Neo took a deep breath.
He waited for his emotions to calm down before starting again.
The Darkness devoured the monsters.
He ate a small amount.
The voices screeched inside his head.
It felt like his mind was torn apart hundreds of times and each piece was forced to listen to a different jarring voice.
[Right Hand Dexterity +1]
[Vision +2]
Black blood, tainted by Darkness, dripped from his eyes.
Neo tried to rein the rampaging Darkness.
Phantom pain surged through his body.
Hallucinations of his deaths appeared in front of his eyes.
Neo bit his tongue.
He hoped the pain would help him hold onto his sanity.
“Darkness… Devour…”
He moved to another set of corpses.
Thousands of images appeared inside his head.
The lives of Gremlins, their feasts, their traditions of consuming their kin, the memories of the preys they devoured.
Everything was inserted into his head in a split second.
Neo felt his head split.
“Ahh… argh… uhhgg…”
He groaned.
His body stiffened.
His eyes turned pitch-black and he frothed from the mouth.
Neo lost control over the Darkness.
It climbed his feet and wrapped around his body like a cocoon.
The shadows, limited in range by Neo, suddenly spread far out and covered the entire Gremlin camp.
Neo tried to stop it.
But.
He failed.
The Darkness began to devour the hundreds of Gremlins at once.
Neo screamed.
He dug his nails into his face and doubled over.
No matter how much he tried, the Darkness did not let go of its hold over him.
It pulled him into the abyss of insanity.
Slowly.
Mercilessly.
Relentlessly.
Neo could not resist.
The Darkness was overwhelming.
He felt he was falling into an endless pit.
The pain did not help.
Just when he thought it was over for him, he heard a voice.
Don’t…. give… up!
Remember… your vow…!
Obitus spoke to him.
A black light flew towards him in the endless sea of darkness.
Win… you have to reach… the Zenith…
Even if you have to die…
“I… will win.”
Neo felt as if he reached an epiphany.
He stopped resisting the darkness.
He no longer tried to halt the flow of the endless darkness.
Instead, he molded its flow.
He let the Darkness devour.
Not himself.
Not the monsters.
Itself.
He used the Darkness to devour the Darkness.
The Darkness grew frenzied and tried to retaliate.
But.
Neo persisted.
He accepted the gluttony of Darkness.
He let it paint himself in its color.
In exchange, he told it to eat itself.
Black flames burst over Neo’s body.
The Divine Energy in the air trembled and the Aura flames of Darkness burned brightly.
They devoured themselves.
The Darkness shrunk.
It let go of its clutches over Neo.
The energy, concentrated, grew smaller and got compressed.
The Aura flames shrunk until they were became a pea-sized seed.
The Seed of Darkness entered Neo’s Core.
Free of the maddening noises and the countless images, Neo fell to the ground.
He lost consciousness.
Countless screens flashed before his closed eyes.
[Taste Bud +1] [Sprint +1] [Punch Power +3] [Water Affinity +1] [Health +2] [Reaction Speed +1] [Breath Control +4] [Flexibility +1] [Reflexes +0] [Libido +4] [Grip Strength +2] [Endurance +1] [Immune Strength +2] [Cold Resistance +5] [Bone Density +1] [Skin Toughness +0] [Lung Capacity +4] [Blood Circulation +5] [Jump Height +1] [Hand-eye coordination +0] [Sweat Efficiency +2] [Metabolism +1] [Tactical Sensitivity +1] [Hydration Efficiency +1] [Sleep Quality +4] [Agility +3] [Adrenal Response +1] [Body Temperature Regulation +2] [Posture +4] [Height +3] [Tendon Strength +2] [Core Strength +1] [Oxygen Efficiency +3] [Regeneration +2] [Nail Growth Rate +0] [Peripheral Awareness +2] [Bladder Control +4] [Tongue Dexterity +5] [Blood Clotting Speed +2] [Bone Healing Speed +1] [Pheromone Sensitivity +1] [Limb Strength +1] [Jaw Strength +0] [Pupil Response Rate +3] [Gait Stability +1] [Fatigue Resistance +3] [Finger Strength +1] [Body Symmetry +5] [Bowl Control +2] [Neck Strength +1] [Spine Strength +1] [Limb Coordination +1] [Hormone Regulation +3] [Bone Flexibility +2]
Hundreds of corpses were devoured by Neo.
His body healed completely.
While he was in sleep, wisps of black flames materialized around Obitus.
The sword, hungry, did its best.
The black flames entered Neo’s body.
They reached his core and took out the newly formed Seed of Darkness.
Neo grunted.
Obitus retracted its black flames and held the Seed of Darkness within its clutches.
There is… no need… for two Spirits… to server master…
The black flames of Obitus devoured the seed.
The sword burped before it returned to sleep.
[Time limit exceeded. Forcefully reviving Neo Hargraves.]
Neo woke up in the world of living.
He groaned.
[Warning! You have left the Quest area.]
[Please return to the Quest area within 5 days.]
[Or else, the Quest rewards will be forfeited.]
“The time limit is 5 days. It wasn’t halved.”
Last time, it changed from 10 days to 5 days.
Neo did not understand the criteria behind the time limit.
He stood up with a stagger.
The lingering effects of darkness were still there.
At the same time, Neo felt power coursing through his veins.
His Primary Stats barely increased, but he could tell he grew stronger.
A lot stronger.
“My Secondary Stats gained a substantial boost.”
It meant only one thing.
Neo succeeded in devouring the corpses.
He looked at his body and tried to sense the changes.
While he was being devoured, he could barely think straight.
He did not remember half of the things that occurred back then.
“I think I saw Obitus’ Spirit.”
He stared at his sword.
It looked the same as before.
But.
He could tell.
Obitus was a step closer to completion.
At this rate, he should be able to pull the blade out of the sheathe soon.
“What about the Seed of Darkness? I’m sure I created one.”
He sensed his core.
It was empty.
There was no Seed of Darkness inside.
“Did I hallucinate about forming a seed?”
The theory made sense.
However, it made him question one thing.