"A mere human, not even a Heroic Spirit, unknown to history—pathetic. In the end, this is all they're capable of."
Lemegeton's thousand eyes scanned the surroundings, coldly assessing the situation as the massive gash carved into its body began to heal at a rapid pace.
Nero's final strike had failed to deal a crippling blow. The wound left by her phantom greatsword looked gruesome, but it barely accounted for five percent of the Demon God Pillar's colossal form. A superficial scratch, nothing more than a flesh wound, and one that would soon be fully restored.
The only thing nagging at Lemegeton was the fact that the human had completely vanished under the incinerating assault. That should've been normal—releasing the True Name of such an attack unleashed power rivaling some of the most exceptional Noble Phantasms, reducing a mere human to molecules with ease. Yet, something felt off, like a thorn lodged in its core.
At its essence, a Demon God Pillar was an autonomous machine, acting purely on programming. It lacked a sense of self, and thus, it couldn't possess anything like "intuition" as living beings did. But Lemegeton had fled the Throne for one reason: it didn't want to die. Did that mean it was starting to become more… human? Like the very creatures it despised?
As it wrestled with this thought, Lemegeton sensed something else—outside the great barrier, the presence of the Demon God Pillar Forneus had vanished. Strange. It had personally witnessed the strongest Heroic Spirits in this Singularity enter the cave. Who could possibly still have the power to defeat a Demon God Pillar?
"Dawn's eve claims another."
Despite the sentiment, Lemegeton felt no sorrow for Forneus. It was simply pleased that its kin had fulfilled its duty as a Demon God Pillar. Forneus' demise outside meant at least three exceptionally powerful Heroic Spirits had converged there, making the birth of the new king all but certain.
But in the next moment, a bone-chilling dread surged from within Lemegeton's core—it had overlooked someone.
Mephistopheles. His displayed strength was weak, barely surpassing that of a competent mage. Yet he carried an air of enigma, as if concealing his true name.
Lemegeton knew he couldn't be trusted, but it had instinctively underestimated him due to his apparent frailty. And yet, the direction Mephistopheles had gone… it aligned perfectly with Forneus' location.
Could he have done something?
Before Lemegeton could process this, a terrifying force erupted from deep within the cave—a power so malevolent, so overwhelming, and brimming with destructive intent that no Heroic Spirit could possibly wield it.
Under this force, the mountain trembled, rocks split, and trees toppled. Shattered trunks and rolling boulders crashed toward the coast, sealing the collapsing entrance to the cave.
Then, from the depths of the earth, came a long, furious, soul-shaking roar—a dragon's cry.
"A dragon? Impossible!"
Lemegeton ignored even the distant cannon fire. Pure dragons were the stuff of fantasy among fantasies, boasting infinite magical energy, indestructible bodies, and eternal life. Even a Demon God Pillar like Lemegeton wouldn't dare claim it could defeat a fully mature dragon single-handedly!
A pseudo-dragon with mere draconic blood could never wield such power. What had appeared in Pavone's domain was, without a doubt, a true dragon.
In terms of raw strength, Pavone far surpassed any dragon—save for that one being regarded as the enemy of the gods. But right now, it wasn't just Pavone and the evil dragon there. Lemegeton knew that the Arbiter, intricately tied to Pavone, was its greatest nemesis at this moment!
"Not part of your plan, I take it?"
"Who—?"
From within Lemegeton's still-healing wound, a figure pushed through the blood and flesh entangling her, rising to her feet. She shook out her drenched golden hair, using mana to evaporate the viscous slime coating her body, and took a deep breath of the magic-saturated air.
Not enough.
Sensing the dense, irritating, arrogant, and corruptive evil energy around her, the blonde girl stretched, every inch of her skin drinking in the dark magical aura.
It was, of course, Nero. She had survived the terrifying sea of flames, her clothes nearly burned to ashes. As she breathed, a cloak woven from mana, shimmering in ghostly blue, swiftly covered her pristine form.
With each breath, countless red-and-black patterns began to emerge across the cloak as Nero absorbed the overwhelming magical energy.
Under normal circumstances, Nero would've been skinned alive, if not outright killed, by the incinerating flames, leaving no strength to protect her attire with mana. But after absorbing the power from that strange demonic stone, the tiny crystal sprouting from her chest triggered an unexpected change.
Its red hue deepened, its surface gleaming brighter, like a glowing droplet of blood. In that moment, Nero understood what it was.
Born from absorbing the magical energy of "Pride," this crystal was a hyper-pure crystallization of "Original Sin," formed as Nero filtered the mana from the demonic energy. This Huddersfield (the growing crystal, still maturing, could allow Nero to command the mana of Pride, entering a special state known as the "Great Sin Demon: Pride."
Of course, that was only after it fully matured. But even in its incomplete state, it let Nero wield the mana of Pride—like now.
By merging the dark magical energy with her mana-woven cloak, she condensed it into red-and-black "Great Sin Armor."
It was this very method that had allowed Nero, at the critical moment, to shield herself from the flames' burn with solidified demonic energy.
And now, backed by an endless well of magical energy, Nero's power was inexhaustible. The time had come to sound the horn of counterattack.
"A second Pride-born beast? …No, that's impossible!"
Ignoring Lemegeton's disbelief, Nero leaped skyrocketing into the air, drawing her Yamato blade once more.
Clad in regal black-and-red armor, a radiant blue cloak trailing behind her, she raised her blade high and sang, "O star of the morning, son of the dawn!"
Endless demonic energy formed a staircase of darkness, her stepping stones. Nero descended, her blue-black phantom swords raining down like a meteor shower, blanketing the sky. "How you have fallen from heaven! You who would conquer nations, how you are cast down to the earth!"
She had no intention of wasting time on Lemegeton. Deep in her heart, she knew that to fully awaken the Pride stone in her chest, she had one final enemy to defeat.
The true master of this demonic energy, the Beast of Dominion—Pavone.
Good news—Nero's evolution path has finally been unlocked!
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