Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 147 Mission: 09-2 Puppet Requiem

Behind this red curtain was not the hall of the mansion that Nero had visited once, but a dark theater occupied by countless demons.

Nero took a deep breath, steadied his somewhat stiff hands, lowered the curtain, and took a step back.

At that moment, the peaceful garden truly took on a dreamlike, uncanny quality. Nero also understood why Nanna and her followers hadn't invaded this dream, which Wakaba Mutsu had described as connected to Xiangzi's, as they had invaded Xiangzi's dream.

Wakaba Mu's dream was unexpectedly divided into two layers: an inner and an outer layer. The inner layer was where Nero currently stood, the world within the "stage." And behind the curtain hanging at the entrance to the mansion, the pitch-black theater was the outer world. Through this two-layered structure, Wakaba Mu successfully avoided Nanna's intrusion and carved out a safe space within her dream.

But is it really safe?

Nero looked around the "stage" and suddenly raised his head to look up into the sky.

In the bright afternoon sunshine, a few faint filaments hung down from the sky.

Some of them were connected to Wakaba Mu's body, and a few were trying to drill into Nero's body.

The scene unfolding on the stage wasn't a play performed by actors, but a puppet show controlled by strings. An invisible presence hovered above the stage, attempting to control the intruder.

"Didn't you say this was your dream?"

Nero waved his hand, used magic to materialize a sword blade, waved away the annoying silk thread beside him, and questioned Wakaba Mu.

If this is really her dream, then why is there a puppeteer controlling her?
The puppet in gorgeous clothes and with a mask covering its face, sitting at the square table, simply pointed to the sky and answered emotionlessly, indifferently, and aloofly:

"——That's Wakaba Mutsu."

This answer nearly made Nero break out in a cold sweat. In other words, if Ye Mu hadn't made any significant movements when she responded, if she had turned her head and flashed a twisted smile, or if she had ripped off her skin and transformed into a hideous monster, Nero would have definitely jumped in fright, and he wouldn't have found it strange at all.

But even so, it was terrifying enough. The existence of this dream perfectly demonstrated to Nero the truly "beautiful" state of Wakaba Mu's mind at that moment. She saw herself as an outsider puppeteer, manipulating the puppet she called "herself," performing scene after scene of drama before the public.

"Why is this happening?" Nero couldn't help but ask.

The puppet responded calmly, "It's always been like this."

She always seemed to speak like this, hovering on the edge of the other person's topic, using very few words, but getting straight to the point when she spoke.

This is perhaps the power of control that a puppeteer possesses over the stage. Ruoye Mu is adept at observing everything from an outsider's perspective, so she will never be "blinded by the situation," but the price is—

The lack of emotion she displayed now.

Nero took a deep breath, suppressed his astonishment, and, maintaining his spirit of not giving up, asked again, "If I kill those demons in the theater outside, can I go into Xiangzi's dream?"

The puppet slowly shook its head and gave another negative answer: "Nanna will find this place."

That really didn't seem to be possible, and Nero didn't want Nanna to find out that he was dreaming so soon - this was its home ground, and it had been proven that it was impossible to defeat it directly.

Chuhua had said that if anything happened to Nero in his dream, she could bring him out. But now that the connection was severed, that safety mechanism was naturally invalid. If Nero was caught by Nanna now, he would probably never wake up.

But she couldn't just sit there and wait. Nero didn't think rescue would come. After all, this was Ruoye Mu's dream. Ruoye Mu and Chuhua were nominal companions. If Chuhua knew, she would have come to find him by now.

"Then how can I leave here?" The puppet tilted its head: "Why?"

This naturally led to the question, "Why leave?" The reason for this question was "It's safe here"... though that might not be the case. Nero answered without hesitation, "I want to defeat Little Ace and Nanna."

For this reason, she wanted to help Xiangzi overcome Nanna's consciousness.

"In that case, don't worry." A slow voice came from under the puppet's mask, repeating the puppeteer's words bit by bit: "Toyokawa Shoko will not lose to Nana."

Hearing her say this, Nero became a little anxious: "Whether she will lose or not is another matter. The problem now is that my uncle is going to lose!"

Yes, ultimately, if Dante could successfully defeat the Demon Emperor summoned by Nanna, Nero could sit back and relax, waiting for his uncle to finish off both sides. However, the problem now was that Dante was also struggling due to his lack of preparation, and victory was even less certain.

If Nana is not defeated quickly, God knows how much more trouble it and Little Ace, the two demons, can cause her.

Moreover, Ruo Yemu was a bit dangerous. Nero was a little worried that he would fall into her trap by accident and be controlled by her instead of Nanna.

Fortunately, Wakaba Mu didn't seem to want to stop him. The puppet sitting at the table raised his hand again, slowly pointing to the curtain that separated the two worlds, and said, "You can leave through the theater door. But where to go, I'm not sure."

Are you not sure where you're going? Nero frowned slightly, but finally decided not to sit here and wait for death: "I understand."

But she still had one question: "But if I leave the stage, won't the demons outside notice this place?"

Nero left, but this was Wakaba Mu's dream after all, and she couldn't just walk away and let Wakaba Mu fall into Nana's clutches. Nero had just criticized Nagasaki Soyo for similar behavior, so she couldn't say one thing and do another.

"If you go backstage, it's okay."

The puppet said "backstage" and pointed to a path in the garden. From there, one could escape the sight of the "audience seats" and safely exit the stage.

"Then let's just say goodbye."

Nero walked to the front of the path, knelt down and saluted, completing his "farewell".

Nero passed through the secret door at the end of the path, and his vision blurred as he appeared in the outer dream. In this dark theater, the audience was packed, and countless scarlet eyes stared at the closed curtain, waiting for the show to begin.

What follows is the greeting when making the first appearance.

And in this endless waiting, a spotlight descended from the dome of the theater, tearing the curtain of darkness.

Under the light, the silver-haired Nero completed his salute, raised his head, and his eyes were burning.

"Everyone."

The sweet voice, wrapped in a solemn air, slowly flowed out from her cherry-colored lips.

"Now, it's time for Requiem."

(End of this chapter)