Neo felt it instinctively.
Destroying Typhon's Core was beyond his current capabilities.
Forcing it into a deep slumber was his current limit, since his Concept of Death leaned towards it.
But Neo wasn't discouraged.
His strength would soon soar when he made a breakthrough in his Eternal Trait and Mind Invasion Trait.
Each breakthrough would increase his strength by several folds.
Besides, his goal was to rescue the Child of Mana, not to defeat Typhon.
He spread out his senses.
A few seconds later, he sensed hundreds of presences inside the massive, pulsating tree trunk ahead of him.
They were lives that Typhon was transforming into monsters.
Neo's expression darkened.
He steadied his grip on his blade.
Divine Swordsmanship Fourth Stance: Ryu no Mai.
Neo slashed hundreds of times in a split second.
The massive tree groaned as the portion where the lives—humans—were held captive was cut into countless small pieces.
The humans, freed, fell like leaves in autumn.
Neo used Darkness to cushion their fall.
The black mist spread across the forest floor like a gentle shadow.
All sorts of people had been captured by Typhon—old, young, female, male.
The glade was soon filled with the quiet sound of their unconscious bodies settling onto the forest floor.
Some of them were normal, their faces pale but intact.
However, a few of them had grotesque transformations.
A woman had a mantis scythe for an arm, its jagged edge glinting menacingly under the faint moonlight.
A child had the head of a centipede, its antennae twitching even in unconsciousness.
Neo's gaze combed through the freed captives.
He was looking for the Child of Mana.
Daniel had told the Association about his sister's appearance.
Neo recalled reading the description in the report during the Council meeting.
It didn't take him long to find her.
She was a girl with brown hair and a distinctive scar on her face.
The night air felt colder as he neared her still form.
He was about to pick her up when he abruptly stopped.
He looked at his body—a mass of red lightning sparking and crackling with barely contained energy.
Let's not touch her when I'm
He didn't have much time left before he died.
Although he would have loved to regenerate his complete body, he didn't have enough Divine Energy for it.
Suddenly, the Child of Mana stirred.
Her eyes opened—hollow, empty sockets staring directly at him.
"Hehehehehe, you are late," she said.
Her voice was like the screech of metal grinding against metal.
As the Child of Mana opened her mouth, Neo caught a glimpse of pitch-black darkness inside.
"Late. Late," the child cackled. "I've eaten this human child already!"
You are not the Child of Mana.
Disbelief was apparent in Neo's voice.
"Correct!" the Child of Mana clapped like a broken doll, her hands jerking unnaturally.
"If you are wondering how I'm awake, then I'm not.
"This is the Intent, or Will—if you call it Will—I put into the Child of Mana to talk to you."
Her creepy laughter echoed through the forest, bouncing off the trees like a haunting melody.
"Sheesh, that was surprising. I never thought you would have a Concept like that—Eternal Sleep/Death.
"My plan failed because of you. I wanted to wake up today itself."
Despite saying it had lost, Typhon's Intent never stopped laughing.
The twisted glee in its voice only made the silence of the forest more unsettling.
Concept…? How do you know that word?
The word wasn't supposed to be coined in this era.
"From the memories of the Child of Mana!" the entity said with a wide, unnatural smile. "I would love to talk to you more, but this is it. My Intent has been spent."
Under Neo's gaze, the Child of Mana crumpled into dust, scattering into the cold night breeze.
Neo stood there frozen.
He kept clenching fists and unclenching them.
He didn't understand what had happened.
He didn't want to understand it.
The faint glow of his night illuminated the surrounding trees as his thoughts raced.
The cruel reality didn't stop for him.
It continued to move on.
[Quest 'Fate of the World' failed]
[You could not protect the Child of Mana]
[Questline 'End of the World' has started.]
[Countdown will begin]
[Time left until the end of the world: 39 years, 4 months, 16 days, 9 hours, 47 minutes, 23 seconds]
[Quest 1: See the End of the World.]
[Reward: Level up {Mind Invasion} x 3]
[Quest 2: Be the last human alive.]
[Reward: Level up {Eternal} x 1, Whisper of Time x 1]
[Quest 3: Inflict a wound on Angel of @$!@$AFS]
[Reward: Life Affinity]
Neo stared at the quest screen.
The cold, metallic smell of the air lingered around him, and the distant sound of breeze rang in his ears.
The dim glow from the floating screen illuminated him.
The realization of the failure slowly dawned upon him.
He failed, and the world would end in 39 years because of it.
This has to be a joke, right?
We came from the future.
If the world ends now, the future won't exist.
It wasn't supposed to be possible.
But the truth was before his eyes.
The words he had told Jack weeks ago resonated in his mind.
'The future can change.'
Their actions in the past would affect the future.
As if to mock Neo's confusion, a door of shadows appeared next to him.
It materialized with a whisper of cold wind, chilling the space further.
Only pitch-black darkness existed beyond the door and it absorbed all light around it like a void.
An ethereal voice flowed out from it, soft but carrying an edge of authority.
"Neo Hargraves, your Trial has been successfully completed. You can enter this door and return to your world," said A #22, one of the Gatekeepers of the World of Shadows.
There won't be my world if this place is destroyed!