Neo slid his blade back into the sheath with a soft click.
He resealed the blessing.
The Aura of Death crackled around his arms.
It tore his skin apart and injured him.
He had overdone it.
Short of breath, he turned to Jack who was in a daze.
“Wow, the hell was that?”
“Let’s run,” Neo said.
Jack commanded the Phantom Steed.
It darted forward with a blinding speed, leaving blue flames on the ground.
Jack looked behind, worried Neo could not keep up with his speed, only to noticed Neo using the flying wreckages to run at a pace no less than the Phantom Steed.
“Isn’t he supposed to be weak?”
The anti-debuffs should not have boosted Neo to this degree.
It did not take long for the Shadow monsters to return.
Although Neo killed hundreds of them, there was no end to their numbers.
The Window was filled with thousands if not tens of thousands of Shadow monsters.
Neo’s aggressive method of killing the Shadow monsters revealed their location to all of them.
Unfortunately, he had no choice but to use that reckless attack to escape the encirclement.
“Neo! The Shadow monsters are returning!”
“I know! Keep going! I’ll handle the monsters!”
Neo increased his speed and took over Jack.
He slashed.
The Aura of Death and Darkness wrapped around the blade and its length by several folds.
After killing the monsters, Neo returned to blade to the scabbard and kept running.
“You can spam that attack!?
“You fucking fraud!
“Why have you been acting like a weakling until now!?” Jack shouted as he threw Shadow Spears at the Shadow monsters.
“I’ll throw you into the midst of monsters if you curse at me again, bitch!”
Wounds appeared over their bodies at an alarming pace.
They continued to slash and attack at anything that blocked their path as they rushed to the doorway of Depth Level 4.
As soon as they entered Depth Level 4, Neo trigged the Essence Breath Spell at full power.
“Neo, stop fighting! Rest for a few minutes!”
“Why!?”
“You are dying!”
“Well, I like that!”
“Stop, you fucking crazy lunatic!”
Neo’s body was crumbling under the effects of the overwhelming amount of Death and Darkness Aura he was using.
He was walking on the thin line between death and life.
If he pushed himself more, Death would embrace him.
He would die from exhaustion.
But Neo never felt more clear-headed.
The monsters he killed, the Death Aura he created, the Death that tried to claim him.
The battlefield was covered in the presence of Death.
It was comforting.
‘More! I can do it!’
Neo pushed himself to the limit.
He had to become closer with Death.
Giant bolts of condensed red lightning erupted around Neo.
With every step he took, the presence of Death surrounding him increased by several folds.
‘This crazy guy…. He is having an enlightenment while he is dying!?’
Jack could not believe his eyes.
He started to use Darkness along with Shadow Spells.
He had to take off the burden from Neo, or Neo would die from exhaustion.
The voices spoke to him in a jarring cacophony.
Jack felt like he was being devoured by the Darkness.
But he held on.
To help Neo.
To return.
The pressure over the two decreased as they went down the Depth Levels.
They reached the boundary of Depth Level 1 covered in blood, bruises and life-threatening wounds.
“Use this.”
Neo threw the vials of healing elixir, given by Academy, towards Jack.
Jack caught them.
“What about you?”
“I don’t need them.”
Neo wanted to reach Adept-mastery in Death.
Healing himself would kill the enlightenment he was trying to gain.
“Now, get to the work,” Neo said.
Jack wanted to advice Neo to drink the elixir.
But he knew Neo would not listen to him.
Crazy bastards wouldn’t be crazy if they listened.
“I’ll do my best.”
Jack tried to activate the key.
Black circuit line patterns appeared on his arms.
They glowed with eerie, dark energy.
He put his hand on boundary and focused.
“Can you do it?”
“I should be able to. But it will take time.”
“Fine.”
Neo slashed on the ground and left a line on it.
“Don’t cross this line. I’ll make sure the Shadow monsters don’t touch you.”
The ground trembled as if earthquakes arrived.
Hundreds of Shadow monsters appeared on the horizon.
They, gathered from Depth Level 5 to Depth Level 1, rushed over like a tsunami threatening drown them.
Some of the Shadow monsters were as big as houses, some of them were faster than wind, and some had shells harder than bullet-proof shields.
Jack tried to hurry.
He aggravated his injuries and found it hard to focus on the task.
“Calm down. I’ll buy as much time as you need. Do it at your own pace.”
Jack bit his lips.
He saw Neo’s back as he stood against the horde of Shadow monsters.
He could open the Window if he took his sweet time, but Neo would not survive that long.
Jack had to hurry.
He exhaled.
Despite his worries, he tuned out everything.
The monsters…
Neo on deathbed…
Jack stopped thinking about everything.
He trusted his back to Neo.
He would do his own task.
On the other side, Neo cut off the area behind the line by creating a wall of Darkness.
He clashed with the first Shadow monster and unsealed his blessing.
The monsters attacked from all sides.
Neo moved like a blur.
He did not dodge the attacks or use Ocean’s Embrace.
His entire focus was on killing the Shadow monsters.
He slashed at anything that moved and went on a killing spree.
A whip-like tail pierced his abdomen.
Neo grabbed the tail and pulled it out from the monster’s body with a snap.
Just then, he sensed an attack from above.
He raised his head and saw a giant hand coming down to crush him.
Neo shifted and placed himself between the gaps of giant fingers.
He jumped, running over the monster’s arm, and used the tail of the monster he killed to choke the giant Shadow monster.
The giant Shadow monster tried to throw him off.
Neo sent Aura of Death through the tail into the monster.
Dead, the giant monster fell and crushed dozens of monsters beneath it.
Flying harpies-like Shadow monster pounced on Neo while he was still in air.
He created a condensed sphere of Death Aura and made it explode.
The attack did not kill them, but it slowed them.
Neo landed on the ground.
He fought like a mad berserker.
His mind was focused on killing as many Shadow monsters as he could.
The presence of Death covering the surroundings continued to increase.
‘More!’
‘More!’
‘More!’
Neo killed any monster that stepped close to the line and the wall of Darkness.
Time lost its meaning to him.
He continued to fight.
Suddenly, Jack’s voice rang.
“Neo, it’s done! Let’s escape!”
The border of the Window opened.
However, Neo did not stop.
He was immersed in the battle.
The increasing Death had intoxicated him.
Neo did not realize his Aura of Death was going under massive changes.
It grew more sinister.
More malevolent.