Chapter 231

Neo walked through the halls of Nyx Castle with steady steps. The stone floors echoed under his boots. He headed straight for Lin’s quarters. Sunshine waited outside the door, her eyes bright with hope. Neo gave her a short nod and stepped inside.

Lin sat at a low table sorting mana crystals. She looked up when he entered. "What is it, Neo?"

"I want Sunshine as a maid," Neo said. His voice was calm and clear. "She already helps around the castle. Make it official."

Lin studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Done. I’ll assign her duties starting tomorrow." She rose and called Sunshine in. The younger woman entered with quick steps. Lin spoke a few formal words, and Sunshine bowed low, a wide smile on her face. Neo watched the exchange, satisfied, then left them and walked to the throne room.

He climbed the steps to the high seat and sat. The moment his back touched the carved wood, a bright window opened in front of his eyes. The system notification glowed with sharp letters.

A demon royalty is trapped in a bandit ship on the demon open sea. Go to the demon realm, save him, and you will form your first connection with demon royalty to get information about the forest.

Time remaining: 1 week before they decide on killing him.

Failure: your death and everyone you love dies, and the whole forest dies.

Rewards: Time freezing ability upgraded to freeze the time around 1m around the user.

Neo’s eyes widened. He read the words twice. His throat tightened. He had wanted more ties to the demon side. Now the system had answered that wish with a hard deadline and a death threat hanging over everyone he cared about. He swallowed once.

He could have used telepathy to speak to all the women at once, but he wanted to see their faces. He needed to know if any of them hated the idea. He sent a simple call through the bond. One by one they entered the throne room—Lin, Sunshine, and the rest of his harem. They stood in a quiet line in front of the throne.

Neo told them everything. The quest. The trapped demon royalty. The one-week limit. The cost of failure. The reward.

They listened without interrupting. When he finished, they nodded almost as one.

"Go," Lin said. "Focus on the task. We’ll hold everything here."

The others echoed her. No one argued. No one looked afraid for themselves—only for him.

Neo rose. "When I come back, we take a vacation. An island. All of us."

They nodded again. He left the throne room, walked out of Nyx Castle, and left the Nyx tribe behind. Once he was far enough that no one could track the flare of power, he teleported straight into the Delmon realm.

The air felt thicker here, heavier with raw mana. Neo took flight at once. The system map showed the bandit ship far to the south, deep in the demon open sea. He flew hard, the wind tearing past his face. When the sea finally came into view his eyes widened. The water was purple—deep, restless purple that stretched to every horizon. Waves rolled like dark silk under a bruised sky.

He kept flying until the ship appeared: a long, black-hulled vessel with torn sails and a deck crowded with rough figures. Neo dropped low, cloaked his presence, and slipped aboard through a shadowed gap near the stern. He moved quiet and careful through narrow corridors, listening for footsteps. At last he found an empty room that smelled of soap and old rags—a cleaning closet. He waited in the hallway outside.

A single bandit walked past, whistling under his breath. Neo stepped out, struck once at the base of the man’s neck, and caught him as he fell. He dragged the body into the closet, stripped the clothes, and put them on. The fit was rough, but good enough. He left the unconscious man tied and gagged behind crates.

Next he prepared the sealing boxes. He bought a thousand pyro mana blocks from the system shop, poured them into the boxes one after another, then concentrated his mana until each box shrank to the size of a closed fist. He made dozens. When he was ready he stepped back into the corridor and asked a passing crewman for the leader’s cabin. The man pointed without looking twice.

Neo walked to the heavy door and knocked.

A rough feminine voice answered. "Enter."

He pushed the door open and stepped inside. His breath hitched.

The captain stood behind a wide desk. White hair fell past her shoulders in a thick fall. Green eyes locked on him at once. She wore a tight black shirt that strained against huge, heavy breasts, the fabric pulled so taut the shape of them was clear. Her pants were even tighter—painted on her wide, fertile hips and thick thighs. The cloth dipped deep between her legs, outlining the soft lips of her pussy in sharp detail. Behind her, a massive round ass filled the pants completely. Her skin was milky white, almost glowing under the cabin lamps. Everything about her looked strong, fertile, and dangerous.

She crossed her arms under her chest, pushing the heavy breasts higher. "Why is your mouth hanging open? Tell me what you want."

Neo snapped his gaze up to her green eyes. Cold pressure rolled off her in waves. He cleared his throat. "I came to talk about the demon royalty prisoner. What are we doing with him, boss?"

She narrowed her eyes. Murderous intent flashed across her face. Her voice turned haughty. "What I do with him has nothing to do with you. Don’t try to dig into things way out of your league."

Neo nodded once. Then he switched into Torch Man mode. Energy blades of pure EN formed in both hands. He lunged across the cabin, sword raised high, and swung hard at her chest.

The captain grinned. She grabbed a handful of her own white hair, then vanished. She reappeared at his side in a blur and drove her fist into his ribs. Bone cracked. A deep dent formed under the blow. Neo flew across the room and smashed into the far wall hard enough to splinter the wood.

He rose at once, blood in his mouth. Lord of the End mode flared around him. Black energy wrapped his body. He raised his sword again and used Black Rose swordsmanship—flowing, precise cuts that forced her to pause for a single heartbeat.

She laughed. "You better have more than that swordsmanship. I already see the gaps."

She slipped past the next three strikes with ease, then lunged. Her boot slammed into his chest. The air split. Neo flew backward again, hit the floor hard enough to shake the whole cabin, and skidded across the boards. She followed and threw an iron punch at his face. He twisted aside at the last second. Her fist punched straight through the deck planks as if they were paper.

Neo sucked in a deep breath and activated his speed skill. The world slowed just enough. He slipped her next three punches and gained a thin edge. Another breath. He coated his entire body in a thin film of tbate energy, then teleported behind her. Her back was wide open. He swung horizontal with everything he had. The blade bit deep. Flesh parted. She staggered.

He jumped back at once. Already the wound was closing—flesh knitting, blood drying. He sighed. "She has a healing skill. Constant."

He squinted at her right eye. It stayed milky and dead. She kept lifting her sword only with the left hand. Dominant side, he realized. Blind on the right.

He thickened the tbate film until it felt like armor. Torch Man mode again. A focused beam of pure pyro energy shot from his palm and slammed into her ruined eye. The beam burned through face and bone. For a second half her head was gone.

She turned on him, angrier than before. The flesh was already growing back. She leaned forward, opened her palm, and charged. The air split in two around her body. Neo tried to move, but she was already on him. She locked an arm around his waist and drove him into the wall. Wood exploded. Splinters filled the air. The whole side of the cabin caved in.

Neo grabbed her head, lifted her off the floor, and slammed her down onto the deck with all his strength. She bounced up at once, smiling with pure fury. Her fist smashed into his knees. He dropped. Another punch cracked his chin and sent three teeth flying across the room.

He spat blood, remembered the old karate forms, and shifted into close combat. Fists, elbows, knees. For a short stretch they traded blows on equal ground. But she was a natural martial genius. Every exchange taught her more. She began to read his rhythm, counter earlier, hit harder.

Neo gritted his teeth. He formed the Ball of Natural Embrace—dense, swirling green energy that hummed with lethal power. The moment the sphere took shape, the captain stopped cold and dropped to her knees.

"Please stop. I surrender. Don’t throw that ball. I won’t risk my crew or my ship."

Neo nodded and dispelled the sphere. The dangerous aura vanished.

She stayed on her knees a moment longer, then rose slowly. "What do you want?"

"The demon royalty," Neo said.

She fell silent. Her green eyes studied him. "How much are you willing to pay?"

"How much did they pay you to kidnap him?"

She was quiet for several heartbeats. "One hundred million mana stones."

Neo checked his inventory. The total sat well under ten million. He looked back at her. "Do you really believe them? Maybe they just lied to you."

Then he focused and inspected her status. The name that appeared was Jean.