Digitize: Rebirth of the Silver Death God

Chapter 198: Taking the Stage! An Unexpected Foe

The air turned heavy as Ashton, who had walked away from the battle platform, halted his steps in silence, his head tilting to the side to look behind him.

Judy, didn't show any fear when she saw his icy indifferent look; she glared at him and complained, "Hey, it was only a competition; so why did you use such a heavy hand?"

Ashton remained silent for a while as he looked at the unconscious Kenra before fixing his eyes onto Judy and shaking his head. He then continued to walk away.

Judy felt upset at this, her magic power rising as she shouted, "Hey! I'm talking to you, so better you give me an answer!"

Her voice echoing across the room, the crowd looked at her as if staring at a fool, even Xu Waren couldn't help but chuckle as he mocked, "Haha... this little one surely lacks discipline."

Reil glared at Xu Waren and snorted as he spoke in kind, "You'd do best to mind your affairs, Chairman Xu; I've heard plenty of rumors from your Xu Administration, even more so for a particular child of Xu."

When Xu Waren heard this, his eyes turned sharp as he looked at Reil Levier, both remaining silent as the atmosphere between them became much like that of blades being drawn.

The other major Du Society leaders took note of their dispute, but no one said anything, seeming to take delight in their conflict. Still, while this scene proved as such, the conflict between Judy and Ashton had taken a different turn.

Ashton continued to move along without even halting his steps as his manner seemed as if he didn't care. He casually put his arms into his pockets as he responded, "You seem to be forgetting something. The fact that he can live from such a simple strike of mine proves that he's, at the very least, worthy of his fame."

"You..." Judy uttered as she gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with hate as she scowled at Ashton, she was about to do something, but suddenly, a weak hand grabbed her palm, causing her to look down.

There, the weakened Kenra tried to regulate his breathing as he spoke, "Judy... for... forget it, you are... not his match."

"Hmph! Fine," Judy replied in a dissatisfied tone; she didn't bother doing anything foolish again. 

Yullia nodded at this; thinking that Kenra made the right call to calm her, she continued to rub a strange ointment over his wound as she looked at him and spoke, "Kenra, you did well, so don't feel disappointed. No matter which faction you go against, you could still be considered a top talent amongst us humans. However, that Child of Blaze, much like that father of his, is too much of an analogy. There likely isn't anyone who can match him here... maybe, that Grassroot Sword Child from the Mendez, or the son of Granduz, that Kojima boy."

Kenra felt terrible at this, but he knew he couldn't do anything about it. 

"I understand, Miss Yullia," He sighed and replied, knowing full well of his weakness before his eyes swept over to the direction of Nero and Ryo.

  'I wonder, just how will they fare against him?' Kenra thought to himself, but at this time, the voice of the masked man sounded, "Who are the next challengers?"

As if hearing Kenra's initial thoughts, Nero gave the masked man a look before standing up from his seat; Elly and Avollo looked at his surprise.

"Nero, are you going up already?" Elly asked with strangeness in her voice.

Nero chuckled as he answered, "Of course, it's not my style to go last. Not like this is some tournament from that dragon gem series."

"Oh, oh, I know that one, it was called... hey, are you evening listening?" Elly said excitedly, but Nero had already turned away, causing Avollo to chuckle at their strange interaction.

Still, despite their former actions and Nero's decision, Avollo and Elly found this excellent; they watched as Nero slowly walked towards the stage with simple steps.

Yullia stared at him with a tinge of surprise; she thought to herself, 'Well, well, and here I thought he'd wait until the end, looks like he's got more balls than I thought.'

With such thoughts in mind, Yullia waved her hand like a teenage girl and spoke, "Little Handsome, do your best!"

Elly gave Yullia an odd stare, feeling that this woman was a bit strange; she felt a bit threatened for some reason, even more so as she saw her large chest bouncing up and down, adding more to her mature beauty. Heck, the scene caused a few shifty-eyed men and youths to observe from varying quarters obscurely.

"Nero, you... should be careful," Elly said as she ran up to him and tugged his sleeve cutely, her face slightly reddish.

Nero was surprised by this; he found her action to be adorable; he smirked and didn't bother to answer; after waving his hand, he then made a light leap and stood on the battle platform. 

The audience that saw Nero's movements was a bit curious as quite a few talents had strange flickers in their eyes, even more so for those belonging to the Hatman's.

'Haha, that little bastard is finally making his move; I'll maim him where he stands!' Delkan said to himself as his eyes shone with ruthless killing intent. Just as he was about to make his move, a slender but sturdy hand grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to halt.

"Stay where you are; Lira and Andrew will both challenge him," Jullian said in a commanding tone; Delkan glared at him with hate but said nothing complying with his words.

"As you wish," Both Lira and Andrew replied as they quickly began to move towards the battle platform, but before they could so, another figure had already beaten them.

With a light whoosh and the sounds of footsteps touching the ground, Mikan had unknowingly jumped on the platform under the watchful eyes of the Shadowblood Madame Davia, Kyle Handson, Weizer, and the worrying and somewhat sorrowful Ivy.

"Hmm, it looks like we're late. If he wins, take him down in the next turn," Jullian said with sharp eyes.

Lire and Andrew nodded, but on the battle platform, Nero looked at Mikan with a tinge of surprise, even more so when he saw the troubled look on his face when he spoke, "Sorry, my situation is a bit complicated."

Nero frowned at this as he stared at the direction of the Shadowblood Faction, looking at the hate-filled eyes of Weizer and the sharp icy looks that Davia gave Mikan. His eyes showed a trace of understanding when he further looked and noticed Ivy's apologetic manner.

"It's fine, let's have fun," Nero said with a smile.

Mikan felt a bit of relief at this, but even more so, his manner became a bit sharper, as a feeling he had pressed down for a long while had finally begun to resurface.

The masked man nodded at this as he spoke, "State your names!"

"Nero Valstine! Mikan Everdale!" Both Nero and Mikan said abruptly.

The audience remained calm for the most part, but each had a deep look as for the major players as they stared at Nero more intently. In fact, even the masked man was a bit surprised, his face showing a look of contemplation before shaking his head as if throwing odd thoughts away.

"You may begin!" The masked man said before flickering and vanishing from the battle platform. A cool wind blew, brushing across the platform, as it swayed both Nero's and Mikan's hair and clothing.

Suddenly, Mikan showed a strange look on his face as he spoke, "You know, there's always been something hounding my spirit, a thing I couldn't quite get rid of."

Nero looked at Mikan interestedly as he spoke, "Oh, and what's that?"

Mikan shook his head at this as he adopted a battle stance and replied, "Just an old grudge that I've yet to let go off; I think this is a good chance to let it pass and see it to the end."

Nero, who saw Mikan's manner, smirked as he too adopted what seemed like the Mowing Twist combat posture, his scythe appearing in his arm which held it far out behind his bend over the figure.

"Fine with me; show me the limits of your resolve."

With Nero's combative words, his body became coated with bits of silver-colored magic power as his red eyes glistened like blood. Mikan's body also erupted green-colored magical power, his palms far-reaching as if they were setting to grasp something.

Both magic powers slowly collided with a bang, causing the spectators to look on with interest, eager to see the forthcoming scene.