Chapter 33: Gremlins
To use Darkness or to not use it?
The dilemma was a luxury a Grade 5 Awakened Demigod like him could not afford.
Besides, it wasn't like he was devouring a human soul.
After making a decision, he moved towards the mist.
He had barely recovered any Divine Energy and he was steadily growing tired.
Consuming the mantis should help him recover.
"Yes, I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just trying to survive."
The location of the mantis' corpse was not far into the mist.
Despite the lack of visibility, Neo could reach the location fairly easily by referring to his memory.
And…
"Fuck. Of course, it's like this."
The corpse was missing.
He crouched and touched the soil.
The ground had marks as if the mantis was dragged away.
There were multiple footprints along the path.
"Should I follow the traces? The mantis had weak defense but it was fairly strong. I should get quite a few stats if I absorb it."
Neo's mind raced.
"Multiple monsters were needed to drag the corpse. They are physically weak."
"They didn't hunt the monster and instead stole the corpse. They are thieves, not hunters."
"The fact they live in groups means the individual members of their species have low combat power. They use numbers to protect themselves."
All of deduction pointed out to a single conclusion.
The monsters were at the bottom of the food chain.
They were a species that lived on scraps of others.
"But a group also signifies they have basic intelligence. They might be able to make use of weapons and traps."
"Moreover, I don't know their numbers."
"Without the blessing of Underworld, I can't heal anymore."
"Fighting recklessly like I usually do is out of the question."
It was dangerous.
Moreover, his goal was to search for flag posts.
But he wouldn't find them by searching for them blindly.
He might encounter a strong monster during the exploration.
These monsters, seemingly at the bottom of the food chain, were the best choice for Neo to hunt.
He made the decision and followed the tracks left by whoever stole the mantis corpse.
The tracks took him out of the mist.
He navigated through the forest and soon heard unintelligible noises.
They were coming from behind and left sides.
"One group went ahead and two more are nearby. How many of them are there?"
Neo quickly looked for a method to hide.
The noises were slowly nearing.
He suddenly saw the vines hanging from the trees.
There was no other place to hide.
"Return to monkey it is."
The vines were easy to hold and climb with.
However, Neo, after losing the blessing, became tired easily.
He had climbed only half of the way when the monsters appeared.
Crude purple skin, short stature, and hideously ugly. Most of them were empty handed while a few carried a wooden club.
"Gremlins…"
Neo recognized them.
He climbed the vines while the monsters focused on the path and stood on the thick tree branches.
"I should use the tree branches to tail them."
With their short stature, they would find it difficult to climb and if Neo was caught he would have enough time to run away.
As he followed the Gremlins, he realized something horrible.
There were too many of them.
He came across five groups and their numbers only increased as they went in the direction where their base might be.
They approached an area with sparse trees.
Neo was forced to a stop and he tried to scout the Gremlins base from the distance.
"A few hundred at least…"
They lived in rag-tag huts and had created a crude wooden wall to surround the tribe's border.
Judging from the infrastructure, they were either nomadic or poorly skilled.
There was a burned bonfire in the center of the tribe.
The corpse of mantis was there.
The Gremlins seemed to be laughing and dancing as they tore a piece of the corpse and ate.
…!
Neo suddenly noticed a woman next to the corpse.
Tears and snot covered her face.
He couldn't hear her and tried to read her lips,
Help me!
Someone!
Sav…e me…!
She was missing her right leg.
The Gremlins tore her body apart and ate her along with the mantis corpse.
He bit his lips.
There was nothing he could do.
She was already dead and he was too weak to help.
Fighting a group of Gremlins, let alone hundreds, in his current condition was suicide.
Still, he didn't avert his eyes.
It was weird.
How could he stay calm in the current situation?
He was in Underworld where he could be killed any time, yet he never felt afraid.
"I feel numbed… Barbatos warned me I'll become tainted if I touched death too many times."
Neo felt it was a good change.
He calmly analyzed the situation.
"The woman must be a wandering soul. Either a Grim Reaper didn't come to pick her up, or she ran away."
She ran away and became food for monsters.
It was how things worked in Underworld.
There was no happy ending for the weak.
Power was the only solution.
"Not just Underworld, it's the same in the world of living. If I don't become strong, I'll never survive the calamities."
Suddenly, Neo felt the flags inside his clothes vibrate.
He took one of them out.
The flag, as if it came to life, whirred and pointed at the burned bonfire in the middle of the Gremlin camp.
A beat later, it returned to its lifeless self.
Neo looked at the flag in his hand and at the bonfire.
"Is it telling me the flag post is there?"
… Barbatos was really trying to get him killed.
Neo really wanted to cry.
He took a short breath and calmed himself.
It was not the time to mop around.
If anything, he should be happy he found the flag post quickly.
"But how can I go in there and use the flag post?"
Gremlins were not friendly to humans.
The woman showed him why.
"A small group might be doable, but fighting hundreds is not an option."
He stared at partying Gremlins while they enjoyed the feast.
…?
Partying?
"Oh…"
An idea popped into Neo's head.
"This might work…"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone