Nero soared high, his longsword aimed at the heavens, his body wreathed in blazing aura that tore through the deep purple venomous rain. A barrage of spectral blue swords shot through the air, zeroing in on Shoko Toyokawa, who hovered mid-sky.
Shoko, peering through her mask, locked eyes with Nero and, for a moment, seemed to falter. But Haring stepped in just in time, appearing behind her and pulling her into the shadows to dodge the strike.
"Boss," Haring said coolly, snapping her back to focus. "Stay sharp."
"Sorry," Shoko muttered.
She reappeared atop the Savior's head, her voice echoing through the crimson moon across the city. "Negotiations are over. 'Death,' 'Love,' move in."
"Got it."
"On it~"
The two she called responded instantly, their controlled demons surging into action, diving headfirst into the toxic rain conjured by Rikki.
Nero spared a glance below, sizing up the situation. Rikki was tough, but no way she could handle that many demons alone. Problem was, Nero's hands were tied—he had to deal with Shoko, who was puppeteering the Savior, before he could back her up.
"I've seen it in the heavens, bathed in His light—" Nero belted out an improvised hymn, slashing through space to dodge the Demon Pillar's attack. He landed on the Savior's chest, driving his blade into the core crystal embedded there.
"Ugh!"
Shoko winced, letting out a muffled grunt. Nero raised an eyebrow—that caught him off guard. The Savior was just a projection pulled from his memories in this world. Why would its damage ripple back to Shoko?
The answer hit him fast. A faint pink glow flickered through the spatial rift Nero had carved, and two figures dropped into the world.
One sported clawed limbs, the other wielded twin longswords. Both landed safely beside Rikki, unharmed by the fall from the sky.
Soyo Nagasaki and Rena Yorunai.
Nero pieced it together. Someone had hijacked the spatial tear he'd opened, shattering the barrier to force these two into the fray. The act had wounded the world itself, and that pain had backlashed onto Shoko.
And who'd pull a stunt like that? No question—it was that slippery devil called Ace, likely tied to the power of "Lust." As usual, it was too cautious to show its true face.
Nero twisted his blade, shattering the Savior's core crystal, then backflipped off its frame. He tossed a line at Shoko, keeping it casual. "Well, well, now it's all starting to click."
He played it off like he was muttering to himself, but Shoko wasn't fooled. She knew he was probing. "If you've got questions, spit 'em out," she said, voice like ice.
Soyo and Rena were now tangled in the demon horde, but their agile, close-quarters fighting style gave them an edge Rikki lacked. They'd hold out until their stamina gave way. Rena, especially, had picked up a few tricks from Nero—she wasn't going down easy.
Nero shifted his gaze back to the Savior, laying out his theory. "If that Ace punk hadn't jumped in, I might've missed the truth about this place.
"This isn't some standalone 'world.' It's inside a demon, isn't it?"
Shoko stayed silent, but Nero's confidence grew. "No, scratch that. It's your insides. The real Shoko's fused with this massive, pants-wetting demon. And you? You're just a phantom—or maybe a prisoner—trapped here."
Finally, Shoko spoke, her voice calm. "And if that's true, so what?"
"Just clears up a few things," Nero shot back.
He slashed space again, vanishing from the Demon Pillar's swipe, and reappeared on the Savior's shoulder. "Like why you're the only one throwing around god-tier power in this place. Or why you never show your face in the real world. Oh, and…"
The Savior's palm swung at him. Nero hopped onto it, driving his Yamato blade through another core crystal. "Why you're kidnapping all those girls."
"Care to share your theory?" Shoko asked, her tone daring him.
"You can't keep this demon going solo," Nero said, certain. "To hold it together, you drag those girls in here, using their sleeping minds to prop up this world—"
"Close enough," Shoko cut in, not denying it. "But my body isn't as massive as this world. This is a world of the mind, existing inside me."
"So if I drink your blood, I can't touch you anymore," Nero said, connecting the dots.
"Not giving you the chance," Shoko replied, her voice frosty.
"Didn't say I was asking for it."
Nero launched into the air, channeling the Pride Demon Stone to shift into an incomplete Pride Devil form—wings sprouting, power surging, a hybrid of his two transformation modes. After countless battles, he'd finally nailed this ultimate state.
Even with the Pride Devil's endless magic, he could unleash the ultimate awakened strike.
Hovering with a flap of his wings, he glared down like an angel of judgment, voice cold. "You're a full-blown demon now, Shoko Toyokawa."
To his accusation, Shoko replied without a flicker of emotion. "Never said I wasn't."
Nero didn't bite, continuing where he left off. "Now, tell me your real name.
"Not this phantom in front of me. The real you. Your true name."
"Curious, huh?" Shoko let out a chilling laugh. "Then burn it into your soul—and take it to your grave."
The blue-haired girl appeared atop the Savior's head, standing under the scarlet moonlight, lifting her skirt's hem.
At the same time, a ghostly figure materialized behind her, framed between Shoko and the glowing lunar wheel, flickering in and out.
It was every bit a demon. Gaunt and skeletal, its ribs jutted like bloodstained fangs along its exposed spine. Two sinuous tails trailed behind, and a hollow face sprouted tentacle-like hair.
"I am the incarnation of the Blood Moon."
Shoko raised her head, her bloodlit eyes meeting Nero's. "The demon from the moon, lord of blood and moonlight, the 'Blood Moon Princess'—
"Known as Nanna."