In the silence, Nero and Nanna faced each other from a distance.
The battle was about to erupt.
One of them moved—Nero.
"Through me, you enter the city of endless woe!"
She slashed forward with her blade, meeting Nanna's scythe. The weapons clashed with a thunderous roar. Nero locked eyes with Nanna's blood-red gaze, her own filled with nothing but wild frenzy.
Behind her, a faint ripple warped the air along her blade's path—a scar left by disrupted space.
Nero brought Red Queen down from above, only for it to be blocked by the trembling edge of Nanna's crimson scythe, which quivered as if yearning to slice Nero's arm and drink her blood. Nero pulled back, spinning to dodge the scythe's arcing swing, then reset her stance.
She knew even now, Nanna could still evade Red Queen's edge through some trick. So Nero tore space itself with her blade, chanting verses of an eternal prison, determined to trap Nanna in an inescapable web with her final strike.
After that, she'd carve Nanna apart with Red Queen—again and again—until it was dead.
If she pulled this off, Aes wouldn't even matter. Defeat Nanna, and the Demon Emperor's phantom body would vanish. If Aes still clung to its plans and went into hiding, it could wait for Dante to hunt it down and turn it into roasted rabbit!
"Through me, you enter the pit of eternal despair!"
Another slash ripped a shimmering scar through space. Nero and Nanna passed each other, neither landing a blow. The shadowy figure behind Nanna lashed out with flexible tendrils, whipping toward Nero.
"Through me, you enter the throng of the forever damned!"
Nero leaped, spinning mid-air, her blade blazing toward the gaunt, towering phantom. Red Queen sliced through the transparent tendrils with ease, but they regrew instantly, snaking past her blade to entangle her.
They wouldn't stay cut.
Nero could tell that hacking away might slowly chip at Nanna's power, limb by limb. But that was too inefficient—too slow.
She had to aim for Nanna itself.
"Justice moved my maker; I am the creation of divine power, supreme wisdom, and primal love!"
Nero kicked off the air, twisting mid-flight and diving like a falcon. Her blade aimed straight for Nanna, who turned to meet her, ready to strike alongside its phantom.
A flash of lightning tore through the night sky, leaving a warped scorch mark in the air. Nero clashed blades briefly before springing back, dodging the tendrils' swipe. She flipped backward in mid-air, holding off on attacking Nanna again.
This wasn't retreat. She'd chanted four verses of the hymn, and her blade scars had boxed Nanna in from four directions. To lock her completely in the cage, she needed one final strike.
"Before me, nothing was created but the eternal, and I endure with the heavens!"
Nero vanished for a split second. She reappeared on the field, crashing down with a thunderous arc of light. Facing Nanna, she dropped to one knee, slowly sheathing her blade with her hand as a scabbard.
Click.
The illusory sound of the blade locking into place echoed. Instantly, the five scars Nero had carved flared with light, sealing Nanna's escape from every direction—front, back, left, right, and above.
Nero's chant rang out.
"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!"
Five faceless phantoms of demonic energy merged into the scars, linking them end to end. The connected scars resonated, tearing apart the once-intact space and closing in.
The chaotic, violent force of warped space sealed the area into an inescapable spherical shell.
"Ha! Haha!" Nanna's shrill laughter echoed within the shell. "This is your grand plan?"
Nero didn't respond.
No—her answer was the unsheathing of her blade.
In that instant, in this inescapable void with no sky, no earth, no paths, no doors, Nero drew her sword and surged forward. Her figure vanished in a godlike iaijutsu slash, becoming a streak of golden light.
The moonlight-cold blade blurred into a silver thread within the streak, appearing before Nanna in a heartbeat.
Nanna spun its scythe, meeting Red Queen with a blood-red crescent moon, blocking the blade's path. But this time, Nero wouldn't back off. Her deflected blade flowed with her motion, circling back to strike again.
"The legendary demon blade, Red Queen," Nanna sneered. "In your hands, it's just a sharp stick."
It spun, its long-handled scythe twirling with its slender waist, clashing with Red Queen again.
In the crisp clang, Nero's blade veered off, grazing the hem of Nanna's whirling skirt. The two passed each other.
But Nero halted her forward rush instantly. Her toes touched the ground, and she spun like a dancer, Red Queen slashing horizontally.
Nanna's voice rang out again.
"Boring."
In a flash, beforetrips, Nero barely registered what happened before an invisible force slammed her backward, crashing into the chaotic spatial turbulence she'd created.
"Ahh!!!"
Her back was shredded by the violent spatial energy, blood streaming down, not a patch of skin left intact.
Nanna lifted a delicate foot, stepping forward lightly. The turbulent space instantly calmed. Under the moonlight, Nero, drenched in blood, collapsed heavily into a bed of white flowers.
"You really don't get it, do you?"
Nanna's wicked, maniacal grin spread as it mocked, "Or are you just pretending not to?"
It strode to Nero's side, lifting her pale, blood-streaked face with the tip of its black leather shoe. "I can heal the wounds you tore in this dream-world's fabric just as fast as I can fix distorted space. If you're deliberately acting clueless, I've got to hand it to you—you're a damn good comedian.
"But seriously, don't you get it? This is my world. Not even the Demon Emperor could beat me here."
Nanna raised its foot higher, leaning down so Nero could meet its gaze. "In this world, I'm an all-knowing, all-powerful god.
"Your little tricks, your clever schemes—I see them all. I just don't bother dealing with them."
Nero's bloodless lips trembled, but no sound came.
Looking at the weakened Nero, a flicker of twisted affection gleamed in Nanna's crimson eyes. "Oh, how pitiful. Such a pretty face…"
It crouched, cold fingers cradling Nero's face. Its fingertips traced the blood on her cheek, smearing crimson onto her lips.
"Yes… that's it. Only a beautiful puppet like this could please me. Let me keep you here—
"Be my puppet forever."
(Chapter End)