Extra's Death: I Am the Son of Hades novel Chapter 272

Jack felt his body freeze.

The air around him was heavy and suffocating, as though an unseen force pressed down on everything.

The faint rustle of leaves in the distance was drowned out by the pounding of his own heart.

'There is no way she is only S-rank!'

Emma and Apollo had told him Gaia was an S-rank Awakener.

But the terror he was feeling told him she was far stronger than that.

"I asked you a question…."

Gaia's voice cut through the oppressive silence.

She stopped speaking and frowned, turning towards Typhaon's Core.

The towering tree pulsated faintly with an eerie green glow.

"Typhaon is… asleep?"

She placed her hand on the tree's trunk.

"What did you and Neo Hargraves do to Typhaon?"

"Neo handled it just as he said he would," Jack's voice quivered.

He struggled to speak due to the overwhelming pressure of Gaia.

She reigned in her pressure, and the oppressive atmosphere lightened, allowing Jack a breather.

The breeze returned, carrying with it the faint scent of charred wood and damp earth.

A few moments later, Zeus arrived, carrying Apollo in his arms.

Both of them had been healed by Gaia before she met Jack.

The air grew tense once again as Zeus stared at Jack with a stern gaze, while Apollo remained unconscious.

Gaia closed her eyes, her focus entirely on analyzing Typhaon's condition.

Her presence, even subdued, felt like a tempest barely contained.

Jack, on the other hand, had different worries.

'Where did Neo disappear to?'

'Don't tell me he had a different way of leaving the Shadow World and he left using it?'

'Hahaha, I didn't waste my reward, right?'

...

Underworld, Shadow World

Neo inserted the flag into the flag post with a soft click.

"I guess this counts as the trial being completed."

"Yes, it does, O Great Child of Monarch."

Neo turned around when he heard the familiar voice.

Barbatos stood there, his form hidden by the robe that danced like black flames.

The Grim Reaper's familiar appearance brought a smile to Neo's face, but it quickly vanished as Neo sensed something.

He frowned.

"You are just a projection. Not the real Barbatos."

"Indeed, it is something akin to a hologram," Barbatos said.

He was surprised Neo noticed it so quickly.

"It seems you have progressed quite a bit on the path of Intent," Barbatos said.

The hologram in front of Neo's eyes was made of Intent. It was supposed to manifest when he completed the fourth trial.

"So what was the fourth trial about?" Neo asked. "I've completed it, but I still don't understand what it was supposed to teach me."

Barbatos looked at Neo with a serious gaze.

"The trial was to surpass yourself. You had to gain an achievement unique to yourself."

Although Barbatos didn't say it, he was surprised when he looked at Neo's condition.

'Adept Mastery in Intent.'

'A never-before-seen Concept of Death.'

'And he managed to gain the memories of all his previous lives.'

Barbatos bowed.