The World Energy refused to condense.
It was like trying to compress a stone with hands.
With nowhere to go, it started to tremble, but Neo forced it to condense.
The white threads trembled and flailed around.
The energy within him started to rampage.
His breath hitched, and his hands shook.
The white flames began to burn the air around him.
He withstood the pain, and, after what felt like hours, condensed all of the World Energy into a single strand of Essence.
His chest heaved.
A glowing white thread floated before Neo.
He had to expend all of his mental energy to create it.
"I don’t… think…. I can create more… World Energy for now…."
He had trouble speaking.
His chest rose and fell irregularly.
He had to wait until his mental strain disappeared before he could try to create more World Energy.
It would take hours, given the exhaustion he was feeling.
Next, he tried to combine the single Essence with Obitus.
The world seemed to shift around the glowing thread.
It contained enough energy to power the Stage-0 Earth for a decade.
The fusion was much easier, perhaps because Obitus helped him in it by sharing the mental burden.
[Obitus]
[Type: Sacred Treasure (Incomplete)]
[Ability: Harmonization]
[Essence: 1/1,000]
A screen appeared in front of Neo.
He had never seen it before.
"This must be one of the benefits of the status screen update."
His eyes fell on the essence numbers and he frowned.
"I need to recover for 7-8 hours after creating a single Essence.
"That means I can create only 3 Essence a day. It would take me 334 days to turn Obitus into a complete Sacred Treasure."
Neo’s expression was far from good.
"The worst part is that creating Essence is so hard that I can’t do anything else with it.
"And after creating Essence I’m too exhausted to move, let alone fight."
Neo needed 334 days if he did absolutely nothing but create Essence.
He needed a better way.
"I can try to use True Darkness to devour the monsters’ Seed of Existence.
"It should strengthen my own Seed of Existence, which will indirectly strengthen my mind, meaning I can create World Energy faster and recover at a quicker speed."
Since Seed of Existence was a bundle of one’s Existence, the stats it would give should – no matter what – strengthen Neo’s mind.
Luck didn’t matter.
The only problem was he would need to devour a large number of strong monsters.
"We are about to reach the destination, prince," Veldora said.
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His voice snapped Neo out of his thoughts.
Neo ’stared’ into the distance.
Several cities and sprawling fields lay between them and their desination.
Neo’s senses easily pierced through the miles, focusing on the faint energy signature ahead.
A crimson sunset painted the sky, casting long shadows over the jagged cliffs below.
"Should I use it?" Neo murmured to himself, pulling out the plain black mask Sphinx had given him.
"Why are you holding a mask, prince?" Veldora questioned.
Neo explained his situation to Veldora.
There was a high chance the other Executioners would be Senators.
They might hold grudges against Elizabeth, as most Exalted Demigods of Luminera did.
"If they discover I’m an Executioner, they’ll know I’ve either reached Exalted rank or I’m close to it.
"And they’ll also realize I’m trying to help Elizabeth, who’s already teetering on the edge of death.
"That makes me their enemy, and they’ll likely try to eliminate me before I succeed," Neo explained.
"If they are your fellow Executioners, doesn’t that make them your allies, prince?
"I doubt they would go against Sphinx’s wishes and fight amongst themselves," Veldora said.
"Executioners – even I – work with Sphinx for our own benefits. We’re not its servants," Neo replied. "If they think Elizabeth’s death serves them better than the reward for completing this mission, they won’t hesitate to act against me."
Neo hesitated.
His fingers tightened on the mask.
Part of him wondered if he was being overly cautious.
But the fact remained—Sphinx had given him the mask for a reason.
"There is a chance we will have to fight," Neo said and thought. ’I doubt they will attack me as soon as we meet. If I was in there place, I would wait until the opponent had lowered his guard.’
"You don’t need to use the mask, prince," Veldora said with quiet pride. "You’ve done nothing that warrants hiding your face.
"If anyone so much as wishes to harm you, please say the word, and I shall make their end worse than death."
Neo smiled faintly.
He shook his head and patted Veldora’s broad, scaled back.
"I can handle this myself. As for the mask, I wasn’t planning to use it anyway. Let’s land now. The others are waiting for us."
"As you wish, prince," Veldora replied, his mighty wings folding as he descended with a powerful dive.
The ground trembled beneath the force of the Ancient Dragon’s landing. Read exclusive chapters at freewebnovel
Shockwaves rippled outward, shaking the nearby forest and causing the sandy beach to shift like waves underfoot.
Veldora raised his massive head and unleashed a deafening roar that echoed through the skies.
"Woah, an Ancient Dragon? Looks like the new guy is some big shot," Percieval whistled, standing a few hundred meters away.
He had platinum blonde hair that shone under the fading sunlight, and a hammer—one of the four True Soul Weapons—was strapped across his broad back.
"A mortal dares to address the Second Prince so casually!" Veldora snarled, lowering his head to glare at Percieval.
The sheer pressure of Veldora’s aura slammed into Percieval like an mountain.
The ground beneath Percieval cracked.
Before Veldora could use more force, a soothing voice rang out.
"We apologize, esteemed Ancient Dragon. Please forgive us," Olivia spoke with grace.
She stepped forward.
Her sea-blue hair cascaded over her shoulders like flowing water.
Her curvaceous figure and the mature aura surrounding her exuded confidence.
What stood out most, however, was her resemblance to Leonora, which made her look like her elder sister.
Standing to her side was Nicolas, another Executioner and a Senator.
Nicolas, the master of Templar Signora Everly—the woman Neo had encountered upon returning from the Shadow Trial.
He appeared to be in his forties, with stark white hair and a thick beard.
His piercing gaze and stoic demeanor made him look unapproachable.
"Veldora, I will take care of the matters from here on," Neo said, leaping from Veldora’s back.
"Understood, prince."
With a flicker, Veldora dismissed his massive physical form, transforming into a swirling blue flame that hovered above Neo’s shoulders like a guardian spirit.
"Oh, it’s the suicide-loving Ruler," Percieval remarked with a sly grin.
His tone was teasing as he added,
"I thought you were only a Paragon when you left the Shadow Trial. How did you become an Executioner?"
"Things happened," Neo replied. "I’m more surprised to find out our student council president is one of the Executioners and an Exalted Demigod."
"It’s nothing much for me, haha," Percieval chuckled.
Neo scanned Percieval with Intent out of habit.
He did the same with others.
Percieval was a Blessing Holder of the Apollo Clan and a Seraph—a reincarnator. This was information Neo had already known.
However, something unexpected sent a jolt of shock through him.