Chapter 102: Timeless Purgatory


    Deroc eyes widened as Nero was encased in a ck, purple, and blue aura. As he was blown away by the force of the flowing energy, he retrieved his sword, reverting back to his original form.


    "What is this?" Deroc asked before the energy around Nero stopped and condensed into a pitch-ck aura outlined in purple and blue.


    Nero''s figure was visible in the center of the aura but something was oddly different about him. There was a humanoid figure covered in ck skin and scales, almost bare. His arms and his legs were reptilian-like, almost draconic, as they had ws and spiky protrusions. His body was sttered in glowing cracks; His arms and his legs and therge crack in his chest glowed an incandescent indigo color, representing the overflowing energy signal emitting from Nero.


    But the most prominent feature was the head. It wasn''t the head of a human or a creature, but a wicked skull with jagged, spiky edges and two long, slim, and jagged horns that were bent back, sticking out from each side of his forehead.


    As Nero raised his head towards Deroc, he was covered in ck, slim, and light-weighted armor which had glowing patterns. A mask would also appear on Nero''s head, which had three eye slits on each side of the visor, granting view and covering the entirety of his head except where the noticeably jagged-shaped jaw was located.


    When the aura around him had been absorbed into the glowing crack in his chest, the helmet eyeholes emitting a bright blue glow.


    Nero cackled as he gradually pulled out the Altima sword still stuck in his chest. The Altima sword was also different in appearance. It was now a long, slim broadsword with a double-edged de which texture represented that of obsidian. It glowed in the middle, and the guard and handle were spikier and edgier.


    "What do you think?" Nero spoke in a heavily distorted voice. "Doesn''t this power and form of mine suit me?"


    Deroc opened his mouth to speak but he was too stunned for words.


    ''How how is someone with dark energy able to obtain the Altima? This can''t be true I thought-''


    Deroc gritted his teeth before swinging his sword.


    "Don''t think you''ve won!!" Deroc shouted as a piercing shockwave wasunched from his sword. However, as it approached Nero, he simply swiped his arm, deflecting the shockwave away which carved into the bleachers. Luckily, no one was caught in the attack.


    Nero stared at his arm and clenched it a few times before focusing his attention on Deroc.


    "Apologies, I didn''t mean to deflect your attack, my body just moved on its own."


    He then pointed the tip of his sword at Deroc.


    "Now then, let''s duel shall we?" Nero spoke in an attempt to provoke Deroc.


    "D-don''t fuck with me!" Deroc shouted, dashing and swinging his sword which was aimed towards Nero''s neck.


    Nero quickly bent backward before performing a backflipping kick, striking Deroc''s chin. He then snatched onto his leg and mmed him to the ground. Deroc braced the impact before he barely managed to block an iing strike from Nero, sending him flying towards a wall.


    ''He''s stronger and faster!'' Deroc thought, analyzing Nero''s newfound strength.


    Vwoomp!


    Suddenly, Nero appeared in front of Deroc, grabbing onto his face.


    "What are you cking off for? We''re fighting here." He said as he mmed him into the ground before dragging him along the side of the walls.


    Nero then tossed him into the sky and as he reached the top, Deroc caught himself with his wings. He then looked down at Nero, gripping onto his sword tightly.


    "Y-you can''t get me up here!" Deroc dered arrogantly, not remembering that Nero was able to fly minutes ago.


    Nero only shook his head before nodding. That''s when ck energy formed around his back before they morphed into a set of ck bat wings with root-like patterns glowing both blue and purple.


    With one p of his wings, he appeared in front of Deroc and struck him down with his sword, sending him plummeting towards the ground.


    Deroc crashed and was forced out of his Altima. As he rose from the ground, he began to regain some energy.


    "Huh?"


    "Now, now, don''t die on me so quickly," Nero said, descending from the ground. As hended, his wings folded down into the manner of a coat.


    "Come on and try already, you haven''t even put a scratch on me yet and I''ve still yet to embarrass you."


    Hearing that, Deroc felt his anger building up and screamed, morphed into his Altima, and lunged towards Nero.


    Nero waited till the sword was near him, then he flicked it, swept Deroc off his feet, and allowed him tond on his side before heavily kicking him in the stomach, sending him crashing towards the wall.


    Fixing hisposure, feathers began shooting out from his armor and towards Nero. As Nero walked towards Deroc, he weaved and evaded every one of his attacks effortlessly.


    It wasn''t until Deroc ran out of feathers to shoot that Nero appeared in front of him in a sh, then striking him directly in the chin with a sharp kick.


    "Ack!"


    Nero stepped back and watched as Deroc held onto his chin.


    ''M-my chin it hurts'' He thought before receiving a heavy kick in the side of his abdomen.


    As he rolled across the ground, Nero appeared and stopped him before cing his foot on his back, pinning him down on the ground.


    The first action Nero did was grab Deroc''s wings and tear them off. Deroc yelled in pain but he was interrupted as Nero stomped his head to the ground. Then he stabbed Deroc''s arms but didn''t cut them off. After that, he shed his nape before kicking him away.


    Deroc attempted to regain hisposure but after receiving a heavy blow in the chest with a force that prated his lungs, he was forced out of his Altima andid on the ground lifelessly as he struggled to even breathe.


    Nero appeared in front of him and snatched his hair before lifting his face to his face. Nero''s mask then dispersed, and Deroc was staring into eyes darker than the abyss.


    "Is this all the ''Master Swordsman'' has to offer? I''m disappointed"


    "Tch why don''t you just kill me now?" Deroc asked.


    Nero gazed at the furious look in Deroc''s eyes before he chuckled and brought him on his feet.


    "I have yet to test my new skills on you."


    Nero pushed Deroc away and tossed him his sword. As Deroc caught his de, Nero dashed towards him and shed at Deroc multiple times. Deroc managed to block Nero''s strikes, but he was unable to fight back due to how fast Nero was swinging. He was also unable to negate the shockwaves emitting from Nero''s sword as they phased through his de, bluntly striking his torso.


    After watching Nero''s movements, Deroc intercepted and went straight for Nero''s heart, the same ce where he had stabbed him. However, as soon as Deroc''s sword was about to pierce Nero, he simply just vanished.


    That''s when he appeared behind Deroc who quickly spun around, only to receive a barrage of Distorted Fists at once, the shockwaves not only hitting his face but his entire body as well. Instantly, after the first wave, a second wave was fired from Nero''s hand. This time, they struck every Deroc''s every pressure point. The force of these many Distorted Fists was so powerful, they managed to pierce and shatter Deroc''s Altima armor. As an aftereffect, they can twist and dig into the spots they have struck. This attack sent him flying.


    "How was that?" Nero called out. "Normally I can''t fire more than one Distorted Fist from one hand but now that I have Altima, I canunch more of them at the same time. However, I can only do this when I''m in my Altima form. I call it Twisted Chaos Dance."


    Nero then appeared behind Deroc, kicking him directly in the spine before teleporting in front of him and sting him with a high-speedbination of punches and kicks, battering him from all sides before kicking him into the air.


    As Deroc flew in the air, Nero stabbed his sword to the ground before his Altima armor shed. Nero was now bare. This method of shedding his armor allowed for a greater speed boost in exchange for a sacrifice of strength. Though it is safe to say that he was already fast, to begin with, this only makes him more of a breakneck predator.


    Deroc caught himself before staring at Nero who then appeared in front of him.


    "J-just kill me already," Deroc said in a tone that sounded like he wanted to give up.


    Nero looked at the noticeably beaten Deroc. Though he was already damaged severely, Nero shook his head before holding Deroc''s face in his hands. He then pulled him closer until the only thing Deroc could see was his pitch-ck eyes.


    "There are fates worse than death."


    Suddenly, the pitch-ck eyes Deroc stared at began to glow. Then-


    He was in the middle of a ck sea


    Deroc looked around before he felt something tap his shoulder. As he turned around, he was met with arge, skeletal, beast-like figure with multiple appendages representing sickles, draped in ck tattered rags which moved ominously, a facepletely inhumane with 2 slit eyes, jaw containing multiple sets of razor-sharp teeth, and a long tongue that was shaped like a centipede.


    "Wha-?" Deroc began but was abruptly interrupted when one of the sickles decapitated him, his head dropping to the ground.


    Deroc blinked and suddenly, he was standing up again, his head still connected. Deroc gulped as he held his throat. The feeling of it being sliced off was still there.


    "What? Wha- what the hell?" Deroc stuttered as he attempted to figure out what was going on until sickles emerged from the front of his torso. That''s when blood spat out from his mouth.


    "Ghluh!"


    Deroc limped but was held up by the sickles. The sickles began to raise Deroc into the air before he was split into multiple pieces.


    But Deroc was alive again, standing in the ck, endless sea.


    "What is going on...?" Deroc muttered as he couldn''t move. His body still stunned by the pain that had urred even though the wounds were nowhere to be seen.


    "I... I swore I died... two times already..." Deroc said before he felt an intoxicating, sinister presence.


    "I dragged you into my soul. In here, I can kill you and revive you as many times as I wish. In this ability of mine, time is put to a halt so by the time you return to your body, you''ll immediately go insane and all the pain you''ve endured will instantly be shouldered onto your real body. So then, let''s see how many times you can die before going delirious. This is Timeless Purgatory."


    Deroc looked over his shoulder and met with the sinister eyes of Nero''s Primal form before his head waspletely swatted off from his body.


    ...


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    Deroc''s 12th death: Hacked into two from the waist up...


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    Deroc''s 41st death: Butchered into multiple pieces...


    ...


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    Deroc''s 86th death: Impaled countless times before being left to rot...


    ...


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    Deroc''s 101st death: Eaten and dissected alive...


    ...


    ...


    By the 194th death, which was when Deroc was smashed into bits, the light in Deroc''s eyes was gone and all he could do was stare into the nk sky.


    "194 deaths? I must say I''m a bit impressed you''ve endured that much." Nero said, before grabbing Deroc by his neck.


    "You will be the first victim that has experienced Timeless Purgatory. Now then, let''s return you to your body."


    Deroc was eventually wrapped in ck energy that emerged from the ground and his vision waspletely dyed ck.


    Then, as Deroc''s consciousness was returned to his body, the pain from 194 deaths was all sttered across Deroc''s body and he yelled in pain.


    Nero watched as his body fell to the ground before exiting his Altima form. He then picked Deroc up and appeared in front of his grandfather.


    "Your grandson... I''d say it would take him a few months to recover. So, if you don''t want to end up like him... well, I think you know what I mean."


    Deroc''s grandfather nodded as he ced his shaky hands over his grandson.


    "I-it hurts... it hurts so much... ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts-" Deroc continued to mutter as his eyes became bloodshot.


    Deroc''s grandfather looked up at Nero and stared into his eyes which overflowed with sinister intent. The sadistic smile across his face was enough to overflow Deroc''s grandfather''s spine with chills.


    Nero eventually turned around andnded next to his sword, picking it up and ced it onto his back, a force holding it in ce which acts as a sheath.


    Nero turned to direct his attention to Celestia, but he was quickly tackled to the ground by Kiyomi and Ravyn.


    "Nero!!" They all shouted as they hugged him tightly.


    "You idiot, why did you leave?" Kiyomi asked.


    "We were so worried about you," Ravyn added.


    Kiyomi and Ravyn looked at Nero but then they noticed he was knocked out.


    "Nero?" Kiyomi shook Nero who''s eyes flickered.


    "I''m... tired..." He said weakly before passing out again.


    "Due to awakening Altima for the first time, it has consumed all of his stamina, and not only that, but he was also extremely weak. His body temperature also began to heat up. Looks like he''s going to need some rest." Celestia said, appearing next to the girls and cing her hand on Nero''s forehead before stroking it.


    "You did well... Nero."


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