“Even Grim Reapers can’t?” Gaia asked.
“No.”
Neo looked at the black badge in his hand with complicated gaze.
The badge had a scythe emblem on the front, while his name, “Thanatos,” was etched on the back in an ancient language.
Since he had decided to hide the fact that he was from the future, following Barbatos’ warning, Neo needed an alias.
Back then, Gaia had suggested the name “Thanatos.”
Though he had initially found the name exaggerated — he still did —, circumstances forced him to adopt it, and it stuck.
Neo shook his head again, recalling the embarrassment he felt when choosing “Thanatos” as his pseudonym.
“This badge is given to all Grim Reapers,” Neo explained to Gaia. “I got it when I became a Grim Reaper a few months ago.
“With this, any Grim Reaper can travel freely between the world of the living and the Underworld—provided they have a valid reason.”
The reasons typically included hunting down spiritual monsters that had escaped from the Underworld or capturing ghosts that lingered in the world of living.
Unlike most Grim Reapers, Neo had the privilege of unrestricted travel between the two realms.
He didn’t need to submit explanations to the higher-ups to use the teleportation arrays.
For a time, it had been amazing.
Neo could finally leave the Forest of All Beginnings, cross the Blood Sea, and meet others—especially his father.
But then, everything changed.
Suddenly, Neo could no longer enter the Underworld.
His badge had stopped working.
Even killing himself to access the Underworld failed.
And it wasn’t just him.
Anyone who died now wandered the earth as ghosts.
For reasons unknown to him, the Underworld had closed its gate to all.
“It’s okay. Everything will be fine,” Gaia said softly.
While Neo was lost in his thoughts, Gaia came closer and hugged him, gently patting his head.
“Can you stop treating me like a kid?” Neo asked, exasperated.
“I will—when you grow a bit older.”
“I am old. I just don’t look like it.”
Gaia chuckled as she saw Neo frown.
She had the urge to pinch his cheek but knew it would only irritate him further.
“When will Beelzebub return?” Gaia asked, changing the topic. “I’ve received messages about a giant worm appearing at the Savage Expanse. Looks like he performed spectacularly today.”
“…I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I don’t know where that damned bastard is,” Neo admitted with a sigh.
Beelzebub—another grand name bestowed by Gaia—gained the ability to transform into a massive worm after Neo achieved Adept mastery in Time.
Over the years, Beelzebub had grown larger and larger.
And older.
Puberty hit him hard, and eventually, he rebelled.
The last time Neo saw Beelzebub was 23 years ago.
Before leaving, Beelzebub had called Neo an “asshole” because his ability to eat had been limited to mimicked Shadow elementals, thanks to Neo’s stay in the Shadow World.
He left, declaring he wouldn’t return until Neo offered him something better to consume.
“I think you’re misunderstanding something,” Neo told Gaia. “I didn’t call Beelzebub to help me. He came on his own and did it just to steal my glory for defeating Typhaon.”
Beelzebub had left immediately after devouring the Savage Expanse.
Consuming such a vast amount of shadow elementals had disgusted him.
Otherwise, Neo was certain Beelzebub would’ve devoured Typhaon’s core as well.
“…”
Gaia was left speechless.
Finally, she chuckled and said, “You two are like a father and son.”
“Stick to one thing. Call me a kid or a father,” Neo said, rolling his eyes.
“Anyway, did you get what I asked for?” he asked.
“Yes. It should be delivered any moment now…”
As if on cue, the door opened, and a robot carrying a large parcel entered.
It placed the parcel on the table and left.
“Perfect timing,” Gaia said, opening the parcel.
Inside was a cube made of glass.
Suspended within the cube was a golden stone, rhythmically pulsing like a heartbeat.
Powerful lightning sparks crackled around it.
“The Lightning Qilin’s heart,” Neo remarked. “I didn’t think you could get it so quickly.”
“I told you, I have quite a few connections,” Gaia replied.
Lightning Qilins were elemental beasts originating from the Elemental World of Lightning.
They rarely appeared on Earth.
Although Neo would’ve been fine with the heart of any elemental beast, not just lightning-based ones, he still felt a sense of gratitude.
Gaia had gone out of her way to capture a Qilin just because it was his original request.
She carefully opened the glass cube.
Lightning shot out of the heart, wild and untamed.
Gaia suppressed the energy with her mana and handed the heart to Neo.
“Are you sure you can handle this?” she asked.
“I should be able to,” Neo muttered, only half-confident. “My Concept of Darkness is ‘True Darkness.’ It should let me gain the affinity of lightning from this, but… luck still plays a part.”
For the past four decades, Neo had focused on deepening his elemental masteries rather than increasing his rank.
He was proud to say that all his Concepts were unique and powerful.
The Concept of True Darkness allowed him to devour anything, unlike ordinary Darkness, and make it his own.
Talent, element mastery, affinity, Traits.
Neo could devour everything.
Just like how Darkness absorbed every color without discrimination and painted them as its own, Neo could now do the same.
The only problem was… luck.
‘Using Darkness is like pulling from a gacha system,’ Neo thought. ‘I can now roll for premium summons thanks to my Concept, and the drop rate has increased by 20%.’
‘But the total chance is still only 21%!’
Neo wanted to cry but had no tears.
Taking a deep breath, he devoured the Lightning Qilin’s heart.
Darkness bloomed from his shadow, enveloping and consuming the golden stone.
A notification appeared:
[Mimicked Lightning Mastery +33]
Neo sighed deeply.
Since this was a Shadow World, even the Lightning Qilin had been made of mimicked shadow elemental energy.
Even though Neo had been lucky enough to acquire the lightning affinity, he couldn’t gain it from this heart!
‘Dammit!’
He had suspected this would happen, but it still made his heart heavy.
…
Savage Expanse (destroyed)
Emma stood frozen in shock.
One moment, the explosion was about to annihilate everything.
The next, Thanatos absorbed it with his Darkness and disappeared.
“He devoured pure energy?” she mumbled. “How?”
Shaking off her shock, she regrouped with the other Awakeners and helped them calm down.
A few minutes later, the sky darkened for a split second.
Emma tensed, sensing a presence behind her.
Turning around, she saw Jack standing there, silent and unreadable.
“Sorry for being late,” Jack said, surveying the barren wasteland. “I rushed as soon as I sensed Typhaon waking up, but I was still too far away.”
“It’s fine. Typhaon was defeated by… Thanatos.”
“Thanatos who?” Jack asked.
“It’s the name of the Gaia’s knight,” Emma replied.
Continue your saga on empire
“Oh him.”
Jack nodded with a calm expression.
He had heard rumors about an Awakener who protected Gaia from the shadows.
Emma chewed her lip.
Hesitation was clear on her face.
After a few seconds of struggle, she finally spoke.
“I think Thanatos is Neo. Their abilities were similar.”
“I see.”
Much to Emma’s surprise, Jack remained composed.
She had expected a more intense reaction.
Noticing her confusion, he offered her a faint smile.
“I’ve suspected for a while now that Neo was the Awakener working with Gaia.”
“…?” Emma blinked.
“I’m pretty sure quite a few Awakeners have thought the same,” Jack added with a knowing look.
Emma’s cheeks turned red as the implication hit her.
Jack’s subtle hint was clear—she had been oblivious to something that was practically common knowledge.
‘I’m not stupid!’ she wanted to yell.
Before she could defend herself, the other Awakeners nearby began snickering.
“Boss, looks like you’re happy since Sir Erebus is here!” one of them teased.
“You should just propose to him already, boss!” another chimed in.
Jack chuckled softly.
“I guess everyone’s feeling relieved now that Typhaon’s been stopped,” he remarked.
It was D-Day.
The Day of Judgment.
Gaia had warned them that the world would end on D-Day—today.
The Awakeners had been tense, believing Typhaon to be the harbinger of doom.
Now that he was defeated, the tension melted away, leaving them relaxed enough to tease their superior.
“We should regroup at headquarters,” Jack suggested. “We might have defeated Typhaon, but there’s still the Moon, the Bermuda Triangle, and the Five Emperors. The others might need our help.”
Jack turned, ready to leave.
Before he could take another step, darkness stretched beneath Emma’s feet, swallowing both her and Jack into a dome of shadow.
“What are you doing?” Jack asked.
His voice was calm but it had an uncertain edge.
“Something I should’ve done a long time ago,” Emma replied with a firm tone.
“You know the world is going to end today?” she asked.
“Yes, I do. That’s why we are working hard to stop it. To make sure the world doesn’t get destroyed,” he said with an uneasy expression while backing away. “So can you take down these walls? We need to go and help others.”
“You don’t need to worry about them. They can handle their tasks. Besides, we are too far to reach their locations on time.”
While she talked, tendrils of Darkness sprang from ground and wrapped around Jack’s limb.
“Erm, Miss Emma? What are you doing?”
“Making sure you don’t run away like you always do.”
She stood close to Jack.
“Year after year, I’ve been trying to remain give you space. But you never gave me a proper answer,” she said while fiddling with his tie.
“….”
“Even my patience has limits.”
“….”
“Yes or no,” she said. “I won’t take an ambiguous answer today. After all, today might be our last day. So, I need to know.”