Digitize: Rebirth of the Silver Death God

When Nero defeated Mikan, the audience looked with interest as while some were surprised by how Mikan held out against him, even they found that his ace in the hole skill was a troublesome technique.

Judy and Kenra were shocked at this as they both looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions.

"He's actually this strong; who is he, really?" Judy murmured.

"..." Kenra said nothing, but the look in his eyes was one of complexity.

"About time," Elly said as she felt satisfied when seeing Nero win, but unlike her, Avollo yawned while fanning his face as he thought to himself.

'It sure took him a while; looks like our battle won't last long.'

While many others share their thoughts, the mighty amongst them didn't find it too alarming, even when comparing ranking between both individuals.

"That Wild Silver, truly deserving of his name," A talent said from one association.

"Hehe, he's so strong and handsome," A young female said with glowing eyes; a few other females shared similar looks, even more so at how Nero stood calmly on the stage with his silver hair flowing due to the soft winds.

Some of the males clicked their teethes as their eyes glistened with a surge of hostility, taking back their former good thoughts about him.

"Darn stallion," Elly murmured to herself as she clenched her tiny fist angrily for some reason.

Avollo chuckled at this as Judy gave her an odd look; Kenra, on the other hand, shook his head, seeming to understand some things. 

Now, Mikan had already arrived back within the vicinity of the Shadowblood Faction; Davia didn't even greet him while Kyle and Weizer remained indifferent.

Ivy ran over held his wounded chest as she asked, "Brother, are you okay?"

Mikan felt warm hearing her words as he replied while rubbing her head, "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Ivy gave him a good look before biting her lips and asking, "Brother, why did you use that move? Isn't that a technique one should use only against their mortal enemies?"

Mikan hesitated a bit, even more so as he saw the complex look on his sister's face. He sighed before replying with a smile, "It's nothing sister, I only wanted to confirm something; now that I've lost, I've learned all I needed to know."

Ivy stared at him deeply, causing him to inch back a bit, but she soon closed her eyes and smiled while replying, "Okay, as long as you won't ever do it again."

Mikan sighed at this; his hand rubbed her cheeks as he cast a peek at Nero while Ivy had eyes closed; he then grumbled to himself, "Bastard..."

At this moment, on the battle platform, the masked man showed a tinge of curiosity as he stared at Nero, noticing his lack of interest in leaving the stage. He chuckled while speaking under his breath, "Well now, he's quite the arrogant kid, much like that Blazewick."

With those words said, the masked man regained his mood and waved his hand, causing the screen to appear once more.

____

[Kenra - 1 win, 1 loss | 0 pts]

[Seya - 1 win, 1 loss | 0 pts]

[Judy - 1 win, 1 loss | 0 pts]

[Ashton - 1 win, 0 loss | 1 pts]

[Mikan - 0 win, 1 loss | -1 pts]

[Nero - 1 win, 0 loss | 1 pts]

____

The various talents looked at the list with combative expressions, even more so as the masked man spoke once more.

"I shall leave the list of the current battles above the stage; our challenger has yet to lose interest in fighting, so hurry up and come out with the next challenger!"

After saying such words, the masked man took a step back and slowly faded away from the platform. As Nero calmly stood atop the stage with his scythe in one arm, the scene remained quiet for a while, his manner one of indifference as if nothing was phasing him.

A talent frowned at this as he spoke, "So arrogant, maybe I should I go take him myself."

Someone from his faction shook his head and spoke, "Are you confident that you could even withstand that Poison Boy's technique?"

"That... I," The talent hesitated before finally not replying; the other person scoffed while saying nothing, his eyes wandering around the silent room as if waiting to see which of the giant would move next.

At this time, a few of the main officials looked at this with brightened eyes as even the Martial Union head, Kailua Meng, opened his eyes from meditative posture and muttered.

"Ah... the Dancing Reaper Stance isn't something to take lightly; even those that can be considered as a top talent wouldn't confidently face him in the head-on battle. For him to reach this level of the mastery scythe-wielding proves that he is quite the talented child."

Pale Brightwood, who had been silent for a while, also nodded her head as she spoke in agreement, "Yes, combat mastery of the second level isn't easy to achieve by rookies; he's likely been training for quite some time. A pity, he's likely to rot away under that shit of a society."

Finishing her words, Pale Brightwood cast a glance at Reil, her eyes showing disdain as she didn't say anything more.

Xu Waren, who sat nearby, also agreed with them but didn't say anything. His fists clenched as he saw Reil, who chuckled to himself while speaking. 

"Haha, truly a good boy."

'Blast it, if I had known this boy was a Digitizer back then, I'd have taken him under my wing. But if that's the case, was it truly what I anticipated?'

Xu Waren contemplated as he looked back on Nero once more, carefully sizing up his features. The more he stared at Nero, the more he felt a familiar presence within him and an aura he faintly recalled.

'The power of death, yes, it's the very same aura from that time, it's clear that he wouldn't have the power to shroud even his state from my eyes. So it's likely one of two scenarios: One, he was either he was already a member of the Blood Steel Society and was given protection by their superiors, or it was likely the power of someone else, someone close by that was capable of shrouding even my senses.' 

As Xu Waren's thoughts reached here, he frowned while recalling the strangeness felt by Nero's mother, even more so when he saw Nero's facial features, resembling a male shadow etched in the back of his memories.

'It seems there something more to this boy than I'd initially thought; I'll have to get his details in check.' 

While Xu Waren thought to himself, Dale Vermeulen, chief of the Hatman Society, narrowed his eyes at this; even though he didn't seem interested, the truth was he was actually observing Nero quite intently.

'So this is the boy that brought shame to my society, though it's likely the fault of that silly Newman son, I can't have him sully our reputation any more than it currently is...' 

When Dale said this in his mind, his eyes ran over to the Hatman Society group, where Jillian, Delkan, and the other talents stared at the battle platform with sharp eyes.

"Go and take him down together," Jillian said with an icy tone in his voice, his manner a bit sterner when he kept his eyes on Nero, who stood on the stage.

Both Lira and Andrew were a bit surprised at this. Initially, they were going to challenge him separately, weakening him through his battles, but Jillian now took him more seriously.

"Understood," Lira replied as Andrew nodded, the two looking at each other before they made a great leap, jumping from their positions towards the battle platform.

Delkan gripped his fists while seeing this; he cruelly stared at the duo as if he would cut them apart with just his eyes.

Jillian cast a look of mock towards him and said nothing; he kept his arms behind him, looking like an elder overlooking a child.

The duo's actions naturally drew the attention of a few eyes, Ashton who stood in a corner, stared at this as he thought to himself.

'Challenging him together? I suppose this is good. So far, I have yet to see anything special about him; let's see if this battle can prove my father right.'

When Lira and Andrew appeared on the battle platform, Nero looked at them strangely as the two spoke in unison.

"We of the Hatman's would like to challenge you in a joint battle, do you dare to accept?"

Elly and the others looked shocked at this as Avollo narrowed his eyes; Yullia also frowned at this, as did Reil, who sat in the group of major officials, his eyes taking a dangerous light as he looked at Dale Vermeulen, who pretended as if nothing was wrong.

Unaware of everyone else, Nero paused for a moment while thinking, 'These Hatman's are truly something else, sending two to face me at once; it looks like they're in some way taking revenge for that bastard, Delkan. Hmph! Since it's like that, then I won't hold anything back.'

A surge of murderous intent flashed in Nero's eyes as he stared at them and replied, "Fine, I accept your terms."

Nero's icy voice sounded across the room, filling everyone with a surge of anticipation for the battle on the horizon.