As hectic and dangerous as the fights were in the fog, it also worked to Nero's befit. Everyone was fighting randomly, and though the fights were not too intse, that was mostly because being unable to tell what was happing a them made everyone nervous.
So naturally, in the middle of fights, wh everyone's nerves were tse, the sight of Nero and Harold emerging from the haze startled and distracted them.
But they did not remain nervous for long, as the only thing that surpassed their individual strgths was their impeccable teamwork. Although Nero had not specifically trained with anyone other than Jackal since he got his ability, sometimes training wasn't needed.
Although Nero didn't know the exact details of Harold's ability, he knew it was similar to a tremor. It could pass through armour and shield, and if used correctly could ev cause the oppont to drop their weapon due to the heavy vibrations.
There was something more to it than just that, or else Harold would not have kept his innate ability hidd from everyone, but that didn't matter to Nero. Knowing a bit about it was ough.
Nero would strike first, using the range of his weapon to strike, causing the oppont to dodge, only for Harold to attack them just as they dodged. They would be forced to block or defd, only for Harold's tremors to invade their body once they exchanged blows. Shocked and overwhelmed, they would be too distracted to notice Nero's finishing move, knocking them all unconscious.
Such a simple, yet effective manoeuvre allowed them to quickly take out all of Verdant-. It wouldn't have worked if all the soldiers wer't spread out and on their own. But with each soldier they took down, their own numbers increased and the emies kept getting out numbered ev more.
Compared to everything they had be through so far, compared to fighting berserkers and strange curses, fighting humans really was much easier.
After Verdant-, all that was left was Arter's team. Considering that Nero had already defeated one of them earlier on, and the fact that Gabriel was keeping Arter busy, it was hardly a fight.
Before he could ev understand how it happed, Arter found himself sured. One momt he was fighting Gabriel, doing his best to dodge the whips of red sand the other had tak to using. The next thing he knew, Gabriel finally stopped attacking, yet instead of feeling relief, he felt his heart drop.
Figures stepped forward from the fog, their weapons all pointed towards him. Although of them could match up to Arter's lethality, ev Nero couldn't do that, they didn't need to match him to defeat him.
Reluctant and raged at the same time, Arter turned to look towards Nero who was the only one not pointing his weapon at him. Instead, Nero stood straight, holding his spear up next to him, its blade rising above his head.
"I challge you to a one on one duel," Arter said, hoping to goad Nero into a fight. It was his only hope. Yet Nero didn't respond to his challge. Instead, he only looked at him like he was a fool, which raged Arter ev more.
"I should never have trusted you. This was your plan all along, wasn't it? Why are you targeting me? Who is behind you?"
Nero raised an eyebrow.
"You think too highly of yourself," Nero finally said. "I am neither targeting you, nor did I plan this all out. No matter what you think, I didn't do anything to your teammate either. I also don't have any reason to accept your challge. I don't know what you think is going on here, but I'm on a mission, not on a quest for honour.
It would be best to take you down with everything I have rather than waste time to defeat you single handedly."
Arter glared at Nero. He didn't believe him. Although everyone only saw the power and prestige that came with belonging to a family with a sage, they didn't know that it also meant that Arter was constantly challged and targeted.
The countries wer't at peace, not real peace anyway, and there were more than just a few emies of the sage families ev within their own countries. From birth his mother had protected him from such forces. Everyone thought she was crazy, or overprotective, but how could they know or understand the truth of Arter's life?
For a few seconds Arter and Nero just stared at each other. Th Nero moved.
He knew that giving Arter time was a bad move, as the longer he had, the more powerful his stroke would be, so he didn't waste any time.
Nero struck from the front while Gabriel struck from the back. For this fight, Harold had be relegated to a supporting role. With the lethality of Arter's sword, it was too risky for Harold to try and fight him hand-to-sword.
But Arter was no pushover. He dodged to the side, and instead of focusing on fighting back, tried to break out of the circlemt.
One of Wdy's needles almost stabbed into his neck as Arter lunged towards Jackal, but an invisible force prevted it from actually touching his skin. Jackal threw a ball of flame towards Arter, but the slim sword cut through the fire and forced Jackal to jump backwards.
Yet Arter couldn't run through the oping he had created for Nero's speed was too quick. He appeared in Arter's path, flaming spear in hand, a stalwart guardian.
They clashed, and their weapons caused an explosion as Arter's electricity and Nero's flame cancelled each other out. But while Arter stumbled back, Nero stood firm. More needles tried to break his defce as two, thin streams of red sand wrapped a his legs.
Arter roared and a pulse of ergy blasted a him, pushing back the sand and the yellow fire that was flying towards him. He had used one of his cards, but it exhausted him greatly. He tried to use the momt to run in the other direction, but once again, like a nightmare he couldn't escape, Nero appeared standing in front of him, devilish blue flames rising from his body.
The worst part of it was how calm Nero looked. No matter how Arter fought back, no matter what card he used and what trick he displayed, Nero looked at him calmly and blocked him almost effortlessly.
It was like everything was under his control from start to finish. As soon as Arter realised that breaking free from the circlemt was impossible, he changed his strategy.
He swung his blade towards Nero, and though there was a distance betwe them, a streak of blue lighting shot from the edge of his blade towards Nero.
It caused another explosion wh it met the blue flames, but it could not shake Nero's steady steps as he walked towards him.
Red sand and yellow flames once again attached themselves to him amidst a barrage of needles, and though he rebuffed them all using the same blast of ergy, Arter felt cornered and trapped.
Desperate, he attacked one of Nero's other teammates. Yet the blue devil appeared in his path once more, barring the way.
Arter swung his sword, but this time, instead of clashing against it, Nero simply used his spear to guide his strike sideways, causing Arter to lose balance. Before he could regain his footing Nero appeared right in front of him, his cold blue eyes staring deep inside Arter's soul.
Nero gripped Arter's neck, placed one foot behind the panicking teager and pushed him back. Arter lost his balance completely, falling backwards. Yet ev as he slammed into the g, Nero did not remove his hand from his neck.
"For what it's worth, you put up a good fight," Nero said lightly, before punching him in the face. Whatever barrier had be protecting Arter all along finally gave way, and the prodigal child of the sage family fell unconscious.
From start to finish the whole fight took exactly sixty seconds, as if Nero had planned it all along. In truth, it was just a coincidce. But like he had told Vanessa, no matter the circumstances, he always acted like it was a part of his plan, and that he had everything under control.
He looked at his teammates, and of them seemed shocked or surprised. After so many years, the impression he had built solidified. They never doubted that they would have won. Wasn't that also why they followed Nero? To win.
"Let's grab the artefacts and get out of here," Nero said, standing up. "Don't drop your guard. The mission is not over till we turn the artefacts in."
Calm. Collected. Forward thinking. That is what Nero needed to be, and what he needed everyone to know him as.
But sometimes, there were things that no one could account for. As the countless Neophyte teams swarmed into Lumina city, and began to explore the regions from where the fog had rectly retreated, something in the city began to stir.