Digitize: Rebirth of the Silver Death God

"This is insane, he trounced him; that guy even managed to take down Seya of the Martial Union with hardly any effort!" A talent from an association said with shock in their eyes.

"Tch, I guess that's the reason why he's called the strongest; it looks like his fame is deserving," Another talent said with a serious expression.

On the side of the Martial Union, Kailua Mei had a profound look in her eyes as did Kojima Ryusei; they both stared at Ashton, who slowly dismounted the stage without caring for anyone.

'Master was right; unlike the others, he surely won't be an easy challenge. It looks like I might need to take this event more seriously than I'd thought,' She pondered to herself while Ryusei merely observed in silence before his attention turned back to Ryo, who, of course, kept his attention elsewhere.

'Just you wait…' He thought with a vicious set of eyes filled with hatred.

Unlike those of the Shadowblood Faction, Jullian, who stood as the young lead for those at the Hatman Society, stared at Ashton with a look of challenge in his eyes as he muttered, "Child of Blaze..."

The blond girl who stood by his side giggled as she saw his stern look; she nudged him with her elbow and spoke, "Jullian, what's wrong? Are you feeling excited?"

Jillian chuckled at this and replied, "Why not? You should know Lira; I rarely face off against people who aren't considered trash."

"Hehe, if you say so," Lira replied with her fingers twirling her hair strands, her eyes forming a crescent.

Delkan snorted to himself when he saw this and heard Jillian's words, but as if the latter didn't care, he only continued to observe Ashton, who continued to move away from the battle platform slowly.

The strange and gloomy Kyle Hanson of the Shadowblood Faction narrowed his eyes when he observed Ashton but said nothing in the end.

Weizer clenched his fist tightly as if he was jealous, but as for Mikan and Ivy, they both stared at each other and spoke in hushed tones.

"Brother, that fellow is even stronger than rumored; it doesn't look like anyone will be a challenge to him," Ivy said.

Mikan shook his head and with deep eyes, "Even so, you shouldn't underestimate the talents selected by any faction, who knows? Maybe one or two amongst them will be able to put up a decent fight for a while."

Ivy showed a look of understanding at those words, her eyes subtly turning to Nero; she was about to fall into her own thoughts but soon heard a voice of discontent.

"Tch, what's this? Mikan, you're telling me that you doubt the abilities of even our Shadowblood Faction?" Weizer said as he stared at him from the corner. 

Another Shadowblood Faction talent stared at them with icy eyes, as even Kyle had looked over, glaring at both Mikan and Ivy.

Mikan was a bit shocked by this; he hurried to defend himself, "Weizer, don't go spouting nonsense! I said nothing of the—"

"That's enough!" A loud and icy voice said as a shadowy female walked over, garbed in a black, green dress, with green lips stick, her hair long and black as her slender eyes icy looked at the group.

Weizer, Mikan, and the others hurriedly bowed their heads at this and replied, "Yes, Madame Davia!"

Davia stared at the group in an icy light before she fixed her eyes onto both Mikan and Ivy, her eyes showing a strange gleam as she curved her lips and spoke, "Mikan Everdale, don't think that because you're from that family, you can say anything you want. Since you don't think so much about our faction, you'll be the first to represent our union. The next battle will be fought by either you or your sister, do you understand?

Mikan hesitated a bit before he replied with a bow, "As the madame wishes."

Davia nodded at this before turning her attention away, taking a few steps back as she went back to position for supervisors.

Ivy looked at Mikan with worry as she spoke, "Brother, you..."

"It's fine, I won't fail," Mikan said in a reassuring tone, but Ivy still caught the look of rage hidden deep with his heart.

Weizer grinned at this as he felt better at heart; he didn't like Mikan one bit, even more so as he hated Nero.

At this time, Ashton had only dismounted the battle platform; there weren't many who noticed his former act of looking at Nero, but those who did give the latter a good look with contemplative eyes.

Velmon and those of the Marfield family being on the main parties, Xellan frowned but said nothing at this, he only whispered to an attendant who soon after vanished from the room.

Reil Levier frowned when he saw this, he narrows his eyes while thinking. 'Why is that Xellan giving that newbie of my faction so much attention? Is there is something I have yet to understand? It looks like I'll need to do a bit more research about that child…'

With that said, Reil made a light movement, typing away at a mobile phone before putting it away, his eyes showing curiosity as he observed the proceedings with interest.

A few other big shots did the same, one being Xu Waren who had noticed Nero for the second time, his eyes flashed as he recalled the woman Nero was with at the previous place they encountered, but soon, he shook his head while concluding.

'It couldn't have been her, he's likely no one special.'

On the side of the Blood Steel Society, Screwgelman and Ian gave Nero a good look, but as neither knew Ashton meant by his stare, they put it behind them.

Elly felt a bit concerned as she asked, "Nero, do you know Child of Blaze? It seems as if he doesn't like you very much."

Nero frowned at this as he was about to reply, but Avollo snickered and spoke, "Hehe, looks like he might have just been checking you out. You better be careful; he'll probably beat you up before I do."

Nero rolled his eyes at Avollo's words and replied, "You keep thinking that, as for him, tsk, he can look at me all want; I'm not so easily beaten."

Avollo chuckled at this as he replied, "Heh, I figured you'd say that..."

Elly gave them an odd look, but she soon glared at Nero and shouted, "Hey, you haven't answered me yet!"

Nero scratched the back of his head before he answered, "Elly, it's not what you think, I might have met him before, but we don't have that much of a connection for there to be animosity; you're probably imagining things."

"Really?" Elly asked again, her senses were rather sharp, and she could tell many things from that look.

Nero shook his head, saying nothing more; the truth was even he didn't know it himself, he wanted to ask his older self, but he already imagined the scene of Adult Nero replying in a cold voice, "Figure it out yourself."

Adult Nero chuckled at his younger self's thoughts and said nothing; he decided to let him experience his affairs. Otherwise, it would not be much fun living in his mind.

While Nero, Elly, and Avollo, had their discussion, the others of the Blood Steel Society weren't so cheerful. Judy's face was sullen as she had already run to Kenra's side.

The heavily injured Kenra laid down on the ground as Yullia tried to nurse him back to good condition with a strange vial. Looking at his sunken chest, Judy bit her lips and glared at the back of Ashton, "Hey, stop right there!"

Her rage-filled shout beckoned something as a violent mood rose as she shouted in a voice that echoed about the room.