Back at Nero's location, he glanced at the leaderboard and noticed their score had surged by twenty points.
"Ah… so you baited me to kill four of them," he murmured, a dry smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He wasn't surprised—Khione had outplayed him. He had underestimated the ice-cold tactician, and she had exploited that with precision. A bitter lesson carved into pride.
"Tch… never again," Nero muttered.
He dropped to a seated position and closed his eyes, drawing in a slow, steady breath. His muscles relaxed, and the aura of fire around him faded as he entered a meditative state. For the next few minutes, silence enveloped him. Within, he centered his prana, gathering it from every thread of his body and pulling it toward his core. His breathing synchronized with the subtle rhythm of the world around him. Heat pulsed in his veins like molten steel waiting to be forged.
Then, without warning, flames surged out from his back.
