Chapter 490: Clash 2

Nero continued slaughtering powerful monsters one after another.

His score had already climbed close to 1000 points.

960 points, to be exact.

The sun hung high above the pocket world, bathing the endless wilderness in intense heat.

Nero sat atop a massive tree branch, recovering his stamina and prana while keeping his senses fully expanded.

His perception covered a radius of 500 meters around him.

Nothing could escape his awareness within that range.

Then...

He felt it.

A hostile presence had entered his detection range.

A disgusting, corrupted darkness.

Nero’s ominous red eyes narrowed slightly.

Without realizing it, his expression became even colder.

The presence was filled with hatred.

Madness.

And something far more unpleasant.

At the same time Nero sensed the other party...

The other party sensed him as well.

Immediately, that presence shot toward him.

Nero calmly opened his eyes.

His body moved.

In a single motion, he somersaulted backward and landed on the branch of a tall, ancient tree.

He sat there silently, waiting.

Moments later...

The owner of that disgusting aura finally appeared.

Messy black hair.

Originally golden eyes that had now transformed into a dark crimson hue.

An ominous and dangerous atmosphere surrounded him.

There was no doubt.

The person before him was none other than—

Barak Raizen.

His half-brother.

The moment Barak laid eyes on Nero...

His expression twisted.

Madness.

Hatred.

Resentment.

All of it erupted at once.

"NEROOOOOOOOO!"

The roar shook the surrounding forest.

Nero jumped down from the tree and landed several meters away.

The two brothers faced each other.

Their eyes locked.

Nero’s gaze remained calm.

Because he could see something others couldn’t.

Beyond the physical body.

Beyond the flesh.

He saw the twisted shadow wrapped around Barak.

A dark thread extended from that shadow.

Leading toward the void.

And beyond the void...

There was an existence sitting upon a throne.

Watching.

Waiting.

Their eyes met.

For a brief moment, both sides understood.

Both sides had their own thoughts.

"Oho..."

The existence on the throne seemed amused.

"Will you look at this? I see."

Nero’s expression remained unchanged.

But his eyes became colder.

"Disgusting."

The word escaped his mouth.

His eyes were filled with genuine disgust.

Something about that existence instinctively made him reject it.

Their confrontation was brief.

A mere glimpse.

A prelude to the inevitable clash that would follow.

Nero’s vision returned to normal.

Everything had happened in an instant.

However...

Barak interpreted Nero’s silence differently.

To him...

It was arrogance.

Looking down on him.

His eyes burned with rage.

Then—

Dark lightning covered his entire body.

Boom!

He vanished.

His speed was so fast it resembled teleportation.

He was already before Nero.

His fist was about to descend.

But Nero moved first.

As if he had already seen everything.

His left leg shot upward.

Then—

Boom!

It slammed directly into Barak’s head.

The impact forced his body downward.

The ground exploded.

BAM!

Barak’s body was buried into the earth.

Cracks spread outward from the impact point.

Nero looked down at him with indifference.

"You are too noisy, fool."

His tone carried nothing but disdain.

Although shocked by Nero’s reaction speed, Barak still managed to react through instinct.

Boom!

Tchii!

Tchii!

Lightning erupted around his body.

The ground shattered as he flipped backward, forcing distance between them.

The two siblings stared at each other.

Blood flowed from Barak’s nose.

He casually grabbed his crooked nose and pushed it back into place.

The injury healed almost instantly.

"Eh..."

A mocking smile appeared on his face.

"Not bad for a cursed child."

Nero didn’t react.

"Loser’s lines."

Those words struck deeper than any attack.

Barak’s expression immediately twisted.

The calm facade disappeared.

His hatred boiled over.

"I should have killed you."

His voice became colder.

"You deserve to die, just like that worthless mother of yours."

"The woman my pathetic father fancied. She thought she was special."

A cruel smile appeared.

"But heavens have eyes."

"She died exactly like the worthless woman she was."

The surroundings became silent.

Nero’s expression didn’t change.

Not even slightly.

He simply stared at Barak.

But inside...

A decision had already been made.

This person...

Had to die.

Absolutely.

Seeing Nero show no reaction to his words only made Barak more furious.

His inferiority complex.

His resentment.

His hatred.

Everything mixed together.

His face became distorted.

Just as he was about to continue...

Nero interrupted.

"You talk too much."

His voice was calm.

"You want to kill me, don’t you?"

Barak froze.

"It’s why you accepted the offer from that disgusting existence."

For a moment...

Barak’s expression completely froze.

A chill ran down his spine.

How?

How did Nero know?

His greatest secret.

The pact.

The power he gained.

The price he paid.

Did that existence betray him?

No.

Impossible.

He immediately rejected that thought.

Then...

The only answer was obvious.

Nero had figured it out himself.

That realization made his blood boil.

Even now...

Even after everything...

Nero was still ahead.

That couldn’t happen.

Everything he lost...

Everything he sacrificed...

It had to be worth something.

Nero had to die.

"Yes."

Barak’s smile became twisted.

"I want to kill you."

"To achieve that, I made a pact with that person and gained the strength necessary to surpass my limits."

"Although I haven’t reached the Purple Rank yet..."

Dark lightning crackled around his body.

"I can fight against someone at that level."

His eyes burned.

"Taking care of you, someone who only recently entered the Purple Rank, won’t be a problem."

Nero simply looked at him.

Then...

"Do your best."

A pause.

"Entertain me enough before dying."

A simple sentence.

A provocation.

And it worked.

Barak’s expression became furious.

BOOM!

The ground beneath him exploded.

He vanished.

The distance between them disappeared instantly.

Their fists collided.

BANG!

The shockwave spread through the forest.

Neither used their Law.

Neither used their abilities.

Only their bodies.

Physical strength.

Speed.

Combat instincts.

A preliminary test.

Another exchange.

BANG!

Their fists collided again.

Then their legs.

BOOM!

The surrounding trees were destroyed by the aftermath.

Barak’s dark lightning clashed against Nero’s overwhelming physical strength.

The two brothers moved like flashes across the battlefield.

Every strike carried enough force to break stone.

Every movement was precise.

Neither gave the other an advantage.

For the first time...

Barak felt it.

The terrifying gap between them.

Even after gaining power from that existence...

Even after abandoning everything...

Nero was still standing before him.

Calm.

Unmoved.

As if everything Barak had done meant nothing.

And that only fueled his hatred further. He had to kill this person, he had to do it, he would crush him, absolutely will.