Beatrice's face flickered with fear, but only for a split second. She steeled herself, her eyes locking onto the group with determination. "You're going out to hunt down the demon's hideout, right? Can I come with you?"
"Bring you along?" Nero raised an eyebrow, her tone laced with skepticism. "Why?"
That one word carried a lot of questions. Why did Beatrice want to tag along? And why the hell should Nero let her?
Beatrice's answer caught Nero off guard. "Ever since I got back home the day before yesterday, I've been digging through every rumor about demons in the territory."
Now that was a jackpot. If Beatrice had a full rundown on every weird demon story in the area, the Demon Pillar's hideout might just be buried in there.
Ritsuka jumped in, her voice eager. "What'd you find?"
"A ton," Beatrice said. "It'd take forever to explain here. Better to talk while we move."
Nero mulled it over, then glanced at Ritsuka. "I say we bring her."
Ritsuka hesitated, her brow furrowing. "Can we keep her safe?"
Nero had already run the numbers on that one. After seeing Georgios unleash her Noble Phantasm up close, Nero had a rough gauge: in her normal state, she was about even with the saint. But in Devil Trigger—her full demonic power, the kind that once obliterated the Savior and took out a pope with a single hymn—she was packing maybe 80% of Georgios's Noble Phantasm's raw force.
And unlike Georgios, whose big move came with all sorts of restrictions, Nero could go full demon whenever she damn well pleased.
So, she smirked. "No problem."
"Exactly!" Mephistopheles chimed in, his grin as annoying as ever. "If things get dicey, I've got my Noble Phantasm. Foolproof, baby."
For once, Nero didn't entirely scoff at the demon. Everyone knew there were no weak Servants—just ones who hadn't found their moment. Georgios might be mid-tier normally, but against demons? She was a beast. Mephistopheles, on the other hand, was probably the type whose real power was all tied up in his Noble Phantasm. Not impossible.
But that sparked another question. Nero's eyes narrowed as she turned to Ritsuka. "Yesterday was a total shitshow. Why didn't this guy even think about using his Noble Phantasm?"
Ritsuka shifted awkwardly. "Uh… I don't actually know what it is."
"You're kidding." Nero's jaw dropped. "You signed a soul-binding bet with this guy, and you don't even know his deal? His personality, his powers, his Noble Phantasm?"
She whipped her gaze to Mephistopheles, who just tilted his head and flashed a smug, punchable grin.
God, he was begging for a fist to the face. But Nero held back.
Her mind flashed to the night before, when she'd run into Georgios in the mansion's garden.
"Good evening," Nero said, spotting Georgios sitting under the moonlight.
"Good evening," Georgios replied, her eyes fixed on the glowing moon. "You're just a human with demonic power, right? Up this late without sleep?"
After a day, Georgios's attitude toward Nero had clearly warmed up, shifting from "demon suspect" to "friendly ally."
"Don't need much shut-eye," Nero said with a shrug. Demons didn't have human needs, and as a half-demon, Nero could pull off the same trick. Hell, Dante once slept for a month straight without food or water and still woke up ready to kick ass.
"Is that so?" Georgios didn't seem keen on small talk, but Nero wasn't about to waste a rare one-on-one.
She cut to the chase. "You've got that demon's number, don't you? What's the deal?"
Georgios didn't answer right away. Instead, she turned the question back. "You know its true name, don't you?"
Nero shook her head. "A name's just a name. Doesn't tell me squat."
"No," Georgios said, her voice firm. "For demons, a name is everything. They can't use false ones—it'd be like erasing themselves. When the angel Lucifer fell, he became Satan, 'the adversary of God,' forever."
That clicked for Nero. No wonder Mephistopheles was so cagey about his true name around Georgios. But what did "Mephistopheles" mean, then?
"You called it a 'trial,'" Nero pressed. "What's that about?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Georgios said. "To me, its core—its true goal beneath all the games—is to test humanity."
"So, you're cool with me coming along?" Beatrice's voice snapped Nero back to the present. The girl clearly hadn't followed the whole "Noble Phantasm" talk, probably assuming it was some anti-demon trinket.
"Yeah, you're with us," Nero said, shaking off the memory.
"Don't get lost," Mephistopheles added with a sly chuckle.
If "trial" was Mephistopheles's whole deal, it explained a lot. Why he might've let Ritsuka walk into danger. Why he kept nudging her with cryptic advice. It even made sense of that weird smile when Georgios declared she wouldn't fall for his tricks.
Still… a "trial" as a goal? That felt incomplete.
Nero had been chewing on it since Georgios's explanation. Was Mephistopheles rooting for Ritsuka to pass his test or to crash and burn? His bet with her—to "show him the brightest spark of humanity"—suggested he wanted her to succeed. Probably.
Weird-ass demon.
Nero started walking, glancing at Beatrice, who was sticking close. "Alright, where's our first stop?"
"The Demon Tree in the wheat fields!" Beatrice said without missing a beat.
That was the same field where those demon rats had swarmed yesterday, and it was the closest spot to town. Made sense to start there.
The Demon Tree was a small sapling smack in the middle of the fields. No matter how many times it got chopped down, it always grew back in the same spot. Hence, "small"—it never got the chance to become a proper tree.
Sounded odd, sure, but it didn't scream "demon" to Nero. The group moved on to the next spot.
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