Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 34 Mission: 02-3 Fight
A heavy walnut cane struck the midsection of the serpentine sword, halting the whip's force. A demon in a black tuxedo materialized from thin air, deftly dodging Nero's attack.

The demon has long curly light flaxen hair and a pair of bright red pupils that match the name of the demon. His handsome face is both sharp and soft, making it difficult to tell whether he is a male or a female.

Faced with Nero's sudden attack, the demon raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise on its face. It advanced, wrapped its staff around the serpent sword, suppressing it, and stabbed Nero with the end.

Even with its rounded metal head, the cane couldn't cause harm to the human body if it wasn't used to "smash" but to "poke." But thinking that the opponent was a demon and he didn't know if he would have any strange tricks, Nero dodged the attack.

She retracted Echidna, and Gilgamesh emerged, launching a spinning kick at the staff that was relentlessly pursuing her.

At that moment, the cane changed from stabbing to piercing, and flew out of his hand, making Nero's kick miss. The cane spun in the air, and then was caught by the demon the moment it fell. The demon held down the top hat on his head and swung the cane horizontally again.

This time, Nero reached out and grabbed it. The two men were in a stalemate.

"It's not polite to suddenly attack someone the moment you meet."

The demon smiled and said in the same androgynous voice, "Shouldn't you listen to the self-introduction here first?"

Nero sneered and said, "There's no such thing as a gentleman sneaking up behind a lady. Even a demon like that wants to be polite, but it seems they're still far from it."

The demon pressed down on the brim of his hat, taking the lead in releasing his grip. Nero also let go, and the two separated.

She vaguely suspected it was a Heroic Spirit, but the demonic aura lingered. As far as she could remember, true demonic Heroic Spirits didn't exist in the Type-Moon world. Those so-called "demons" in stories were often patched up before landing as Heroic Spirits.

Some are artificial life, some are incorrect legends, and some are different forms in history. In short, there is no real demon.

This guy in front of him, and the mysterious Sphinx from earlier, were all Heroic Spirits Nero had never seen in his past life. Just like this strange singularity.

"How rude, fellow." The demon chuckled softly, "You smell so human, I think I accidentally misjudged you."

Nero glared at the demon unhappily. "I am human. Don't confuse me with you, demon."

"Oh?"

The demon shrugged. "Well, if you insist."

Then, it reversed its grip on its staff and bowed slightly, pressing its shoulder. "Nice to meet you, 'human'. As you said, I am a 'demon', and also a magician's heroic spirit."

"Aren't you going to reveal your real name?"

"That depends on whether we are on the same path."

The demon said, turning around and shouting, "It's okay, Master. You can come out now."

Hearing the word "Master," Nero was stunned. She hadn't expected that the guy across from her had already found Fujimaru Ritsuka from Chaldea, and seemed to have already signed a contract.

Fujimaru Ritsuka, the protagonist of the mobile game FGO, is commonly known as "the last master of mankind." He is one of the last humans left in the world after the history of mankind was burned to ashes by the evil beast.

Then, the orange-haired girl who was hiding in the rice field not far away showed her head.

"Hello, I am the Master of Chaldea, Ritsuka Fujimaru." The orange-haired girl stretched out her right hand and showed Nero the three-stroke Command Seal on the back of her hand.

"I know, you are here to solve this singularity." Nero also stretched out her hand and held it in the air: "I am Nero." Well, Nero knew that what she said would cause the other party to think too much, but she was too lazy to give herself a pseudonym.

Besides, her real name had already been told to Beatrice, and it would be troublesome to come up with a fake name now.

As expected, Fujimaru Ritsuka murmured upon hearing the name. She tilted her head and asked in confusion, "Could it be His Majesty the Emperor?"

"Not Claudius, just Nero."

Nero shook his head and added, "I am a living person."

"So that's how it is, we're isotopes from different time and space!" Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded, shook hands with Nero, and said, "I completely understand now." "Could it be that you, like Musashi, can travel between different eras?"

The process wasn't right, but the result was. Nero gave a forced smile and replied, "Is... this how it is?"

This would make it easier for the other party to understand why Nero has demonic powers. After all, Emperor Nero also has a variant in Type-Moon as the incarnation of Satan, the "Beast of Six Hundred and Sixty-Six."

But... Musashi?
Nero thought about it briefly. In her impression, the appearance of this heroic spirit should have happened after the defeat of Goetia, which burned away human history.

And the pink-haired girl Mashu is not here either. The only Heroic Spirit standing next to Fujimaru Ritsuka is this demon.

Where has the story of this world come to?

So she asked Fujimaru Ritsuka: "Do you know what happened in this singularity?"

A blue shadow suddenly appeared beside Fujimaru Ritsuka: "Senior, let me explain this."

It's Mashu. Since she, a Half-Heroic Spirit, didn't accompany Ritsuka but instead provided support within Chaldea, this clearly means we're already after the ending of version 1.0. Considering this is a singularity, not a Lostbelt... does that mean this is a chapter from version 1.5?

"This singularity occurred on the island of England in 1348, which is right before the Black Death broke out there."

The girl in the projection adjusted her glasses and looked at the information in front of her. She said, "According to the information we collected before the soul particle transfer, although the reason for the birth of the singularity is still unclear, it is certain that it is related to the previously surviving Demon Pillar.

"And, unlike the three previous singularities, the time chosen by the enemy this time is indeed a turning point that could cause huge changes in human history. That is, the plague, the largest in human history, currently breaking out in Eastern Europe. However, theoretically, preventing its further spread is almost impossible, so it is unclear whether the enemy's plot is truly related to this incident..."

"Alright, alright," the demon interrupted her long speech. "The bottom line is, we're completely clueless right now. Who the enemy is, where they are, what they want to do... we have to figure all of this out."

"Yes." Mashu was a little disappointed.

"So..." The demon looked at Nero, smiled provocatively, and asked, "Have you seen the heroic spirit of the Judge?"

"You mean the Sphinx?"

"Sure enough, I knew you could guess her identity."

The demon stepped back and turned the conversation over to its master. Fujimaru Ritsuka stepped forward and spoke cautiously, "Ms. Nero...? I want to know what the Sphinx said."

(End of this chapter)