“The Great I can’t let this get bigger,” warned Nyxtharion #28.
“Let’s stop it. The Great I will take it again,” decided Nyxtharion #2.
The hivemind pulled tight.
A powerful presence surged through the hivemind, sucking the madness out of Neo.
It hurt them, like fire in their heads.
All of them together could not even carry half of the madness Neo was feeling.
Neo took a big breath, feeling better, even if only a little.
The shadows quieted down, and he could see again.
He looked up, still shaky.
“Thank you,” whispered Neo.
“The Great I took your madness again. This is the second time. It’s the last time the Great I could do this,” cautioned Nyxtharion #4, breathing heavily.
Its eyes were bloodshot, and it and Nyxtharion #2 were the only ones capable of talking.
The other wall guardians needed time to compose themselves.
“What do you mean?” asked Neo, his voice weak.
“It’s too much now. If the Great I do it again, it’ll hurt the Great I too. You have to handle it alone from now on,” replied Nyxtharion #2.
Although this was supposed to be a test, they were not too hard on Neo.
The madness had been incredibly malevolent. Neo’s performance against it more than satisfied them.
Neo nodded and stood up slow.
His body felt heavy, but he was stronger than before, way stronger.
The new power filled him: strength, speed, shadow skills. He gained a huge arsenal of Shadow Incantations, and Shadow Monster summon Spells.
The Protector he devoured, Sovereign of Three Thousand Shadows, used numbers to fight.
After it was revived, it was disoriented, and had yet to adjust its thoughts to use Incantations and Spells, which was why the wall guardians were able to defeat it relatively easily.
“You’re strong now. Much stronger. But it’s not enough,” said Nyxtharion #2.
“Not enough?” questioned Neo.
“That was Zone 2’s Protector. Revived, and not as strong as the original.
“Moreover, Protectors get bigger and tougher in each lower Floor. Floor 1’s are weakest. It won’t be enough to beat Jack Hanma,” explained Nyxtharion #2.
“Then, I’ll eat more.”
“No. You can’t,” refused Nyxtharion #2.
“Why not?” demanded Neo.
“Your Darkness is too wild. One more, and you’ll go crazy. We can’t save you again,” warned Nyxtharion #2.
“I can do it. I’ve been through bad stuff before,” insisted Neo.
“No. You almost broke just now. Another will finish you,” said Nyxtharion #45.
Neo stared at them, breathing fast.
He wanted to fight back, but he remembered the voices and the madness, the yelling, and the mess. They were right. It had almost taken him.
He needed to let madness calm down a bit before devouring anything else.
“What do I do then?” asked Neo.
“You need to train,” suggested Nyxtharion #2.
“Train? I’ve got all this power already,” argued Neo.
“You have too much power. In the fight, you can barely use it all. You’ve got lots of Spells, but you don’t know how to use them right. Even against the Great I, you only used three or four of them,” pointed out Nyxtharion #69.
Neo thought about it.
He’d used Death Sword, Adamant Aegis, River of Time, Tyrant, Sword Techniques.
But the other stuff—Concepts, True Domains, Nightmare Element, Void Element, Life and Holy Element, Tremor ranked Spells like Ocean’s Embrace and Black Dawn of Despair—he never used them.
“He’s right. You were all over the place. Lots of power, but no refinement,” agreed Nyxtharion #4.
“So I train. Then what?” wondered Neo.
“You will train until your madness calms. When it does, you can eat more Protectors. But not before that,” answered Nyxtharion #2.
“…Okay. I’ll train,” Neo said.
If he had his real memories, he might’ve decided to power through insanity again.
However, since Neo’s memory had been currently altered by himself, his personality had slightly changed, which resulted in him accepting the wall guardians’ suggestion.
“Good. The Great I will teach you,” offered Nyxtharion #28.
“What are you teaching me?” asked Neo.
“Void,” replied Nyxtharion #2.
“Void? I already use Void Element,” said Neo.
“Your Void is weak. It’s not True Void,” corrected Nyxtharion #69.
“True Void…?”
“The Great I saw your past when you joined the hivemind. You learned from a Void Dragon God, correct?” asked Nyxtharion #2.
“Yeah. She taught me about Void Element,” confirmed Neo.
“She wasn’t strong enough. Her heart was weak. She couldn’t use the true power of Void herself,” explained Nyxtharion #4.
It continued,
“Void isn’t just little tricks like corrupting things, or wiping things out. Void’s true power is revealed only when you use it upon yourself.”
“It isn’t easy of course. Almost no one can do it. You need a really strong heart,” added Nyxtharion #28.
Neo remembered the Void Dragon God. She was tough, but scared. She never went all in. Even Tartarus told her the same.
“You think I can do it?” asked Neo.
“You’ve got a strong heart. The Great I have seen it. After all You lived through your Darkness. You might be able to use True Void,” believed Nyxtharion #2.
Neo’s head spun.
True Void sounded dangerous. But he could not deny it would be powerful.
Zera never talked about Outer Gods.
She just told him they were dangerous.
How? Why?
She never explained anything.
But there had to be a reason why Void Gods – the Outer Gods – were feared.
“It’s dangerous, right?” guessed Neo.
“Yes. Very. Void can eat you if you’re not ready. You would disappear,” cautioned Nyxtharion #45.
“I’m ready. I need to be strong if I want to defeat Jack Hanma,” declared Neo.
The dragons looked at each other in the hivemind. Neo’s voice was firm, and his eyes were steady. The madness was still there, but he was able to restrain it for now.
“Are you sure?” checked Nyxtharion #4 again.
“Yes. I need this. Jack’s coming, and I’m not ready yet,” affirmed Neo.
“Okay, but it won’t be easy,” warned Nyxtharion #2.
“I’m prepared for it. Teach me,” demanded Neo.
“Follow the Great I,” Nyxtharion #4 said.
The dragons took Neo to the center of the Zone.
…
Author’s Note – April Bonus Chapter System
Hey everyone! Here’s how the April Bonus Chapter System will work:
1) Bonus chapters will be released whenever Ko-fi goals are met!
2) If we reach Top 10 in the Golden Ticket ranking, I’ll release 3 chapters per day—that’s 21 chapters per week!
3) If we reach Top 15 in the Golden Ticket ranking, I’ll release 17 chapters per week!
Every bit of support helps, so let’s make this happen together!