“Yeah.”
“Hurray!”
Jack jumped, overjoyed.
“This means we will finish this trial! Nobody is planning to save the Sphinx, but Sphinx exists in the future. It has to be because we rescued it!”
He was happy until he noticed Neo’s expression.
“Why are you frowning?”
“This isn’t good news. It’s very bad news.”
“Huh, how?”
“Because the future can be changed, obviously,” Neo started to explain.
“Think about it. If saving the Sphinx was guaranteed, would Shadow Supreme choose it as a trial for us?
“Also, there is no guarantee we won’t fail and someone else in the future won’t get the same trial and save the Sphinx.
“Hell, even the people here could save the Sphinx. I did say they might not save the Sphinx, but there is always a ‘what if.'”
Jack’s expression crumpled when he listened to Neo.
Sadly for him, Neo wasn’t done.
“This is why this trial is bad news. We can’t be sure if we are guaranteed to save the Sphinx, and we have no choice but to do our best.
“Because if it was us who were meant to save the Sphinx but we failed, thinking someone else would do it, then…”
Neo left his words hanging in the air.
Jack covered his face with both hands, sighing, and completed Neo’s words.
“If we fail, the future will change. There is a chance that the Sphinx might never exist and instead there would be a Sovereign serving under Typhaon.”
There was more to it, but Neo kept himself from explaining.
If Typhaon gained control over the Sphinx, there was a chance the Father of Anomalies could defeat the Awakener Association.
The world would end if that happened.
‘The Questline was named {End of the World}. It’s almost guaranteed that failing here will destroy everything.’
After knowing about the time limit, Jack increased his speed.
They reached the Awakener Association in thirteen days.
Jack and Neo were wrung dry due to their daily battles with Anomaly #79.
Although exhausted and injured, Neo found good news.
His Death still warned him of incoming attacks.
‘It’s weird how I can’t use it to fight anymore, but it alerts me of incoming attacks.’
Death protected him like a parent who wanted to punish their child but couldn’t see their child getting hurt.
“This is the Awakener Association?” Jack muttered.
They stood before a giant 18th-century-style castle.
The place was filled with people moving around busily. They greeted Emma and Athena when they saw them and resumed their activities.
“What’s wrong? You expected something grander?” Emma questioned.
“No, no, it’s perfectly fine.”
Even though he said otherwise, it was clear Jack expected a more grand location.
This was supposed to be the headquarters of Awakeners who would become gods.
Just as the group entered the castle, Athena turned to them.
“Since we are here, I’ll be leaving.”
“Wait a second,” Neo called out to her. “I have something to talk to you about in private. Can we meet later?”
Athena stared at him, scanning him with an indescribable gaze.
She nodded.
“My room is on the east side building, fourth room. The door has my name written beside it.”
“Got it.”
Jack whistled when Athena left.
He stared at Neo with a teasing grin.
Neo rolled his eyes and ignored Jack.
“Where to now?” Neo asked Emma.
“Someone should be coming any minute now… Ah, there she is.”
Emma turned to the ginger woman in a long black pencil skirt and a full-sleeved white crop top.
“She is Hanna, Ares’ secretary—”
“And the one who will be guiding you two around the Association headquarters,” Hanna said.
“Come on. Don’t interrupt me when I’m introducing you.”
Emma pouted, only for Hanna to ignore her.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Hanna Mercer.”
“Neo Hargraves.”
“Jack Hanma.”
“Kane.”
She shook hands with Jack and Kane.
Her eyes glowed for a moment imperceptibly. Only Neo noticed it.
She then shook hands with Neo, and her eyes glowed again.
Neo felt a foreign presence invading his mind.
It was barely perceptible, but he detected it—
“Kyaa!”
Hanna let out a yelp and snatched her hand away from Neo.
Her eyes trembled as she stared at Neo in shock and horror.
“What happened!? You okay!?” Emma stood behind Hanna.
Instead of answering her, Hanna was breathing heavily.
She placed her hands on her knees to support herself.
Emma tried to help her stand when suddenly Hanna puked.
Someone came a few seconds later and took Hanna to the medical care area.
Emma turned to Neo.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing. She just saw my memories.”
Emma flinched slightly when she realized Neo knew what Hanna had tried to do.
Her brows furrowed.
‘Hanna can see only surface-level memories. Why is she so shocked from them?’
Her gaze turned to Jack.
Darkness users had chaotic minds.
If anyone used mind reading or something similar on them, there was a high chance their insanity would affect the caster of mind reading.
However, Hanna was a professional.
It was easy to see her strong mental fortitude when she peeked into Jack’s mind—who devoured half of Spain—and barely flinched.
“Sorry for Hanna’s actions. It’s her job to look through people’s backgrounds when they come to the association,” Emma said.
Neo shrugged.
With Hanna gone, the job of taking care of Neo, Kane, and Jack fell on Emma.
She was about to say something when a message arrived on her device.
She looked through it.
“Ares is in a Council meeting with Titans. He wants Neo to join the meeting. Though, before that, he has asked me to help you with the Anomaly #79 issue.”
Emma took them to a door towards the basement.
The door opened, and they walked down the stairs.
After a few minutes of silent steps, they came out into a large corridor.
“Each door you see here is connected to a different place through Spatial manipulation.”
She guided them towards a particular door.
‘Fixer’ was written in bold words over the door.
They entered the door and appeared inside a rustic shop filled with smoke.
The shopkeeper, old and hunched, smoked a cigar.
He smiled when he saw Emma.
“Nyx, it’s been long since we met.”
“It’s Emma.”
“The name you’ve been given is Nyx.”
“Stop it, Richard. You know I hate playing gods.”
Emma’s brows furrowed.
Watching her irritated made Richard, the shopkeeper, laugh.
“Okay, okay, I won’t do it again—for now,” Richard chuckled. “Why are you here, little lady?”
“These two are marked by Anomaly #79.”
“Oh, that’s quite terrible.”
Richard jumped down from his chair, his height only reaching Neo’s waist.
He circled Neo and Kane and examined them.
“How long since they were marked?”
“Their ninth month is almost complete.”
Richard’s brows jumped.
He nodded approvingly and went behind his desk, plunging his hand into the desk’s drawer, then his entire upper half of his body into the drawer.
He pulled out a broken sword.
The blade was chipped, and it was blue in color.
“This baby here is one of the seven fragments of Uranus’ sword. This one is called ‘Time Desecrator,'” Richard explained. “It can cut across time.”
“This is Time Desecrator?” Neo questioned, amazed.
Obitus’ emotions flared when he appreciated the sword, though the sword spirit of his tried to hide it.
“You know about it?”
“I’ve heard the name.”
“Hahaha, of course you have. This baby was famous for it’s ability to cut past.”
Richard placed the sword on the table.