Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 324 Mission: 06-5 Tearing the Light of the Night Sky
In front of the complacent Izayoi, Nero's brows twitched wildly.

After taking a deep breath, she exhaled heavily with a puff of thick black smoke, wrapping herself in it again, blocking the sight of both parties.

This way, neither she nor Izayoi could see each other's movements. The smoke grew thicker until -

"Are you going to change the way you play?"

Izayoi clenched his fists, suddenly jumped out of his place, and rushed straight towards the cloud of smoke that remained there: "Come on!"

Until one side took the initiative to attack. Izayoi's fist pierced straight into the black cloud, and the wind from the fist instantly tore it apart. However, Izayoi, who was already prepared to face Nero's counterattack, was stunned at this moment.

Because there was no trace of Nero in the dispersing black clouds.

A trick? Just as the thought crossed Izayoi's mind, he felt a chill on his back. Nero, who had inexplicably vanished, stepped out of thin air and suddenly appeared behind him. The nimble snake-belly sword, like a sinister serpent, swooped down from behind Izayoi, wrapping itself around his empty fist.

worse.

In a split second, Izayoi realized Nero was planning to repeat his old tricks. In this battle, the sky was her domain. If Izayoi was taken up into the sky without resistance, the outcome would be exactly the same as the previous two battles.

The human body is a lever, and levers can be either low-effort or high-effort. When punching from the ground, the fulcrum of the lever is the feet on the ground. Force flows through the muscles throughout the body, ultimately delivering a stronger punch. This is why it's said that "force originates from the ground." However, when being knocked airborne, the fulcrum of the lever falls on the shoulders, and the force from the feet can't be transferred to the fingertips, resulting in a weak and powerless punch.

In that case, Izayoi would no longer be able to compete with Nero, who could fly and walk on magic power.

But Nero's timing was perfect, the angle of his attack brilliant. Izayoi had just delivered his punch, his force exhausted, unable to dodge or counterattack. He extended his left hand, retracted his right arm, and steadied himself, attempting to seize the serpentine sword to counter Nero, but he didn't get the chance.

Nero leaped up in a rage, soaring into the sky like thunder. Izayoi grabbed the serpentine sword and pulled hard, but there was no way to stop Nero's ascent.

Although Nero's flight path was slightly distorted due to Izayoi's interference, she still successfully brought it into the sky and to her home ground.

The battle seemed to be over.

Nero controlled the Snake Belly Sword to throw Izayoi out, aiming at him and raising the blade of the Enma Sword.

Next, she would strike with all her strength to put an end to this boring farce.

The Yama Blade cut through time, carrying Nero into the lightless crevice. She soared towards Izayoi, who was frozen in midair, slashing with the long sword in her hand like lightning.

"My strength! Why have you left me?"

Let's just train him first. Nero thought so - after all, there are many ways to heal this kind of injury in the small garden.

Just as her blade was about to touch Izayoi's neck, time began to flow again.

A dark blue flame flashed in the air, and Nero's blade pierced through the flame and extinguished it, but did not hit anything.

Izayoi disappeared right in front of Nero. What happened?

"Hahahahaha-"

A moment later, Izayoi fell from the sky with a laugh, attacking Nero from above. Nero swung his sword backhandedly, but Izayoi dodged it by somersaulting and sent a swift spinning kick.

But with her lack of skill and limited strength, Izayoi couldn't possibly defeat Nero. Facing Izayoi's incoming toes, Nero met them head-on without wavering. Fury erupted from her body once again, and the winged claws at Nero's waist unfurled, transforming the black smoke into a violent gust of wind. Spinning around, she unleashed an even more powerful and swift spinning kick at Izayoi.

The moment they collided, Izayoi was sent flying by Nero, who transformed into a pitch-black tornado, tumbling through the moonlit clouds. Nero paused for a moment before launching another attack, chasing Izayoi from behind, who had shattered the clouds, further widening the hole he had left in the sky.

Another thunderous flash of blade blazed through the clouds, but this time, it only struck the illusory flames. There was no other possibility; this was undoubtedly the work of the will-o'-the-wisp, the gift of teleportation.

If he were facing any other opponent, Nero could just stab the opponent with the Phantom Sword and mark the location where he would appear after teleporting. But Izayoi was not fooled by this trick. The Phantom Sword, an attack generated by magical power, could not leave even a single wound on Izayoi.

Where will it appear this time?
Is there a limit to the number of times he can teleport?
While pondering these two unanswered questions, Nero looked up and saw that a second sun had appeared in the distant town.

"Oh no, Pest..."

"Is this the time to be distracted?"

Izayoi Sakamaki launched another attack like a falling meteor, but even though he was distracted the moment before, Nero still accurately thrust the blade towards Izayoi's chest.

Izayoi once again grasped the tip of the Yama Blade with both of his hands. He used it as a fulcrum to turn over, avoiding Nero's blade that was stabbing at his head and tried to attack her from behind. When he was about to be caught by the Snake Belly Sword, he turned into flames again and disappeared in front of Nero.

"...I'm not interested in playing hide-and-seek with you."

Nero left the will-o'-the-wisp behind him and sped up instantly, intending to return to the town. Even though Izayoi might catch up soon, being even a fraction of a second faster might help Pest escape this predicament.

However, Nero's intention to abandon Izayoi and return to his aid was arguably the most serious provocation. He had long boasted that he could keep Nero away from the front lines, and of course he wouldn't let Nero go just like that. Thus, beneath the dim sky of the small garden, a second star lit up.

"I didn't allow—"

"Um?!"

The terrifying atmosphere that seemed to be brewing destruction made Nero subconsciously raise his head. There, Izayoi, who was freely falling under the control of gravity, raised his right hand high and grasped a bright, dazzling, terrifying light that seemed to tear the dim night sky into pieces.

"——Someone left before the winner was decided!"

Izayoi's angry laughter was carried by the night wind. Izayoi, falling from the sky, aimed at Nero and swung his fist from a distance.

Then, the pure light that penetrated the heaven and earth burst out from between Izayoi's fingers.

(End of this chapter)