"Old Gods…?" Jack hesitated. "You mean 'them'?"
"Yeah," Neo said. "The continent's crust was made from the Titan Oceanus. She wants to excavate it and use it since Bones of Old Gods are precious materials."
Jack relaxed upon finding that the bones didn't belong to someone he knew.
"Why are you even worried?
"You are a Necromancer. I didn't take you to be the type who would hesitate to use bones of someone you knew," Neo said.
"And you are the Inheritor of Death, who is planning to revive our friends who died in Shadow Window," Jack said.
Neo could almost feel Jack rolling his eyes.
"Never mind," Neo said. "Anyway, I called you for a different reason. I want you to take everyone and go to Luna Barten."
"So you want us to help her excavate the bones?"
"No," Neo said. "To be honest…
"You know what? Let's meet up. I'll explain everything in person."
Neo hung up before Jack could question him.
The two met in a private café a few hours later.
The café was tucked away in a secluded corner of the bustling city.
A soft hum of a jazz melody played in the background, and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the air.
Neo had booked a private room to ensure they weren't disturbed.
The room's walls were adorned with abstract art, and a small chandelier cast a cozy glow over the table.
"Hi," Jack replied, sitting across the table.
His eyes were red and puffy.
Neo could sense Jack had cried a lot, but he didn't say anything.
Neo's choice of a private room showed he wanted this conversation to remain confidential.
"What did you want to talk about?" Jack asked.
"I'll explain everything to you about the excavation mission, and why I want you to go with others."
Neo opened his Shadow Space.
He reached in and pulled out a world map and spread it on the table.
"Let's look at our world first.
"It's a single, supercontinent consisting of 79 countries, and two island countries."
Neo pointed at the center of the continent.
"What's the size of the continent?"
Before Jack could say anything, Neo answered himself.
"63,579,000,000 km²," Neo said. "With that size, roughly 150 old 'Earths' can fit inside our continent."
Old Earth was a way of referring to the planet before it underwent any ascension.
"Old Earth was a Stage-0 Planet, then it ascended during the end of the Age of Gods, becoming a Stage-1 planet.
"Our world ascended again a few centuries ago and became a Stage-2 planet, which is the current rank of our world."
Neo explained everything to Jack.
When the world was a Stage-0 planet, the peak of strength was Empyrean rank.
This rank was a gene limit.
No one could go any higher than Empyrean rank until the world ascended.
After the world ascended, the next generation's gene limit evolved.
The people could grow up to Paragon rank.
This included only those who were born after the Earth became a Stage-1 planet.
Those who were born earlier could not go beyond Empyrean rank.
Later, the world ascended to Stage-2.
The gene limit evolved again, allowing the next generation to reach as high as Exalted rank.
Neo's finger traced the map, stopping at the continent's edge.
"Since our current continent's size is so large, do you really think Oceanus's corpse can be the continent's crust?" Neo asked.
"Maybe? I mean, Titans did become Gods.
"Gods are different from the Awakeners, and us Demigods.
'I don't think it's weird for someone among them to be larger than planets," Jack shrugged.
"Maybe it's time for you to start using that empty head. Gods aren't invincible. They have ranks too."
Neo tapped on the map.
"Our continent's crust is not the corpse of Oceanus."
"Huh?" Jack frowned. "She – Luna Bartern – must have some reasons to believe the continent's crust is a corpse, right?
"I doubt an ex-leader of an excavation team will make a decision like that on impulse," Jack said.
"There are reasons, actually," Neo replied
He pointed at the red sea that surrounded the continent after a few hundred miles of normal sea area.
This area was called the Blood Sea.
Even going near the Blood Sea could get one killed.
The area had highly aggressive monsters, and the place was blanketed in a thick concentration of Death elementals.
Only Peak Empyrean rank Demigods and higher could enter the Blood Sea.
There was a high chance they would die.
Due to such dangerous conditions, no one had been able to explore the Blood Sea completely.
Thus no one knew how large the planet actually was.
"She thinks the Blood Sea is the corpse's blood," Neo continued. "And that the continent's corpse is the bones.
"Her previous team found a few bones during excavation, and they used them to create True Soul Weapons.
"Lastly, the deeper you go, the thicker the presence of Death elementals grows. This presence of Death elementals grow no matter at which location you dig.
"This is why she thinks it's the corpse of Oceanus," Neo explained.
"That… makes sense, surprisingly," Jack muttered.
His eyes narrowed as he thought it over.
"I think she is right? If you found the bones there and used them for your True Soul Weapons, then—"
"True Soul Weapons are compatible with every element," Neo said, cutting him off. "Normally, you need to use a special metal that has attunement to specific elements.
"A sword made from Firestorm Stone will be compatible with Fire elementals.
"A spear made from Aquastars will be compatible with Water elementals," Neo said.
Jack tilted his head, confused.
"True Soul Weapons can support every element, Jack."
Neo paused before he continued,
"That includes Void element."
His heart seemed to stop.
A storm of emotions appeared within his eyes when he heard the word Void element.
"Yeah, the bones belong to someone who was compatible with Void element. Since each True Soul Weapon has a different Spirit, that means their bones belong to multiple 'beings'."
Jack instantly understood what Neo was trying to say.
He opened his mouth and closed it, unable to believe it.
"Is… is that possible?"
"But, those True Soul Weapons aren't normal. They can grow infinitely, right?
'That means, the bones they were created from belonged to someone very powerful," Jack said.
"If it was someone powerful, then it can't be from Earth. I mean, it can be an earthling who was corrupted by Void, but there is a high chance that…"
"...that the bones come from Invaders. Monstrously powerful Invaders," Neo completed Jack's words.
Jack covered his face with his palms and leaned over.
He needed time to digest Neo's words.
"How is our planet even... alive? If multiple beings like that attacked, I don't see how we – our world – survived," Jack said.
He recalled the Shadow Trail.
It was nightmarish hell.
He did not know the identity of Void Entity that attacked them during Shadow Trail.
But he knew that there was only one.
A single Void Entity had destroyed their world.
And it seemed the corpse of multiple Void Entities were below their continent now.