He reappeared in front of him, taunting Tartarus to stop him.
His punch landed in Tartarus' torso.
The false god flew back. His body broke through the other side of the nightmare tree and landed in a deep crater.
Tartarus rose, his body bloodied.
He clapped his hands together, creating a violent burst of gravity and void.
His body detonated again in another self-destructive strike. Neo was engulfed in it.
Neo used Eyes of Echo and All-Shadow.
He dodged the attack with Pseudo-Gap before it engulfed him.
The aftermath cleared. Tartarus' body was broken. He was breathing heavily.
But his eyes continued to burn with ferocity.
His will wasn't broken.
Neo attacked. There was no complicated technique, no high-ranking Spell.
His fist struck Tartarus' jaw, and Tartarus' attack landed on his torso.
Each blow was precise. The ground beneath them caved in from the sheer weight behind their punches. Space bent.
Tartarus spat blood. He turned, furious, and unleashed another suicide attack by overloading his Core.
Neo was caught in the blast. His skin charred. His chest cracked open.
Neo stood again, unharmed, so did Tartarus.
But, Tartarus knew, even if he was stronger, Neo had him beat in terms of having unique techniques that came together to unleash devastating effects.
"Is that your way of fighting?"
"No," Neo answered. "It's yours. I'm just using it on you."
Tartarus swung, summoned chains of judgment and spears of sin from the shattered sky. They fell like rain.
Neo stepped through them. A blade of shadows slashed his cheek. A spear tore into his side. Blood splattered, but he ignored them.
His dozens of regenerative techniques worked together with his Blessing, healing wounds, regenration injuries.
His direction was towards Tartarus.
No matter the Spell that landed on him, no matter the weapon that tore through his body.
"What now? I don't think your attacks are doing anything."
His eyes, containing purple flames in them, looked Tartarus in the eye.
"What are you going to do now?"
"Fine," Tartarus snarled. "Let's see you survive this."
He rammed both hands into his chest and dragged out the last remnants of his life force. Even if he was weaker, this body was stronger than Stage 3 rankers.
Its life force was beyond Neo.
The sky turned black. The world twisted. Tartarus detonated again, this time fully intending to erase his own existence along with Neo's.
Eyes of Echo and All-Shadow.
Time turned back, just by five seconds.
Neo stood before Tartarus, perfectly unharmed.
Tartarus gritted his teeth.
He stepped forward, and punched Neo.
Half of Neo's abdomen was blown away.
Then, his regenerative abilties sprang into motion, and he punched back
The blow crumpled Tartarus' face. Blood sprayed. Tartarus reeled.
Another mountain shattered.
Another step forward.
Tartarus realized too late what was happening.
Neo wasn't growing stronger. He was mastering what he already had. Having gone through too many breakthroughs too quickly, he barely had chance to adjust to his strength.
Every punch he exchanged, every attack that he blocked, made him more efficient.
A shoulder slammed into Tartarus' gut. An elbow cracked his jaw. A knee to his ribs. Tartarus tried to counter, but Neo dodged mid-swing and crushed his wrist.
"Why…" Tartarus gasped. "Why are you doing this?"
"You're destroying everything!" Tartarus shouted. "This world—this system—was created to judge evil. That's all it ever was! And you're tearing it apart for what?"
Neo's fist slowed. He looked at him, waiting.
"You're nothing but a self-serving person," Tartarus continued, fury rising. "You're mad because your lover died. And for that, you think you can destroy this realm? Do you understand what this world does? It judges the wicked! This is justice! It is too important to be destroyed!
"Can't you see how desperate the souls are here? How they scream and cry for freedom? That's justice. That's what we're doing. Every lie, every pain is part of their sentence!"
Tartarus pointed a broken finger at him.
"What right do you think you have to destroy this just world—"
It cut off Tartarus' rant mid-sentence.
"You're misunderstanding something," Neo said finally. "I'm not here to judge whether your world is right or wrong."
"I am not trying to destroy your world. That's just a side effect."
His hand clenched into a fist.
"My goal is to kill you."
"Kill me? For her? She's slaughtered thousands. Her negative karma is too heavy. Do you know how much pain she caused?" Tartarus glared at him.
"Then what about us?"
"You and I both carry more negative karma than anyone in this world. You never came after me because I was evil. You came after me because I stopped being a Judge."
"You think I was born to be a God. But I'm not."
Tartarus stepped back.
"You keep saying we deliver justice. That we're above judgment."
"But that's wrong, Tartarus. You are no God. You were never a God.
"And I was never a Judge."
He stopped for a few seconds, then exhaled audibly.
"I'm just a lowly seventy-third rank Grim Reaper. I don't decide who lives or dies. I simply take lives when the time comes."
Neo stepped forward once more.
"And Tartarus… your time is up."
Tartarus roared and threw himself forward.
His form expanded into something monstrous, yet divine. He became a giant construct with six hands, each carrying a weapon infused with judgment, despair, fire, and chains.
Then he appeared above Tartarus' head.
He punched the side of his skull.
The heavens split. The battlefield crumbled.
Tartarus tried to retaliate.
Neo was already gone.
A second punch to the spine.
A third to the location of his Core.
Tartarus fell to one knee.
Tartarus roared again. Chains shot out from every direction.
Neo was impaled a dozen times.
Then time reversed again.
Neo was standing at the location he had been ten seconds ago, unharmed.
He swung his fist once more.
Tartarus fell, cracking the land beneath him.
He didn't say anything.
He didn't need to. The outcome was as clear as day.
The false God had fallen.