Chapter 141: Baptism by Fire

Darkness pressed in, thick, absolute, almost viscous. 

For a long, breathless instant, Nero could not tell if he was falling, floating, or simply unmade. 

The world was gone, and in its place was pressure, a vibration in his bones, a chill at the edge of thought.

Then the sensation snapped. 

Gravity reasserted itself. 

His boots struck uneven stone with a jarring impact, and air, sharp and chemical, shot through with salt and cold, filled his lungs. 

He staggered, but only for a heartbeat. All his senses screamed alert.

He had arrived.

The Shatterveil greeted him in silence.

He stood at the edge of a ruined street, the remnants of ancient cobblestones glistening with a film of dew and some faint, bioluminescent moss. 

Broken pillars jutted from the ground like the ribs of a long-dead beast. 

The air thrummed with latent magic, bitter and wild, tasting of static and burnt ozone.

Behind him, the portal crackled and swayed, a jagged oval of light held open by forces Nero could feel more than see. 

The edges shimmered and pulsed, unstable, almost as if the gateway was breathing, or gathering strength for a future crossing. 

He noted every detail: the exact color, the angle, the landmarks, a survivor's checklist, filed away for a potential escape.

Nero took a step forward, muscles taut, eyes flicking across his surroundings. 

The city ruins stretched out like the carcass of something ancient. 

Buildings slumped and twisted, their walls warped as if melted by fire. 

Some towers leaned precariously, defying gravity in ways that made his stomach twist. 

And above it all, the sky was wrong.

A bruised shade of purple and gray, swirling with ribbons of flickering green light. 

The clouds didn't drift, they churned, spinning slowly as if the heavens themselves were sick.

Nero took a slow breath, steadying himself.

"I'm here," he muttered.

His voice was steady, but his body was already bracing for what came next.

Something screamed.

A high-pitched, inhuman sound echoed through the ruins, reverberating through the stone. 

Nero spun, wand in hand in one smooth motion. 

His Raven Eyes flared to life, blue frost irises glowing as his vision sharpened.

A creature emerged from the shadows of a collapsed building.

It was humanoid, but only in the vaguest sense. 

Its limbs were too long, its skin stretched taut over jagged bones. 

Its fingers ended in curved claws, and its face was a smooth expanse of flesh, featureless except for a vertical slit that split open like a grotesque mouth.

It lunged.

Nero sidestepped, wand snapping up. 

He unleashed a sharp blast of force, hitting the creature square in the chest. 

It convulsed, limbs shuddering, then disintegrated into black, greasy ash.

He didn't lower his guard.

Three more creatures slithered from the ruins, moving on all fours like rabid dogs. 

Nero exhaled, adjusting his grip on his wand.

"A nice welcoming party," he muttered, voice steady.

They attacked.

The first pounced, claws swiping. Nero leaned a few centimeters back, just enough to avoid the strike, and fired a cutting hex that severed its head. 

The body dropped, fading into black dust.

The second lunged low, jaws snapping. He twisted, blasting it with a concussive spell that shattered ribs and spine.

The third reared back, limbs warping unnaturally as spikes erupted along its spine. 

Its body convulsed, flesh stretching and splitting as it screeched, magic rippling through its frame like a building storm.

A mana anomaly.

Mu and Zen had warned Nero about this. 

Mana anomalies were unstable surges of magic caused by the Shatterveil's fractured ley lines. 

They could randomly build up inside creatures, twisting their bodies or turning them into living bombs if not dealt with quickly.

Nero clicked his tongue, wand snapping up. 

The creature's chest bulged, the skin tearing as its ribs cracked outward. 

It was about to rupture.

"Sectumsempra"

The curse lashed out like an invisible blade, slicing clean through the creature's torso. 

It froze, the anomaly's unstable energy flickering for an instant before the body collapsed, black veins spreading as it turned to ash.

Nero scanned the area, his chest rising and falling with steady, measured breaths, the weight of battle pressing down on him, but his control unshaken. 

No other creatures approached, but he didn't relax. 

He wiped sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"Three minutes in," he muttered. "Four kills."

Now came the real work.

His fingers brushed his temple, a learned ritual. 

He reinforced his Occlumency barriers, preparing his mind to handle the upcoming multiple streams of input. 

Then, with a practiced flick, he summoned his Shikigamis.

Five small paper eagles unfolded from thin air, fluttering into existence. 

They hovered for an instant, catching the weak light, then circled him in a loose, defensive ring.

Each eagle was more than a simple magical construct. 

They were neural extensions, scouts feeding him their vision in real-time.

Nero's Occlumency let him partition his mind, opening "live channels" for each eagle's perspective.

"Scout the area," he ordered softly. 

The Shikigami took flight, dispersing into the ruins like shadows. 

Nero pressed his fingers to his forehead, focusing. 

He let his Occlumency barriers partitioned his mind, creating five mental windows, one for each eagle's vision.

The images flooded in, fragmented and disjointed but usable.

He saw broken streets, collapsed towers, and distant flickers of movement. 

The creatures roamed like wild animals, but their patterns were strange, circling in clusters, pacing around certain zones but never entering.

Territorial behavior, he realized.

In a distant alley, his shikigami noticed another group of creatures, different from those he'd just fought. 

These were faster, hunched lower to the ground, moving almost like wolves. 

They seemed to be closing in, likely drawn by the noise of combat.

Nero narrowed his eyes, using the eagles' feeds to spot gaps in the monsters' movements. 

He shifted silently, slipping into deeper shadow, choosing concealment over confrontation.

His mind was cool, every choice measured.

He let the Shikigami range farther, mapping the labyrinth of ruins while he kept low and out of sight. 

Patience and caution were his weapons now, information would be his real edge in this world.

He waited, perfectly still, watching the city through five borrowed sets of eyes. 

The creatures circled and hunted, but Nero had no intention of being prey, or needlessly drawing their attention.

He would let the Shatterveil reveal its secrets before he made his next move.

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