It wasn’t just heavy.
Her aura contained something far worse.
The girl’s presence seemed to swell.
Her golden eyes shone with a cold chill as she stared down at Neo.
Dragon Fear.
The ground trembled beneath them.
The air thickened, warping and twisting as if space itself bent to her will.
A primal fear crept into Neo’s mind—
“I suppose this long should be enough?” Neo asked calmly.
The girl flinched.
Enjoy new chapters from My Virtual Library Empire
He seemed unaffected by her ability, Dragon Fear.
“….How are you okay?” she asked.
“While the attack was powerful, it was a mental attack, and I’m a Darkness user. I have a strong mind.”
Ava’s looked at him with a tense gaze.
A strong mind…?
That wasn’t unusual.
Almost everyone on Tartarus had that.
Her ability was supposed to work on all of them.
It had broken stronger men, reduced warriors to trembling wrecks.
Yet Neo—
He shrugged it off like nothing.
Suddenly, a third, familiar voice echoed through the room.
“Good job, Ava. I will take care of it from here.”
The space around the second chair rippled like a disturbed reflection in water, revealing a man who had been invisible until now.
“I wasn’t invisible. I was in a pseudo-Gap,” the man—Kane—said, having read Neo’s thoughts.
Instinctively, Neo shielded his thoughts to stop anyone from peeking into them.
“Oh, you can do that?” Kane questioned, surprised.
His tousled brown hair and carefree smile were unmistakably familiar.
He looked no older than Neo remembered—if anything, he looked younger.
“I’m sorry about my daughter’s test. I asked her to do it,” he said with a small laugh. “You can call your friends now.”
With a snap of Kane’s fingers, the barren room changed.
The plain wooden walls shifted and expanded.
Within moments, the simple hut transformed into a luxurious, two-story house.
Kane now sat comfortably on a plush sofa, while Ava disappeared into the kitchen, preparing tea.
Neo remained standing near the doors.
‘He doesn’t remember me.’
Neo had expected this outcome.
He had prepared for it.
He had told himself it wouldn’t matter.
Kane was alive—that was enough.
But standing here, watching him smile and speak as if they were strangers, made Neo’s heart clench.
He didn’t understand why. He shouldn’t have felt this way.
But he was sad.
The other three Executioners entered the house.
“Have a seat,” Kane said, gesturing toward the chairs.
They nodded and followed his words.
Ava returned from the kitchen, carrying a tray of tea.
The cups clinked softly as she placed them on the table.
The group talked as they took a sip of the warm tea.
“Why are you people here?” Kane asked.
He set his cup down with a soft clink and explained,
“The contact between Tartarus and anything outside is rarely possible. That’s why I don’t know your current situation and the reason why you came to this place.”
“I’m here for Ares’ God weapon and his corpse, if possible.”
“The sacred treasure.”
“To help them leave Tartarus.”
“You can leave Tartarus?” Kane’s brows lifted as he turned his gaze toward Olivia.
“Yes.”
“That’s… surprising.” Kane leaned back slightly, crossing his arms. “You should hide that ability. If anyone in Tartarus finds out about it, they will do anything to get their hands on it.”
Tartarus was a prison for those with high negative karma.
Most of its inhabitants were Darkness users.
The unique nature of Darkness had shaped a brutal society where people devoured their opponents for stats, skills, bloodlines, and more.
“I will keep that in mind.” Olivia nodded.
“What about you?” Kane’s eyes locked onto Neo.
He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he increased the output of his Intent, weaving countless fake Intent and wrapping his real thoughts with them.
“I’m here to stop the Blood Sea War.”
Neo planned to reveal his true mission to Kane—to ask for his help in blooming Everwitch Violet.
But that conversation had to wait until they were alone, far from the watchful eyes of the Executioners.
“What about you? Why haven’t you returned to our world yet?” Percieval asked.
The unfamiliar way with which he talked with Kane made Neo frown.
‘Apollo and Kane should know each other.’
‘Why is Apollo acting as if this is their first meeting?’
“I cannot do that even if I wanted to. Tartarus never lets anyone leave once it captures them. Honestly, I doubt you can do it either.”
Kane shrugged as if it didn’t bother him.
“Even if I could leave, I wouldn’t,” he continued. “I have something to do here. Of course, I will help my fellow homelanders with their task—as long as it’s not too absurd. But first, let’s have breakfast.”
“We don’t have time to waste—”
“Eat while you still can.” Kane interrupted Percieval with a casual wave of his hand. “Trust me. This is the only time you can have some peace. Taking Ares’ God weapon isn’t going to be easy.”
“You know where it is?”
“I do. I also have a way to help you guys get the Sacred Treasure and a ticket out of this damned hellhole. The only problem is…”
Kane trailed off.
His fingers tapped idly on the wooden surface before he pointed at Neo with his chin.
“Blood Sea War. Since you came here to stop that, I suppose the war will be between Tartarus and Earth?”
“Yes,” Neo replied.
Kane let out a sigh.
“I have no idea why it is going to happen and how to stop that,” he admitted. “Actually, I do know someone who has the ability to start the war.
“The problem is, they will never start a war.”
As he spoke, Ava entered the room, balancing a tray of food in her hands.
The wooden plates clattered softly as she set them down. Steam rose from the freshly prepared dishes.
She kept glancing secretly at Neo as she served.
“What do you mean by that?” Olivia questioned.
Kane took a slow sip from his cup before continuing.
“Tartarus is a hellhole. The strong eat the weak and get stronger. They keep getting stronger unless they lose their mind from Darkness and start a rampage.
“It used to happen every decade or two.
“Then the Dragon Clans appeared and stopped the constant rampages from happening. To do that, they offered people their bloodline and used it to rule over Tartarus.”
“How is that related to the Blood Sea War?” Olivia asked. She was clearly eager to find a way to stop the upcoming war.
Kane leaned forward, as he mulled over her words.
“The Patriarch of the Blood Dragon Clan can control beasts and make them impervious to the Blood Sea—for some time, at least.
“If someone attacks you from the Blood Sea, they need the help of the Blood Dragon Clan.”
“That would mean the Blood Dragon Clan—”
“Whatever you are thinking is wrong. Blood Dragon Clan is one of the only places left in Tartarus with conscience. They won’t do something like starting a war and massacring another planet.”
“We have proof that the war will happen soon.”
“That’s why I said I have no idea why the war would happen, and how to stop it.”