Perm looked at the scene before him in utter shock; his pupils shrunk as his mouth opened wide, the men that previously charged at the presumed weak brat, were now lying in a pool of their blood. Carefully observing, one would notice that they had each been separated into two halves, the looks on their faces being of utmost terror as their eyes were rolled backward.
"S-such a devilish brat, b-boy, how could you do this? Taking the lives of so many people?" Perm exclaimed in a rage, trying to hold back his fear, even now he was trying to attack Nero's psychology.
Yet, though Perm seemed as if he was in grief over his men's death, he was, in fact, calm, as Nero's strength had woken him up from his previous delusions. He was naturally a cunning man, but his arrogance was his greatest weakness.
'Blast! How could this darn brat be so strong, he's no different from me in terms of mastery of skills, likely averaging all three core arts to the Fourth Stage. I cannot let my guard down again... I can use that other method if things go south,' When Perm thought to himself, his eyes focused in on Nero again, he was hoping that his words earlier might have stirred his mind causing him to show weakness, but right at this moment, Perm's face sunk as Nero had once again vanished.
'Where did he...?' Perm was about to think something, but as if he recalled another matter, his complexion changed as he hurriedly turned around towards Elly.
"Noooo!" Perm shouted as he then noticed that Nero had appeared behind the last standing member of his unit.
As if the man was still in shock by the carnage before him, he didn't even notice that Nero was standing behind him. Nero made a dark smile as he swung his sword in a downward manner, easily cutting the man into two before he kicked him towards the other men's bodies.
It wasn't that he wanted to pile them up, he merely didn't want any of the blood to spill on either him or Elly, Nero was a youth of cleanliness.
'Hmph! You think I'd be foolish enough to allow your lackey to use Elly as a scapegoat, not today; I won't be making such mistakes.' Nero inwardly thought as he sneered at Perm, who was looking at him in a manner that stated he wanted to sheer his flesh to pieces.
Adult Nero made a faint smile at this as he thought, 'Well done, he is a bit more cautious than how I was, it seems that my subtle attempts are working much better than I'd anticipated.'
"NEROOOO!" Perm shouted in a manner unfit for a professional, his stance now filled with slight openings as he adopted his combat posture with his danger held behind him.
"What?" Nero spoke back indifferently; he wasn't in a hurry, as he knew that the latter was as strong as himself. His time was limited, so he only needed to strike when he was sure he could kill him in a few moves.
"WHEN I CAPTURE YOU, I WILL SHEER THAT DIGITIZE BIT FROM YOUR..." Perm was about to say some typical villain line, but before he could even fully express his intention, his eyes flashed when Nero vanished again.
"Oh shit!" Perm cursed as he hurried adopted a defensive mindset, but this time Nero had appeared at his flank in the same strange posture with the sword held behind him as if he was using a scythe.
'That posture again, I won't fall so easily brat!' Perm said in his mind that as he recalled Nero's usage of this method, he patiently waited for Nero's blinding fast attack as his body erupted with his magic power, causing the marking of the number on his head to shine brightly.
Suddenly, Nero twisted his body as if making a wide swing, his figure blurred and vanished, leaving behind only a bright silver arc in place of his sword that swept towards Perm at crazy speeds.
'Now!' Perm shouted in his mind, his awareness pushed to its limits, causing him to catch its trail barely, he tapped his feet against the floor and did a backflip in the air, narrowly avoided this arc of light that tried to sever his body.
As Perm's body made a graceful arc in the air, he positioned himself in a diving posture with his dagger now held before him as one arm was raised at his side, his pupils showing a sinister glint that left two trails as he fell downwards.
Perm then invoked a skill, "I've got you now, Piercing Dagger Dance!"
Following his resonant yell, the magic power around his body channeled towards the dagger, his arm then slashed the dagger a myriad of times, leaving an illusion of multiple arms cutting, stabbing, and striking downwards.
By this time, the silvery arc of light made a full circle arriving back at its previous position as it formed into the sword. Nero's body then appeared once more, standing in the posture with his body arched, and one handheld the sword in an outstretched position behind him.
Nero lifted his head, gazing at the incoming dagger storm but didn't show panic; his eyes coldly shone as if he could already see his opponent's end. Though Perm acted swiftly, with Nero's senses, he seemed to move in slow motion, even his flurry of rapid dagger assaults was nothing to Nero's eyes.
Adult Nero smiled as he saw this; he knew Nero's thoughts and spoke to push him, "Do it!"
Not wasting any time, Nero's posture changed, the sword that was stretched behind him was swiftly sheathed as Nero held it, much like how a samurai would hold a sword for Battōjutsu.
Nero's magic power then grew even fiercer, as brilliant silver lights erupted from his sword. He unsheathed his sword in a flash, leaping towards Perm as his sword left behind a line of silver light.
"Flash Cut!" Nero's icy voice sounded as if a glacier was born in the world.
The chilliness seeping into the bones of not only Perm who was facing the danger but the audience watching this scene from afar, each shook their heads as some sighed and spoke out loud with looks of shock on their faces.
"It's over..." Uncle Ian said as he stared at Nero with a deep look, Avollo was also surprised as he laughed and spoke, "Haha, that fellow, he didn't show that stance last time we fought, but in the end, he ended up using that trusty sword flash of his, not bad..."
Unlike them, Bull and Hawk looked at each other with surprised looks as they conversed.
"This kid... are you telling me that he could acquire this much battle experience without guidance, in a mere two days of awakening?" Bull said in alarm.
"I find it hard to believe, there is no way a kid his age from his kind of background, especially from that Gutter Zone, can achieve this kind of power without guidance. I have a feeling there's another party at work here," Eagle said with solemn eyes.
"..." Bull said nothing more as he stared at Yullia in the distance.
At this moment, Yullia's beautiful eyes flashed when she stared at Nero and spoke in a soft tone, "Hmm, this handsome little boy has spunk, he really does remind me of that bastard."
The slender man by her side shook his head and spoke, 'Ma'am, we've got more to be concerned about, the Hatman's are willing to get involved."
Yullia snorted as she glanced at the two in the distance and replied, "Hmph! As if those two idiots can win, we know much more about this brat than those two fools. Plus, I believe that our offers will be far more enticing... hehe..."
The slender man seeing her sighed, as he knew he was going to have to do a lot of work again, he said nothing but began to text a few numbers from his mobile phone, his eyes shining in a sharp light.
At this time, the battle between Nero and Perm had finally met its conclusion. When the flashing light swept past Perm, he had no way to avoid it, he looked at the brilliant silver ray and found that as it inched nearer to him, his view of the world was changing.
'Oh... how foolish of me... maybe this was my fate all along,' Perm thought to himself, it was as if he found himself in a moment of contentment; he didn't struggle, he knew that it was hopeless, and only one result awaited him.
Death, the true end to all things, the ultimate fate of any lifeform, and the eternal rest for the weary, Perm's thoughts ceased forever, as his body and mind faded from reality.
Splat! A moment later, Perm's corpse fell onto the ground as blood started to gather around him, leaving behind a tragic mess.
On the other hand, Nero landed on the ground behind him, his posture straight as his blood dripping sword was slanted to the side, his transparent reaper robe fluttering much like his flowing silver hair that gently swayed with the wind.
At this moment, Elly woke up, finally viewing the image of the dominating youth before her, her eyes wide as she had no idea what happened, but the picture at this moment would forever be imprinted in her soul.
****
Author's Note:
Hey guys, this book is apart of the Spirit Award Contest, other than supporting with reviews of your and owns and power stones, if you would like to vote for it to win, remember to sign up and vote in the WSA Weekly. Thank you all for your interest in this story, I greatly appreciate I and will continue to do my best to you all entertained.