Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 11 Mission: 02-6 Fellow Travelers

readily!

So refreshing!

Nero brandished the Yama Blade, unleashing its immense power with abandon, barely able to resist the urge to burst out in laughter. However, the ladylike reserve she'd acquired over the years restrained her, and all that surfaced was a coquettish chuckle and a subtle smile.

But for Echidna, this was enough of a mockery.

Ever since Nero exploded her father's gold coins in that dark space, the Yama Sword was naturally repaired in her body, and Nero also understood how to awaken her magic power through the Yama Sword without any instruction.

After seeing the right moment and drawing her sword to destroy the gate to the demon world, Nero's magic power expanded again, allowing her to instantly enter a "pseudo-demon state".

The reason it's "fake" is because Nero's demon bloodline hasn't fully awakened. A truly awakened demon doesn't manifest demonic traits unless they transform into a demon form. Whether it's the "ghost hand" in the game or the "vertical eye" on Nero's chest, these are all signs of incomplete awakening. Once these traits can be freely controlled, it proves that the demon blood has fully awakened.

After entering her pseudo-demon form, Nero quickly realized the change in her hair color through the flowing hair around her, just like her father's human form, "V". The difference is that V hid his original hair color through some means, while Nero finally revealed her hair color as a demon.

Beyond the changes in appearance, Nero instinctively understood that in his demonic state, he could combine a "hymn" with his magic power, creating magical phantoms that remained in place while attacking. When Nero sang what he considered the "final verse," these magical phantoms would attack together.

It's somewhat similar to the spirit Nero inherited from her father in the game, but also different. Nero's intuition tells her that this change is due to her long-term training to become the Diva of the Demon Sword Festival.

But no matter what happens, there is only one thing Nero wants to do now -

——That is to completely defeat the demon in front of you.

The blade light split into four and left a terrifying "well"-shaped wound on Echidna's body. The demon lord suddenly jumped up like a salted fish, frantically destroying everything nearby like a last gasp.

Nero left behind another magical shadow, then turned and jumped away. She thought it was almost time to wrap things up.

She stood there, raising the Yama Blade in her hand, like a conductor raising her baton.

"Now—it's Buoso's turn to walk in my place."

Amidst the chant, the blade was swung down from afar. At that moment, the three shadows left by Nero seemed to possess a will, descending from the air to the ground, surrounding Echidna from three different angles.

The shadow vanished in an instant, and three blade lights shone. But it didn't stop there. The three intersecting blade lights, like Nero's last, split into four, and like the first, they condensed in place. Ultimately, they formed a massive cage forged from twelve intersecting blade lights.

Looking at Echidna, trapped in the cage, her body covered in slashes, seriously injured and near death, Nero tilted her head. This was a little different from what she had initially imagined.

It seems that she has to deliver the final blow herself.

The former demon lord huddled in the center of the cage, trembling and not daring to move, for fear that he would be hit by the knife and lose his life.

When Nero approached, it trembled and retreated, accidentally touching the sword flash behind it and instantly screaming in fear. It was visibly frightened.

Amidst the shrill cries, Nero frowned, covered his ears with one hand, and glared at Echidna. A single glance silenced the former demon lord's wails, not even giving Nero a chance to rebuke her for her impoliteness.

When Nero took another step forward, Echidna instantly squirmed and fell to the ground, her humanoid half even kneeling and kowtowing. She didn't even dare look at Nero, and begged for mercy repeatedly.

"Please, please spare my life!"

Nero took another step forward and saw Echidna kneeling and begging for mercy. She shuddered, and couldn't help but laugh. She chuckled and asked, "I've already destroyed the gate to the demon world. Where can you go if you survive?" "I can submit to you!"

As if sensing that Nero might relent, Echidna quickly spoke up, "I—Echidna—can be transformed into a weapon at your disposal. I will never betray you!"

Oh? Nero was slightly startled, then remembered that Devil May Cry did have a setting where you could turn subjugated demons into powerful weapons. However, the fourth and fifth generation games Nero had played never featured this setting, and the few demons that were transformed into weapons were all killed by Dante.

However, Nero did not agree, but took another step forward: "But your voice is too loud, I don't like it very much."

"Me! I'll shut up..."

Echidna lowered her voice.

"And you seem a little weak."

"I will work hard to become stronger!"

"And he's kind of ugly too."

"I--"

Echidna was almost crying, but unfortunately demons didn't have the ability to shed tears: "Please!"

The sword energy cage had dissipated, but the frightened Echidna no longer dared to make any more moves.

Finally, Nero sighed, and the Yama Blade vanished into a speck of light. He then transformed back into his original blond, blue-eyed appearance and extended his right hand toward Echidna. "Alright, transform into a weapon and let me see it."

In reality, those words were just a scare to Echidna. Nero was already tempted when she told him he could transform into a weapon. The reason was that Nero's pseudo-demon form was now completely tied to the Yama Blade. He would transform whenever he took out the Yama Blade, and this state was somewhat of an ultimate move, so Nero didn't want to use it on everyone.

So she did need a new weapon.

"Thanks……"

Echidna was overjoyed, and before she could even finish her words, she transformed into a ball of light and landed in Nero's hand. When the light faded, Nero's right hand was already holding a tangled whip sword.

Nero looked at his new weapon and uttered, "Hmm?" Then, realizing the demon was a giant snake, he understood its appearance. The whip sword had a flower-like guard, and the blade itself resembled cyan scales strung together by vines, a truly magnificent sight.

"It seems that saying you are ugly is really a misunderstanding." Nero smiled and swung the whip sword a few times.

Because she often heard that it was easy to accidentally hurt herself if she didn't use the whip well, she didn't dare to use too much force when she tried to swing it. But after trying it twice, she was quite good at it, so she boldly whipped it repeatedly in the air, making a sound of breaking wind.

After trying out the whip form, Nero wanted to see something new, so he asked, "Can it be transformed into a straight sword?"

The soft whip shrank instantly, and the sharp emerald green scales folded together. The entire weapon instantly turned into a long sword for swinging, without making any sound.

It seemed that Echidna had indeed remembered Nero's words.

(End of this chapter)