Over the past weeks, everything was quiet. No more attacks were coming from Cocytus which made me a little suspicious. However, when my shadow servants came back to report me, they had no information. It seems that they have stopped coming after me for now.

I told them to continue spying and after a few days, they came back, telling me that they were preparing another invasion.

Looks like he's been saving up troops for the next invasion and decided to put me aside for now. Either he's decided to hold back his plans to assassinate me for now, or he was forced to by the demon king.

Well, I guess for now I can relax for a little while… or so I thought.

When I returned to the guild, there was news that there was another demon invasion. I had a chat with Celestia and I found out that a demon army was attacking some fortress in the west. Since Maroon city was not that far away from the fortress, adventurers with the ranks yellow and below must go and help. There were some reasons why any rank above yellow could not be called to battle. Let's just say that they want to save the best for last so they are making the weak ones fight. You know, dispose of the weak.

Technically, I would be at Purple Rank level since I'm near that range. Each rank has an average level range but I'm not gonna go into much detail about that. Anyway, I wouldn't need to go and fight if I was Purple but I was still a Pink Rank as I was too lazy to take the ranking quest. I could, it's kind of too late for that now. Good thing the girls took the quest, though I feel kind of left out since I am the only Pink rank around.

Now then, back to the topic at hand.

Celestia offered to bring us to where they'll be invading. I declined but had her transfer the girls instead. I had to meet up with someone. That someone being Joseph. He said that he wanted to talk with me about something.

Celestia understood and told me the exact location. After that, I left to go meet up with Joseph.

Joseph was sitting at the edge of a cliff, looking down at the forest beneath him. I walked over and sat down beside him.

"Nero." He turned and smiled.

"Joseph. What am I doing here?" I asked him. Joseph smirked as he took out two beer bottles from his coat.

"Have a drink and I'll begin talking. Don't worry, I won't take much of your time… well, not that it really matters to you."

Joseph handed me the beer bottle and I accepted it. As we drank, I once again asked Joseph what he wanted to talk about.

"Nero, I've been watching you for some time and I notice that… you tend to hold back when you fight someone."

"Hmm? So what? I can't fight my enemies head-on at full power. What do you expect me to-?"

"I am not done, Nero."

His voice became stern and the atmosphere tensed. I gulped as he continued.

"You not only hold back, but you also walk straight into their trap. You are oblivious to your opponent's intentions and you often let your emotions take the best of you. You are flawed. The entirety of your being is flawed. You know your own flaws but you don't accept them. Instead, you either hide them in fear that they could be used against you or continue to abuse it."

Joseph grabbed me by my collar and pulled me closer.

"I'll be blunt. You need to STOP. Your lust for power corrupts your mind and your motives are led by your emotions."

He then picked me up and threw me to a wall.

"You think you've already accepted your mistakes but you only just began. You are also naive. Like I said, your motives and your decisions are empowered by your own emotions. Sometimes, you do think, but you don't see the bigger picture."

"You just called me here for a stupid lesson?" I responded as I clenched my hand.

"See? That is exactly what I am talking about. You don't even stop to think about it. You immediately go into combat mode and let your feelings and instincts guide you."

Not even a second passed and Joseph had driven his hand through my stomach.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked me, pulling his arm back and splattering my blood everywhere.

I fell to the ground and held my stomach as it slowly closed up. It's a good thing I obtained Vozahlass… otherwise, I'd surely be dead. I wonder why it's even called Vozahlaas. Now that I think of it since Vozahlaas means immortal or that is what it is supposed to be, why is it called something else?

I wanted to think about it but I didn't have the time for that.

I looked up at Joseph who looked down at me with familiar eyes.

That expression… it's how my old man would look at me with.

As much as I want to admit it, he's right. Yeah, I'm full of mistakes… and I may or may not be one myself. I still question how I am still even alive.

I should accept my flaws… but it is not that easy since one of my flaws is my own past.

My entire past… my life… it's the greatest flaw I possess. A perfect person is a man that has fully accepted their flaws and mistakes…

Joseph is that exact person. He's already accepted his own flaws though I doubt that he even has any. He is that perfect person… I, on the other hand, am not.

"You tell me to accept my flaws… but that's not going to be so easy," I said as I got up on my feet.

"I'm a selfish, greedy, and prideful person. However, I know when to be modest, but even so, I am still full of mistakes. If you want me to accept my flaws, then you're gonna have to find a way to get me to abandon my defective side. I will tell you this. My defective side is one of the many things keeping me moving forward. You are going to have to wait several years or decades to see me accept my flaws."

Joseph continued to glare at me as I slowly loosened my hands, noticing what just happened. Damn it… I fell directly into his trap. He just baited me and I ended up emotionally ranting and spouting out nonsense and excuses.

"Nero. Take note that I am trying to help you. You need to control yourself. You aren't a little kid anymore. What would your par-?"

"Don't talk about those pieces of shit." I interrupted, hitting the wall. "I don't ever want to be reminded of those people. I already have a hard time forgetting my own past."

"Well, I can see why you are so in denial. If you don't ever accept your former self, you won't ever be freed of your mistakes."

Joseph levitated into the air before cracking a smile.

"I notice you've gained immortality. Though it's not perfect you still have it. But remember this Nero, you may be nigh-immortal, but you are still vulnerable. I'm not talking about physical injuries, I'm talking mental and emotional. Don't let your emotions take over, think about it rationally. Otherwise… suffer the consequences."

I felt a chill run through my spine from the last words he said. After that, he vanished.

…

All this talk for what? To tell me I'm a crybaby? Hmph, I'm nothing like that.

Though he is right, I have been letting my emotions get the best of me. I thought I matured… but it seems I'm still just a little kid. Also, what was that he said? I'm still vulnerable to injuries, just not physical, but in mental and emotional terms?

Hmph, mind games won't work on me so that's a useless thing to tell me.

Now then, I should get going. We talked for about 20 minutes.

The location which is this fortress is a place that Celestia has brought me to before. Though I never really got the chance to fully explore it. I can't teleport myself to the fortress directly, but I can appear in the fields near the fortress.

Once I locked my hands together, I imagined the field behind the fortress. When the picture was clear, I used Black Magic and teleported to the spot.

As I landed in a field of green, I could see the fortress in the distance. I saw people who were most likely adventurers entering the fortress. Guess we are all supposed to be in there.

"Right, now the-"

"Naoko?" Said a familiar voice.

I stopped and my body tensed up. I slowly shook my head, balling my fist, wishing I never teleported here.

I turned my head and met with Risa's eyes. I opened my mouth, wanting to tell her the truth about that incident, but remembering what Joseph said, I twisted the words that came out my mouth.

"Tch. Of course, you're here." I said with a disdainful expression on my face.

Risa flinched in response to my words. Cage who stood behind her clenched his fist but I lightly shook my head. He paused before nodding lightly.

"Try not to die," I said as I took off from the ground and flew over to the fortress. A tear streamed down my cheek but I wiped it away and tried to forget everything that just happened.

One day I'll tell her, just not now.

As soon as I reached the fortress, hovering above it, there was a sinister presence lingering around. The air became frightening cold and it wasn't until ice erupted from beneath the fortress, trapping and killing countless people who stood in the fortress.

Looks like it has already begun.

.

.

.