Mission:055 Anthem

Mission: 05-5 Anthem

"Are you serious?"

Trish was exceptionally surprised by this. "Honestly, you two don't need to deal with this anymore. Dante should have already retrieved his property and will be arriving soon. He will handle all of this."

"I'm certain. No one can guarantee that their rampage won't affect the town, and whatever they destroy here will eventually be Credo's property. Besides..."

Hearing Nero's words, Credo initially wanted to retort. But upon careful reflection, both the Pope and Agnus were clearly going to die; following the line of succession, the person most likely to become the Pope was indeed him.

Nero finished what she had to say: "I still have some scores to settle with those two."

"...Is that so."

Folding her arms as she listened to Nero's declaration, Trish closed her eyes and smiled helplessly. "Alright then, I'll give you a hand."

"Nero, you..."

"Credo, take Kyrie back to town." Nero interrupted Credo. "The town and the Order need you now."

Seeming to perceive Credo's concern, Trish smiled and patted Credo on the shoulder. "Rest easy, handsome, your sister will be fine. Even if she really loses, Dante will rescue her."

Nero also nodded at him. "Don't worry, I will fulfill your previous oath for you."

Since both of them had said as much, Credo had no choice but to accept the arrangement. He bowed his head slightly and said, "Take care of yourselves."

He then turned around, carrying Kyrie, and left the Place of Descent.

"Alright, let's get started."

Watching Credo depart, Trish reached out to press her hands onto Nero's shoulders, saying with a light laugh, "It might hurt a little, so try to bear with it."

Hurt?

The thought had barely crossed Nero's mind when, the next second, golden electricity surged from Trish's hands into Nero's body.

Accompanied by pain and a sensation of numbness, Nero felt the demonic power within her, which had hit rock bottom, begin to recover rapidly, even exceeding her peak state.

This is... Mana Transfer?

Having realized this, Nero soon found that Trish had transformed into lightning, carrying her into the sky and heading straight for the top of the Savior at absolute speed.

"We can get in from there, right?" Trish asked.

"That should be correct."

The Savior was still wantonly destroying everything nearby, so the moment they drew close, Trish threw Nero toward the Savior. Nero drew her blade in mid-air, slashed through the wreckage of the gem on the Savior's head, and crashed inside.

"Good luck, Little Beauty."

Trish exited her lightning state, dodged the Savior's fist, and quickly moved away. After putting enough distance between them, she looked back at the scene, folded her arms, and laughed. "Try to give that slacker a big surprise."

Inside the Savior, in a nauseating, crimson space composed of demonic flesh and blood, Agnus was still frantically trying to regain control of the golem. On the other side, the Pope held the restless Sparda's Blade, which was embedded in the center of the heart-like demonic construct, while chanting incessantly about his grand ideals.

They had not yet failed. As long as they could regain control of the Savior, they still had a chance with the Sparda's Blade in their possession. If they could defeat either Dante or Nero and swallow them into the Savior...

Suddenly, the room made of flesh was slashed open by a blade of light, and the two inside looked toward it in surprise.

Silver hair, crimson eyes, her entire body overflowing with powerful demonic energy.

It was Nero in her Devil Trigger form.

The Pope's eyes lit up. He had not expected Nero to come to the interior of the Savior and walk right into a trap. As long as they could restrain Nero here and restart the Savior, even Dante would be too late to stop them.

"Agnus!" The Pope shouted his subordinate's name in excitement and pulled out the Sparda's Blade. His elderly body looked quite incongruous with the greatsword, but those blood-red, pitch-black pupils and the demonic patterns emerging all over his body transformed him into a strange sense of oppression.

"Heh!"

Agnus also quickly summoned two burning, pitch-black demonic hounds from the flesh beneath his feet and grabbed them in his hands.

Facing the two who were ready for battle, Nero revealed a mocking smile. She didn't say much, simply stepping forward and bowing as she had done countless times during rehearsals for the Pope.

Agnus made the first move. He urged the demons in his hands, firing two head-shaped Flame Missiles aimed at Nero's feet.

The Pope wrapped himself in a transparent spherical barrier and fired a barrage of Demonic Power Missiles at Nero.

"O Sun! Our Savior, the existence that transcends all creations!"

This time, what rang out from Nero's lips was not an impromptu aria, but the hymn originally prepared for the Festival of the Blade. It was a genuine anthem that had been passed down within the Order of the Sword for a long time.

She leaped backward, avoiding the explosion at her feet, stepped onto the wall of flesh behind her, and turned into a flash of light, launching a sudden attack on the Pope, who was also flying in the air. The sharp Yamato struck the Pope's protective barrier and was deflected backward.

The Pope brandished his magic sword, and two black-red light blades descended toward Nero in a cross shape. Nero stepped on the air and leaped again, the Yamato driving her body to slash upward, blue demonic power enveloping her red dress like a two-toned rose.

"You bestow upon us sunlight and benevolence; you are the source of humanity's hope!"

Amidst the chanting, the azure blue blade light passed through the light blades and continued to rise, hovering above the Pope's head.

Facing the clearly targeted Nero, Agnus in the corner quickly finished loading the Cerberus Cannon and aimed once more at Nero, who was in the air.

Then, he fired again.

Echidna was brought out by Nero in her Devil Trigger state for the first time. She swung the whip sword, detonating the two Flame Missiles in mid-air.

"All the virtues in this world are gathered in you alone!"

The airwave from the explosion blew over, and at this moment, Nero seemed like a petal fluttering in the wind. She moved with the wind, drifting away from the Pope.

Two UFO-like artifacts flew out from behind the Pope, converging into two laser beams aimed directly at the landing Nero.

Nero leaped forward, spinning through the gap between the two lasers and landing at the Pope's feet. This time, she vaulted straight upward, the Yamato in her hand transforming into a chilling, luminous crescent rising from the Demonic Realm.

"I implore you! I beg you to lift my eyes high and let them bathe in your Supreme Light!"

The blade struck the protective barrier once more, only to be deflected again. Holding Sparda's Blade, the Pope's magic power was now nearly infinite, as if he had no equal left in this world.

But Nero was not discouraged. Upon landing, she unleashed a Dimensional Slash, preparing to transmit the blade directly in front of the Pope.

"Oh, Supreme Light!"