Neo stared at the colossal doors of the mansion.
They towered over him.
He took a few steps forward before turning back.
“You are not coming in?” he asked.
“No one but the bloodline of Monarch is allowed to enter the palace, prince,” Veldora replied.
Neo nodded.
He pushed the doors of the palace.
They groaned in protest, the grating noise reverberating like a dying beast.
As the doors parted, a gust of icy air surged out from the palace, slamming into Neo.
He frowned as the cold bit into his skin.
His steps echoed loudly as he entered.
The dim corridors stretched endlessly before him.
Each hallway was lined with gigantic statues of warriors.
The only noise came from Neo’s footsteps and the faint whistle of wind seeping through windows.
Neo’s heart thumped faster as he approached the door at the corridor’s end.
‘He must be behind this,’ Neo thought.
His hand hovered over the door.
He had never met Hades, not even during the Shadow Trial.
He had seen his father—Hades’ reincarnation—when he was a child, but not Hades.
This would be their first meeting.
‘Here goes nothing.’
Neo steadied his racing heart, took a deep breath, and pushed the doors open.
Inside, a grand hall stretched before him.
Pillars of obsidian soared to the ceiling, and the walls were lined with paintings depicting ancient battles and conquests.
A massive chandelier of dark crystals hung above, casting a haunting glow over the room.
At the far end of the hall sat a man on a black throne carved from bones and obsidian.
He was breathtakingly handsome.
His hair was black as midnight, cascading over his shoulders, and his eyes glowed the color of blood.
His presence was suffocating.
His dragon-like hand rested casually under his chin, as if he had been expecting Neo.
“Welcome, my son,” the man said.
Neo’s expression darkened.
He clenched his fists as rage bubbled within him.
Slowly, he unsheathed Obitus from its scabbard.
“What are you doing, Neo?” the man asked.
“I’ll give you ten seconds.” Neo’s aura erupted like a storm, flooding the hall with a pressure that made the air tremble. “Tell me who you are and where Dad is.”
The man’s brows furrowed.
“What are you saying? I am your dad—”
“Time’s up.”
Neo bolted forward.
In an instant, he was before the man, his sword drawn back, ready to strike.
Divine Swordsmanship Second Form: Tsubame Gaeshi
Neo’s blade flashed through the air, aiming for the man’s neck.
The man smiled—a cold, knowing smile—and raised a single finger.
The blade stopped mid-swing, frozen as though an invisible force held it in place.
The man’s smile deepened.
“Why do you think I’m not Hades?”
Neo swiftly retreated when his attack failed.
He maintained his stance, Obitus gleaming in his hand.
The air between them grew heavier, as if the very space trembled under the man’s presence.
Neo had the blessings of his parents.
Blessings worked thanks to Intent, and Neo seen the Intent of Hades and Persephone.
“Your Intent is completely different from Dad.”
Neo glared.
“Who are you?”
“Ahahahah!”
The man’s laughter echoed like thunder, shaking the hall.
His booming voice bounced off the pillars, sending chills down Neo’s spine.
He stood up from the throne.
The shadows around him twisted unnaturally as his appearance began to shift.
His dragon-like claws morphed into human hands.
His obsidian-black hair shortened to a sharp crop, and his blood-red eyes turned a brilliant gold.
His aura remained suffocating, even as his monstrous features gave way to a human visage.
“Who am I?”
The man’s golden eyes glowed with amusement as he slung a massive sword over his shoulder.
He gazed at Neo with a condescending smirk.
“Why don’t you make me answer you?”
“If it’s a beating you want, then fine.”
A translucent screen materialized in front of Neo.
[Quest: Survive for 10 seconds against ???]
[Reward: Absolute Chaos World Core Condensation Technique]
Neo’s frowned as he understood the meaning behind the words.
Alarms suddenly blared in his mind.
His instincts screamed at him to escape.
For the first time in ages, he felt ‘fear’.
“Hoho, what are you looking at, Status Screen?”
The man’s mocking voice came from behind Neo.
Neo’s blood froze.
There was no time to react.
The man’s sword flashed like a streak of lightning.
Neo barely managed to raise his blade in defense.
The weapons clashed with a deafening clang that sent shockwaves rippling around them.
Neo’s body was hurled like a ragdoll, crashing into the black stone wall with bone-shattering force.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the wall, and dust rained down in thick clouds.
“This place is quite small,” the man muttered, scratching his patchy beard. “Let’s make it bigger.”
He snapped his fingers.
The World.
A ripple of energy spread outward.
Goosebumps crawled over Neo’s skin as he felt the sheer power behind those two words formed from Intent.
The room shifted before his eyes.
The space inside the hall expanded exponentially, stretching far beyond what should have been possible.
The ceiling rose higher and higher until it disappeared into an endless void.
The walls stretched outward, becoming so distant they were no longer visible.
It was as if the hall had transformed into an entire planet, or perhaps something even larger.
Neo looked around in disbelief.
“Damn, how long are you going to think for?”
The man’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Neo’s head whipped toward the source, only to find the man standing right in front of him.
Since the hall had expanded, the distance between them should have grown to hundreds of thousands of kilometers.
And yet, the man had covered the unimaginable distance in an instant.
“Start moving, will you? Or are you too afraid to fight back?”
The space around Neo had been frozen solid.
He couldn’t move even if he wanted.
However…
Divine Swordsmanship Eighth Form: Kami no Shin-
“Nice move, but it’s too slow.”
Neo’s sword technique failed to fully activate.
No, it hadn’t failed—it was in the process of activating.
The activation speed was just very, very slow.
‘He is slowing down my time,’ Neo realized.
The man wasn’t freezing Neo directly; he was simply slowed Neo’s time to the point Neo’s body appeared frozen.
“What now, Neo? Going to give up?” the man asked mockingly, leaning forward.
His golden eyes gleamed with amusement as he looked Neo directly in the eye.
Neo clenched his jaw.
His aura began to flicker and flare.
Slowly, painfully, his body started to move again.
It made him feel every as if he like trying to hold up an ocean.
The man’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he quickly masked it with a smirk.
“I had heard Heavenbreakers were powerful, but I guess I was wrong. You are pretty weak.”
Neo ignored the taunts, focusing entirely on freeing himself.
His aura flared once more, brighter this time.
Wisps of white energy began to materialize around him.
Neo’s body trembled as he generated World Energy.
The endless power started to break his body, as cracks appeared on his skin.
“Don’t bother,” the man said. “It’s not going to work.”
It was clear the man was enjoying this.
He stood back, his expression relaxed, his words dripping with mockery.
“Hey, you fucking bitch,” Neo spat as he finally managed to move his mouth. “Catch this.”
The corner of the man’s mouth twitched, but before he could react, Neo opened his Shadow Space.
Without warning, a massive landmass—the entire earth—suddenly appeared above them.
The colossal chunk of rock and soil hurtled downward.
Its sheer size blotted out the sky.
When it struck the ground, the impact was cataclysmic.
A deafening explosion tore through the air, shaking the very fabric of the space they stood in.
Magma erupted violently from the fractured ground, glowing rivers of molten rock flowing through the cracks.
Dust and debris filled the air, shrouding the battlefield in a dense, suffocating fog.
Stones and rubble flew in every direction, smashing into the invisible boundaries of the hall.
The sound of constant sonic booms echoed endlessly.
For a brief moment, the man loosened his hold over Neo’s time, caught off guard by the sudden attack.
“Cough! Cough!”
Neo woke up to find his body half-crushed under the wreckage of a massive mountain.
His limbs were trapped, and blood stained his clothes.
He activated his blessing and healed himself.
With a roar, he unleashed his aura, shattering the mountain above him into countless fragments.
The debris scattered in all directions, and Neo climbed to his feet.
His breaths were heavy and labored.
“Fuck.”
He looked around the desolate battlefield.
The once-pristine hall was now a wasteland.
The pillars had crumbled, the floor was torn apart, and the ceiling was no longer visible through the swirling smoke and ash.
‘Why the fuck are we fighting him now!? I thought he was your friend!’
The voice of the maggot resting on Neo’s shoulder rang out.
“Friend?” Neo muttered, wiping blood from his mouth. “I’ve never met that man in my life before.”
He looked at his status screen.
[Time remaining until the completion of Quest: 07 seconds.]
“…The whole time and space are twisted in this place.”
‘Get moving, bitch, and help me,’ the maggots shouted. ‘That bastard is pretty fucking angry!’
“I know.”
Neo dashed forward.
He could see hundreds of thousand-eyed pillars looking in one direction.
The man must be there.
Countless maggots rushed along with Neo.
‘It feels weird fighting with Velkaria,’ Neo thought.
“Do you have any idea who he is?” Neo asked as he kept running.
He covered thousands of meters with each step, but the man was still quite far away.
‘It’s him.’ Velkaria muttered, panic seeping into her voice. ‘The Stage-5 God who was protecting the World Core!’
…
Author’s Note:
Three more chapters in a few hours.
PS: The month is ending, and our Golden Ticket ranking is falling. ( ˶óᯅò) !!
Give me all the Golden Tickets you guys are saving, so that we can maintain the rank in Top 10 Golden Ticket rankings. (?
´ ˘ `)♡