‘I was not looking at the bigger picture until now.’
After hearing Elizabeth talk about the Time use of his All-Shadow, Neo realized he had been too straightforward in his approach.
He needed to be innovative.
Brashly swinging a sword covered in death and darkness could only take him so far.
Gaining enlightenment through hard work was good, but if he could add innovation to the recipe, his arsenal of abilities would grow tremendously.
Neo’s biggest advantage was his high mastery of several elements. And he had been very basic in their uses until now.
“Should we continue?” Elizabeth asked. “I can show you more techniques if you want.”
“Please do.”
Neo erased the unnecessary thoughts and focused on the task at hand.
He wanted to see the limits of the treasure given by Shadow Supreme. How much could it copy?
“Can you create a Clone?”
“Okay?” Neo answered, unsure of the reason.
A Clone materialized before Neo and Elizabeth.
Elizabeth controlled the Space Elementals to form a sphere around the Clone.
The Space Elementals released Gravitons, and the Space Elementals at the opposite side of the sphere absorbed them.
There was no uniformity within the Sphere.
At some places, a group of Space Elementals was releasing Gravitons, while just next to it, Gravitons were being absorbed.
The gravity within the sphere became chaotic. It crushed the Clone and kept crushing it until it was nothing but a cube of flesh made from Intent.
Neo felt a shiver down his spine.
“…Couldn’t you have gone easier on it? It might not be me, but it looks like me.”
“Why would I go easier on it? This is to help you understand the technique.
“If I hold back, the movements of Space Elementals would be weaker, and you wouldn’t be able to understand the full extent of the technique. Besides, as you said, it was not you.”
Neo could only swallow his complaints in front of her logical answer.
He created another Clone.
When he was about to start, Elizabeth stopped him.
“Don’t use the Limited Domain on the Clone.”
“That was a Domain? You can reduce it to such a small size?”
“I can, but that’s beside the point.”
“So, why can’t I use the Limited Domain on the Clone?”
“It looks like you.”
Neo was baffled. It was fine if she hurt his Clone, but he couldn’t do that? Where was the logic in it?
Before he could say anything, Elizabeth opened her mouth.
“Here, take this.” Elizabeth threw the bottle she picked up from the table.
Neo gave her a confused stare before eventually nodding.
He created a sphere of Space Elementals around it.
…
Few Days Earlier
Tyr’s Room, Tyr’s Nightmare World
The young dragon opened his eyes with slight discomfort.
He sat up and stared at his body with a confused gaze. His limbs and torso were bandaged, along with his forehead.
“I… woke up? I thought the Concept father used was Eternal Sleep.”
“I did that.”
He turned his head toward the source of the voice. His elder sister stood there.
“I apologize for not being able to greet you when you came, elder sister.”
“Don’t mind it.”
Zera looked at Tyr with a complex gaze. He had always trained himself hard. But this time, Neo and he went beyond the limit.
Tyr had been converting his life force into energy to supply energy to Truth during the fight.
Had the fight continued for longer, Tyr could’ve been in danger.
‘If his consciousness dies here, it could put him in a coma, or at worse, kill him.’
Death of the mind was always a touchy topic. It was entirely possible Tyr wouldn’t revive even with Tartarus’ unforgiving Immortality.
“How did you break father’s Concept of Eternal Sleep, elder sister?”
“Why are you asking about that?”
“I need to prepare countermeasures for our clash that would happen in the championship.”
Zera thought about it and decided to be honest.
“I used Void.”
“…?”
“I corrupted the Concept that was forcing you to sleep, and it broke apart after decaying completely.”
“I see.” Tyr nodded with a thoughtful expression. “Broke apart and decayed.”
He pulled the sheet to the side and tried to stand.
The pain made him wince. His body had been damaged beyond repair, and since he burned his life force during the battle, his natural recovery had been slow.
“You need to wait until your life force recovers.”
“I won’t have the time to train if I wait.”
Tyr walked out of the room. He had been adamant about his decision, and Zera could not stop him.
A thought suddenly came to him while he was on the way.
“Elder sister could break father’s Concept. Had she always been this strong?”
The dissonance of his father and sister’s strength and personality bugged him.
His eyes became hazy, and he stopped.
A few seconds later, his eyes returned to normal, and he resumed the walk, forgetting the dissonance.
However, the repeated logical errors he noticed had left their mark on his mind.
Unknown to everyone, the world of nightmare was changing again.
…
Few Days Earlier
Throne Room (the room beyond the door that suddenly appeared), Tyr’s Nightmare World
Darkness covered the room. The presence in the room was unsettling.
It wasn’t just the absence of light; it was as if something evil and malevolent was hiding within the darkness.
The darkness suddenly shifted.
The man sitting on the throne opened his eyes.
He was devilishly handsome.
His hair, black as midnight, cascaded over his shoulders, and his eyes glowed the color of blood.
His dragon-like hand rested casually under his chin.
…
Present
Neo and Elizabeth’s Room, Tyr’s Nightmare World
“Haah! Haaah!”
Neo plopped on the seat. He spent days trying to copy Elizabeth’s Limited Domain, and he still couldn’t use it properly.
‘The treasure lets me copy any element and its mastery up to Expert rank.’
‘After that, I need to put in some effort.’
He was not discouraged.
It was already shocking he could deploy mimicked Domains. Although he had to train a lot, he wasn’t going to complain about such a useful boon.