Tyr was no longer conscious. Ava and Elizabeth prepared to fight.
Zera had her World at the tips of her fingers, ready to deploy it at a moment’s notice.
But Neo remained still.
He recognized that presence and the Intent. He finally understood who was behind the door that appeared weeks ago.
The entrance of the arena opened, and the man – the God – with a familiar appearance walked in.
Long black hair, blood-red eyes, arms covered in dragon scales, and two horns over his head.
“Why do you look so surprised?” the man spoke. Death seemed to hum with a single word of his. “Is this not what you expected?”
No one could move.
The man’s presence and Death bore down on them like a predator looking at its prey.
Zera was the same as Neo. She recognized the man.
“What are you doing here?” she asked him.
“I am the owner of Tartarus.”
Answering her, he walked towards Neo, who had yet to say anything.
“Why are you not speaking, Hargraves? Or are you still trying to verify the authenticity of my identity with Intent?”
Neo opened his mouth and closed it. Words would not come out.
He finally met him. There was a lot he wanted to say. There was a lot he had planned to say.
But he never thought they would meet under these circumstances.
“Dad?” Neo asked, still doubting if this was reality. What if this was a part of the Nightmare?
“I’m not a part of the Nightmare. You should be able to sense that with your Nightmare affinity.”
Neo nodded.
There was more. His Death was ringing like alarms. It was warning him to run away. To escape. The God before him was strong, and he was going to kill them all.
There was no way for them to win.
They had to escape.
Neo ignored the warning of Death and opened his mouth.
“Why are you using Tartarus to do… this?”
“I’m punishing evildoers. There is nothing wrong with that.”
“There is nothing ‘wrong’ with that? This world is pulling innocent Darkness users—”
“There is no innocent Darkness user.” The man spoke with eerie calmness. “They have eaten others for their powers. Where is innocence in that?”
“So have I, and you too.”
Neo’s voice came out a pitch higher than he would’ve liked. His emotions were jumbled. He didn’t know how to feel about this encounter.
“I’m a God. I am the one who Judges, not the one who is judged.”
“What….?”
The arrogance behind the man’s words left Neo stunned.
He doubted his own ears.
The God who the Grim Reapers had sworn their loyalty to, the God who was called the Incarnation of Justice, the father he had always wanted to meet… was this?
“Make no mistake, Neo. Being arrogant is not what makes one wrong. Being weak does that.
“Arrogance is the right of the strong.”
Neo felt nauseous.
They had spoken for less than one minute. It was enough for him to hate the man.
“Why are you here?” he spoke through his gritted teeth.
“I am here to take back what belongs to me.”
“…?”
“You have given up on being a Judge. You are no longer my successor.”
Neo felt a stinging pain in his chest. He looked down with Intent Vision and noticed Hades’ hand had pierced his chest.
It grabbed the Blessings and ripped them out.
A sudden wave of weakness washed over Neo. He lost the boost of elemental manipulation, stat multiplier, and the healing.
But the man acted too fast for him to react.
He held the Blessings within his fist, and his other hand shot out and grabbed Neo’s neck.
“Now that I have taken what belongs to me, there is no need to entertain you anymore.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Neo tried to pry open the man’s hand. However, his body wouldn’t listen to him.
The loss of Blessings left him weak and disoriented. His own healing wasn’t enough to close the gaping hole in his chest, and Hades was using something to weaken him further.
“A mistake like you does not have the right to hold the name of Hargraves.”
“So what?” Neo spat. “I don’t like Impartial Death, and I will never accept it.”
“That’s why you will die here.”
“Try it. I’m Immortal.”
“And I’m the God of Death.”
Neo’s vision went dark.
Hades devoured his body and soul. He let go of his hold over Time and looked towards Zera, Ava, and Elizabeth.
“Where is Neo?” Elizabeth asked.
It took her only a split second to realize Hades had done something in the moment where he had frozen Time.
She was about to move when a hand stopped her.
“Don’t.”
Zera couldn’t stop her hand from shivering.
The Time Freeze had stopped her too.
It shouldn’t have been possible.
She had the protection of Void, and hardly anyone at the same rank as her could affect her. Even if they stopped Time, she would remain unaffected.
But that was not what happened now.
There was only one explanation.
‘He is far stronger than me.’
Beads of sweat fell from her chin.
They could not win. The man was too strong. He had not acted until now as the rules of the Nightmare forbade him from direct interference.
Destroying the Nightmare World broke his shackles and allowed him to run wild.
“I will give you two choices.”
The man raised his fingers.
“Die here, or repent in the Nightmares until your natural end.”
“Hades, you should—”
“Where is Neo?” Elizabeth spoke over Zera. “What did you do to him?”
“He was a blemish on the name of Hargraves. I merely delivered the punishment for it.”
“What?”
“Ours is the family of Supremes. Cowards like him who reject their destiny have no right to live.
“I might’ve forgiven him if he had some worth. But to be as untalented as he was even with the bloodline of Hargraves?
“That wouldn’t be tolerated.”