Ultimate grip was not a very popular card, not that anyone could be blamed for not liking it. Its use was very limited, and one would need to stretch their imagination to find an actual application for it. Nero himself had also only taken it to stick cards to his body for when he didn't have a proper armour with slots in it.
But recently, he had realised that cards were a little more flexible than the exact use written on them. Ultimate grip itself was a good example of this.
Name: Ultimate grip
Image: A man with massive forearms
Type: Physical force
Star rank: 0
Ability: [Attach something to your body or clothing so that it doesn't fall off. Lasts for 10 minutes or until pulled hard enough]
Flavour text: "Pockets are for the weak."
At a glance, it seemed very straight forward - until Nero questioned why clothes were also mentioned. His body naturally made sense, since it was the source of aether for the spell. But why his clothes? Ultimate grip seemed very limited, as it was not even as good as Glue, which had the same effect but could stick anything on any surface, but was more expensive.
So why then did it allow the addition of another field besides his body? Did the card know what clothes were?
That was impossible. So, Nero tested the card out one day. He grabbed a towel, then stuck his toothbrush to the towel using Ultimate Grip, and it worked. In fact, it continued to work when he hung the tower on a line. But if he tried the same thing again, but without holding the towel, it did not work.
So Nero summarised that its effect was not limited to just his clothes, but basically anything touching his body. But then that was too vague. He tried touching a wall, and then sticking something to it, but it didn't work. After various tests, he concluded that the mass of the item he was sticking something to had to be touching him, and less than half his own mass.
In that case, his spear also qualified to have something stick to it using Ultimate grip. The reason he included that card among the six cards he had in his slots was specifically just to target Charles, if he acted against Nero.
Considering that each slot was extremely valuable, dedicating one entire slot for a card just to counter one person who might act against him was a big risk, but it paid off. He was not expecting Charles to cause anymore trouble any time soon.
Of his other five cards, one was naturally Words of wisdom, and another was Air push. The remaining three were also situational cards he had kept that would only be useful under the right circumstances.
The reason Nero preferred cards with high situational utility, rather than simple offensive cards was his limited aether. In his fight with the masked man, Nero even kept his use of Cryoflame limited because, so much so that he had only used it for defence and not offence, for exactly the same reason.
If Nero were fighting one enemy alone, maybe he would adopt a high consumption, quick battle style, but from the beginning he knew that the masked man was most likely not alone. The appearance of Charles meant that Henry too was hidden somewhere, waiting for a moment to attack.
There was also that bat, and the masked man himself as well as his ability to attack using darts that just appeared in the air.
Relying on using only his internal aetheric pressure would allow him to last much longer. Given the precarious situation, Nero absolutely could not allow himself to get impatient. The best option was to continue to apply pressure and wait for an opportunity to appear.
Barely a second passed since the explosion on Charle's body, which had distracted everyone. Nero rushed forward, since the masked man had built a large distance between the two of them, but the sound of darts stopped him, and caused him to jump back.
Instead of targeting Nero, the darts were aimed to prevent Nero from coming close.
"You think you're so great you fucking bitch?" the masked man roared, heaving with his body covered in countless cuts. Each cut had been sealed using some card, preventing them from bleeding out, but that didn't change the fact that in a direct confrontation, he, an Initiate, was on the losing end against Nero, a Neophyte. That thought was absolutely driving him insane!
Well, that, and the venom Wendy coated on his spear's blade the day before. The venom was not directly lethal, as Nero guessed something like that would be easier to detect. Instead, the venom did only two things. It made the target more irritable, affecting their mind, and slowly made their body numb.
By now, the masked man was already seriously suffering from the effects of the venom, which is why it was not the pain of losing toes, or having a piece of his neck cut through, or countless nicks on his body, that was enraging him. It was the embarrassment of losing to Nero.
That is how Nero preferred it. If he kept attacking, and didn't realise how much damage he was accumulating, it was only a matter of time before he fell.
But being irritated did not mean he was stupid. The man had decided to keep his distance - for now.
"Let's see what you can do if your fucking spear can't reach me! I'm going to chop your body into pieces and mail it to your mother before I kill her too!"
Dozens of darts started appearing in the air around Nero and began raining down on him, causing him to have to dodge as well as block. Due to the sheer number, he missed some of them, resulting in some of them cutting his body but the wounds weren't deep for now.
But even as the situation suddenly took a shift, Nero's movements remained graceful and elegant as he managed to keep himself from suffering too much harm.
No matter how much pressure he was under, Nero's indifferent eyes never changed, which began frustrating the masked man even more!
A fluttering noise cut through the sound of shooting darts, and Nero's movements suddenly increased in speed as he leaped aside just in time to avoid the bat swinging down on him. It squeaked, and then chased after him.
Dart shot all around him, preventing him from dodging, and an air bullet suddenly shot at him from a corner. A faint smile covered Nero's lips even as he swirled his spear to smack away darts, and used Air push in the direction of the bullet. Henry had finally revealed himself!
The bat reached Nero, but the masked man missed what happened because Nero was suddenly shrouded in a cloud of darkness. The darkness would not affect the bat, but Nero knew it would give him a brief moment where no one else would be able to see him.
It was only brief, because the spell model in the Darkness card he had been using for so long finally crumpled, turning the car useless just after Nero generated a small cloud of darkness. But it was enough.
The bat was large, but that did not change the fact that it was not a good predator for its body lacked muscle or large claws and fangs. Before the bat could even reach him, using a burst of speed, he stabbed it with his spear and then swung its body in the path of the falling darts.
Then, in the brief moment where no one could see him, Nero activated his last two cards. The first was a card he had promised himself he'd get, and it was called Dark Vision. As the name suggested, it allowed him to see in the dark.
Everything he had done earlier to suggest he could not see well at night was just a ruse to mislead anyone watching. The second card he used was obviously the most powerful offensive card he had - Snowflake.
Two massive snowflakes appeared in his hand, and he ignited them using his own flames. Since it had come to this, it was time to put a little more pressure on his targets. He threw the flaming snowflakes at the masked man, while he himself dashed towards Henry.
From outside, the masked man saw an ominous cloud of darkness covering Nero, which for some reason infuriated him even more - especially since he felt the connection with the bat fade! He launched more darts, but just then he saw what looked like two blades shoot out of the cloud towards him.
He dodged them easily with the reflexes of an Initiate, but he was not at all prepared for the flames that surrounded blades suddenly spreading all around him. In fact, the flames even spread to his legs!
All the raging fury in his mind suddenly shifted to a heart gripping dread. The sudden shift in his emotions delayed his actions for a moment, which caused the flames to spread even more!
He screamed.