World-Time Spell was created using the ley lines that were naturally born inside the earth.
They had made the Spell specifically like this as it increased the magic circle’s durability.
Unless the whole continental crust was blown away, the magic circle could not be damaged.
The portion of the magic circle on the North Pole and South Pole were core components. The Spell could be activated anywhere from the two.
The magic circle drawn on the equator was a stabilizer of sorts.
Neo came to the North Pole as it was near his location.
“It’s time I activate this.”
His heart beat loudly.
If the World-Time Spell didn’t activate, his hopes would be doomed.
He pushed his Divine Energy deep into the land.
The World-Time Spell began to devour his Divine Energy greedily.
It was like an endless pot.
No matter how much Divine Energy he gave it, it demanded more.
Neo pushed Divine Energy into it.
More and more.
And more.
His Divine Energy reached half of its capacity.
It didn’t take long before it was drained to 10% of its limit.
However, the energy was not even a fraction of what the World-Time Spell needed.
Neo stopped, breathing heavily.
Beads of sweat rolled down his collarbone.
He sat on the ground.
“Dammit.”
Since the world lost mana, he couldn’t use the Essence Breath Spell to consume the ambient Divine Energy/mana.
Until now, he had been using the potions to recover Divine Energy,
He had stocked them up inside his Shadow Space.
But Neo knew they wouldn’t be enough.
“It’s not just the amount. The purity is a problem too, a bigger problem than the amount.”
Neo could feel it when he tried to use his Divine Energy to activate the World-Time Spell.
He wouldn’t have been able to activate the Spell even if he had enough Divine Energy.
His Divine Energy Purity was far from what was needed for the Spell.
“The Spell was supposed to take mana directly from the World Core. The purity of the energy would’ve been enough, but it’s different for me since I’m using my own energy.”
Neo clenched his fist.
The Angel’s attack on the World Core and the Underworld had taken him by surprise.
He had never thought it was possible for mana to disappear.
“How the hell did it even enter the Underworld?”
Neo shook his head.
He pushed the brooding thoughts aside.
Opening his Shadow Space, he took out all of his potions and the stored food.
He began to push Divine Energy into the magic circle.
At the same time, he used Darkness to devour the potions and the food.
They broke into pure Divine Energy.
His Darkness ate it all and transferred the energy to him.
Neo’s mind started to buzz from the extraordinary amount of potions he was consuming.
Blood dripped from his nose.
His bones started to creak.
It was painful.
But he was used to pain.
He continued without a break.
He kept devouring the consumables to restore his Divine Energy and pushed the Divine Energy into the Spell.
The air around him seemed to vibrate with the intense energy exchange, and the rumbling of the volcanoes grew louder as if reacting to the surge of power he was channeling.
The stock of potions and the food began to disappear at an alarming pace.
“This isn’t going to be enough.”
Neo kept one hand on the ground while he used the other to wipe the blood.
He looked around.
The sea of maggots was approaching him.
It seemed they had eaten everything else in the area, and now they were eyeing him.
Neo called out to Beelzebub and summoned an Intent Clone.
Dividing an Intent Clone reduced their strength. Two Intent clones – made by dividing one Intent Clone – were weaker than one Intent clone.
Last time, there was an emergency, which was why he divided his Intent clone.
“Stop the maggots.”
Before leaving, Beelzebub rubbed his head against Neo as if comforting him.
The tiny caterpillar transformed into a gigantic worm.
It attacked the sea of maggots along with the Intent clone.
After the two left, Neo shifted his focus to the amount of potions he had left.
“Only twenty.”
Neo’s body was breaking down after having consumed dozens of potions.
He used his Death element mastery to stay alive and focused on the issue at hand.
“I need to try at least. There’s no knowing if the Spell might work.”
He used Darkness to devour the land.
It continued to spread, going under the feet of the Intent clone and the maggots.
The Darkness seeped deeper and deeper.
Neo started to devour the earth.
He left behind just enough to keep the land from collapsing.
The continental crust – the only thing left in the destroyed world – had been in contact with ambient mana for almost a century.
It contained mana, although barely.
Neo didn’t stop.
The voices of Darkness began to grow incessant.
His head was always filled with thousands of voices.
He had grown used to them.
But times like this, when he used his Darkness at full power, the voices became worse.
‘More’
‘More’
Neo didn’t care what he found under the land.
Bones, dirt, stone.
He devoured everything.
These were the only things left which the maggots hadn’t eaten.
Divine Energy started to trickle into his body.
The ground shook as Neo’s Darkness reached deeper, consuming the remnants of the land, while the sky darkened further with an ominous presence as if the world itself was reacting to his desperate actions, as if it was laughing.
He transferred the Divine Energy to the World-Time Spell.
However, his Darkness reached its limits quickly.
It was several kilometers deep underground.
And, it couldn’t stretch anymore.
With its limited range, Neo couldn’t devour more land to gain Divine Energy.
The lack of his abilities made him frown.
Should he have tried to awaken a Concept of Emotions, or maybe Concept of Pathfinder?
Both were Concepts of Darkness and were extremely powerful.
Using them, Neo could’ve sacrificed his emotions—or something even deeper—to boost his abilities, both temporarily and permanently.
Instead of those Concepts, he had chosen the Concept of True Darkness.
It didn’t demand sacrifices like the others. It simply devoured everything without discrimination.
‘No, don’t think like that.’
‘Regretting my actions won’t change anything.’
‘I need to focus on what I can do now.’
He looked back.
The potions and food stock had been emptied.
“I need more things to devour, but there isn’t anything…”
Neo stopped speaking.
He looked at his bloodied hands.
There was one thing that could give him immense Divine Energy if he devoured it.
His body.
“Yeah, this should work.”
Neo called back the Darkness.
The black tendrils wrapped around him.
They began to devour his body.
A soul-crushing pain seared through Neo’s body.
His Divine Energy reserve started to be refilled.
“This… is good enough…”
Neo spoke in between his ragged breaths.
“All of my Divine… Energy returns when I revive with… Eternal and Immortal…”
So killing myself this way is not a problem.
Neo clenched his jaw.
The pain was maddening even for him.
His nails started to break as he clenched the land hard enough and tried to focus.
But…
As expected, the problem with energy purity couldn’t be solved.
The ground beneath him trembled as his body was torn apart by the relentless Darkness.
Neo increased the pace of devouring his body.
Not just his body.
He devoured his soul too.
Pain surged through him.
He bit his lips, forcing the screams to remain inside.
Blood trickled down his chin, staining his pale skin.
‘I can revive.’
‘Losing my body and soul is nothing.’
Neo’s consciousness started to blur.
Cold numbness seeped into his limbs.
The world around him warped into a chaotic haze.
It was fine. He told himself.
For reasons he couldn’t understand, when his Seed of Existence was damaged and repaired through Immortal, his Divine Energy pool would get refilled along with revival.
This didn’t happen during normal revivals.
Although Neo did not understand how it worked, he was prepared to make use of it.
Through the blurred consciousness, an idea came to Neo.
‘Right… I can use that too….’
His thoughts started to break, fragmenting like glass.
However, he continued to devour himself, tearing his essence apart and using the stolen Divine Energy to fuel the World-Time Spell.
Faint sigils formed around on the ground, glowing with a pale silver hue.
[Please input the modifications you want (Slots: 1/3).]
[Modification requested: I want to know how to activate the World-Time Spell.]
[Confirm/Deny?]
‘Confirm.’
[Modification rejected.]
[Please note, Primogenitor helps you only by giving you answers that will allow you to walk into a specific growth path.]
[It does not answer questions not related to your personal growth.]
Neo’s mind was in shambles.
He didn’t use the third stage of blessing to recover his body.
It was a waste of Divine Energy.
Neo died.
As soon as he disappeared, his Intent clone shattered, fragments of energy dispersing like ashes caught in a nonexistent wind.
Beelzebub was left alone.
He looked around, his eyes searching desperately for Neo.
Not even a corpse was left behind.
Silence echoed, broken only by his cry.
He let out a powerful, guttural roar, as if crying, mourning Neo and blaming his own weakness.
He was too weak to help Neo and could only watch him die helplessly again and again.
Wrath burned in his eyes, his massive form trembling as he lashed out in a fury, attacking the writhing maggots that swarmed closer.
[Time Remaining until you are forcefully revived: 12 hours, 00 minutes.]
[Time Remaining until you are forcefully revived: 12…]
[Time Remaining until you are…]
[Time Remaining…]
[Time Remaining until you are forcefully revived: 00 hours, 00 minutes]
[12 hours have passed since your Death]
[You will be forcefully revived.]
Neo’s body began to regenerate at a rate visible to the naked eye.
His cracked Seed of Existence healed.
His soul, bones, organs, nerves, skin, hair, and nails.
Everything regrew step by step.
Neo gasped.
“I still can’t get used to this weird feeling.”
He looked inwards and sure enough, he was brimming with Divine Energy.
Without wasting a second, he summoned an Intent clone and called out to Beelzebub
“Come back and rest for some time. The Intent clone will stop the maggots.”
Neo didn’t understand why the Angel was not trying to eliminate him quickly.
But he was happy to make use of the opportunity.
When Beelzebub refused to rest and fought alongside Thanatos, Neo clicked his tongue.
“Fine, do as you wish.”
He shifted his focus on the World-Time Spell.
.
…
Author’s Note: The chapters missed during 1st Jan, and 2nd Jan will be uploaded on 7th.