Chapter 275

Chapter 275: 275

Neo gulped as he scrolled through the system rewards one more time. The list glowed in the corner of his vision, numbers and titles stacking up like a menu of power he had not yet claimed. If even a fraction of these bonuses applied to his swordsmanship, the next fights would turn sweet. He focused on the Hell Hole dungeon entry and asked the system for more details on the monsters inside.

The reply came flat and final.

"Go and take a look yourself. Use the system map location."

Neo tried again, pushing for names, levels, weaknesses. Nothing came. The system stayed locked, forcing him to move. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He needed a partner for this run. One name settled in his mind almost at once.

He whistled once, sharp and clear.

Pinky shot out of the nearby storage alcove, metal limbs whirring, pink plating catching the light. She skidded to a halt in front of him, engines still glowing faint heat from the short sprint.

"It’s been a long time, Pinky," Neo said.

She nodded, voice bright and mechanical yet warm. "Yes, Master."

They left the Nyx tribe together. Neo shifted into torch-man mode, flames wrapping his boots and palms just enough for lift. Pinky’s four limb-engines flared blue-white. Side by side they cut through the sky, wind tearing past, the ground blurring below. The flight felt clean and fast; neither wasted words. Minutes later the system map pulsed and they dropped toward the entrance.

The cave mouth waited exactly where the map claimed. Pinky tugged Neo’s sleeve the moment her optics locked on it.

"Are we really in the right place?"

Neo checked the map again. "It’s what the system is saying."

He understood her doubt. The entrance was a literal demon’s mouth, jaws stretched wide, rows of stone fangs jagged and wet-looking. Green light flickered deep in the throat. Neo took Pinky’s metal hand and stepped forward. The second both feet crossed the threshold the jaws slammed shut behind them. Twin demon eyes flared bright green on the inner walls.

"Let’s see if you two can make it out alive."

Neo summoned his spear and poured holy pyro mana along the shaft. The blade flared white-gold, pushing back the dark. They stood in a long hallway of black stone, walls smooth and cold. Neo met Pinky’s optics.

"We move forward."

She nodded.

They walked in silence until a red door blocked the path. Neo pushed it open. The room beyond stretched wide, an exit door visible on the far side. In the center stood the enemy: a massive puppet of wood and iron, faces carved across its torso, limbs ending in curved blades. The moment the door fully opened the puppet’s many eyes locked on them and it charged.

Neo shoved Pinky sideways and jumped the opposite way. The first blade whistled past his shoulder. He kept circling the room, boots scraping stone, while the puppet tracked him with jerky, relentless steps.

"Pinky, keep its attention. I’ll hit it from behind."

"Understood."

Pinky’s limb-engines roared. She lifted off and fired tight beams of pyro energy, each shot slamming into the puppet’s chest and shoulders. The construct swung at her, blades slicing air, but her navigation system twitched her body left and right, dodging most cuts even when the strikes came fast. Neo watched her draw the puppet’s focus, then called a spear of pure stardust into his hand. He hurled it. The spear punched through the puppet’s back and exploded, scattering limbs and faces across the floor.

Neo let out a breath. "Done."

The pieces twitched. Wood and iron scraped together, flying back into place. In seconds the puppet stood whole again, blades raised. It launched at Neo. One edge caught his shoulder, slicing deep. Blood ran warm down his arm. He activated his speed skill and blurred across the room, putting distance between them.

The puppet’s body shuddered. Its faces melted and reformed until the main head wore Neo’s exact features—same jaw, same eyes, same short hair. Only the hands stayed blades. Worse, Neo felt the echo of his own skills inside the construct: speed, stardust, sword forms.

Pinky’s optics widened. She tried to climb higher. The puppet blurred with Neo’s own speed skill, formed a stardust spear, and drove it through one of her flight engines. Sparks exploded. Pinky crashed hard to the stone floor, one limb sputtering. The puppet closed in, blades raised for the kill.

Neo burned the last of his speed skill. He appeared between them, crossed two short swords into an X, and locked the descending blades. Metal screeched. He twisted, slid the puppet’s weapons aside, then tensed every muscle in his legs and arms. Broad shoulders rolled forward. He drove a barrage of high-speed slashes into the puppet’s torso, each cut leaving dark fluid leaking from the wood.

The construct stopped mid-swing. It formed a stardust sword of its own and answered with Neo’s own swordsmanship forms. Neo’s eyes widened a fraction too late. The blade bit clean into the same wounded shoulder. Pain locked his muscles. He could not move an inch.

The puppet advanced, copying the exact footwork Neo used for a finishing flash-cut. If that edge reached his neck his head would leave his body. He strained, but his limbs stayed frozen.

Pinky’s remaining functional hand rose from the floor. A thin beam of pyro energy cracked against the puppet’s head. The damage was small, almost nothing, yet the construct’s many eyes flicked toward her for a single heartbeat.

That was enough.

Neo forced his legs to fire. He shot forward, stardust spear already forming in his grip. He poured every remaining scrap of strength into the throw. The spear punched straight through the puppet’s chest. Wood cracked. The construct collapsed like a cut string, blades clattering, faces going dark.

The system notification chimed.

[Enemy killed.]

Neo pulled a healing potion from his inventory, uncorked it with his teeth, and drank. Warmth flooded the torn shoulder and sealed the cut. He sat on the stone floor, breathing hard, and watched Pinky work on her damaged engine.

"What parts do you need?"

She listed them—small servo joints, one flight core, two plating plates. Neo opened his storage and handed each piece over. Pinky’s tools whirred. Within minutes the engine hummed again and she stood, fully mobile.

Both of them healed, Neo stripped off his blood-stained clothes without ceremony. Cool air touched his skin. Muscled legs and arms flexed as he rolled his shoulders, the broad frame still carrying the heat of the fight. Sweat traced the lines of his chest and stomach.

"It’s sex time," he said.

Pinky’s optics brightened. "Yay."

Neo stepped closer, voice low and steady. "This time we have sex while flying. You’re the one controlling the flight. The room’s big, so don’t hit a wall. I’ll handle the thrusting."