Mission:043 Aura

Mission:04-3 Presence

After the "Demon Tree of the Wheat Field," Beatrice took Nero and Ritsuka to the "Strange Rocks in the Forest Sealing Demons," the "Pond Reflecting the Shadow of Demons," and the "Stream Where Devilfish Live." Without exception, they came up empty-handed at every one.

Legends were still just legends, after all. It was hard to tell truth from falsehood.

Most of the day passed just like that, and the group was getting farther and farther from the town. By rights, it was about time to head back. But when Beatrice said there was only one place left they had not visited, Ritsuka urged the other two to strike while the iron was hot and finish the search.

Mostly, she was urging Nero. As a Master-affirmation robot, Mephisto naturally could not possibly oppose her. Nero's main concern was that Beatrice might be scolded by her father if she returned home too late, but Beatrice said her father did not care whether she was home or not.

Then there was nothing more to say. They might as well go. At worst, Giorgios was still there to hold the line.

Realizing she had not contacted that side since leaving the town, Ritsuka had the Chaldeans place a video call.

Saint Giorgios seemed to have gone to the church with the lord that morning and was now doing good deeds by the roadside. In response to Ritsuka saying, "We're with Beatrice right now and might be back a little late. If anything happens, please help cover for us," she simply said, "Understood," then ended the call.

Now there was nothing to worry about. The last rumored location they were heading to was the "Seaside Stone Cave of Demonic Whispers."

Ratchvenge was not far from the coast, but a steep mountain wall separated the two, with no main road allowing passage. Because of that, there was no harbor here, and the fishing industry was not especially developed.

Led by Beatrice, Nero and Ritsuka followed a small path through the forest and crossed the hillside, where they saw a jagged, rocky coastline in the distance.

It was very quiet here, without much birdsong. A slightly chilly sea breeze passed through the woods, stirring a faint rustle.

And then, amid this faintly eerie atmosphere, Nero smelled a wisp of demonic energy carried on the wind.

"Ritsuka."

She spoke briefly. That was enough for the other girl to understand what she meant.

"Enemies?"

Before Ritsuka had even finished speaking, Echidna rose into the wind in Nero's hand and struck down a pitch-black bird. The sound of splitting air followed. Ritsuka looked closely and saw that the creature whose body had been half-torn apart by the Serpent Sword was a red-eyed crow. It was a mangled mess of flesh and blood, lying on the ground and twitching nonstop.

They had found their target.

"Eek!"

Only then did Beatrice let out a belated scream, then hurriedly covered her mouth.

Mash, who had been monitoring the surrounding area the whole time, added, "There are other enemy responses! Ten o'clock, twelve o'clock, and three o'clock—five in total!"

"Mephisto, you take the one at ten o'clock. Nero, I'm leaving the rest to you!"

On-site command counted as one of Ritsuka's strengths. As a command unit with basically not much combat power (questionable), what she had always been responsible for was giving tactical guidance according to the number and type of enemies. And, incidentally, cheering everyone on.

At that moment, because the enemy at ten o'clock was the closest, Ritsuka chose to send Mephisto, who had weaker combat power and was responsible for close protection, to engage it, making it easier for her to return and reinforce them at any time. As for the rest, she could only leave them to the stronger Nero.

"Understood~"

"Don't worry."

A mere handful of demonic animals like these were not enough to catch the eye of a Heroic Spirit or Nero. If not for the two people who needed protecting, even leaving them all to Mephisto alone would have been enough.

Glancing briefly at Mephisto as she brandished her cane and moved to meet the Demonic Wolf, Nero swung Echidna and surrounded the other four. They were two Demonic Wolves, one Demonic Pig, and one Demonic Vulture.

Wolves and pigs fighting together was not something one saw often. But the greatest threat here was not them. It was the largest one, and the only one that could fly—the Demonic Eagle.

For that reason, it also became Nero's first target.

The Serpent Sword lashed toward the sky. Under Nero's control, the whip-tail, tricky as a snake's head, instantly changed direction, accelerated, and shot straight at the Demonic Eagle. But the other side only rose rapidly on a gust of hurricane wind, leaving Echidna's killing range in an instant.

Two Demonic Wolves pounced from both sides. Nero withdrew Echidna, and silver spiked armor instantly appeared over her slender limbs, crimson demonic power flowing through the gaps. Nero swept her right leg across. The Demonic Wolf that had lunged in to bite was sent flying backward, losing half its teeth in the process. Her left hand caught the other one, the hard metal jamming firmly into its mouth.

Then Nero threw that Demonic Wolf into the air, and the Demonic Power Longsword condensed in her right hand instantly cut it in half at the waist, before flying onward with the same momentum, aimed straight at the vulture in the sky.

The Demonic Pig finally charged straight toward Nero as well. Faced with this kind of brute that only knew how to ram forward, Nero, who could not dodge aside from in front of Ritsuka and the others, could only choose to wrestle it head-on. Gilgamesh, made from Impact Steel, also happened to be suited precisely for this kind of job.

Nero stretched out both hands and seized the tusks at the mouth of the wild boar, which stood half as tall as a person. Most of the tremendous impact was absorbed by the Impact Steel Demonic Tool, but Nero still took a step back. After all, in a contest of strength, the lighter party was bound to be at a disadvantage.

The absorbed impact flowed through the metal like water. After Nero steadied herself, she lifted her leg without hesitation, and her knee slammed heavily into the Demonic Pig's jaw.

The metal spikes slid smoothly into the Demonic Pig's jaw. It opened its mouth and released a silent wail. At that same instant, the flowing impact was released. The enormous Demonic Pig was flipped over like a sheet of paper and sent flying far away, leaving a bloody parabola in the air.

Then it smashed into the ground, bounced up, and rolled twice, its throat torn open by the spikes like a fountain. It struggled to turn over, failed to steady itself, and collapsed forever onto the ground.

After dodging the demonic power sword Nero had thrown, the vulture adjusted its posture and dove down at high speed, seemingly intending to avenge its fallen companion. The Demonic Wolf that had just been sent flying also regained its footing and pounced at Nero again.

Ritsuka's command came again. "Nero, focus on the vulture! Mephisto!"

"As you command, Master."

Mephisto, having already dealt with her own Demonic Wolf, instantly charged out from Nero's side. The slender thrusting sword in her hand, which had no guard, drove straight in through that big mouth missing its teeth and pierced through the back of the Demonic Wolf's head.

Nero also flung Echidna out again, coordinating with two Demonic Power Flying Swords to meet the attacking vulture.

Who would have thought that the vulture's attack this time was a feint? Just as it was about to collide with the Demonic Power Flying Swords, it beat its wings, flew upward, and let out an ear-piercing screech.

Then, boundless demonic energy surged up from every part of the forest as if it were endless, surrounding Nero and the others.