Chapter 218
Neo grinned as he watched the damp spot her pants had left on the chair. The woman looked up from the cat, her expression tight.
"Based on this deal, you wouldn’t tell the administration, right?"
Neo nodded once. "I won’t tell them."
He left her there with the cat and headed straight for the storage room. The moment the door shut behind him he flipped into Torch Man mode. Heat flooded his arms. He raised both hands and fired beam after beam of pure pyro energy into the stacked boxes. Wood blackened. Paper flashed. In seconds the whole room was a roaring furnace. Flames raced up the walls and across the ceiling.
Sirens screamed to life. Red emergency lights strobed through every corridor. The speakers crackled, then an automated voice boomed:
"Fire has been detected. For your safety, every available guard is ordered to report to the guards’ meeting room immediately. Coordinate evacuation of the prisoners to the front yard."
Neo killed the flames around himself and sprinted. By the time he reached the meeting room the place was packed. Every guard on duty stood or sat around the big round table—including the woman who had been playing with the cat. They were already arguing about routes and headcounts.
The lead guard raised a clipboard. "Neo. You’re taking three from Wing 7A. Pick them yourself and move."
Neo nodded, face blank, and left at a jog.
Wing 7A smelled of iron and old straw. He unlocked the first cell and pulled out Gabriel. The second held the wolf-girl; the third, the orc-girl. He snapped heavy shackles onto the wolf-girl and the orc-girl without comment. When he reached Gabriel he leaned in just enough for the others not to hear.
"Today’s the day," he murmured. "We’re getting out."
Gabriel’s eyes flickered. She gave the smallest nod. Neo let the shackles rest loose around her wrists—unlocked. She exhaled, long and quiet, the first real breath of freedom she had taken in months.
He marched the three of them toward the front yard. The orc-girl kept glancing sideways at him.
"Want to fight again later?" she asked under her breath.
The wolf-girl’s ears twitched. She stared straight ahead and muttered, "Still haven’t told me where you live."
Neo ignored both of them. Other guards were watching. He kept his shoulders squared, voice flat, every inch the dutiful officer.
They stepped into the open yard. Chaos was already starting to build—prisoners shouting, guards shouting back. Neo waited for the right second, then yanked Gabriel behind a stack of crates. In the same motion he unlocked the wolf-girl’s and orc-girl’s shackles.
"Go make noise," he said. "As much as you can."
Both women grinned. The orc-girl charged the nearest group of guards with a roar. The wolf-girl vanished into the crowd and came up behind another squad, claws out. Shouts turned into screams. Bodies hit the dirt.
Neo used the opening. He grabbed Gabriel’s wrist and ran for the outer wall. The second they reached the shadows he activated teleport. The world blinked.
They landed hard in a patch of trees beyond the prison lights. Neo stripped off his guard uniform in three quick moves and pulled civilian clothes from his inventory—plain dark shirt, pants, boots. He tossed Gabriel a simple tunic and trousers. She changed without a word, wings folding tight against her back so the fabric could settle.
Torch Man mode flared again. Heat wrapped around them both. Neo scooped Gabriel into his arms and launched upward. Fire trailed behind them like a comet tail. Trees blurred. Wind tore at their clothes. He pushed the flight as hard and as far as the skill would take him, waiting for the system chime that would mean the quest was done.
Nothing came.
He frowned. The quest would only close once there was zero chance of pursuit. He kept flying, scanning the dark horizon.
Then he looked down at the woman in his arms. The flames licked across her skin and hair and did nothing. Not a single burn. Not even a reddened patch.
"Why aren’t you burning?" he asked.
Gabriel gave a soft, almost embarrassed chuckle. "I forgot to mention it. You have holy fire in you."
Neo’s eyes widened. "Holy fire?"
"Yes. The kind that only appears in people who are born with it. Heroes... or villains strong enough to break continents. I need to ask—do you know what race your mother is?"
"Human," Neo said automatically. "Of course she’s human."
Gabriel’s expression sharpened. "Talk to her again. Holy-fire bearers are never just human. Every one of them changes the world, for better or worse."
Neo nodded once. "I’ll ask her. Later."
A sudden pressure slammed into his back—raw mana, dense and furious, racing across the sky like a living storm. Even at this distance it made the air around them vibrate. Neo twisted mid-flight and saw the signature on his system map: the same succubus who had been hunting them.
Gabriel’s face went dark. "It’s her."
Neo’s mind raced. He pulled two figures from his inventory—Zod and the dark knight—and poured revival energy into both. The moment they solidified he injected twin strands of mana into each: one of his own, one of Gabriel’s. Then he dropped them into the forest below.
"Run different directions," he ordered. "Lead her off."
The two minions hit the canopy and sprinted. On the system map the succubus’s marker hesitated, then split its attention. Neo seized the opening. Teleport flared again.
They reappeared deeper in the forest, boots skidding across moss. Neo set Gabriel on her feet and looked at her.
"What now?"
She was quiet for a long moment. "Can we crash at your place for a while? I’m not stupid enough to walk back to the angel army. I’ll contact old friends, find out what the situation is... and find the informant who sold me out to the demons." Her fist clenched at her side.
Neo nodded. "You’re welcome."
They took to the air again, lower and quieter this time, following the familiar path toward the Nyx tribe. The castle gates opened at Neo’s approach. Inside the main hall his women were already waiting—curious, alert, weapons close. Neo introduced Gabriel without ceremony. She met every gaze steadily.
"I’m Neo’s woman first," she said. "Angel general second."
That single sentence settled the room. The others nodded, respect replacing suspicion. Gabriel was not a threat; she was family now.
Neo left her with a communication device and watched her walk over to Veya. The two of them immediately bent their heads together, already talking about a custom weapon that could be forged from Gabriel’s own feather wings.
The night outside the castle was quiet. Somewhere far behind them the prison still burned, and the succubus was still hunting false trails. For the moment, Neo and Gabriel had time.