Digitize: Rebirth of the Silver Death God
Chapter 96: The End of the Mantis King

As the battle between Nero and the Crimson Blade Mantis King was at its final moment, everyone within the vicinity held their breaths as they knew everything relied on the final exchange between both party's killer moves.

The air blew steadily as everything within the world seemed to have slowed down, during this moment, both Nero's scythe and the Crimson Blade Mantis King's blade-like palms cut towards each other in unison.

As the cage of the Crimson Blade Mantis King suppressed Nero, his scythe seemed as if it was cutting through mud, moving at a much slower pace than expected.

Nero could only stare at the blade that was only one pace from cutting off his head in anger; he knew from this scene that he had already lost the battle. He was about to close his eyes in defeat, but right at this time, a streak of light flashed from the distance before a startling change occurred.

Screech! An arrow that didn't seem to be hindered by the distance cut through the sky as it instantly arrived before the duo. Without even the two parties noticing, this sinister bolt's metallic head crashed into the Crimson Blade Mantis King's blade before exploding and fading away.

With a loud sound of metals crashing into each other, the Crimson Blade Mantis King's arm was hurled to the side due to the arrow's shocking force.

Time once more returned to normal, and the Crimson Blade Mantis King looked on with shock on his face as his arm swung by Nero's side, narrowly missing him. Because of his sudden surprise, even the Killing Field that had trapped Nero was canceled.

"This... what the hell?" The Crimson Blade Mantis said in confusion, but without even understanding the situation, he didn't hesitate to twirl his body as he used his second arm to cut towards Nero again. Yet, despite his skillful actions and experience, Nero wasn't the kind to give up on this chance.

'I don't know what happened, but I won't miss this opportunity... bind!' Nero said in his mind as he used the skill of his Judgment Cuff.

Following Nero's thoughts, a series of chains burst out of the cuff on his arm that quickly bound the Crimson Blade Mantis King's movements.

As if it didn't expect this, the Crimson Blade Mantis King glared at Nero in alarm, its eyes glowed in a sinister red light as it prepared to use a different skill, yet Nero was one step faster.

"Die! Myriad Spector Cut!" Nero yelled savagely, his eyes gleaming in a cruel ray.

In moments, Nero's body had split into four ghostly clones that swept out at high speeds. At this instant, the Crimson Blade Mantis King had already used his attack, "Killing Field - Suppress!"

Following its resonant cry, another red dome conjured around Nero's body, but as the four clones had separated at four angles, the Crimson Blade Mantis King could only secure two of them.

"Hmph! I'm not so easy to defeat human boy! Break for me!" As the Crimson Blade Mantis King yelled, the chains that bound his body shook as they shattered due to his superior strength.

"Mantis Bladework!" He yelled again as his blade chopped towards the ghostly Nero at his side, creating a red blade energy line that even continued towards the final ghostly Nero attacking from above.

In a flash, both of them were split into two halves, they each showed panicked looks on their faces as the Crimson Blade Mantis King sneered; he then shifted his eyes onto the two Nero's trapped in his Killing Field and chopped once more.

"Haha, you've lost human!" He yelled savagely as his blade easily cut through his Killing Field and bisected the final two of Nero's clones, sending their heads flying into the air.

The Crimson Blade Mantis King had a look of satisfaction on his face, while Ivy and Lily, who watched from afar, had a pale appearance.

The battle seemed as if it was over in that instance, but suddenly, the Crimson Blade Mantis King's faces and the girls shifted into surprise again as Nero's ghostly clones disappeared like smoke.

"What? How could---?" The Crimson Blade Mantis King wanted to express its shock once more, but its sharp senses picked up on danger again; just as it was about to use its quick movements to maneuver, a chilly feeling came from its neck as an even much colder voice sounded from behind him.

"It's my win..." Nero said in an emotionless manner as his scythe was now firmly locked around the Crimson Blade Mantis King's neck.

Knowing that the situation wasn't right, the Crimson Blade Mantis King prepared to counter-attack, but sadly, it was already too late.

Puff! The sound of the blade cutting through flesh resounded as the giant skinny head of the Crimson Blade Mantis King went soaring. As this happened, a gush of blood splattered from its neck, painting the area akin to the effects of rain falling.

Nero, who stood behind the corpse, hoisted his scythe on his shoulder with a bright red gleam in his red pupils; the blood from the mantis king stained his features, giving him a dangerous presence as if he was no different from the former beast.

Lily, who was a bit dizzy gulped as she saw Nero's change; although she had seen his wanton slaughtering of the Bandit Goblins, it was vastly different from the murderous intent when shown up close.

"I... maybe... maybe I shouldn't bother with him after all...' Lily though with a look of hesitation, but as she recalled the Code of Bandits, she gripped her fists tightly and snorted, not bothering to look at him.

Unlike Lily, it seemed that the young sister of Poison Boy had finally encountered a young woman's first hurdle, falling prey to the 'poison' of a handsome and strong man's charms.

Ivy held her chest, trying to calm her beating heart as her eye stared at Nero while she thought, 'Such strength, such skill, I... I must speak to the family about him; maybe I won't need to go that route after all...'

As Ivy's thoughts reached here, her eyes flashed with a slightly deep look as if she had a burden, but that soon faded as she noticed that Nero had looked her... or rather, their way.

Ivy's face turned red as Lily twitched a bit, the two uncertain of what to say. Nero seeing this sighed as he tried to phase out Ivy's strange behavior, he spoke, "Since I've defeated him and that barrier field has already vanished, this counts as me saving your life. Let us just use this moment to right of all previous actions or grievances."

When both Ivy and Lily heard this, they both showed embarrassed looks on their faces; one had a silly little grudge of pride against him while the other was merely influenced by her brother.

Not wasting a moment, Ivy spoke towards Nero with a red face, "I... please don't worry about it, I can assure you my brother won't trouble you again, I have no issues with you S-Silver Fiend..."

Nero nodded his head at this, he then glanced at Lily, but as if Lily didn't like his look, she clenched her teeth and spoke, "Hmph! Fine, since you've saved my life again, I won't press you for that last time. However, I still won't end it like this, I will defeat you in the Gate of Legends, only then can I truly forget about our matters."

Nero sighed as he heard those words; he gave her another look before shaking his head and looked towards the corpse again.

Nero's eyes brightened as he did this as he hurriedly took up a few shining items and placed them away. With a jump, his figure rapidly traversed the trees and headed towards another area.

Both Ivy and Lily stared at his back before he faded from their sights; after thinking unknown thoughts, the two girls looked at each other before leaving with odd smiles. A distance away from the two girls, Nero now had a smile on his face as he checked over the system notification.

____

Ding!

[You've defeated a Quasi Greater Monster, 85 EXP earned!]

Ding!

[You have leveled up! All stats have increased as follows HP: 20, MP: 20, SA: +5, CF: +10, BT: +3, SP: +3km]

Ding!

[Congratulations on achieving Level 7! You are now permitted to join Dungeon Raids! Please return to your Initiation Village and report to the Village Chief to receive your duties!]

____

'Heck yeah, I didn't think I would have gotten so much from this beast, even the loot wasn't too bad!' Nero thought with eager eyes as he looked at the item he got.

____

[Crimson Mantis Band]

[Grade: Common]

[Type: Weapons]

[Subtype: Treasure]

[Usable by: All]

[Close Range]

[Requirements: Level 1]

[Description: A special artifact that can suppress or trap its foe for a fixed duration, so long as the user calls upon the Killing Field power.]

[Effects: MP Consumption: 20, 15 seconds duration, 1-minute cooldown.]

____

Nero was currently in a good mood; he didn't even have the time to ponder how the Crimson Blade Mantis King's blade had fallen off course.

However, unlike him, Adult Nero merely shook his head while thinking, 'Tsk, this brat, it took him so long to realize that he could have simply relied more on the power of his artifacts, but I guess it can't be helped, I trained him to focus more on his fighting power, not his weapons. I'd rather he fight like this; reliance on treasures will ultimately lead to a bad end; if anything, I can only let him use them when he's in a bind and more carefully.'

After thinking those thoughts, Adult Nero shifted his eyes towards the direction behind Nero, as if he could see far off in the distance the angry-looking face of Ryo who once again found himself lost. He chuckled while thinking, "Poor guy, I must have been quite a trouble back then..."

The forest returned to its usual mood, as Nero headed off to finish his day's training with the distant and lost Ryo on his trail...

***

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