Digitize: Rebirth of the Silver Death God

Chapter 77: A Temporary Measure, The Man Known As Grail

The scene within the park was a gloomy one, as a single luminous ray illuminated a sole figure that now stood a short distance from what seemed like a corpse. It was a solitary looking youth whose eyes emanated a profound sense of sadness as he trembled while staring at the woman.

"Mother... mother.... motheeeer!" Nero repeatedly said while his mind seemed as if it was about to descend into madness. He fell onto his knees, bashed his hands against the ground that left behind spiderwebs like cracks on the concrete.

Tears now fell from the corners of his eyes as he didn't know what he should do in this circumstance; he lost all reason and was now unable to think correctly.

Suddenly, an audible sigh sounded from a nearby location as a voice spoke, "So you still chose this route in the end... such a pity, Hersa..."

Following those words, a light series of footsteps followed. Not long after, a familiar-looking man who wore a thick black overcoat with a large had appeared from the darker sections of the park. His figure now illuminated by the lights from the lamps as his shades reflected the cold lights.

He stared at Nero, who didn't even turn to look at him before he walked towards Hersa and picked her up, Nero who had now noticed this, suddenly felt a surge of rage towards this stranger.

He jumped to his feet as his body exploded with a dense amount of killing intent as he shouted, "Let go of my mother right now!"

The man glanced at Nero as he held Hersa, looking at him with pity from his eyes hidden behind his shades. He noticed that Nero's expression was madness, the same look of a lost child in the wilderness.

"Nero Valstine, your mother has yet to truly pass away, calm yourself, let us speak where there are few disturbances..." The man said as he turned away from Nero and calmly walked away.

When Nero heard this, his anger faded by a section as his face became filled with surprise. He stared at the man deeply as he thought to himself, 'Who is he? Can I trust his words?'

Adult Nero remained silent, saying nothing nor giving any form of advice, Nero gripped his fists tightly as he decided not to ask anything more.

Now that he had managed to regain a few his senses; he recalled that though Hersa had collapsed, there was still a tinge of life in her body, a tiny amount that wasn't easily noticeable.

'If what this man said is true, seeing that he knows my name, he's probably a friend to my parents...' Nero concluded, not wasting any time he hurried along after the strange man.

Swoosh! Nero rushed after him, but much to his shock, the man who was casually walking grew more distant with each step until he vanished from his sight.

"What? So fast!" Nero said he exclaimed, but soon his eyes only grew calmer as he knew that such a character if they wanted to harm him, could easily do so without giving him the slightest chance to react.

Eventually, Nero had caught up, but as he did so his eyes widened when he saw a series of black vans and cars.

At this time, a medical team was now securing Hersa's body on an ambulance stretcher while a group of men and women with vast auras spoke amongst themselves.

'These guys, they even have such facilities... I... I shouldn't think about this, I need to confirm mother's health,' Nero thought as hurriedly cleared his mind went over to his mother's side.

The individuals noticed Nero's arrival, but they merely continued to handle their various tasks as if they saw nothing.

When Nero arrived at the stretcher, he saw that the cardiac monitor was beeping low but steady beeps. His mother was even breathing, but her consciousness had faded in entirety. A few bags with special-looking blood were currently connected to her body, as her skin's paleness faded by a tiny section.

Nero's eyes turned red as he saw this, he looked at the medical grew that were finishing their emergency adjustments before he spoke, "Is my mother okay? Will this...?"

Nero wanted to say something, but the strange man that he lost sight off had appeared at his side as he spoke cutting off his words, "It will not be enough, this is only a temporary measure to at least ease her pain and restore her to a minimal condition before that time comes..."

When Nero heard this, his face sunk; he clenched his fists, knowing that it was true; he only wanted to believe in a fantasy.

After sighing, he tried his best to calm down, his mood still a bit low as he stared at the man at his side and spoke, "Thank you for giving her even a little more time... I truly thank you."

When Nero said this, he even dropped his pride and made a polite bow to the stranger, not even bothering to ask his name, the very fact that he was willing to do this, meant that they must have been close.

The man had a sad look in his eyes when he stared at Hersa, he sighed before waving his hand and speaking, "You can take her to that place, I will fill him in on the details..."

When he spoke, the medics nodded and spoke, "Understood, sir."

Moments after, they pushed Hersa into the back of the medical van and closed it before it drove off along with the congregation of other individuals that rode in the black vans and cars as a form of escort.

Nero didn't move; he merely watched as the van drove off with his mother to unknown quarters, even if she stayed here, he wouldn't know what to do with he wasn't a surgeon.

Another factor was that the strange man would more or likely fill him in on the details, as expected, the man then turned his attention from the leaving vehicles onto the Nero.

By now, his sad look had faded by a bit as a light smile came on his face when he spoke, "I know that you might want to know a lot of things, but there are only a few that I can tell you. Or rather, only that which I am entitled to speak upon..."

Nero remained silent as he calmly paid attention to him, consciously pressing down his sad and hateful feelings.

The man nodded at Nero's manner as he spoke in praise, "As expect of his son, you truly are not like the average man. My name is Grail, but as the child of my past comrades, you can address me as Uncle Grail. As for my other identities, those are things I am not obliged to disclose. There was a time when I, along with your parents had once journeyed to the lands of the World of Promise as a team. However, we had each retired for our separated reasons..."

When Nero heard this, he nodded in silence while listening to him, Grail looked at him and no longer wasted time as he spoke directly, "The reason I am here today is that I came only to secure your mother after she succumbed to that ancient curse. Likely, she won't survive for long even with our treatment, so you should take this time to prepare yourself to more easily shoulder her eventual departure."

Nero took a moment to process this before his eyes coldly shone as he spoke, "Uncle Grail, there are only two things that I'd like to know, the first is the identity of the Alien Race who attacked my parents? And the second is if there's any way to save my mother?"

Grail looked at Nero deeply, feeling the astonishing amount of bloodlust that was hidden at his core, he sighed as he replied, "For your first question, you are not at the level to acquire such information, for now, just focus on increasing your strength. As for the second question, yes, there are ways to save her, but those methods are radically impossible for even myself to achieve, even your father, who ventured to a fabled land had never returned. As such, you will need to make your own choices for the future, whether it is in seeking out that mystical treasure that is fabled to grant any wish or walking a different path, everything is your choice."

As Grail said this, he turned and began to leave as he flipped his thumb, causing a small chip to fly towards Nero's position.

Nero quickly caught the chip, but when he looked back up, he noticed that Grail was no longer around as only his voice sounded in his mind, "Child, for now, you should go home, when you've calmed down your emotions, you'll find your mother at the private hospital listed on that chip, do take care until the next time."

As the voice faded, Nero stared at the chip for a long time, his manner seeming a bit different. He didn't seem as childish as before as he now carried a different kind of atmosphere.

His eyes had a sharp and ruthless look as he tucked away the chip and turned, leaving this area in silence as if dreadful storm destined for the future was in the making.