Chapter 8

Morning came and with it came a strange change, Ryōshi was a sobbing mess on the floor, the rest of his men were either dead or passed out from the pain that Nero had put them through the night before.

The slaves were terror stricken, they had watched a grown and hardened warrior who was not afraid to jump into gunfire cry and beg for mercy from something as simple as a snap of a finger.

Akira especially, his head shook in denial and fear as he had watched all this unfold, he tightly held the gun Nero had given to them and on multiple occasions tried to shoot, but the trigger didn't budge. It was as if the gun had a mind of it's own and would never shoot its master.

He was right in a sense, the guns were designed with a feature that would cause the nanites to react when pointed at Nero.This was a failsafe in case the slaves tried to turn on him.

Looking around, Nero's gaze swept over everyone present. Most of them shrunk back in fear trying to not stand out as much as possible.

"I apologize for the display, but in order to ensure that your aggressors suffered it had to be done." Nero spoke in a monotone voice.

His usually easygoing energy wasn't present, only his squinted eyes and chilly aura revealed just how livid he might be. He was usually silent or had am ever-present smirk on his face that made people feel easier around him,but right now his face was blank and his red eyes held no hint of emotion.

"Now then, since I am setting an example it's only right I also punish those who held thoughts of betraying me." Nero spoke as he started walking towards Akira.

Everyone else parted and made way for him.

"I- I assure you lord Ryu I would never do such a thing. I-I would never betray you." Akira assured with a forced smile.

"Yeah, you're right, I'll snuff out that rebellious spirit before it infects the people around you." Nero said coldly not even bothering to entertain the man.

"STOP!! You won't kill Akira, he stayed and lead us while you ran and left us behind! Don't you have any shame, coming here after using us as bait?" One woman spoke, she pointed her rifle at Nero ready to shoot should he take another step.

"Hahahaha! You'll die with him then." Nero spoke calmly as be kept walking towards the duo.

The woman clicked her tongue and tried pulling the trigger, much to her dismay she realized that it wouldn't even move. Her orange eyes gleamed in anger as a sudden pressure assaulted her. Her name was Ayaka and as one of Akira's lieutenant and follower, she defended the slimy man. They had been in contact and built sort of a bond during the trip from Amegakure to Sora.

Seeing that Nero wasn't going to stop, the woman ran ahead and tried to attack, using the gun as a club. She gave a yell and struck at Nero.

Before she could make out what happened she found herself on the ground, strange spikes impaled her body and caused her immense pain. Nero's speed was well beyond what normal humans could keep up with, and he could construct something as simple as a rod in a blink of an eye.

"Aaarrrg!!! Fuuuuuck!!" Her high pitched voice resounded throughout the entire compound.

"Is this all you have to offer, you're stronger than most that's for sure but not enough to actually do shit to me. Now then since I admire your loyalty I'll give you a choice. Take Akira's punishment in his stead and I won't kill him or you."Nero said, his tone was now amused as he watched the woman drift in and out of consciousness.

"Do it Ayaka! This is something only you can do!" Akira coaxed hurriedly.

"You hear that? Your new boss is using you as his shield, do u accept or should I kill him." Nero asked.

Ayaka glared at Nero with hate as she bit her lower lip and suppressed a scream.

"Don't look at me like that, I saved you, fed you and gave you power, but you'd rather betray." Nero said with a sorrowful tone, Ayaka just snorted and didn't reply, her sclera started turning black as a massive amount of natural chakra converged into her body.

Her skin turned reddish, steam rose from her body as she began healing and pushing the spikes out of her body, feeling the sudden change Nero jumped back and eyed the girl carefully.

The girl's body suddenly transformed, her forearms expanded and created openings, through those openings chakra condensed before she shot out towards Nero and punched at him.

Her strike was intercepted by Ichigo who suddenly appeared and parried the devastating blow.

Everyone stared in shock at the events that transpired. Never had they thought the usually kind but headstrong Ayaka could turn into such a monstrosity.

A fight ensued as Ichigo started swinging and slashing at Ayako who formed two shields from her arms and used them to block.

Seeing her attacks not working, Ichigo fed chakra to the swords, the swords hummed and their sharpness increased significantly, enough you let Ichigo leave scratched all over Ayaka's makeshift shield.

Ayaka grunted in anger and decided to fight back, she lashed out in a barbaric punch that was easily evaded by Ichigo. A stalemate ensued as the two carried on, Ayaka on one had was too tough for Ichigo to injure while Ichigo was too fast for Ayaka to hit.

In her maniacal rage, Ayaka didn't look where she was throwing her attacks and injured a few of the slaves while the rest took cover wherever they could.

Nero on the other hand was watching with interest as the two fought, he was observing Ayaka's strange power and he could tell that she had the same bloodline as Jugo, the orange hair and eyes were proof to that. What eluded him was why now though?

Why did she transform so suddenly, or has she always been like this? But it made no sense since she could've escape on her own anytime if that was the case.

Was it the fact that her life was at risk? Or was her desire to protect Akira what drove her to awaken her bloodline?

There were too many possible answers, but right now was not the time, even though Ichigo was holding her own, she would soon need to resort to using her overdrive state state that would lead to both parties being critically injured and that would slow down his plans.

Nero used his nanites to create a thin, flexible but very sturdy armor and joined the fray. With inhumane speeds, he appeared besides Ayaka and punched her right in the face. Ayaka crashed into a nearby wall, before she could recover her wits Nero was already upon her, blow after blow, he beat her until she lost consciousness.

Nero nodded happily when he saw this, his strength was simply monstrous, although he had tested himself multiple times and could easily bend steel rods and break rocks into tiny pieces.

Nero retracted his nanites and looked around but saw no sign of Akira anywhere, this was expected since a coward would always be a coward and run away when the odds are against them.

''Hunt him down and kill him, as for the rest of you I'll be needing your help for a while longer.'' Nero said in a voice that held no room for discussion.

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