Scene: Dimensional Gauntlet
The void prison trembled as the merged devil brothers lunged – a grotesque chimera of horns and screaming faces. Nero flowed through their strikes like smoke, mask still secured.
"NEW TEACHER? LIES!" they roared, reality cracking with each missed blow. "Aryavarta sent no reinforcements!"
Nero's palm met the elder brother's chest. "Primordial Fist."
Space itself shattered. The chimera split apart, bones snapping like dry twigs as Nero's dimensional cage sealed them away. "Shouting techniques doesn't make them hit harder," he mused, turning—
—and froze.
Ayumi stood amidst the crumbling dimension, her blade aimed at his heart. "Take off the mask, Nero Almik."
Scene: Unraveling Truths
Nero's spell to escape flickered – Ayumi's interference warped the incantation. Trapped.
"What happened to you?" Her voice trembled, staring at his left horn. "Why become this... monster?"
Nero levitated above her, bleeding hand already healing. "Monster?" A hollow laugh echoed. "The girl who stabbed her best friend lectures me on monstrosity?"
Ayumi's next attack fizzled against an inch-thick barrier. Desperate, she bit her thumb – "By royal blood, I summon Yugami! BATTLE GOD OF THE EIGHT HAMMERS!"
A towering deity materialized, wreathed in astral fire... then collapsed to its knees, trembling before Nero.
"P-Primordial Sovereign..." Yugami stammered, forehead pressed to void-stone. "This lowly one begs mercy!"
Nero stepped over the prostrate god. "Pathetic efforts, princess. We were never friends."
Scene: The Weight of Pain
As Nero vanished, Ayumi screamed: "WHY SPARE ME?!"
His final words hung like executioner's blades:
"You ask if I feel pain? I was born in slums reeking of rotten dreams. I watched my mother cough blood sewing nobles' robes. I trusted a princess who rammed a dagger through my heart."
"Pain is my oldest friend, Ayumi. You merely taught me its final lesson."
Yugami rose shakily. "That 'monster' could unmake stars with a thought. Yet he stayed his hand... Why?"
Ayumi had no answer – only the ghost of a blue-flamed boy dancing in her memories.