"Are you serious?"
Trish was especially surprised by this. "Honestly, you two don't need to worry about this anymore. Dante should have gotten his things back by now and will be here soon. He'll handle all of this."
"I'm sure. No one can guarantee their Berserk state won't affect the town, and everything they destroy here will become Credo's property later. Besides..."
Hearing Nero's words, Credo's first instinct was to argue. But on second thought, the Pope and Agnus were obviously going to die. Going down the line of succession, he really was the most likely candidate to become Pope.
Nero finished her sentence. "I have some scores to settle with those two as well."
"...Is that so."
With her arms folded, Trish listened to Nero's declaration, closed her eyes, and smiled helplessly. "All right, then. I'll lend you a hand."
"Nero, you..."
"Credo, take Kyrie back to town." Nero cut him off. "The town and the Order need you right now."
Seeming to see through Credo's worries, Trish smiled and patted his shoulder. "Relax, handsome. Your sister will be fine. Even if she really loses, Dante will save her."
Nero nodded at him as well. "Don't worry. I'll help you fulfill the vow you made before."
Since both of them had said so, Credo could only accept the arrangement. He gave a slight nod and said, "Be careful."
Then he turned around, carried Kyrie in his arms, and left the Place of Descent.
"All right, let's get started."
Watching Credo leave, Trish placed her hands on Nero's shoulders and chuckled. "This might hurt a little. Bear with it."
Hurt?
The thought had barely crossed Nero's mind when golden currents surged from Trish's hands into her body.
Along with pain and numbness, Nero felt the Demonic Power within her, already nearly depleted, rapidly recover—until it even surpassed her peak condition.
This was... Mana Transfer?
As realization dawned on her, Nero quickly discovered that Trish had turned into Lightning and carried her into the sky, rushing toward the Savior's head at absolute speed.
"We can get in from there, right?" Trish asked.
"Should be."
The Savior was still wildly destroying everything nearby. The instant Trish drew close, she hurled Nero toward the Savior. Nero drew her blade in midair, sliced through the remnants of the gem atop the Savior's head, and crashed inside.
"Good luck, Little Beauty."
Trish left her Lightning form, dodged the Savior's fist, and rapidly retreated. Once she had put enough distance between them, she looked back with folded arms and smiled. "Try to give that lazybones a big surprise."
Inside the Savior was a nauseating crimson space made of Demon Flesh and Blood. Agnus was still frantically trying to regain control of the golem. On the other side, the Pope gripped Sparda's Blade, embedded in the center of a restless heart-like Demon creation, muttering endlessly about his grand ideals.
They had not failed yet. As long as they could regain control of the Savior, they still had a chance with Sparda's Blade in hand. If they defeated either Dante or Nero and swallowed them into the Savior's interior...
Suddenly, a slash of blade light tore through the room of Flesh and Blood, and the two inside looked over in surprise.
Silver hair, red eyes, and powerful Demonic Power overflowing from every inch of her body.
It was Nero in Devil Trigger.
The Pope's eyes lit up. He had not expected Nero to walk into the Savior's interior of her own accord. As long as they restrained Nero here and restarted the Savior, even Dante would be too late to stop them.
"Agnus!" the Pope shouted his subordinate's name excitedly as he yanked out Sparda's Blade. His aged body looked utterly mismatched with the Greatsword, but the crimson-black pupils in his eyes and the Demonic markings surfacing across his body gave him a strange, oppressive presence.
"Hey!"
Agnus swiftly summoned two burning black Demon hounds from the Flesh and Blood beneath his feet and grabbed them in his hands.
Facing the two enemies poised for battle, Nero wore a mocking smile. She said nothing more. Instead, just as she had done in countless rehearsals for the Pope, she stepped onto the stage and bowed.
Agnus made the first move. He drove the Demons in his hands and fired two head-shaped Flame Missiles at Nero's feet.
The Pope wrapped himself in a transparent spherical shield and fired a barrage of Demonic Power Missiles at Nero.
"O sun! Our Savior, the existence that transcends all creation!"
This time, what rang from Nero's lips was no improvised aria, but the hymn originally meant to be sung at the Festival of the Blade. It was a genuine Anthem, passed down through the Order of the Sword for a long time.
She leaped backward, avoiding the explosion beneath her feet, then kicked off the wall of Flesh and Blood behind her and transformed into a blade of light, launching a Sudden Attack at the Pope, who was also airborne. The sharp Yamato struck the Pope's shield and bounced her backward.
The Pope swung his Demonic Sword, sending two black-red Light Blades down at Nero in the shape of a Cross. Nero kicked off the air and leaped again, Yamato carrying her body upward. Blue Demonic Power wrapped around her red dress like a two-colored rose.
"You grant us sunlight and compassion; you are the source of humanity's hope!"
Amid her song, a deep-blue blade light passed through the Light Blades and continued upward, hovering above the Pope's head.
Faced with Nero's clear intent, Agnus rapidly finished loading the Cerberus Cannon in the corner and aimed it at Nero in midair once more.
Then he fired again.
Echidna was drawn for the first time by Nero in Devil Trigger. She swung the Whip Sword and detonated the two Flame Missiles in midair.
"All Virtue in this world is gathered within you!"
The blast wave swept over her, and Nero seemed like a petal tumbling in the wind. She moved with the wind as well, drifting away from the Pope.
Two saucer-like devices flew out from behind the Pope and converged two lasers directly upon Nero as she landed.
Nero leaped forward, spinning through the gap between the two lasers and landing at the Pope's feet. This time, she jumped straight up, Yamato in her hand turning into a chilling crescent moon rising from the Demonic Realm.
"I beseech you! Lift up my eyes, that they may bathe in your Supreme Light!"
The blade struck the shield again and was bounced back again. With Sparda's Blade in hand, the Pope's Demonic Power was nearly inexhaustible now, as if no one in this world could defeat him.
But Nero was not discouraged. After landing, she unleashed Dimensional Slash, preparing to send the blade directly before the Pope.
"O Supreme Light!"
Before you continue