Nero stood tall in front of Dave, his back straight as he looked up even higher at the dark behemoth looming over him, his glaive right beside him. He uttered no battlecry, but his flames roared with a furious passion - refusing to be ignored. His body held not an ounce of fear even in the shadow death cast by the exarch.
All this and more... it was not foolishness, nor was it a blind arrogance. Nero had not forgotten the pain of having his body broken, nor was he arrogant enough to believe that the gap in strength between himself and the Primal Exarch had narrowed, instead of widened. It was not even that he valued the information Dave held so much that he would risk life and limb to protect him from this nightmare given form.
It was one simple truth that had him standing here, threatening the creature as if it was at his mercy. Nero and his group had no chance of returning to the tavern if this creature hunted them, and so it had to be distracted - a task that Nero could entrust only to himself.
So, once again, Nero found himself facing death. He was no stranger to it by now, for death and he had long been acquaintances. In recent years, as Nero’s strength deepened and his purpose sharpened, he found himself brushing against death often. And death, as if a jealous lover, never failed to flirt back.
In her presence - in the presence of death, beckoning him with her siren’s call, certain that this time he would not escape the elaborate design she had created just for him - Nero knew that there could be no doubt. There could be no hesitation, no mistakes. Here, he had to be certain - he had to know - that he was undefeatable, unconquerable. He had to behave like his invictus spirit would not break even in the face of inevitability.
Or maybe... Nero was not taking on this persona in the face of death. Maybe, deep down, this is just who he was, and the threat of death just brought it out.
Upon hearing Nero’s solemn words, delivered as a promise, not a threat, the Primal Exarch was not infuriated. Instead, deep within him, he felt a flicker of amusement tinged with anticipation. Realistically, the human was not stronger than before. If anything, he was weaker due to the fact that he was in the beginning of the Initiate realm, while the Exarch was at the peak of it. Yet the flames roaring around his body promised something else. They held an ancient power few could deny, and that
The Primal Exarch looked up, raising its two forelegs into the sky, and let loose a deep, primal roar to vent the growing fire in his chest.
Nero’s eyes flickered as he grabbed Dave, making sure his flames didn’t hurt the half dead traitor, and dashed backwards at his fastest speed, making sure not to show the beast his back.
For the couple of seconds that the Exarch roared, he let the human escape. He did not give chase at all. Yet as soon as he was done, as soon as his forelegs touched the ground once more, he gave chase, and the erupting ground of Perilith beneath his limbs was witness to it.
Nero, in those few seconds, had gained enough distance that he flung Dave far behind him, his ruptured limbs now frozen so that he wouldn’t bleed out, and then rushed forward to meet the monster.
The Primal Exarch was fast - faster than anything Nero had ever faced - but so was Nero. He was just fast enough to judge, anticipate, and respond to the monster.
Nero used Mud Fortress to summon a dirt wall in front of himself, angled so that just as the Exarch was about to reach him, Nero was hidden from view. It was a fraction of a moment, but it was enough so that when the Exarch tore through the wall like it was made of paper, it missed because Nero had already leaped into the sky.
Using the tip of the monster’s horn as a foothold, Nero jumped again, pushing himself above the creature’s back. His flaming glaive, fueled with his aether, slashed at the exarch wing. Yet, predictably, the consequence was a thin, white line of ice left on the wing rather than an injury.
Nero’s feet touched the creature’s spine, and already he was moving away. Snowflake, shrouded with Frostburn, flew out of Nero’s hands just in time for the Exarch to turn around, striking him directly in the eyes. The Exarch merely blinked, successfully defending, as it waved its tail to slam into Nero.
Yet the momentary loss of vision was enough for Nero to change course, dodging the tail so narrowly it could only be attributed to luck or divine skill. The look in Nero’s eyes as he ran towards the Exarch, not away from it, declared that it was merely as he planned it to be.
The Exarch clawed the very earth, ripping dirt and stone alike, as it aimed towards Nero. Nero used the flying debris to hide his slender frame as he dodged the monster again and again, attacking him with glaive and his flame when the opportunity presented itself.
Yet as time flew by, a raging, unceasing current that would not slow until a victor was crowned, neither the monster nor the man could grant it relief.
The glaive danced in Nero’s hands, painting a masterpiece of ice on the indestructible flesh of the Exarch, while the ground became the Exarch’s canvas, with various levels of destruction sculpting the landscape of Perilith.
One was the personification of invincibility, while the other held a prowess hitherto unseen by the Primal Exarch. Nero was not as fast as him, but he was fast enough, decisive enough, smart enough to evade his every effort.
It was not just his physical abilities that kept him alive. Nero used the few cards available to him - all seemingly useless - in ingenious ways to keep himself alive.
Mud Fortress, a card meant to provide protection, became a means of distraction, and at times, even a platform for him to step on. Serene Wind, a card meant to blow a gentle breeze around his face to prevent poisoning, was used by Nero to swirl dirt and sand around the Exarch’s eyes. Snowflake, his most lethal card, became the tool through which Nero changed the landscape, surrounding them with ice and snow, affecting the Exarch’s movements.
Yet this dance could not last. Nero, now an Initiate, was much stronger, but as a result the burden of his aether was also greater. While he himself could tolerate it just fine, his cards, all at 0 Stars, began to wear down much faster than ever before, in exchange for an increased output.
The Exarch smashed down on the ground with both his claws, causing a devastating explosion and the ground to shake. Yet Nero, instead of leaping away, jumped onto the hands, running up as the glaive swirled, scratching both the Exarch’s hands. Frostburn greedily latched onto its skin, sucking out its heat with uncontrollable greed.
Yet it was no use. The Exarch flung Nero back, though the teenager already leaped off its hands before then, flipping in the air to straighten himself out.
He landed right in front of the Exarch, yet for once, as if with some prior agreement, neither the human nor the monster moved. They both looked at each other, realising that their current approach wouldn’t work. Simultaneously, both of them decided to try something else.
The fire in Nero’s eyes, nay the fire on his entire person suddenly vanished. A white light gleamed in Nero’s eyes as he dashed forward, yet something unexpected happened.
From the frozen dirt underneath his feet, a vine suddenly grew out, trying to latch onto Nero’s leg. If he hadn’t become more sensitive to aether Nero would never have sensed it and would have been caught.
Just in time to avoid it, Nero leaped to the side, rolling as he landed, but that momentary deviation from his plan meant he was no longer a step ahead of the Exarch. The monster’s claw slammed down towards Nero, its eyes staring at Nero with a feverous gleam. There was nowhere to run now, nowhere to escape. The Exarch was more than capable of retaining its mind even in the presence of the light of the Virtuous Aeon, so even if Nero summoned that light, it would not stop that attack.
Yet, the surprises were far from over. Instead of a light erupting from Nero’s body, the shadows cast from the Exarch’s own body rose up from the ground and wrapped themselves around Nero, hiding him in the darkness.
The claw slammed down, ripping the frozen ground to shreds, yet the Primarch knew that the human had not died. He looked around, but instead of the human, he found four purple beams, shooting at his eyes, filled with the corrupt stench of Cursed energy.
He raised his hand to block the beams, yet that was not the attack that landed on him. From the shadow of the Exarch’s arm across his face appeared Nero, his glaive vibrating with all the aether it could contain.
He was too close, the attack too quick - there was no dodging it, not that the Exarch had ever dodged Nero’s attacks. Yet this time, he should have.
With a resounding boom, the glaive smashed into the Exarch’s face, its blade finally cutting flesh.
Author’s Note: Check out the art for this Chapter on discord or insta