Apollo added,
“Timeless Sun is a Spirit, but we didn’t know it at first. It was named Anomaly #55 and its name remained even after we formed a contract.”
Kane was amazed and horrified.
He struggled to fathom the strength of Association that was able to form a contract with a living sun.
‘And the strongest awakener of that association was defeated by Anomaly #79, which is currently targeting Neo and me,’ he thought bitterly, his mood taking a turn for the worse.
Although it was unnerving to be looked down upon by a living sun – especially because they could feel its gaze – Kane and Neo became used to the presence of Anomaly #55 after a few days.
They moved towards Gibraltar Strait at a swift pace.
According to Emma, the situation was worsening in Spain.
If they didn’t hurry, the Necromancer would invade Portugal.
They reached Fnideq in three weeks.
“We are only a day away from Gibraltar Strait. After that, we just need to cross the sea and we will reach Spain,” Emma said as she sat beside Neo.
“Wouldn’t we need to enter deeper into Spain to meet… him?” Neo said.
He did not want to call Jack a Necromancer because the title was given to him as a stigma.
‘Only a few days more and I can meet Jack,’ he thought. ‘I was the one who brought him to this world and I wasn’t there for him when he lost control to the Darkness.’
The air of melancholy around him was clear to Emma.
“Don’t do anything you will regret when we reach Spain,” she said.
“I won’t.”
Neo had already made up his choice on whether he would help Apollo and Emma defeat Jack or not.
He was gazing at the night sky – they had left the area of Anomaly #55 a few days ago – when Emma stood up and patted the dust off her clothes.
“The Anomaly #79 will be arriving in a few minutes.
“Today is the first day of the ninth month. The Anomaly will be completely different from the one you’ve been facing until now. Be careful.”
She left after giving him the advice.
‘She is really a sociopath,’ he thought as he watched her fading back.
He could understand they didn’t help him fight Anomaly #79 because it was dangerous.
But leaving him without feeling any guilt showed him how she was.
‘Apollo might be annoying, but he is better than her at least.’
Neo looked at the flare in his hands.
‘He told me to use it if Anomaly #79 was too much for me to handle alone.’
Neo had no intention of asking for Apollo’s help.
Still, Apollo’s action brought a smile to Neo’s face.
He could tell Apollo was treating him nicely as Neo was a kind hero in his eyes.
‘Apollo is like a tsundere.’
While Neo was examining the flare, a high-speed projectile entered his range of senses.
A split second later, the ‘projectile’ was in front of his face already.
The statue monster pulled back its blade and slashed towards Neo’s back.
‘It’s fast–’
As if the monster had been baiting Neo, its speed suddenly became a dozen times faster, catching Neo by surprise.
He flew back, smashing through the buildings and crashed into an abandoned hotel.
“Cough! Cough!”
Neo grabbed his sides.
He felt a wet sensation, and his hand was covered in blood.
‘It breached my Ocean’s Embrace Spell easily.’
Just as Neo completed his thoughts, the statue monster broke through the walls and attacked.
Neo side-stepped to dodge the attack.
The monster predicted his move and changed the trajectory of the blade.
Again, the speed of Anomaly #79’s attack suddenly became faster, catching Neo by surprise.
‘Shit! This fucker is purposefully using slow attacks first to throw me off rhythm.’
Neo pulled Obitus out of the sheath to block the monster.
Thunderous shockwaves erupted, shattering the glass panels of the hotel, and webbed cracks formed on the ground.
Neo was about to use his Aura Blade when…
“….!?”
Dozens of statue monsters broke through the walls and ambushed him.
All of them were as strong as the statue monster Neo was currently fighting.
‘This is bad.’
…
“Will he be able to handle it?” Apollo asked.
They were at a safe distance from Neo’s battle.
“Yeah. For today at least,” Emma said. “We’ve made sure the town was empty, so he has to fight against only Anomaly #79.
“It should be manageable – barely – with the strength he has revealed,” she lied with a straight face.
According to her estimate, if Neo was only as strong as he showed, he would be defeated today.
Emma had no intention of helping him.
She knew about the flare Apollo had given to Neo secretly, and she planned to stop Apollo if he decided to help Neo.
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‘He might try to help the Necromancer. I need to use all chances to find out how strong he is.’
“You think he has been hiding his strength?” Apollo asked, snapping Emma out of her thoughts.
“I’m not sure. But he is too normal for someone who took down an Anomaly,” Emma said. “There is nothing noteworthy about him except his mastery of Darkness.”
“I hope he is okay,” Apollo said.
Despite being out of visible range, he could sense Neo’s position.
Neo was having a hard time.
Just then, a groan sounded behind Apollo.
He turned around and looked at Kane, who was unconscious but writhing on the ground.
“I still think Neo should’ve done it like Kane. He wouldn’t have to worry about injuries from Anomaly #79 if he fought it in dreams,” Apollo said.
“They can die in dreams too,” Emma interjected.
“Still, he would’ve been able to fight without restraints since injuries in dreams don’t carry over to real life.”
Anomaly #79 would chase its target everywhere.
Even in dreams.
At Apollo’s suggestion, Kane was made to fall asleep with sleeping pills to fight the monsters in dreams.
Apollo and Emma shifted their focus to Neo’s battle.
Neo used a chant and summoned giant bone hands from the ground.
The giant bone hands decayed anything – even statue monsters – when they touched it.
Still, it was nothing against the overwhelming numbers of statue monsters.
Neo jumped and ran on the wall of the skyscraper to escape the encirclement.
The hundreds of statue monsters fused into each other and formed a giant hand.
They attacked Neo and smashed him into the ground.
…
“It feels like shit.”
Neo muttered, lying in the bottom of a deep crater.
His body creaked when he tried to move, and he bled from multiple injuries.
“I’m going to be defeated if I keep fighting like this.”
He stared at the countless stars in the night sky as he sensed the ocean of statue monsters rushing in to drown him.
Instead of standing back, Neo put his hand into his pocket.
“Oi, come out. It’s time you do some work.”
The caterpillar in his jacket resisted his pull and refused to leave the comfort of his pocket.
Kyuuu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu!
It refused, protesting because Neo only fed it shadow elementals for the past eight months.
Kyu! Kyuu!
Neo was exasperated.
“Does this look like a time to make demands to you?”