At the end of the time tunnel lay a strange space wrapped in seven-colored light. The radiance flowed like liquid, ever-shifting, with countless hues intertwining and blending into new colors.
Amid this boundless sea of light stood a hero clad entirely in silver-white armor, adorned with crimson markings resembling an inverted triangle, and a pale blue crystal embedded in his chest.
Gazing upon this simple yet remarkably handsome hero, Yuui softly spoke his name.
"Neos, it's been thousands of years. It seems things haven't been too kind to you."
"Neos!? That's him… Neos!" Alicia exclaimed curiously beside Yuui. She had heard Yuui's stories about Neos before and knew that Neos was his favorite hero.
Who would have thought that this very Neos was the nameless hero who had sealed away the Three Sacred Beasts a millennium ago?
Over a thousand years ago, when the Three Sacred Beasts were revived within what was then the predecessor of Site No.3: Ancient Ruins—the Kingdom of Rejus coveted the Beasts' power of eternal youth and immortality.
He devoted the nation's entire strength to locating the Spirit Tablets in which the gods had sealed them. Once found, he sent his three mightiest warriors—Idaten the Conqueror Star, Raijin the Breakbolt Star, and Shura the Combat Star—to defeat the guardian of the tablets, Elemental HERO Neos, and bring the tablets back to the kingdom.
Overjoyed to obtain the tablets, the king immediately began expending vast resources and lives to resurrect the Three Sacred Beasts, seeking their power for himself.
However, upon revival, the Beasts had no intention of granting him immortality.
Instead, they unleashed mass slaughter across the kingdom, devouring the souls and flesh of countless beings.
Realizing too late that he had been deceived, the king ordered his three warriors to subdue the Beasts and force them into submission.
But the three had already been gravely injured from their battle with Neos; therefore, they were swiftly defeated.
It was then that Neos, dragging his wounded body, arrived and used every last bit of his strength to assume his true ultimate form—Divine Neos.
Together with the three warriors, who fought to the death, and countless brave soldiers of Rejus, they battled the Beasts for a thousand days before finally sealing them once again within the Spirit Tablets.
Though the war was won, the Kingdom of Rejus was destroyed. The king, beholding the ruins of his realm, understood that his greed had brought about its downfall, and took his own life upon his throne.
Afterward, Neos, his body shattered and near death, sealed the Spirit Tablets once more within the ruins of the fallen kingdom… until recently, when Instructor Claire and her team unwittingly broke that seal, bringing the Beasts back into the world.
…
Recalling the story, Alicia sighed softly at the sight of the silver-white hero in the distance.
He truly was unlucky. He had guarded the tablets faithfully, only to be beaten down by powerful intruders who stole them. When he rushed to investigate, he found the Beasts had already been released by a king blinded by greed. With no choice, he fought again… using his broken body and final power to seal them anew, with the help of those who gave their lives beside him.
And when the war ended—his kingdom gone, his strength spent… he had no body left, only enough to become part of the seal itself.
Thinking of all that, Alicia couldn't help but imagine the sort of miserable frustration Neos must have felt.
One moment, life was peaceful; the next, he was beaten to a pulp and robbed of what he guarded. Another blink, and his neighbors' kingdom was in ruins, forcing him to risk his life for his mission. And after all that, when he could finally rest, the Spirit Tablets were stolen yet again.
Perhaps that's why, when the Beasts reappeared this time, Neos said nothing. Maybe he'd simply stopped caring.
Or perhaps, Alicia thought, he truly no longer had the strength to intervene.
As she mused, she turned to Yuui. By all rights, Yuui-san should have been Neos's very first master. Would Neos choose to return to his side now?
"It really has been a thousand years, master. I didn't expect you to become a Spirit yourself," Neos said, his tone tinged with regret. "I failed to protect you in that great war. I'm truly sorry."
"There's no need to dwell on the past. As for my spirit form, that doesn't matter. I'll regain a body eventually," Yuui replied, waving a hand dismissively before asking, "But what about you? What do you plan to do now? The Three Sacred Beasts have already been sealed again by some of the strongest people in this era. Your strange duty is over. Will you return to my side?"
"Of course, I wish to return and guard you once more. However... sigh..." Neos raised his arms with a bitter smile. Two chains materialized from the light, revealing that his entire body was bound by five chains, locking him in place like a prisoner.
Yuui twitched his mouth, exasperated. "When you sealed the Three Sacred Beasts, you used your own body as the sealing material, so your soul was locked here as part of the seal, wasn't it?"
"Exactly," Neos nodded helplessly. "I thought that by sealing them this way, no one could break it from the outside. In fact, anyone who attacked the seal would only strengthen it with their own energy, extending its duration.
"Even so, who could have predicted that in this era, they'd find such an unorthodox way to break it from the inside!" He cast a respectful glance toward Instructor Claire and the other researchers lying unconscious nearby. "Their ingenuity truly deserves admiration."
He sighed again. "If they had simply overpowered the seal by force, pushing its energy limit until it broke, I could have escaped along with it. But since they broke it by trickery, I can't leave at all."
Yuui's brows knitted. "Then how do we release you?"
"It's simple." Neos raised his left arm, and a silver-white Duel Disk streaked with red appeared on it. "You must defeat me in a Duel. That's the final method to break this seal. If you defeat me—the spirit of the seal itself—the seal will crack apart, and I will return to your side."
So it came down to a duel after all.
Hearing this, Alicia thought how absurd it was. In this world, everything could apparently be solved through dueling… even breaking ancient seals!
Still, that made things simple enough. After all, Yuui-san was incredibly strong.
Yet after a moment of silence, Yuui suddenly said, "All right, but the one to release your seal won't be me—it'll be my current partner... Alicia."
"Eh!? [・へ・?]"
...
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