Integer is Expressible as Product of Primes/Proof 2

Theorem
Let $n$ be an integer such that $n > 1$.

Then $n$ can be expressed as the product of one or more primes.

Proof
If $n$ is prime, the result is immediate.

Let $n$ be composite.

Then by Composite Number has Two Divisors Less Than It, $\exists r, s \in \Z: n = r s, 1 < r < n, 1 < s < n$.

This being the case, the set $S_1 = \{d: d \backslash n, 1 < d < n\}$ is nonempty, and bounded below by $1$.

By Integers Bounded Below has Smallest Element, $S_1$ has a smallest element, which we will call $p_1$.

If $p_1$ is composite, then by Composite Number has Two Divisors Less Than It, it has at least two divisors $a, b$, such that $a, b \backslash p_1$ and $1 < a < p_1, 1 < b < p_1$.

But by Divides is Ordering on Positive Integers, it follows that $a, b \backslash n$ and hence $a, b \in S$, which contradicts the assertion that $p_1$ is the smallest element of $S_1$.

Thus, $p_1$ is necessarily prime.

We may now write $n = p_1 n_1$, where $n > n_1 > 1$.

If $n_1$ is prime, we are done.

Otherwise, the set $S_2 = \{d: d \backslash n_1, 1 < d < n_1\}$ is nonempty, and bounded below by $1$.

By the above argument, the smallest element $p_2$ of $S_2$ is prime.

Thus we may write $n_1 = p_2 n_2$, where $1 < n_2 < n_1$.

This gives us $ n = p_1 p_2 n_2$.

If $n_2$ is prime, we are done.

Otherwise, we continue this process.

Since $ n > n_1 > n_2 > \ldots > 1$ is a decreasing sequence of positive integers, there must be a finite number of $n_i$'s.

That is, we will arrive at some prime number $n_{k-1}$, which we will call $p_k$.

This results in the prime factorization $n = p_1 p_2 \cdots p_k$.