Emma read the message.
Her eyes became cold.
She returned the device to her pocket and followed into the meeting hall with Neo and Jack.
She sat next to Neo and Jack. The two were going through the documents placed on the table.
Just then, Ares’ device rang.
It was the emergency ringtone, but the Titans, Neo, and Jack didn’t know the signal’s importance.
“Gentlemen, please excuse me,” Ares said and took out his device.
He read the message and looked at Neo and Jack before shifting his gaze to Emma.
The message behind his eyes was clear.
‘Don’t create a commotion before the Titans. We can’t show weakness in front of them.’
Emma nodded imperceptibly.
She introduced Jack and Neo.
“These are Neo Hargraves and Jack Hanma.
“As you all know, Neo defeated anomaly #33 eight months ago, and Jack is the Necromancer who….”
Ignoring her introduction, Neo scanned the meeting hall.
Fifteen chairs were placed around a large circular table.
Ares, the chairman of the Awakener Association, and two more members of the Association sat on one side.
On the other side, holograms of four Titans were present.
The first Titan had brown hair and green eyes.
He had an amicable smile while his head was covered in bandages.
As the meeting continued, he introduced himself as Perses, the Titan of Destruction.
The second Titan was someone whom Neo was familiar with.
“I’m Francis,” the Titan introduced himself. “You might know me as Kronos, the Titan of Time.”
Francis smiled and patted the empty seat next to him.
“As for this empty seat, Atlas was supposed to sit here, but as you can see, I have no idea where he is.”
Francis chuckled.
He navigated the conversations with ease and kept the atmosphere friendly.
Neo smiled.
‘This bastard has always been good at talking.’
The meeting continued.
The first topic was about Jack.
Jack had committed irreversible atrocities in Spain.
It was obvious he would be punished.
However…
“Since we can’t decide how to punish Jack Hanma, let’s discuss this issue on a later date,” Ares said after a lengthy discussion.
Neo and Jack weren’t surprised by the outcome.
‘It’s obvious why they aren’t punishing Jack.’
‘They need as many powerful Awakeners as possible to fight Typhaon when he wakes up.’
Interrupting Neo’s thoughts, Ares continued.
“Now, onto the reason for this Council, we need to discuss whether we should rescue the Child of Mana or not.”
Another lengthy discussion took place.
Ares would’ve loved to not reveal the Child of Mana’s location to Neo, not after reading Apollo’s message of Neo’s possible betrayal.
Unfortunately, the information was written in the documents placed on the table.
And Neo and Jack had read them before Emma and Ares read Apollo’s message.
‘They are just using complicated reasons to say why they shouldn’t rescue the Child of Mana.’
Neo continued to read the documents while listening to everyone.
‘So they found the location of the Child of Mana – Sphinx – through her brother who….’
Neo froze.
‘Daniel Caelum?’
‘Daniel Caelum is Sphinx’s brother?’
The professor who taught Neo about the Time element.
Someone who was rough around the edges and found it difficult to express his emotions.
Daniel Caelum.
‘….’
Neo shook his head.
‘I shouldn’t be surprised. This is the past. I was bound to meet famous figures of the history.’
‘Instead of being sidetracked, I should focus on the task at hand.’
He closed the document.
His goal of coming to the Association was completed.
He found the location of the Child of Mana.
However…
‘I need to try at least. If I’m going to go rescue Sphinx from Typhaon, I would need all the help I can get.’
Neo knew the possibility of them following his words was close to zero.
Still, he decided to do so.
Because failure was not an option.
It meant the end of the world.
‘I need something that can create an impact.’
Neo stood up.
The attention of the meeting shifted to him.
“Neo Hargraves, is there something you have to say?”
“I do.”
Neo looked them each in the eye before he continued.
“Jack and I are from the future.”
The air in the meeting hall froze.
Rhea, the Titan of Nature, laughed and broke the stillness.
However, she stopped when Neo remained serious.
“…you aren’t joking.”
“I’m afraid I’m not,” Neo said. “Jack and I are here to save the Child of Mana. If we fail to do so, the world would end.”
Neo could almost hear the gears turning in everyone’s mind.
His words had been no less than a nuclear bomb being dropped at their heads.
“Can you prove you are from the future?” Ares asked.
“He isn’t lying,” Iapetus, the Titan of Justice, answered Ares as he used his lie detection ability. “Though there is a possibility he has been brainwashed, hypnotized, or fake memories have been implanted in his head.
“That way, he will believe his words are true, and anything he says would be truth, even if they are objectively false.”
Iapetus’ words revealed the drawback of lie detection abilities.
Lie detection worked on subjective truth.
A person could wholeheartedly believe their neighbor was a murderer, even if it was false.
In this case, if they said ‘My neighbor is a murderer’ in front of a lie detector, it would be counted as a truth.
“I’m a Darkness user,” Neo said. “I have high mental defense. There is zero possibility of me being under someone else’s mind control or hypnotism.”
“There is low possibility, not zero,” Iapetus interrupted Neo.
“It’s fine, Iapetus. Let’s hear him first before we jump to conclusions.”
Francis stared Neo in the eye as he asked,
“Are you sure that if we don’t save the Child of Mana, the world would end?”
“Yes.”
“He is lying,” Iapetus spoke up.
Neo clicked his tongue and corrected his words.
“I have evidence I gained from trusted sources. These evidences suggest that the world would end if the Child of Mana falls.”
“That’s the truth.”
“Thank you, Iapetus,” Francis said. “Neo, I hope you won’t lie to us again. I want to trust you, but it won’t be possible if you are not truthful with us.”