He appeared in a place with a heavy atmosphere.
Red lightning streaked through the roiling black clouds above.
Gigantic red swords descended from the sky while parting the clouds.
They struck the thousand-eyed pillars—towering, twisted structures that seemed both alive and ancient.
Each impact sent a shockwave rippling outward.
The resulting explosion engulfed the area in a blinding inferno, reducing everything in the vicinity to cinders as the air filled with the scent of burning ozone and scorched earth.
Far into the distance, beneath a storm-choked sky where thunder rumbled like the drums of war, Neo was fighting a hundred-headed giant maggot.
The ground trembled with every clash.
Fissures spread like spiderweb across the earth.
Mountain peaks in the distance crumbled as shockwaves rippled outward.
The intensity of the battle was far higher than what Professor Daniel had seen between Neo and Angel before.
If previously they were fighting, now a full-scale war was raging between the two.
Neo had grown strong enough to force the Angel to fight at full strength.
Their blows could shake the sky and tear apart the continental crust.
Despite growing stronger and stronger, Neo was far from victory.
The writhing pillars and maggots surrounding them were all part of the Angel’s body.
Neo had to kill them all if he wanted to defeat the Angel.
It seemed nigh impossible.
Knowing this, he focused on subjugating the Angel instead.
Stay connected through empire
Divine Swordsmanship, Seventh Stance: Tenraizen
A vertical white slash erupted from Neo’s blade, illuminating the battlefield like a pillar of divine light.
The attack split the earth, creating a chasm several kilometers deep.
Lava bubbled far below, painting the abyss with a crimson glow.
Neo had no time to speak with Professor Daniel.
His focus was on the battle with the Angel.
The scene around Professor Daniel shifted once more.
What he saw next was a continuation of the battle, yet the surroundings had changed drastically.
The landscape was unrecognizable—giant swords made of a hardened red metal were plunged into the ground.
Some were broken.
Some looked new.
The skies eternally gray, and the air heavy with the scent of scorched earth and ash.
Professor Daniel could no longer tell how many years had passed between these moments of observation.
However, he could sense that both Neo and the Angel had been fighting without rest.
Neither spoke, nor backed away.
Their clash was like two wild beasts fighting unrestrainedly.
The world trembled as their fight continued.
The aftermath could lead to the rupture of earth as a whole.
Suddenly, the scene shifted again.
The chaos had dimmed.
No longer did the heavens crack with divine energy or the earth quake endlessly.
The intensity had lessened, and the world, though scarred, was no longer breaking apart.
It seemed the war between Neo and the Angel was finally reaching its conclusion.
In the silence, broken only by the wind whispering through the ruins of the battlefield, Professor Daniel heard Neo’s voice.
“This is the end.”
Fourth Stage of Blessing: Hell’s Descent.
The ground trembled as crimson chains erupted from the scorched earth.
They surged towards the writhing maggots and the thousand eyed pillars.
The chains wrapped around them, tightening with a sound like grinding metal, and dragged them downward with relentless force.
The pillars toppled with a thunderous crash.
Their fragments splintered across the blood-soaked battlefield.
The maggots shrieked.
Yet the chains of Hell didn’t break.
They did not let go.
Neo had a Hell within his soul.
The Fourth Stage of Blessing allowed him to manifest that Hell into reality.
He forced the chains to keep everything bound.
Since the maggots and the thousand-eyed pillars were parts of the Angel’s body, he had to chain all of them to truly subjugate it.
Neo remained silent as the Angel crashed to the earth.
It shouted, hurling curses and venomous insults at him.
He only stared back at the desperate Angel.
Indescribable emotions burned within his gaze.
2,478 years.
It had taken him nearly two and a half millennia to subjugate the Angel.
Finally, he did it.
Neo closed his eyes.
He savored the moment.
When he reopened his eyes, his gaze had returned to its usual icy calmness.
He had subdued the Angel.
But he was far from victory.
The world hadn’t been saved yet.
“Professor Daniel…”
Neo approached his master.
“Thank you for waiting for me,” he said with a faint smile.
“It’s alright.”
Professor Daniel’s face didn’t show much emotion.
His usual stern features remained composed, though his eyes betrayed traces of lingering concern.
He had managed to calm down after finally having the time to sort his thoughts.
He had to keep his head clear if he wanted to help Neo.
Now, with a steady breath, he asked,
“Who are you planning to send to the past?”
“My Intent,” Neo answered.
He extended his palm forward.
His fingers parted as a soft glow ignited in the center.
His Intent materialized as delicate, dancing white threads, weaving and swirling gently above his hand.
“I’ll transfer my techniques and enlightenment into the Intent,” Neo continued. “And we’ll send this Intent to the past.
“Anyone who comes across this Intent can inherit my techniques.”
Neo failed to save the world.
And he couldn’t go back to the past.
But it was fine.
As a failed hero, he had a wealth of experience.
He would use it to raise a new, proper hero.
Neo’s eyes locked onto Professor Daniel’s.
“My successor will be the one to save the Child of Mana.”
Silence stretched.
Only the noise created from the shouting and hurling of curses from the Angel lingered in the air.
“You will lose your enlightenment and techniques if you use this transfer technique.
“Is this why you wanted to defeat the Angel before you sent your Intent to the past?” Professor Daniel asked.
He knew about the transfer technique.
It would strip Neo of his hard earned technqiues.
Neo smiled when he noticed Professor Daniel’s concern.
He shook his head.
“I won’t lose anything.
“Most people’s enlightenment come from momentory inspiration. But my enlightenment come from understanding my techniques completely.
“I can regain the enlightenment easily.”
For others, regaining enlightenment was nigh impossible.
Enlightenment came suddenly to them.
But Neo was different.