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 youth sleepy soundly next to her like him?
"He might swing that way."
Amelia blinked.
Her face brightened.
She became surer of her thoughts.
Her mother's advances were bound to fail!
The thoughts she harboured against Neo dissipated. She did not need to take precautions anymore.
Looking again, Neo's sleeping face seemed a bit cute.
She gently touched his cheek with her finger and giggled.
He was sleeping so soundly that he didn't wake up when she pinched his cheeks.
His posture remained the same.
Not even his chest moved.
Almost as if he was dead.
"…"
Amelia suddenly froze.
…As if he was dead?
"No… that's not possible."
She pressed her palm against his chest swiftly and….
"There is no heartbeat."
Neo did not have a pulse either.
He was not sleeping.
He was dead.
Amelia's face hardened.
But she regained her calm quickly.
Neo was immortal.
He had proven it.
"Why did he die suddenly? He should be still alive. Was it an assassination or…"
Was it the price of cheating death?
She didn't complete her words fearing they might come true.
Nobody could die and return to the world of living without paying a price.
Neo never said what he had sacrificed.
What if his current condition was the consequence of it?
She recalled his heavy aura of Death.
It was something only those who visited Underworld could have.
Did he have to keep visiting that horrible place as a price of his powers?
It was an open secret Exalted Demigods wanted to find methods of immortality.
They knew about the Underworld more than anyone else, and they were afraid of dying and going there.
Amelia bit her lips.
Twice.
Neo died twice to help her mother and her.
Twice, he must've gone to the Underworld, and still, he never told them about it.
"Is he trying to make sure we don't feel guilty?"
What kind of nightmares had he seen in that world?
What would he do if he could not return again?
Amelia did not know how Neo could remain sane.
How much courage was needed to visit the world feared by the so called the strongest demigods?
There was nothing Amelia could do.
She could only pray he would not lose his way.
That no matter the horror he faced he would stand strong.
Even if he was alone…
Even if he had no one to support him…
"Please, stay safe."
…
Forest Of All Beginnings
Land Beyond the Mist, Underworld
"I'm finally done."
Neo looked at the work that took him hours to complete.
Dozens of Gremlins were hanged on the trees.
It looked like the work of a psychopath.
He pursed his lips.
"Maybe I went too far."
Shaking his head, he climbed a vine and waited for another group of Gremlins.
The monsters arrived.
They froze when they saw the dangling corpses.
One of the Gremlins shouted. It tried to jump and pull down the corpses.
Neo remained hidden.
He noticed the Gremlins growing frantic, from rage or shock, before they ran back to their camp.
They gathered around the burned bonfire.
It did not take long for hundreds of Gremlins to join them.
They shouted and made incomprehensible noise for minutes.
A small group of 15~20 Gremlins left into the direction of hanged corpses.
"They are checking if it's true that Gremlins are hanged, huh?"
The group returned after a few minutes.
They were livid.
Their screeches confirmed the death of their fellow Gremlins.
The crowd of Gremlins was about to leave and search for the perpetrator when suddenly another group of Gremlin returned while shouting and roaring.
"They found the other sides."
Neo had hung the corpses at multiple places.
Since every group of Gremlin went in different directions, he was able to hang them without getting caught.
Hundreds of monsters rushed out of the camp.
They took out weapons and swept through the forest.
The Gremlins looked at the tree branches to see if the killer was hiding there.
Unfortunately for them, Neo was in the trees next to the base.
Since the corpses were far from the camp, the monster never thought he would hide there.
"Now, I can start."
The base had only a handful of Gremlin left.
Neo's action pissed them badly.
He carefully moved on the trees above the base.
These trees had thin branches.
If was not cautious the noise would alert the Gremlins or the branches might snap.
He failed to notice thin threads covering the area.
The threads snapped when he moved through them.
…!
Bells hidden on the trees rang.
Neo's position was revealed.
'Shit!'
The Gremlins, while not wary towards the enemy on trees, made sure to protect the area above their camp.
Neo's mind raced.
Should he run away or should he try to complete the task?
There was not much time left until the Gremlins returned after hearing the bells.
But if he was fast, he might be able to escape.
"I should—"
The branch snapped when a Gremlin suddenly hit it with a stone.
Neo barely had time to use Ocean's Embrace before his body hit the ground.
He groaned.
"I think… I broke something…"
As if it wasn't bad enough, he heard the noise of horns.
The Gremlins began to surround him.