Digitize: Rebirth of the Silver Death God

A chilly wind blew across the evening sky as the dazzling clash between two separate energies was visible across this region of the forestland. Looking towards the area, one would see ripples of power that soon after faded.

Suddenly, one silver-haired youth that held a sinister-looking scythe dashed towards his opponent fiercely. His speed reaching well over 101 km/h as he shuffled across the open fields.

A giant dark armored praying mantis nearing the heights of nine meters stood proudly before the youth, its eyes gleaming in red lights as its entire body was coated with its murderous Magic Power. As it saw the youth's movement, it held its two gigantic crimson blade-like palms in front of its body, both of its edges glistening cold ray as it prepared to launch and counter assault.

"You foolish human, I'll show you our difference in strength, taste my Mantis Bladework!" The Crimson Blade Mantis King shouted with a baleful light in its eyes as it glared at the rapidly approaching Nero.

It didn't even bother to wait anymore as it lowered its stance and dashed towards Nero with a speed that was a few notches above him. Its blade arms glowed with a sharp red aura as they left trailing after images with it brandished them.

With two swooshing sounds, both Nero and the Crimson Blade Mantis King had already arrived within each other's range. Before Nero could even react, the Crimson Blade Mantis King chopped its arms skillfully at blinding speeds, leaving another trail of afterimages behind each swing.

Nero's heart grew cold as he saw this; he knew that it was far more powerful than himself, even its speed was superior to his own, as such, fighting with his usual style wouldn't work out to his benefit.

'Myriad Spector Cut!' Nero said in his mind, invoking the powers of the skill that allowed his body to split into four different ghostly clones that rapidly dodged the onslaught.

With a series of swooshing noises, a series of crimson lights flashed about in the location Nero once stood, giving the illusion of more than a dozen crimson blades chopping at the same time. Each of Nero's ghostly shadows danced about in a flurry as they nimbly, and skillfully avoided each attack by a hair's length.

As each blade moved, a baleful crimson blade beam would fire off in the targeted direction, cutting apart anything it touched into the immediate vicinity.

Lily and Ivy, who watched this battle from the edge of the zone that had blocked their exit, observed with shocking appearances as they didn't even think it was so strong.

Suddenly, one of the stray blade attacks flew towards their direction, causing their faces to turn pale as they hurriedly acted.

"Sister Lily, we can't avoid it in time, so hurry and attack! Poison Lash!" Ivy said as her green shone brightly, she twisted her body and used her entire momentum to make a swinging motion with her right arm. Following this motion, a green whip formed out of nothing as it smacked towards the incoming blade beam.

Lily, a bit dazed by the fight, also came to her senses; she bit her lips and acted, "Right, Piercing Blow!"

Following her words, she held an upraised dagger in one arm that she raised at her ample chest, her blue hair and thief robes rustling due to the winds as her entire body erupted with her blue- colored Magic Power.

In an instant, she dashed from her location, moving at an immense speed as she stabbed her dagger forward, leaving only a trailing line of bright blue lights.

Both girl's attacks had oddly enough, struck against the blade ray at the same time. The resulting collision had created an explosion that had knocked them back for a few meters.

Cough! The two girls coughed up a bit of blood as their backs smashed into the red energy wall that trapped them; they wiped the corners of their lips while glaring at the Crimson Blade Mantis King.

"Darn, he did that on purpose! Sister Ivy, we should help that Silver Boy take him out!" Lily said in anger as she held her dagger firmly, her eyes glaring at the Crimson Blade Mantis King, who oddly enough sent them a mocking glance while fighting against Nero.

Ivy, though angered by the monster, shook her head as she stared in the direction of the chaotic battle and replied, "No, at our current stages, we'll only become more of a burden than help... it's best that we sit this one out..."

Lily clenched her fist and showed a helpless and unwilling look; only now did she understand what everyone else had been trying to tell her since the beginning.

As if Ivy and Lily fell in harmony, they both stared at the battle while thinking with a firm look in their eyes, 'I won't be as weak as this again!'

Unaware of the girls and their peculiar butterfly effect, Nero, who battled against the Crimson Blade Mantis King, was having an exceedingly warm time.

The blades that chopped towards him seemed to grow faster and faster over time, leaving a few minor cuts and bruises across each of the four ghost shadows; though he could alternate between any he wishes, they weren't able to completely avoid the rapid attacks.

Sweat rolled down Nero's forehead as his eyes moved from left to right as each of his ghostly clones twisted and turned. He didn't dare to overuse his Magic Power on his movement skill. He was already wasting a considerable amount on his Myriad Spector Cut.

'Damn, I need a chance, he surely can't keep this up all day!' Nero thought as his eyes frantically followed the blades of the Crimson Blade Mantis King.

Soon, the world around him grew much slower as the two arms of the Crimson Blade Mantis King, which were once a blur, became visible. They moved at a slow rate as they swung their blade-like palms, but right at this moment, they seemed to have jerked as if they had reached a limit.

Nero's eyes lit up as he shouted inwardly, 'Now!'

Suddenly, Nero's four ghostly clones had glowing eyes. They jumped in the air to avoid what seemed like a set of sloppy blade attacks before they revolved and swung their scythes towards each of the Crimson Blade Mantis King's limbs.

The sharp sounds from the scythe's cutting through the wind resounding across the area, as Nero's eyes showed a cruel and bloodthirsty look, ready to sever its limbs. However, as Nero thought that he had found an advantage in this fight, the Crimson Blade Mantis King's eyes flickered with a playful look.

Nero, who had sharp senses, felt that something wasn't right, he was about to pull back his attack, but it was already too late.

"Hmph! Foolish human, suffer death!" Following those words, the Crimson Blade Mantis King smirked as his jerky arms straightened as they flourished their blades at speed more than double.

"Damn! "Nero cursed out loud as he tried to resist, but a blinding series of crimson lights flashed, enveloping Nero's sights as all of his ghostly clones were chopped into bits of pieces.

"Nooo!" Ivy and Lily cried out as they watched from afar, their hearts sunk when they saw Nero being diced to pieces, the scene of the dazzling blade energies crashing across where the four Nero's once stood prominent in their eyes, as everything soon after exploded into bits of rubble.

However, while the scene here seemed no different from one of despair, someone else was having a pretty bad evening.

***

In another location of these wildlands, a familiar-looking Asian youth was seated on top of a tall rock. Around him was a sea of corpses, each of which belonged to Elite Crimson Blade Mantises. A few even had physiques much larger than the standard monsters, capable of filling any who saw them with dread.

Suddenly, this youth frowned as he stared at the distance with an annoyed look as he spoke out loud, "And yet again, I'm lost..."

A cool wind blew across the area as the Ryu sighed at this predicament before turning towards a random direction and leaving, vanishing beyond the sea of trees and grass.