Mission:024 Audience

Mission:02-4 Audience

Nero ran through the desolate garden, past the dried-up pond, dodging the demons pouncing from behind her and firing back with bullets. There were fewer and fewer demons, and the same went for her bullets.

The demon flowers that had parasitized animals were far faster than Scarecrows, fast enough to catch up with Nero at a run. That speed came at the cost of destroying the host's body, and since these animals had been dead for some time already, they would soon reach their limit. So as long as Nero kept this up, she could take them all down.

Another demon flower came lunging, waving its tentacles. This was the fifth one to catch up to Nero so far. Nero pressed the button on the side of the grip, letting the magazine inside drop free on its own, then jumped to avoid the enemy's charge.

But it was the same problem as when she had faced Mephisto earlier: her bullets were being used up too quickly.

Less than a minute had passed since the shriek first rang out, and Nero had already burned through two full magazines. She had only had fifty-one rounds in total to begin with, and now nearly half were gone. Worse still, the enemies had yet to be cleared out. Would her bullets last until she reached Church Headquarters later?

Nero drew out a magazine and snapped it into the pistol in her right hand with a click, then put two shots straight into the demon below. Only after landing did she pull a second magazine from beside her leg and reload her left hand as well.

But there was no helping it. The enemies were still pursuing her. Since they refused to give up, Nero could only choose to fire.

Another demon caught up to Nero. This time, Nero closed in on a wall, kicked off it, and turned in midair, preparing to take out several enemies at once and buy herself a stretch of safety.

One, two, three, four.

Nero calmly counted the enemies closest to her in midair, then fired in order, aiming at their weak points.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

Gunshots rang out six times in succession, and three demons collapsed at the sound. Just as Nero was about to land, her arm shifted lightly, preparing to take aim at the fourth demon.

Then bad news came. News that, to Nero, was even worse than running out of bullets.

The sound of branches snapping and dead leaves shattering came from far to near, but Nero, misled by the gunfire, failed to notice it. Not until her heart gave a sudden, violent tremor.

In that instant, the enemy no longer concealed itself. It crushed a swath of trees and soared into the air, appearing right beside Nero.

A giant snake with blue-green scales, over ten meters long and thicker than a person.

At the same time, it was also the Demon Lord entrenched in this forest, named Echidna. It had noticed Nero's battle and followed the sound of gunfire to the scene.

Before Nero could even turn her head, a tremendous force slammed her away, sending her rolling across the ground in a sorry state. The remaining Parasitic Demon Flowers instantly closed in, ready to kick Nero while she was down.

"Damn it!"

Nero raised her head, cursed under her breath, lifted her hands, and fired all eight bullets left in her pistols. This time, her goal was no longer to take down the enemies, only to force them back.

Once her bullets were spent, Nero charged out without looking back. This time, she no longer followed the road forward, but plunged into the forest and doggedly stuck to the tail of that great snake.

Since she had already been discovered, continuing along the road would only keep giving the other side chances to ambush her. Rather than that, she might as well chase it down herself!

The great snake weaving and shifting through the forest noticed Nero as well. Echidna, who had originally prepared to circle around and turn back, also changed its course, leading Nero in a certain direction.

Even more aggravating things followed. Echidna did not merely sprint all the way; it also continuously awakened the sleeping seeds along the route. The parasitic flowers sleeping within those seeds broke out of their shells and launched constant surprise attacks at Nero.

At the same time, Echidna kept dropping new seeds behind it, smashing them backward like cannonballs and compressing the space Nero had to dodge.

After swapping out the emptied magazines from before, Nero had only her last twelve bullets left. Those twelve shots would be strained even dealing with the mob of demons she had forced back, let alone anything else. Weaving through the forest, Nero followed the serpent's trail, dodged the incoming seed cannonballs, vaulted over broken trees, and whenever a demon drew near, she used a single bullet to call its name and drive it back—until Echidna finally stopped.

Nero did not have a single bullet left.

The Demon Lord "stood" still at the Center of the Plaza, before a massive black stone tablet. Its snake head flicked its tongue, staring fixedly at Nero. A moment later, that head bloomed open like a flower, revealing an upper body that looked like a human Female.

The demon shrieked in a piercing voice, "Damned human! It's time you paid with your life for my children!"

After her bullets ran out, Nero instead felt much lighter inside. The worst situation had now arrived. If she could not awaken Yamato, she definitely would not make it out of this forest. As for bullets or whatever... they no longer mattered.

To be able to bring her before a Demon Lord, Light and Shadow had done all they could.

And so, before the furious demon, Nero gracefully bent forward and performed a standard Skirt-Lifting Bow. She had Credo and Kyrie's corrections over so many years to thank for that. They had forcibly turned a tomboy from the Orphanage into a qualified lady.

At least, a lady on the surface.

Compared to the politeness of her movement, Nero's mouth was not courteous in the slightest. "Your children deserved to die ten thousand times over. Same goes for you, demon lady."

"Save that nonsense for hell!"

Another string of seed cannonballs was thrown out by Echidna, and Nero dodged them with nimble, quick steps. At the same time, her heart began to beat violently.

Yamato had yet to awaken.

Seeing its strike miss, Echidna let out another roar. It spun its body, raising dust from the ground, then charged toward Nero, only to brake sharply. Its tail, gathering all its strength, lashed out like a whip.

Doing such a thing right in front of Nero naturally posed little threat to her. She leaped to the side, grabbed the top of the archway at the entrance, and flipped up to stand on it.

Echidna's tail whip smashed the two stone pillars into fragments just like that. It stopped and thought for a moment, then roared again, "Once I smash all of these to pieces, let's see how you keep dodging!"

That was the truth. Without obstacles, Nero really would have a hard time lasting for long. But at this moment, Nero was not listening to it. Instead, she sank into the depths of her own heart, thinking about how to awaken Yamato.

Awakened and unawakened, repaired and unrepaired. What exactly was still missing between the two?

Time? That was the same as sentencing Nero to death. Nero had no means at all to make up for the month after awakening her bloodline.

Will? Although it did sound like she was bragging, Nero considered herself not lacking in that. Her desire to save others would not lose to anyone's.

It could not be gender, could it? Did Yamato pass to men and not women? Honestly, that would be way too absurd. What era was this, still pulling that whole valuing men over women thing? Even if it was Sparda, Nero would give him a good hard punch.

Amid silent thought and heavy sounds of destruction, a figure flashed through Nero's mind.