The dust from Orsec's defeat had barely settled when a new presence arrived, unnoticed by any of Nero's heightened senses. He was awakened not by Eri's familiar kick, but by a sharp nudge from a polished leather shoe.
Nero's eyes snapped open to find a stranger standing over him. He instantly rolled into a combat stance, energy crackling around his fists.
The stranger, an impeccably dressed man with an aura of serene power, simply raised a placating hand. "You're probably wondering why you can't sense my presence, and how I found you. Chill, man. This dude told me your location."
He gestured beside him, where another man leaned casually against the doorframe.
"Ryusei?" Nero blinked, relaxing slightly. "Lazy bro. A little warning next time?"
Ryusei, the Fourth Gate User, gave a lazy wave. "Nero, meet Sen. Sen, this is Nero. The one and only Dual Gate User, according to current intel." He clapped a hand on Nero's shoulder. "And Sen here is going to be your mentor. He'll teach you how to utilize your powers properly and reach new heights." He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper only Nero could hear. "Remember, he's from a nation called Bharata—think of it as an alternate reality's Aryavarta. It's far more peaceful and advanced than anything you've seen. Soak up every word he says. Not a single line of his teaching will be wasted."
With that, Ryusei vanished as casually as he had appeared.
Sen turned his calm gaze back to Nero. "Let me introduce myself properly. I am Sen. I will be your mentor for the next few months." A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips. "Please don't expect me to help you if you fall into danger. It's against the rules."
'He's a demon... First he kicks me awake, now this ruthless speech,' Nero thought.
"I can hear you, you know," Sen said mildly.
"Wait, how is that possible? How can I not sense you?" Nero asked, truly baffled.
"Oh, that's due to the Karma of Neutrality," Sen explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Don't be surprised. I've heard you possess it as well. It seems you don't know how to use Karmic powers."
Nero puffed out his chest. "Of course, I know—"
"Stop lying," Eri's voice chimed in from the side.
Sen's eyes seemed to look straight through him. "So it's true. You indeed have two broken souls sharing one body."
///
Sen was an enigma. He stood at 6'3", handsome with an elegant, gentlemanly demeanor and unshakable confidence. His power level was unreadable. He possessed no Gate power, yet Gate Users themselves were known to fear and actively avoid him. He hailed from a version of Aryavarta where peace and natural beauty reigned supreme.
Over the following days, Sen began his analysis of Nero.
"By the way, are you a Gate User?" Nero asked during one session.
"No, I am not."
"Impossible. Your energy feels more refined than most Gate Users."
"I am a Spiritual Master, Nero. Domain Level. Or you could say, Grade 5."
"Are Spiritual Masters stronger than Gate Users?"
"The answer is... tricky," Sen replied. "There are Spiritual Masters among Gate Users. Generally, those at the Sixth or Seventh Gate are proficient in spirituality. The others are just... 'good as nothing.'"
"Why?"
"Because they only realize the importance of spiritual power once they hit the Fifth Gate. You have much to learn."
"You really have amazing knowledge."
Sen chuckled. "Haha."
"Why are you laughing?"
"Because, buddy, I think you have no idea how many people surpass my field of knowledge." Sen's tone grew serious. "Remember, Nero, achieving the Seventh Gate won't make you the strongest. Not even with the power of both gates. Have you ever wondered how the Divine Members who oversaw your trial were stronger than the combined power of the current Gate 7 users? Have you ever wondered how they became so powerful?"
He leaned in. "Most Gate Users say it takes a hundred years to reach the Fifth Gate. But there are individuals who have done it in a month." He paused, letting the words hang in the air. "You don't remember? Seriously? It was your father. He achieved the Fifth Gate in a month. Sadly, that great man was betrayed and murdered. Unlocking his Gate powers was the major reason."
Nero's blood ran cold. "What more do you know about my father? I heard he only reached the Third Gate."
"You have half the information, my friend. I know things that even Obsidian doesn't. But for now, it's better you don't ask. Sometimes, additional knowledge flows like poison in the veins. Survive the upcoming calamity, and then seek me out. I promise I will tell you the truth."
///
Under Sen's guidance, Nero's training began in earnest. The first lesson was deceptively simple yet incredibly difficult.
"Fight me," Sen had said, opening a portal to a training dimension.
Nero launched every attack he could muster, but Sen dodged every single one, his eyes closed.
"How are you doing this?" Nero panted, frustrated.
"Don't ask me. Keep fighting. Why are you so surprised? You've done this before. You fought Tues in Aryavarta with your eyes closed."
"That Gate 3rd bastard nearly killed me!"
After countless failed attempts, Sen gave him a new task. "For the next few days, try to sense the soul in everything."
"The soul in everything? Even non-living things?"
"Yes. Even non-living things."
"Aren't you going to help me unlock the Second Gate?"
"This is the way. It's much better than the cheap shortcuts. You said you wanted to walk the spiritual path, didn't you? Believe me, you are on the right one."
///
Months passed. Nero meditated, his perception expanding until he could feel the faint spiritual resonance in the air, the ground, even the particles of dust floating in the light.
"Fight me now," Sen instructed one day. "And keep your eyes closed."
This time, Sen didn't dodge. He blocked, matching Nero's power level precisely. And still, Nero lost.
"Damn it! Again? At the same power level, I still lose?"
"Relax. You just need a little more time to perfect yourself. You are very close." A smile spread across Sen's face. "And... congratulations. You have mastered the Second Gate."
Nero stared, bewildered. "Wait... what? When did that happen?"
"Idiot. The Second Gate is also known as the Gate of Senses. The soul sensing you learned is the key to unlocking it , once your power seal is lifted , Everything will make sense for you."
"Does everyone unlock it this way?"
"No. This is a secret method. Most unlock it through countless battles. You have taken a more enlightened path."
///
Meanwhile, at his cluttered shop, Seino was recounting his near-death experience to his lazy, part-time worker, Mr. Yu.
"These people were terrifying, Mr. Yu! Their power was unreal!"
"Quit blabbing, buddy. Wake up from this dream. No such things exist," Mr. Yu mumbled, looking as tired as ever.
"Wait! I have pictures!" Seino showed him the photo of Nero and Toki.
The moment Mr. Yu saw Nero's face, his lethargy vanished. His eyes widened, his breath caught. "It can't be real... Seino, where does this person live?"
"This red-blue-eyed cat? Sorry, they were just random customers. I don't know."
Mr. Yu didn't wait for another word. He rushed out of the shop, a single phrase tumbling from his lips in a disbelieving whisper. "He's alive... he's alive..."
///
Empowered and newly focused, Nero sought out Toki. "Toki, you know I can't fully regain my power until I free two people from negative Karmic effects."
"Yeah, I know."
"Then it's time. We're going to your house. Now."
Toki hesitated. "But my father works for the Hunters Association now. To free my family, we have to face him there, surrounded by hunters of every rank, possibly even S-Class."
Nero's lips curled into a determined smirk. "Let's go."
In seconds, they stood before the towering skyscraper of the Hunters Association.
"Brother, what if they recognize you? This will attract so much attention!" Toki warned. "Do you have an alternate motive too?"
Nero's smile turned sharp and wicked. "[Evil smile] Sure I do."
They strode inside, a whirlwind of purpose. Nero casually defeated anyone who stood in their way—A-Ranks, B-Ranks, even the S-Rank hunter Kim, who he restrained with a casual flick of his wrist.
"Don't worry," Nero said as he passed the stunned Kim. "I don't want to hurt those I saved myself."
They burst onto the top floor, where a powerful Guild Master and several S-Rank hunters stood guard.
"Hold your horses, boy!" the Guild Master boomed. "You've turned my entire guild upside down! What do you want?"
"This guy, Don," Nero stated, pointing at Toki's cowering father. "We have personal business with him."
"Fine. You can have him. On one condition. The boy hands over his bow."
Nero laughed, a cold, dismissive sound. "Baka. It looks like you've misunderstood. None of you are in any position to make demands."
The fight that erupted was catastrophic. The top floors of the building exploded outward, raining debris over the city. In the chaos, Toki and his father were thrown clear, landing in a deserted area far from the association.
///
"Well done, my son," Don sneered, pulling himself up. "I heard you got a legendary bow."
"You know about it? Then those powerful outsiders are involved with your association."
"Of course they are!"
"And you think they're here for the world's benefit? They're the real threat!"
"Shut up! According to them, you and that rascal are the threats! You should be thanking me they've spared your life! Abandon that calamity bow, Toki! It's not too late. Come back, and I will forgive you!" he said arrogantly.
"Come back? Today, I am here to forgive you for your deeds."
"You dare speak back to your father?! I heard you've become strong, stronger than me! What will you do now? Beat your father? Slap him? Go ahead!"
Toki didn't hesitate. He nocked an arrow. The legendary bow, Light, hummed in his hands.
"Oi! Shut this fucking joke down right now! Holy shit, he's serious!" Don panicked.
Toki fired. The arrow found its mark, and Don ran, injured and terrified. Toki pursued him relentlessly, all the way to his childhood home.
With nowhere left to run, Don activated his Slave skill. Toki's mother and siblings emerged, their eyes blank, their memories of him locked away. They moved to protect their father, attacking Toki without recognition.
They beat him down, blow after blow, as he refused to fight back.
Then, a voice, clear and resonant, spoke in his mind. It was the bow, Light. "You really have no guts, Toki. This is the condition of Now and Never."
Gritting his teeth, tears of resolve in his eyes, Toki moved. With precise, non-lethal strikes, he gently knocked out his siblings. "I'm sorry... but this is for your own good."
His mother stepped forward as the last shield.
"Hehe," Toki laughed bitterly. "You really left no one behind, did you?"
He fired again. A pure energy arrow flew true, piercing his father's core and severing the connection of his skill, leaving his mother unharmed. Don collapsed, unconscious, the curse broken.
Toki carefully carried his family inside, tucking them into their beds. Before leaving, he placed a gentle hand on his little brother's head, a final gesture of love and farewell.
As he turned to go, one of his siblings' eyes fluttered open for a second. Through the haze of returning memories, a single, confused tear rolled down his cheek.
///
While Toki freed his family, Nero faced the Guild Master's final card.
"Enough playing! You may use your gift! I allow it!" the Guild Master declared.
Nero tilted his head. "Gift? Please, please, I want one too!" he said, like an excited child.
"Don't worry. Your joy ends soon."
Nero watched in disbelief as the aura of every remaining hunter shifted, swelling with a familiar, yet artificial, power. "WTH... So Sen was right."
He looked at them with pity. "It seems all your power levels have increased. But believe me, this borrowed power will bury you all."
"Spatial Expansion!" the hunters chanted in unison.
The world twisted, and Nero found himself in a fabricated Plane of Infinity.
"This space amplifies our attacks, Nero! Your energy will be drained here until nothing remains!" they gloated.
The battle was fierce. Nero was a tempest, taking down two of the empowered hunters, but the cost was immense. He was heavily exhausted, his energy being siphoned away by the dimension itself.
"You have to be happy," one hunter spat. "If not for your Karma of Neutrality, you'd have been drained in seconds! That's the only reason you've resisted a Fifth Gate User's creation this long!"
They swarmed him, slicing at his body with empowered blades. One managed to plunge a sword deep into his heart.
"Stay down, you monster!"
Nero gasped, memories of Ayumi's voice flashing in his mind. 'She said something like that to me once...'
But he didn't die. Eri's monstrous heart within him began to regenerate, but it was too slow. The hunters began a restriction spell, chains of light wrapping around him, sapping his will. The process was 70% complete.
"Is this... really the end for me?"
Suddenly, a terrifying wave of aura crushed down upon the dimension. The hunters froze.
"Hey! Who's there? We didn't invite anyone!" one shouted into the darkness.
In the blink of an eye, the hunter who had stabbed Nero was dead, his own heart ripped out and held in his hand.
The unknown figure slammed his foot on the ground, and the restriction spell shattered like glass.
Nero looked up, stunned. It was Mr. Yu.
Mr. Yu walked over, placed a hand on Nero's chest, and his wounds healed completely in an instant.
"Don't worry," Mr. Yu said, his voice filled with a strange, brotherly affection. "Your big brother is here. And this time, I will protect you."
He treated Nero like a child, fussing over his messy hair and asking if he was hurt, all while effortlessly decimating the merged, empowered form of the hunters with a single, contemptuous attack.
///
After the battle, they emerged by a calm lakeside.
"Listen," Nero began, his voice firm. "I don't like taking advantage of others' emotions. I don't care if you kill me after hearing this, but I need to be honest. I'm not who you think I am."
Mr. Yu smiled calmly. "I know your true identity. You are Nero Almik, from an alternate universe. From Aryavarta."
Nero was speechless.
"Then... why do you keep calling me your little brother?"
Mr. Yu simply smiled again, a look of profound fondness in his eyes. He saw the same childish, kind heart he remembered.
Nero finally sighed, a small, genuine smile touching his lips. "You can keep your secret. It won't bother me." He stood to leave. "Well then... see ya."
He walked a few steps, then paused, looking back with a wide, bright grin. "Once again... see ya, big brother."
Mr. Yu was visibly surprised, then deeply moved by the gesture and the smile.
"Yep! See ya, kitty!" he called back.
Nero's composure broke. "Hey! I'm not a cat!" he yelled back, stomping away while muttering about his eye color.
///
Later, a frantic Toki, who had been searching everywhere, finally found him.
"Nero! Where have you been? I was worried sick!" Toki screamed, before promptly hitting him over the head with his bow in a panic, causing a small explosion.
Nero sat on the ground, rubbing his head and crying fake tears. "Oi! What was that for?!"
"You can't just disappear like that! I couldn't sense you anywhere! I thought you were dead! Do you have any idea how worried I was? And you look like you just came back from a vacation!"
The chapter closes on their bickering, the bond between them stronger than ever, and the shadow of the coming war growing ever larger.