Nero weakly woke up on a cold concrete floor. His head still felt groggy, but his body was... better? All the wounds that should've been there were gone. Even his broken bones seemed to be healed.
However, there was a new injury that appeared to have been made while he was knocked out. It was a long cut that went up his left forearm, but it seemed to be covered by a fresh scar.
He checked his surroundings, recalling his previous fight, and to his surprise, he was back in his home. Of course, all the furniture was still gone. However, his mother was now right next to him.
Panicking, he quickly tore off the rope that bound her, but he was glad to see that she was still breathing. She had no other serious wounds aside from the old cut on her cheek.
Nero glanced out the window just a little, and noticed that it was dark. His heart began to race, as he summoned the runes to check the status on his flaw.
Duration: 39:45:24
He breathed a sigh of relief. He still a lot of time left.
Nero sighed. All of that just to get his ass kicked, and they gave him his mother back for free too...
'...free?'
This was The Red Sons, no way they would let him off with just this. And of course, when Nero finally stood up, he felt something flat and hard in his breast pocket. He quickly took it out, just for it to be a fresh Red envelope.
He cautiously tore it open, and was not surprised to see it was another white letter with a message written in blood. It read:
[I didn't except you to kill some of our men, so consider that added onto your tab. However, just know that as long as you live, you work for us. I'll wait for you to return from the dream realm before you start. I can kill your mother at anytime, so don't even bother running to the government. Oh, and don't tell your brother. UwU
-Mujin]
Nero gripped the letter, crumpling it into a ball. Thinking back on the fight, he remembered how outclassed he was by Mujin.
That guy was certainly an Ascended, or at least his aspect must've made him as capable as one. Nero had a trump card though, that being Erlking's Agent the Ascended devil, but he opted not to use it.
For starters it was weaker than the original, and it was almost defeated by Rodenaus, who was able to compete with it without an Aspect or those strange flames for a brief period of time. If Nero wasn't there to defend him, he might've even won without those flames.
His Echo which should be weaker than that, would likely have lost to Mujin, even with his assistance.
This was a good thing anyway. Nero wanted to make sure that he didn't use the Echo unless he was sure he could win, because if it was destroyed before he was sent to the dream realm, he'd be pretty screwed. Although he was angry at the time, he made sure to keep his rationality.
A mad beast was no good in a battle against many.
'Oh well.. What was his Aspect anyway?'
For starters, he could make other people and himself invisible. No way he kept all those people hidden just to beat him up, so that must've been his dormant ability if he could use it so leisurely.
'I was still able to sense them because they were in the shadows.. if it was anywhere else, I wouldn't've been so lucky... what were his other abilities?'
His awakened ability must be that strange teleporting one. Just when he entered that sewar tunnel, he could feel himself being dragged away through space, not by a person, but by a force.
'So he can mark locations which can let people teleport through them? I don't know the distance, and there might be more to it.. that's either his Awakened or Ascendent ability.'
It was more likely to be the latter though, as it manipulated the environment to a degree. As for his last one, he had no idea. He never lasted long enough to see it in action, or maybe it wasn't even suited for combat.
'I'll work for you when I become an awakened huh? Yeah right.'
The rank on an Aspect measured its potential, so Nero's Divine rank meant that there was immense room for it to grow. Once he entered the dream realm, he would have to undergo significant growth to survive, even with his Echo. Once he came back as an awakened, he would be armed with memories, and maybe even more Echoes.
The next time they fought, it wouldn't end the same.
'I'll kill him. I'm going to 100% kill him... but if I do, the rest of that gang will come after me and mom. Just killing him won't be enough to stop them, I'll have to wipe every single one of them out.'
He could faintly remember the Nightmare spells voice back when he fought. He had certainly killed ordinary humans already, and so he was sure he wouldn't feel anything from killing any more of them. Especially if they were the same scum bags as Mujin.
'I'll kill them all.'
They dared to hurt his mother. Sure it was his fault, but rather than going straight to him, they went after someone unrelated. They had to pay.
**
Officer Wort was busy doing paper work, but he yawned at the sight of dusk falling in the distance. It would be time to pack up and leave soon, however there was still a bit of cleaning left to do. Nero was just in that room after all, and although he never turned into a Nightmare Creature, whatever he did that caused it to shake, must've messed it up quite a bit.
He glanced over his desk, and saw Awakened Cyrus still sleeping.
"Tch!"
He got up, and left for the janitorial room to collect a simple dust pan and brush, along with a mop and bucket. He brought those back, and set off for the Aspirant containment rooms.
He walked past Epsilons first, and sighed to see that boy was still asleep.
'They don't usually take this long to clear the first Nightmare... his must be especially terrible..'
The Nightmare spell was fair though. If his was long and hard, then he was sure to come out just as strong.
Next, he walked past the other girls container. She had been here a week.
'Ugh.'
Wort could clearly remember the chills he got just from looking at her. When he finally reached Nero's though, his heart skipped a beat.
The steel door was left open, however it was only attached to one of its hinges. It was almost falling off, and it was slightly dented too. Wort dropped all of his things as he rushed further to the room to look inside. His heart skipped a beat.
The steel operating table was completely destroyed, the ground where it used to be now had an enormous cavity as if a meteorite had landed there. The walls were cracked and fragmented, as if the whole place would collapse at any minute.
"Hell..."