"Your father imposed the concept of 'death' on them. And what is dead can be revived by necromancy and made to dance on my whims. Since my strength grows according to the strength of those I've resurrected, I'm also quite strong now."

Neo's expression did not change, but his eyes darkened.

Supremes could not truly die until an Eon ended.

That was why they had dared to fight Hades.

Normally, no matter how badly damaged they were, a Supreme would eventually recover. Their existence was not singular. It was distributed, and fragmented.

A Supreme's body was an amalgamation of countless Elementals.

These Elementals could fuse together.

For example, if a Supreme had the age and experience of fifty-four years, their "body" was not one being with fifty-four years of history.

It was thousands of Elementals, each with the age, experience, and knowledge of a two-year-old.

If two of those Elementals fused, the result would have the age, experience, and knowledge of a four-year-old.

If two of those fused again, eight years.

They could continue fusing like that until an Elemental reached fifty-four years of age.

That Elemental would then function as a "main body" of the Supreme.

Since there were countless Elementals, there could be multiple such main bodies.

But because all those Elementals were connected, their actions never conflicted. Their orders never overlapped. They never fought each other.

This was why a Supreme could lose a main body and still exist.

Lose several, and still fight.

So Hades found another way.

What if Elementals were prevented from fusing past a certain point?

If Elementals could only fuse up to the equivalent of sixteen years of age, then no fully realized "personality" could ever form.

In simpler terms, if someone's mind were permanently restricted to that of a child, then the person they once were would be dead.

Hades applied the same concept to Supremes.

And he killed them.

Because they were now "dead," Zerek could revive them.

Neo exhaled slowly.

"Let her go, Zerek. I don't think I need to explain what happens if—"

"Okay," Zerek interrupted.

Neo paused.

"What?"

"I will let her go. And everyone else too."

"What are you trying to pull?"

"Nothing. Just…"

He pointed upward.

"Just open a pathway to the True World. I want to leave this disgusting world. I don't want to live in a world where the Daos can take over me at any time."

He laughed, but there was no humor in it.

"I'm not strong enough to open a pathway. Neither is anyone else here. So I waited for you."

Neo studied him.

"I know you probably think I'm planning something—"

Before Zerek could finish, Neo slashed.

There was no buildup.

No warning.

The space above them split open.

A massive tear appeared in the Cosmos itself, revealing something beyond.

There was no light or darkness, but pure emptiness.

"There. I opened a tear in our Cosmos. It should allow you to leave this Elemental Cosmos and enter the True World."

Zerek stared.

For a brief moment, he looked like he wanted to say something.

Then he rushed forward.

He dove into the tear without hesitation, leaving everything behind. The resurrected Supremes collapsed instantly. The bindings shattered. The cages dissolved.

Zerek only took one thing with him.

Jack's body.

Neo did not stop him.

Because Neo already knew what Zerek would find in the True World.

The despair waiting there would be punishment enough for someone who believed escaping the Elemental Cosmos meant escaping control of Daos.

'It seems he never truly understood what it means for a Dao to be corrupt,' Neo thought.

He sighed and turned back.

Then he spoke a single name.

"Beelzebub."

The butterfly fluttered down in front of him, wings shimmering faintly.

"You know what to do."

The butterfly flapped its wings.

Time twisted.

Ultris collapsed, and then breathed.

Julie gasped as her eyes snapped open.

Daniel fell to his knees, coughing.

And it did not stop there.

People from Tartarus whom Neo had once forgotten began to return.

Tyr.

Celestra.

Olivia.

Both Ava Williams.

Veldora.

The soldiers and inhabitants of Tartarus.

Even those further removed.

Erza, whom Kane had married.

Lives that had ended quietly, violently, or meaninglessly were pulled back, reassembled, and returned.

Then Neo spoke again.

"Everyone else, go start repairing the Cosmos."

Elizabeth and the others watched in stunned silence as tens of thousands of Technique Spirits poured out of Neo.

They spread across the Elemental Cosmos, sealing rifts, stabilizing space, reinforcing weakened laws.

No one moved to question him.

Neo walked forward.

Toward the Supreme of Darkness.

The mass of horrors and abominations surrounding her recoiled. Shadows twisted nervously. The entity hesitated.

It was afraid.

Afraid it might hurt him.

Neo smiled and spread his hands.

"I missed you," he said gently. "Won't you give me a hug, since we're finally meeting again?"

The Darkness lost control.

It surged forward.

Embracing him. Enveloping him. Devouring him.

Neo did not resist.

He let her be.

He smiled, then slowly moved his hands.

Time began to turn back for Moraine.

The reversal was careful, and precise.

Not everything moved at once. Only what needed to.

Those who had died at her hands began to return.

One by one, moments rewound. Bodies reformed. Souls slipped back into place as if they had merely stepped out of the room for too long.

Neo's consciousness seeped into Moraine's mind.

He did not force his way in.

He entered gently, separating what had never truly belonged together.

The countless Consciousnesses that had fused into her were peeled away, untangled, and guided back to their original owners.

Each separation hurt her.

Each separation eased her.

He was eating at her madness, stripping it away piece by piece, and taking it for himself.

Then he reached deeper.

He began to take her Negative Karma.

The killings.

The despair.

The pain.

The rage.

Every scream that had echoed because of her. Every choice she had made when she was insane.

Neo took it as his own.

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