Echoes of the Forsaken.

The moment the fight began, Nero moved first, hurling a fireball straight at Nemsus before vanishing sideways. Delilah mirrored him, splitting right. Their strategy was simple, force Nemsus into the middle, then strike from both sides.

But Nemsus only grinned.

A flicker of light. An identical copy appeared beside him.

Illusions.

Nero watched in curiosity. This was the first time he had seen this spell.

The real Nemsus blurred out of the fireball's path, reappearing in front of Nero in the blink of an eye. Fast. Too fast.

At the same time, his illusion lunged at Delilah.

She didn't even blink.

Nero reacted instantly, swinging his sword mid-step, but Nemsus blocked the attack with his blade, twisting it aside like it was nothing. Effortless.

A smirk tugged at his lips.

The physical difference was clear.

Nero's gaze sharpened. His blade ignited with fire.

"Good. Let's see how far that gap goes."

He struck again, feinting high before twisting low, his blade cutting upward.

Nemsus read it, his body shifting with a speed that blurred the air. Nero's sword sliced empty space. Before he could recover, a kick exploded toward him.

Then a dull, crushing force slammed into his arm, sending him flying. Pain flared through his body, sharp and immediate. Shit.

Nero barely braced before impact. He landed in a crouch. His arms burned.

Nemsus rolled his shoulders. "That all you got?"

He turned toward Delilah

A whisper of cold steel.

His body dropped instinctively.

Her sword passed through empty air, missing his throat by a breath. She was waiting.

She saw through the illusion from the start and knew it couldn't hurt her.

She didn't stop. Her momentum carried her forward, twisting into a brutal kick aimed at his face.

Nemsus caught her ankle, his grip like iron.

Even in the air, Delilah used his hold against him, pushing herself forward instead of pulling away. Her sword flashed toward him, forcing him to release her.

Delilah's lips curled ever so slightly.

Now.

A presence surged behind him.

Nero.

Nemsus didn't need to turn. His body moved on instinct, his mind rushed through his choices.

He could turn directly to defend against Nero, but then he would get slashed by Delilah. Or he could close the distance with Delilah to limit her swordplay, taking a hit in exchange for a chance to defend against nero.

He went with the second.

He surged forward, pressing so close to her that her blade was useless. At the same time, he twisted, filling his sword with lightning. Nero's fireball howled toward him. He raised his sword blocking the spell.

The explosion sent sparks flying, but it wasn't enough to shake him.

Delilah seized the opportunity. Her fist snapped toward Nemsus's ribs, a strike meant to shatter balance and leave him gasping.

It landed.

But instead of a stagger or a sharp inhale of pain, Nemsus barely flinched. He felt it, she could tell by the faint tension in his muscles.

But it wasn't the reaction she expected. Someone hit that hard in the ribs should struggle to breathe, yet he stood firm, unmoved. Worse, a dull ache crept into her knuckles.

Her eyes narrowed. What the hell is his body made of?

Before she could adjust, Nemsus moved.

A shift in weight. A twist of his torso.

Then his leg snapped up.

Delilah barely leaped back in time, her balance momentarily off.

She landed steadily, watching.

Nemsus clicked his tongue. His eyes flick to her hand, where a faint glow pulses. The injuries knit themselves shut.

Expected. He scoffs internally. Of course after all she had a Life Rune.

Fine.

A burst of electricity crackled through his veins.

Lightning erupted outward.

The entire battlefield flashed with arcs of blue-white energy. Nero and Delilah had no choice but to retreat.

And then

Nemsus moved.

Faster than before.

Delilah and Nero closed the distance again pressing in from both sides, their timing perfect. But this time

He ignored Delilah and shot toward Nero, creating two more illusions in an instant.

The clones blurred forward, attacking from three different angles.

Nero hesitated.

No, he pretended to.

The first illusion struck from the left. The second from the right. The real Nemsus came straight down the middle.

Nero barely spared the first a glance, lunging at the second instead.

Nemsus's eyes narrowed. He knows.

Nero smiled then his form flickered

Not vanished. Just… slipped. Nemsus's focus wavered as his mind began to ignore Nero's presence, his existence thinning from the battlefield like a mirage.

Nemsus gritted his teeth. "That damn spell."

In every previous battle, that spell was the reason he lost. "The Absence"

The absence spell didn't make Nero truly invisible, but it erased his presence—turning him into something unnatural, something the senses and even thr instinct couldn't grasp. Even when looking directly at him, the mind refused to acknowledge his existence, as if he were both there and not there at the same time.

And in those few fleeting seconds in that form, Nero always struck from nemsus's blind spot.

Nemsus's instincts flared.

He moved instantly using his new speed to create a distance. He couldn't risk staying close to Nero in that state.

As his gaze snapped up

Delilah was already there her blade going for his head.

She knew them too well, well enough to predict their next moves.

His instincts warned him. His sword lashed out attacking from the side.

Steel clashed with a sharp shriek, the force of his parry pushing Delilah back.

Nemsus smirked. Even with her precision and technique, she couldn't land a proper hit, not against the sheer physical advantage he had.

Nemsus rolled his shoulders. He had been waiting for this chance since the beginning.

Instead of going after her, he shifting his weight and striked at the open space on his right.

There.

Nero was already mid-swing.

Their swords clashed.

Then, lightning erupted.

A surge of electricity crackled from Nemsus's hand, racing through his blade before leaping onto Nero's sword. The moment their weapons connected, the current found its path.

Pain tore through Nero's body. His eyes widened as his muscles seized, locking him in place. His vision blurred, his grip faltering.

Nemsus didn't stop. With a sharp twist of his blade, he sent another violent surge through the metal.

"You forgot something, Nero."

The jolt deepened.

Nemsus chuckled. "Never fight a lightning user with an empty blade."

Sure, Nero knew him well enough to predict his movements, even though it was the first time he saw the illusion, but Nemsus knew him just as well, Every time he had lost to Nero before, it was because of that damn spell.

But that didn't matter now.

For someone like Nero, only mage, using a high-tier spell like that was risky. A Level 3 spell drained mana fast, and Nemsus knew exactly how many seconds it would take before Nero ran dry.

And once his mana was gone, he couldn't reinforce his blade, couldn't counter the lightning surging through it.

Nero's grip faltered. His body gave out.

Nero's face darkened.

Nemsus's lightning was stronger than usual—more refined, more destructive. The difference was clear.

His mana was purer now. He was an Ascendant.

But before nemsus could savor the victory

Shhk!

A glint of ice.

In his joy he totally forgot about Delilah.

He twisted, dodging a jagged spear by a hair

His gaze snapped towards her.

She wasn't done.

Two more spears erupted from the left, forcing him right.

His foot hit the ground.

And slid.

"What!?"

Ice.

The terrain beneath him had frozen solid.

His foot slid. His balance wavered—just for a second. But in battle, a second was all it took to die. His mind screamed, but his body had already lost control.

Another spear howled toward him.

He barely had time to react throwing himself right to avoid it

Only to halt abruptly.

His breath caught.

Delilah's blade pressed against his throat.

Checkmate.

For the first time in the fight, Nemsus's smirk faded. He had lost as an Ascendant against two mages. What a humiliation.

Delilah, cold and expressionless, tilted her head slightly.

She had seen through everything from the start. Played along. Waited. Used her brother as a distraction.

A bitter grimace crossed Nemsus's face.

Damn it…

Nemsus hit the ground with his fist

He could've ended this fight earlier. He could've drowned them in illusions, used stronger spells, overwhelmed them.

Instead, he let his pride drag it out. He wasted time trying to humiliate Nero with swordplay and some half-mastered spells, forgetting one undeniable truth.

Delilah was smarter than both of them.

Nemsus stared at the blade still hovering near his throat, his mind a mess. She saw through everything.

A weak, ragged sound broke the silence.

"Hhhh."

Nero.

Lying face-down in the dirt, body twitching, barely able to move—laughing.

Nemsus's eye twitched.

That bastard was laughing at him even in that state.

His jaw clenched so hard it hurt. He flicked his gaze to Delilah.

She covered her mouth, but he could see it—the slight shake in her shoulders, the way her eyes gleamed. She wanted to laugh too.

Nemsus felt his face heat up. No. No fucking way.

His lip stung—he'd bitten it without realizing.

"Fuck this."

He stepped back, scowling. "I'll be at the orphanage."

And without another word, he turned and run off.

He couldn't look at them. Not after this. Not after losing like that.

As Nemsus turned to leave, Nero's laughter only grew louder, wheezing between ragged breaths. His whole body was still locked up, but that didn't stop him.

And then, Delilah's expressions broke.

A sudden, sharp burst of laughter escaped her, shattering the cold, unreadable mask she always wore. For a few seconds, the serious, calculating Delilah was nowhere to be seen. Just pure, unrestrained amusement.

Nemsus's pace quickened.

Delilah took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. The moment passed, and the faintest trace of a smile lingered as she walked over to Nero, kneeling beside him.

She placed a hand on his back, a soft glow spreading from her fingertips as her mana started healing his body.

What Nemsus didn't know was that they had planned this long before the fight even began.

Nero was still grinning, his voice hoarse but dripping with amusement.

"All those years of losing to me as a mage, and he really thought today would be different?" He let out a breathy chuckle, shaking his head. "Tch… i can't actually believe he fell for a trick that simple.

As he pushed himself up, his body still twitched slightly from the lingering effects of the lightning. He rolled his shoulders, exhaling sharply.

"Let's go," Delilah said, offering him a hand. "The others are waiting."

Nero took it.

And together, they walked back home.

As they arrived, the orphanage stood before them—a sturdy, timeworn building that had seen years of laughter, struggles, and growth. Its white walls, though simple, held warmth, and the structure itself gave a sense of quiet resilience. The wooden door creaked slightly as they stepped inside, a familiar sound that welcomed them home.

The scent of aged paper and faint traces of cooked meals lingered in the air, mingling with the crisp evening breeze that flowed through the open spaces. Despite its modest design, the orphanage was alive with quiet movement, muffled conversations, the sound of pages turning somewhere in the distance, and the faint clatter of dishes being put away.

They walked through the halls, the floorboards creaking softly beneath their steps, until they reached the heart of the orphanage, an open courtyard where life seemed to gather. Towering trees stood like silent guardians around a long wooden table, their leaves whispering in the wind.

The setting sun cast golden hues over the gathered children, about eighteen in total, they were all younger then Nero, after all Nero and Delilah were the first children viser brought here.

Unlike them, most of the others didn't train dailly to become stronger not as much as Nero, Delilah and nemsus did at least. They just wanted to enjoy life or they simply didn't have what it take, and most their personalities reflected that.

Viser had once been a noble, but he left that life behind after losing his wife. Taking his only son, Nemsus, he settled in the northeast of the empire, far from the politics and expectations of his former status.

He was no ordinary man. A seasoned warrior, he had fought in many wars and reached the rank of Dominus, a step above Ascendant. His skill in swordsmanship and his vast knowledge were unquestionable.

When he took in Nero and Delilah, it didn't take long for them to start training under him. A few months after their arrival, they began practicing with him daily, rarely missing a session. They understood all too well how important strength was in this world, and under Viser's guidance, they grew sharper with each passing day.

....

"You're late," a voice called out.

Viser stood at the head of the table, arms crossed, his face cold and unreadable as his sharp gaze landed on Nero and Delilah.

"Sorry," they said in unison.

His expression softened instantly, like a breeze passing through. With a small shake of his head, he sighed. "Take your places."

There was no real bite to his words—just the usual reminder.

Nero and Delilah slipped into their seats without another word. Around them, the younger kids barely held back their grins, some kicking their feet under the table, others exchanging glances like they had just witnessed something grand.

Viser had always put a lot of importance on manners, but no one missed the way his eyes softened whenever they all sat together.

Nero's gaze found Nemsus's across the table. A knowing smirk played at his lips, but he didn't say anything. After all, here, manners came first.

And so, they ate in silence, the rustling leaves above and the distant sounds of their home.