Nero was flabbergasted. He was absolutely stunned, and he wasn't the only one. Everyone almost immediately noticed that this fight was much easier than it should have been, but only Nero himself knew the reason.
The others could speculate. They could guess that the berserkers were still weak from Nero's flames - he'd suggested it might be a possibility earlier - or that the others who were fighting them had weakened it severely.
But the simple truth was that Nero was stronger. The increase in strength could both be described as significant and insignificant. It was a big deal because under normal circumstances, it would take him months of training to increase his strength this much. It should have hardly mattered because compared to a berserker, Nero was still a weakling.
For example, if prior to his power up, the sum of Nero's strength could be denoted as 100, then after the power up he was 120, or around that much.
Such an increase in strength translated in every facet of Nero's performance, from his speed to his reflexes as well as brute strength. But in the face of a berserker, who could be described as 300, it was nothing.
So then why was the actual difference so big? It was because compared to the berserkers, who were largely mindless beasts wildly waving their hands around, acting solely on instincts, Nero was someone who trained for hours everyday and had done so for years.
He had perfect control over his entire body, and due to him using a spear he was also intimately familiar with how to manipulate force and pressure. He knew how to pivot, and knew when to apply strength as well as when to laxen his control.
As a result, it did not take him long at all to adapt to his new strength. He adjusted almost immediately, and discovered that even the smallest increase was already enough to completely change the entire outcome.
Whereas before Nero's spear would get stuck in the muscle that was immediately beneath the skin, now his spear could cut through deeper before it stopped. While earlier on the difference in speed forced Nero to focus completely on survival, now he was fast enough to act preemptively.
Nero experienced with his body the meaning of the phrase the feather that broke the camel's back. The smallest boost had changed everything.
Of course, he alone still could not kill a berserker. He had told Wendy to change her venom. She was no longer using a necrotic venom, but rather one that would make the berserker lose control of its limbs, and so put up less of a resistance.
Harold was trying to directly destroy the berserkers brain - if it had a brain. Gabriel was burning its body from the inside out, since the defences of its skin were formidable. Pipo, in his own way, was helping by ensuring the berserker struggled even less. Remi was making all their innate abilities just a little more effective.
Nero, while forcing it to remain on the ground, kept stabbing it everywhere in its body.
He didn't know which of them ended up killing the berserker, but it eventually stopped struggling. Radix Augmentation had already run out by now, so he didn't absorb anything from the berserker, and that was probably for the best.
Although he did not have any itchy sensation in his body, he did not want to risk another coughing fit.
Verdant-2 hadn't seen them finish off the berserker, but the other two soldiers had. They were shocked, but even more, they were elated.
"Leonard, let one through," Nero yelled as he ran towards Verdant-2. Though they had killed one berserker, the situation was still dire. Leonard and his team were not holding the berserkers back as much as they were holding on for dear life, doing everything they could to stay alive while distracting them as much as possible.
But since the fight had only just begun, their situation was still manageable. The teams mixed for a brief period, just long enough for Nero to pull aside another berserker.
Shadows and sapphire light danced in the corridors, accompanied by the music of screaming terrors and fighting. The cracked ground and walls vibrated, accompanied by the endless echoes of a desperate struggle.
But the sounds of fighting, of roaring and stabbing came to an unexpected sudden end, leaving behind only the sound of heavy panting. Even Remi was out of breath, let alone everyone else. The two teams stared at each other, and then at the dead monsters, and then at each other, a hint of disbelief in their eyes. Not only had they done it, they had done it without suffering a single casualty!
Tears were streaming down Papi's eyes but he hadn't noticed. Harold massaged his bloody hands as Wendy quickly searched for a card to heal him with. Gabriel reflected on how the sand had been nearly completely ineffective on the skin, but worked so well on the monsters inside.
Nero, on the other hand, struggled to understand the worth of the immense treasure that his family held. He thought he understood how precious Radix Augmentation was, and hence his parents extreme caution, but only now did he realise that he still underestimated it.
He wanted to know where this card had come from. Who had created such an amazing card, and how had they kept it secret for so long?
Leonard just couldn't believe his shield wasn't broken, although a few bones in his body might be.
"Get up, we need to go help the others," said one of the two soldiers who had been leading the berserkers back. "There's still at least twenty more of those monsters left up ahead."
Nero frowned at the not-so-subtle commanding tone in the soldier's voice, but decided that it was not the appropriate time to fixate on such things. If hurrying could save lives, then that's what they should focus on.
"What's the situation over there? How many team members are up ahead? Or how many teams?"
"There are three more teams up ahead. Hurry up, you can see the situation for yourself when we get there. Although I don't doubt that they can handle these monsters on their own, it would delay the mission."
Nero suppressed his frown once more.
"Everyone, check your wounds and weapons. We should head on up as soon as we're ready. If there are three entire teams up ahead, this is our best chance to take out the berserkers."
The soldier clicked his teeth and looked at Nero angrily.
"You can check your wounds on the way, soldier. Didn't you hear me? I said-"
Before the soldier could complete his sentence, Nero appeared in front of him, used his spear to swipe the soldier's legs from under him, and then pointed the tip of the spear at the soldier's neck.
"You're right, I didn't hear you. Speak up," he said as he applied a little pressure with his spear, pressing down on his neck. A small stream of blood started to flow.
Leonard and his team were startled by Nero's sudden change, but none of the others were. In fact, even Papi looked at the soldier on the ground with anger in his eyes.
"Do you know what you're doing?" the second soldier asked, anger and disbelief both mixed in his voice.
"All I know is that I saved your lives and instead of being grateful, you seem to think I'm your servant. I am not going to compromise the health and safety of my team just because you're a little impatient and too incompetent to do anything on your own."
The soldier on the ground tried to speak, but Nero pressed the spear down even harder.
"I can't hear you," he said looking down. "Speak up."
Silence filled the corridor, and though Verdant-2 looked troubled, they eventually did not speak.
The second soldier suppressed his anger, with obvious struggle, and spoke slowly, "forgive my partner if he seemed impatient. Usually draftees require guidance, and he was just trying to guide you. It's very important we return to the other teams and help out. It's very important that nothing happens to them."
"Have you guys already found the artefacts?" Nero asked, surprised.
"What? No, not that. But there's a very important person in the other teams, and we can't let anything happen to them. My partner was just feeling the urgency of the situation."
"A VIP? Who is it? A Historian? Someone who knows about the cathedral?" Nero asked, suddenly interested. He still did not know why this place was called a cathedral, though more important than that was that Nero wanted to find out about the language of the Eldrim. Why had he never seen it before, even in history classes?
"What? No, it's- it's a member of the Ferro family. His mission is something else, but our mission is to protect him."
Suddenly, even though he didn't actually know anything about this young member of the Ferro family, Nero developed a very poor impression of him.