Capítulo 40: Dance of the dead

As the red color of the sand deepened, shattered corpses, limbs, and heads formed a disturbing backdrop on the dark red sand, and all of these broken bodies belonged to Neonidas. He couldn't remember how many times he had died; in fact, he wasn't even trying to recall—it was unnecessary.

With every step the creature took, the bones of the bodies that belonged to Neonidas cracked, as if they were in an arena made entirely of corpses. It searched for Neonidas with its red eyes and carefully observed its surroundings. An attack could come from anywhere at any moment, especially from the nearby ruins, which were the places Neonidas used to hide. The demonic creature had now acknowledged that Neonidas had grown far stronger, even becoming a serious threat to itself. This insane man had died thousands of times, yet he hadn't gone mad... Or rather... Well, it was hard to say if Neonidas had gone mad, since the definition of madness could vary.

When the creature suddenly sensed something behind it, it turned around, but it was too late. Neonidas plunged his hand, now transformed into a lightsaber, into the creature's belly, and it lost more blood. Neonidas vanished in an instant with a crazed grin on his face. This was a new ability he'd learned—by manipulating light, he could teleport short distances.

The creature's furious roar accompanied the horrific scene of the corpses scattered on the red sand. Smoke billowed from its wound, wrapping around it like a dark aura. Neonidas' sudden disappearance unsettled the creature even more. Its red eyes wildly scanned its surroundings, scrutinizing every shadow and every piece of rubble. In this arena, it was no longer the hunter, but the hunted.

"I'm here," Neonidas's voice echoed. Before the creature could pinpoint where the sound came from, it was attacked again. Neonidas reappeared like a silhouette in the air and sent a wave of energy woven with light toward the creature's back. The attack tore apart the creature's rear with an explosive impact. Blood and black fluid mixed with the sand, and another terrifying scream echoed through the air.

The creature quickly recovered and slammed its massive fist into the ground, creating a shockwave. The sand rose, and the ruins shook, revealing Neonidas's position for a brief moment. "Hiding won't save you, human!" the creature bellowed and swung its giant sword at Neonidas. However, Neonidas once again moved at high speed. As the creature's sword swung uselessly, Neonidas reappeared.

This time, the light swords extending from his hands had grown longer. Every movement he made caused energy explosions. With a crosswise swing of his arms, a sharp wave of light radiated from the swords, deeply wounding the creature's belly. The pure light energy seeping into the creature burned its internal organs.

The creature let out a painful roar and conjured a magical barrier. A dark black energy surrounded it, repelling Neonidas' next attack. "We've dragged this on long enough!" the creature growled, raising its hands to the sky.

With the creature raising its hands, a thick darkness enveloped the area. Dark black clouds covered the sky, and the corpses on the red sand began to rise one by one. This was a manifestation of the creature's dark power; the bodies Neonidas had created by dying thousands of times were now transforming into warriors against him. These corpses, with red glowing eyes, had turned into an army of demons.

Neonidas looked at one of his own corpses rising a few meters away. It felt strange to see his own face on a corpse, but this strangeness only deepened his manic grin. "Ah, are you using me against myself?" he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "How creative."

The creature let out another roar from within the darkness. "You wrote your own tombstone, human. Now, witness the dance of the dead!"

Neonidas swung his arms back and intensified the light swords in his hands. The vibration of the light cut through the air like a knife, sending energy explosions in all directions. "Well then, if you want to dance..." he said, and his body suddenly glowed with light. "Let me show you the rhythm of the stars!"

In an instant, Neonidas used his light manipulation ability to teleport into the middle of the army of corpses. His movements were acrobatic, he was like a titan with unshakable strength, and every step left a trail of deadly destruction. The pure light waves emanating from his swords sliced through the zombified corpses, splitting them in half and killing them once again.

Meanwhile, the creature tried to capture Neonidas with a dark chain. But Neonidas cut the end of the chain with the speed of light, leaped into the air, and quickly charged toward the creature. Before the creature could react, Neonidas adjusted his posture and extended his arms. The swords glowed yellow as Neonidas attacked the creature with both arms at tremendous speed. Neonidas' attacks were so fast that they broke through the sound barrier and sonic booms echoed through the air.

Each time Neonidas struck the creature, a shockwave formed, and the high pressure at the point of impact caused the creature's body to fragment, yet it quickly healed. But Neonidas's speed only increased, and the sonic booms grew louder. Neonidas' lightsaber arms had not only exceeded the speed of sound, but were now striking at several times the speed of sound.

The creature struggled to keep up with Neonidas' speed, each of his blows leaving trails of destruction that nearly shattered its internal organs. Neonidas's growing speed was like a storm of light; each attack caused fractures where his swords passed, and each touch triggered massive explosions. The creature, despite its rapidly healing body, began to lose its balance while trying to defend itself.

Neonidas paused for a moment, observing the creature's wounds. "You're trying to heal yourself, but..." he muttered, his face twisted with the expression of a madman who had lost his sanity. "There's no way you can stop this, is there?"

The creature clenched its teeth in rage, intensifying the dark energy around it. It raised its arms to the sky again, preparing for a much stronger spell. But Neonidas, moving quickly, teleported in front of the creature and spread his arms wide, concentrating on the energy. Light began to explode outward in all directions, affecting the air and the surrounding sand.

"I'll show you the rhythm of the stars," Neonidas said, and then slashed his arms at a sharp angle.

The explosion of light surrounded the creature like a starburst, causing blood and dark energy to burst from its body. The light shattered the creature's armor, while the dark energy wrapped around its body. At the same time, Neonidas once again used his hands—transformed into lightsabers—at supersonic speeds, targeting the creature's upper body. The resulting sonic shockwaves shattered Neonidas' old corpses into pieces, sending them flying through the air.

The creature, realizing that defense was pointless in this situation, barely moved its arms and suddenly attacked Neonidas' eyes. When the creature's flame-covered fingers entered Neonidas' eyes, the pain he felt was beyond what any human could bear. But Neonidas, who had died thousands of times and suffered immense pain during those deaths, didn't even notice this additional pain. Neonidas lost both of his eyes, and part of his retina evaporated, while the remaining portion of his eyes flowed out and transferred to the creature's fingers. Neonidas, in the literal sense, had lost both eyes and was completely blind, but he never stopped attacking.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAA- HAHAHAHAH!" Neonidas's loud, crazed laughter could barely be heard amidst the sound of explosions.

It seemed as though Neonidas had become the monster now, and as the creature's arms began to lose strength, Neonidas's carved eyes started to become more visible. The creature was no longer even fighting back, barely breathing, completely motionless. But Neonidas's strikes didn't stop, and since the creature had lost consciousness, it could no longer heal its body. Therefore, with each blow Neonidas delivered, many piece of the creature's body shattered. The creature's blood spurted towards Neonidas' face and mouth, which was open from laughter.

With every severed limb of the creature, shockwaves sent them flying into the air, as if Neonidas was taking revenge for everything he had endured. After being broken, torn apart, eaten, or tortured for mere pleasure by the creature thousands of times, Neonidas was now thoroughly enjoying the creature's death, and his laughter rising uncontrollably.

However, life wasn't determined to let Neonidas enjoy this activity forever. The place where he stood began to change, and everything began to vanish. Neonidas only realized this when he reappeared in his true form and his eyes come back.

---

Solara began to feel a bit anxious, but tried to keep her eyes on the beautiful scenery. She believed that time would move slower if she looked back at the cave, but her heart continued to race with worry. Why had her master entered such a dark and eerie cave alone? Even though only half an hour had passed since his departure, Solara was still deeply concerned. After all, Neonidas had said he would return in five minutes but he still hadn't come back. Solara glanced at Soren, who seemed as anxious as she was, though he was trying not to show it.

"Soren... Maybe we should go check the cave?" Solara suggested.

Soren turned to his sister, frowning. "Lord Neonidas specifically told us to follow him. Do you want me to disobey his orders?!" he replied, though his unease and indecision were clear in his eyes.

When footsteps echoed from within the cave, both Solara and everyone else turned their eyes toward it. A shiver ran down Soren's spine, and he immediately drew the staff his master had gifted him.

"This doesn't look like Lord Neonidas," Solara suddenly said. She clearly remembered Neonidas's aura, and this certainly belonged to someone else, or at least it felt different. However, the figure emerging from the cave was none other than a weary Neonidas.

"I wish I'd died a few thousand more times instead of solving these motherfucker riddles..." Neonidas muttered, holding a long, slender sword in his hand.

Seeing the tense and confused looks from everyone, Neonidas checked his body to see if there was any visible damage, but he appeared perfectly fine. Ignoring their strange gazes, Neonidas approached Solara and extended the sword he had just obtained from the dungeon to her.

"This is for you, honey. It's a pretty good sword. Should serve you well for a while."

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