Mission:026 Fellow Travelers

Mission:02-6 Companion

So good!

It felt amazing!

Nero swung the Yamato in her hand, freely unleashing its overwhelming power. She could hardly hold back the urge to burst out laughing. Yet the ladylike reserve she had learned over the years kept her in check, so all that showed on the outside was a coquettish little laugh and a restrained smile.

But for Echidna, that was mockery enough.

Ever since Nero had exploded her damned old man's Gold Coin in that pitch-black space, the Yamato had naturally completed its restoration inside her, and Nero had instinctively understood how to awaken her demonic power through it.

After she seized the right moment and drew the blade to destroy the Gate of the Demon World, the demonic power within Nero swelled once more, instantly pushing her into a "Pseudo-Devil Trigger."

The reason it was "pseudo" was that Nero's Demon Bloodline had never fully awakened in the first place. A truly awakened devil would not show demonic parts on their body—unless they transformed into their devil form. Whether it was the "Devil Bringer" from the game or the "Vertical Eye" on Nero's chest now, both were signs of an incomplete awakening. Only when such traits could be shown or withdrawn at will would it prove that the devil's blood had fully awakened.

After entering Pseudo-Devil Trigger, Nero quickly realized from the strands of hair drifting around her that her hair had changed color after the transformation, just like her old man's human form, "V." The difference was that V had hidden his original hair color through certain means, while Nero had finally revealed the hair color she was supposed to have as a devil.

Aside from the changes to her appearance, Nero instinctively understood that in her devil form, she could combine a section of "Anthem" with demonic power and create lingering phantasmal images of demonic power in place as she attacked. Once Nero sang the "Final Verse" she had chosen, those phantasmal images would all attack together.

It was somewhat similar to the Spirit Behind that game Nero had inherited from her old man, yet also different. Nero's intuition told her this was a change brought about by her long practice toward becoming the Songstress of the Festival of the Blade.

But none of that mattered. Right now, there was only one thing Nero wanted to do—

—and that was to utterly defeat the devil before her.

The blade light split into four, carving a terrifying crisscross wound into Echidna's body. The Demon Lord instantly sprang up like a fish on a hook, frenziedly destroying everything nearby in a final burst of dying strength.

Nero left another demonic phantasm behind and turned to leap away. In her mind, it was about time to finish this.

She stood in place and raised the Yamato in her hand, like a conductor lifting her baton.

"Now—let Buoso crawl in my stead."

Amid the chanting, the blade swung down from afar. In that instant, the three phantasms Nero had left behind seemed to gain wills of their own. From sky to ground, they surrounded Echidna at the center from three different angles.

The phantasms vanished in an instant, and three lines of blade light flared in their wake. But it did not stop there. The three crisscrossing lines of blade light, like Nero's final slash just now, split into fourfold, and like the first slash, condensed in place. In the end, they formed a vast cage forged from twelve intersecting lines of blade light.

Looking at Echidna trapped inside the cage, her body covered in crisscrossing Blade Marks, grievously wounded and on the verge of death, Nero tilted her head. Because this was somewhat different from the effect she had imagined at first.

It seemed she still had to deliver the final blow herself.

The former Demon Lord huddled in the center of the cage, trembling violently, not daring to move at all for fear of bumping into the blade light and losing her life.

And when Nero approached, she shook even harder while shrinking backward. After accidentally touching the blade light behind her, she instantly screamed in terror. She was visibly frightened out of her wits.

Amid the shrill cry, Nero frowned, covered one ear with one hand, and glared at Echidna. That single look stopped the former Demon Lord's wails, not even giving Nero the chance to scold her for having no manners.

When Nero took another step forward, Echidna instantly wriggled down flat on the ground, her human upper half assuming a posture of kneeling and kowtowing. She did not even dare look at Nero and began begging for mercy over and over.

"P-please, spare my life!"

Nero took another step forward. Seeing Echidna, who was kneeling and begging, suddenly tremble, she could not help finding it a little funny. With a light laugh, she asked, "I've already destroyed the Gate of the Demon World. Even if you survive, where can you go?"

"I can submit to you!"

As if sensing that Nero might relent, Echidna hurriedly said, "I—Echidna can become a weapon for you to command, and I will never betray you!"

Oh? Nero was slightly startled, then remembered that Devil May Cry did indeed have a setting where subdued devils could be taken as powerful weapons. It was just that the fourth and fifth games Nero had played had never shown much of that setting at all, and the few devils that became weapons had all been killed by Dante.

But Nero did not agree. Instead, she took another step forward. "But your voice is too noisy. I don't like it much."

"I! I'll keep quiet..."

Echidna lowered her voice.

"And you seem a little weak."

"I'll work hard to become stronger!"

"And you're kind of ugly, too."

"I—"

Echidna was almost about to cry. Unfortunately, devils did not have the function of shedding tears. "Please!"

The Sword Qi cage had already dissipated, but Echidna, frightened out of her wits, no longer dared make any move.

At last, Nero sighed, let the Yamato turn into motes of light and vanish, and returned to her original Blonde Hair and Blue Eyes. She stretched out her right hand toward Echidna. "Fine. Turn into a weapon and let me see."

In truth, everything she had said just now had only been to scare Echidna. The moment Nero heard her say she could become a weapon for Nero to use, she had already been tempted. The reason was that Nero's Pseudo-Devil Trigger was now completely bound to the Yamato; as long as she took out the Yamato, she would transform. That state more or less counted as a finishing move, and Nero did not want to use it on everyone she met.

So she really did need a new weapon.

"Tha..."

Echidna was overjoyed, and before she could even finish speaking, she turned into a ball of light and fell into Nero's hand. When the glow faded, Nero's right hand was already gripping a Whip Sword coiled into a bundle.

Nero looked at the newly acquired weapon and went, "Hm?" Then she thought of how this devil was a great serpent and understood why it had taken this shape. The Whip Sword had a flower-like guard, while the blade resembled cyan scales strung together by Vines. Its appearance was quite gorgeous.

"Looks like I really wronged you when I called you ugly." Nero smiled and swung the Whip Sword a few times.

Because she had often heard that whips could easily hurt their users if they were not well practiced, she did not dare use too much force when trying it out. But after a couple of attempts, it felt fairly smooth in her hand, so she grew bolder and kept cracking it through the air with sharp whistles.

After testing the whip form, Nero wanted to see something new, so she asked, "Can you change into a straight sword?"

The supple whip instantly contracted, and its Emerald Green sharp scales layered together. The entire weapon immediately transformed into a longsword meant for slashing, without making the slightest sound throughout.

It seemed Echidna had indeed firmly remembered Nero's words.