Nero stirred awake after who-knows-how-long, lying in bed, eyes slowly cracking open. A figure popped up beside her, grabbing her hand tight. "Thank God, you're finally awake!"
Nero turned her head and saw a girl with short orange hair. It was Ritsuka.
She was in the lord's mansion, which meant the town… was probably safe, right?
Her last memory was unloading everything she had on those demons in one final strike. After that? Total blackout.
"How's it looking?" Nero asked, sitting up and glancing out the window.
Sunlight poured in, warm and bright. A few doves perched on the church bell tower, bobbing their heads.
"Pretty damn bad," came a voice from the room.
It belonged to a woman in a pitch-black dress, like she was attending a funeral. Sharp eyes, pale as death itself.
Ritsuka jumped in to introduce her. "This is Kriemhild, a Berserker-class Heroic Spirit. She was drawn here by the demons that got away. She's with us now."
Nero gave a nod.
Like Kriemhild said, things were grim. Despite the peaceful view outside, that demonic aura Nero had sensed before hadn't faded—it was thicker, heavier now.
Her gut twisted. She realized Georgios probably didn't make it back to town.
And she was right. Ritsuka filled her in, piece by piece, on what went down while she was out:
After breaking the cave's seal and unleashing a horde of demons, Nero, Mephistopheles, and Okuni had hopped on Uesugi Kenshin's war chariot to escape. Georgios, covering their retreat, didn't make it onto the ride. He was swallowed by the demon swarm.
He wasn't dead—Ritsuka could still feel their magical connection—but he hadn't come back.
On their way to town, Ritsuka's group ran into a nasty problem. One of the Demon God Pillars, Flauros, showed up. Not in its true form, but as a flaming giraffe, of all things, blocking their path.
Three Heroic Spirits were there at the time. They could've taken it down after a brutal fight, but Ritsuka didn't want to risk the town's safety by getting bogged down. So, Mephistopheles stepped off the chariot to hold it off alone, letting the others escape.
No surprise, Mephistopheles didn't come back either. Nero wasn't too worried about that guy's safety, but she didn't trust him not to switch sides.
Then, on the road, they ran into Kriemhild, who'd been carving through demons on her way to town. They brought her back with them.
By then, Nero was already out cold, and the storm had stopped. According to Hernan, Nero's final attack had wiped out sixty percent of the invading demons, critically injured thirty percent, and scared the rest into retreating. Kriemhild had mopped up most of those stragglers.
But the bad news kept coming. That first wave of demons? It was only about a third of the total. The other two-thirds had since left the cave and were now creeping toward Ratvenchi Town.
Georgios, alone, couldn't possibly hold them back. No way.
And there was more: since the sixth sunset yesterday, Chaldea had lost all visibility on the cave's surroundings. That's why they had no word on their two missing Heroic Spirits.
It also meant that when they eventually counterattacked the cave, Chaldea wouldn't be able to back them up.
Nero rolled out of bed and walked to the mirror. Her clothes had been swapped for a nightgown, something from this era. Made sense—she could've used magic to clean her usual gear, but she'd been unconscious. Ritsuka and the others weren't about to let her sleep in soggy, battle-worn clothes.
What caught her off guard, though, was the demonic part of her chest. At the top of the golden, feather-like armor, a faint red glow had appeared.
Leaning closer to the mirror, she studied it. It looked like… the beginnings of a red magic stone.
Maybe from slaying demons, maybe from absorbing that demonic aura. Either way, a crystal like a Red Soul Stone was forming on her chest. Probably the first bit of good news today.
But then, the third piece of bad news hit.
A commotion erupted outside. Ritsuka's brow furrowed, her face a mix of frustration and resignation.
She'd seen this coming.
"...Figures," Nero muttered, catching on quick. If yesterday's faint demonic aura had messed with the townsfolk's heads—making them defy the lord and turn hostile toward Nero's group—then today's thicker aura was bound to make things worse.
Nero stepped to the window and looked out.
A mob had surrounded the lord's mansion, packed tight as a devil's trap. Leading them was a man in white robes—the church's priest.
"We don't need a useless lord!"
"Answer for God's judgment!"
"Hand over the demon summoners!"
"Witch! Give us the witch!"
"Hand over the witch!"
Nero took a deep breath, slammed the window shut, and blocked out the sun along with the crowd's filthy shouts and curses.
Clearly, after yesterday's chaos, the townsfolk didn't dare mess with Nero directly. So, they were taking it out on the lord.
"Started this morning?" Nero asked Ritsuka.
Ritsuka nodded, looking defeated. "There were signs of it after last night's sunset. That's why I didn't let Kenshin or Okuni stay here. Their foreign status makes them easy targets."
"Where'd they go?"
"I sent them to find Georgios and deal with the demons."
Smart move.
Ritsuka had already explained the connection between the seal and the sunsets. Now, she looked like she regretted breaking the seal so hastily, blaming herself for the demon attacks and the spreading corruption. Her face was all guilt.
Nero sighed but didn't sugarcoat it. "If we can't find Georgios, we might have to ditch this place for now."
"Yeah."
Footsteps echoed outside. Hernan pushed the door open and stepped in.
Behind her was the lord, his face blank as a gravestone, body tense as a drawn bowstring.
Nero caught a whiff of it—the demonic aura clinging to him was thick.
"Sorry, everyone," he said, voice cold and flat as a blade. "I need you to leave the mansion for now."
It wasn't as harsh as the townsfolk's demands. The group, already expecting this, didn't argue.
Nero, who'd changed back into her usual gear before the lord walked in, had a thought. "Where's Beatrice? Haven't seen her around lately."
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