Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 131 Mission: 07-2 The Rain of Sodom

That's not an illusion.

Both Nero and Dante realized this the first time they saw the statue.

The huge statue that descended here - the huge, terrifying statue with a majestic and holy face and an evil and corrupt hollow in its chest was not a fake extracted from memory.

If time could be turned back to the past, to the day when Dante defeated many powerful enemies and finally arrived at the palace of the Demon Emperor deep in the demon world, the enemy who stood up from the broken tiles and stood in front of Dante would be exactly the same as he is now.

"Nanna..." The stone statue fell to the ground, raised its head to look at the scarlet full moon in the sky, and uttered a thunderous voice: "You are not dead."

In reality, this majestic body, cast from rock, was not the true form of Mendes, but merely the shell of his body shattered by Dante. The real Mendes—neither majestic nor sacred, but the ugly soul of a demon—was still caught between the human world and the demonic realm.

Long ago, although Dante defeated the Demon Emperor with the help of the Sword of Sparta, he only managed to shatter his body. Having consumed the fruit of the Demon Realm Tree, Mondes is practically immortal, living as long as the entire Demon Realm. Therefore, both Sparta and Dante ultimately had no choice but to seal him away.

At this moment, as the destroyed body reappeared, Mundus's will was projected across endless space and landed here. The seal began to loosen.

"Is this really that surprising?" Nanna chuckled. "You've known for a long time that you can't really kill me."

As a demon controlling the dream world, Nanna was naturally not dead. Even if she died, she could still be reborn through dreams, as long as there were still living creatures in the world.

Mondes was naturally aware of this.

He also knew that his current body was not real, but a shadow from a dream. He also knew that even more than Nanna, who had helped him break the seal, he had a greater enemy, who was right here.

"Dante." Mendes turned his head, his three eyes radiating a crimson, evil light. He fixed Dante with those three eyes, and with a commanding voice, he announced his return once again: "Son of Sparta, you should remember what I said."

Dante turned his head, momentarily putting on a relaxed expression, and replied, "Really? I only remember what the truly important people said. Perhaps you could remind me?"

He secretly mocked Mendes, saying, "You're not a significant figure." Mendes was one of the few demons who understood human nature and could exploit it. He certainly understood Dante's subtext—but he wouldn't fall for such a low-level provocation.

"It doesn't matter if you forget. I'll let you remember it yourself."

Mendes flapped his wings, and snow-white feathers condensed from the stone wings fell one by one. Dante saw this and immediately waved his hand to signal Nero to retreat.

"Take these people and leave first." His voice was serious, but he tried hard to put on a joking tone: "Otherwise, when I beat this ugly freak to his true form, they will have nightmares tonight."

Before Nero could reply, the next moment, the holy feathers suddenly burst into flames, transforming into blazing fireballs that rained down. Countless feathers ignited the sky, transforming into a rain of fire from the sky. Dante leaped against the rain of fire, assuming the form of a demon. With three waves of intersecting sword energy, he slashed through a void. Then, turning his head to look downward, he shouted again:

"Come on!"

There was no time to hesitate. Nero immediately turned around and grabbed Chihaya Aine, who was frozen in place by the terrifying rain of fire, and loudly warned her and her teammates:
"Don't just stand there, go!"

In the face of a tight deadline, neither elegant words nor proper etiquette were of much use. Nero used the most rude and direct method to wake up these inexperienced high school girls, then quickly ran back with Aine in hand. God knows how far they would have to run to escape the Demon Emperor's attack, and Nero was equally unsure how well Dante, without the Sword of Sparta, could hold his own against the Demon Emperor. Although she didn't believe in her heart that Dante would lose to such a half-real, half-fake projection, her rationality told her:
Dante came to this island country with a playful attitude and without any preparation, so he might not be a match for this Demon Emperor.

Fire continued to rain down from above. Nero looked back and saw Dante, transformed into a demon, leaping high into the air, brandishing his longsword, Rebellion, and charging towards Mendes. That was a job only he could handle.

So Nero's job at this moment is to protect the city and the girls around him.

A dream enveloped the entire city, and countless people were sleeping within it. If this rain of fire were to fall upon them, countless casualties would result. Dante had no time to spare; Nero was the only one who could save them.

Then, Nero reached out to Aine without any hesitation, took the golden round shield from her hand, and said, "Sorry, lend it to me."

Then he sang loudly amid the magic power rising into the sky.

"A perpetual rain of fire falls from the sky, molten gravel glows red hot!"

The colorful gemstones on the round shield lit up. As Nero's magic power rapidly drained away, the transparent barrier expanded like an aurora, enveloping the sky above the city.

"I walked here silently and saw a stream flowing out of the woods—"

Another voice sounded from the sky. The ethereal chanting seemed to echo Nero, integrating the power of "rejection" into the barrier created by Nero.

The rain of fire continued to fall, constantly hitting the barrier and creating dense ripples. Nero looked up and knew who the other singer at the source of the harmony was.

"Sadness", Triangle Chuhua.

Rejecting everything out of sorrow, she fell into a deep sleep; this was her power. With the help of this demon who knew no friend or foe, Nero's barrier quickly grew solid enough to withstand the aftermath of Mundus's rain of fire.

However, if his attack passed Dante and hit the barrier with all his strength, it would undoubtedly shatter in an instant.

"The river is the color of blood, extinguishing all the fireballs that fall upon it!"

Nero chanted again, solidifying the barrier that had begun to take shape. Triangle Chuhua's voice followed closely behind: "The river of blood is the tears flowing from the base metals beneath the gold—"

The barrier was reinforced once more. Nero then sang the final verse, pouring all the immense magical power of his arrogant demon form into it, allowing the barrier to fully take shape.

"They seeped into the earth, sinking to where they could no longer sink, and became four great rivers of wailing and lamentation!"

She had done what she could, and now all she could do was pray for Dante's safety.

After exhausting all his magic power, Nero exited his demon form, was wrapped in brilliant golden hair, and fell down dejectedly.

(End of this chapter)