The Battle Wasn't Over

After killing Peter Pan, Penny stood where she was, green flames dancing in her eyes. A deep calm settled over her: the exhilaration of avenging a bitter wrong, the relief of a mind finally at peace, the freedom of an obsession falling away. If she had been the protagonist of some novel, she would surely have broken through to a new realm or gained some profound insight. Unfortunately, Penny was no protagonist. After a moment, she returned to normal, pressed her fingers together into a blade, and drove her hand into Peter Pan's severed head with a wet crunch.

His hard skull did nothing to stop her hand. It broke through easily, exposing the soft brain beneath.

Peter Pan's soul was about to break free of his brain and flee back to the Nature Church when the Death Psychic Energy coating Penny's hand struck it. His soul shattered instantly, and its essence, along with some Psychic Energy, flowed into her body.

Still waiting outside the door, Green sensed a slight increase in Penny's strength. His spirits lifted, and a smile appeared on his face. This was the main reason he had sent her to fight alone. The Six-Headed Snake Woman had leveled up after devouring the Yin Spirit Parasite that descended from the Void. Green had concluded that heroes from the Graveyard had to devour the soul essence of Transcendents to level up, and he had sent Penny out this time to test that idea.

The soul essence Penny had just extracted from Peter Pan's brain had merged with her. She had not leveled up, and there was no experience bar, but that small increase in combat power was real. At this rate, she would only need to kill another hundred Peter Pans to advance to a Tier Three Hero.