Jack felt his body freeze.
The air around him was heavy and suffocating, as though an unseen force pressed down on everything.
The faint rustle of leaves in the distance was drowned out by the pounding of his own heart.
'There is no way she is only S-rank!'
Emma and Apollo had told him Gaia was an S-rank Awakener.
But the terror he was feeling told him she was far stronger than that.
"I asked you a question…."
Gaia's voice cut through the oppressive silence.
She stopped speaking and frowned, turning towards Typhaon's Core.
The towering tree pulsated faintly with an eerie green glow.
"Typhaon is… asleep?"
She placed her hand on the tree's trunk.
"What did you and Neo Hargraves do to Typhaon?"
"Neo handled it just as he said he would," Jack's voice quivered.
He struggled to speak due to the overwhelming pressure of Gaia.
She reigned in her pressure, and the oppressive atmosphere lightened, allowing Jack a breather.
The breeze returned, carrying with it the faint scent of charred wood and damp earth.
A few moments later, Zeus arrived, carrying Apollo in his arms.
Both of them had been healed by Gaia before she met Jack.
The air grew tense once again as Zeus stared at Jack with a stern gaze, while Apollo remained unconscious.
Gaia closed her eyes, her focus entirely on analyzing Typhaon's condition.
Her presence, even subdued, felt like a tempest barely contained.
Jack, on the other hand, had different worries.
'Where did Neo disappear to?'
'Don't tell me he had a different way of leaving the Shadow World and he left using it?'
'Hahaha, I didn't waste my reward, right?'
Underworld, Shadow World
Neo inserted the flag into the flag post with a soft click.
"I guess this counts as the trial being completed."
"Yes, it does, O Great Child of Monarch."
Neo turned around when he heard the familiar voice.
Barbatos stood there, his form hidden by the robe that danced like black flames.
The Grim Reaper's familiar appearance brought a smile to Neo's face, but it quickly vanished as Neo sensed something.
"You are just a projection. Not the real Barbatos."
"Indeed, it is something akin to a hologram," Barbatos said.
He was surprised Neo noticed it so quickly.
"It seems you have progressed quite a bit on the path of Intent," Barbatos said.
The hologram in front of Neo's eyes was made of Intent. It was supposed to manifest when he completed the fourth trial.
"So what was the fourth trial about?" Neo asked. "I've completed it, but I still don't understand what it was supposed to teach me."
Barbatos looked at Neo with a serious gaze.
"The trial was to surpass yourself. You had to gain an achievement unique to yourself."
Although Barbatos didn't say it, he was surprised when he looked at Neo's condition.
'Adept Mastery in Intent.'
'A never-before-seen Concept of Death.'
'And he managed to gain the memories of all his previous lives.'
"I'm deeply honored to witness such achievements, O Great Child of Monarch. You've surpassed our expectations."
Neo rejected his bloodline's Concept of Impartial Death and gained a new, unique Concept.
To add upon it, for the first time, he had managed to sustain the memories of his previous lives 'completely'.
Just one of the two would have been enough for him to complete the fourth trial.
That was the fourth trial.
Neo had to achieve something that distinguished him as 'Neo'. Something that proved he was more than just the son of Hades
Barbatos raised his head and looked Neo in the eye.
"O Great Child of Monarch, there is a lot we want to say. However, this Intent projection cannot last for long."
"We will be direct, please pardon us," Barbatos said.
His tone carried the a sense of urgency.
"This is the Underworld of the Shadow World. Even though you are in the past, you can use the Soul Hunter badge you were given for your fifth trial.
"The fifth trial is to become a Grim Reaper and go through ennoblement.
"Please visit Grand Duchess Paimon when you have time; she will help you hide that you are from the future."
Before Neo could interject, Barbatos continued,
"Grand Duchess Paimon will be in the mansion you've met her the first time."
With those final words, the hologram of Barbatos flickered and disappeared, leaving Neo stunned.
The oppressive quiet of the Underworld pressed in around him.
'How the fuck did he know I'm in the past?'
Neo's thoughts raced.
While Barbatos could have guessed he had entered the Shadow World, there was no plausible explanation for how he knew Neo had gone to a past world.
Confused, Neo massaged the bridge of his nose.
"Let's just do things one by one," he muttered to himself.
He began searching for a quiet place to gather his thoughts.
The dense forest was filled with towering, twisted trees, their branches forming grotesque shapes that cast long, shifting shadows.
After an hour of wandering, Neo found a hollow area inside one of the massive trees.
The hollow was spacious, its walls glowing faintly with an unnatural green luminescence that seemed to pulse in time with his breathing.
Neo entered and sat cross-legged in the center.
"It's time I made my breakthrough," he said.
Focusing inward, Neo brought up his status screen.
[Mind Invasion, Grade 5 Awakened]
[Eternal, Grade 5 Mythic]
The battle with Zeus had pushed his progress to its limit.
He could finally rank up!
Neo closed his eyes, calming his breaths as the world around him seemed to still.
The air trembled, and the mimicked Divine Energy of the Underworld surged toward him, forming a swirling vortex.
His Core began to glow faintly, resonating with the rhythmic thrum of his heartbeat.
Hours passed in this state, the tension in the air growing thicker with each moment.
Suddenly, a crackling sound echoed within him, like glass shattering under immense pressure.
Neo's aura surged, the light of his Core intensifying.
His blood began to glow with a faint golden hue as a fierce wind rippled outward, rustling the leaves far above.
When he opened his eyes, they glowed sharp and bright, filled with immense power.
"I've completed the breakthrough," he said.
Neo's body felt weightless.
Yet every fiber of his being hummed with immense strength.
"Status," he called out.
The screen materialized before him.