“What do you want as the reward, Neo Hargraves?” A #22 asked again.
Neo didn’t answer immediately.
He could ask for anything.
Power, wealth, status.
The Supreme Deity of Shadows would give him anything.
Among the three, what was it that Neo wanted?
Neo thought back to his goal.
Apex.
He wanted to reach the zenith and be the strongest there was.
His goal had never changed.
Should he ask for strength from the Supreme Deity?
Neo shook his head.
He would not feel satisfied, even if he became the strongest, if that strength came from somebody else.
Sure, the strength granted to him would be a reward of the Shadow Trial.
But it was ‘granted.’
“What I want is…”
Neo had always chased after ultimate strength.
But.
What was ultimate strength?
Gods?
They were rulers of planets.
They could control the lives of billions with ease.
But they had their limits.
They were bound to the world.
Without the world, they were nothing.
It was why Valkaraia defeated Earth so easily.
The Angel had targeted the World Core of Earth, and there was nothing anyone could do.
Then, were the symbol of ultimate strength the Outer Gods?
They conquered planets.
They ravaged worlds with ease.
However, Neo knew.
Outer Gods were far from the strongest.
Valkaraia had tried to collect Earth’s [Sacred Treasure].
If Neo had to guess, the reason Outer Gods invaded other planets was related to Sacred Treasures.
The Outer Gods wouldn’t have needed to collect Sacred Treasures if they were the strongest.
The strongest beings needed not to do anything.
Just like the Supreme Deity of Shadows.
Neo looked at A #22 before he turned to the empty sky.
The void above was endless.
It seemed to hide something greater beyond.
‘He’ must be there.
“I want to see what true strength looks like.”
Neo wanted to see what the end of his goal looked like.
He wanted to see the Zenith.
Mindlessly chasing after strength was useless if he did not know what he was aiming for.
“Neo Hargraves,” A #22 called out.
The doll’s facial expression remained neutral.
Yet Neo could sense the suppressed wrath in her voice.
“Your performance was exceptional. No, it was beyond exceptional, it was a masterpiece.
“But….
“Don’t overstep your boundaries.”
Her voice stabbed into Neo’s soul like a sharp blade.
He clenched his jaw, feeling the pain.
“Your existence is far weaker than the Supreme’s divine self.
“A glance can kill you, and your skills won’t be able to protect you.”
She talked as if she was trying to protect Neo by stopping him from seeing Shadow Supreme’s true self.
However, Neo knew.
She felt it was beneath Supreme’s prestige to be looked upon by someone as ‘weak’ as him.
“I’ve said what I want as a reward.”
“Even if it kills you?”
“I’ve made my choice.”
Neo might’ve been immortal, but the gap between him and Supreme Deity was too enormous.
His immortality might not save him.
“Even if a fish can breathe underwater, if it goes too deep, the water would crush it to death, Neo Hargraves,” A #22 warned. “You are that fish. A carp.
“Just because your Death makes you Immortal doesn’t mean you can’t die.”
Even the lofty gods of Earth were no different than bugs in front of the Supreme Deity of Shadows.
“Neo Hargraves—”
The Gatekeeper stopped speaking.
It looked above.
“…if that is what you wish, O Supreme.”
She bowed and lowered her gaze.
Neo kept his eyes on the sky.
He felt as if someone there was chuckling.
Suddenly, he heard a voice.
“Fine.”
His ears burst.
His skin started to crack, and his blood vessels ruptured.
He felt as if his bones were being crushed from within.
A single word carried power to kill him.
“I will allow you to look at me.”
A ginormous entity began to appear in the sky.
Black tendrils of ink writhed around it as if shielding its body.
Its enormous horns seemed to pierce the heavens themselves.
The monster’s presence was terrifying.
Neo’s eyes burst from the strain.
He used his Intent to ‘see’ the Supreme Deity of Shadows.
The figure looked down upon him with an overwhelming gaze.
It seemed to be unfathomably large.
Neo did not say it, but something told him the entity was larger than the universe.
He used his Death to delay the pull of death.
It was useless.
His body was being crushed under the overwhelming presence of the Shadow Supreme.
He activated the third stage of his blessing, along with Life and Holy elements to heal himself.
Nothing seemed able to stop the destruction of his body.
Suddenly, Neo’s expression twisted.
A look of anger appeared on his face.
Don’t joke with me.
His lungs were crushed.
He used Intent to speak.
I said show me your true self, not this damned monster!
If I die, I die.
I don’t need your consideration!
The monster in the sky smiled.
A soft laughter echoed through the void.
“Very well.”
The pressure surrounding Neo increased a hundredfold.
His soul and Seed of Existence began to crack.
The true body of the Supreme Deity of Shadows began to manifest.
Wisps of black ink floated around, shifting and distorting the surrounding void.
The ink twisted and transformed into different objects.
One moment, it was a human figure, the next a jagged rock, and then an orb of swirling energy.
The body was not just giant.
Its weight of existence seemed to crush the fabric of reality itself.
The Gap of Dimension where Neo and A #22 stood began to fracture, and cracks formed in the endless void.
Neo stopped delaying his death.
He knew it was useless.
Instead, he directed his entire focus toward the Supreme Deity of Shadows.
Only one word came to his mind when he looked at the supreme being.
{Totality.}
The Shadow Supreme seemed to mirror every object in existence.
His ever-shifting form continued to transform.
The black ink flowed with perfect fluidity, morphing into massive horns, then blades, then symbols.
Neo felt as if he was witnessing the entire universe reflected in that form at once.
His body, soul, and Seed of Existence were shattering.
Yet he smiled.
This is what true power looks like.
As his body crumbled away, he reached his arm toward the endless sky. Enjoy new adventures at empire
Today, he gained a goal.
The being in the sky.
The Supreme Deity of Shadows.
Neo would surpass him.
His body and soul shattered into fragments.
The Gatekeeper A #22’s expression shifted.
Her eyes widened in shock as Neo’s Seed of Existence did not completely vanish.
Faint, radiant light continued to flicker within it.
Eternal was protecting him.
“What…?” A #22 muttered.
She glanced up at the vast figure in the sky.
“O Supreme, did you hold back to make sure he survived?”
“My A #22, do you believe me to a fraud? That I would lie about giving a reward and give a incomplete reward instead?”
“I apologize, O Supreme. I dare not doubt you.”
A #22 lowered her head.
The Supreme Deity chuckled.
It was normal for A #22 to think he had held back from manifesting his true body.
But he had not held back at all.
“A #22, you seem to have forgotten who he is.”
His voice caused countless worlds that existed outside the Gaps of Dimension to shatter like fragile glass.
For an instant, reality itself trembled.
The Supreme Deity of Shadows shifted his gaze and looked at the broken worlds. He restored them with a mere thought.
The fragments of the broke world seamlessly merged back together as if nothing had happened.
No one in those worlds realized they had been killed and brought back.
The Supreme Deity turned his gaze from the restored worlds toward A #22.
“He is not a carp or a fish.”
The Supreme Deity raised his hand.
Black ink writhed around his fingers, grabbing the ginormous monster Neo had first seen when he asked to see Shadow Supreme.
With a simple gesture, the Supreme condensed the monster into a sphere of ink.
Shadows shifted within the sphere like an abyss.
“He is a dragon.”
“A Heavenbreaker, that’s who he is.”
The ball of ink descended, floating gently above A #22’s hand.
The Supreme Deity’s colossal form began to dissolve, retreating from the Gap of Dimension and allowing the void to stabilize once more.
The Gatekeeper stared at the orb of ink.
She knew why the Supreme Deity gave it to her.
He wanted to give the sphere he had created to Neo.
The orb was crafted from a part of the Supremes’ true body.
It contained enormous power.
The sphere of ink was a reward that countless beings would kill for.
There was only one reason why Shadows Supreme gave it to Neo even though he never asked for it.
He had earned it.
…
Author’s Note:
Only one chapter today. Something came up. But don’t worry. I will release extra chapters on Saturday and Sunday to make up for today. (˵ •̀ ᴗ •́ ˵ ) ✧