The air shuddered as Nero raised his hand.

    A pulse of dark energy erupted from his body, sending a shockwave rippling across the battlefield.

    Every guard within a twenty-meter radius was blasted backward, their armor shattering under the sheer force.

    Apollo''s eyes narrowed. Something was definitely off.

    Nero smirked. "Now then, shall we begin?"

    And with that, he vanished.

    Apollo pretended to have barely had time to react, feigning ignorance of Nero''s path, then just like what he calculated, Nero reappeared behind him.

    His fist already moving.

    Apollo reacted fast, but to his surprise, Athena was able to perceive the attack. A buffing spell circulates around his body, causing the mass of electricity to surge up. At that moment, he felt energized. He spun, barely dodging as Nero''s punch grazed his cheek.

    Apollo was satisfied at how he reacted but didn''t let his guard down, he braced himself as the consequences of Nero''s punch came to him immediately.

    BOOM!@@@@

    The impact alone split the ground where Apollo had been standing.

    Eros and Athena moved to intercept.

    But Nero flicked his fingers, sending a shockwave hurling them backward. The guards wanted to come to their rescue, but the magical beast didn''t give them such luxury.

    Apollo exhaled his golden aura flaring. Despite his higher level than most of the guards, he was a little unsure if his human form could handle Nero. Even his demonic form had a hard time-fighting Nero; now, without it, he still needs to be cautious even when his enemy doesn''t have its greatest weapon, Excalibur.

    "I really need to take this fight seriously," he admitted. He shouldn''t let his arrogance get the better of him, and not because he has defeated Nero once means he will always win whenever they win.

    Nero''s smirk widened. "Tell me is your name truly Apollo?"

    That made the boy confused not knowing what his enemy meant by asking his name. So, to answer his question, he just nodded his head. As soon as he did so, Nero''s gaze went crazy, or more to say, he looked happy, happily crazy, to the point his pupils dilated.

    Then their gazes locked—

    And then—

    They clashed.

    As their attacks intercept Eros and Athena both move to assist their brother.

    A dark contaminating energy burst along with the power of lightning.

    [Notification Alert!

    The matter surrounding Nero is identified to be similar to the miasma produced by corruption.

    Warning!

    Prolonged contact can cause abnormalities in the body, it could even cause the people in contact to turn into a devil.

    "Cover us!"

    Athena telepathically said, and immediately, the guards changed their formation, giving more room for them to adjust and react to any attacks.

    Athena began casting her spell, Apollo by her side. Meanwhile, Eros tried to hold up Nero, but he just didn''t have enough power to push him back.

    [Creator he is coming!]

    "Okay"

    He said that but Athena''s spell wasn''t done yet; it won''t be good to be interrupted. So to save himself some time to corner Nero, Apollo simply uses one of his powers.

    "Gravity a hundred times"

    A sudden increase of gravity made Nero''s advance fail. Giving Nero no opportunity to attack.

    "Jeremiah make sure to assist my brother with authorities"

    [Affirmative Creator]

    Then Apollo uses another authority to accelerate the speed of Athena''s casting.

    "Hmmm?"

    For a moment, Athena was confused since she knew her own capacity, yet somehow, she was casting faster than before.

    "Is it due to adrenaline?" She thought, but her thoughts were soon attracted by the sudden pulse of heat.

    "!?"

    She was shocked as she saw the effects of Apollo''s spell.

    "This is!"

    All the guards were brimming with the power of lightning, and soon, a rain of lights washed through the academy. The heat increased, and the ground was further burned to the extent of creating a molted crater.

    However, as soon as the mayhem ended, Apollo saw that Nero covered all his comrades with the same black matter.

    [Creator they are very weak now, I suggest you get serious before your enemy uses something to turn the tides on their side]

    "Don''t worry Jeremiah, after all, who says I wasn''t serious"

    Then he lightly taps the ground, and to everyone''s surprise, a large-scale magic circle activated.

    [Creator this is!]

    "Yup, the entire time, I was drawing that magic circle on the ground. I want to defeat Nero but at the same time I don''t want to reveal my entire power"

    Soon the light from the magic circle envelopes the entire academy. As its powers devoured everything, Apollo''s gaze remained on Nero.

    Yet again, the two were only looking at each other despite the chaos around them. From that tension, Nero slowly smiled, one that seemed familiar to Apollo, something that made him confused.

    "It is nice to see you again... teacher," he said until his entire body was swallowed, leaving Apollo confused at his words.