Chapter 250

Neo stood still as the system window burned into the air in front of him. The words hit harder than any blade.

Failure: your death and everyone you love death and the death of the whole continent.

Reward: ability to turns any part of your body into a weapon and use it to kill your enemies with the condition you would have the necessary amount of mass to build that weapon from your body.

He swallowed. His throat felt dry. The threat was clear. One wrong move and everything ended. His women. The people who counted on him. The land itself. He did not waste time thinking about the reward. The only thing that mattered was getting there before the damage became permanent.

His first thought was simple. Go. Fast. Tell the girls he would be busy so they would not worry or try to follow.

Neo nodded once. He teleported straight into the open sky. Wind tore past him. Clouds blurred. He opened the telepathy link that connected him to every woman bound to him.

"I’m headed to the dragon tribe," he said through the link. His voice stayed steady. "Something bad is happening. I’ll be busy. Stay safe."

Answers came back one after another. Short. Clear. They understood. No arguments. No questions that would slow him down. Their trust settled something in his chest. He cut the link and focused forward.

Torch Man mode flared around him. Heat rolled off his skin in visible waves. Fire wrapped his arms, his legs, his shoulders. The air cracked as he shot forward. Trees below became green streaks. Mountains blurred. He pushed harder. Every second counted.

He reached the dragon tribe lands and dropped lower. What he saw made his eyes widen.

The forest was broken. Trees lay snapped like sticks. Deep gouges cut through the earth. Smoke rose in thick columns. Bodies of dragon kin were scattered among the wreckage. Some still moved. Most did not.

In the center of the destruction stood the Dragon Queen. She held her broken arm tight against her body. Blood ran down from the wound and dripped onto the dirt. Her breathing was heavy. Sweat mixed with the blood on her skin. She looked tired, but her eyes stayed locked on the figure walking toward her through the dust and broken wood.

The demon stepped into the open. His name was Sariv. He smiled as he looked at her.

"It seems you are very weak for a queen ruling such a tribe," he said.

The queen had only one main desire. She wanted to be truly understood. The flaw that haunted her was how much she hid. She kept parts of herself locked away. The conflict inside her never stopped. She wanted someone to know her completely, yet she feared what would happen if they ever did.

She glared at Sariv. Her voice came out rough but clear.

"You don’t have the permission to say this after killing my people."

Then her eyes lifted. A bright point of light cut through the sky above the ruined forest. Intense pyro waves rolled off it. Her heart rate slowed. She recognized the light. Relief eased the tight line of her shoulders.

Neo descended. The heat around him made the air shimmer. He landed hard on the torn ground and looked first at the demon, then at the queen. Without a word he pulled a dozen healing potions from his inventory and pressed them into her good hand.

"Drink," he said.

He turned fully toward Sariv. Anger flushed across Neo’s face. His eyes took on a red gleam.

"Dare to hit my woman like this?"

Sariv laughed and nodded. "Yes. I dare."

Inside Neo’s mind the thought was cold and final. You already set your death then.

Lord of the End mode surged through him. Dark mana gathered in both hands. Two swords of pure EN energy formed, the blades growing longer and sharper with every second. Neo brought them together. The fusion created a single heavier weapon. The Sword of Darkness Itself. He tested the weight. His eyes widened. The blade was stronger than a normal EN sword yet demanded less energy to hold.

He lunged.

The first swing cut across Sariv’s side. Blood sprayed. Neo did not stop. He pressed forward, each slash faster than the last. His swordsmanship was tighter, cleaner, stronger. Sariv tried to answer with his own blade, but every block came late. Wounds opened across the demon’s chest, arms, and legs until his body was covered in them.

Sariv laughed through the pain. "Since I can’t win using the sword then I would win using my racial skill."

His skin shifted. An invisible layer spread across him. In moments the entire demon vanished from sight. Neo turned in a full circle. Nothing. He activated his sensing location skill. Still nothing. The demon was gone from every sense he trusted.

His mind raced. This was not simple invisibility. Something else was at work.

Neo scrolled through his system skills until he found Slippery Ground. He flooded the area around himself with the effect. The dirt and broken wood turned slick and unstable. A sudden scrape and a heavy fall sounded to his left. Neo’s eyes snapped to the spot. He rushed there. At close range he could finally see the faint outline of the demon.

He raised the Sword of Darkness and attacked again. Slash after slash. Blood from the wounds marked the invisible form, making the outline clearer with every hit. Neo’s strikes grew sharper. He aimed for vitals. The demon’s defense crumbled under the pressure.

As the fight continued, Neo felt the old truth settle in his chest. He had only one main desire. He wanted to be free. The flaw that haunted him was the way he mistook dependence for weakness. The conflict never left him. He longed to belong somewhere, yet he resisted anything that tried to claim him.

Sariv finally managed to shove Neo back with a desperate swing. He drew a deep breath.

"Since then I would use my taboo forbidden skill."

He slammed his hand against the ground. Massive stone pillars shot upward under his feet and launched him high into the air. From that height he pointed both palms at the empty spots on either side of Neo. Two huge stone monsters erupted from the earth and clamped down on Neo’s arms and legs, holding him in place.

Sariv looked toward the distant mountain, then down at Neo. The human was already strong enough to start slipping free of the stone grip. The order from his queen echoed in his mind. At any price, destroy their forest and make a path for the demons.

Sariv had a secret. He carried a crush for the Dragon Queen. As a weak demon he had never been given the chance to show her real feats. No matter how hard he tried, another demon always did something stronger and took the acknowledgment he wanted.

He looked from the far mountain to Neo. His voice rose into a shout.

"Not anymore. Even if I died I would do the queen order."