22 Neo stared into Seeker's bestial eyes, noticing a sense of wrongness in them. And then it was suddenly gone, replaced by his carefree and insouciant attitude."Why are you here spacing out?" Seeker questioned."Don't pretend you don't see the creature on the ground, weirdo," Neo retorted."Of course I do. What's up with it? Is it pregnant? Ohh, or does it have a birthmark? Those ones are very delicious." Seeker replied, pretending to scope it out."Ohh curses, Seeker! This is my first slain demon. All the signs are there: jagged tooth, vermillion eyes… You taught me all these things, damn it!" Neo replied, facepalming with a frustrated groan."Ohh, I see. Good. Remember for the last three weeks you haven't been holding up to your end of the deal, but now that you can slay demons, that changes.""Remember, two heads per day," Seeker said, walking up to the cayherd corpse. He chopped its head off in one swift motion and then added, "One more for today."He then turned to leave, but a
23 Neo attempted a downward slash at the incoming eel, but the eel evaded the slash nimbly. Neo had been quite proficient with the sword lately due to the lessons he had been receiving from Seeker, but still, the eel had been able to evade it, partially because it was in its natural habitat while Neo wasn't, and also partially because the slash was slowed down by the density of the water. Neo was still struggling to retract his arm for a follow-up slash when the creature planted countless tendrils into his arm. Bolts of electricity coursed through his arm, heading straight for his brain and heart. Shivers ran down his spine…quite literally, Neo suspected his death was near. But instead of the expected death, Neo's body absorbed the electricity, igniting the bolts of crimson lightning in the depths of his eyes. His power soared. Neo immediately abandoned all pretense of coordination, activating the second power he had hidden since his arrival to the afterlife. He had underesti
24 The battle began as the bird's enormous talons shot forth in an attempt to skewer the giant lizard. However, the lizard was just as fast; its spiky tail impeded the talons' advancement as sparks burst forth from their point of contact, making the world shudder. On and on the battle raged, sending several bouts of shockwaves across the battlefield. The palpable killing intent finally receded somewhat, and Neo's tensed breath died down. Neo looked up with a wry smile on his face, resisting the urge to black out at that moment. The shockwaves from the battle kept brushing against his mantle, even though he was several hundred meters away. "Damn!" Neo reckoned one hit would kill him ten times over and he wasn't willing to find out if he was right. Quickly, he carried his dazed self away; if he lingered any longer, he might not survive the collateral damage from the battle. He had to do something—and fast. Neo dumped the spices and herbs somewhere and took to his heels as he he
Neo sat leaning against the wall. He was audibly gasping for air, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He was shifted uncomfortably on his butt; his butt hurt too bad, everywhere did. His mantle was stained with his blood, and his inky black hair was ruffled and dirty. He was looking like a product of a long-forgotten sewer."Damn cursed world!!"Neo cursed aloud, and the world shuddered in reply. The leviathans and whatever it was that seemed more powerful than them were still battling.Neo tried to hold back his tears and steel his resolve, but he was failing woefully. He was just a kid after all, a lost kid. And he had survived enough pain in these last few months to last a lifetime.If things kept going that way, Neo felt he would break one day, maybe even sooner than he anticipated. He feared the possibilities of his future the most if things didn't change.At that point, he desired death... but not too desperately. No one really wants to die; the survival instincts of humans a
"And that's the greatest mistake you've ever made," Seeker bellowed.Neo jerked his hand forcefully away from Seeker. "Hey, what's up with all this? You're acting strange and weird, and it seems you know something I don't. I need an explanation for all this, okay?" Neo yelled, his throat bobbing heavily in fury. "You seek explanation, well then. Explanation you get," Seeker said. "This, you see right here," he started pointing to the murals, "is called the devil's painting. It's a prophetic enchantment. Once you set your eyes on it, it dictates and manipulates your life in this cursed valley. Remember I told you there was no way out of here? That… was wrong. The only way to be free and leave this place in one piece is to complete this prophecy.""What the hell!" Neo exclaimed. He wanted to ask how possible the phenomenon was, but then he remembered that in that cursed reality, everything and anything was possible. He had heard that fact a million times over, from his parents to the a
"I told you to stay still, but you didn't listen. Now look at you," Seeker said, approaching Neo's weak, broken body.Seeker's eyes suddenly lost life, and his figure went limp. He shivered slightly, and some energy left him. Neo, teetering on the brink of losing consciousness, saw a vaguely familiar floating orb of pristine light float out of Seeker. It was his soul. Neo, in his haphazard guesses, had been right. Seeker could possess other people. Therefore, the body Neo had known him with turned out not to be his after all. Surprisingly, the soul of the creature Seeker had hijacked its body, while weak, was still alive. Its pristine light flickered, obscured by a misty haze, as it clawed at its face. The pain seemed to be sifting from his soul to its almost lifeless body. Neo felt if he could just reach the creature, he would be able to heal it with the power bestowed to him by [Soul Stinger]. But then, he was just too late as the soul seeped its last pristine light and imploded
REAPER'S GLYPHS [language of the divine]Name— Reapling Neolin. Progress: Beast souls— 28Monster souls— 16Demon souls— 1…..Innate ability— Crimson nebulaeRemarks: You wield a tremendous power; its prowess can only be limited by your mortal body.**Reaper's gifts— soul stingerReaper's remark: Energy is the foundation of all things. Perks: You gain great affinity to souls of the living. You can repair or destroy it.Quirks: During each attack, your souls becomes exposed.Progress— 3Specter— Ten lives per second (soul tied), bone of contention (soul tied), cave mantle, weepers fury, whispering fang, willow vine, moon witness, dew heart, dragon blaze.Skin-?Phantom-?Neo had forgotten the ecstasy of entering his soul core for a while. Checking the glyphs with the backdrop of the mist was kind of aesthetically pleasing, or probably being in his soul core was kind of soothing. Neo couldn’t tell which. Not that it mattered anyway. There were also some noticeable changes in Neo’s
## The Years of DestructionRight in the middle of a reinforced alloy hall, was a spherical manifestation of twirling darkness about three meters tall. Its very existence seemed to sap away the light present in the hall, hence it was called the rift. Two concave mirrors were placed on each side of the rift, and a strange crystal cone was placed right in front of it so that its pointed side was facing the floor. Yet the cone stood, not adhering to any known laws.On the other side of the room stood an officer, holding a young man of about sixteen years old, leading him trepidatiously toward the rift with fear and pity written all over his face. The boy had a tired look on his face, the image of the rift reflected in his crimson red eyeballs, that were void of any emotion save for suppressed fear, caged resentment, and stinging anxiety.The rift was greedily absorbing the soft glow of light in the hall, radiating immense, bone-chilling cold in return. Neo was shaking slightly and gritti