"Your father imposed the concept of 'death' on them. And what is dead can be revived by necromancy and made to dance on my whims. Since my strength grows according to the strength of those I've resurrected, I'm also quite strong now."
Neo's expression did not change, but his eyes darkened.
Supres could not truly die until an Eon ended.
That was why they had dared to fight Hades.
Normally, no matter how badly damaged they were, a Supre would eventually recover. Their existence was not singular. It was distributed, and fragnted.
A Supre's body was an amalgamation of countless Elentals.
These Elentals could fuse together.
For example, if a Supre had the age and experience of fifty-four years, their "body" was not one being with fifty-four years of history.
It was thousands of Elentals, each with the age, experience, and knowledge of a two-year-old.
If two of those Elentals fused, the result would have the age, experience, and knowledge of a four-year-old.
If two of those fused again, eight years.
They could continue fusing like that until an Elental reached fifty-four years of age.
That Elental would then function as a "main body" of the Supre.
Since there were countless Elentals, there could be multiple such main bodies.
But because all those Elentals were connected, their actions never conflicted. Their orders never overlapped. They never fought each other.
This was why a Supre could lose a main body and still exist.
Lose several, and still fight.
So Hades found another way.
What if Elentals were prevented from fusing past a certain point?
If Elentals could only fuse up to the equivalent of sixteen years of age, then no fully realized "personality" could ever form.
In simpler terms, if soone's mind were permanently restricted to that of a child, then the person they once were would be dead.
Hades applied the sa concept to Supres.
And he killed them.
Because they were now "dead," Zerek could revive them.
Neo exhaled slowly.
"Let her go, Zerek. I don't think I need to explain what happens if—"
"Okay," Zerek interrupted.
Neo paused.
"What?"
"I will let her go. And everyone else too."
"What are you trying to pull?"
"Nothing. Just…"
He pointed upward.
"Just open a pathway to the True World. I want to leave this disgusting world. I don't want to live in a world where the Daos can take over at any ti."
He laughed, but there was no humor in it.
"I'm not strong enough to open a pathway. Neither is anyone else here. So I waited for you."
Neo studied him.
"I know you probably think I'm planning sothing—"
Before Zerek could finish, Neo slashed.
There was no buildup.
No warning.
The space above them split open.
A massive tear appeared in the Cosmos itself, revealing sothing beyond.
There was no light or darkness, but pure emptiness.
"There. I opened a tear in our Cosmos. It should allow you to leave this Elental Cosmos and enter the True World."
Zerek stared.
For a brief mont, he looked like he wanted to say sothing.
Then he rushed forward.
He dove into the tear without hesitation, leaving everything behind. The resurrected Supres collapsed instantly. The bindings shattered. The cages dissolved.
Zerek only took one thing with him.
Jack's body.
Neo did not stop him.
Because Neo already knew what Zerek would find in the True World.
The despair waiting there would be punishnt enough for soone who believed escaping the Elental Cosmos ant escaping control of Daos.
'It seems he never truly understood what it ans for a Dao to be corrupt,' Neo thought.
He sighed and turned back.
Then he spoke a single na.
"Beelzebub."
The butterfly fluttered down in front of him, wings shimring faintly.
"You know what to do."
The butterfly flapped its wings.
Ti twisted.
Ultris collapsed, and then breathed.
Julie gasped as her eyes snapped open.
Daniel fell to his knees, coughing.
And it did not stop there.
People from Tartarus whom Neo had once forgotten began to return.
Tyr.
Celestra.
Olivia.
Both Ava Williams.
Veldora.
The soldiers and inhabitants of Tartarus.
Even those further removed.
Erza, whom Kane had married.
Lives that had ended quietly, violently, or aninglessly were pulled back, reassembled, and returned.
Then Neo spoke again.
"Everyone else, go start repairing the Cosmos."
Elizabeth and the others watched in stunned silence as tens of thousands of Technique Spirits poured out of Neo.
They spread across the Elental Cosmos, sealing rifts, stabilizing space, reinforcing weakened laws.
No one moved to question him.
Neo walked forward.
Toward the Supre of Darkness.
The mass of horrors and abominations surrounding her recoiled. Shadows twisted nervously. The entity hesitated.
It was afraid.
Afraid it might hurt him.
Neo smiled and spread his hands.
"I missed you," he said gently. "Won't you give a hug, since we're finally eting again?"
The Darkness lost control.
It surged forward.
Embracing him. Enveloping him. Devouring him.
Neo did not resist.
He let her be.
He smiled, then slowly moved his hands.
Ti began to turn back for Moraine.
The reversal was careful, and precise.
Not everything moved at once. Only what needed to.
Those who had died at her hands began to return.
One by one, monts rewound. Bodies reford. Souls slipped back into place as if they had rely stepped out of the room for too long.
Neo's consciousness seeped into Moraine's mind.
He did not force his way in.
He entered gently, separating what had never truly belonged together.
The countless Consciousnesses that had fused into her were peeled away, untangled, and guided back to their original owners.
Each separation hurt her.
Each separation eased her.
He was eating at her madness, stripping it away piece by piece, and taking it for himself.
Then he reached deeper.
He began to take her Negative Karma.
The killings.
The despair.
The pain.
The rage.
Every scream that had echoed because of her. Every choice she had made when she was insane.
Neo took it as his own.
Reviews
All reviews (0)