Extra's Death: I Am the Son of Hades

Chapter 718: Lurking Danger

He wanted to find a way to help her.

That’s why he looked.

And what he saw inside her froze him.

A girl drowning in the depths of the Blood Sea, dragged down by countless corpses.

Every time she managed to break the surface, a giant goddess plunged a spear into the waves, forcing her back under.

Again and again, she was swallowed, struggling endlessly, suffocating.

Neo drew in a sharp breath.

She is caught by the ghosts of the dead.

Amelia couldn’t move on.

She couldn’t let go of the faces of those she had lost.

Her compassionate nature chained her to every single one.

She carried their deaths inside her, blaming herself for each one.

All her rage at Neo, all her shouting was her venting herself, nothing more.

The truth was simpler, and crueler.

She didn’t hate him.

She hated herself.

It’s impossible to calm her mind within a week, Neo thought bitterly.

He turned without another word and just as he left the office, Amelia’s voice came.

“I don’t trust you to bring back mother.”

“…”

“Every time I trusted you, I’ve only gained more scars.”

“…”

“Stop giving others empty promises.”

“I will bring her back,” Neo replied in the end.

Neo left the office and the door closed behind her.

The guards outside tensed as he emerged, but he ignored them.

He walked past them, down the hall, until he stood outside in the cool air of the palace courtyard.

Jack was waiting.

His expression tightened when he saw Neo’s face, but he didn’t ask what had happened.

“Let’s go meet Felix,” Neo said.

He quickly wanted to handle all the matters and make his breakthroughs so he could search for Elizabeth.

For a brief moment, Neo turned back.

His eyes lifted to the tall windows of the palace.

That was when he noticed her—Layla—standing by one of them.

She was watching him and Jack from far above.

Their gazes met, and something unspoken passed between them.

She opened her mouth slightly, as if words were about to form.

But whatever she wanted to say, she swallowed it back down.

Her lips pressed together, and she lowered her head.

Neo’s chest tightened.

Jack followed his line of sight and quickly sensed Layla’s presence too.

His voice cut in. “Let’s go.”

Neo gave one last look before nodding.

He placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder, and the two of them vanished, reappearing in the open sky high above the continent.

The air was thin.

Clouds stretched below them, and the horizon curved gently, reminding them just how small the ground had been beneath their feet.

For a moment, Neo didn’t move.

He simply hovered there, letting the silence of the sky surround him.

Then a deep exhale slipped out.

Fuck my shitty life.

He wished there was an easy way to help Amelia without tearing her wounds open again. Some way to meet Elizabeth quickly again. Some way to speak to Layla without adding to Amelia’s bitterness.

The weight pressed down on him harder than the pull of gravity.

Another sigh escaped his lips, softer this time. He shook his head.

Let’s focus on the issue at hand, he told himself.

He needed to meet Felix.

That was the next step.

His mind turned toward the problem that had been gnawing at him since Percival mentioned Felix’s mercenary job during the breakfast.

Felix had a mark of a dragon on his hand. Neo had seen it.

The mark had the aura and faint presence of Ancient Dragons.

And that fact alone was troubling.

Neo hoped—truly hoped—that the mark wasn’t something personally given to Felix by the Ancient Dragons themselves.

Because the moment Neo had seen that mark, he realized something else.

Felix had recognized him with that mark.

Not as Neo, not as a powerful God or a Heavenbreaker, but as an Ancient Dragon.

If the mark’s function was to locate me and brother….

Neo narrowed his eyes at the endless sky ahead.

If that mark truly was given by the Ancient Dragons, they must’ve placed a tacker on it.

If Felix carried a tracker embedded in that brand, then his every movement could be traced.

And if Neo or Henry came too close…

The Ancient Dragons would know.

And if Felix failed to carry out whatever role they had set for him—whether it was to test, to weaken, or to capture—then the real predators would follow.

The Ancient Dragons themselves.

They might be lurking around already.

Neo exhaled slowly, his gaze drifting downward toward Earth.

From where he floated above the clouds, the planet seemed fragile. Too fragile.

For a brief moment, he considered something extreme.

If he pulled Earth into his cosmos, it would no longer be exposed.

The move would guarantee safety, at least from sudden attacks.

But then he stopped himself.

The idea was dismissed almost immediately.

I don’t think the Ancient Dragons would attack soon.

That wasn’t just hope speaking.

It was logic.

If the Ancient Dragons already knew where Neo was, if they had used Felix as a tracker, then why hadn’t they attacked already?

The answer was simple.

Ilyana.

She was there.

The Stage 6 God, one of the leaders of the Forgotten Suns.

Her presence couldn’t be ignored.

For all their strength, even Ancient Dragons had to calculate risks.

They might be keeping their distance because of her.

Neo’s brow furrowed as he thought it through further.

They won’t stop for long.

They could be gathering strength at this very moment by calling other ancient dragons to strike Earth with overwhelming force.

If that were the case, then Ilyana’s presence only bought time.

She could deter them in the short term, but not forever.

Neo rubbed his temple.

Fuck my life.

Why does it keeps getting worse and worse?

It felt like every decision carried a storm behind it. No matter what path he considered, the shadows of worse outcomes loomed close by.

There were currently two things that could happen.

The worse scenario is what he had thought already.

But there was a good scenario too.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the Ancient Dragons have nothing to do with this at all.

He wanted to believe that.

He wanted to believe Felix had gotten that mark by some other means.

That it wasn’t connected to a bigger plot.

But he knew better than to depend on his zero-luck stat.

“What are you thinking about?” Jack’s voice broke his train of thought.

Neo glanced at him.

Jack looked relaxed on the surface, but the way his eyes narrowed slightly showed he had been watching Neo carefully.

“Nothing,” Neo said after a pause. “Where does Felix live?”

Jack studied him for a second longer, then shrugged.

“That continent.” He pointed in the distance.

Neo grabbed his shoulder, and they both stepped forward, vanishing from the sky.

The world shifted around them, and when they reappeared, the atmosphere changed instantly.

The palace in front of them was nothing like Amelia’s stern and imposing halls.

Where Amelia’s domain carried the sharp discipline of a ruler who held the weight of responsibility, Felix’s palace screamed extravagance.

The walls gleamed with polished marble and gold trim.

Carved pillars supported archways that led into a sprawling complex.

But what stood out wasn’t just the palace itself.

Attached to it—almost as if fused to the grand design—was a massive gambling den.

Bright lanterns lit up its entrance, flashing signs carved with runes to grab attention even in the daylight.

Music spilled out faintly from within, a mixture of string instruments and dice clattering on tables.

Laughter, shouting, and occasional bursts of argument echoed across the courtyard.

The place was alive, chaotic, and luxurious.

Neo looked at it with faint surprise. “He built this?”

Jack gave a dry chuckle. “Felix always had a liked money.”

The streets around the palace bustled with people, most of them finely dressed.

Nobles, merchants, and mercenaries walked side by side, their eyes drawn toward the den.

Servants in clean uniforms carried trays of drinks, while guards in black armor stood at attention near every archway.

The contrast was striking.

The palace carried the weight of royalty, but the den pulled in everyone who wanted to test luck, whether rich or desperate.

Neo was about to comment when a figure approached them.

The man wore a guard’s uniform, dark and fitted with golden trim at the shoulders.

His movements were sharp, but his expression carried none of the arrogance that often came with standing in such a post.

When he reached them, he stopped, bowed low, and spoke.

“Sir Neo Hargraves,” the guard said with surprising calm, “please follow me. My master has been expecting you.”

“You mean Felix?”

“Sir Felix, you mean,” the guard spoke sharply.

Neo raised a brow.

Jack shook his head, seeing as how Felix had told the guard Neo’s name but not who Neo was.

The two of them followed the guard.

As they walked, Neo spoke to Jack.

“Where is Mars? I didn’t see him at all.”

“We don’t know. After the matter with Universal Alliance settled, Mars left, saying he was stepping down from the throne. He wanted to train and fight and he said acting as a king didn’t suit him.”

“Where did he go?”

“Nobody knows. He left without informing us. He said we would definitely follow behind him sooner or later to bring him back, so he left without telling us where he was going.”

Neo smiled wryly.

“What about Arthur?”

“He lives in this continent. I think he must be waiting for us with Felix.”