Mission: 032 Divine Messenger

Mission:03-2 Divine Messenger

Credo, transformed into that form, raised his longsword again and hovered in midair, looking down at Nero from above.

Had she gone a little too far? Nero reflected bitterly on the way she had tried to persuade him. But in truth, it was not really a problem with her approach. Nero had come here bearing Demonic Power, and from the very beginning, she had been at a psychological disadvantage. The direction of the conversation had been in Credo's hands from start to finish.

So if Nero wanted to seize the initiative and persuade Credo in return, she could only use harsher words. And once she used harsh words, Credo immediately resorted to force.

She raised her head to look at the "Angel" floating in the air and said, "Credo, there are no Angels in this world."

Credo did not speak. He beat his Wings and dove down, the longsword in his hand shining with holy radiance.

But no matter how holy it looked—this was still power that belonged to demons.

Nero caught the incoming sword tip with both hands, took a step back under the impact, then dragged Credo around in a circle and threw him back. She panted lightly twice, then continued, "Our god has no Angels."

Credo beat his Wings and stopped in midair. Hearing Nero's words, he froze slightly.

Yes. The god worshiped by the Order of the Sword was the Demonic Swordsman Sparda. Sparda was a demon who had betrayed the Demon World and saved the Human World alone.

He had no companions, no subordinates. Naturally, there were no so-called Angels in the Order's doctrine.

For Credo, he could not refute those words.

But he could not accept them either.

If he denied Nero's words, then he would be denying the Order's doctrine.

But if he admitted Nero was right, he would be denying the self he had been all this time.

His voice trembled clearly. "You... you would still blaspheme my faith, demon!"

"You're the one who needs to wake up, Credo!"

Nero's sorrowful voice drifted away with the sea breeze. "In this world, anyone who flaunts themselves as an Angel—

"Is a demon."

Credo lowered his sword, and his body hovering in midair began to tremble faintly as well.

"Even so—"

The hand with which he held his sword tightened and loosened, tightened and loosened again, as he spoke to himself through gritted teeth. "Even so!"

"Credo!"

He turned a deaf ear to Nero's voice and shouted only to make himself believe it. "As long as this world can be saved!

"Then being a demon doesn't matter! Even if I am a demon, I am still a knight of the Order!"

Credo lifted the weapon in his hand high. Golden magic turned into more than a dozen flashing longswords, surrounding Nero completely.

Naturally, Nero had no intention of sitting still and waiting for death. She withdrew Gilgamesh and drew Yamato from her chest.

The Airwave of magic unleashed by Devil Trigger tore the Sword Array apart. Her brilliant blond hair instantly turned Silver White, and crimson light shone from the depths of Nero's pupils.

"So you finally show your true colors—" Credo had originally meant to say that, but the instant he clearly saw Nero's current appearance, he fell into confusion once more.

The reason was nothing else, only that beautiful head of silver hair.

In Fortuna's legends, silver hair was the hair color that belonged to god.

And that was the truth as well. Not only had the legendary Demonic Swordsman Sparda, who had once ruled this place as its lord, possessed silver hair, but as far as Credo knew, the "Son of God" who lived beyond this island also had silver hair, just like in the legends.

So the silver hair Nero displayed after transforming at this moment—could it represent—

After that instant of confusion, Credo steadied himself and found his conviction again.

So what if she was the Son of God? For the sake of accomplishing the Order's great undertaking of creating the Ideal World, had he not long since resolved himself to show disrespect even to the Son of God?

In truth, Credo understood everything Nero had said. He knew that he, having accepted Demonic Power, was not a true Angel, and he also knew that the Pope's so-called Savior was a monster driven by Demonic Power. But all of that was for the sake of creating a truly beautiful world where the people no longer needed to fear demons.

For the sake of this great undertaking, he had already created so many sacrifices. If he stopped here, how was he supposed to face his dead Parents?

Yet even after steeling himself so many times, when he saw Nero standing below, staring straight at him with sorrow in her eyes, he still wavered.

If Nero was the Son of God, then that meant she had not been possessed by a demon. And if that was truly the case, was there any need for him and Nero to fight to the death?

After all, the two of them were family who had been together for ten long years. As long as Nero would not affect the Order's goal—

"G-Gloria really wasn't wrong. You really did get soft."

A sticky, cold voice came from behind Credo. That voice belonged to the person Credo hated most in the entire world.

Agnus. A researcher of the Order, the developer of the Ascension Ritual and all kinds of technology that used Demonic Power, and also the leader of the "Savior" plan.

"You didn't tell the truth, Agnus." Without turning his head, Credo answered coldly, "Nero was not possessed by a demon."

He lowered his head to look at Nero, only to find that her expression had become somewhat complicated. The firm resolve with which she had argued her case against him just now was completely gone.

It was as if she had returned to the girl she had been this past year, always worrying over the Festival of the Blade.

The voice behind him continued to incite Credo. "Is that so? Then how do you ex-explain the Demonic Power in her body?"

Then, from Agnus's mouth came the name Credo least wanted to hear at this moment. "What do you say? Kyrie."

"That's... Credo? And Nero?"

The hand in which Credo held his blade trembled violently. He whipped around and saw, beside Agnus, the relative connected to him by blood. In that instant, he was Burning with Rage and roared furiously, "Agnus!!!"

He had never wanted Nero and Kyrie to be dragged into this kind of thing. He had not wanted the filth and grime inside the Order to ruin the purity of the faith in their hearts, had not wanted them to know that their Big Brother was a man stained all over with blood.

He had not wanted them to know that it was him, that it was the Order's experiments, that had killed their parents.

And Agnus had destroyed it all.

His eyes nearly split with rage, and he wished he could kill Agnus on the spot.

"Credo, you—"

Kyrie looked at Credo, who had turned into this, with some fear. She clasped both hands over her chest and ventured, "This form is..."

"No, there's no need to be afraid." Agnus smiled and bent down, looking at Kyrie from the side. "It's an angel. Your Older Brother was chosen by God and became one, one of the angels."

Credo's holy Demon Form seemed to bear out that claim. Kyrie murmured in confusion, "An angel?" but did not ask anything more.

So Agnus continued, "This was originally a, a secret. Credo needs to defeat demons now, so he changed into this form."

"Demons?"

"That's right, demons."

From a blind spot in Kyrie's field of view, Agnus revealed a wicked smile and pointed. "Look. Isn't that one right there?"

Standing at the end of Agnus's finger was Nero, silver-haired, clutching her chest with her left hand.