Chapter 34: Dome

Antrox City Sector #3

Neolan reappeared somewhere completely different, having directly shifted from his Estate City to Antrox City. He stood before a massive Rift that tore through space itself, its enormous presence contrasting against the futuristic city surrounding it.

Towering skyscrapers rose high into the sky, almost touching the clouds, while flying cars moved between the buildings and even some Humans traveled through the air on surfboards. Blue holographic streaks automatically formed beneath the surfboards as their riders moved, allowing them to glide through the air at high speeds.

Neolan stared at the massive Rift for a moment before shifting his gaze toward his own hand. ’Hmm, I might need Bifrost for this. Constantly using Void Steps costs me too much Spiritual Energy, so I will need to replenish it when I return to the cultivation world.’

He then looked back toward the Rift, studying its strange appearance. It could be described as a massive chasm in space itself, with a jagged structure that resembled neither a circular portal nor any other recognizable shape.

Deep inside the Rift, crimson-colored space continuously shifted from one position to another, creating an unnatural sight that seemed almost disconnected from the world around it. Neolan finally took a step forward, but just before entering, his eyes shifted slightly toward the area behind him.

’...Hmm, someone has been following me since the Association. Assassins, maybe.’ He didn’t turn around completely, only observing the surroundings through the corner of his eye.

’Maybe they are planning to kill me while I am inside. Well, they will just meet their death.’ With that casual thought, Neolan stepped into the Rift without hesitation. His figure disappeared into the crimson-colored space, as though the strange Rift itself had swallowed him completely.

...

Inside the Rift, Neolan appeared in a grotesque environment. His legs immediately sank into a pool of blood until the liquid reached his ankles, but he didn’t react to the sight and instead calmly looked around. Numerous grotesque monsters surrounded him, each possessing seven eyes on its head and a body that vaguely resembled a small horse.

Their bodies were even more unnatural, consisting of ashen-colored flesh that appeared to have been stitched together, almost as though someone had forcibly connected different pieces of flesh with enormous safety pins.

Farther away stood enormous walls that stretched all the way toward the clouds above, with strange carvings visible across their surfaces. The Rift itself was no longer visible anywhere around Neolan, and there was a simple reason for that.

The way these Rifts worked was different from ordinary portals, as the entrance would disappear after someone entered and would only reappear once every monster inside the Rift had been killed and the Core of the Rift itself had been taken.

’Tch, these things are nasty and smelly. B-ranks, and there are this many of them? Sigh.’ Neolan showed no signs of surprise or fear despite the number of monsters surrounding him. Instead, he remained completely composed as he extended one hand and spoke calmly, "Bifrost."

The moment he said those words, Bifrost materialized in his hand. It was a thin Katana completely made of Shadow, with even its hilt formed from the same dark substance. Its appearance was exactly the same as when it had emerged during his Awakening, and simply holding it again caused Neolan to remember the sensation of wielding it during his previous life.

’It feels like just the other day...’ He remembered how naturally the sword had once rested in his hand, especially during the final battle when he had fought against the Demon King. The memory lasted only for a moment before the monsters suddenly moved.

The moment they sensed the sudden appearance of an invader and the weapon in his hand, all fifty B-rank monsters charged toward Neolan from every direction with ferocious speed.

Neolan remained motionless for a brief moment, allowing the monsters to close the distance. He held Bifrost casually beside himself, his expression remaining completely calm as he watched the fifty monsters rush toward him. Then, just as they were about to reach him, he spoke in an even tone, "Shadow Render—Dome of Infinite Slashes."

The moment those words left his mouth, Astrine surged from Neolan’s body in a sudden wave. The sheer amount of Astrine was enormous, and the energy immediately spread outward from his body before Shadow began taking form from it.

In an instant, the darkness expanded across the entire area and reached the enormous walls surrounding the Rift, forming a massive Dome that completely enclosed the battlefield.

The monsters instantly sensed the darkness spreading around them along with the sudden release of overwhelming Astrine. However, none of them stopped their advance, continuing to charge toward Neolan with the same ferocity.

Then, just as they took another step, all seven eyes on every monster’s head widened in horror as their perception was suddenly overwhelmed by countless movements they could no longer comprehend.

Their heads were severed before they could even blink. It wasn’t only their heads, either, as countless cuts appeared across every part of their bodies in the same instant, causing blood to burst outward and fall into the pool beneath them. Even their hearts had been sliced into tiny pieces, and the Cores hidden deep inside their bodies dropped into the pool of blood as their lifeless bodies collapsed.

The technique Neolan had just used had a very specific method of attacking his opponents. The first step was the creation of the Dome, which he formed by releasing an enormous amount of Astrine and converting it into Shadow that completely surrounded the battlefield.

The difficult part came afterward, because the slashes weren’t created automatically while Neolan simply stood in one place. Every single slash inside the Dome was created by Neolan himself through his own movement and swordsmanship.

Once inside the Dome, Neolan entered a state of movement equivalent to approximately Mach 1000. At that speed, he could move through the entire battlefield and swing Bifrost almost a hundred thousand times before returning to his original position.

To an outside observer, it would appear as though Neolan had never moved at all, even though he had personally created every slash responsible for destroying the monsters.

This was the true nature of Dome of Infinite Slashes. It wasn’t an automatic attack or some kind of machine-like ability that continuously generated blades on its own. Neolan had developed the Technique himself through years of training and countless battles during his previous life, refining both his speed and swordsmanship until he could execute the entire sequence within an incredibly short period of time.

After the Cores of every monster dropped into the blood, Neolan finally exhaled. A slight amount of fog escaped from his mouth as he slowly lowered Bifrost, and the enormous Dome surrounding the battlefield began to disappear. "Release..." he spoke quietly as the Shadow gradually dispersed and the surrounding environment returned to normal.

"Hah, it’s hard..." Neolan muttered before suddenly coughing. "Khug!"

Blood immediately came out of his mouth, and he quickly took a breath as his body struggled to recover from the strain. "Huff... Huff..." He barely managed to keep himself standing as his legs weakened, forcing him to place Bifrost against the ground and use the sword to support his body above the pool of blood.

After stabilizing himself, Neolan turned toward the Cores scattered across the blood-covered ground. Despite his current condition, a faint smile appeared on his face as he looked at them. "I think this will be enough for the first Evolution—!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Neolan suddenly sensed something approaching from behind. His instincts immediately warned him of danger as the presence of a blade appeared within striking distance of his body. ’Void Steps!’

His body vanished instantly, and the incoming blade cut through the space where he had been standing a moment earlier. Neolan reappeared some distance away, his expression immediately becoming cold as he narrowed his eyes toward the direction of the attack.

’Damn bastards, they really followed me inside, just as I suspected.’