Tara stared at the open ground ahead, her brow furrowed. The land stretched empty and dry under a gray sky, nothing but cracked earth and scattered rocks. She shook her head slowly.
"I don’t remember a town was there."
Neo stood beside her and activated Eye of the Eagle. The skill stretched his sight out a full hundred meters. His eyes widened at once.
A town sat in the distance where none should have been. Dark figures moved through its streets. They looked human at first glance, but their skin was pure black, their eyes pure white, and curved horns rose from every head. They resembled the Nyx tribe, yet every feature looked sharper, stronger, as if the whole race had jumped forward ten thousand years in one leap.
Tara fell silent. After a long moment she spoke in a low voice.
"I feel something suspicious."
Neo only nodded.
Both of them watched as a massive demon stepped out of the largest building in the town. Thick arms and legs packed with muscle carried a heavy frame. Strong black wings folded against its back. The creature looked exactly like the powerful devils drawn in old religious books. Its horns were the largest Neo had ever seen—thick, white, and curved like a crown.
Neo inspected the status.
Asmodeus. Duke-level demon. Peak Transcendental.
Asmodeus turned and grinned at a thin, tall figure hunched forward.
"Paimon! I thought you said you would never come here."
Paimon ignored the greeting and kept walking. Neo’s eyes widened. This was the same demon the Nyx elders had tried to summon years ago. A quick inspection confirmed it—same rank, same power as Asmodeus.
Behind the two leaders came a group of smart-rank demons. Neo recognized several famous names among them.
Asmodeus faced the group.
"Should we go and attack her seal again? Destroy it more and see what other changes we can force on those humans."
Paimon shook his head.
"We attacked enough. If we keep attacking, the triangle alert system will kick in and the Attribute Women will come rushing here."
Asmodeus sneered.
"I’m not scared of them."
Paimon slapped his forehead.
"I know. But they would strengthen the seal again, and you know how strong they are inside the forest, Asmodeus."
Asmodeus fell silent. His old friend had a point. Wasting energy fighting the Attribute Women now would only delay the real goal. Once Nyx was unsealed and enslaved, revenge would come easily. Asmodeus licked his mouth at the thought.
Neo heard every word. Cold understanding settled over him. Their plan would ruin everything if it succeeded. He needed to stop them. A sharp grin cut across his face as the outline of a plan formed.
He had only one main desire: to prove someone wrong. Resentment often guided his decisions, and he knew success would mean giving an enemy power over his life. He also wanted to find something worth believing in, yet grew cynical the moment hope disappointed him. He longed for faith while fearing the vulnerability it would bring. Above all he wanted to leave the world better than he found it, but imperfect solutions never satisfied him, and his idealism made small victories feel hollow.
Neo grabbed Tara’s wrist and pulled her into the nearest town house. They blocked every window and door. Tara gave him a questioning look, but he ignored it. He summoned the two demons—the bearded one and the masked one—then took out an orb.
"Call the water spirit," he told Tara. "Ask her for the Attribute Women’s phone number."
Tara sighed and did as he asked. A moment later she turned back.
"She got it. Here."
Neo entered the number into the orb and ordered the masked demon to speak.
"I’m a demon and I want to sell information. A group of high-ranking demons is trying to unseal Nyx right now. If you want to know more about their numbers and their secret cards, give me..." He paused, weighing the figure, then finished, "...ten million mana stones."
The masked demon repeated the words exactly. Moments later an envelope appeared. Neo opened it, whistled at the thick pile of stones, and stored them in his inventory.
He began sorting through skills he could buy. One name stood out at once: Dark Mana Purifier. The skill would let him absorb dark mana and turn it into pyro mana. The price nearly made him wince—almost a million—but he bought it without hesitation.
Next he purchased Bird Eyes. The skill let him send a bird and share its senses. He released the bird toward the triangle. Through its eyes he saw the damage up close. Fresh cracks spider-webbed across the seal, far worse than before.
Neo cursed under his breath. The numbers were higher than he expected. He needed to fix the damage soon.
Tara watched him work, quiet. Her own main desire rose in her mind: to be needed. She sometimes created problems just so she could solve them, afraid people would leave the moment she became unnecessary. She also wanted to stop disappointing others, and that drive had turned her into a perfectionist who could no longer tell high standards from self-hatred. Deep down she longed to experience something extraordinary; ordinary life bored her, and she feared settling down would waste her potential.
Neo’s attention snapped back to the demons. The high-ranked ones had clearly received word that the Attribute Women now knew of their presence.
Paimon, sharpest of the group, shouted at once.
"Our cover has been blown! All of you, go now! Rush the triangle and destroy it before they arrive!"
The demons roared in answer. Asmodeus laughed loudest.
"I bet no one can destroy as much as I can!"
Neo’s heart sank as the group charged the triangle and the cracks spread wider. He cursed again, then yanked the bearded demon and the masked demon into the open, mocking them until they bolted. Only a small number of lesser demons followed those two. Asmodeus and Paimon stayed behind.
Neo looked at Tara.
"How about we fight them instead of the whole group?"
Tara nodded. They ran together.
As they moved, another set of desires turned in Tara’s thoughts: to have one person she could trust completely. She tested loyalty often, and those tests sometimes created the very betrayal she feared. She also needed to protect her reputation and lied too easily, terrified that one honest moment could destroy everything. And she wanted respect; being underestimated burned her, trapping her in endless proof aimed at people she did not even like.
Neo went all out from the first step. He locked onto Asmodeus while Tara moved to face Paimon. The choice was simple—Asmodeus was a bad match for her, and Paimon was noticeably weaker.
Neo lunged at Asmodeus using Ground Slippery. The ground under the demon’s feet turned slick. Asmodeus slipped and crashed down. Neo followed at once with Heavy, forcing the demon’s weight to spike.
For the first time the skill failed to hold. Asmodeus rose unaffected, a wide grin splitting his face.
"Hahahah."
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