Extra's Death: I Am the Son of Hades - Chapter 725

Chapter 725: New Traits

[Monarch of the Forgotten Crown]

The Monarch rules even if the world denies his existence. For his crown shall transcend time, memory, and recognition.

Effect: Your existence persists across dimensions and eras.

Even if erased, forgotten, or struck by conceptual attacks (like Time Erosion), loyalty of your followers remains bound to you, and your dominion cannot be undone.

Followers who die remain in your memory as “Eternal Subjects,” and their fragments of power shall support you even after their death.

Neo raised a brow, his lips curving slightly.

“The first trait is… actually pretty nice.”

He tilted his head, reading it again.

The description reminded him of his older trait, Crownless King.

That one gave stopped giving him the boost if the subjects died.

The new trait was its direct upgrade.

Moreover, even if the world forgot him or time itself tried to cut him out, he would still persist.

“So, even if timeline gets erased by Eternals, the boost I would get from bonding with people who were erased would remain.”

Of course, there was no way Neo would let the Eternals do anything like that in the first place.

He had lost too many people already in Tartarus.

He refused to lose anyone else to Eternals.

He looked at his second trait.

[King of the Endless Death]

Killed by many, defeated by none. For Death is a path that you walk and grow with.

Effect: For every death during a battle—of whether your subject or yourself—your abilities will gain 0.001% temporary boost.

Neo blinked twice.

He leaned closer, as though the words might change if he looked at them differently.

“What…?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and read it again, slower this time.

For every death during battle… a boost.

His fingers tapped against the table.

“Even if it’s temporary, that’s still huge.”

He thought through the mechanics quickly.

At his current strength, he could summon monsters endlessly.

He could create constructs, soulless puppet soldiers, and throwaway bodies with his Path.

If every single one of them died in battle, each death would stack onto his strength.

His eyes narrowed.

“Doesn’t this mean I could scale infinitely, as long as I keep feeding it deaths?”

The idea was absurd.

He wasn’t stupid enough to believe it would really go on without limit.

There had to be constraints somewhere.

After all, Ultris Path was meant to be a crutch for people hoping to become Gods.

His Path wasn’t supposed to be strong enough to overpower Elemental Path.

So such absurd power did not make sense.

“The limit’s probably in the energy cost,” he muttered. “Even if I can create endless summons, the Trait might have an internal cap. Maybe it maxes out after a certain number, or the boost stops applying once the strain gets too high.”

Still, even with a hidden ceiling, the potential was terrifying.

“If it really only depends on energy, then that’s fine. I have ways to draw on endless amounts of it.”

He paused, frowning.

“But if there are other types of constraints… that’s what worries me. Concepts, system rules, or maybe some backlash.”

He drummed his fingers again and decided not to overthink it yet.

The second trait was powerful, maybe too powerful.

He pushed it aside and looked at the third.

[Gaze of Monarch]

None shall be hidden from your gaze.

Effect: Allows you to peer into others’ Status.

Neo whistled quietly.

“That’s pretty nice.”

Simple, but extremely practical.

He knew exactly what this meant.

The Status wasn’t just some superficial measure.

It was the official system page of the Universal Codex—the absolute record of abilities, conditions, and details about a person.

He had tried hacking into it before.

Breaking into the Codex had been almost impossible, and Cole would never let him do it again.

After all, Universal Codex was something Cole himself had designed, and Cole’s strength was in a league of its own.

“This skips all that trouble,” Neo murmured. “I’d be able to see everything about my enemies. Every skill, every stat, every hidden ability.”

His mind immediately jumped to possibilities.

With his Path, he could create any technique, ability, or construct he desired.

If he had a way to find skills of his opponents, then he could build perfect counters.

“The synergy of this ability is high with my Path.”

His smirk faded after a moment.

“It would’ve been nice if my Path could’ve created a Trait like this on its own,” he said. “But considering Cole’s strength, it would probably take a long time to build something to hack Universal Codex System.”

He stretched his arms and sighed.

Without wasting more time, he flicked to the last trait.

[Shepherd of All Paths]

You who guide all Paths nurture them.

Effect: Allows you to alter the Universal Law to a minor degree and the Paths etched into them.

Neo froze.

His brows furrowed as he read it over carefully, twice, then three times.

“…This is ridiculous.”

This wasn’t some simple boost or practical upgrade.

This was playing with fire.

The Universal Laws were the foundation of universe.

They weren’t guidelines or system-made rules; they were the actual framework that allowed existence to remain stable.

“The Gods would come after me instantly if I tampered with this, and it wouldn’t be just them. The Universal Will itself would come after me.”

He rubbed his chin and thought through the implications.

The explanation of the trait didn’t clarify how much he could alter.

If it was truly minor, maybe something insignificant like bending a Path slightly, then it wasn’t worth the risk.

But if it allowed something more fundamental, then even a small change could alter the balance of the universe.

“That’s the real issue,” he muttered. “How small is ‘minor’? If it means I can tweak an ability’s growth curve, or redirect how a Path absorbs energy, that’s manageable. But if it means I can actually rewrite parts of a Law, even a sliver… then it’s more trouble than worth.”

The ability was nice but Neo wasn’t dying to get his hands on it.

He had no specific use for it.

And using it would allow the Universal Will to attack him.

Neo’s gaze slid across the four panels one last time.

He tapped the table twice, then nodded.

“All right. I’ll choose this.”

The moment his decision settled, the world seemed to tilt.

His energy surged, like a storm breaking loose inside his body.

Neo closed his eyes and let it burn.

His veins pulsed as though molten light flowed through them.

Cracks split across the ground, spreading outward in a spiderweb pattern.

A pulse of energy exploded from his body, throwing dust and shards of stone into the air.

The shockwaves rolled through the region like a hurricane.

Space began to crack.

Neo clenched his jaw and steadied himself, refusing to let the breakthrough consume his focus.

His aura surged again, a second explosion rocking the region.

This time the destruction was worse.

The ground warped as though it had been struck by a giant hammer.

The air itself vibrated with raw pressure.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the surge began to ease.

The raging fire that had wrapped around him slowly dimmed, fading into faint streams that sank back into his soul.

Neo opened his eyes.

He exhaled once, then looked around.

The area looked like a battlefield due to the damage it had received.

He rolled his shoulders, then swung one arm loosely through the air.

His muscles felt different.

They were denser, and sharper.

The space around him bent ever so slightly with the motion.

“I got a nice boost in strength after reaching Exalted rank.”

He let out a short laugh.

“It took me thousands of years to reach Exalted rank with my original trait.”

It wasn’t like him to dwell on nostalgia, but for just a moment he thought back to the endless grind, countless deaths, and countless revivals.

All of it had led to this point.

Exalted rank was far below him now, but it was a milestone he had once dreamed of, and aimed for.

Neo straightened and stretched his arms until his joints popped.

“Well, with this out of the way, let’s move on. Time to merge my other traits.”

The words felt strange even as he spoke them.

Merging traits wasn’t supposed to be possible.

Everyone knew that.

Neo had millions of traits.

Most of them had come from Tartarus.

But no matter how many he gathered, they all shared the same foundation.

Every trait was born from the Origin Trait.

That was the foundation.

It was a rune etched directly onto one’s soul.

It was the root of individuality.

All Origin Traits were similar in form.

They unlocked the hidden strength within a person’s soul and allowed it to manifest in the world.

But the results always came out different.

The difference came from the soul itself. From its shape, its experiences, and its scars.

That was why merging was considered impossible.

Every trait was tied to soul experience.

What did this mean for trait fusion?

His Monarch of Death bloodline traits and his Mind Invasion traits had both evolved along differently.

This was because their starting point was different. One was his own, and the other was taken from someone else.

But sooner or later, they would start circling toward the same result.

This would happen because both traits were growing from his soul experience.

“If a person has different multiple traits, and these traits have evolved long enough, they eventually gravitated toward similar abilities. After all, the soul both traits drawn upon from is the same.”

Neo tapped his chin.

“So merging is useless… because the traits end up converging in the end.”

Besides, there were only so many traits his soul could bear.

It was impossible to fuse with millions of Traits.

“But…”