The Test of Strength

As the lights had faded, the scene revealed was no other than a sight of marvel. A platform had risen at the center of this room, one surrounded by a series of sharp spikes, Nero stood at the center of this platform, gazing at the myriad of statues that now surrounded himself.

As he inspected the area, he saw no pathways beyond the sights of these statues and spikes, but the scenery of wall-carved sculptures with moss and grass growing over both of them and the high walls.

The very spooky candles burning with green flames illuminated quite a few sections, as an even more dismal mood could be felt from the surroundings.

Nero shifted his sights onto the area where the giant statue had once been, after erupting in a series of bright lights, it had vanished transforming into a small ball with two rings around it. It hovered above the center of this platform, giving one a mystical feeling.

'What's going to happen now? Will it be another riddle of sorts?' Nero thought to himself as he observed the sphere that floated above.

Soon though, the sphere seemed to have shown some reaction towards Nero's ponderings. It glowed in blue lights as the notification sounded as text appeared before Nero's eyes.

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[Commencing Second Test - The Test of Strenght!]

[You have 2 minutes to defeat your enemy! Failure will result in death and a loss of one level!]

[Defeat the Death Guard of the Strength Platform and you shall be transferred to the final testing grounds!]

[Commencing Test!]

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When Nero heard this, his face sunk as he cursed, "Darn, what kind of penalty is this? A loss in level, you've got to be kidding me!"

As Nero said this, he saw that the ring around the floating sphere had begun to spin around it rapidly. He gritted his teeth and said inwardly, 'Tch! I can't afford to lose since it's already sending me into a combat test, looks like I'll need to get even more serious.'

As Nero finished contemplating, he quickly held his crimson iron sword in the sword draw stance as his eyes stared around intently.

Soon, the sphere from above glowed in a menacing red light, creating a giant that was roughly four times Nero's size. It was a bare-skinned warrior, with rippling muscles and chains that hung from cuffs around his arms, his face was covered by an executioner mask as he hoisted a large ax in one arm.

Nero gulped, seeing the intimidating figure before him; never in his life did he saw a man so big. He felt a bit worried, but as he recalled the penalty, he sucked up his worries and increased is grip on his sword handle while inspecting its details.

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[Death Guard]

[Level: 4]

[Grade: Common (Quasi Middle Class)]

[Health: 400/400]

[Magic Power 100/100]

[Combat Force: 125 stones]

[Body Tenacity: 40]

[Spiritual Awareness 30]

[Speed 58 km/h]:

[Skill: Beheading Chop]

[Description: These are monsters born of darkness in the Nether Regions. A being that has learned from the experiences of its past soul and awakened its talents as an executioner.]

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Upon seeing the Death Guard's details, Nero felt like cursing, but as he knew that the situation was now of one of utmost danger, he didn't dare to let his guard down and pushed his senses to the peak.

'I didn't even think I would have to face such a thing here, darn... the only bright side is its speed is much slower than mine. It's no wonder why it's Quasi Middle Class, I'll need to take it down in the shortest time possible,' Nero thought with sharp-looking eyes, he knew he wasn't a match for it in frontal combat, so he didn't dare to attack reckless but find an opening.

The Death Guard seemed to have finally focused his attention on Nero, his eyes from the two holes on his executioner mask had a cold glint as he raised the ax in battle posture.

Bang! A towering amount of Magic Power was instantly released from its body, causing a small number of cracks to appear on the platform below its feet.

"Die! Beheading Chop!" The Death Guard shouted without even showing any intentions to hold back his strength. He jumped from his position, looking no different from a lion pouncing on a rabbit.

The savagery of his battle cry, capable filling anyone with a wave of terror as it swung the ax in his arm, was swung down violently with its edge shimmering in baleful rays.

Nero was calm, his senses were pushed to the peak, and as this fellow was already slower than him, he could be more patient and observe his attack more carefully.

As the ax swept towards his head, Nero saw as the Magic Power of the Death Guard was slowly conjuring around its edge. He even saw his airborne figure, was slowly descending as well as the angle of the swing.

Suddenly, Nero's eyes flickered as if he saw an opening, he shifted his body to the left side, narrowly avoiding the ax that cut across his neck in a horizontal right slash.

Swing! The cut leaving a line behind in the air, as a harsh gush of wind blew due to the force of the Death Guard's swing.

Now that his attack had narrowly missed Nero, the Death Guard had landed on the ground with one leg; his body also slanted towards the direction his hand had swung the ax.

'Now's my chance, take my Flash Cut!' Nero shouted in his mind as after balancing himself at the side angle, he pushed himself forward and rapidly unsheathed his sword, cutting a dazzling but swift silver ray towards the Death Guard's neck.

The sword seemed to be lost in the silver lights, as it rapidly near the Death Guard's neck. However, it was right at this time, the Death Guard showed a sly look in its eyes, as its body, which seemed to be unbalanced, had continued to spin one leg.

From this angle, he carried the momentum from this previous swing, using it to twist his body at alarming speeds. It didn't even take two seconds for his body to rotate at an angle where the ax was once more swung toward's Nero's head.

"Damn!" Nero cursed out loud, he hurriedly changed the angle of his sword attack, using it to cut towards the edge of the ax from an upward angle.

Ting! The two metals clashed against each other, but only one person was pushed backward. Nero was blasted towards the edge of the platform, hurled backward with his sword held before him, his arm feeling numb as he was having trouble holding the sword.

Nevertheless, this was only a small part of Nero's worries, as the force had knocked him outside of the battle platform, pushing him directly above the sea of spikes.

"This isn't good!" Nero exclaimed in alarm, as his body faded into the darkness and fell towards the inevitable doom.

The Death Guard watched this in silence, as he held the battle-ax over its shoulder with a victorious posture. He sneered while gazing towards Nero, but soon, his eyes narrowed as he saw an unexpected scene.

***

PS: If we can make it into the 100 of power rankings today, I shall gift you all an Extra Chapter.