In an instant, the crimson galaxy surged forward, countless scarlet eyes gleaming in the darkness, swarming toward Nero like moths to a flame under the spotlight's glare.
Facing the onslaught of demons, Nero yanked a blazing, ghostly blue phantom sword from her chest, thrusting it skyward. Her voice roared through the spotlight's fire:
"The day of wrath is coming! The day of wrath is coming!"
A wolf-like demon, standing upright, lunged at her with slashing claws. Nero's downward slash severed its wrist. With a flick of her hand, she shoved the limp claw aside and drove her sword through its throat in one fluid motion.
"David and the prophets bear witness—the world will melt in flames!"
Gregorian chant, Dies Irae—the Day of Wrath. The version Nero belted out now was from Mozart's Requiem, K626, the most iconic rendition of this sacred hymn.
Beneath the stage's curtain, bathed in the spotlight's glow, Nero dodged another wolf demon's charge. She left behind a corpse clutching its throat, black smoke seeping from its fingers.
The light clung to her every move. Nero spun, another longsword materializing in her hand. Its translucent blade carved through the demon's forearm and chest in quick succession, and with a kick, she sent it sprawling.
In this dreamscape, Nero couldn't wield her Yama blade or the weapons stored in her body, but she could still tap into their power. By envisioning Yama in her grip, she shifted into her Devil Trigger, her voice soaring into the third movement of the Requiem:
"That's the day of divine wrath! When the Judge descends, all will be laid bare—"
A goat-like demon charged, its horns aimed at her. Nero's sword cleaved between them, slowing its momentum. She yanked the blade back, spun, and let another sword glide like a breeze across its neck.
"—and strictly judged!"
The demon stumbled, its inertia carrying it past Nero as it crashed to the ground.
This Requiem wasn't for souls seeking rest—it was for a horde of ravenous demons. Nero skipped the prayerful opening movements, kicking things off with the judgment-proclaiming Dies Irae. And what came next?
"The trumpet sounds across the land!"
Three more demons rushed her. Nero hurled her longsword, the two phantom blades spinning through the air, slicing into the bellies of two demons, gutting them instantly.
Movement two, Tuba Mirum—the trumpet's call heralding the end.
Nero surged forward, grabbing the swords' hilts as the demons collapsed, slicing them in half with a single draw.
"All the dead in their graves will be forced before God's throne!"
Twin arcs of brilliant swordlight crisscrossed in the darkness, merging into a lingering streak of radiance before Nero. The demons that followed slammed into the glowing scar, shrieking as they fell back.
Nero crossed her arms, demonic energy surging from her heart, pouring through her palms into the blades, their glow growing blindingly intense.
After a brief pause, the demons' screams faded, and Nero's voice thundered through the theater once more.
"All creation will rise, and death itself will tremble before its Judge!"
Her swords slashed downward, an X-shaped blade of light tearing through the earth—ripping apart the audience seats cloaked in shadow, sending a tidal wave through the sea of flickering red eyes.
But the vanguard demons finally bypassed the fading sword scar, flanking Nero from both sides. Two appeared on her left, two on her right, and one from behind.
More waited in the wings, ready to pounce.
Nero flung the sword in her left hand, piercing one demon's heart and sending it reeling.
"The book of deeds is opened."
She pivoted, her left leg tracing a half-circle through the air, slamming into one of the demons on her right.
"No sin, great or small, escapes—"
Demonic armor materialized around her leg, and the struck demon went flying. As she retracted her leg, her sword flashed, cutting down the demon behind her.
Her left hand, now clad in demonic armor, seized the throat of the remaining demon on her right in the same motion, hurling it overhead to crash into the last one. The two collided, tumbling into the dark abyss.
"—and all will be judged by it!"
Nero finished the line, her foot tapping lightly, leaving a phantom shadow at her side.
That made five shadows.
Under the demons' relentless assault, the sword scar she'd left shattered like glass. Three more demons lunged, joined by others from the sides and rear—eight enemies now within two meters.
Close.
So close.
The "time of reckoning" was almost here.
Nero held nothing back. Her left hand, wreathed in demonic energy, clenched into a fist and slammed into the ground beneath her.
Her heart pounded, drawing fresh demonic power from her chest, coursing through her veins. Kneeling on one knee, the spotlight-lit ground beneath her shimmered faintly.
Specks of light, like fireflies, swirled around her—only to be swallowed by a massive shadow.
A demon leaped, blotting out the searing spotlight, its silhouette engulfing Nero like a net trapping a golden canary.
But Nero spoke again. She drove her right-hand sword into the ground, her voice heralding the prelude to judgment:
"The Judge takes His seat—"
Dust-like motes of light rose from the ground, coalescing into a spectral figure towering behind her.
The demon descended, its grotesque form nearly overlapping with Nero's. More shadows closed in, ready to pin her down.
But in that moment, another pillar of light erupted, merging with the spotlight's blaze. It burned so fiercely, so brightly, that the demon above Nero recoiled, scorched, writhing in agony amid black smoke and screams.
Nero sang the hymn's final line:
"From this moment on, all secrets will be laid bare, and no sin will escape punishment."
At the heart of the light pillar, Nero knelt, head tilted back, basking in the holy radiance that obliterated all evil, her eyes closed.
Beneath that beam, a vague yet majestic figure sat enthroned in the air, enveloping Nero in its presence.