Chasing after the classmate who'd slipped out of her house in the dead of night, Nero could sense a demonic presence growing closer—or maybe she was closing in on it. Soon enough, strange noises echoed from that direction.
Nero didn't bother tailing the slow-moving classmate anymore. With a few quick leaps, she vaulted ahead. There, in the shadows, a dark figure wielding twin blades was locked in combat with a pack of demon-scented puppets.
The figure was shrouded in some kind of mist, obscuring their face. All Nero could make out was a long-haired girl with a rather… generous chest. She swung a pair of pitch-black, demonic twin blades, her attacks slicing through the air like a grim reaper in a black cloak.
So, this city's got other demon hunters, Nero thought, not too surprised. But this mystery fighter clearly wasn't tuned into demonic auras, oblivious to the fact that these puppets were just toys—puppets controlled by the real mastermind.
"Over there, huh?"
Nero didn't bother with the skirmish in front of her. She zeroed in on the puppet master's location. The enemy's aura wasn't strong—not the source of the "original sin" tainting Neo City—but it was definitely the creep behind the "missing schoolgirl" cases.
For a demon like that, Nero had no patience for chit-chat. Her Yama-to blade sliced through space itself, a flash of steel streaking into the inky darkness.
"Urgh…"
A muffled grunt of pain came from the hidden foe. In a panic, it tossed out a few more puppets, demonizing them into half-baked fiends that lunged at Nero.
"Really? You think these little toys can stop me?"
Nero vaulted into the air, channeling the Pride Demonstone within her. The blood-red crystal, now fully matured and fused into her body, no longer showed on the surface. For a split second, she let it flare, transforming into her "Pride Archdemon" form before dismissing it. She landed with a rain of majestic red-and-black swords, crushing the puppets into dust.
Raw power, superior status, and a literal high ground—triple domination. Even that fleeting glimpse of her Pride Archdemon form was enough to obliterate the puppets. Nero switched Yama-to to her left hand, pulling out her staff, Samael, with her right. With a flick, it morphed into a massive scythe, and she swung it at the unseen enemy.
Suddenly, a faint sluggishness tugged at her body. Glancing back, she saw the puppets fighting the shadowy figure had turned to intercept her. Cute, but useless. The sword rain she'd left behind still lingered, blocking the puppets from reaching her in time.
"Still hiding, huh?"
Nero casually fired a blade of light to fend off a puppet that was slowing her down, then thrust her scythe into the darkness, hooking it back.
Nothing.
The enemy was shorter than she'd expected—her scythe had missed its mark. No big deal. Nero spun, the scythe's blade carving a wide arc toward the foe.
What did bug her was how weak this enemy seemed. It hadn't even fought back properly. A real demon capable of creating these minions shouldn't be this powerless.
The doubt flickered in Nero's mind for only a moment. Didn't matter. Force the enemy to show itself, and all questions would be answered.
"You… are the enemy."
The demon finally spoke, its voice sounding like a young girl's. But that didn't soften Nero's resolve. Demon's a demon, end of story.
For someone else nearby, though, it wasn't so simple.
"Mutsu?!"
A shocked voice cut through the tense air, slicing between demon and demon hunter.
The next moment, the shadowy figure with the twin blades darted in, planting herself between Nero and the demon.
Clang!
The heavy clash of metal rang out as the figure blocked Nero's scythe. Nero had pulled back a bit, instinctively, when she saw someone step in. For a second, she was confused—why was this person, who'd been fighting the puppets, now protecting their master? But the figure's next words cleared things up.
"It's you, isn't it, Mutsu?"
The shadowy figure turned to the demon, her voice trembling.
Mutsu… The name rang a bell. Then it hit Nero like a devil trigger—
Mutsuki Wakaba? Then this dual-wielding chick is… Soyo Nagasaki?!
After awakening her demon blood, Nero's memories—both from this life and her past one—were crystal clear. In that moment, a specific memory bubbled up to the surface.
"I don't know any 'Mutsu,'" the demon replied, its voice flat and emotionless. "My name is Mortis—Death."
Its true form finally emerged. The demon looked like a young girl with pale green hair, dressed in an ornate black-and-red costume, her face hidden behind a mask that erased all expression.
Nero frowned, stepping back with her blade lowered. This wasn't what she'd expected. A week ago, when she'd saved Aine Chihaya from a demon attack, she'd chalked it up to coincidence—maybe these band kids weren't tangled up with demons. But now, with Mutsuki Wakaba and Soyo Nagasaki here, one wielding demonic weapons and the other turned into a demon…
She had to consider the possibility that the other seven girls might be connected to demons too.
"You know that's a demon, right?" Nero said coldly, locking eyes with Soyo. "Move, or I'll cut through you both."
She wasn't ready to reveal she recognized them. Part of it was keeping up the act, part of it was wanting to grab Mutsuki and figure out what the hell was going on.
Soyo, shrouded in mist, didn't answer. She just raised her twin blades.
Guess she's not backing down. What a pain.
Nero gripped Yama-to in her left hand, reversing her hold, and raised her scythe in her right, ready for a fight.
The scythe swung down—not at Soyo, but at Mortis behind her. Soyo slid across the ground like a shadow, her twin blades blocking the scythe's handle.
Nero followed up with Yama-to, the reversed blade slashing at Soyo, whose hands were tied up parrying the scythe.
Soyo pulled back, deflecting the scythe's strike and dodging the sword's edge.
The two stood locked in a standoff.