278 Devil incarnate
The Virtuous Moonlight did not physically push curses and cursed being away, much to Nero's regret. Instead, it would only cause thick, black smoke to escape from within the cursed being until it had no more of whatever caused that smoke could be found, and then it would seal the cursed being in a pale, silver light.
Nero suspected that this type of seal was very different from the kind of seal Noman was able to use. It would not be affected by any physical stimuli at all, as far as Nero found, and would only break upon contact with an aetheric attack. During the sealed state, the cursed being would also be reverted to how it was physically before being cursed.
At least, that was the result of Nero's experiments with cursed plants. Now he would see the results with cursed insects.
Fully expecting that the hammer made of cursed hornets wouldn't be able to stop in time even if they wished to resist the light, Nero also used Mud Fortress to pull up a small wall in front of him as a barrier, yet Nero had underestimated just how much the bugs wanted to avoid the light.
They forced themselves to a halt just before they touched the light, crushing hundreds of hornets all at once. A few still could not stop in time, and flew right into the light, causing a torrent of black smoke to rush out of their body.
Nero had never heard insects speak before, but the moment they entered his light he certainly did hear them shriek! Despite their tiny sound, their scream resounded across the entire hill, nearly causing Nero to lose focus from the sheer ferocity of it.
But that was not all. They immediately fell to the ground. No, falling would still take time. Even as their insides burned, releasing a cloud of darkness, they dove to the ground as quickly as they could manage, in a rush to prostrate on the ground before Nero. The thought of resisting or escaping did not exist for them at all.
It would have been an interesting experience if Nero's aether was not draining from his body at breakneck speeds, causing him physical pain! Yet the remarkable thing was that the aether within his body was being replenished at nearly the same speed through the Recovery token he had eaten, forming a balance.
His body was a battleground for energies to wreak havoc as they escaped, and then filled it. Introducing a third, potentially volatile element was not the best idea, but Nero knew that his time was limited. He only had a few moments where his team did not have sight on him. They needed to only move a little from their current position to spot him, so he had to make use of this opportunity to test out the effects of Radix Augmentation.
Having too many overpowered secrets was such a burden, and that burden physically manifested itself when he activated Radix Augmentation and swung his spear, its tip still covered in blue flames, to kill all the hornets within his silver light.
A deluge of warm energy rushed into Nero's body, causing him to momentarily go limp. But he fought through the pain and steadied himself, a massive grin on his face.
The effects of Radix Augmentation had dropped drastically back in Lumina, and fighting other Neophyte level curses hardly improved his body at all. Now, though, even the death of a single hornet measurably improved his body, even if the experience was a little painful due to how drastic it was.
He was in pain from the aether leaving him, though that had stopped once he killed the hornets within range of the light. He was also in pain from how rapidly the aether in his body was replenished. Suddenly having his body undergo a baptism of warmth, increasing it in every feasible way was also not a pleasant experience when that warmth felt like lava pouring into his body.
But since when has pain been a relevant factor in Nero's decision making? The answer was never.
Nero deactivated Virtuous Moonlight, switched back to Cryoflame, the action taking a couple of seconds, and attacked the hornets once more. He retook control of the flames he had pushed aside, and used them to freeze the hornets aside.
Within that time, more fireballs had struck the tree and the surroundings, creating small patches of orange flames which only served to act as fuel for his blue flames that rapidly decreased the surrounding temperature, and ate at the cursed energy within the hive.
About a dozen seconds after Nero had switched back to the cryoflames, the lingering fear of the silver light had faded from the hornets, which attacked him en masse once more. Yet Nero, constantly moving between the trees, bobbing in and out of vision of his group, used the opportunity to once more hide behind a separate tree, switch back to Virtuous Moonlight, and reenact his previous defiant manoeuvre, though this time he didn't waste aether on constructing a mud wall.
Directly when the hornets were reeling back in fear of his light was also the only time he risked using Radix Augmentation, bringing another wave of burning lava.
The fight felt excruciating, and every second felt like an hour. Even though he maintained his physical peak - mostly due to his body rapidly growing stronger - he began to tire out mentally. Yet he never stopped.
Nero was insatiable in his desire for growth, and he threw himself among the hornets when they tried to fly away.
From afar, the other Neophytes kept using various cards to do damage to the hive and the hornets as well, but the sheer strength and number of the hornets filled them with solemnity. They were not cowards, but they were also not lunatics to throw themselves to death in a meaningless way. That is exactly what would have happened if they had tried to approach the hive.
Yet before their eyes they saw Nero, a devil incarnate, wreathed in blue flames, bringing forth an icy armageddon. Much of the landscape around the hive had already changed, the grass frozen and shattered, with patches of orange and blue flames covering the area.
Hot and cool air mixed, forming numerous, small tornadoes carrying shards of ice. Such rampant destruction should not have been possible through the power of a mere Neophyte, yet that is exactly what was happening in front of their eyes.
The most intimidating, or perhaps reassuring thing, was that the longer the fight went on, the faster Nero became. The grin on his face was visible even from afar, as he both chased and lured his prey. The dying wails of the cursed hornets, filled with indescribably pain, almost made the group feel sorry for the cursed hornets. What a miserable way to die for beings that, in truth, surpassed the Mystic level in power.
One member of that group, in particular, was filled with deep, revenant trepidation as he looked at that monster. How was he even human? He was literally a walking disaster!
Vanessa, in particular, took note of every action Nero made, and could not help but come to a single, unbelievable conclusion: he had gotten stronger!
She was aware that, more than anything else, this was a display from Nero, not only to gain the trust of the whole team, but for her as well. Since he had decided to invite her as someone in his inner circle, he revealed a bit of his true capabilities.
The scary thing was, Vanessa was certain that this was still not everything he was capable of. Someone as calculating and sly as Nero would never reveal all his abilities in public.
Yet just as the fight was reaching its crescendo, the hive nearly frozen and most of the hornets dead, Nero mysteriously vanished.
Well technically he didn't vanish. While fighting, he moved behind a tree. He had done so countless times throughout the fight, and none were suspicious of him for it. It only made sense that he had to constantly move to avoid being crushed by the hornets.
Yet this time, when he went behind a tree, he did not return in just a few seconds. When the first five seconds passed no one assumed anything, but after ten, everyone noticed something amiss. When fifteen seconds passed they were already moving, assuming the worst and ready for an emergency extraction.
Then they caught sight of something that caused them to freeze. Nero was picking himself off the ground, almost as if he had tripped. But that is not what gave them pause. What gave them pause was how Nero suddenly waved his spear, which had been embedded into the ground itself, and caused a massive eruption of dirt!
To be clear, Nero did not first extract the spear then slash it. No, with the tip of the spear still buried in the ground, he waved the spear with unnerving ease, ripping the ground asunder, displaying a feat of strength that even physically augmenting innate abilities could not grant!
Suddenly, they all remembered how he had grinned and told them he was the strongest Neophyte alive. Almost simultaneously, the whole group saw a deeper meaning to that phrase.
Bael could not help but gulp. Wasn't Nero even stronger than the Berserkers back in Lumina?