"To the dearest brother in the world."
"Sorry for leaving before you."
"Please don't be reckless and do anything that would make me sad."
"I wish you would live a peaceful life, get married, and spend your life happily in my place."
He chuckled at his words.
Why was the letter so sorrowful?
It was almost as if Neo believed he couldn't return.
His preparations were complete.
There was a high chance he would win against the Gremlins.
It never hurt to be prepared.
"Should I leave a letter for Elizabeth and Amelia?"
Nothing came to his mind after he wrote their names on the paper.
While he was thinking hard, the timer reached ten seconds.
There was no time left.
Neo crossed out their names and activated Death skill.
Cold air stung his skin and—
Immense pain shot through his body.
He appeared in the middle of the Gremlin camp and fell to his knees.
The injuries - the broken fingers, cleaved ear, shattered shoulder - he sustained last time he was in Underworld healed…
At the cost of his Divine Energy.
Neo's blood was wrung dry.
He vision spun and he heaved his empty stomach.
Nauseous, fatigued, distressed.
It was the worst possible way to begin the mission.
The Gremlins noticed him.
Those little critters circled him.
He had to fight in his current condition.
Taking a deep breath, he activated Essence Breath Spell.
The Divine Energy rich air of underworld entered his lungs and pumped his blood.
He moved slowly at first.
It was not easy to move while using the Spell, but this was why he had been training.
When an evolved Gremlin approached him cautiously, Neo grabbed its head and smashed it into the ground, killing it in one go.
The Gremlins became livid.
They screeched like a banshee.
Neo did not wait for them to organize their ranks and dived into their midst.
He tightened his grip around Obitus and slashed…
There was no time to think.
Neo, surrounded, swung the sword in a wide arc to push the Gremlins back.
He was about to attack again when a noose came flying at him.
Last time, it was those noose that done him in.
Neo twisted his waist to dodge the rope.
He grabbed it when it missed him and pulled the rope with a snap.
Five Gremlins came flying.
He broke their vital organs with the sheathed sword.
Suddenly, his senses rang crazily.
He let go of the Essence Breath without thinking and activated Ocean's Embrace.
The blade failed to pierce his back.
Neo turned around to look at the confused evolved Gremlin's face.
"These bastards only know how to attack from behind."
He crippled the evolved Gremlin with a kick to its knee and bashed its face with the hilt of the sword.
The other Gremlins attacked at the same time.
But Neo was able to ignore them thanks to the Ocean's Embrace.
The monsters tried to form formations before attacking Neo.
It gave him time to compose himself.
"It's good the Essence Breath Spell is Tremor-ranked.
"I should be able to use Ocean's Embrace for twenty minutes with the Divine Energy I've recovered."
He fought like mad berserker.
Even with the Ocean's Embrace, he was losing his stamina at a rapid pace.
There was no time to hold back.
The Gremlins soon realized Neo was capable of dodging the ropes.
They changed tactics.
Dozens of evolved Gremlins rushed at him from all sides.
The monsters tried to hold him down.
Learning from the last time, Neo swiftly dodged the ones who tried to grab his limbs and killed them with the combination of Necrotic Touch and his sword's bashes.
'Fuck! These guys are infinite!'
Neo was running out of breath.
There was no end to endless wave of Gremlins.
Scorching heat stung Neo's skin and his senses warned him.
The giant fireball floated in the sky.
He tried to escape the fireball's area of impact.
The evolved Gremlins threw themselves at him.
They wouldn't let him take a step, let alone escape.
Neo clenched his fist.
He had to take the gamble.
He cancelled his Spells and fused his Divine Energy with Death affinity.
He compressed the energy within his core to the limit.
Blood trickled down his lips.
He ignored the Gremlins attacking him.
His stamina and Divine Energy rapidly decreased.
Red lightning crackled around his sword silently.
No attack flew out of his sword.
The Gremlins surroundings him suddenly fell like dolls with their strings cut.
It claimed them without warning.
Neo, exhausted and on the verge of fainting, bolted out of the area.
The fireball hit the ground before he could leave its area of impact completely.
He used the Ocean's Embrace.
Neo blanked out when the exploding fireball crashed against him.
He woke up, smashed into the wooden wall of the camp, half of his clothes burned from the blistering heat, and his skin black and charred.
Neo's throat, dry, stung when he coughed.
His nostrils burned and he couldn't breathe.
His limbs creaked when he tried to move.
"Crazy monsters. They took out their own to kill me."
Neo noticed blood and puss leaking out leaking out of his cracked skin as he stood.
He tried to ignore the pain and used Essence Breath.
His Divine Energy reserve started to recover.
He stood up and scanned the area.
Half of the camp was destroyed by the fireball.
The Gremlins were in worse condition than him.
Except the evolved Gremlins, barely any normal Gremlin survived.
The survivors didn't attack Neo.
They were busy devouring their kin to recover.
He trudged his feet towards the source of the death affinity's warning.
The one who aimed the fireball.
The leader of the Gremlins.
It stared at Neo with a mocking gaze.