Chapter 15: Stupid, Greedy Mortals

"Wait… hey... Wait! What's with you?" Emilia shouted into a dark chamber.

She was following Nero, who was walking in front of her.

"Nero! Slow a down a little."

CREAK!

Another door opened, and Nero and Emilia walked in. As soon as they reached the center, demons spawned and turned into crystals the moment Nero snapped.

Nero was clearing every chamber in seconds.

Another door opened, and they walked in.

'What's wrong with him? He suddenly got angry' Emilia questioned herself.

She then recalled what he said earlier.

'Why is she here? What did he mean by that?' Emilia wondered.

'Could it be that someone he knows is also sealed here? Or…' her eyes widened. 'Someone who sealed him?'

Nero was walking fast, but Emilia was practically running to catch up to Nero.

'Why would he get angry unless it's someone who hurt him in the past?' Emilia jumped to a conclusion.

SNAP~

Emilia came back to her senses and ran faster.

"Why… why… why is she here?" Nero muttered again.

'He is saying it again. He looks scary… more scary than…' Emilia hugged herself as Darius, and Brax's face flashed before her eyes.

Suddenly, Nero stopped, and so did Emilia.

'What is this feeling? My body is trembling,' Emilia gulped down and glanced at Nero.

Nero raised his hand and moved his fingers in an unusual way. Emilia carefully looked at his hand.

He formed a fist then raised his index finger, and a giant magic circle appeared before his finger. He slowly moved his hand and pointed his finger at the door as he walked it. After walking to the center of the chamber, he snapped, and as soon as the next door creak opened, Nero flicked his finger, and the door was destroyed.

He repeated his action for 33 chambers.

'Her presence just keeps getting stronger and stronger,' Nero clenched his fist.

After clearing four more chambers, Nero's breathing was getting louder and louder.

'Is he tired?' Emilia wondered.

He wasn't tired; he was just trying to calm down and hold his anger.

BOOM! BAANG!

He shattered another door, but the chamber was quite different.

Usually, the demons would spawn when they reached the center, but this chamber already had demons.

Without wasting much time, Nero snapped, and all the demons were annihilated.

Nero walked further in and saw the angel lying to the ground and a man holding an ax beside her.

To Nero, it looked like that man was trying to decapitate the angel's head, and it was true.

Emilia walked in as she panted and said, "Finally, I caught up to—"

She stopped when she saw the two men, and her face went pale.

Emilia was behind Nero, so the two men didn't see her, but Emilia could see them clearly from the side.

"Darius… Brax…"

Nero walked further, and his face showed pure rage.

"Another demon?" Darius muttered.

Even though there was no obvious sign of Nero looking like a demon, Darius called Nero a demon.

"Let me take care of him!" Brax dashed at Nero with his ax and grabbed the bottle on his way.

Brax jumped and aimed his ax at Nero's neck.

Nero paid no attention to Brax, and his eyes were fixated on the angel. Brax swung his ax, but before it could even touch Nero, Nero swung his hand, and Brax was sent flying to the ceiling— then fell to the ground beside Darius.

Emilia was still standing at the door with a pale face. Her memories started haunting her again.

'If you just let that scene haunt you forever, then it would be no different than dying.' Emilia remembered what Nero had told her.

She gulped down and slowly walked in. While Nero walked to the angel and sat on his knees.

He moved his hand to her face and looked at her. His face showed no rage or anger. He smiled gently and rubbed his thumb on the angel's cheek.

"Hey…"

Nero inspected the angel's body with his eyes and muttered, "Sophia… can you hear me?"

His smile and gaze looked so pure and innocent, just like how a mother would look at her child. He then took a deep breath and looked at Darius and Brax.

Nero stood up, and his gaze turned into a glare as his face frowned.

"You mortals never learn when you should stop, do you?"

'What's wrong? I can't move my body.' Darius panicked. 'I am scared? Me? An S-rank adventurer is scared?'

"Stay away, you monster!" Darius yelled as he grabbed the bottle from Brax and spritzed it on Nero— much to his surprise, nothing happened to Nero.

"That's absurd! There is no way—!" Nero pinned Darius down by placing his leg on Darius' chest. "Now then, what does the mortal want?"

"Let me go…" Darius stopped when finally noticed Emilia. "Impossible. Why is she still alive?!"

Nero looked back and saw Emilia walking into the chamber.

"Do you know them… or are they the one who…" Nero tried to ask Emilia, but he knew the answer as soon as he saw Emilia's face.

"Oo~" Nero smirked then looked at Darius and Brax, "So these are the two rats. Nice, very nice."

Nero picked up Brax and crushed his hands so hard that Brax's hands started bleeding, and his skin, including muscles were torn apart.

"Aaaa!" Brax screamed in pain.

"Oo~? Does that hurt?" Nero ripped Brax's one hand.

"Does that hurt? How do you think it must have felt to Emilia, huh?" Nero ripped Brax's other hand.

"Stop!" Brax yelled.

"Stop, you say? Alright, I will stop." Nero threw Brax on the ground as he grunted in pain.

Brax started crawling to the exit, but Nero grabbed Brax's leg and said with a wide smirk on his face, "I forgot to ask one thing."

"Let me go! Please, I… I didn't want to do it. Darius! He forced me to do it. He said if I don't do that, he will kill me. I had no other choice. Please let me go!" Brax begged for mercy.

"No, no," Nero shook his head. "That's not what I am talking about."

Nero grabbed Brax by his collar and raised him, "What were you going to do with Sophia when I entered the room?"

"..." Brax gulped down.

'"Hmm? What were you going to do with her?"

"I…"

"Yeah?" Nero nodded.

"I was…"

"You were…?"

"I was just trying to get some more angel's blood."

"And? How exactly?"

"I was trying to cut her—" Before Brax could finish his sentence, Nero crushed Brax's neck so hard that his head fell off his body.

"Stupid, greedy mortals."

Nero threw Brax's body, and it slammed into the wall.

"Now then," Nero cracked his fist and looked at Darius, "How shall I deal with you?"