11:00 AT, Day Nineteen | Castle Resolve / Throne Room

  Nero Diablous, Walker of The Void.

  That is the name that this man holds.

  He wields two long, curved blades that jut out from special armguards. Also, he can use inae, and pretty klacking well from what it seems.

  He stopped Rigar’s warhammer with seemingly no effort, then delivered a critical strike, all without taking a single step.

  I toss what is left of my spear to the ground, it's useless now.

  I draw a knife that I keep on me for various uses. It's nothing special, just a typical cooking knife. But, that's all that I've got.

  I hear a loud noise, it seems that the rest of the Quartet have finished off. Yuin, Ray and one surviving great-level rush to us. Meanwhile, Nero just stands still, seemingly willing to let us come to him. He looks lost, almost as if he is seeing somewhere that is very far away from here.

  Ray runs up and grabs me in a brief hug, “Darling, what's this fella’s deal?”

  “I don't know, but he can use inae, and he is strong. Wouldn't be surprised if he was immense-level outside the arena.” Keeping in mind that the arena is supposed to reduce rough skill to around great-level. But, people that are far stronger (like Rigar, being extreme-level) still have an advantage, mostly in pure experience that cannot be reduced.

  “Woah, so, how do we defeat him? We do have a flag to capture after all.” Ray says, giving me a nice smile, framed by her hair which is blacked by soot in a few places from her fighting.

  “I don't know.” I answer honestly.

  “Well then, I guess we will just have to figure it out as we go then, darling.” Ray’s smile is very nice, it makes me feel like we truly can do anything.

  We stand together and watch Nero for a few moments. He just looks at us, observing us I suppose.

  I expand out my perception field, which uses the Skier’s inae aura to function. I try to push it near Nero, to see if I can learn anything about him. But, his own field of inae stops my expansion in its tracks. It feels rock solid, almost as though his aura is a solid barrier compared to my own.

  It reminds me slightly of Initae’s, only far weaker.

  He seems to notice my attempts and his gaze locks onto me. His black eyes feel like they are boring deep into my very being.

  I feel a sharp attack from his aura, it surrounds me, facing no resistance from my own. It is suffocating, not in a physical sense, but in a mental sense. It's almost like I can no longer sense anything around me except with my normal senses.

  This must be what it feels like to not have inae, it's been so long that I guess I've grown accustomed to always having the extra senses. Now, it feels like a critical part of me is just gone.

  Ray notices my face scrunch up and a worried expression appears on her face. “Ko! Are you okay? What is happening? Everything feels much heavier for some reason all of a sudden.”

  I try to make words come out of my mouth, but my vocal cords refuse to respond. I can feel Nero’s presence brushing up against my mind, trying to break its way inside. Thankfully, it seems that all that training from Initae has made my defenses strong enough that he cannot get past them and take control of me.

  I look at Nero, my gray eyes meeting his black ones.

  We stand still, locked in our staring contest. Ray tries to shake my shoulder, but she cannot budge me. I continually reinforce my mental defenses, putting everything I have into them. Meanwhile, Nero tries to force his way inside, gaining no ground.

  The skier affinity is indeed a weird one. While it is possible to gain control of someone completely, even a little bit of defense can counter it. It only really works on the unconscious or those who are completely unaware of inae.

  Which, given the fact that inae was just revealed to the universe, I doubt there are many that don't have enough resistance to it at this point.

  Naturally, it can be used for other things. Like controlling the formation and manipulating pure inae weaponry. Or it can be used to gain perception of a large area. In this case, it can also be used to freeze out a weaker opponent’s movements, without giving one complete control of the mind.

  After a few minutes of our combat, the pressure suddenly stops and I can move again. I fall to my knees as my perception returns to me and I am freed.

  Nero slowly moves and takes one step in my direction.

  Everyone reacts and raises their weapons, readying themselves. Ray and Emil look at Nero with a cold fury in their eyes. But even they recognize that he is far too strong to take down. Perhaps if we all worked together, we could land a single scratch against him. But, this is not a battle we can win.

  Nero opens his mouth and speaks. His voice is deep and conveys a vast knowledge, “You, what is your name?” he says, pointing the tip of his blade at me, still kneeling on the ground.

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  I slowly stand back up and face Nero. “I am Kovon Ducker. Though, some have taken to referring to me as the foolish hero.”

  Nero lets out a light laugh. “It is an honor to finally meet you, Ascendent of The Transcendent, Kovon Ducker. I have gone by many names over time. But, Recently people have taken to calling me Nero Diablous, Walker of The Void. But, I may be more commonly known as Diablo, Former Archdemon of the Urisaen People.”

  At the name Diablo, Emil and Yuin’s faces go a pale white. Their legs start to shake and they look like they are about to vomit.

  “Wait, how did you know I was an ascendent?” I ask, confused.

  “Ha, why that would be because dear Initae is my mentor. Naturally, I have heard that she took on a new apprentice and named him Ascendent. It's a pleasure to meet you, fellow student of that devil.” Nero says, letting out a bellowing laugh that envelops the entire room.

  The entire room goes silent. Emil and Yuin seemed to have gained back some composure, but they are still obviously terrified of this guy. I wonder why, he doesn't seem particularly evil.

  “What do you mean she is your mentor?”

  “Well, I presume something similar happened to you. One day, she showed up and told me to come on an adventure with her. She laced her promise with words of wonder and happiness, luring me into becoming her apprentice. Then, she subjected me to hell.”

  “Wait, you're the one that she mentioned from six hundred million years ago?”

  “Hmm, I guess it has been around that long. Though, I think it's closer to eight hundred million. Don't know if you've noticed, but Initae isn't the best with time, she can be a few million years off quite frequently. She has the audacity to say that I am the forgetful one.”

  I stare, completely befuddled. Ray next to me also just watches him, her jaw hanging open.

  Thus guy, Nero, is an apprentice of Initae.

  I guess it kinda makes sense, his techniques do feel eerily familiar to Initae’s. Plus, he seems to know a lot about her. Though, I cant verify the bad with time part. This guy has known her for hundreds of millions of years. I've barely known her for one.

  On top of all that, he is saying her name. That confirms that he is who he says he is, after all, she only permits a very scant few to actually know and speak her name, let alone with such a familiar tone.

  I bet she is sitting on some paradise planet watching our interaction, just laughing as we meet for the first time. She is probably dreaming up joint-training exercises in the center of stars for us to partake in.

  “Well then, fellow student. How do you wanna do this? You gonna end us and send us back to our castle?” I ask, my composure slightly regained.

  Nero lets out another billowing laugh, “Ha, I could very well do that if you wish. But if I'm being honest, I didn't come into this area to fight. In the end, I am a man of peace, contrary to how it may appear. I simply wished to meet you, but then Initae had the brilliant idea to pit me against you in a battle of wits. It just so happens that one of these Quartet fellas decided to let me join them, if I could help them with a bit of military strategy. It was a fun time, you and your friend there are brilliant tacticians, perhaps one day you might lead fleets to grand victories.” Nero says.

  So, it seems he merely wanted to meet me. Naturally, Initae suggested we face off in the arena, as military commanders.

  The Quartet’s movements did seem a bit strange, not quite human. But I had figured they got some tutoring from one of their sponsors. In the end, it was actually Nero behind it all.

  I start walking towards Nero, and when I reach him, I grab his proffered hand and shake it.

  “Well then, Nero. Nice to meet you. Perhaps we can share some stories of Initae’s personal brand of hell over some waffles?”

  “That does sound nice. But, when you capture the Quartet’s flag, I will be removed from the Arena unfortunately. So, it will have to wait until a later date.”

  “Hmm, that's unfortunate. But, we aren't exactly in a hurry for the moment. Perhaps you could pass some wisdom down upon us mere children?”

  “That does sound fun. I believe I saw a few barrels of a Potian liquor in the Quartet's cellar. Perhaps we could have a drink and I can tell you a few stories about myself and my people?”

  “I'm always up for drinking!” Ray shouts from behind me.

  Why is it that all ancient beings seem to really love alcohol? First Initae, then Emil, and now Nero. I wonder if The Gamekeeper also enjoys liquor on the regular, they probably do.

  After Ray, Emil and Yuin calm down, we all sit down. Nero managed to retrieve the alcohol and the glasses from the pantry of the castle. Thankfully, it seems that they stored the alcohol in a very safe place and it didn't get damaged during our entry.

  As we drink, Nero tells us many stories.

  Apparently he comes from a species known as the Urisaen. They are fairly humanoid, as evidenced by Nero. But some of them end up with horns. It seems they were very similar to some of the demons that you’d find in human fiction.

  We talk and drink for quite a while. After a while, Ray nuzzles up against my side and quietly listens, exhausted from all the fighting I'd guess. I gently rub circles on her back and she seems very happy. Especially given the fact that we are sitting in the middle of an enemy castle, talking to a strange guy that is apparently my peer in a strange twist of reality.

  Afterwards, Nero says his farewells and we grab the Quartets flag from their flag room. It's quite heavy, so Emil is forced to carry it on his back.

  “Hey Ray, we did it. We defeated the Quartet.” I say to a very sleepy Ray as she holds onto my waist as we drive across the scorched grasslands back to our camp.

  “Mhm, we are the Moonlight Duo after all, we can do anything.”

  “Just so long as we are together, we will overcome anything!”

  “Dont forget about those waffles, I am holding you to that promise, darling.”

  “Sure thing darling. To whatever comes next, waffles will definitely help us. So dear universe, bring it on.”

  End of Chapter 109

  Next: Chapter 110 | Interlude: Diablo

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