Mission:035 Lost

Nero knocked Credo's Durandal aside with a downward chop from Yamato, then stepped forward and pinned Durandal's blade tip underfoot, finally suppressing Credo's weapon through leverage. Credo did not retreat and try to pull his sword free. Instead, he charged straight in with his shield.

Nero braced the blade horizontally to block the shield bash, but the force still drove her back a step. Having reclaimed his weapon, Credo used the momentum to leap backward, then swung a wave of light across the ground to stop Nero from pursuing.

After leaping back, Credo did not land. He hovered in midair and said, "Stop getting in my way, Nero."

Nero raised Yamato, taking a stance that would let her unleash a space-rending slash at any moment. "I can't just watch you go to your death."

"I'm going to my death?"

Credo was so furious he laughed. "You only came into contact with all this last night. Do you really think you know better than I do what the Order has done?"

It looked like she had no choice but to drop something explosive.

Nero steadied her breathing and said softly, "I'm sorry, Credo.

"I know everything. It was the Order's test subject that killed Father and Mother."

"You said... what?"

Credo's breath stopped in an instant. His mind refused to understand the meaning of those words.

Nero did not repeat herself. She knew very well that Credo had heard her clearly.

"...Who told you that? Agnus?"

Nero shook her head. "I can't tell you."

"Was it Gloria... No, she only just joined the Order. She shouldn't know about this..."

The secret buried in the deepest part of his heart had been uncovered, plunging Credo into utter chaos. "Damn it, who was it? If Kyrie knows too—"

Nero cut him off. "Kyrie doesn't know, and I won't tell her either."

His heart racing and his head swimming, Credo stopped muttering to himself and looked at her. Nero went on, "But I believe she suspects something too. That demon was unlike any demon recorded by the Order.

"Credo, stop lying to yourself. The Order has caused so many sacrifices. What exactly was it all for?"

"Of course it was... to create an Ideal World without demons."

Credo's tone no longer had the absolute certainty it had at the start.

"Then what about the knights who underwent the Ascension Ritual? Are you saying they should all die too?"

Credo fell silent.

Of course he could say that the Order's knights were all angels, but what they had accepted was still Demonic Power through and through. Even if they survived the Ascension Ritual and did not lose their minds and become pure demons, who could guarantee that it would not happen someday in the future?

Just as Nero had said, the only way to deal with it was—

"Order Knights do not fear sacrifice." After a long while, Credo answered as such.

"Then what about the Pope?" Nero asked in return. "Will the Pope sacrifice himself too?"

Credo gave no further answer.

No matter how much he had trusted the Pope before, after what had happened, it was inevitable that resentment had taken root in his heart.

"Credo, the Order has already..."

Just as Nero was about to press her advantage, Credo spoke and cut her off. "Nero, say no more."

Nero looked at him with some hesitation. "You..."

"No matter how much more you try to persuade me, my conclusion will only be one thing."

He spread his wings, raised his longsword, and declared in a ringing voice, "I will not betray the Order, but I will purge the malignant rot spreading within it. Even if the one who has betrayed our faith is the Pope himself, I will take his head.

"By this sword, I swear to my god, Sparda!"

With that, the Golden Radiance around Credo grew ever more dazzling, like a tiny sun. His gaze slowly fell from the sky to the ground, landing on Nero. "Nero, you cannot stop me. Move aside."

"You can't do it, Credo."

Her attempt to persuade him had failed again, and Nero could only grit her teeth and raise Yamato. "There's no way you can beat the Pope, so I won't let you leave like this either."

"Foolish!"

Credo instantly flashed above Nero's head and smashed his shield toward the ground. "Compared to me, your chances are even lower!"

Nero backflipped away from Credo's landing point, then immediately stepped on magic power in midair and leaped forward, swinging her blade in a horizontal slash at the airborne Credo. "I'm stronger than you. I'm clearly the one with the better chance!"

Credo blocked the strike with his sword, changed his landing point, and crashed down behind her. After landing, he quickly rose and set his stance, aiming at Nero before she had even touched the ground. "Are you still being stupid? Their trap is waiting for you!"

"God shall send down wrathful punishment, and all of your bloodline shall be struck with terror!"

Facing Credo as he thrust straight at her, Nero, propelled by magic power, left behind an afterimage as she accelerated toward the ground. Yamato dropped straight into the earth with the momentum, blocking Credo's charge at this critical moment.

Nero held onto the blade sunk deep into the ground. The slender Yamato and the tip of Credo's sword locked tightly together, letting out a teeth-aching screech, as if sparks were about to burst forth.

"Please, Credo, trust me. I'll..."

"Trust you to walk straight into their trap?!"

Neither of them took a single step back. Half-kneeling on the ground, Nero panted rapidly and gave her answer. "I'm not going alone."

"Who else could there be?"

Credo leaned forward, pushing hard against his longsword.

In other words, Yamato was a legendary weapon. If it had been an ordinary Tachi, it would have snapped long ago in a clash like this.

Nero fell silent for a moment, but in the end, she still said that name.

"It was Dante. The Dante you know."

"You mean Dante?"

The pressure coming through the blade lessened. Nero had just thought Credo had accepted her explanation when she heard his puzzled voice:

"Isn't he still in the Land of the Faithless, on that continent across the sea?"

"?!"

What?

Dante had not come?

The news was so shocking that Nero's hand on the blade trembled slightly. And that one tremor made Durandal and Yamato slip out of alignment by the barest fraction. Credo had no time to pull back his strength, and his longsword pierced through Nero's abdomen.

"Wait?! Nero?!"

Nero's Demon Transformation came undone, and she regained her beautiful golden hair and deep blue eyes. Credo also turned back into human form in a panic, but he did not dare pull the blade out, afraid of causing Nero even more harm.

"Cough, I'm not—cough—I'm fine."

Nero raised a hand, signaling Credo not to panic. A wound of this degree hurt a little, but with Nero's constitution, she would recover quickly. The real question now was—why had Dante not come?

The story began at the Festival of the Blade when Nero was sixteen. During that festival, Dante would appear and assassinate the Pope, while Trish would arrive some time in advance to gather information.

Then how long was there until the festival began?

There was no need to ask Credo. Nero, who had spent more than half a year preparing for the festival, immediately had the answer surface in her mind.

One month.

There was still one month until Dante's first appearance in the game.