It was an opportunity.

Neo could save others.

'I need to take the Shadow down before I Time Slip again.'

His body reacted in a split second.

Arthur's Shadow, powered by mimicked Invincible, stabbed the dagger towards his heart.

Neo dodged the attack with ease.

He grabbed the Shadow's head and bashed it into the ground—

"I can see you did not defeat my Shadow through a stroke of coincidence."

Lucas, covered in golden lightning, stared down at Neo.

Neo stared at his surroundings.

'I Time Slipped again.'

He pursed his lips.

'Was that enough to defeat Arthur's Shadow?'

'It was only a single attack but I put my all into it.'

"You don't look surprised by my betrayal," Lucas said.

His words snapped Neo out of his thoughts.

He teleported behind Neo with a small smile.

Just when the sword was about to pierce Neo's neck, Neo casually struck backward with the back of his hand.

The backhand slap made Lucas' neck nearly snap.

He flew back, breaking through dozens of walls, and crashed.

Lucas was covered in blood.

A single attack shattered his Invincible skill.

Before he could escape, Neo appeared above him and stomped.

His ribs broke and he coughed a mouthful of blood.

Despite being heavily injured, Lucas' smile remained.

"Were you always hiding your strength?"

"How many people died in the mission?"

Lucas stared at Neo, confused.

"Why are you asking that…. Ah!"

He could sense the thick amount of unknown elementals around Neo.

Coupled with the fact Neo suddenly became strong and his fighting style changed, it was clear why he was asking the question.

"Regression?"

Lucas smiled.

"That's a trick I haven't seen in a long time—"

Lucas puked another mouthful of blood when Neo increased the strength behind his leg.

The force made his ribs snap.

"Answer the question."

"Should I?"

Lucas continued to smile.

"Unfortunately for you, this pain is a like a tickle compared to the training we have in my Clan."

His smile irritated Neo.

Neo removed his leg from Lucas' chest and crouched.

"Listen here you little fucking shit, you really think you are some hot shit, don't you?"

"…"

"Then again, I shouldn't have expected anything from a dumbass who is planning on betraying Zeus Clan."

Lucas' smile stiffened.

"Why are you surprised?"

"…How did you know that?"

"Oh, not going to deny it?" Neo scoffed. "I know everything about you.

"You've been acting like a puppet to make the Clan trusts you.

"All for you to betray them when you get the perfect opportunity."

The smugness in Lucas' eyes shifted to surprise, then gradually gave way to horror.

"You had the political advantage and you still lost the position of Zeus Clan group's head to Morrigan.

"If it wasn't for me, you would've been forever number 2.

"You can't even take over a group of academy students. Why does your dumbass think it can topple 'The Zeus Clan'?"

His words hit Lucas in the heart.

It made Lucas face the reality he had been trying to ignore.

Not wanting to listen to Neo, Lucas tried to wriggle away.

Neo stabbed his sword into Lucas' shoulder to stop him from escaping.

He twisted the sword.

"Face it. Lucas.

"You are a failure.

"You can't do anything.

"You are a kid, throwing a tantrum, who is deluding himself into thinking he can defeat the Invincible Clan," Neo stared down at him with cold eyes.

"You…!"

"Why are you getting angry? Smile like you always do."

Lucas glared at him with intense hatred—

Neo Time Slipped.

He arrived in an long corridor and clicked his tongue.

"It was getting fun."

Neo looked around and checked the device.

"I'm outside Professor Daniel's office.

"It's the day when he told me I need to pay him my patience for his teachings."

Neo smiled nostalgically.

He entered the office and waited.

Professor Daniel never appeared inside the office.

"Seems like he lost control over Time Slipping."

Although Professor Daniel never said it, Neo was sure he had not made Neo wait for 2 years on purpose.

He had Time Slipped probably.

It must be why Professor Daniel was shocked when he saw Neo waiting outside his office after 2 years.

"Fuck, I hate this feeling."

Neo stared at the roof.

His mind wandered.

He wanted to know if his past action saved Leonora and others.

However, he did not take out his device.

"I damaged Arthur's Shadow, but it wasn't enough to kill it.

"I doubt the Fate would let them live with such a half-assessed attempt on my part."

He pursed his lips.

"Fuck."

He took out his device and searched on the Academy website about the S-rank Sphinx mission.

The mission evaluation report opened.

A lot of content was about the Window's difficulty and Neo's contribution in closing it.

He scrolled down.

[Causalities: Christian von Villiers, Gwen di Langley, Kendrick di Valemont, Leonora von Villiers]

A hollow laugh escaped his lips.

"At least Clara Brown is alive. I'm sure Sean is happy his twin sister lived."

He clenched his fist.

His actions barely had any impact.

"Status," he muttered while he threw away his device.

[ Neo Hargraves ]

[ Rank: Grade 5 Mythic ]

[ Divine Energy Purity: Grade 2 Mythic ]

[ Stats ]

﹂ Strength: 107

﹂ Speed: 101

﹂ Dexterity: 103

﹂ Constitution: 108

﹂ Luck: 0

[ Affinity: Death, Shadow, Darkness, Void, Water, Time ]

﹂Magic Spell: Necrotic Touch, Ocean's Embrace, Essence Breath

[ Bloodline: Monarch of Death ]

﹂Unique Skill: Death, Immortal, Eternal

[ Quest: Complete Barbatos' Training (Part 1), Completed 3/5 ]

"I'm probably the strongest first year with these stats and I couldn't defeat Arthur's Shadow when I had the chance."

Neo blamed himself.

And…

He was disgusted with his thoughts.

In the corner of his heart, he was relieved for not being able to save his friends.

The more his mastery in Death increased, the more he started to see Death as the place of Eternal Rest.

Death wasn't wrong or evil.

There was no need to avoid.

A small piece of him felt it was not right to disturb his friends rest and bring them back.