Chapter 290

The quest notification burned across Neo’s vision like a brand.

**The battle of the demons and angels is tomorrow. As your harem will be busy defending against the combined attack of the devil and angel armies, try your best to hunt as many of them as possible. Kill one million angels and demons in an hour.**

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

**Rewards: tome skill upgraded. You can now lend your harem two skills at one time.**

Neo did not waste a second. He called the girls together under the thick canopy at the edge of the tribe grounds. The air already carried the distant smell of ozone and blood. He moved fast, hands steady, matching each woman to the skills that fit her best.

To Tara he pressed a strength-type skill and a defensive skill, the twin gifts settling into her palms like living weight. To Martha he gave two pure offense skills, watching the sharp light of them sink under her skin. To Sai he handed one offense and one defense, a balanced pair. To the rest of the harem he distributed different combinations of the new dual skills, each set chosen to match the way that woman fought—speed with resilience, raw power with recovery, precision with endurance. No one spoke. They simply took what he gave and felt the power lock into place.

Loud battle horns rolled across the forest. The sound was deep enough to shake leaves from the branches. Neo rose at once. He ran with his full harem out of the tribe grounds until they stood just beyond the barrier. The open land stretched ahead, flat and empty for a short stretch before it dropped into the wide plains. In the distance the combined armies already moved like a dark tide, angels and demons running side by side under banners that should never have flown together.

He turned toward Veya. “Can you launch the war-type robots?”

Veya grabbed the stacked boxes—exactly one hundred—and threw them across the ground in a hard, practiced arc. The boxes cracked open on impact. Battle-ready robots poured out, metal bodies gleaming under the gray sky, weapons already charged, every unit loaded with the latest equipment. Neo fell silent for a breath, taking in the numbers. Then he raised his voice so it carried over the rising wind.

“Half of you stay here and guard the barrier. The rest go out and kill as many angels and demons as possible!”

He activated his crowd-cheering skill. The effect washed over even the machines. Their power climbed in a visible surge of light along their limbs. “Rush now!” The robots surged forward in two disciplined waves—one line holding the barrier line, the other charging straight toward the incoming tide.

Neo reached into his pocket and pulled out healing potions by the handful. He tossed them to the girls one by one until every woman held enough to last the first brutal stretch of the fight. Martha stepped up beside him, eyes fixed on the incoming army. Angels and demons ran side by side, no longer fighting each other. Neo watched the strange cooperation and understood at once: they had made a truce and now worked together.

Martha muttered, “Damn. Their numbers are a lot.”

Neo nodded. “You and the rest of the harem just try to kill as many demons and angels as you can. It’s okay if you can’t kill many of them.”

Martha nodded, then turned toward the rest of Neo’s harem. Her voice was sharp and clear. “You heard him. Just do your best to get as strong as possible, and most importantly protect yourself!”

The rest of the harem nodded. Martha turned back to Neo. “You see? They all realized your orders are asking them to be safe first. As for the battle, it wouldn’t be important.”

Neo nodded. He looked at the incoming army one last time, measuring the distance and the speed of the front ranks. Then he increased his size. His body expanded in a single smooth rush until his height became sixty meters. The ground cracked under his new weight. He coated his whole body with pyro mana, the heat rolling off him in visible waves. From the pure energy of every element he had ever discovered he formed a spear—so big it took the space of a full building. The weapon hummed in his grip, heavy with power.

He took a deep breath and threw the spear as fast as he could toward the incoming army. The spear crossed the open land in a blur of heat and light, landing right in the middle of the ranks. The impact tore a wide path of destruction, killing many demons and angels in a single strike. Bodies and broken armor flew outward in a spray of dust and blood.

Neo took a stance, tensed his legs, and activated his speed skill. He rushed at the army as fast as possible. The ground blurred beneath him. Soon he reached them. He jumped into the air, entered torch-man mode, and flew as high as he could. His feet ignited like engines. He fell as fast as possible, a living meteor, and hit the army right in the middle of their formation. The impact destroyed everything within reach. A human-shaped dent slammed into the earth. Neo rose from it, looking at the army surrounding him. He kept fighting, crushing them under his sheer weight, each step flattening ranks of angels and demons alike.

Then he saw an angel and a demon both fly into the sky. They rushed at his shoulders together. Their combined strike hit hard, pushing him as far as possible. Even with his massive weight he was sent flying at great speed. He slammed into the ground far from the main press of the army, making a deep hole. He rapidly rose. He tried to coat himself with a lot of holy pyro mana while reaching for healing potions, but he stopped when he realized his huge body would not absorb that much of the liquid. Instead he used his holy power, coating his body in pure light. The wounds closed. In moments he was fully healed.

Neo squinted, looking at the angel and the demon as they hovered in front of him. They both shouted in unison. The angel’s voice rang clear and cold. “I am the six-stars general Michael.” The demon’s voice was lower, rough with heat. “I am six-stars demon general Lucifer.”

Neo’s eyes stayed on them. If he remembered correctly, those two were the highest representation in both the demon and angel armies. They held the highest position a person could reach in their race. He looked straight at Lucifer.

Lucifer was taken aback for a fraction of a second. Neo grinned, using the chance. He shrank his body in a single pulse of will, teleported behind Lucifer, and took a deep breath. A spear of pure star-dust formed in his hand. He shot the spear with everything he had. It hit the demon square in the back. Lucifer shot forward, slammed into the ground, and rose looking at the wound burning across his spine.

Neo drank a healing potion, the liquid sealing any remaining strain, then rushed at Lucifer while the demon was still on the ground. He slammed into him and kept hitting, fists and elbows driving down as hard as he could while Lucifer lay pinned.

Michael hurried forward. He hit Neo across the face with a strike that cracked the air, sending Neo flying backward. Then he helped Lucifer up.

Lucifer looked at Michael, breathing hard. “This is like the old days back in the heaven.”

Michael nodded. “Do you still remember the moves we kept doing together with each other? I still remember those moves.”

Lucifer rubbed the back of his head. Michael sighed. “Really. Since God’s death you have changed a lot, Lucifer.”

Lucifer nodded. Anger flashed in his eyes. His face flushed with anger and shame. He could not help but tug Michael’s sleeve. “How about we use the forbidden move.”

Michael’s eyes widened. He looked at Lucifer. “Do you really want to do it, Lucifer?”

Lucifer nodded. He had a great love for his wife—yes, he knew she was a cheater and had been sleeping behind his back, but he still loved her. One thing he did not like was how Neo had spoken certain words to him previously. Those words had played with his nerves. Michael sighed. “You would then be vanished if you used it.”

Lucifer nodded. “Alright. I’m ready to pay that price to bring him down.”

Michael nodded. They both held each other’s hands. Power flared between them—holy light and demonic fire twisting together. They fused. When the light faded they had become a single half-demonic, half-holy being.

Neo inspected it at once. His eyes widened. The reading was clear: the fallen being, strength thirty-four stars, current status angry toward Neo.

The being took a stance. Then it rushed at Neo, flying as hard as it could. It finally grabbed Neo’s head in one massive arm, took a firm position, and flew to the sky as high as it could while holding Neo’s head. It kept hitting Neo with powerful blows on his face and his body, inflicting as much damage as possible.