Chapter 256: Black Hand (fixed)...No S

Neo rubbed his forehead, mind racing. "Should I hide until the Black Hand goes away?" he muttered to himself. "But that gilf... did she give me any location or information about when exactly he would find me? Maybe she even saw this future where I would try to run to another location and only end up accidentally meeting him there as I try to ’hide’ from him."

Neo cursed under his breath, frustration mounting. His eyes snapped back towards the girl and her brother who stood nearby, watching him with worried expressions. They had become his responsibility after he’d saved them from a demon attack just days ago.

A grin spread across Neo’s face. "Time to go," he said, touching their shoulders. In an instant, all three teleported away, reappearing near Neo’s demon stall in the bustling marketplace.

Days passed in a blur of activity. Neo sold his services from the stall, taking on various odd jobs for the demon citizens. During this time, he formed several taboo relationships that would have shocked the more conservative members of demon society. Five days into this routine, a figure approached his stall – a man wearing a long black coat that seemed to absorb the light around him.

When Neo saw him, his heart hammered against his ribs. This was him. The Black Hand.

"Can we fight somewhere else?" Neo asked, trying to keep his voice steady. He didn’t want to put the demon citizens in danger – they were normal people just living their day-to-day lives.

The Black Hand nodded slowly. "Since this is your last wish, I will grant it."

Neo nodded back, then placed his hand on the Black Hand’s shoulder. "Let’s go," he said with a laugh as he transported them both – the Black Hand to a massive active volcano, and himself to safety outside the Nyx tribe territory.

Neo grinned, thinking about the week of training he’d put in just for this moment – learning how to split his teleportation ability to send two targets to different locations simultaneously.

His training had been fruitful, but suddenly Neo opened his system map and saw that the Black Hand was still alive – and coming at him fast. Before Neo could react, the Black Hand grabbed him, lifting him into the sky as he rained blows down upon them both.

As they flew through the clouds, Neo finally got a good look at his attacker’s face – half black, half white, with no horns. The Black Hand’s eyes fixed on Neo’s neck, where his fire birthmark was visible.

"As expected," the Black Hand said. "I finally found the child of that angel."

Neo teleported away to the ground below, shouting up at him, "Do you think I would let you end me like this?" He took a stance as his body began swelling with energy. "Lord of the End mode," he muttered, feeling the transformation take hold.

Neo opened both palms toward the Black Hand, took a deep breath, and unleashed a dark beam of energy. The beam hit the Black Hand’s body, stopping him mid-air.

"What did you do to me?" the Black Hand shouted angrily as he touched his body.

Neo grinned. "I made microscopic parasitic insects made of black mana. When they hit you, they disrupt your ability to control your body."

He watched as the Black Hand descended toward the ground, his movements jerky and uncoordinated. But then the Black Hand’s body swelled with energy again.

"Nice trick," he called up to Neo, "but I was literally the first one to make the new demon race. Do you think this is enough to attack me in my own game?"

Neo laughed. "That was just a distraction. The real attack is this!" He shouted, throwing dozens of sealing boxes that shot rapidly toward the Black Hand.

The boxes hit their mark, and the Black Hand’s eyes widened as his shoulder dislocated from the impact. He lifted his hand, creating a huge spear of light as big as a five-story building, and hurled it at Neo.

Neo tried to teleport but found he couldn’t. His heart hammered as the Black Hand smiled. "That wasn’t the only thing I was planning. I was planning to counter your attacks too."

Neo nodded, thinking fast. His opponent was an old angel, someone who had probably fought many wars and was cunning beyond measure. He needed a plan – something to make the Black Hand pause for just a moment so he could hit him with the gun Veya had made.

His eyes snapped open as an idea formed. "Black Hand!" Neo shouted. "I want to ask you – do you know who is currently in charge of the Angel Army?"

The Black Hand shook his head. "I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve met the newest leadership, but I believe the promise they made to me is still standing because it was a soul pact, and they wouldn’t be idiotic enough to break it."

Neo laughed. "I guess you need to think again. They just hired me as a mercenary, and even when seeing me, they didn’t care about me. Meaning even if you killed me and brought me there, they wouldn’t care."

The Black Hand sneered. "Is this just a way to make me spare your life?"

Neo shook his head. "Believe me."

The Black Hand fell silent, and before he could speak again, Neo grinned as he touched the ground. A massive stone pillar shot up from beneath the Black Hand, hitting him and causing him to lose balance and fall.

Neo used the opportunity, employing the veins skill that belonged to Eva to pin the Black Hand to the ground. He opened his palm, creating huge stone walls around his trapped opponent. Then Neo used another skill that could drain mana, strength, and power.

Soon he could see the Black Stone was trapped within walls that were steadily draining his power. Neo closed his palm into a fist, making the stone close in on him.

"I am an archangel!" the Black Hand shouted, destroying the wall. "Do you think I would fall down this easily?" He pointed his palms at Neo, and from them shot two beams – one of holy power, one of darkness – at great speed.

Neo was hit by both beams simultaneously. Looking at his wounds, he cursed as he felt the energies enter his body, fighting against each other and destroying the balance of darkness and holy power within him.

He touched his chest, cursing again as he felt intense cracks appearing in his mana core. The cracks kept expanding as the two types of energy battled inside him. Soon Neo fell to his knees, coughing blood as he felt his core just inches away from fully cracking.

He closed his eyes, feeling the holy power rapidly closing his core wounds. It didn’t take long for the wounds to finally close, and his eyes widened in surprise. "The holy power has healing effects too?" he wondered.

After being healed, Neo felt his core was even stronger and better at using mana now. He couldn’t help but sigh – if he had found this sooner, he would have used it much earlier.

Looking up at the Black Hand flying in the sky, Neo remembered how the natural energy embrace was the only power that had been able to affect him before. Taking a deep breath, Neo opened both palms and closed his eyes as he felt intense natural energy embrace building in both hands.

He kept thinking with his imagination, forming a green laser in his mind. "Not just a plain laser," he shook his head, "but a fast, concentrated, continuous output of energy that could deal great damage while being precise enough to land effectively."

The laser hit the Black Hand’s shoulder, digging deeper into it. He fell to the ground, holding his injured shoulder. When he saw Neo opening his palm again, he cursed and snapped his black pair of wings, rushing into the sky.

Getting high enough, he looked down at Neo with a smile. "You don’t know what’s coming. Since I’ve used my secret side, I would make sure to kill you. I hate using this side of my power, but it would increase my power massively."

Neo rose as best he could into the sky, confronting him. "Since you too have the power of darkness and holy power in you, let’s fight. The best dual user will determine the real winner."

The Black Hand nodded, and Neo nodded too. Both clashed again in the sky as their energy flared. They hit each other again and again, each clash producing a powerful impact that sent huge waves into the air.

Neo kept fighting with the Black Hand using punches and kicks. During the fight, the Black Hand looked at Neo and said, "Your fighting style resembled your father."

Neo looked at him. "Did you fight him?"

He nodded. "Back then, he was the one who inflicted a lot of damage on my core. Even now, I am still getting healed. But he was idiot enough to be betrayed by his friend."