"Bastard!" Lux shouted. "Let go of Cai!"
The silver-haired man chuckled and wagged a finger at the Half-Elf on the ground. "Sorry, but it's not happening. Now, go on. Fight fairly, and I will let this Boar live."
Nero's Benefactor then glanced in the direction of his chosen candidate and smiled.
"Nero, if you still can't defeat him with this handicap in place, it means that this is only as far as you can go," the silver-haired man stated. "Do not disappoint me. I hate being disappointed."
The silver-haired man's eyes glowed crimson red, which made Nero feel a great pain in his chest, making him pant for breath.
"Go," the silver-haired man ordered. "I will not repeat my order a second time."
Nero growled in frustration but he obeyed his benefactor's orders.
This time, he dove straight towards Lux with the intention of carrying out the silver-haired man's command.
The silver-haired man was the one who had given him the power to realize his ambition. If he lost the other party's support now, he would also lose the power to control the Seed of Corruption that had fully bloomed inside his heart.
Lux roared in anger as he transformed his right arm into Dragon Claws and punched in front of him.
The Half-Elf's scaled fist collided with Nero's own, creating a shockwave that sent the Half-Elf flying backwards.
If not for the fact that he had transformed his right arm into that of a dragon's, it might have been torn apart in the exchange just now.
'Dammit!' Lux thought hatefully as he felt a stinging pain in his right arm.
Due to his anger and the unfairness of the situation, he had temporarily lost control of his emotions and decided to vent out his frustration by punching Nero with everything he had.
Unfortunately, he was fighting against a Ranker, and because of that, his right arm got bent in an unnatural angle due to the disparity in strength.
Nero didn't follow up with the attack and simply stared at the Half-Elf who was glaring at him.
He had felt Lux's hatred within that punch, which was something he had never felt in the past.
Whenever they fought, the Half-Elf would just fight him, but there was no shred of hate in his attack. Only killing intent.
This time, it was different.
For the first time, Nero felt Lux's anger and hatred directed towards him, which made him feel as if he had achieved something he hadn't done before.
"Yes, that's it," Nero said as he looked at his opponent. "Hate me! Hate me just as much as I hate you!"
For some reason, Nero felt a great joy in his heart after he felt Lux's great anger and hatred towards him.
This was something that Nero had not felt in a long time, and it made him want to make Lux feel the same hatred he felt, when the Half-Elf stole everything away from him.
Nero then stomped his right foot on the ground and reappeared beside Lux in order to deliver a punch to his chest.
However, this time, the Half-Elf teleported a short distance away from him, and summoned several spinning blades that attacked his opponent from his blindspot.
Unfortunately, Nero transformed himself into a black lightning bolt and evaded Lux's attack with ease.
"Bravo!" the silver-haired man clapped his hands in amusement. "Now, this is a fight I want to see!"
Due to the difference in Ranks, Nero had now full advantage of the battle and attacked Lux relentlessly, sending the Half-Elf flying each time one of his attacks connected.
Orion, who couldn't bear to see his Master suffer, attacked at the same time Pazuzu did. However, both of them were too slow to hit Nero, and the Ranker didn't have any trouble dodging their attacks.
"Annoying insects. You should just disappear!" Nero smashed Orion's head with his foot, after hitting the Jade Golem several times, breaking off its limbs one by one.
"You too," Nero sneered as he applied pressure on Pazuzu's head with his hand, which he had forced to kneel in front of him. "Go to the afterlife with your friend!"
Increasing his grip strength, Nero twisted Pazuzu's head, making a cracking sound. A moment later, the Fortress Defender's body turned into particles of light and disappeared from the battlefield.
Just as Nero was about to walk towards the Half-Elf, who was currently lying on the ground after receiving a kick from him, the ground under his feet cracked and three Dragon Breaths erupted under his feet.
Eiko, who was no longer able to tolerate the hateful devil continuously injuring her Papa, finally unleashed a synchronized attack with her clones, attacking Nero at point-blank range.
Due to the timing of the attack, Nero was unable to dodge it completely, and was engulfed by the blazing flames that the Baby Slime unleashed to avenge her Papa.
"I almost forgot about you," Nero glared hatefully at the Baby Slime, who was also glaring back at him.
However, a second later, Eiko dug underground because she knew that she wasn't a match against Nero with her current strength.
"I won't let you get away!" Nero shouted as he dove down from the sky with the intention of punching the ground, killing the Baby Slime that was hiding under it.
However, at this exact moment, a draconic tail smashed against Nero's body which sent him flying for hundreds of meters through the air until he finally crashed on the ground.
"Play time's over," Lux growled as he held the Dragon Token firmly in his left hand.
He could still tolerate the beating that Nero was giving him, but Eiko was one of his reverse scales.
The Baby Slime had already died once in the past, and her death had caused his fiance, Iris, grief beyond words, making him vow that he wouldn't let the same thing happen again.
After seeing that Cai was being used as a hostage and his Baby Slime was about to be killed in front of his eyes, the Half-Elf no longer cared about the consequences and used one of his Trump Cards.
A Crystal Dragon hovered above the Half-Elf, and its gaze landed on the silver-haired man in the distance, whose eyes widened in shock.
Earlier, he sensed that there was something in the Dungeon that could threaten his life, but because of lack of evidence, he decided to kidnap Cai and force Lux to fight against Nero with a handicap.
Now that the Half-Elf had summoned the Crystal Dragon, who for some reason, had transformed into an Argonaut Rank World Boss, the silver-haired man finally understood where the feeling of dread was coming from.
"Keoza, I'll let you deal with him," Lux ordered. "But, before that, save Cai first."
"Very well," Keoza replied.
The Crystal Dragon made a rune in the air with its Dragon Claws, and Cai's body immediately turned into a crystal statue.
The silver-haired man, who saw this, immediately slashed down on the Crystal Boar with the intention of cutting it to pieces. But when his sword collided with the Boar's crystalized body, a metallic ring reverberated in the surroundings, making the silver-haired man look at his sword in disbelief.
A second later, Keoza drew another rune and Cai's crystal statue turned into a beam of light, flying toward the Crystal Dragon's chest.
"I'll keep Cai safe," Keoza said before spreading his wings wide in preparation to fly in the sky. "You don't have to worry about this Devil. I won't let it escape. Do whatever you need to do."
Without another word, the Crystal Dragon flew into the sky and engaged the silver-haired man who had bullied Lux earlier.
Now that one of his problems had been dealt with, the Half-Elf's burning gaze landed on Nero, who had recovered from Keoza's attack.
Earlier, Nero had toyed around with him.
The Abyssal Creature made sure that each of his punches were not fatal but strong enough to hurt the Half-Elf's body, giving the latter great pain and allowing himself to enjoy every second of his opponent's suffering.
Now that he was no longer bound by the handicap placed to him by the silver-haired man, who was currently engaging Keoza in a dogfight in the sky, the Half-Elf no longer hesitated and decided to repay the hateful bastard for everything that he had done to him, tenfold.
"Time for round two," Lux said as he took a step forward and pointed his finger at the person who attempted to kill his Baby Slime for the second time. "Come here, you bastard!"
"Duel [EX]!"
