Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 229 Mission: 09-4 The Weak

Nero couldn't help but burst out laughing when he heard V's sudden words. It was quite unexpected. It had only been two minutes since they'd acknowledged each other as relatives, and V was already blatantly eating her gigolo, revealing an expression that said, "You can't even beat my daughter, so what are you going to do to me?"

V seems to have too much humanity, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing.

Theoretically, Urizen should be no match for Nero, who had consumed the fruit of the Demon World Tree and fully awakened to his demonic form. However, Nero herself didn't feel that she had become that much stronger—a fully awakened demonic form would probably be comparable to Dante without a true demonic form, perhaps even less in terms of experience. And Dante in that mode would be completely outmatched by Urizen.

Although this Urizen had become somewhat weaker, he was still stronger than Nero if one had to compare him. Unfortunately, he seemed to have completely lost his mind, and his full strength was completely unattainable.

And when the opponent loses his mind, what you should do is to kick him when he is down and kill him while he is sick.

Nero swung his sword, leaving behind a trail of brilliant light like a river cascading down from the sky. It then shattered the crystal in Urizen's hand, interrupting his attack. Then, a phantom young woman's face appeared at the back of her head, and in a slightly hoarse voice, she began to sing a chorus alongside Nero's clear sigh.

"O Sun! Our Savior, the Being that transcends all creation!"

After completing his true demonic transformation, Nero's abilities naturally changed. While he remained in the form of a sacred chant, his ultimate manifestation was no longer a combined attack with a magical phantom, but rather a continuous use of magic to recharge the "duplicate" behind him.

As the energy continues to recharge, the "duplicate" will gradually awaken and begin to cooperate with Nero in attacking, until it becomes a demon clone that can act independently like Vergil. Even depending on the chant, it seems that it is not impossible to transform into a giant clone.

The only thing that remains unchanged is that the current demon form still maintains the process of chanting to accumulate mana and then using the ultimate move. Perhaps this is the characteristic that Nero cannot change.

Urizen's charged attack was repelled, and V immediately seized the opportunity to counterattack. Shadow transformed into dense iron thorns that pierced the ground, Griffin punctured them with lightning, and Nightmare swung his fist, smashing it into Urizen's cheek with all his might.

“For those struggling in darkness, God radiates light.”

He slowly recited the verses from the book in a low and magnetic voice, and when he stopped, Nero's voice sounded again.

"You give us sunshine and kindness. You are the source of hope for mankind!"

She didn't rush into the familiars' attack, instead creating a glittering array of swords above her head, ready to strike. The face behind her also opened its mouth and uttered a sound, transforming into an illusory head, which began to separate from Nero's body.

"The king's presence should be solemn—"

Urizen tore through Shadow's thorns with brute force, then, with lightning coursing through his body, took Nightmare's iron fist. He still looked unconvinced, determined to overwhelm V's familiars with all his might, even if the Yama Blade hadn't been repaired. He once again gathered immense magical power in his palms.

However, this pretense of bravado only earned Griffin's ridicule. Blackbird, who had just been "killed" for his bad mouth, didn't intend to learn any lessons and continued to laugh shrilly in the lightning jungle:

"This is called art! You brainless idiot!" "All the virtues in this world are concentrated in you!"

Nero chanted the hymn once more. A pair of phantom arms extended from behind her, wielding imaginary long swords. She spun and slashed with a volley of swords. The blades, real and illusory, fell one after another, tearing apart Urizen's "crown" woven from tree roots.

After a long absence, she once again sang the hymns of Fortuna. This was her first demonic transformation, and she intended to perform the most flawlessly, using her best form and the hymns she was most familiar with.

As for Urizen, who had gone astray like Pope Sandox—they had met once in their early years, so it's hard to say they had no influence on each other—don't you think it's very ceremonial to send them off with the same hymn?
Finally, Urizen pushed aside the Nightmare before him and slapped Nero, who had essentially struck him in the face. Nero instantly accelerated, dodging the blow with a beautiful aerial maneuver. Instead, Griffin, still laughing beside Urizen, was accidentally struck by the blow. With a "crack," he was sent flying, a cloud of feathers erupting.

Nero turned in the air, raised the Yama Blade in his hand, and sang again:
"I beg you! Lift up my eyes and let them bathe in your supreme light!"

At this time, the doppelganger behind her had condensed to the waist. It and Nero stood back to back, and also raised their hands, condensing a burning halo above their heads.

Or perhaps it could be understood this way—it was a phantom sword with a ring-like blade, burning with a great deal of mana. As Nero and the phantom swung their swords together, a halo of light plummeted down, landing once again on Urizen's head.

Magical power erupted, but its master belonged to Urizen, not the other two. The indigo demon finally reconnected its tentacles with the Demonic Tree. A fist, brimming with boundless magical energy, streaked through the air like a meteor. Space shattered beneath this terrifying iron fist, on the verge of collapse.

Seeing that Urizen started to fight back, V also knew how to judge the situation. Under the cover of Nightmare, he quickly recalled Griffin and Shadow and moved away in the opposite direction as fast as possible.

However, his actions only made Urizen's eyes blaze with anger. After shattering Nero's circular phantom sword with a single punch and completely destroying the illusion with a single foot, he swung a fist shrouded in magical light at V from a distance. The surging magic power transformed into countless streams of lavender light, enveloping V in front, behind, and on all sides like a magnificent meteor shower.

Each of these streams of light is equivalent to a full-strength beam released by V through Nightmare, a veritable rain of death.

"You pathetic rat who can only roll around and run!" Urizen's voice followed closely, and it was obvious that he couldn't stand the humanity he had abandoned. But in the final analysis -

This actually stems from his morbid aversion to "weakness." Urizen believes that living a life of mediocrity is the most shameful act in the world, but he has apparently forgotten that he once had a tragic past where he constantly struggled to survive on the brink of death.

No—perhaps the opposite is true.

Perhaps it is precisely because he has not been able to get rid of the past even though he has forgotten it that Urizen is so disgusted with V at this moment.

Because that was his ugly past that he couldn't bear to look back on.

(End of this chapter)