Her response made Neo frown slightly.
‘Connected? Does that mean the connection will ensure she doesn’t betray me, or if she does, I’ll sense it beforehand?’ he thought to himself.
While the skill was undoubtedly powerful, Neo decided he needed to observe Velkaria over time to fully understand its effects.
“Do you know anything about Resilience?” he asked.
‘Yeah,’ Velkaria replied in a begrudging tone. ‘It’s one of my abilities. It helps me adapt to the worlds I’m invading.’
Neo asked her several more questions.
He left the Shadow Space after he received the answers to the questions he had on his mind at the moment.
He returned to his room aboard the ship.
The bed creaked softly as he sat down.
[Crownless King]
﹂Progress: 3% → 14%
[Empathic Transcendence]
﹂Progress: 7% → 10%
Neo felt his skills strengthen.
He leaned back against the bed.
‘Shared Growth will allow me to gain strength as Velkaria grows stronger.’
‘I need to find a way to let it out and train.’
He was drowning in thoughts when suddenly Neo sensed a change in his body.
The bloodline debuff weakened.
“No way… Is this the effect of Resilience?”
Neo was pleasantly shocked.
He focused inward, feeling the bloodline debuff weaken ever so slightly.
Immediately, he wondered if there a way to level up Resilience.
Temporarily removing the debuff was something he had learned to do.
But it came at the cost of his energy.
Sword Intent, Essence. Everything Neo used now consumed an enormous amount of energy.
If Resilience could ease that burden, he needed to find a way to strengthen the skill.
“It doesn’t look like the skill can level up right now… or maybe it can, but it’s not showing for now?”
Neo rubbed his chin.
Even if Resilience couldn’t level up at the moment, Neo speculated that Crownless King’s level up might strengthen the the skills it granted.
Neo thoughts were cut short by a short alarm echoing throughout the ship.
A calm voice followed the sound.
“Please come to the central room for the meeting.”
Neo stood up.
He hadn’t realized how quickly the hour had passed.
He stepped into the corridor, and made his way toward the central hall.
He passed several rooms before reaching the hall.
Inside, he found Olivia, Nicolas, and Percieval seated around a circular table made of polished black wood.
“Come sit with us, Neo,” Olivia said with a warm smile.
Despite her youthful appearance, her demeanor was that of a kind mother.
Once Neo settled into his seat, Olivia spoke in a composed voice,
“This time, our goal is to reach the world named ‘Tartarus.'”
“Reaching it is relatively simple.
“We need only two things: To get lost on the Blood Sea and to have someone with high negative karma aboard.”
The mention of the Blood Sea sent a chill through the room.
Even Nicolas, the stoic Senator, shifted slightly in his seat.
Olivia continued, her voice unwavering.
“Tartarus will pull us toward it as long as we satisfy these two conditions.”
Neo was surprised to heard the word Tartarus.
However, it had no connection to the Underworld he knew.
Tartarus was an independent world.
“Why is that world called Tartarus?” Neo asked.
Before Olivia could answer, Percieval leaned back in his chair, his hammer resting casually against the table, and spoke,
“That world only pulls people with high negative karma. You could say it’s a den of evil, and it doesn’t let anyone leave once they step on its land.
“That’s why it’s named Tartarus.”
Olivia nodded in agreement. “The fourth person originally chosen for this mission was someone with incredibly high negative karma. But we didn’t expect that person would be replaced by you, Neo, and that you would become an Executioner as well.”
“Now that we know where we are going, let’s do ‘it’,” Percieval said. “I will go first.
“My mission is to find and collect Ares’ God weapon and his corpse, if possible. According to the Sphinx, Ares died in Tartarus.”
Neo became confused at the sudden shift in the conversation.
His attention, however, was pulled by something else.
“Ares is… dead?”
“You didn’t know?” Percieval raised an eyebrow before nodding to himself. “Oh, right, you’re a new Executioner.
“Listen carefully, and don’t share the information I’m about to tell you.
“Only a few people know about this, and I’m explaining it because all Executioners need to be aware of it.”
Percieval locked eyes with Neo.
“All of the Old Gods are dead,” Percieval said bluntly. “Ares, Gaia, Hermes, Dionysus—none of them are alive. The Gods don’t protect us because there is no God alive to do that. We’re on our own.”
Neo was stunned.
His mind reeled, struggling to process Percieval’s words.
If the Gods were gone, then how was Amelia, a direct descendant of Poseidon, even born?
And how had their world remained safe from the Outer Gods all this time?
Percieval ignored his shock and leaned back in his chair.
Olivia, however, noticed Neo’s furrowed brows. Stay updated with My Virtual Library Empire
Her voice was gentle as she asked,
“Do you need some fresh air? We can have the meeting later if you’re not feeling well.”
Her motherly concern was evident in her eyes, and her soft features seemed to radiate warmth and care.
Neo took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
“I’m okay. We should continue the meeting.”
“If you say so,” Olivia replied, though she didn’t look entirely convinced. “But if there’s any problem, don’t hesitate to tell us.”
She turned her attention back to the others and added,
“My mission is to help us return from Tartarus. That world has an ability to trap anyone who enters it, and I’m here to help you all deal with that.”
“My mission is to collect Tartarus’s Sacred Treasure,” Nicolas said.
The three of them then turned their attention to Neo.
Percieval misunderstood his silence and offered an explanation.
“The Sphinx tells us only our missions, and not others. It ends us creating confusion on missions. It why we started exchanging the details beforehand to help us coordinate.”
“Does that mean I can work alone after we reach Tartarus?”
“You can, Neo,” Percieval said, his smile vanishing. “But I wouldn’t recommend it. That place is hell.”
…
Author’s Note:
The discord link is on my profile. It’s also below the synopsis on the novel’s main page.