Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 42 Mission: 04-3 Breath
After the "Devil's Tree in the Wheat Field," Beatrice took Nero and Ritsuka to the "Strange Rock in the Forest That Seals the Devil," the "Pond That Reflects the Demon's Shadow," and the "Stream Where Mantas Live." Without exception, they all came up empty-handed.

Legends are just legends after all, and it is difficult to distinguish between true and false.

Most of the day passed like this, and the group was getting further and further away from the town. It was time to return. But when Beatrice said that there was only one place left to visit, Ritsuka encouraged the remaining two to complete the search in one go.

The main purpose was to encourage Nero. Mephisto, as the Master of the robot, naturally supported Nero. Nero was worried that Beatrice would be scolded by her father if she came home too late, but Beatrice said that her father didn't care whether she was home or not.

There's nothing more to say, just go. At worst, there's still Georgos there to support us.

Thinking that he had not contacted the other side since leaving the town, Li Xiang asked the Chaldeans to make a video call.

St. George, it seemed, had gone to church with the Lord that morning and was now doing some good deeds on the street. When Ritsuka said, "We're with Beatrice and might be back late. If anything goes wrong, could you please cover for us?" she simply said, "I understand," and hung up.

Now they were safe. The last rumored location they were heading to was the "Devil's Whispering Seaside Grotto."

Ratwinchi is not far from the coast, but it is separated from the coast by a steep mountain wall and there is no road to pass through. Therefore, there is no port here and the fishing industry is not very developed.

Led by Beatrice, Nero and Ritsuka followed a path through the forest, climbed over the hillside, and saw the rocky coast in the distance.

It was very quiet here, not much bird singing. The slightly cool sea breeze blew through the trees, bringing a slight rustling sound.

Thus, in this slightly weird atmosphere, Nero smelled a wisp of evil spirit coming with the wind.

"Ritsuka."

She said it briefly, but that was enough to let the other person know what she was thinking.

"Is there an enemy?"

Before Ritsuka finished speaking, Nero's Echidna soared into the wind and shot down a large, pitch-black bird. A sharp sound of air piercing followed, and Ritsuka looked closely. Half torn by the Serpent's Belly Sword, it was a red-eyed crow. Its flesh was a bloody mess, twitching on the ground.

They found their target.

"Ah ah!"

At this moment, Beatrice let out a scream of surprise and then quickly covered her mouth.

Mashu, who had been monitoring the situation nearby, added, "There are other enemies reacting! At ten o'clock, twelve o'clock, and three o'clock, five in total!"

"Mephisto, you take care of the one at ten o'clock. Nero, I'll leave the rest to you!"

On-the-spot command is Ritsuka's forte. As a leader unit with little combat power (questionable), her responsibility is always to provide tactical guidance based on the number and type of enemies, and to cheer others on.

At this moment, because the enemy at ten o'clock was the closest, Ritsuka chose to send Mephisto, who was less powerful and in charge of personal protection, to fight, so that she could come back to support at any time. The rest could only be left to Nero, who was more powerful.

"Understood~" "Don't worry."

A few demonized animals wouldn't even catch the eye of the Heroic Spirits or Nero. If it weren't for the two people who needed protection, Mephistopheles alone would have been more than enough to handle them.

Glancing briefly at Mephistopheles, who was waving his staff at the demon wolf, Nero wielded Echidna to surround the other four: two demon wolves, a demon pig, and a demonized vulture.

It's rare to see wolves and pigs fighting together. However, the biggest threat here isn't them, but the largest and only flying magic eagle.

It therefore became Nero's first target.

The serpent sword swung skyward, its cunning, snake-like tail instantly turning and accelerating under Nero's control, swooping down on the demonic eagle. However, the eagle simply rose rapidly with a gust of wind, instantly leaving Echidna's range.

Two demonic wolves pounced from either side. Nero retracted Echidna, and silver spiked armor instantly appeared on her slender limbs, crimson magic flowing through the gaps. Nero kicked with his right leg, sending the attacking demonic wolf flying backwards, dislodging half of its fangs. His left hand grabbed the other one, locking the solid metal firmly in its mouth.

Then, Nero threw the demon wolf into the air, and the magic sword condensed in his right hand instantly cut it in half, and at the same time flew out and pointed directly at the vulture in the air.

The demon pig finally charged straight at Nero. Facing this reckless creature, Nero, unable to move out of the way of Ritsuka and the others, could only choose to wrestle with it. Gilgamesh, made of impact steel, was precisely designed for this task.

Nero reached out his hands and grabbed the half-man-tall boar's tusks. The immense impact was mostly absorbed by the shock steel magic tool, but Nero still took a step back. After all, the lighter party was at a disadvantage in a wrestling match.

The absorbed impact flowed through the metal like water. After Nero regained his footing, he raised his leg without hesitation and slammed his knee into the demon pig's chin.

The metal spikes slid smoothly into the demon pig's jaws, and it opened its mouth, uttering a silent wail. At that moment, the flowing impact force was released, and the giant demon pig was flipped over like a piece of paper, flying far away, leaving a bloody parabola in the air.

Then it fell to the ground, bounced up and rolled twice, its throat torn by the spikes like a fountain. It struggled to turn over, but couldn't stand up and fell to the ground forever.

After dodging Nero's magical sword, the vulture adjusted its form and swooped down at high speed, seemingly seeking revenge for its fallen companion. The demon wolf, which had just flown away, regained its footing and pounced on Nero again.

Ritsuka's command came again: "Nero, focus on dealing with the vultures, Mephistopheles!"

"As you command, Master."

Mephistopheles, who had already dealt with his own demon wolf, rushed out from Nero's side in an instant. The slender rapier without a guard in his hand went straight into the toothless mouth and pierced the back of the demon wolf's head.

Nero also threw out Echidna again, and used two magic flying swords to meet the attacking vulture.

Who knew the vulture's attack was just a feint? Just as it was about to collide with the magic sword, it flapped its wings and soared high, letting out a piercing scream.

Then, a boundless demonic energy surged up from all corners of the forest, surrounding Nero and the others.

(End of this chapter)