Scene: The Bone Market
The auction hall reeked of despair and cheap perfume. Nero watched as an Oni boy (16) strained against cursed shackles, his sister trembling beside him. A spectral girl flickered in a soul-cage nearby – her very existence siphoned for noble amusement.
"SOLD! To the shadowed gentleman!"
Nero rose, coinless but radiating menace. "Payment? I offer... penalty."
The slaver laughed – until Nero's fingers closed around his throat. "Death penalty."
Screams echoed as Nero's shadow unwove the curse binding the slaves. The spectral girl solidified, her form coalescing into a young woman with eyes like shattered ice. "Why?"
"Primordial blood owes no one chains," Nero declared.
Scene: Embers of Rebellion
The Oni boy – Kaito – ignited blue flames in his palm. "They slaughtered our clan for these. Teach us to burn the butchers."
Nero froze. "Your mother?"
"Suna of the Blue Embers," Kaito's sister Hana whispered.
Lightning-strike revelation:
Nero's mother's journal – "Suna, last of the Azure Oni, fled with twins..."
Darky's Entrance (Comic Relief):
The shadow-twin materialized, leering at the spectral girl (Lyssa). "Milady! Might I –"
"I'm dead," Lyssa deadpanned.
"NYAAAAH! GHOST!" Darky transformed into a panicked void-cat, clinging to Nero's face.
Scene: Dungeon of Lies
Next day, Eri entered the "training dungeon" – a trap lined with Arata's surveillance runes. Monsters surged, their ranks suspiciously escalating to S-Class.
"Hold back," Eri gritted her teeth, deflecting a tentacle with calculated weakness.
Too late. A corrupted behemoth impaled Shinji – Nero's old friend – its claws shredding his abdomen. "Nero...?" Shinji gasped through blood. "Sorry I... never visited your grave..."
Nero's Revelation:
A fist wrapped in hellfire evaporated the beast. Shinji's eyes widened as healing warmth flooded his veins – and met cosmic-blue irises beneath a hood.
"Rest, fool," Nero murmured, voice distorted by magic. "Backup's here."
Scene: The Devil's Gambit
Arata's gaze pinned the dungeon entrance like a hawk – until a "soldier" stumbled in, bleeding illusionary gore: "Nobles attacked! Financial collapse imminent!"
The general vanished in a lightning streak.
Nero slipped through, slaughtering monsters with brutal efficiency until a vortex swallowed him whole. He stood in a void – facing two horned figures wielding fractured reality.
"Primordial meddler," the elder sneered. "This pocket dimension is your tomb."