"Boy, you don’t know who you are dealing with. We are from the Redhawk Mercenary group," the captain threatened, his hand tightening on the grip of his rifle.

​"Never heard of you," Neo replied, his expression blank. "And even if I had, I would still make sure to kill every one of you to defend my subject."

​"Hah! What are you now? A King?" one of the junior Redhawks mocked, his fingers hovering over the trigger of his submachine gun.

​"No. An Emperor," Elena replied this time, her voice cold and mechanical, shocking the mercenaries.

​"What ridiculousness! Captain, these two sound like they are still kids playing cinderella," another added, shaking his head in disbelief.

​"Yeah. Enough nonsense! Kill the boy and the slime, and catch the girl!" the captain commanded.

​At his word, the three mercenaries nearest to Neo raised their weapons. But before they could even pull their triggers, Neo vanished.

​Cinder Dash!

​Leaving behind a trail of scorching embers that ignited on the grass as Neo reappeared directly in front of the mocking junior.

"Wha—"

Before the man could scream, Neo’s right arm flashed.

The [Ignited Blade] sliced through the air, the titanium glowing a white-hot orange.

"Ahhhh!"

It sheared through the mercenary’s armor and flesh in a single, clean stroke, cauterizing the wound instantly so that not a single drop of blood hit the floor.

​"One," Neo whispered.

​"Die, you freak!" the second mercenary yelled, swinging a heavy vibro-axe at Neo’s side.

​Neo didn’t even turn his head. He simply tilted his body, the axe whistling past his chest.

At the same time, with a fluid motion, he grabbed the mercenary’s wrist. The heat radiating from Neo’s hand was so intense that the man’s sleeve began to smoke.

​"Two," Neo said as he drove his elbow into the man’s throat and followed up with a flaming palm strike to the chest, sending him flying backward into a thicket of thorns.

Bang!

​Meanwhile, the third mercenary tried to retreat, but he found his feet stuck. He looked down to see a pool of violet-black slime spreading across the boots.

​"What the fuck is this? Get it off!"

​Atlas didn’t give him the chance.

The slime’s core pulsed with a sickly light, and a [Cursed Hydro Jet] blasted upward, hitting the man square in the face.

He collapsed instantly, his skin turning a grayish-black as the necrotic energy did its work.

​"Three," Neo counted, finally looking toward the red-haired captain.

​The captain’s face had already gone pale. His arrogance was no more, only terror.

He realized too late that these weren’t kids playing a game. He was standing in the presence of a predator.

He and the other two instantly fell to their knees.

​"Spare us, sir! We didn’t know you were so powerful!"

​"Yes, yes, we were just doing our job!"

​They begged, tears and snot mixing on their faces. Neo couldn’t help but laugh.

​"Just doing your job? Is that the excuse you would give for bullying and abducting a girl? And above all else, you dared to target one of my subjects?"

​"Uhm, we didn’t know, My Emperor," the captain said, acknowledging Neo as the Emperor just to save his life. Though inside he still mocked him as a little brat, he was already plotting to crush Neo with the help of his allies later.

​Neo gazed at his face, seemingly seeing right through the facade. He wasn’t so naive as to leave weeds to grow and spoil his garden later.

​"Atlas, kill them!" he commanded coldly.

​Atlas gave a devilish boink and jumped into their midst, starting the carnage. After several horrifying shrieks that could strike terror into anyone’s soul, the clearing went silent. Only six human corpses remained, dripping crimson blood onto the bedrock.

​Neo stepped forward and, while he still had the chance, activated [Necromancy].

​"Awaken!!" he shouted, making the atmosphere turn bone-chillingly cold.

Soon, a ghostly symphony echoed, and the corpses began to come back to life one after another. Some had slit throats, others had pierced chests, and some had faces marked by severe burns, looking like roasted meat.

​[ Death Awakening Successful ]

​[ Soul-Binding Successful ]

​[ Status #1 ]

[ Name: Unnamed ]

[ Species: Undead Human ]

[ Power Rank: Type-9 ]

[ Abilities: Marksmanship (F), Undead Regeneration (F) ]

​[ Status #2 ]

[ Name: Unknown ]

[ Species: Undead Human ]

[ Power Rank: Type-9 ]

[ Abilities: Melee-Combatant (F), Undead Regeneration (F) ]

​[ Status #3 ]

...

​One by one, Neo noted each of their stats. With that, one thing became painfully clear: they were weak Beyonders, and they remained so even now. Without Undead Regeneration, they would be nothing but dead bones and ashes. At best, they were cannon fodder.

​Such weak undead had no place in his army.

​"I should synthesize them to make them more useful," he muttered, already deciding to initiate the process.

​However, there was one problem. Elena was standing right behind him.

"What did you do, Neo? How can they awaken from the dead?" Elena asked, looking a little frightened.

​Neo looked at her strangely. "How odd! Have you never heard of the undead before?"

​She shook her head. "No. My knowledge is mostly limited to finance and technology. I haven’t been taught much beyond those subjects yet."

​"Oh... Then how is it that you’re so good at fighting?" he asked curiously.

​"That’s because I learned from Mother Parrot. She really had some good moves," she answered honestly.

​"Well, that’s definitely something new I learned," he said. "I really would have loved to meet her if I’d had the chance."

​"Yes, It’s such a loss. She was my only friend before you," she replied, looking disheartened.

​"I’m your friend?" Neo echoed.

​Elena immediately panicked. "Ah, I am sorry for being disrespectful as your subject! But now I genuinely see you as a friend, Neo. The way you stood up for me... only Mother Parrot has ever done that."

​Neo’s heart softened, but only for a moment.

​Beep! Beep!

​Just then, a beeping sound came from Elena’s arms. Neo looked over and found it was his wristband.

​"Huh? You fixed it?"

​"Yes. Its battery was damaged, so I replaced it with a few of my own power cells," she replied, smiling brightly.

​She took it off her porcelain-like hand and handed it to Neo. Neo clicked the interface and saw an incoming live call from Moon. He immediately accepted it. Almost instantly, Moon’s charming face appeared in a holographic projection, looking almost lifelike.

​Seeing Moon’s enchanting face, his heart warmed, though he couldn’t quite tell why.

​"Where are you, Neo? I need to tell you something right now."

​She seemed hurried and anxious for some reason.