Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 399 Mission: 17-3 Ugly Flower
Words alone were no longer enough to stop Virgil.

At the same time Nero realized this fact, Virgil turned around with a sneer, swung his knife to cut a crack in space, and turned to step out of here.

"Wait a minute!"

Nero failed to stop his steps, and Virgil turned and disappeared into the crack.

Virgil...had fallen so completely and simply.

This fact hit Nero's heart so hard that her breathing became disordered.

The Virgil that Nero knew was a pitiful and hateful guy who chose to pursue power in order to heal his inner trauma, but lost himself in the pursuit of power.

He longs to become stronger because of his human heart and love, but in doing so, he abandons his human side. A classic villain, he also carries a tragic and fatalistic side.

But at this moment, the Virgil she saw seemed to lack this kind of tragic beauty of fate. Without the conflict between human and demon, his fall seemed so easy.

——It is also so unremarkable.

“…It’s not beautiful at all.”

Nero helped Eve sit down and made a low sound.

This posture, this attitude... there's nothing beautiful about it. Virgil like this isn't interesting at all.

Nero couldn't help but think back to the V she'd once met. That man's appearance was a testament to Virgil's struggle after repeatedly losing to Dante, following a path opposite to his own. That man denied the human heart, denied human nature, denied the strength of love and will—yet he could never fully escape these things.

He was not pure, so he failed. It was precisely because he realized this, and because he could not truly let go of human emotions, that he needed to find the Yama Blade and use its power to end his life.

Virgil's struggle between good and evil is a testament to his beauty. The unwavering strength and vulnerability within him is precisely why Nero once loved him.

But this Virgil…what is he?
Because he was a Nephilim, he could easily cut off all of humanity; and because of his brother's "betrayal," he easily cut off the ties of family; simply because of the expansion of evil in his heart, he didn't even need to use the Yama Blade to cut off his conscience, and even harmed his own mother at will. This is Virgil, who without any persistence, easily and weakly fell to the powerful Virgil—

“…it’s so ugly that it’s beyond redemption.”

Nero stood up suddenly, tightening his grip on his weapon. "Don't worry, Ms. Eve. I will stop him."

However, Eve, who was looking up at her, showed a surprised expression. It seemed that she had not yet recovered from the shock brought by Virgil, and her tone was mixed with some worry: "Are you... okay?"

"I'll take care of everything," Nero emphasized again. Then she passed through the void and returned to Sparta's mansion.

Dante opened his mouth in surprise when he saw her return so quickly. But Nero was in no mood to care about that at the moment and asked, "Have you seen Virgil?"

"No. No, I mean..."

Nero ignored the rest of the conversation and turned to rush out, but Dante's subsequent question stopped her in her tracks.

"…You're crying?"

"..."

Hearing this, Nero stopped and wordlessly touched the corner of her eye. Fortunately, there was nothing on her fingertips. She replied expressionlessly, "No."

"Ah, is it..."

"That guy escaped, we have to find him immediately."

She didn't turn around, and finished the conversation with Dante with her back to him. Then she took another step and left the ruined room.

With a premonition in his heart, Nero ran along the road according to the impression in the illusion, and then came to the cemetery with white flowers blooming.

The place was deserted. A gentle breeze rustled the flowers and leaves. Shadowed by the swaying sunlight, two glaring scars were etched across the black and white photograph of the Spartan family, deeply engraved into the stone tablet. He had indeed been there, but Nero was a step too late.

Nero stood in front of the tombstone in silence, motionless, until Dante followed closely.

Seeing Nero stop here, Dante also slowed down his pace and slowly approached the tombstone. His eyes swirled around the sunny cemetery, and finally stopped on the tombstone with Nero.

In that short moment, his breathing stopped. In that brief moment, a thousand thoughts raced through his mind, finally converging in his throat, forming a low, muffled utterance:

“…He did this?”

"Ah."

Nero nodded silently.

Two deep knife marks tore the photo apart, intersecting on the face of the white-haired boy, completely erasing him from the photo.

Almost at the same time as Nero answered, Dante flew into a rage.

"That son of a bitch!"

Even if Dante had ten thousand more guts, he would never be so rebellious as to disrespect his mother's tombstone! How dare Virgil?!

Even so, Nero, who was also furious, couldn't help but feel a little speechless when he heard Dante's scolding. After all, they were brothers from the same mother, so Dante really should have been more careful with his words when scolding them.

How come I almost got myself into trouble as soon as I opened my mouth?

Nero calmed down a bit after Dante's tantrum. She held down Dante, who was about to make a move, and whispered, "Don't lose your temper here. Let's go."

Dante glared fiercely, then turned reluctantly and followed Nero.

"..."

silence.

A long silence.

Back in their old home in Sparta, Nero and Dante sat on the ground facing each other, staring at the rotten wooden floor in front of them without saying a word.

Until the sun sets, the red light of the devil shines into the window and shines on them; until the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, the cold moonlight shines on the broken roof and lights up the dust in the air.

The silence did not end. Until——

Until Dante, who was sitting there with his head down, let out a soft snoring sound.

"Knock, knock." Nero tapped the ground with his cane, waking up Dante who had fallen asleep.

"Huh? A demon?!"

"There is no demon." Facing the startled Dante, Nero answered helplessly.

"what……"

Dante sighed and scratched his head, pulling at his standing hair in frustration and frustration: "Haven't you figured out a solution yet?"

But how could it be so easy? Virgil regained his strength and fled with the Yama Blade, a true tiger returning to the mountains and a fish returning to the sea. How could one catch a guy who could easily open a space channel?

Nero couldn't think of a solution at this moment.

(End of this chapter)