Digitize: Rebirth of the Silver Death God

With Xu Waren's words, the official DU Meet had started between the factions, their prodigies slowly walking forward from their respective groups to stand around the edge of a wide battle podium.

By now, all talents stood silently, facing each other with pensive expressions as if trying to assess the competition. A chilly wind sweeping across the room as it swayed their clothing, adding a bit of flair to the tense atmosphere.

Child of Blaze remained indifferent as he stood with his arms crossed, much like Ryo, who stood nearby Nero like a shadow, and Velmon, who stood at a corner with Jason, both having an inconspicuous air.

Speaking of Nero, he was already eyeing his competitors, trying to push down the festering rage that was boiling within him due to Velmon's appearance.

"Who is he, your crush?" Avollo asked as he saw Nero checking out Velmon.

"Like hell he is! Avollo, you like to mess with me, don't you? Are you trying to fight me already?" Nero said as gnashed his teeth and glared at Avollo.

"Hahaha, no, I'm just bored, standing around and eyeing others is not my thing; wake me when they're ready..." Avollo said as he lazily sat on the chair, he took with him, leaning back with his straw hat covering his face.

"This guy..." Nero muttered helplessly before he looked away.

Suddenly, Elly, who stood nearby, glanced in one direction with a bright smile on her face as she waved and shouted, "Mikan, Ivy, hey, what are you doing over there? Hurry on over!"

Mikan felt a bit embarrassed at this; he was standing with the group from the Shadowblood Faction and naturally couldn't so easily leave the batch to meet her. He waved while giving her a struggling look, but as for Ivy, she made a slightly forced smile before waving and lowering her head.

"Huh? Why are they acting like that?" Elly complained with a pout.

Nero rolled his head and replied, "You should know, this is a competition, and everyone here is a competitor. You can't just expect them to act so friendly."

"Shut it! I know that. Do I look like a three-year-old child? Besides, I... I only wanted them to say hi, that's all," Elly snapped back at Nero.

Nero gave her a good look, his eyes running up and down her tiny body that made akin to a loli. He smirked, thinking she was no different from a child.

"You bastard!" Elly said in rage as she saw his manner, knowing what he was thinking about. She tried to hit him, but Nero merely tilted his head to the side, causing her attack to miss.

Elly felt embarrassed at this, so she didn't look at him any longer but turned away in embarrassment.

Some persons saw their interactions and snickered as Kenra and Judy shook their heads. Judy crossed her arms, emphasizing her plump chest as she muttered, "Tsk, she really is that Graceful Tyrant alright, quick to anger."

"Indeed, she is, well, Judy, we'll be doing it as planned; let's show these fellows why we are the best of the faction," Kenra said as he tapped Judy's shoulder while hinting at Nero and Ryo.

"Hmm, right," Judy replied with a firm set of eyes.

Back within the audience, Yullia smirked as she noticed the look on the duo's faces, she thought to herself. 

'Hehe, the Chief's niece is acting as expected; I suppose it's good; she should be able to hold her own for a while.'

Much like Yullia, Reil also noticed this, but he didn't say anything; his eyes only had a trace of anticipation.

Delkan also saw Elly's and Nero's interaction; his eyes flashed violently as he gripped his fist even tighter than usual. With black hair and a wide conical hat, a youth around his age stood nearby; he glanced at Delkan and scoffed.

"For such an ordinary guy, you've not only shamed your family but our very Hatman Association. Tsk, worthless, when I take care of him, it will show just how useless you truly are amongst our generation."

A blond-haired female talent of the Hatman's snickered at the side of the strange youth as she teased, "Hehe, Jillian is right; you'd do better to stay here and not getting in our way."

Delkan bit his lips at this, but he didn't dare to say anything; even if his family was powerful, he knew better than to provoke Jillian Vermeulen of their Hatman Society.

'Hmph! Do you think he's so weak? When you both lose, I'll then have the right to take him down myself; then we'll see if you can both look down on me.'

Paul Newman had an angry look in his eyes at the words of Jillian; he wanted to say something. But a familiar man icily glanced at him, a person that wore a high collar grey coat that covered his nose and a wide top hat with cool design patterns, leaving only his eyes and forehead visible.

"Huhu… Paul, I'd advise you to watch yourself; your Newman family has yet to reach that level. Besides, kids are kids; they are free to express themselves."

With sweat running down his forehead, Paul thought a bit as he lowered his head in agreement and replied, "As the esteemed Doppleman wishes."

Doppleman had a look of tease in his eyes as he heard Paul's words but said nothing, he noticed that Screwgelman was nearby the Dark Witch Yullia, but he didn't go out of his way to contact him.

While the scene seemed to be at a standstill for a while, the truth was different, as everyone was only assessing the situation before acting. On the side of the Martial Union, the core talents were observing the strongest of the batch.

"Master said that my only threat is none other than the rumored Child of Blaze, Gold Spear Child, Jillian Vermeulen and that Grassroot Sword Child. I can see that the Gold Spear Child isn't attending today's meet, but why do I get a slightly dangerous feeling from these other three," Kailua Mei thought to herself as she looked towards Nero, Velmon, and Ryo.

"Sister Mei, should we go first?" A slender Asian youth said as he stood by the side of a female.

"No, let's wait; I wish to see which amongst these 'talents' has the most guts," Kailua Mei said with a smirk.

The other two remained silent, but unlike them, Kojima Ryusei had his eyes locked onto Ryo, who stood by Nero's, and Avollo's side. He smirked as he spoke out loud, "So, how have you been? Scourge of our family... I'd have thought that after leaving with that man, you'd have stand hidden and isolated from our world."

Many other onlookers had wide-eyes when they heard those words, but being intelligent and knowledgeable about so many things, they knew what Ryusei meant.

"What? The Scourge of the Kojima Clan then doesn't this mean that the kid over there is..." One person was about to say something as he looked at Ryo, but another finished his words in shock.

"It's the son of those two from the Legendary Frontier Squad, that Grail Granduz and Kojima Chiyo! I thought he looked familiar... to think he'd come here," The leading figure said from the side of the Shadowblood Faction.

Doppleman narrowed his eyes at this but said nothing, while Yullia, who only now realized it, had a stern expression.

'To think my assumptions were correct, he truly was that kid, but if it's him, why is he following Little Handsome?'

Yullia couldn't seem to understand, but sadly, now wasn't the time for her to contemplate.

Reil, Pale, Xu Waren, and the other major leaders of the various associations, had thoughtful looks on their faces. As even Xellan, who remained calm looked at Ryo with a tinge of sharpness, he knew his father well and understood what his appearance meant.

'So, they're guarding him. Ha, to think he'd willingly use his son as a tail, hmph, it's so like that man... but in the end, will it be enough to prevent certain parties?' Xellan thought with a vague smile on his face.

Still, though he had a more comprehensive understanding of the situation, his manner didn't change as he acted indifferent to Nero's and Ryo's circumstances.

Avollo, who leaned back, glanced at Ryo from below his straw hat that covered his face; he noticed that he remained calm and indifferent despite the attention, even when facing Kojima Ryusei.

'So, I was right... this only makes me more curious as to why he's following that bastard. I truly wonder, just who in the world are you, Nero?' Elly thought to herself, peaking at Nero in silence. 

Naturally, Nero remained calm and indifferent to Ryo's circumstances. If anything, he only looked at Kojima Ryusei with deep eyes.

At this time, Ryo took a step forward and spoke, "What do you want, Ryusei? Are you challenging me to a fight?"

Ryusei smiled at Ryo's icy manner; he looked around, noticing everyone's attention, having accomplished his goal. He waved and spoke dismissively, "Haha, oh my, please excuse me, I forgot where we are, no we won't fight yet, it's too early. For now, Let's—"

Ryo didn't even wait for him to finish his words; he stepped back and stood behind Nero, taking out his phone to play with it. 

Nero chuckled at this, as did Avollo and Elly; Ryusei frowned as veins appeared on his forehead; he snorted, saying nothing more.

A few found this amusing, as some lights snickers sounded from here and there, causing him to be filled with embarrassment.

'Just you wait, Ryo... you'll learn your place soon enough,' Ryusei thought with a brutal gleam in his eyes.

At this time, when everyone was momentarily distracted, a figure had appeared on the stage with a stylish leap. Looking at the platform, everyone saw a young curly-haired girl with slender eyes that wore tight-fitting garments and gloves.

"I Judy Levier of the Blood Steel Society will be the first to fight; I welcome any challengers to compete with me."

Nero was a bit surprised at this, as the stalemate that had taken root had now vanished. He saw that Judy's words provoked quite a few talents as some were readying to take action directly.

He smiled, thinking, 'Well, she's been giving me a bad look for a while now; let's see what she's made of...'

With his thoughts set, the mood changed once again as everyone looked on with excited eyes, ready to see who amongst them will be the first to accept her challenge.