Digitize: Rebirth of the Silver Death God

It had taken quite a bit of firm will power, not to mention haggling to please both Elly and Mia's tug of war; Nero felt that he had never fought a more challenging battle, even when compared to the prior life and death experience with Malorvin.

Nero now sat at their center with a heavy expression as he wiped the sweat from his forehead; he sighed when he saw how they both glared at each other in silence.

Crazy Blade seemed to have taken pleasure in Nero's misfortune, glancing at him every now and then as he tried to hold back his laughter.

Mikan felt delighted at seeing his once most important enemy's suffering; he couldn't describe the joy he felt in his heart for a moment. Until he noticed the odd look, his sister was giving towards Elly and Mia at Nero's side.

'Damn, don't tell me that she wanted to join? That blasted Wild Silver; I won't let you allow my family's genius as your love toy!'

"Hey, you seem a bit taken up by others, don't tell me you're actually interested in that mean fellow," Lily said as she gave Mikan a look as if teasing, it seemed she still also resented Nero for her picnic's disaster.

"Like hell I am!" Mikan replied with a red face; Lily snickered at this but said nothing else.

Unlike her brother, Ivy seemed to have found her own determination; she gripped her fists while thinking to herself,.

'Elly, I'm sorry, but our family isn't one to back down so easily, even more so for things we want.'

Unaware of Lily's thoughts and everyone's reactions, Nero himself had a slightly strange look as he thought himself.

'It looks like that Avollo does say some good things; it's not necessarily good to be this popular. Hmm, should I cut my hair bald?'

As Nero thought to here, he tried to imagine what he would look like, and when the vision came to his mind, he trembled, thinking it would be a horrible idea.

"Ha, that should be interesting; it would at least keep me more entertained in here." Adult Nero said with a light tone.

"Hmph! You can entertain yourself!" Nero inwardly said.

Adult Nero shook his head as he stared at the now brightly shining Universe Ring before he spoke, "It's about time; the ring should have already recovered."

When hearing this, Nero lifted his head and saw the change, he narrowed his while asking inwardly, "I see, but I have to ask again, what really happened back there when I fainted? You claimed that we were all saved by a strange party. Who was he? Where did he go?"

Adult Nero had a pensive look in his eyes as he replied, "I don't know, he was a man that is beyond my understanding."

Nero remained silent at those words, his eyes flickering with a thoughtful look as he said nothing in the end.

"Nero, what are you looking at? Did something change?" Elly asked from Nero's side, her large, rounded eyes staring up onto his face, giving him a delightful feeling.

Nero was about to reply, but Mia spoke first, "It seems you're not as smart as I'd thought, Graceful Tyrant, you should have already been able to tell that the Universe Ring is recovering."

Elly's anger instantly exploded as she glared at Mia, "And who said that I didn't know? I only asked him if there was a change! Hey, why am I even bothering to argue with you? Hurry and get lost from here!"

Elly was only moments from attacking directly, but Nero grabbed her small palm and spoke, "Elly, this isn't the time to get angry. It's starting."

"Huh?" Elly uttered in surprise, but as she felt her soft arm being held by his, her face turned a bit red as she hurried to pull it away and replied, "I... I see."

Mia looked at this with an uncomfortable expression, her eyes flashed playfully as if she was about to do something, but sadly, it was too late for any such action.

Buzz! A resonant sound traveled across the entire Palace of Horrors as a brilliant golden light lit up the sky, shining down on all things as if pushing away the darkness of night.

Even in the most distant part of the palace, other digitizers that had finished their battles with various creatures had caught sight of the change, staring at it in wonder.

Delkan, who now hid behind a statue, also did the same. His eyes flickered before they showed a trace of relief as if understanding what had transpired.

Back within the royal chamber, the looks within Nero's eyes and the others were one of anticipation, and like expected, the notification they had been waiting had arrived.

____

Ding!

[Universe Ring Online!]

[Restoring functions... complete!]

[Accessing the Beginner Dungeon World 0X8352... assessment complete!]

[Ring has detected multiple anomalies: prioritized training Novices and the True Dungeon Boss has already perished. Scanning for changes... scan complete!]

Ding!

[An unknown entity has compromised the Beginner Dungeon World 0X8352. The system shall now commence the purging protocol along with the automatic completion main quest. All digitizers shall receive compensating rewards, returning all surviving Digitizers to the Novice Zone.]

____

Following those words, a bright series of light lit up from all directions. They shone from all Digitizers' bodies towards the summits of the dazzling golden Universe Ring in the night sky.

"It's about damn time!" Crazy Blade said with a look of ease.

"Indeed, I have a lot to tell the elders." Thunder's Daughter said from nearby, her eyes flashing with lightning.

"Don't we all." Crazy Blade said with a smirk.

Mikan, Ivy, and Lily also felt a bit more at ease, not to mention Elly, who had a beaming look in her eyes as she spoke with relief, "Finally, we can leave this godforsaken place; I hope mother isn't too worried."

A few others also shared the same sentiments, knowing that this odd change must have surely been noticed by all major powers; who knows what kind of drastic scene it must have led to on the outside?

The others had looks of ease, but unlike them, only three persons remained with odd expressions, the reason being was that unlike those that had glowing lights, their bodies had remained the same as a notification appeared before the trio's eyes.

____

Ding!

[The Unique Dungeon Quest: Palace of Horrors has not been completed, purge is set to occur within 2 minutes, find the treasure with the Palace of Horrors before it collapses.]

[Commencing purchase countdown: 2:00, 1:59. 1:58...]

____

"Damn!" Nero cursed as he saw the current scene, the truth was he didn't even want to bother about that quest anymore after going through all that, but it seemed that the system had its own agendas.

Red Rain and Mia also had pensive looks, but they soon returned to normal as if it wasn't too much of a trouble.

Bang! The world started to shake as if it was on the verge of exploding. Elly and the others soon noticed the change around the trio.

Elly felt a bit anxious when she saw that Nero wasn't glowing. She spoke, "Nero, you..."

Nero shook his head and spoke, cutting her off, "Don't worry about me, I'll be out soon."

When Elly heard this, she showed a light look of relief; she was about to say something else. Still, it seemed that the teleportation had already completed as the lights quickly beamed towards the Universe Ring, leaving behind a silent scene of three who now stood in a slowly crumbling world.