[Death Sword (Rank: Stage 2, Mastery: Supreme) total: 107.3% → 110.75%]
[Death Sword (Rank: Stage 2, Mastery: Supreme) total: 110.75% → 114.69%]
The Death Sword was coming nicely.
He had copied 20% of Savant Mastery Space Lock and 50% of Voidfang Rain.
Two minutes and thirty-nine seconds passed.
It was the moment when the wall guardian dragons rushed at him, realizing he was the one creating multiple time loops.
“Huh?”
The wall guardian dragons did not come.
Neo became confused.
Was it possible that the dragons had not gained previous life memories and thus did not chase him?
Fifteen seconds passed since the moment when the wall guardian dragons were supposed to arrive.
Throughout the time, the sense of danger Neo felt only increased.
It took him five more seconds to realize what was happening.
‘Shit! They figured out the trick—’
Before Neo could do anything, time was turned back… by one of the wall guardian dragons.
…
Twenty seconds earlier.
Hivemind of Elder Dragon Nyxtharion the Evernight
Multiple wall guardian Nyxtharion were talking to each other through the hivemind.
“He is the source of Time Loops.”
“I believe he has time-looped multiple times.”
“Impossible! This means the Great I lost to him several times! It is impossible to happen!”
“I believe he has not yet been able to defeat the I numbered lower than 100. It is why he is not fighting the Greater I and instead trying to grow stronger through the smaller I.”
“Why is he able to use the Spells that belong to I!”
“Let’s attack him! If all of Greater I attack together, he cannot escape!”
The wall guardian dragons were in a heated debate.
They had adjusted the hivemind to make sure Neo was not able to hear their thoughts.
The reason all of this was happening was that fifty nine smaller dragons suddenly disappeared when Neo entered this Nightmare World.
It proved Neo was a threat.
His attacks lasted beyond time.
Instead of attacking him thoughtlessly, the wall guardian dragons decided to make a plan.
“I have a question.” Wall guardian Nyxtharion #21 spoke up. “Why have I been unable to defeat him? No matter what kind of ability he has, I can trap him inside Infinite Void Prison and defeat him.”
“The Great I cannot understand the same thing,” said wall guardian Nyxtharion #17, #47, #85, and #11.
“There is a way.” Nyxtharion #2 spoke up. “If he can use River of Time instantly, it makes sense we cannot stop him from going back in time. Moreover, he must have an ability that erases the chaotic time elementals around him.
“Thanks to it, we cannot notice that he is a regressor until we gain our memories. He uses those precious moments of our ignorance to grow strong, then regress.
“He has been doing this repeatedly.” Nyxtharion #2 explained.
“Those abilities…”
The other Nyxtharion grew silent.
Having such abilities sounded impossible, but that was the only way to explain why they had not been able to catch Neo.
“There is more,” Nyxtharion #2 said. “He is capable of copying the techniques of the Great I, and he is somehow connected to the hivemind.”
“With those abilities, he is like a persistent bug that just won’t be defeated,” a Nyxtharion suddenly muttered.
After listening to everything, they came to a simple conclusion: Neo would defeat them given time.
He was abusing his privilege as a secret regressor.
“Worry not! There is a way to defeat him!” Nyxtharion #4 said. “This time, I will regress instead of him!
“I will regress to before he came to this Nightmare World!
“He won’t have any memories of the Great I, and in those moments of confusion, I would defeat him!” Nyxtharion #4 explained.
Nyxtharion #2 shook its head. Unlike Nyxtharion #4, it was created from a piece of the brain of the original Nyxtharion, and it could think properly.
Even if they regressed, they would return to this timeline’s starting point.
In other words, Neo would remember almost everything.
Nonetheless, Nyxtharion did not stop them.
Regression would give them an advantage. Neo would not know they knew his plans, and they would be able to ambush him.
“We shall regress!”
…
Neo appeared in the cavern.
“Show me the progress of my copied techniques.”
[Death Sword (Rank: Stage 2, Mastery: Supreme) total: 133.6% → 145.3%]
[Voidfang Rain (Rank: Stage 2, Mastery: Savant) total: 50.11%]
[Space Lock (Rank: Stage 2, Mastery: Savant) total: 20.2%]
[Space Lock (Rank: Stage 2, Mastery: Supreme) total: 0.6%]
“Huh?”
Neo frowned.
“Death Sword is at 145%? How is that possible? It should have been at 103.4%, and why is only Death Sword’s percentage different?”
He tried to think of a reason for the difference between Death Sword and other techniques.
The other techniques came from wall guardian Nyxtharion. He would not gain copy percentage for them unless he fought a wall guardian.
Death Sword, on the other hand, could be copied as long as he gave it to smaller Nyxtharion and fought with them.
“It’s almost like I fought with only smaller Nyxtharion, and I don’t remember that.”
Neo’s mind churned.
Countless scenarios appeared in his mind.
“Is it possible that… the dragons realized what I was doing and decided to turn back time?”
Since the dragons did not know about Abyss Mirror’s ability to retain copy percentage beyond time, they would not know Neo had a way to find out that time had been turned back.
Of course, Neo himself found about this ability only now.
He was saved by pure chance.
‘The dragons must’ve hidden the one responsible for turning back time.’
‘Without looking at the regressor and noticing the chaotic time elementals around it, no one would realize time had been turned back.’
The dragons were definitely planning to ambush Neo, thinking Neo had no idea they were coming.
“I might be able to use their plan against them…”
While Neo could turn back time now and make the dragons forget about the timeline where they made a plan to ambush Neo, he did not do that.
The dragons had realized what his abilities were once already.
They could definitely do so again.
Regression wouldn’t save him anymore.
“I guess I need to do this.”
Neo used Mind Invasion to dive into his mind.
He used his trait to manipulate his own memories and create fake ones.
As for the original memories, he hid them in the center of madness and wrapped them around a thick cocoon of Intent made from useless thoughts.