Extra's Death: I Am the Son of Hades - Chapter 734: Deal With Universal Will
Chapter 734: Deal With Universal Will
Moraine exhaled softly, then straightened where she stood. Her tone was calm, though her eyes hardened.
“Enough. He has been punished already for using the name. You can’t do anything more, so stop wasting everyone’s time and go back.”
The pressure inside the ship thickened immediately.
It was like the atmosphere itself had been condensed into invisible chains pressing down on every surface.
The hull groaned under the strain. Jack swore under his breath and gripped the wall for balance.
“Yes,” the Universal Will said, its voice rumbling in the air. “He has been punished already. But all of us know the question isn’t whether he has been punished. The question is whether what he’s doing should ever be allowed.”
Neo’s aura flared in response, rising like a tide to meet the pressure.
It spread out, steady and firm, wrapping around Jack and Moraine like a shield.
The weight on them eased instantly.
Jack’s shoulders slumped in relief, and Moraine shot Neo a brief, unreadable look.
Neo lifted his hand off her shoulder and stepped forward.
His eyes narrowed as he stared at the seemingly empty space beyond the ship’s front window.
There was nothing there—no form, no body—but he could sense it clearly.
“I’ve been expecting you, Universal Will.”
The silence that followed was brittle.
“…What do you mean by that?” the Will asked finally.
Neo tilted his head slightly. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? You don’t want me spreading the name of the previous Eon’s Shadow Supreme. So if I did that, I knew you would come.”
“Congratulations, now that I’m here, I’m going to punish you now.”
“On what basis can you kill me?”
“Killing you isn’t the only form of punishment,” the Will replied, voice low but firm. “I can place Heavenly Restrictions on you for threatening the Universal Laws. That is within my authority, even if you haven’t technically broken a Universal Law yet.”
Moraine’s face hardened upon hearing the word Heavenly Restrictions.
Neo raised his hand slightly, stopping her before she could finish. His eyes didn’t leave the void outside the window.
“Using Heavenly Restrictions will still cause problems for you, won’t it?” he said. “That’s why you haven’t placed one on me yet.”
The Universal Will’s presence wavered, like its anger had flared so suddenly it had forgotten to disguise it.
“…You.”
It didn’t want to admit it, but Neo was right. And that infuriated it more than anything. This man was already more aggravating than Ultris ever had been.
Before it could speak again, Neo continued.
“How about we make it a deal?”
The Will’s voice cracked with derision. “Why would I make a deal with you?”
“You can refuse,” Neo said. A faint smile tugged at his lips. “But then again… we don’t know whether I can break free from Heavenly Restrictions, do we?”
The Will hesitated.
There was no way he could. No one had ever managed to undo a Heavenly Restriction once placed. It was absolute, and unshakable.
But this lunatic…
This lunatic made the idea sound possible.
The silence stretched.
Jack looked between Neo and the formless pressure filling the ship, his eyes wide.
“Am I dreaming or is he seriously threatening the Universal Will?” he muttered.
Neo ignored him. His smile widened just slightly.
“Why are you so angry with me anyway?” he asked. “Shouldn’t you be praising me instead?”
The Universal Will turned its attention to Moraine, its voice tinged with exasperation. “Did he hit his head, or is he always this shameless?”
Moraine’s lips parted, but she hesitated, then glanced away instead of answering.
Neo chuckled lightly. “What’s with that question? I’m being serious. I’m probably the most law-abiding person in this entire universe.”
Jack’s jaw dropped. “You? Law-abiding?”
“Exactly,” Neo said, ignoring the sarcasm.
The Universal Will’s pressure flared again. “Alright. He’s lost it.”
“Have I though?” Neo replied, calm and unbothered. “If I were truly insane, I’d already be creating new elements nonstop. You know I can do that.”
The atmosphere froze.
Even the Universal Will stiffened at those words.
Neo’s voice was measured as he went on. “I created the Darkness Firmament. And I can create countless more elements if I wanted to. Technically, it doesn’t violate any Universal Law, so I wouldn’t be punished for it. And yet…”
He spread his hands.
“I haven’t created any more. Because I don’t want to destabilize the cosmic order for no reason.”
The Universal Will didn’t answer. Because it couldn’t.
Neo was right. He had the capability, and the potential.
And unlike a certain damned Heavenbreaker, he hadn’t dragged the foreign quantities into this universe.
He had been acting quite restrained given the chaos he could create.
“…What is this deal you mentioned?” the Will asked finally.
“One time. Let me break a Universal Law one time. If you promise me that, I’ll never use the name of the previous Eon’s Shadow Supreme again.”
The words hung in the air.
Jack blinked. “Wait, what? Did you just ask—”
The Universal Will ignored him. “What sort of Universal Law are you planning to break?”
Neo’s eyes narrowed slightly. That calm tone from the Will was unexpected. He hadn’t thought it would play along this quickly.
But he didn’t let the surprise show.
“That,” Neo said, voice firm, “I can’t let you know.”
The pressure in the ship didn’t lessen.
If anything, it seemed to thrum with restrained intensity, like the Will was weighing whether to crush him right there and end the discussion.
“Seems like you’re going to use a Heavenly Restriction. Fine, you—”
“I agree.”
The Universal Will’s presence shifted.
Its pressure calmed, and the suffocating weight thinned into a steady hum.
Neo blinked. “…What?”
“I agree to your proposal,” the Universal Will repeated. Before Neo could say anything else, it went on. “However, there are several things you need to understand.”
Neo stayed silent, waiting.
“Breaking a Universal Law brings punishment on its own. If that punishment fails, then I am required to act.
“Needless to say, if I am the one to act, there will be no chance for you to survive.
“But even the natural punishment that comes first is not something you should take lightly.
“Think of it as something on par with—or worse than—hearing the name of a Supreme while you are still in Stage 1,” the Universal Will explained.
“So if I survive the punishment itself, then you won’t step in personally?” Neo questioned.
“You are correct. But don’t misinterpret this. That is only one hurdle. If the law you break is too severe, the Eternals themselves will come.”
“Okay,” Neo said with a simple nod.
He hadn’t planned to break any Universal Law immediately.
This was only a backup.
A bargaining chip for the future if things spiraled too far.
He was preparing it because of what he had found when he tried to look into why Zeus killed the Gods on Earth.
“Remember your words today, Neo Hargraves,” the Universal Will said, its voice tightening. “If you use his name again, I will then have the authority to strike you down. Because you would’ve broken a promise made directly to me, the Universal Will.”
“Got it.”
The moment Neo spoke, the Universal Will’s presence exploded outward one last time, flooding the ship before vanishing altogether.
The silence it left behind was thick and uneasy.
Jack snapped his head toward Neo.
His face darkened, ready to give him an earful.
But Moraine beat him to it.
“Why are you always like this?”
Her voice was sharper than usual.
She stepped closer, eyes fixed on Neo.
“You didn’t even tell us you planned to make a deal with the Universal Will.”
Neo turned to her, taken aback.
It was the first time in a year that she’d shown such open, vivid emotion.
“You don’t even know how the Universal Will might act,” Moraine continued, her tone rising. “What would you have done if it was the kind that followed the rules absolutely, no matter the case? Have you really thrown caution out of the window just because you think you can’t die?”
Jack froze, his gaze flicking between them.
He had noticed the strange tension between Neo and Moraine for months now.
Whenever he had asked about it, they had brushed him off.
But now, watching Moraine’s reaction, he could see there was something more between them than they let on.
“Moraine, it’s not like that—”
“At least tell us when you’re going to do something this dangerous.” She gritted her teeth, frustration bleeding into her voice. “We can help. Maybe I can’t use most of my abilities, but I’m still a Witch.
“I could’ve prepared something to help you defend yourself if the Universal Will decided to attack,” she said.
“…I’ll do that from now on.”
Moraine held his gaze for a second longer, but then turned away without replying.
She walked off, moving into another section of the ship.
Jack scratched the back of his head, still processing everything.
He stepped closer to Neo.
“What was that about?”
“Nothing,” Neo said, brushing it off.
“When did you two even get so close?” Jack pressed, refusing to let it go this time.
“One of my past lives,” he muttered. He didn’t elaborate, instead turning his attention to the ship’s navigation system. His tone shifted. “Looks like we’ve reached our destination.”
Jack sighed, clearly frustrated with the change in subject, but he followed his gaze.
Outside the window, a massive skull floated in the empty space.
It was so large it dwarfed anything he had seen.
The structure was collapsing in slow ruin.
“That… that’s a skull?” Jack asked.
“Seems like it. It’s my first time seeing this species too,” Neo said.
Jack shook his head slowly, trying to take it in.
The sheer scale of the thing made… excited.
Could he revive it using necromancy?
“So,” Jack said, unable to take his eyes of the skull, “what’s our plan again?”
“That place is where the Ancient Dragons that Felix met are living. We are going to fight them. They know our location now. Leaving them alone would be reckless.”
Jack frowned. “And how exactly are we going to fight them? I can tell you’ve gotten a lot stronger this past year, but they are Ancient Dragons. That’s not something we’re ready for.”
“Deathbounds.”
“…What?”
“They’ll come if a Grim Reaper is attacked by Ancient Dragons,” Neo explained. “Normally, depending on them isn’t safe for me. If Ancient Dragons come after me, they’ll already have prepared countermeasures against Deathbounds. But right now…”
Jack’s eyes narrowed as realization clicked. “We’re the ones attacking. So there’s a low chance the Ancient Dragons will be ready to fend them off.”
“Exactly,” Neo said.
Jack exhaled slowly and rubbed his temple. “You know, you make it sound so simple, but that doesn’t mean it won’t turn into a nightmare.”
Neo didn’t answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the ruins of the colossal skull.
The ship descended slowly, engines humming as it approached the wasteland of bone and dust.
The closer they got, the more oppressive the sight became.
The skull’s hollow sockets yawned wide, like caves that could swallow entire cities.
Jack swallowed hard, glancing at Neo. “So… are we walking into those?”
Neo nodded once. “That’s where we’ll start.”
Jack muttered something under his breath, but followed as the ship prepared to land.
