No matter how much the mole monster struggled, the massive Reaper Scythe pinned it firmly to the floor, rendering it immobile. Blood flowed from its wounds, staining the floor crimson. Only when Yue Ge approached the scythe and gently pressed his hand on it did the blade rapidly shrink. It reduced from the size of the mole monster to a size Yue Ge could grip.

He suddenly understood the last words he had heard from the Reaper while still conscious:

“I will teach you the sole meaning of power!”

Yue Ge looked down at the monster beneath his feet and slowly raised the Reaper Scythe.

All this happened in less than half a minute. By the time Bai Ya arrived, Yue Ge was already standing on the mole monster. From her perspective, things looked completely different. She saw only a pitch-black silhouette holding a scythe, identical to Yue Ge when his Essence had gone out of control before.

“Yue Ge…” Bai Ya called out instinctively. But the moment he turned to look at her, she couldn’t utter a word. Instinct… or rather, the Essence within her body warned her how dangerous it would be to take another step. For the first time, she felt primal terror from another being. Her Essence recoiled. Her normally fluid abilities, honed through training, turned stiff. She couldn’t even move.

Yue Ge didn’t respond. He merely glanced at her, then looked away. With an indifferent expression, he swung the scythe down, letting the blade pierce the mole monster’s heart. Dark aura greedily surged into the wound, completely enveloping its heart. Moments later, new dark aura gushed out, merging with the aura around Yue Ge. The mole monster’s wails abruptly ceased. It was clearly dead.

Yue Ge sensed the dark aura around him growing stronger. As new aura flowed in, all of it conveyed a feeling of joy back to him. He extended his hand. The dark aura wrapped around it grew restless, its edges twisting like boiling liquid.

“See, it’s simple. Just a wave of the hand, and that’s what power is,” he heard the Reaper whisper in his ear.

“Yeah, really simple,” Yue Ge murmured. He released his grip, and the scythe dissolved back into dark aura, returning to his side. So this was what power was—something so easily addictive. But… this wasn’t what he sought.

Yue Ge stepped down from the mole monster’s body, walking toward Bai Ya. The gray-white world seemed frozen. Only he moved, until he stood before her. She still hadn’t reacted.

“People always fear Death. Even so-called ‘gods’ are no exception,” the Reaper sneered.

“Maybe so,” Yue Ge replied with a nonchalant smile.

“Shall I kill her, or spare her life?” the Reaper asked with a malicious tone. “Killing her would be good too. Nothing would bind you anymore. Killing two birds with one stone.”

“But… I refuse,” Yue Ge said, glancing back slightly at the dark aura drifting behind him. A mocking smile appeared on his face. That dark aura wasn’t attached to him; it existed independently. Most of the aura around him was like this. Only a thin layer actually clung to his body. Even if all the dark aura in the mall were gathered, it couldn’t amount to such a vast quantity. The aura behind him was so dense it seemed to blot out the sky, almost forming a silhouette. In other words… most of it was power lent by the Reaper. He was merely experiencing it.

“Refuse? Why? I’ve lent you this power. Why not cause a big ruckus?” the Reaper said.

“Even a three-year-old knows that the more someone tempts you to do something, the less you should do it.” With that, he ignored the Reaper. He took a deep breath and dispersed all the dark aura on and around him. All the gray, white, and black vanished from sight. The Reaper’s hoarse, nagging voice was gone too.

Then, Yue Ge reached out and gently flicked Bai Ya’s forehead.

Bai Ya snapped out of her daze, clutching her forehead and staring at him with disbelief.

“What are you staring at? Snap out of it,” Yue Ge said with a smile.

“…What just happened?” Bai Ya didn’t understand. She had only seen Yue Ge walk up to her, then the black mist around him dissipate. At that moment, she thought she was doomed. She couldn’t even run; she couldn’t move. Her mind went blank. Even Little Ash, cradled in her arms, had fainted. What she saw wasn’t Yue Ge, but a much larger silhouette behind him.

“Nothing much. I just tried activating my Essence. No major accidents, I hope. Or did I go too far and scare you? From next time, it shouldn’t be this dramatic.” Yue Ge glanced back at the mole monster’s corpse. No dark aura rose from it. Even the dark aura that had been in the mall was gone. Next time… if he wanted it this easy, it would depend on gathering that much dark aura again.

“Well… the Organization’s mission was to capture it alive. Otherwise, I would’ve killed it long ago,” Bai Ya sighed in relief. “Forget it. I’ll just tell them it was an accident.”

“Is that okay?” Yue Ge scratched his cheek.

“It’s fine. Let’s go. It’s almost time. The cleanup can be handled by the Organization.” Bai Ya masked her expression and led the way toward the exit. She suddenly had a strong urge to give Yue Ge a full-body check. Everything that had just happened intrigued her. The Essence within him was definitely not as simple as it seemed. No one could use their Essence so stably on the first activation without sedatives. Essence wasn’t a skill; it was an “instinct.” Just as one learns to avoid pain, a Chosen One could only use their internal Essence freely after forming muscle memory. Actions against “instinct” would only cause it to go out of control. But Yue Ge had skipped this step entirely, as if… even the Essence itself was helping him.

“Mm.” Yue Ge followed Bai Ya as usual, as if nothing had happened. Indeed, without the Reaper’s voice, the world felt much quieter. Mm… it would be nice if it were Bai Ya’s voice instead. Then, even if the Reaper nagged, he wouldn’t be so annoyed. Indeed, the world was unfair.

Cuteness is justice.