Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 33 Mission: 02-2 Riddler

Seeing the panic in the face of the girl named Beatrice, Nero gave a slightly helpless smile. She wasn't trying to scare Beatrice; the demonic presence nearby was an undeniable fact.

"You, are you telling the truth?"

Beatrice asked timidly.

"of course."

"I, I'll go back and tell my father!"

The girl, skirt lifted, took small steps and scurried back into town. Since she was the daughter of the town's lord, the residents would probably be more careful about their safety. This was the best option before the demons showed themselves.

The question now is, how did Nero suddenly arrive in the fourteenth century?
The Demon Realm Gate connects to the Demon Realm, and the time of the two worlds runs synchronously. Nero has never heard of any "time rift" in the Devil May Cry world. So it seems——

Maybe she came to another world?
Yan Mo Dao suddenly went crazy just now. Could he even take Nero to a world that has nothing to do with Devil May Cry?
I had to ask someone. Beatrice, whom I had just met, clearly didn't know about demons and supernatural powers, so asking her was pointless. However, there was someone who looked like she might know, and they were not far away.

Nero raised his head and looked towards the town. Behind Beatrice, who was walking away, stood a silent spectator.

A girl with blonde hair, green eyes, and strange twintails like wings, with a blank expression but a beastly aura. She had been there since the beginning of Nero and Beatrice's conversation, but Beatrice couldn't see her at all.

So Nero took the initiative to talk to him: "You showed up, but you didn't say a word?"

The man was wearing a white robe in the style of ancient Greece, with gold-rimmed sandals on his feet, gold chains around his arms and ankles, and a feathered crown inlaid with emeralds on his head. She looked at Nero and said in an emotionless tone, "You are an intruder."

What does this mean?
Nero, bewildered, pretended to be confident and asked the other party, "After eavesdropping for so long, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"

"What flies in the sky is wisdom, what runs on the earth is power, and what swims between the two is freedom."

The girl stated indifferently: "And all of this is my name."

What Riddler?

Nero stared at the man in front of her, bewildered, wondering why he suddenly wanted her to guess a riddle. And to guess his identity, at that. Normally, Nero might have just rushed over and shouted, "Riddler, hit him!" But now, she needed help, so she could only tolerate his bad behavior for the time being.

If he thought about it carefully, Nero's first reaction was a riddle. After all, the answer was the person's name, and the connection between the sky, the earth, wisdom, and power and the name was limited to that. But after thinking it over, Nero felt that it was not right.

She suddenly realized that perhaps the act of "riddle" was an important clue to the mystery. Introducing herself in a riddle, the very act of being the "riddler," was a hint at her identity.

A person associated with riddles.

A man famous for his riddles.

Nero thought of something. There is a very famous riddle in the world, and the person who proposed the riddle is sometimes used to describe the riddle itself.

If we think about it from this perspective, the riddle itself can be easily matched. "Sky" clearly refers to the highest part of a living being. From a physiological perspective, it's the brain; from a spiritual perspective, it's what humans call the "spiritual sky," thus corresponding to "wisdom." The answer to the first sentence is "human head."

"Earth" refers to the part of a creature that connects to the ground, its limbs and body. Meanwhile, in European culture, the creature that represents "strength" is the lion, so the answer to the second riddle is "the body of a lion."

Based on these two sentences alone, Nero already had the answer. He knew without further ado that the third sentence must refer to "bird wings." These three sentences, combined with the other party's riddler's behavior, immediately revealed the answer.

"Are you the Sphinx?"

Nero asked with a firm tone.

"correct."

The blonde girl, or rather the Sphinx, smiled. It was a very faint smile, with a hint of arrogance.

"Then let me formally introduce myself. Sphinx, the Heroic Spirit of the Judge. Nice to meet you, a wanderer from another time and space."

"My name is Nero."

Nero said this, nodding slightly inwardly. Thanks to the information from the Sphinx, she finally had an idea of ​​the world she was in.

The other party clearly mentioned that she was a "Heroic Spirit," and moreover, a "Heroic Spirit of the Judge." With this answer, Nero could completely rule out the possibility of Norse legends and lock on to the only answer.

The Type-Moon world, or more precisely, the branch worldline within the "Fate series," "FGO." Because before the Renaissance, there was no Holy Grail War in the Type-Moon world where Heroic Servants were summoned.

But in Nero's mind... in this worldview, the "singularity" that would influence human history, around the fourteenth century, should be France after the end of the Hundred Years' War. But now, it seemed, it was still in the early stages of the Hundred Years' War, and she wasn't in France, but in England.

What's going on here?
Before Nero could ask more questions, the Sphinx turned its head and its body began to become transparent. Nero shouted, "Wait a minute!"

"The history of this place is being distorted." The Sphinx said calmly without turning around, "The sun is being devoured by hatred, and the arrogant king is about to break free. If you want to escape, try to untie it..."

The voice disappeared along with the figure of the Sphinx. Nero gritted his teeth and withdrew his hand helplessly.

At least the other party had given her a hint to leave this world, so it would be bad to push her any further.

Just as she suspected, this place is a "singularity" where history has been distorted by the Holy Grail, ultimately incinerating thousands of years of human history. FGO's protagonist, Fujimaru Ritsuka, will soon arrive here to correct and erase this history. According to the Sphinx, Nero will then be able to escape this world.

She didn't want to say goodbye to Jillie and the others forever. She had to return to the world of Devil May Cry. Only when she was guaranteed to be able to return could she enjoy her journey.

Speaking of Devil May Cry, Nero thought back to the gate to the demonic world she had destroyed. Was this time traveling back in time related to some peculiarities of that gate?

Could that Mephistopheles also be here? Could that demonic aura be its?
At that moment, the demonic presence that had been looming suddenly surged in strength. Without hesitation, Nero swung his serpent sword behind him.

(End of this chapter)