章 12: First Quest
Neo had a plan.
He had already executed it.
Now he just had to wait for the result.
The Tyrant Queen nodded after seeing his abilities.
"We'll do as you asked."
Suddenly, a screen appeared before Neo's eyes.
[Quest]
[Objective: Save the Tyrant Queen, Elizabeth.]
﹂The Mermaid Country is isolated in the harsh seas of Alaspa. Its unfavorable location has led it to be exploited by others countries since its establishment.
﹂Elizabeth changed the situation through her overwhelming might. With her crowning, she made sure no country and demigod could look down on her homeland or exploit it.
﹂Her radical methods, while uplifting for the Mermaid Country, earned her the nicknamed 'Tyrant Queen'.
﹂After years of peace, the people of Mermaid Country have forgotten the times when they were exploited.
﹂In their eyes, the Tyrant Queen is nothing but an uncontrolled slaughterer who is ruining their reputation and making enemies with powerful demigods.
﹂Believing that the Tyrant Queen's actions would soon bring retribution, the Mermaid Country has decided to revolt, to remove the Tyrant Queen before her enemies destroys their country in order to eliminate the Tyrant Queen.
[Reward: Immortal Exp +50, Water Affinity]
[Failure: Ire of Amelia de Beaufort]
[Do you wish to accept the Quest? Y/N]
There were many important details in the Quest description.
He scrolled above and re-read it carefully.
The story was as he remembered.
The rewards were good.
50 Exp was equal to using the Immortal skill 50 times. It would save him 50 days of training.
As far as Neo knew, nobody could gain an extra affinity.
They were born with fixed affinities and, in rare cases, the demigods could awaken their dormant affinities after going through a life-death situation.
Gaining a new affinity was unheard of.
For this type of reward, the failure was only receiving Amelia's anger.
It was clear what he needed to choose.
[Quest accepted.]
"Since you've accepted the request, we can start now," the Queen spoke.
She smiled.
"We'll purge the palace."
"H-huh? Mom, are you… going to kill everyone?"
"Not everyone, sweetie. Only those who seem to have a hand in the rebellion."
Almost all the palace people supported the revolt unanimously.
One of them might've been the caster of the curse.
Elizabeth did know the identity of the caster.
She could not do the purge as she might've killed the caster unknowingly.
If that happened, she would've been unable to lift the curse.
Her hands had been tied.
However, with Neo's arrival, she did not need the caster to remove the curse.
"As you wish, my Queen," Clara said.
"When can you start the remedy?" The Queen asked Neo.
"Tomorrow. I need to make some preparations today," he answered.
The Tyrant Queen saw no problem with the Neo's appeal.
The curse casted on her rendered her, an Exalted Demigod, helpless.
It happened because she had no defense against the curse and the curse was applied over the years without her knowledge.
But that didn't mean the curse was weak.
No.
To work on an Exalted Demigod it had to be incredibly powerful.
Taking a day to complete the preparations was already a lot less than what she had imagined.
If he was not the kin of Hades, Elizabeth would've thought Neo was lying.
"Clara, call my personnel guards and, until tomorrow, you will guard Neo." Elizabeth ordered. "Amelia, you will stay with me while Clara is protecting him."
She sent them after the short briefing.
Just as he was about to leave, he noticed Amelia staring at him with a glare.
The doors closed and he heard a chuckle from Clara.
She quickly wiped the smile before returning to her expressionless face.
"You don't need to be so uptight with me," Neo said.
"I'll show you the guest room," she said as she ignored his advice.
Two entered a room in a secluded corner of the palace.
Neo was appreciating the grandeur of the room when Clara locked the door behind him.
She swiftly approached him and covered his mouth with her hand.
The dagger in her hand pierced Neo's neck.
His eyes widened.
He choked on his blood as he stared down at the dagger.
"I-it was you…"
Never had he imagined the leader of the Queen's personnel guard to join the rebellion.
Clara grabbed his face and muttered,
"Let's see if you are really immortal."
She activated the curse.
Neo's skin twisted and it began to rot at a visible pace.
However, before he could even feel the pain, he was already dead.
Clara let go of the dagger.
His body fell with a dull thud.
She waited.
Would he really stand back?
Was he actually immortal?
How could a mere Awakened Demigod cheat death?
It did not matter.
If he was an immortal, she would imprison and hide him until the Tyrant Queen died.
Ten seconds passed…
Twenty seconds passed…
A minute went by…
Neo did not revive.
He was not an immortal.
Clara released the sigh she had been holding unconsciously.
She felt relieved.
"Come."
She snapped her fingers.
At the command, the shadows inside the room trembled.
They shrunk and merged, and transformed into a boy with green hair and yellow eyes.
"Why did you kill him, sis?"
"He can heal the Queen. I've verified his abilities."
"That means…" His boy's face hardened. "The Queen will soon do a purge."
"Not soon. She is about to start right now."
Clara looked at the blood spilling out of Neo's neck.
"We need to spread the news of his death to the stop the purge.
"The Queen will realize I've joined the revolt. So, I'll go into hiding for a few days."
Her brother, Paul, nodded.
No matter the cause, Clara could not be captured.
Because.
She was the leader of the revolt.
And the caster who used the curse on the Tyrant Queen.
The revolt would fail if she were caught by the Queen.
"Take his body. We will pin the blame of his death on the Queen and say the Queen killed him because he couldn't save her."
Paul did not understand who Neo was to be able to cancel his sister's curse.
However, he knew now was not the time to ask.
"I'll do as you've ordered."
He shape-shifted to a splitting image of Clara and left the room.
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