"Alright, Neron. You're up." I smiled at the most vital elent of our first step—as well as the major powerhouse we had on our team.
Neron was going to be the one to initiate the first contact on the base of our adversaries—in essence, the Nether Cult Headquarters.
'We've known their location for so ti now. So, Neron will use his Tiless State to infiltrate the area. With everything stopped in the world, he'll conduct a survey and inform us of everything we need to know about the area we're about to invade.'
I wanted this whole thing done far sooner, but there was a valid reason we were just relying on it now. According to Neron, the First Seat was able to sense his presence when he used Ti Imrsion.
'If that's the case, it's possible that he will also be able to sense Neron if he surveys the area, even though the entire world is paused. We can't take any chances or reveal our cards beforehand.' That was the reason we decided to do this at the last minute.
'It's not going to take any ti, considering the nature of Neron's Tiless World; He's the only one who will be out of the natural flow of ti, hence everything is stopped till he returns.'
It would simply be like a flash.
"Got it." Neron smiled, resonating with his Arcana, no doubt.
I knew I was going to be seeing Neron a second later, but this stuff never got old. I kept my eyes peeled, watching as he vanished from sight.
And then, I awaited his instant return.
**********
"Welp… here we go." Neron looked around him, and as expected, everyone was frozen in ti.
He looked at Jared's expectant face, and he could tell that the young lad was expecting him to instantly appear once the survey was done.
'Fair enough.' Neron considered teasing him, but considering the nature of the mission, he decided against it.
There would be plenty of ti for fun after their job was complete.
'I feel a bit tired—considering the fact that I had to operate [The Hermit] nonstop, the whole ti. Well, it's no big deal, but…'
Fortunately, he wasn't exhausted to the point of not being able to use any of his abilities. Tiless World and Ti Imrsion were still options. And, of course, his other abilities outside the realm of ti. However, he knew full well that he wasn't at full strength.
'I'm having a long sleep after this.'
Neron vanished—or rather, he was just that fast—instantly appearing above the coordinates Jared gave him.
'Well, this is the Nether Cult's Headquarters, right? As expected, it's cloaked.' All he could see for miles was a vast body of water.
It was just the sea, through and through.
However, he had expected this much. A smile ford on his face, and he knew a barrier was right in front of him.
'If I interfere with the barrier, then it's possible that I will be caught. It's a possibility… and it's a definite future that I'm going to be on the other side, right?'
Neron grinned. Wasn't this the perfect ti to try out a new ability he had cultivated during the ti everyone had been practising? He'd had to undo his Ti Loop so that he could grow beyond his previous strength, and boy did he grow.
He hadn't shown this to Jared yet, but…
'[Future Insertion]'
In a flash, Neron beca sothing akin to an after-image. His appearance was pale and borderline transparent.
In return, another Neron appeared at the other end of the illusory barrier. He pretty much looked the sa, but an excited grin covered his face as he stared at his afterimage.
"It works here too. Great!"
What he just did was [Future Insertion]—a Spell that functioned exactly the way it sounded. Not only could Neron insert himself into the ti stream, but he could take the place of his future self, so long as the event was probable.
For example, if he was going to be in a particular area at so point in the future, Neron could insert himself into that future, teleporting to that point instantly.
'Well, it's not instant teleportation since I'll be there at the ti my future self would have been there. But… since we're in Tiless World, I can be anywhere in no ti at all.'
It was sothing akin to ti travel, but with no consequences—especially when it was as instant as this.
"Alright then… let's take a look around, shall we?" Neron removed his gaze from his afterimage that had practically faded away, and instead feasted his eyes on the vast land that was beneath him.
'Wow…'
The patch of land was completely circular—like it was artificially made. The ground was surprisingly all white, like it was covered in light sand. The ground's surface seed smooth, and everything appeared clean.
The massive island contained several structures—one which looked like a storehouse, another that resembled an army barrack; and several other important landmarks that Neron could not quite recognize.
However, if there was anything that stood out, it would be the massive building that found itself within an equally large compound. It resembled a crossbreed between a cathedral and a mansion, and one could easily guess its purpose.
'I'm guessing that is the headquarters, huh?' Neron was using his imnsely powerful vision to cover the absurdly large island, taking in what details he could from his current distance.
'There's so much Nether around, though. Jared was right; the others wouldn't have fared so great here… well, except Maria and Elrich.' Neron thought Asa had a chance as well, but not the other three.
Even his heightened senses felt dulled by the waves of Nether that distorted everything on the island. His only advantage was his constant resonance with [The Hermit].
'I'll need to have a closer look, after all.' Neron thought, finally descending from his elevated position.
He had his work cut out for him, and it was amazing how only a second—or even less—would pass for everyone waiting for him. In a way, that told him not to rush, but he also had to consider the First Seat.
That man was his major interest in the Nether Cult. Neron had so many things he was curious about—but that had to involve them making contact.
'Well, I can sense him… he's still.' Even with the amount of distance between them, Neron could tell just how much power the First Seat possessed.
He wondered if he could take him out with Tiless World.
'Nah. The mont I make contact with him, he'll be brought into Tiless World with . There's no guarantee that he'll die from my first strike. It's better not to ruin the plan.'
As such, Neron stuck to his duty—surveillance.
*
*
*
After spending hours of his ti diligently checking the nook and cranny of everything around, all that was left were two buildings.
'That massive building that looks like a research centre… and then the main headquarters.'
Neron was going to save the headquarters for last, so he decided to check the research centre first.
So far, so good; nothing worthy of note had occurred. Sure, he found so very interesting things—like what appeared to be a breeding area that would have had several Nether Beasts within, as well as another place that seed to be reserved for human experintation.
'Nothing occurred in Tiless World, so…' Neron wondered what new things he would discover in this research centre he was about to investigate.
What other atrocity awaited him? He was genuinely curious. Too curious to have noticed sothing that was too minuscule to have warranted his keen observation.
"Uh…?" Neron felt himself step on sothing, sothing akin to a muddy puddle.
The puddle was black—a seemingly harmless black patch of liquid, and he wondered why he didn't notice it before stepping there.
'Illusion? But wait… if I stepped on it, then—?!' Before Neron could complete his thought, the black puddle suddenly expanded, and a huge pool of fluid-like darkness suddenly surged forth.
>VWWWWUUUUUUUUSSSSSHHHHHH<
The Nether quality of the burst of liquid was enough to interfere with Neron's barrier, forcefully causing the darkness to completely envelop his body within re monts— It was faster than he could utilize any other Spell.
Thus, in an instant, Neron was consud by the darkness. As soon as that occurred, both he and the dark wave… completely vanished.
*
*
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[A/N]
Neron is mysteriously abducted. Has the mission begun to take a big dip from the very start? There's only one way to find out!
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