that there was no one left to take revenge against only deepened his resentment. His chest tightened with that bitter truth.

... Or maybe not?

The bitches’ faction.

The witch faction had also played a hand in that incident. Without their help, his uncle and those who schemed against his family would never have been able to go so far.

And Noel knew for a fact — those so-called independent witches would never dare to make such a move on their own. They wouldn’t risk interfering directly in disputes inside powerful houses like the Cross family.

So, it could only be someone from the main Witch faction. It had to be them.