*BOOM!*
Nero's explosive launch sent him crashing into Vincent like a human missile, his metallic fist connecting with the businessman's ribs in a satisfying crunch.
Vincent flew backward, slamming into a tent post hard enough to crack the wood.
"GAH!"
Blood sprayed from Vincent's mouth as he struggled to get back on his feet.
For someone who supposedly had more raw power than Marcus... this guy was getting his ass kicked.
"Marcus said you were stronger than him," Nero said while advancing on the gasping businessman. "But looking at you now? I'm starting to think that big idiot was lying through his teeth."
Vincent wiped blood from his lips, his pristine suit now torn and dirty.
Despite the pain, his cold eyes still burned with calculation.
"Oh, I never claimed to be stronger than Marcus in terms of raw physical power," Vincent said with a twisted smile. "My strength lies elsewhere entirely."
"Yeah? And where's that exactly–"
*WHOOSH!*
A blast of crystalline shards whistled past Nero's head, followed immediately by 6 more figures emerging from different directions like hunting wolves circling their prey.
Six women, all with those telltale heart-shaped pink pupils, moved with predatory coordination that made Nero's blood run cold.
"CAPTURE HIM!" Vincent commanded from his position behind his devoted harem, that calculated smirk returning to his bloodied face. "I want him alive so he can watch what I do to the angel goddess!"
The assault began without warning.
*CRASH!*
Razor-sharp crystals materialized mid-air while invisible distortions bent the space around them, making the projectiles curve in impossible zigzag patterns toward Nero's vital points.
He rolled hard to the left, metallic scales scraping against dirt.
*THUD!*
"Shit!"
Ghostly skeletal hands erupted from the ground where he'd been standing, missing him by inches.
Thin threads of light suddenly connected all six women like a spider's web, and their movements became unnaturally synchronized.
Every step, every breath, every attack perfectly coordinated.
*SLAM!*
His own shadow grabbed his ankles just as the bone-pale woman's skeletal hands materialized around his torso again, this time catching him.
"Got you!"
*CRACK!*
Nero's enhanced leg strength shattered the bone constructs, but the red-haired woman's glowing eyes locked onto his during the brief moment he was trapped.
His vision blurred.
His combat instincts suddenly felt sluggish and confused.
"... What the fuck is this?"
*CRASH!*
The platinum blonde launched another coordinated barrage while the curly-haired beauty warped the air currents, making his attempted dodges lead him straight into the attacks instead of away from them.
Ice shards slammed into his metallic ribs with bone-jarring force.
But Nero wasn't going down without a fight.
*WHOOSH!*
He launched himself forward like a metallic missile, targeting the ice manipulator first–
*Woooommm…*
The shadow woman yanked her ally down just as Nero's metallic fist whistled through the space where her head had been.
"Tch."
His strike missed by mere inches.
Before he could adjust his trajectory, invisible hands grabbed his legs mid-flight.
*WHAM!*
Spatial distortion slammed him into the ground with crushing force, but he rolled immediately to avoid the follow-up ice spears that stabbed into the dirt where his head had been.
The coordination between the six was flawless.
When one was in danger, another immediately provided support.
When he targeted one, the others covered her blind spots.
*CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!*
Multiple attacks hit his metallic scales simultaneously from different angles – ice from above, bone spears from the sides, shadows tripping him up while spatial distortions made his counterattacks miss their marks.
The coordinated timing made it impossible to block everything effectively.
"Come on!" Nero snarled, pivoting to target the mind controller–
*FLASH!*
Those hypnotic pink eyes caught his gaze again, and suddenly he was swinging at empty air while the real attack came from behind.
*SLASH!*
Bone claws raked across his back, leaving significant gouges in his metallic scales but not enough to wound him.
Now, it wouldn't be a problem if it's just one attack, but accumulating damages is a different story.
And each of these women has troublesome abilities that made it even more problematic in his Nero's ass.
Consider this,
Each time he adapted to one woman's pattern, the others compensated.
Each time he built momentum for a decisive strike, their linked coordination disrupted his rhythm.
Dia's life-binding threads weren't just sharing stamina… They were sharing tactical awareness, making the six women fight like a single organism with multiple bodies.
When Frila launched ice crystalline shards from the front, Zara's bone magic attacked from behind while Isabell's spatial distortion made sure his escape routes were blocked.
Carmen's psychological influence made his combat instincts unreliable, while Nell's shadows created constant footing problems.
The threads glowed brighter each time they shared information, creating an almost telepathic battle network.
*CRASH!*
Nero tried to use his rocket-like propulsion to break their formation, launching himself at the thread-weaver in the center…
"Behind you, Dia!"
Carmen's mental warning came simultaneously with Nell's shadow tendrils yanking the blonde woman out of harm's way.
"Damn!"
His explosive charge met empty air while Frila's ice prison began forming around his limbs from multiple directions.
The -25% dexterity penalty from his Metalloid Transformation was finally showing its toll against the coordinated attacks of these bitches.
Sure, he could launch himself in a straight line like a rocket using his enhanced leg strength... but nimble, complex maneuvers against six synchronized enemies?
That was this transformation's greatest weakness.
The added weight and reduced agility made him vulnerable to their web-like tactical coordination.
*CRUNCH!*
Isabell's spatial distortion compressed the air around his right arm while Zara's bone spikes stabbed upward from the ground.
He twisted desperately to avoid the worst of it.
*SLICE!*
The bone magic still caught his shoulder, finally drawing blood through the cracks in his metallic scales.
"YES!" Vincent's voice carried a smirking satisfaction as he watched from a safe distance and commanded his wives. "Toy with him! Make him understand how powerless he truly is!"
The six wives' heart-shaped pupils glowed brighter at their master's approval, their obsessive devotion making their attacks even more vicious.
*WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!*
Coordinated strikes from three different angles sent Nero staggering.
Every time he tried to focus on one opponent, the others exploited the opening.
Every time he tried to create distance, their combined abilities herded him back into the kill zone.
Carmen's mind distorting bullshit made him hesitate at crucial moments.
Nell's shadow manipulations seen constantly disrupted his footing.
Isabell's spatial warping made his strikes miss by inches.
Frila's ice created slippery surfaces, barriers and sharp protrusions.
Zara's bones emerged from unexpected angles, making it a hassle to dodge at critical moments.
And Dia's threads kept them all perfectly synchronized.
*CRASH!*
Another ice barrier formed just as Nero tried to charge through it, the impact jarring his already battered body.
"Had enough yet?" Vincent called out mockingly. "This is what happens when you challenge someone who actually uses strategy instead of just swinging fists around like some common thug."
"..."
Blood seeped through the cracks in Nero's metallic armor as the accumulated damage began taking its toll.
His breathing was becoming labored.
His reactions were slowing.
The fight against the Verdant Tyrant had taken more out of him than a single day of rest could recover, and this prolonged battle against six coordinated opponents was pushing him past his limits.
*WHOOSH!*
He made one last desperate charge toward Vincent himself.
*CRACK!*
Bone spears erupted from the ground in a perfect line, forcing him to veer off course directly into Frila's waiting ice prison.
Cold crystalline walls slammed shut around him from four directions, trapping him in a cage of glimmering crystals.
Carmen's mental influence made his thoughts feel like they were moving through molasses while Nell's shadows crept through the gaps in the ice, wrapping around his limbs like living restraints.
*THUD!*
Nero's metallic form crashed to his knees inside the ice prison, his transformation flickering as his energy reserves ran dangerously low.
"Perfect," Vincent purred, approaching the trapped dragon with obvious satisfaction. "Now you can watch from the front row while I claim what should have been mine from the beginning."
The businessman's cold eyes held promises of unspeakable cruelty.
"Look at you now," Vincent sneered down at his imprisoned opponent. "The angel's precious lord Nero Walker, reduced to nothing more than a caged animal."
The 6 wives maintained their formation around the ice prison, their heart-shaped pupils glowing with shared malicious joy.
They're ready to resume their assault the moment their master gives the command.
"This is what happens when you try to take what belongs to me," Vincent continued, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper. "Aurelia... She's mine by right. Someone like you could never deserve her."
Vincent's cold calculation had proven correct.
Nero was weakened, beaten, and trapped.
Victory was assured.
"You know what I'm going to do next?" Vincent's voice carried sick anticipation as he savored the moment. "I'm going to have you watch while I break that angel's will. I'll make her forget you ever existed."
The ice prison began to constrict slightly, Frila's power responding to her master's emotional state.
"She'll beg for my touch by the time I'm done with her," Vincent whispered, leaning closer to the trapped dragon. "And you'll be alive to see every. Single. Moment."
"..."
Inside the crystalline cage, Nero's body was riddled with accumulated damage, and exhaustion.
All this time, the man remained silent despite him getting one-sided beaten up.
This time, Vincent was sure that the bastard before him had no more trump cards or miracles to pull… at least, not when he's injured like this.
And as if to prove that, a trembling hand reached out and pressed against the ice wall nearest to Vincent.
It made the manipulative guy like him wary, but that soon disappeared seeing that there wasn't any effect or power outburst like he imagined would happen.
All of his observations proved that this is the end.
There's no power-up bullshit or "save-the-protagonist" miracle plot happening here.
"Pathetic," Vincent scoffed, his confidence was now absolute. "Even trapped and beaten, you're still trying to reach your dirty hands towards me?"
"..."
There wasn't any response from Nero, his black hair was covering his expression and only the sound of dripping blood and ragged breaths were the only sound present.
And that look of defeated image of silent acceptance made Vincent smirk in triumph…
Until… Nero sighed,
"Fuck, that was painful."
And then,
*Crunch.*
The faint sound of glass breaking between teeth echoed across the suddenly quiet battlefield.
"!!!"
Vincent's triumphant expression immediately froze as a chill of foreboding raced down his spine.
W-What was that sound?
"Wait..." Vincent's eyes widened as realization hit him like a sledgehammer while looking at a now grinning Nero.
"No… NO!"
*WHOOOOSH!*
Mana erupted from Nero's body like an explosive nova, the surge of power instantly shattering Frila's ice prison into a thousand glittering fragments.
The small glass vial the man kept hidden in his mouth all this time, positioned perfectly for this exact moment… had been cracked by his molars at this exact moment.
Needless to say, the contents is the Greater Mana Potion itself.
Vincent stumbled backward in terror and rage, realizing he had been played.
But mostly it was terror, as he felt a primal aura radiate at the supposedly defeated Nero.
The weak, beaten prisoner was gone.
In his place stood something far more dangerous being: a predator who'd been patiently waiting for the perfect moment to spring his trap.
"Surprise, you manipulative piece of shit."
Nero's voice carried an eat-shitting grin as the potions's power flooded his system like liquid lightning.
The temporary stat boosts hit him like a thunderbolt, instantly restoring his energy and making his previous power level look like a joke.
And what's worse?
*Woooommm!*
All his previous injuries and accumulated damages healed at speed visible to the naked eye.
His regeneration is not at a level where it could regenerate chopped off limbs, but it's definitely enough to heal major stab wounds and lacerations on his body.
It was downright insane.
It's a privilege for a guy who has a 120% VIT increase, while also burning at least 20% of his mana to focus on body regeneration.
In a matter of seconds, Nero was already done regenerating all of the damage that was done to him…
And yes, that includes the injuries that he got from his previous battles.
Vincent immediately tried to create a distance and escape.
Hint word: tried.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Like a voice that came from hell, metallic claws suddenly clamped around Vincent's arm like a vice grip.
"After all that talk, and all the shit you spouted…" Nero's reptilian eyes dilated as his grin widened into something truly terrifying. "Don't tell me you're just gonna scurry away behind your women?"
*CRACK!*
"AGHHHHHHH!!!!"
The ear-chilling sound of Vincent's arm bone having snapped, resounded.
***
Like what you see? Add it to your library, and Power Stone it if you want to support the novel! It helps!
Feel free to also comment, rate, or review your thoughts of the chapter/novel!