It was surprising.

Neo never expected the blessing to be like this.

The power to judge the souls.

Such mythical power belonged to the realms of….

The Gods.

Neo cleared those thoughts.

He was just an Awakened Demigod.

Becoming a God was too far in the distance.

"Stop ignoring me!"

Gwen lunged at him.

Before she could do anything, Neo suddenly moved.

His figure blurred and he appeared behind her.

Grabbing her neck, he smashed her head into the ground and knocked her out cold.

He won.

It was laughingly easy.

Just a few months ago he could not hope of defeating a single Zeus clan member, even if he went all out.

And now he could defeat them without using his blessing.

"All that training was worth it."

He smiled.

"I just need to awaken my Time Element and I'll finally become the strongest first year student.

"First thing first...."

He looked at the unconscious Gwen.

"I need to recover my Divine Energy."

He turned his gaze towards the forest.

Selene was late.

…

"He won't survive, just like your previous teammates."

Mad Hound licked his lips.

"I've carefully selected my new pets."

"H-he won't die. Neo won't."

Selene gathered her strength.

She believed what she had said.

Neo wouldn't be defeated.

The reason she recruited Neo was because he survived absorbing the blood droplet.

"Hahahaha, there is no way he is defeating two Zeus Clan prodigies."

"….What?"

Selene's blood turned cold.

It made Mad Hound happy.

"Why do you think I couldn't gather more minions? I was busy working hard collecting those Zeus blood bags!"

Selene's face lost all color.

"Good! That's the face I wanted to see before I kill you!"

Mad Hound grinned.

"It's the perfect punishment for the trouble you've caused me."

There was no need to keep Selene alive anymore.

Mad Hound pulled the blade out of her neck, causing her to flinch and stumble.

He kicked her down the tree and jumped over her.

Just as he was about to crush Selene, a red bolt of lightning crashed into him.

He was flung away and his back hit the tree.

"W-who is there?!"

Mad Hound growled.

He bared his fangs at the human walking out of the thicket at a leisure pace.

"It seems your Aura of Death is just for show."

The monsters like Selene and Mad Hound had been living Underworld.

Their auras grew stronger after being corrupted.

It was why Neo misjudged their strength.

In truth they were…

"You are pathetically weak."

Mad Hound's eyes widened when he saw Neo.

Countless questions surged inside his mind.

He rushed towards Neo and drew his menacing claws.

"Hahahaha! I don't know why you are here, but this is better! I'll kill you in front of Selene—"

"Die."

Neo spoke a single word.

Suddenly, Mad Hound's legs stopped working.

He fell face first into the ground.

"Grrrr…."

Mad Hound tried to stand, thinking he had tripped.

However, he came across a horrible truth.

His legs wouldn't move.

They were…. dead.

"What d-did you do!?"

"I'm just practicing my elemental control."

Neo nodded to himself.

"It seems it's possible to kill individual parts of the body."

Mad Hound shuddered.

Both of them had Death element.

Yet Neo could kill him with a word.

It meant Neo was far stronger than him.

"W-wait! Wait a second, don't kill me. I'll do anything you say."

Mad Hound's wolf-like ears flattened as he took on a submissive attitude.

"I can—"

"Shut your mouth."

Neo killed his arms and jaw.

He grabbed Mad Hound by the neck and carried him to the dying Selene.

"You look like shit."

"That's a terrible thing to say to your teammate who is about to die."

Selene tried to smile but failed miserably.

She had lost too much blood and her injury was fatal.

It was a miracle she wasn't dead yet.

Neo threw the Mad Hound next to her.

"Devour him. There is a chance you might be able to heal yourself "

"I doubt I'll be so lucky."

"There is no harm in trying."

Selene didn't try to devour Mad Hound.

She looked at the horror in Mad Hound's eyes a smirk.

"I won't devour him. Let him suffer under the True Darkness after he dies as a monster."

Her dying eyes were full of relief and gratitude towards Neo.

"About the blood droplet…. cough, cough I'll tell you the location."

"Stop spouting nonsense."

Neo created a tiny Aura Blade with right hand's fingers.

He used it slice off his left hand's fifth finger.

"What are you doing….?"

Neo ignored Selene.

He focused on devouring the blood from the finger.

Only an empty husk of flesh and bones was left behind.

He threw it to Selene.

"Devour this. It will heal you."

Selene didn't understand how or why Neo's flesh could heal him.

He had to be a Grim Reaper or even higher than them to have that kind of body.

She shook her head.

"You'll never regenerate that finger if I devour it."

"It's just a pinky finger and I'm not giving it to you for free."

Neo had no problem giving up a finger.

He wouldn't lose anything if Selene devoured it.

Besides, unlike Selene thought, the finger would regenerate when he ranked up.

The only problem was if the finger would heal Selene, since he took away all the blood.

Selene was still reluctant, but it was clear Neo was not going to budge.

Darkness beneath her stretched.

It devoured the finger.

Instantly, a surge of power rushed into Selene.

Her injuries began to heal.

Her affinity with Death and Darkness saw a tremendous boost.

The corruption of Darkness, that was always threating to drown her, stopped progressing.

It was miraculous, almost impossible.

Everything that happened after she devoured Neo's finger defied logic.

She stared at Neo with a different gaze. As if she was looking at a higher being.

At a God.

"Who… who are you?"

"If you are healed, focus on the task at hand."

Neo pointed at Mad Hound with his chin.

Selene followed his gaze.

She understood Neo did not want to answer her question and complied.

Mad Hound was salivating.