Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 55 Mission: 08-1 Great Retreat (Please Read)

“…an unknown ceiling.”

After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, Nero lay on the bed and slowly opened his eyes. At the same time, a figure emerged from the side and tightly grasped Nero's hand: "Great, you're finally awake!"

Nero turned his head and saw a girl with short orange hair. It was Ritsuka.

And the place where she slept was the lord's mansion. So the town... should be safe, right?

Nero's last memory was the moment she attacked the demons with all her strength, and she had no idea what happened after that.

"how is the situation?"

After sorting out his thoughts, Nero sat up from the bed and turned to look out the window.

The sun was shining brightly. A few white pigeons were perched on the church bell tower, their necks stretching and retracting.

"It's terrible," another voice in the room replied.

She was a woman wearing a long black dress that looked like mourning, with sharp eyes and a pale face.

Ritsuka quickly introduced, "This is Kriemhild, the Berserker's Heroic Spirit, drawn here by the fleeing demon. She is now our companion."

Nero nodded.

And just as Kriemhild had said, the situation was dire. Contrary to the peaceful scene outside the window, the demonic aura Nero had sensed earlier hadn't dissipated, and had only intensified.

Then she was startled and immediately realized that Georgos might not be able to return to the town.

This was indeed the case. Ritsuka told Nero what happened on their side bit by bit:
After breaking the seal of the cave and releasing the group of demons, Nero, Mephistopheles and Aguo left there on Uesugi Kenshin's chariot, while Georgios, who was left behind, was unable to get on the chariot and was submerged in the group of demons.

She wasn't dead yet, Ritsuka could feel that the magic between them was still connected, but she certainly didn't come back.

After that, on the way to the town, Ritsuka and his group encountered a terrible enemy.

One of the Demon Pillars, the demon named "Fulfull". Instead of revealing its true form, it appeared as a burning giraffe, blocking Ritsuka and his group's way back.

There were three Heroic Spirits present at the time, and they should have been able to defeat the demon after a tough fight. However, Ritsuka didn't dare to do so—she was worried about the safety of the town and didn't want to get involved in a fight. So, Mephisto got out of the car alone to stop the demon, while the other three drove away.

Apparently, Mephistopheles hadn't returned either. Nero wasn't worried about his safety, but rather that he might defect.

Then, they met Kriemhild on the road, who was killing demons along the way and approaching the town, and took her back to the town.

By then, Nero had already fallen, and the torrential rain had ceased. Ritsuka learned from Hernan that Nero's final blow had killed 60% of the invading demons and severely injured 30%, effectively forcing them to flee. Those that did leave were mostly slain by Kriemhild.

However, bad news followed: the first wave of invading demons only accounted for about one-third of the total number, and the remaining two-thirds had now left the cave and were slowly advancing towards the town of Ratvinchi.

It was inevitable that Georgos could not stop them alone.

Since these incidents were coming one after another, there was naturally another piece of bad news: since the sixth sunset yesterday, Chaldea had been unable to observe the situation near the cave. This was also the main reason why they had not yet received any news about the two missing Heroic Spirits.

This also means that when they counterattack the cave in the future, they will not be able to get support from Chaldea.

Nero rolled out of bed and walked to the mirror. She had changed into a nightgown, vaguely recognizable as a product of this era. Nero understood. While she could use magic to evaporate the moisture and dirt from her clothes, she was unconscious at the time. Ritsuka and the others wouldn't let an unconscious person sleep in wet clothes.

But what surprised her was the demonized part of her chest. At the very top of the feather-like golden shell, a faint red light had appeared.

Nero moved closer to the mirror and observed it carefully, and found that it seemed to be... the prototype of a red magic stone.

Perhaps it was because she had slain the demon, or perhaps it was because she had absorbed demonic energy. In any case, a crystal similar to the Red Soul Stone was growing on Nero's chest. This might have been the first good news she had received today. However, at this moment, the third piece of bad news arrived.

There was a noise coming from outside the window, and Ritsuka frowned, looking quite distressed.

She seemed to have known this was going to happen.

"...Is that so?" Nero quickly understood. Yesterday's faint demonic energy had already affected the townspeople's minds, causing them to refuse to obey the lord's orders and show hostility toward Nero and his companions. It stood to reason that today's more intense demonic energy wouldn't have any effect either.

Nero walked to the window and looked out.

The lord's mansion was surrounded by layers of figures, and the one leading the group was dressed in white and was obviously the pastor of the church.

"We don't need incompetent lords!"

"Be responsible for divine punishment!"

"Hand over the man who summoned the demon!"

"Witch! Hand over the witch!"

"Hand over the witch!"

Nero took a deep breath, frowned, and closed the window, blocking out the sun and the filthy roars and curses.

Obviously, after experiencing yesterday's incident, these people did not dare to provoke Nero again, so they vented their anger on the lord.

"Did it start this morning?" Nero asked Ritsuka.

Ritsuka nodded helplessly. "There were signs of this happening last night after sunset. That's why I didn't let Kenshin-kun and Miss Okuni stay here. Their foreign identities make them more vulnerable to being targeted."

"Where did you go?"

"I sent them to see the Devil's Kin and Dr. Georgos."

A wise move.

Ritsuka had already explained to Nero the relationship between the seal and the setting sun. She seemed to regret having rashly broken the seal, which had led to the demon's attack and the erosion of demonic energy. Her face was filled with confusion.

Nero sighed and did not try to comfort her directly. Instead, he said, "If we can't find Giorgios, we may have to leave here temporarily."

"Ah."

At this moment, footsteps were heard outside the door. Hernan pushed the door open and walked into the room.

Behind her followed the lord, whose face was ashen and body tense.

Nero could vaguely smell that the demonic energy on his body was particularly strong.

"I'm sorry, everyone," he said coldly and without a trace of emotion, "I have to ask you to leave the lord's mansion for a while."

These words weren't as harsh as those of the townspeople. Those who had already planned this didn't say anything.

Nero, who had already changed back into his original clothes before the lord came in, was moved and asked, "Where's Beatrice? Why haven't I seen her recently?"

(End of this chapter)