Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 361 Mission: 08-1 Family
The surface of the painting rippled, and a blonde girl emerged from the frame and landed on the ground.

"...What did you do?"

Nero squinted her eyes at Dante, who was looking at her with a cold face and a harsh tone, and replied calmly, "I had a brief chat with your mother. Is there anything wrong?"

"She's still alive?!"

"No, I'm dead. You can think of me as having taken a trip to the underworld."

So Dante's voice, which had just risen, instantly dropped again: "Okay. She...what did she say?"

"That's a lot."

Nero hadn't intended to put Dante off, but a lot had happened on this trip. She'd learned a lot of key information about Mundus, and with Samael's guidance, she'd figured out the changes that had occurred to the Sin Stone.

Regarding the latter, specifically, these magic stones, which act as converters of magical power, undergo a "reversal" upon absorbing angelic power, gradually transforming towards the virtues corresponding to original sin. This transformation is reversible, and if completed, Nero would be able to autonomously switch between them after reabsorbing them. At that point, Nero would be able to freely switch between angelic and demonic powers, becoming a being similar to a Nephilim.

Dante frowned slightly in annoyance, his face showing a hint of displeasure. Nero then extended his left hand, showing Dante a sky-blue bird-shaped mark on his palm. He said, "Would you like to talk to her? You can communicate with her through this mark."

"what?"

"I'm not lying to you. You'll know if you try it yourself."

This was true. To complete the transformation of the magic stones, Nero had to keep them immersed in angelic power. Samael, who couldn't even fully unfold her own form, obviously couldn't guarantee this, otherwise she would have discovered this method long ago.

To this end, Nero asked Eve to leave a mark on her body that was connected to this space, and to call upon the power that formed this memory space to "nourish" the two magic stones she had taken out.

According to Samael's plan, once all her magic stones have gone through the process of extraction, transformation, and reabsorption, her physique will probably be transformed into one that can use two powers at the same time, becoming a so-called "artificial Nephilim."

Although it remains to be seen whether the Nephilim created by doing this can be considered a real Nephilim and whether he can defeat the Demon Emperor, it is definitely better to do it than not to do it. It may become a trump card when facing Mondes in the end.

Dante grabbed Nero's hand doubtfully.

In an instant, his gray eyes lost their luster and he stood still like a tree stump.

After a few seconds, he pulled his hand away and looked at Nero with complicated eyes.

"How is it?" Nero raised his chin and asked proudly.

Dante's expression changed rapidly, causing Nero to frown. After a moment, he seemed to have accepted his fate, drooping his brows and listlessly uttering two words: "...Sister."

Ah this.

Nero took a lot of effort to hold back from spitting out.

She had discussed this with Eve in advance, asking her not to directly tell Dante and Virgil her true identity. But she didn't expect the final result to be like this.

But on closer inspection, there seemed to be no other possibility. She was a direct descendant of Sparda, and Sparda's two children, Dante and Virgil, were not old enough to be fathers. So, if they were to lie, they had to bring Nero up. And Sparda was captured by the Demon Emperor seven years after giving birth to her two children. Therefore, if they wanted to claim Nero was her child, they had to say it was before then.

So, it became "sister".

However, since this statement implies that Sparda had a child with Eve before, it is somewhat discrediting to Sparda, and I hope he doesn't mind. Dante probably misunderstood the meaning of Nero's expression, which is why he showed such a complicated expression.

But Nero was also well-informed, so she quickly controlled her expression and replied with a chuckle, "Yeah, good boy."

Dante's expression became even uglier. "I call you sister because I'm giving face to my mother, not to you. Don't think you can boss me around."

"well--"

Nero shrugged and sighed: "Since you are so reluctant, just call me Nero from now on."

"Nero?"

"My name."

It's quite funny to say that after knowing each other for almost two days, Dante has only addressed Nero as "you", "hey", and "that guy", and has no interest in knowing Nero's name.

"...As you wish."

Nero glanced at the mark on his palm, then closed his hand and clenched it to hide it. He looked up and met Dante's gaze again. "You're not just talking about me. You came here so quickly. You must have gained something, right?"

"I found my dad."

It was a very concise answer. Hearing that Dante had found traces of Sparda himself on the other side, Nero became a little excited: "Where is he? What did he say?"

"Everything," Dante said. "He seems to have been sealed away somewhere by Mendes. I can talk to him from a distance, but it seems to be just an illusion."

Dante and Sparta also discussed the questions that Nero asked Eve, and learned about the history of Mendes and why he attacked the Sparta family - the Nephilim, and the legend that only the Nephilim could kill Mendes.

Nero had already learned these things from Eve, so they weren't the key points she wanted to know. Eve didn't know, but Sparta was likely aware of the topic of "Mundus's weakness," which was what Nero really wanted to know.

But before that... Nero still needs to pay attention to the condition of Sparta himself.

"There was a vast ocean, his statue bound by countless chains, and surrounded by ruined buildings..."

Based on Dante's description and Eve's words, Nero guessed that Sparta was probably sealed in the destroyed heaven. However, this did not mean that Dante had been to heaven before - after all, he knew it himself, he just fell asleep on the ground.

But since that Sparta knew so much that Dante shouldn't have known, it was definitely not a mere illusion. Perhaps, as Dante himself suspected, he saw Sparta, sealed in the heavens, through a dream.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that Nero and Dante can find a way to reach heaven and rescue him.

As for Sparta's weaknesses, Dante's answer is:

"He did."

Dante nodded: "Mundus is now in the human world. This is his greatest weakness."

As soon as these words were spoken, Nero immediately understood what he meant.

(End of this chapter)