Ares' words made Apollo grit his teeth.
Ares threw the documents in his hands towards Apollo.
Apollo caught the stack of papers and looked through them.
"…How is this possible?"
"Now do you understand why I'm not sending a search party for this… Neo Hargraves?"
"I've sent his details to Gaia. She used them to read his Fate since it would help us know more about him before we try to recruit him. But—"
"Gaia said 'Neo Hargraves' doesn't exist."
"Yes, she didn't find the Fate of anyone named Neo Hargraves."
Apollo's lips were pressed together in a thin line.
He read the documents multiple times.
Their contents, however, remained the same.
"In the vision of the future, I saw Neo Hargraves holding the Child of Mana. How can he save the Child of Mana if he doesn't exist?" Apollo said with uncertainty.
"We still don't understand how your Trait works.
"It shows you the future, but the future can be changed if we use the information we have gained from the vision. This is just one example.
"Maybe this person, Neo Hargraves, is a symbol of something that will help us find the Child of Mana." Ares explained.
"You are saying the vision was a metaphorical vision instead of a literal vision?"
Apollo pondered over Ares' words.
He had calmed down and realized Ares' point made sense.
He scratched his head.
"Sigh, sorry about shouting at you. I'll leave."
"Wait, before you leave, I have a new assignment for you."
"An Anomaly has been defeated three weeks ago in Algeria."
Apollo stared at Ares in shock.
"How!? Anomaly can't be defeated, only contained or avoided! This is why we classified them as Anomalies instead of normal monsters—"
"Calm down. I don't know the complete details myself."
"One of the refugees has been saying the Anomaly #33 was slain."
"Anomaly #33? That's the Anomaly that controls Arzew. Is this information credible?"
"I'm not sure about that. The refugee found out about the information when he was traveling through Egypt."
Before he could voice his doubts, Ares added,
"The rumors of Anomaly #33 have spread as far as Egypt. The refugee heard the rumors on the way here."
"So it's not confirmed information."
"That's why I want you to go to Arzew and scout the place. If a Myth capable of defeating an Anomaly has appeared, we need to scout him and get him on our side before others."
"Who is coming with me?"
"Oh, Athena and…!? Wait, what?!" Apollo was stunned. "Why is Nyx being sent out on a simple mission ?! She is one of the few S-rank awakeners on our side!
"Send her somewhere where she is needed more. I can deal with this mission myself."
"Apollo…" Ares sighed and removed his glasses to clean them. "Someone who defeated an Anomaly isn't normal.
"We need to take precautions. Also, the reason I'm sending Nyx is something else."
"A Necromancer has appeared in Spain."
Apollo never thought he could be surprised so many times in one day.
But it seemed he thought wrong.
He opened his mouth and closed it, unable to form words.
"The last time a Necromancer appeared, he razed Russia to the ground. We can't take risks like that again.
"It's best to nip the bud before it grows."
Apollo had no words to retort with.
Niles Radcliff, the Myth of Walking Corpses, the Necromancer, had been defeated 17 years ago.
Although Niles was strong, if Apollo fought him now, he was sure he could defeat Niles easily.
All awakeners had grown in the last seventeen years.
The apocalypse – Father of Anomalies – had forced them to grow stronger.
Now, awakeners as strong as Niles Radcliff were, although not common, many.
Apollo started to tremble.
Ares didn't say anything when he noticed Apollo's reaction.
The mental scars Niles Radcliff left behind were too deep.
They might've grown stronger, but just the name of Necromancer was enough to make most awakeners shake in their boots.
"Honestly, I wanted to send Zeus on this mission."
Ares covered his mouth to divert the topic.
"But he is in Brazil."
Apollo nodded with a subdued expression.
Another sigh left Ares' lips.
Normally, Apollo would've been surprised, asking what Zeus was doing in the territory of Titans.
Library, Demigod Academy, True Nexus World
The crunchy noise was low, but loud enough for most to hear.
Mars and Arthur ignored the noise and spoke in hushed voices.
"You are saying Neo said he would help you get Bones of Old Gods?"
"Yeah, and yesterday, this weird lady found me, saying Neo had told her he would take me to somewhere we can get Bones of Old Gods from."
"What are you two talking about?"
Felix stood behind the two, staring at them with an unamused stare.
"I just heard you two talking about sneaking out with Neo."
"A-ahaha, I think you misheard," Arthur stammered, a cold sweat flowing down his back. "We were talking about Nico. The next class crystal element kid."
"I see. Sorry, I thought you were talking about something else."
Felix turned around and left to pick some books from the shelf.
After she left, a sigh of relief escaped Arthur's lips.
"We barely survived," Mars smiled bitterly.
"You said it. I don't want to hear a three-hour lecture again." Arthur slumped. "It was Neo and Jack who sneaked away. Why is she scolding us?"
"Don't worry. I'm going to whip those two when they return," Felix said.
She returned with three books and sat in front of Mars and Arthur, next to Clara and Sean.
"Do they think Shadow World is a backside garden? They entered it with just two of them!"
The more Felix thought about it, the more irritated she became.
"If you are going to do something dangerous, then tell us, dammit! We'll help you! Why go alone?!"
Moments later, Arthur, seeing Felix was not getting angry at the mention of Shadow World, spoke up.
"I've been curious about something."
"Isn't it dangerous to let people enter Shadow Worlds?" Arthur spoke, confused. "I don't understand why the Council hasn't put a ban to stop people from entering Shadow Worlds?"
"Huh?" Felix frowned. "Why would the Council do that? Shadow World is a good way to train for those who have destructive abilities and can't use them in our world."
Arthur's words trailed.
He carefully organized his thoughts and spoke,
"If someone ends up in a 100% Synchro Shadow World, they can end up altering the past of our world if something goes wrong."
"After all, any change in a 100% Synchro Shadow World affects our world. Be it past or present."
"What are you talking about? It doesn't matter what you do in Shadow World; it doesn't affect our world. That's why it's so useful."
Arthur's brows creased when he realized Felix was serious about what she was saying.
He turned to look at Mars, but he had the same expression as Felix.