The monster, twice the size of Neo, held a staff in its hand.
“Found you.”
The corner of Neo’s lips rose.
He formed the hand sign.
“Darkness, come.”
The shadows expanded like a blooming flower.
They formed a dome, trapping Neo and the Great Gremlin inside.
“Kirriririr?”
The Great Gremlin realized something was wrong.
The prey that should’ve been scared, trembling in his boots, injured and unable to fight back, was looking down at it.
The Great Gremlin’s instincts warned it.
It raised its staff and chanted Spells in its own language.
Multiple small icicles formed behind it.
Neo didn’t run.
He didn’t try to cover the distance between the Great Gremlin and himself.
He raised his sword above his head.
He burned his God Blood and infused his Divine Energy with Death element.
Red lightning materialized around his blade.
“Kiririr!!”
The Great Gremlin attacked.
The icicles pierced Neo’s limbs.
Blood poured out of his injuries.
His arms shook and he could barely stand straight.
However, his gaze remained firm.
The red lightning flared like a great bonfire.
Neo compressed Darkness alongside Death inside his core.
Wisps of black flame flickered on his blade.
“Kiriririr!!!”
The Great Gremlin realized it was in danger.
It tried to run only to be blocked by the Coffin of Darkness.
The monster attacked when suddenly—
Neo slashed.
Nothing happened.
The Great Gremlin chanted a fireball Spell.
It thought Neo’s attack failed when Neo puked blood and fell to his knees.
Finally, the human lowered his gaze.
It was about to attack when it stopped moving.
A red line, running from the top of its head to the base of its stomach, appeared on its body.
The monster split into two vertical halves.
“Huff! Huff!”
Neo couldn’t maintain the Coffin of Darkness anymore.
The Darkness returned to his shadow.
He won.
But.
There was no time to rest or bask in the glory of victory.
When the Coffin of Darkness disappeared, the surviving Gremlins surrounded Neo.
They stared at the corpse of the Great Gremlin, fear evident in their eyes, and didn’t approach Neo instantly.
‘These fuckers… They are waiting for me to die from exhaustion…’
Neo bit his lips.
The pain brought clarity to his mind.
He used his sword as support to stand.
His blood trickled out.
And…
It lured the Gremlins.
The monsters tried to act sanely and waited until Neo could not move.
However, a single brave, greedy Gremlin gulped.
It rushed towards Neo, intoxicated by the smell of Neo’s blood.
Not wanting to lose their prey, the horde of Gremlins followed after the first one.
Neo smiled bitterly.
He grabbed his sword and prepared to fight.
He could use Immortal and run away to the world of living.
But.
He vowed.
Today, he would win…
Even if he had to die.
He didn’t want to feel the sense of defeat he felt last time.
He would rather die than become a loser.
The first Gremlin reached Neo.
It pounced on him and sunk its teeth into his shoulder.
Neo snapped its neck with one hand.
The next Gremlin arrived.
He bashed its head with the sword.
An attack from behind landed on his hand and Neo lost the blade.
Neo turned around and punched the Gremlin’s head.
The monster face burst open like a balloon.
Suddenly, two Gremlins jumped on his back and a third one clawed his feet.
They tried to drink his blood.
‘Move!’
Neo’s limbs were as heavy as lead.
They wouldn’t move.
‘Don’t fail me now!’
Neo grabbed the leg of Gremlins on his back and pulled.
He smashed them on the monster at his feet.
Countless more Gremlins arrived.
They, wounded from the Great Gremlin’s attack and intoxicated with his blood, did not work together.
Instead, they attacked each other and tried to stop their kin from devouring Neo.
The human was theirs alone.
They did not want to share.
Seconds…
Minutes…
Hours…
Neo didn’t know how much time passed.
When he came to his senses, he was drenched in the blood of gremlins and he was the last man standing.
The Gremlins were all dead.
He couldn’t feel his limbs and his innards slipped out of the wound on his torso.
His vision was covered with darkness.
Neo wanted to rest.
He wanted to close his eyes and let go.
Hadn’t he done enough?
But.
Not now.
If he fell after everything, how would be that any different from being defeated?
He dug his nails into his flesh.
He used the pain to awaken his senses.
And.
“Darkness… Heed…. my c…call….”
The shadows bloomed slowly.
Neo devoured the corpse near him.
Countless voices spoke to him.
The jarring cacophony made him feel like pulling his hair out.
Insanity.
It was devouring him.
Neo held on.
In the past, Neo never took the easy way out.
He fought until the end, even if he could escape, he challenged students stronger than him, even if he was the weakest, and he trained, even if he felt like dying.
Those actions were not meaningless.
His will, tempered by his actions, protected him.
[Strength +1]
[Agility +1]
The voices grew louder.
Neo started to see hallucinations.
Phantom pain surged throughout his body.
[Will +1]
[Muscle Mass +1]
[Dynamic Vision +2]
He continued to devour the corpses.
He gained primary stats, shown in the Status window, and the hidden Secondary stats.
The darkness started to go out of control.
It devoured Neo alongside the corpses.
The insanity was overtaking him.
And.
He held on.
He continued to devour.
For that one stat.
The only way for him to survive.
Finally…
[Regeneration +3]
…Neo saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
His vision improved and he could breathe again.
He let go of the Darkness and crashed to the ground.
His breaths were shallow and he was wounded badly.
However.
He was healing.
Slowly, but definitely.
Neo used Essence Breath Spell while he waited for his body to recover.