Gremlins were social monsters.
They hunted when they were hungry, they stole when they found a target, they laughed when they feasted, they moved in groups to use the advantage of numbers, they used clubs as weapons.
They had emotions.
Not just joy, patience, and ambition.
Sadness, rage, fear.
They probably had those too.
His plan was simple and it target those emotions
There was just one problem.
It was a heinous plan no sane person would use.
But when he remembered how they ate the woman while laughing, Neo felt no remorse.
They were monsters.
And he was going to treat them like one.
Neo moved away from the camp.
He searched for solitary group of Gremlins with no more than three monsters.
Maybe it was because there was no predator in trees, and because the thick tree branches did not make noise when Neo moved on them, the Gremlins never checked if there was someone above them.
Neo climbed down halfway through the vine and angled himself above a Gremlin.
They were a group of five.
He used Ocean's Embrace before he let go of the vine.
The first Gremlin was crushed to death as he fell on top of it.
A shiver ran down his legs, but the impact was non-lethal, maybe thanks to the Spell or his demigod physique.
He grabbed the heads of the nearest Gremlins before they could react and smashed them together.
Their heads popped like balloons.
Suddenly, Neo felt a stinging pain on the back of his leg.
He turned around.
A Gremlin was stabbing him with a crude knife.
The last Gremlin pounced on him with a roar just as he was about to kill the knife-wielding Gremlin.
Neo allowed the Gremlin to bite his left hand.
These little critters weren't as strong as Gulwaks and couldn't pierce his Ocean's Embrace.
Neo flexed his arm and hit the Gremlin on his arm against the knife-wielding Gremlin.
They let go of him in pain and were swiftly killed by getting their necks snapped.
He fell to the ground as soon as the battle ended.
"Huff… Huff… My stamina is the real problem here."
The scene around him with the heads bashed open was straight out of a gore movie.
He looked at his blood covered hands with a sigh.
"I spilled too much blood. It will attract other monsters. These corpses aren't usable for my plan."
Although it wasn't his original intention, he decided to devourer them.
He suddenly stopped.
His ears turned red.
"Do I really need to do hand signs to use the element?"
After reviewing the information, he found out that using hand signs or words could alter the flow of Divine Energy through his magic circuits.
It was a must for an amateur like him.
"Fuck, I need to use them…"
Neo gave up.
He curved his fingers inward, while his thumb and middle fingers touched in a precise gesture.
"Devour."
Divine Energy rushed into his core.
Inside, it transformed into something heavier and burst out.
His shadow shook.
It suddenly stretched in all directions and turned the ground below him pitch-black.
The corpses slowly sunk into the darkness.
Neo maintained the hand signs and focused on absorbing the Gremlins.
Countless voices appeared inside his head.
WhoAmINEoHArgrvaesDIEDINENEEDtodieMyFateISHasEnddedWhoAMIThirdFourthSEcondWhenwillthisendTheyAREEEEcoomingTheOUtersTheGodsAreDEADDEADEADDEAD
The voices of darkness made no sense to Neo.
A trail of blood flowed down from his nose.
He did his best to ignore the voices, lest he let the insanity take over his mind.
After a few minutes, the corpses were completely absorbed.
Neo let go of the hand signs and the darkness returned to his shadow.
He breathed heavily while wiping the blood from his nose.
His complexion was better.
He felt rejuvenated and his stamina was restored by a bit.
[Constitution +2]
"Two stats points? It's a jackpot right off the bat."
The corner of his lips rose into a smile.
Using Darkness brought immense mental fatigue but, right now, his biggest problem was his stamina, and it was somewhat solved with Darkness element.
He took the knife that had fallen to the ground.
There was no blood or corpse remaining.
If someone came there, they wouldn't believe the place had been filled with smashed open heads, cranium, and blood a few minutes ago.
"I should be able to stop them from bleeding with the knife and Necrotic Touch."
He climbed the trees and looked for another group.
This one had three Gremlins.
He dropped next to the first Gremlin and slit its throat.
The others tried to run, but he threw the knife and caught one of them while the other tripped, which allowed Neo to finish them with Necrotic touch.
After the battle ended, he tied them with vines and hung them on the trees.
"I need to repeat this quite a few more times… It's going to be tiring."
The corpses dangled in the air.
They were low enough for the Gremlins to see, but still high to the point they couldn't get them off until they climbed.
If Neo repeated the hangings, it was bound to affect Gremlins.
They had emotions.
Fear
Or
Rage
He wondered what they, who could eat other species alive, would feel.
…
Dover Hotel, World of Living
Amelia stared at the ceiling with a tired gaze.
She rolled in the bed again.
No matter how much she tried, she couldn't sleep.
Turning around, she stared at Neo.
"Hey, are you asleep?"
…He was sleeping like a log.
She raised her head and stared at him with a frown.
Honestly, she didn't want to think this way but she was suspicious of Neo.
In terms of appearance, Amelia was cut above the rest, she was as the same age as Neo, and they were sleeping next to each other.
How could a boy in his prime sleep soundly next to her?
"He might swing that way."
Amelia blinked.
Her face brightened.
She became surer of her thoughts.
Her mother's advances were bound to fail!