Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 222 Mission: 08-4 The Guard Dog of Hades
From beneath the dark red knot of the Demonic Tree's roots, a twisted, scaly tentacle suddenly popped out and pierced through the bricks on the ground.

Nero and V jumped in two directions to avoid it, and then looked at the scarlet gelatinous humanoid figure that was commanding the tentacles.

"Nidhogg", the parasite of the Demonic World Tree.

"Escaped?"

From its completely transparent form, it was clear that this worm-like parasitic demon had no brains at all. Its voice carried a pure innocence untainted by intelligence. The quick-witted Griffin immediately declared, "V, let's just ignore this thing. It's not going to leave here. Let's just bypass this idiot."

"Is this necessary?"

Nero questioned, transforming into a proud demon. He extended his hand and condensed a terrifying ball of magic, sending it plummeting down. While this parasite lacked a powerful brain, it knew how to seek advantage and avoid danger; otherwise, it wouldn't have chosen to hide within the powerful Demonic World Tree. It immediately retracted its tentacles and body into the tree's roots, intending to let the host withstand the incoming attack.

Under the oath of the mark, the Demonic Tree was of course intact, but Nero had already grabbed V's hand and passed under the demon, entering the maze-like Demonic Tree.

At this time, the swaying roots of the Demon World Tree had passed through the ceiling of the Box Garden City, and continued to stretch towards the faint white light on the horizon.

Nero and V have already gone deep underground, but——

"Heretics lead to the palace of wisdom."

V slowly recited the fourth sentence of "The Proverbs of Hell", then found a deep enough pit and jumped down, grabbing Griffin's feet and quickly descending.

However, they had no plans to meet Urison right now.

Nero spread his wings and followed closely behind. Their destination had been set at the very base of the Demon Realm Tree, its crown where the fruit would soon form.

There, they would use the pitch-black magic sword to pierce the tree's trunk, completing the Gift Game left by Sparta. If even this failed to complete the Gift Game, they would have to defeat Urizen. V believed this would both prevent the Devil Tree from bearing fruit and weaken Urizen's power, which was connected to the Devil Tree, making it easier to defeat it should it become necessary. Nero agreed, though she still doubted that Urizen would allow them to do so.

That guy will definitely show up to stop them, the only difference is how fast he does it.

This speed depended on his ability to detect V's subtle movements, and on the ability of the three men to hold him back. The latter was something even the True Demon Dante couldn't achieve, so Nero honestly didn't hold out much hope. As for the former, perhaps they could hope that Urizen wouldn't be distracted by what was happening here? But that would have to happen before the three men were defeated.

A race against time.

"The toiling bee has no time for sorrow."

V, riding the shadow's spikes, struck a vampire worm through the body with his staff. The scattered blood crystals exuded a strange fragrance, seemingly attracting new demons, but Nero crushed them with a single step.

The only requirement for this assault was speed, the faster the better. But Nero and V wouldn't let the witnesses go. They couldn't afford for Urizen to discover their actions early. Therefore, the two of them unleashed their full might, launching a whirlwind of slaughter at top speed.

The lizard with serrated teeth on its back attacked like a wheel, but was hit from the side by Nero's serpent sword, causing it to lose balance and fly sideways, cutting off its crawling companion.

The horned demon caster chanted a spell and was knocked into the air by the leaping shadow. Griffin rushed over with V and executed him.

A frenzied soldier, wielding two swords, charged forward, only to be restrained by Nero's whip sword and flattened to the ground. Knights wielding swords and shields appeared in formation—and V, enraged, summoned Nightmare. His heavy fist shattered the shield, then a dazzling beam of light utterly destroyed it.

They kept advancing, like an unstoppable storm of blood and gore.

The queen, wielding two scythes, leaped high into the air, but was knocked to the ground and ripped open; the red assassin swung his sword in the shadows, but crashed into the cage of shadows and was strangled by a cane; the ball of flesh with a big mouth had no time to chant a spell before a series of lightning and bullets pierced through the barrier and exploded in brilliant fireworks.

Finally, Nero and V went against the cold wind that came from deep in the earth, stepped on the frozen tree trunks, and came to a vertical cave.

Scarlet streaks streaked the pale blue ice, traces of frozen blood. Clearly, deep within the cave, lay a powerful demon capable of controlling the power of ice and frost.

Nero knew what it was. Cerberus - the king of the three-headed dogs of Hell.

Even V and Nero, who had lost their Spartan power, could sense the powerful magical fluctuations. Passing through it would not be an easy battle. However, according to Nero's relatively clear memory, the King of the Three-Headed Dogs of Hell was the last line of defense guarding the canopy of the Demon Realm Tree. As long as they defeated it, they would reach their goal.

"Are you ready?"

Nero turned his head and his eyes met V's calm gaze. V chuckled softly and quoted poetry again in response.

"Prudence is a rich, ugly spinster sought after by incompetence."

As he said that, without waiting for Nero's answer, he grabbed Griffin and jumped down.

"Hey!" Griffin roared in dissatisfaction. Its voice and V's voice echoed in the hard ice and then gradually disappeared.

That made perfect sense. Since they'd already started, they should have already made all the necessary preparations. Nero followed closely behind V and also leaped down, accelerating as he fell, quickly catching up to V, who had already taken the lead.

“The noblest act is to put others before yourself.”

She blinked and smiled, then accelerated again under V's surprised gaze, and landed first in the icy underworld.

Deep beneath the earth, it was dark and gloomy. The bitterly cold ice formed into icy spires, covering the entire cavern like stalactites and stalagmites in a karst cave. And deep within this icy prison, a dark figure tugged at the chains, rising to its feet amidst the clanking sound and emitting a muffled roar.

Lightning and fire flickered across its body, illuminating its majestic form. Covered in silver-white fur, the four-legged, three-headed behemoth opened its central mouth, spewing frost and cold air, and roared in a majestic voice, "Leave now!"

The head on its right followed closely with an even more ethereal voice, with lightning swirling between its lips and teeth: "Only the King of the Demon Realm can enter this door!"

“You are not allowed to pass!!!”

The third head was even more violent and could not wait to issue the final ultimatum.

(End of this chapter)