In the midst of an empty street, two individuals clashed fiercely against each other.
One stood tall, his dark-skinned complexion complementing his curly black hair. His face, usually attractive, was now contorted with anger.
The other was slightly shorter but still was of good height. His jet-black hair matched his deep, abyssal-like eyes.
These two individuals were, of course, none other than Alberto and Nero.
Nero was using a bastard sword while Alberto relied solely on his bare fists to fight.
Alberto had numerous cuts across his body, showcasing the intense battle he had been in and it was nowhere near over.
On the other hand, Nero was unscathed– not a single wound was apparent on his body.
'What a monster,' Alberto mused silently, his thoughts echoing within his mind as he clenched his teeth together in frustration.
Only a few weeks ago, Alberto knew that he could face Nero head-on in a fight if it ever comes down to it.
And he even did so in the Mock War several times.
He managed to beat Nero on more than one occasion. Yes, he ultimately lost, but the fight was close, and Alberto had put up an impressive struggle.
But right now...
Right now, what he was putting up couldn't even be called a fight.
It was a one-sided massacre… A merciless slaughter, with Alberto on the receiving end of Nero's relentless swordplay.
In such a short amount of time, Nero had grown so much stronger. He had surpassed Alberto by leaps and bounds.
While Alberto was convinced that Nero's current mana core rank wasn't higher than his own, the growth Nero had achieved as a fighter was unparalleled.
This growth rate was not natural! It was abnormal! It transcended the realm of mere genius.
Nero was a monster.
As Alberto fought him, one thing became clear to him: Nero would be unfathomably strong. In just a few months, he would become untouchable!
"Arghaa!" Alberto shook his head and cleared his mind of such distracting thoughts as he banged his fists together.
Fine, even if Nero would become undefeatable in a few years, what mattered now was the present moment.
Right now, Alberto still has a chance. Nero is still not far out of his grasp. He can still defeat this monster.
So that's what he will do! Right now, all he would focus on is defeating this bastard son of a bitch!
"Enforcement!" With that thought in mind and determination surging through him, Alberto roared and activated his Gift.
In an instant, his muscles began to swell, growing in size and hardening like an impenetrable boulder.
Within the blink of an eye, the muscles on his upper torso tore through his combat attire, reducing it to tattered shreds.
His appearance now resembled that of a warrior clad in shimmering golden armor.
His hair straightened and cascaded down, reaching his waist with an ethereal white hue.
Even his facial muscles were swollen and hardened, looking as if he was wearing a golden helmet that perfectly matched the rest of his 'armor.' His eyes were engulfed in a silver glow as if they were set ablaze.
This was his determination. This was his stand against the monster!
"You don't know when to give up," on the other hand, Nero shook his head with a mocking grin on his face.
He grasped his bastard sword with both hands and raised it high up to his chest and pointed it at Alberto.
"Fine then, come," Nero said with a scoff. "I'll end you with a single slash. That will definitely show you the difference between our strengths."
"Arghhh!" Alberto let out a defiant roar and pulled back his fist before he began clustering mana around it.
He then bent his knees and mustered all the remaining strength in his body into his legs.
Using everything he had, he propelled himself forward like a bullet as a crater dug out on the spot where he was standing on the ground.
Fwoosh—
In response, Nero himself lunged forward as his sword began to glow like a blinding sun.
In a flash, they both reached each other and soon as Alberto got into the striking range of Nero's sword, Nero swung his blade at him.
In a sword versus fist fight, the sword obviously had an advantage because of superior reach.
Alberto didn't try to work around that. His plan was to tank Nero's blow and then step in to hit him with his fist.
So when Nero's blade closed in on him from his left, Alberto merely clenched his jaw and readied himself for the intense pain that was about to come while his right hand was still pulled back, enveloped in a crushing amount of mana.
Thwaaaash—!!
"Arghaaaaaa!"
The blade made an arc in the air and hit Alberto straight in the chest with a horizontal slash.
A deep wound appeared on his chest as blood spurt out, if it weren't for the protection provided by his gift, he would definitely have been cut in half with that attack there.
Although it was very painful— in fact, it took everything Alberto had to not fall back right now and give— it now was his chance!
And he took it!
Alberto quickly stepped in and shot forward his fist which was glowing in a bright azure light because of a huge amount of mana accumulated around it.
Thwack—!!
"...Huh?"
But Nero quickly released his left hand from the hilt of his sword and used it to block the blow.
He used one hand– his non-dominant hand for that matter– to block a punch that Alberto had poured all his strength into.
A punch that could've shattered a fucking truck to smithereens was blocked… just like that?
"I see," was all Alberto could mutter as his body went limp and he fell back on the ground with a loud thud.
His body went back to normal, with his muscles shrinking back to their original size and softening normally.
As he lay there on the cold hard concrete road, with blood gushing out of his chest and a beautiful twilight sky above in his vision, another thing became clear to him…
Nero was… already out of his reach.
