One Thousand Shadows.
They rushed into the machines like a flood, tearing, slicing, consuming.
For every shadow cut down, two more rose.
Neo’s regeneration, a gift from the Protector of Zone 2, combined with Harmony (Awakened) extended to them.
As long as his energy remained, his army would never fall.
But Tharnox wasn’t idle.
His body began to shift.
Spikes emerged from his shoulders. His face split open, revealing a furnace-like core. His voice deepened.
“Dear guest, now I should show you the strength and certainty of steel,” Tharnox said. “This is why you shouldn’t have refused our offer!”
He punched towards Neo, and Neo slashed.
Tharnox’s hand transformed mid movement, and he caught the sword.
His other hand morphed into a cannon and fired a stream of molten metal.
Neo dodged, but his shoulder was grazed. Smoke hissed from the burn.
His injuries began to heal within a second.
Tharnox roared and slammed both fists down.
Neo raised a wall of Darkness to block the impact.
He summoned World Ender Flames.
Flames surged from his hand, not red or orange—but deep blue, edged with black.
They burned the air, as if even sound couldn’t survive them.
Neo thrust his hand forward, and the flames crashed into Tharnox’s chest, melting layers of metal and pushing the overlord back for the first time.
Tharnox staggered.
Neo dashed in and drove the sword into his gut. A burst of death energy erupted point blank.
Steam exploded upward, and Tharnox was thrown back.
Seconds passed.
Tharnox rose slowly. His body hissed, warped. The plates barely held together.
Just when Neo was about to deliver the finishing move, something in the air cracked.
A sound that did not belong to metal or fire or death.
Neo looked to the side where the dimensional barrier between Zone 5 and Zone 6 was present.
Crack.
From the jagged rift, chains burst through.
Massive, floating, glimmering chains.
Some were wrapped in glowing runes.
Others pulsed with dull, grey light.
And behind them, stepping through as if gravity bent to his command, came a titan of stone.
“Warden-King Drolmak. The Protector of Zone 6,” Neo said.
The walls between Zone was weaker compared to the walls between Floors.
Still, Tartarus must’ve burned quite a bit of energy to help the Protector break the wall between Zone 5 and Zone 6.
Warden-King Drolmak’s body was etched with thousands of magical seals, some glowing red, others a deep violet.
A crown of chain links hovered above his bald, scarred head.
His eyes glowed pale silver, and with every step, the world seemed to tilt—mountains in the distance trembled and hunched lower, pulled downward by his presence alone.
“Who are you–” Tharnox suddenly stopped. It glitched several times, and suddenly there was a smile on its broken mechanical jaw. “Now that there are two of us, you are done!”
“Neo of the Grand Expedition,” Drolmak spoke, voice calm, deep, and controlled. “Your memory carries rebellion. Your aura sings of chaos. For the safety of the world… I will seal you.”
With a wave of his hand, dozens of chains launched toward Neo.
Neo dashed forward, meeting the chains head-on.
They slammed into him, trying to wrap, but his blade flashed.
A burst of World Ender Flames flame surged out. It burned through half the chains in a single wave.
But more came.
Drolmak wasn’t alone. Tharnox joined in with cannons. He launched a barrage of molten slag rounds.
Neo ducked, rolled, then summoned more Shadows.
They clashed with the iron beasts crawling out of Tharnox’s fallen factories.
The ground became a warzone within a warzone with shadows dancing with machines, and screams clashing with metal roars.
Drolmak landed in front of Neo.
Gravity twisted.
Neo’s feet lifted for a moment.
His bones groaned.
He was pushed sideways, then slammed into the ground without warning.
Despite everything, there was not a single change in his expression.
He was… almost bored.
“You will forget this rebellion,” Drolmak said, stepping over him. “I will erase your will.”
Neo didn’t waste words. He swung upward.
A crescent slash of Death Sword Firmament cut across the air, meeting Drolmak’s arm. The Warden-King blocked with a reinforced chain, but cracks appeared along the links. He frowned.
“You resist well. A pity.”
Chains wrapped around Neo’s arms.
The chains weren’t just metal.
They were memory-sapping bindings.
Neo’s vision blurred. His thoughts began to slip.
As his mind muddled, his body moved on its own.
Pseudo Gap and Hydralic Motion Technique.
Neo appeared far from their location, but Drolmak was already moving towards him.
Another wave of chains lashed out, while the gravity beneath Neo vanished.
His body lifted upward, caught in the sudden anti-force field.
Neo raised two fingers.
A second shadow circle formed above him.
The sky darkened.
A massive shadow dropped from above—one of his elite Fabled rank generals.
He was in cloaked in jagged armor and wielded a scythe.
The general intercepted the chains mid-air, slashing them apart before landing beside Neo and vanishing into battle again.
Tharnox launched himself at Neo’s exposed side.
Instead of dodging, Neo advanced.
He grabbed Tharnox’s face, and slammed him into the ground.
Half Tharnox’s face was crushed.
“Alright, this is enough,” Neo suddenly said. “It took time to adjust to the new stats, but thanks to you guys, it’s done.”
Neo swung his sword once.
There was no technique, no energy behind the move.
Just pure strength combined with his aura.
A cataclysmic explosion erupted. It swallowed the factories, the two Protectors, the minions, and the world itself.
When everything died down, there was nothing left just molten metal, scorched earth, and barely alive Protectors.
“You guys tanked that? I suppose I should give you credit for having powerful defense.”
Neo stood above them.
He slashed twice, this time with limited strength.
Two heads rolled over the ground.
After confirming the kill, Neo summoned True Darkness.
The whispering black sea of Darkness surged and drowned the whole world. It seeped into the Zone 6 through the cracks in the dimensional barrier.
The Darkness ate happily.
And memories sung to Neo.