Silence persisted in the impossibly large hall for a long moment before the space itself began to disintegrate, dissolving into shimmering dust just as Vaughn had. Neo remained sitting, waiting for the mysterious transition to be over, letting the staggering weight of responsibility settle onto his shoulders.
As the last of the hall faded into nothingness, he was suddenly transported. The world resolved into a boundless, sky-blue space. There was no feature, no horizon, only a solid, luminous blue in every direction, so uniform it made his eyes ache.
His quiet contemplation was broken by the system, reasserting its presence with abrupt clarity.
(System integrating with Pandora's Forge…)
(10%... 30%... 40%... 60%... 80%... 100%)
(Integration complete.)
(The Creator's status updated status can now be displayed upon command.)
A faint smile touched Neo's lips. 'Status.' He'd almost forgotten that particular function of a "system." Steeling himself, he thought the command clearly.
*Display status.*
Immediately, a clean, glowing interface materialized in his vision.
Name: Neo Ilyad
Rank: Acolyte
Titles: Creator
Elemental affinity: Fire (10%)
Creators Relic: Pandora's Forge
Bonded Relics: World-Split Blade, Space Key
Bloodline: The Creator's Bloodline
Bloodline abilities: True Sight, Transcendence, Creator's Physique
Souls Collected: 1
He stared at the list, the words carving themselves into his understanding. 'Acolyte. Creator. World-Split Blade.' The names held power, even just as text.
The "chill" was gone. His emotions felt raw, entirely his own. The relief was profound, but so was the fear—and beneath it, a sharp, quiet edge of determination. He noticed his new sword was no longer physically in his hand, but he could feel its presence, bonded and waiting.
He had a status now. He had relics. He had a title that stretched back to the dawn of time.
And somewhere, in the vast darkness between the stars, the Destroyers would already be stirring.
The blue space didn't remain formless for long. Slowly, it began to reform itself into a hall, ten meters wide, with a single door set into each of the four walls. The space felt ancient. The walls were inlaid with intricate gold patterns that seemed to shift subtly under an unseen light, and the air itself hummed with a low, mysterious energy. Just standing there, Neo couldn't help but wonder what lay behind each door.
*I'm supposed to pick a door, right?*
He walked toward the gold door directly in front of him. Each door was distinct: the one ahead was gold; to his right, a stunning sky blue; to his left, a pitch black; and behind him, a deep, ominous red.
He stretched his hand toward the golden door but pulled back at the last second. 'Wait. I have a system now.'
"System," he asked inwardly, "where do these doors lead?"
(Creator, this space exists within the Pandora Relic. As part of its features, four separate dimensions are maintained here.)
(The Gold Door leads to The Forge.)
(The Blue Door leads to The Storage World. You currently have two relics stored within.)
(The Black Door accesses The Soul Space, for the storage of collected souls.)
(The Red Door and its information are restricted due to the Host's current strength.)
"Soul storage?" Neo immediately summoned his status screen again, his eyes scanning the list. There it was: Souls Collected: 1.
His breath hitched. "System, what does 'Souls Collected' mean? What do I need souls for?"
(The Creator possesses a unique creation relic. Due to its nature, souls are a necessary ingredient for the forging of new relics by the Host.)
"How do I collect souls?"
(The Creator must be in proximity at the moment of death. The soul will then be collected by Pandora automatically.)
"But I haven't been close to anyone who died—" Neo's eyes went wide. A memory, sharp and devastating, lanced through him.
His body moved faster than his thoughts. He crossed the hall in three long strides, shoved the pitch-black door open, and stepped through.
The space within was utter darkness, save for a single, soft source of light. In the center, a figure floated serenely, bathed in an ethereal blue glow. Her eyes were closed; she looked peaceful, as if sleeping.
His vision blurred. Tears, hot and unrestrained, welled up and spilled over as he stumbled forward.
"M… Mom?"
The pain of losing her—the guilt, the rage, the hollow silence of nine months alone—crashed into him all at once, finally unfiltered by the numb chill that had imprisoned his grief. He fell to his knees before her floating form, the sobs tearing from his throat raw and loud in the absolute silence of the soul storage.
The chill was gone. For the first time since the world ended, Neo Ilyad felt everything.
After a long time of grief and pain, Neo finally spoke, his voice firm, the resolve behind it almost tangible. "Can she be revived? I mean… it's her soul…"
The desperation, the willingness to try anything, was clear in his words.
The system replied in its plain, uninflected tone. (That is up to the Creator. The soul and its essence can be preserved in their original form indefinitely within the Soul Space without degradation. While the possibility of revival exists, its feasibility is still to be determined.)
Neo smiled. To him, 'maybe' was infinitely better than 'impossible'.
Standing from his kneeling position, he looked around for an exit. The system responded immediately, even without a direct inquiry.
(The Host merely has to will an exit from any subspace within Pandora.)
He focused on returning to the initial room with the four doors, and in a blink, he was back, surrounded by the silent, ancient hall.
He turned toward the blue door—the one that led to the Storage World. He was curious why the system called it a "world."
Stepping through, he understood instantly.
The space was nothing like the bleak Soul Space. It was an entire world. Lush trees, a vibrant blue sky, a golden sun casting warm, dappled light—it was breathtakingly real. If he'd been dropped here without prior knowledge, he would have sworn it was the actual world.
His attention was caught by a movement. The diamond-shaped Space Key relic was playfully chasing the black katana through the air. They noticed him and, like excited children, zipped over to hover around him, their movements buzzing with cheerful energy. For the first time in what felt like forever, Neo felt his mood genuinely lift.
"Hehe."
He reached out and grabbed the katana, pulling it smoothly from its obsidian scabbard. As his hand made contact, information flooded his mind—two potent abilities.
World Slash: A cut that could sever anything—matter, energy, space, even the fabric of the world itself.
World Step: A movement technique rooted in the Space element. It allowed him to traverse impossible distances in a single step, bending space to his will.
Both abilities were constrained only by the reserves of his spiritual energy.
Both abilities were devastatingly powerful.
Setting the katana aside, he touched the floating, Space Key. Its ability was singular and straightforward: a one-way teleportation to the vault of the previous Creator, Vaughn. It required no spiritual energy to activate—a small mercy. The only cost was survival. He would have to withstand the violent, unraveling forces of an interstellar spatial jump.