Mission:054 The Hypocrite

Mission:05-4 Hypocrite

In the center of the battlefield, Trish copied the Pope's earlier tone and asked in return, "How long do you think it takes to cross eight time zones?"

"Dante's already here?" Nero asked, pleasantly surprised.

Credo turned to look at her, a little puzzled.

But this was no time to talk. Agnus had brought Kyrie back to the battlefield, and now they had to get her back first.

"Agnus, bring her over here!"

The Pope controlling the Savior shouted and resumed his pursuit of the three of them. Since Dante had already arrived on the island, it was only a matter of time before their plans were stopped. The only chance the Pope and the others had left was to stuff Nero into the Savior before Dante fought his way here.

Only by obtaining Nero's bloodline and magic power could the Savior rival Dante.

And for that, they first had to fuse Kyrie into it as a hostage who could not be taken away.

"Let her go!"

Credo struck in fury, appearing behind Agnus in an instant. The blade in his hand flashed as he went straight for Agnus's life.

"Ohhhhhh!" Agnus spun around instantly, lifting Kyrie in front of him as a shield. "You had b-better think this through!"

The Pope swept the ground with lasers again, forcing Nero and Trish to take cover.

Seeing Credo held back and forced to stop, Nero raised her head, and Yamato left its sheath in an instant.

The burst of magic power blew away the dust and drew the attention of the Pope and Agnus. Nero gave Trish a look, then leaped up and lunged straight at the towering Savior.

"The Dazzler in Colorful Garments!"

Yamato's blade light flashed, crossing space to leave a deep sword mark on the gem in the Savior's chest. Nero's chant followed right after. "O The Stone-Hearted One Clad in Gold and Jade!"

Startled by her strike, the Pope hurriedly lifted a foot to stomp down on her. Seizing the chance, Trish vanished from below as well, turning into a bolt of lightning that flew toward the heights.

The Pope saw it clearly. It was already too late to warn Agnus; Kyrie was certain to be taken away by those two. But to them, this was both danger and opportunity. Now only Nero remained to obstruct the Savior. As long as they captured him, the situation would reverse in an instant.

Nero flipped onto the top of the Savior's foot and ran upward as if on level ground. The principle behind doing such a thing was simple: all she had to do was use magic power to press herself against the Savior.

When the Pope's stomp missed, he released several black-gold Magic Power Orbs from the gems on the Savior's body, sending them to surround Nero.

"You Hypocrite, who urges others to sacrifice themselves while keeping yourself untouched!"

The speeding Nero spun and swung her blade, cutting her way out from between the Magic Power Orbs, then leaped and landed on the gem at the Savior's knee.

"Your Words are the source of misfortune, your footprints the beginning of sin!"

She raised Yamato high and stabbed downward, piercing through the huge sapphire. The flow of magic power inside the Savior instantly fell into disorder, and its enormous body lost balance.

At the same time, Nero drew her blade free and leaped backward, avoiding the Savior's sweeping palm. In midair, she made the motion of sheathing her sword. Yamato tore space once more, shattering the gem on the other knee.

"Your soul shall fall into hell, and your corpse shall be trampled by ten thousand feet!"

With the magic power in both legs out of control, the Savior's body went limp and it dropped to its knees. Its heavy knees smashed through the floor of the Place of Descent.

Nero's attacks and her improvised Anthem had clearly enraged the Pope. He commanded the kneeling Savior to raise both hands, reaching toward Nero as she hung in the air.

"You understand nothing!"

The Pope screamed in a frenzied voice, "This world has already gone astray. I must correct it!

"This is the mission heaven has given me!"

The Savior's hands gradually drew near. One hand was in front, meant to force Nero to dodge; the other was behind, prepared to block off the space she could dodge into.

If she was caught here, everything would be ruined.

Nero found a moment to glance in Agnus's direction. By now, Trish, transformed into Thunder Light, was already upon him, and Light and Shadow's bullets had pierced through his chest.

Kyrie was safe, so Nero could not afford to drag things down on her side either.

Nero, suspended in midair, did not dodge. She chose to complete her final strike.

Yamato, sheathed in the void, was drawn by Nero in the manner of an Iai, and she slashed straight ahead. At the same time, the final line of the Anthem rang from her mouth:

"Then let gold snap your neck, and let jade pin your limbs in place!"

Five verses, four phantoms, one person swinging a sword. In that instant, five streaks of Sword Light flashed at once, and the five blue gems on the Savior's head, chest, hands, and back shattered in response. A crack pierced through the center of each gem, and then they collapsed completely into glittering shards.

The Savior, already kneeling on the ground, lost all strength and toppled forward. The Pope's voice rang out again, but this time it was filled with Timoris.

"Damn it, it shouldn't be like this. The Savior hasn't—he can't fall yet! Agnus!"

He did not even need to shout. Badly wounded, Agnus abandoned Kyrie and fled into the Savior's interior as fast as if he were flying.

"Yes, that's it—"

The next second, the fallen Savior suddenly began hammering the ground in a frenzy. The Magic Power Core inside blazed fiercely, letting the colossal statue begin destroying everything at will.

Her transformation ended, and Nero, her blond hair restored, dodged the attack and returned to Credo and Trish's side. "What's going on?"

"They made the Savior's energy source go out of control," Credo said with a grave expression, holding Kyrie in his arms.

Nero asked in surprise, "Energy source?"

This time, it was Trish who answered. "Sparda's Blade."

Facing Nero, who had turned to look at her, Trish explained, "The thing they used as the Savior's energy source is Sparda's Blade. That sword contains nearly endless magic power, but only someone with the Blood of Sparda can fully master it."

Only now did Nero fully understand the Savior's structure. The game's description of the statue had been vague at best; Nero had only known that it needed Sparda's Blade and a descendant of Sparda to be complete. Now she finally knew that the Blood of Sparda's function was to serve as the controller for Sparda's Blade.

"So they're not controlling it at all now?" Nero looked at the Savior before her, attacking wildly, and drew a breath. "Miss Gloria, can you help me with one more thing?"

"Mm?" Trish tilted her head and glanced at her. "What are you trying to do?"

Nero touched her chest. "Send me inside."

"Nero, you—" Credo immediately tried to stop her, but when he saw the look in Nero's eyes, he understood that she was serious. "You're planning to?"

"We can't let them keep rampaging like this." Nero stared straight ahead, her gaze landing on the Savior. "Only I can use Yamato. Only I can control Sparda's Blade. So...

"I'm the only one here who can stop them."