"Huff! Haaa! Haaa!"
Gasping for air, Nero's chest heaved up and down as he struggled to catch his breath. The strain of the fight was evident on his face, with sweat pouring down his forehead and his breathing ragged.
The cracks in his nanotech armor showed the intense pressure he had been under, and even as they healed themselves, Nero's body bore the marks of the brutal battle.
Bruises and cuts covered his arms and torso while blood trickled from his mouth, staining his chin and the front of his armor.
He had tried everything in his last few exchanges of attacks with Alberto. He tried using his strongest magic spell and mana-infused martial arts, but no matter what he did, he couldn't break through Alberto's defenses.
However, he couldn't give up now. No, it's more like he refused to give up.
Wiping the blood from the side of his lips, Nero raised his hands and put up his guard while eyeing the opponent in front of him.
Alberto stood a few steps away from Nero, a smug expression etched onto his face. Unlike Nero, he had only sustained a single cut under his right eye.
"All that for a single cut?" Alberto taunted, a twisted grin forming on his face as he pressed a finger against the cut under his eye. "Even with your Silver-ranked mana core, you're no match for my Gift that I've been honing since my childhood. Every punch I throw carries the weight of the hunger, pain, and anger I endured in those dark times. You can't defeat me even with your outstanding talent because you've never truly suffered!"
His words cut through the air like a blade and Nero felt his determination falter for a moment. But then the picture of his late mother flashed in Nero's head before he clenched his fists and ironed his resolve again.
"You think I've never suffered?" Nero spat back, his voice dripping in venom. He tensed the muscles in his clave and leaped forward like a tiger. "What the fuck do you even know about me?!"
Alberto didn't back down either. He let out a scoff and charged ahead, intending to meet Nero's advance head-on.
As soon as Alberto stepped into his strike range, Nero feinted a left hook before delivering a brutal right uppercut to Alberto's chin.
The force of that punch made Alberto stumble back a few steps, but much like the previous attacks, he didn't register any damage whatsoever.
Regaining his balance, he looked up front in hopes of seeing Nero but to his surprise the black-haired boy had already vanished from his spot.
"What?!" Alberto's eyes darted from side to side in search of Nero who was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, he sensed someone sneaking up on him from behind.
Reflexively, Alberto spun around only to be met with a high side thrust kick to his chin once again and a sharp pain shot through his jaw.
"Arghh!" Alberto grunted his discontent and balled his fists, intending to crush Nero right here.
But the black-haired boy was quick to act. He jumped back and created a safe distance between himself and the Lord Commander of Class 1-C-8 again before chanting in High-Elven:
"Lvae tormentorum!"
Kwuuush—!!
A bright flash of light erupted from Nero's index finger and hit Alberto straight in his chin. But Nero didn't stop there. He kept spamming his magic spell, hitting Alberto two more times with the mid-tier light magic spell.
"Lvae tormentorum!"
Kwuuush—!!
"Lvae tormentorum!"
Kwuuush—!!
After hitting him two more times with his mid-tier light magic spell, Nero infused mana into his left leg and shot forward like an arrow, aiming to hit Alberto with a roundhouse kick.
Thwack—!
But before Nero's kick could gain enough momentum, Alberto caught his leg. "Enough!" he yelled.
"You wish!" Nero smirked before tensing his right leg, jumping up, and twisting his body like a tornado.
Crack—!
The bones in Nero's left leg, still in Alberto's hands, cracked. But Nero ignored the pain and connected his right leg with a powerful hit to Alberto's chin.
Thwack—!
"Arghhaaa!" Alberto winced, letting go of Nero's leg as he fell to the ground, stumbling backward again.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he frowned as if judging the boy in front of him as a madman before regaining his balance. "You sacrificed your right leg only to land a hit on me that didn't even do any—?!?!"
Before he could finish his sentence, the world began to spin. The ground felt like a trampoline, and the giant boy fell to the ground on all fours.
"Ahhh, fuck!" Finally, Alberto understood what his opponent was trying to do. From the start, even before Alberto had used his gift to reinforce his body, Nero had been targeting his chin with all his spells, punches, and kicks.
As a seasoned street fighter, Alberto knew the importance of defending one's jaw during a fistfight.
Getting hit in the chin can cause various effects on the body. It can result in a knockout if the force of the impact is strong enough to jar the brain inside the skull, leading to a temporary loss of consciousness.
Of course, sustaining fractures and other injuries can also be one of the effects.
Despite knowing all that, Alberto grew overconfident when he struck Nero and forced him to back down several times during their fight. He ignored his defense not because he was ignorant but because he underestimated his opponent.
"Hah!"
Using his hands as support, Nero got himself up on his good leg, his right leg all twisted and bleeding as nearly all the bones had now been broken.
After managing to stand up, Nero formed his hand in the shape of a gun and pointed its 'barrel' straight at Alberto.
"Your 'exoskeleton' is tough; I'll give you that," he said. "But even so, I'll only need to fire around ten or so Light Cannon spells before I break it and blast open a hole in your head."
"Haaa…" Alberto struggled to rise to his feet, but each time he failed and collapsed back down, powerless and defenseless. The thought of calling for backup crossed his mind, but he knew that by the time they arrived, he would already be defeated. He couldn't let that happen; they couldn't afford to lose.
Nero's voice cut through his thoughts, taunting him. "I just want you to know you never had a fighting chance, Alberto. The moment you decided to take me on alone, I won."
Alberto's eyes flickered with anger and frustration, but he was too weak to respond. He watched as Nero began to charge up his spell, the tiny particles of light gathering at the tip of his 'gun.'
"Lvae—"
Beep—!
But before Nero could chant his spell, his smart bracelet beeped, signaling a radio transmission.
It was HQ.
Frowning, Nero picked it up and quickly replied, "Lucas, what is it? I'm about to end this battle."
[No you're not. Their forces have destroyed our rear guard and will catch up to our main forces any time now.]
"What?!"
[Yeah, but the good news is, our main force has broken through their formation and now we can escape. I've sent William your way, he'll carry you and you both will escape.]
"B-But I'm about to end—"
[Nero, your casting time is 0.83 seconds. The cooldown time you take with your Light Cannon spell is 2 seconds. To break through Alberto's tough skin, you'll need to fire at least 13 of those. It'll take around 36 seconds for you to take him down. And not to mention, you're exhausted currently so your cooldown time and casting time will probably be longer! We don't have that time! William is already there, escape!]
Nero gritted his teeth hearing Lucas explain all that. He wanted to ask how he knew all that about him but this wasn't the time for it.
He knew he was exhausted so it'll probably take a minute or so to finish Alberto off. By that time, the enemy forces could really catch up to him.
If he gets surrounded now, he won't be able to fight back without using his Gift. And he doesn't want to do that— reveal his Gift and go against his master's instructions.
Lucas was right. The best plan of action right here was to escape. As frustrating and cowardly as it was, he had no choice but to accept it.
"Fine," he muttered.
"Nero!"
Right then, he heard someone shouting his name from his right. He turned to see a leaf green-haired boy running towards him.
It was William.
"L-Lord Commander, are you okay?!" William asked, arriving before Nero and noticing his injured leg.
"I'm fine, William. I can't walk, though."
"It's fine. Lucas told me I had to carry you."
"He did?" Nero was surprised. He couldn't remember telling Lucas about his leg. Did Lucas predict this outcome too? No, he must be overthinking it.
"So, will you carry me like a princess?" Nero joked.
"Yeah, thanks but no thanks," William raised his hands with an awkward smile before calling out to someone. "Come, Rui."
As if waiting for that cue, out of nowhere, a small cat jumped out from the shadows beneath Williams' feet.
Scratching her whiskers, the cat looked at Nero's leg and sighed.
"Rui, please?" William asked. "I promise I'll treat you to a salted fish!"
"Meooww!" the cat reluctantly agreed after hearing that promise.
Sighing again, ominous black energy surrounded the cat's body before she transformed into a black-furred golden spotted cheetah.
William quickly pointed at her and spoke in a hurried tone, "Hop on, Nero."
"W-Wait, what is this?" Nero, like any sane person, was confused.
"She is my companion cat, Rui. This is one of her transformations."
"No, I mean, how did she enter the virtual world?!"
"Oh, she can merge with my shadow, essentially becoming a part of me so she came with me. Anyway, let's talk about that later. For now, let's move." William urged.
Nero hesitantly nodded before he could even understand what he was nodding about and approached the black cheetah before hopping on her back.
He didn't forget to give one last look to Alberto, who was still recovering f rom their fight.
Alberto noticed his gaze and matched it, clear, unadulterated hatred visible in his eye. However, he didn't speak anything, probably still too weak to move his mouth.
"I'll kill you next time," Nero spoke in a mocking tone, giving Alberto a smug look.
