"I can still use Grandpa," Helen thought to herself with a smooth smile as she regained her pride as Neo's older sister.
"Still thinking about using Grandpa Richard?" Neo asked, sipping a glass of water he'd just picked up without turning his eyes toward Helen. She wore an embarrassed expression at being caught. Instead, he focused on the sight of Venus being carried off, most likely for treatment.
He felt a little bad about having to use such a brutal method on a girl who had been nothing but nice to him at this strange banquet moments ago. 'It was just a light tap, anyway. With the amount of force she packed, you'd think it would take me a few more moves to knock her out.' Neo shrugged internally.
'How long is this thing anyway?' He turned toward Helen, who ignored him after his last comment. He smiled.
The past few months had been nothing short of interesting. Though his personal goals lingered at the back of his mind, he was always busy, and the feeling of improvement gave him a sense of purpose.
Still, a few times he couldn't help but feel frustrated at the thought of Curtis serving the Templar Empire—especially with a soul contract he'd be forced to sign. But in those moments, Helen always lived up to her identity as a secret weapon, distracting him with all sorts of silliness. A familiar face like Helen's, though a little younger than what he remembered on Earth, really helped him adjust to the new reality he'd been given.
Neo's mind wandered to the trip he was supposed to embark on with the Grim Reaper right after the banquet, imagining his free hit.
'Ahhh... such pleasure.'
Pandora, sitting on his head as usual, broke his fantasies. > Tsk... shameless.
Without batting an eye, Neo continued his fantasy, not minding her in the slightest.
The banquet continued with a few more fights among the younger generation, mostly males. None of them challenged Neo, reasoning that without their relics, it wasn't worth getting knocked out and embarrassing their families. The main reason the Sapphire and Tasher families hadn't taken the spars too seriously was their longstanding friendship—stretching back centuries. But with the fragile relations between most noble families, constant competition and struggles for power and resources were the norm.
The banquet raged on for about three hours before they could finally leave. Neo endured the stare from the recovered Venus throughout—he could see the thirst to fight again rather than anger, which baffled him. With his current mental drain, another fight with her would just be asking for a pounding from that absurd strength behind her small frame.
"Hah, finally!"
Stepping into the carriage behind Helen, Neo finally let loose. Helen sat beside him as the carriage began to move.
"Hm? Grandpa's not coming?" Helen asked, noticing the carriage had started moving as soon as they entered.
"Yeah, he said he had to finish up something. He'll meet us back at the family estate." Neo watched out the window as the streets blurred past. The carriage moved quickly, but there were no bumps inside.
Helen shrugged. "He's probably going to beat us to the estate anyway."
Neo nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on the passing scenery.
The journey was smooth, and Helen eventually fell asleep as they traveled toward the Tasher family estate.
'CRASH!'
Neo jolted as the carriage came to an abrupt stop. Though the impact wasn't severe inside, his ascendant senses picked up the forced halt immediately. He knocked on the carriage wall, drawing the driver's attention.
"Is something wrong?" Neo asked in a low tone, careful not to wake the sleeping Helen.
"My apologies, young master. It seems a rift is opening on our path back to the family residence."
"A rift? Like a space rift?"
The driver, one of the three Tasher family guards, responded with certainty. "Yes, young master."
Neo paled. "So? Is there a way around it?"
The driver nodded. "To the left is the Dark Forest territory of the Sabbath family, but their enmity with the Tasher family runs deep. It would not be wise to take that path. To the right lies the territory of the Rank 5 Elemental Basilisk King."
Neo's blood ran cold. The Sabbath Noble family was a high noble house with a potent bloodline granting most members the blood affinity. Their severe conflict with the Tasher family stemmed from something Richard had done to their current head. Neo would bet that if Sabbath family spies were watching now, they'd eagerly hope the carriage would give them a reason to attack.
As for the Rank 5 Basilisk—that simply wasn't an option. For a beast to occupy an entire territory spanning thirty kilometers and still be permitted to exist within the Blackstone Empire, its strength was undoubtedly terrifying.
Neo smiled wryly as he considered the options. "Why? Just why couldn't that old man come with us?" He turned to the system. System, can you sense what rank the rift is from our position?
> The rift is not in range of the systems scan.
Neo thought about using his spiritual energy to increase the range of his scan. This was an emergency; Richard wouldn't hold it against him. But something inside just couldn't accept it. Still, even if he used spiritual energy combined with the system's ability to perform complex manipulation, he wasn't sure his range would be close enough—especially when the three Rank 3 guards had a farther reach with the density of their spiritual energy.
With no other choice, he turned to the sleeping secret weapon.
He tapped Helen. "Hey... tap tap Hey, wake up. We have a little problem."
Helen stretched, still sleepy, rubbing her eyes. "Huh? What?"
Neo was speechless at the sleeping beauty casually waking up while disaster brewed outside.
'BAM! BAM!'
"Young master, stay inside!!! We'll take care of this!!!"
Neo heard the guards' shouts outside just as Helen startled fully awake at the sounds. At the commotion, Pandora suddenly spoke with glee that didn't seem appropriate for the situation. "Ahhh, the smell of fresh souls..."
Before the words could even register, more sounds of fighting erupted from outside.
"What's happening?" Helen asked quickly.
"A small problem, actually.... Do you have a way to communicate with Grandpa Richard.... its an emergency...." Neo asked with a wry smile, maintaining his calm.
"Uh, yes, I do. But what happened?"
Neo spoke quickly. "No time to explain. Can you reach him first? I'll explain after."
Helen nodded, quickly taking out a black stone and crushing it in her hand. "Okay, explain now?"
Neo summarized the situation as best he could.
"And the fight outside?" she asked.
Neo shook his head. "I'm not sure yet."
Still hearing the sounds of battle, Neo peered through a gap in the carriage to see what was happening.
Just as he peeped out, the guard dodged an arm headed for his face. Neo watched one of the guards summon dark green gauntlets on both fists and throwing a punch toward a humanoid figure with eerie wings covered in eyes that moved around ominously.
Having recovered from his mental strain during the journey, Neo activated True Sight for a few seconds, gathering details on both relics.
The first was the guard's gauntlets: > Sycheles. C-rank. Special ability: Mark.
The second were those unsettling wings: > Nightmare Seraphim. A-rank. Special ability: Displace.
Neo only caught a glimpse, but the blinding waves of energy terrified him. If he tried using True Sight at maximum in a fight like this, he'd collapse from mental strain within a single second.
He realized something alarming. "Where are the other two guards?"
Quickly, he summoned the system interface, remembering Pandora's words. There it was—the two guards on the system interface.
> Souls Collected: 3
Helen, who had just peered out after him, whispered, "There's only cooper out there. Where are the other two guards?"
Neo checked again, confirming his fears. He sat back down. "There are blood stains next to that tree, a few steps to the left." Fear crept into his voice.
From what he could see, the remaining guard was fighting desperately, numerous cuts covering his body as he struggled against the enemy.
Suddenly, they heard the guard shout while fighting. "Young master! You have to return to the Sapphire Clan territory! I'm not sure I can defend you both if I have to go all out. I'll keep him here while you go. Use the horses!"
Neo and Helen were shaken. Three top Rank 3 ascendants against a single individual, and two were already down.
Helen, who had never faced such a situation, panicked, looking at Neo. "What do we do?"
Neo bit his lip. Helen was terrified—yes, she was a Rank 2 ascendant, much more powerful than him, but she had no real experience in dangerous situations and real combat. Her abilities were better suited for a different kind of emergency.
He held her hand confidently, trying to maintain a calm expression. "We have to go quickly."
Neo had recognized the strain in the guard's voice. He was trying to sound more optimistic than reality warranted, but Neo understood. They had no time to dawdle near the fight.
He opened the carriage door and jumped out, Helen following quietly behind.
'Shit.'
The waves of spiritual energy hit them like a storm the moment they stepped out. The terrified horses trampled chaotically but remained bound to the carriage.
Helen quickly adjusted to the scene, helping Neo loosen both horses. They climbed on, urging the animals to remain steady as they galloped back toward the Sapphire territory, weaving through the forest geography.
Neo felt terrible leaving the guard behind while they fled, but he knew his limits. This battle wasn't his to fight.
He urged his horse faster, matching Helen's pace as they moved with incredible speed. The wind crashed against their skin, his hair waving wildly as they put more and more distance between themselves and the confrontation.
'Faster. We need to go faster.'