Nero didn't have time to catch her breath. Escaping the lab, she bolted through the castle's rear courtyard, vaulted over a railing, and plummeted into the pool below the stone steps.
"Cough, hack!"
She spat out two globs of red liquid, thin threads of blood dissolving into the water.
Gasping in the pool's center, Nero glanced up at the skybridge facing the waterfall. Her heart skipped a beat.
She knew this bridge. Hidden behind the cascade, it was a secret passage to the forest across the bay. Normally, it'd be retracted, only half-extended when no one was around.
But the waterfall was cut off by a sluice gate, both sides of the bridge now connected. Someone had triggered the mechanism—someone from the Order. Worse, her heart was sending out a warning signal. A demon was closing in.
This was a power the original Nero had, now shifted to a new spot after her injuries.
Was it another human like Agnus, transformed into a demon through the Order's "Ascension Ceremony"?
Talk about kicking her while she's down. Even with Yamato's power healing her wounds, Nero was still weak, weaponless, and in no shape to take on an enemy like that.
"Dammit, if I could at least use Yamato…"
Nero stood, her blood-soaked cleric's robe and soft blonde hair heavy with water. Ignoring the weight, she stepped out of the pool, dripping.
A chilly gust hit her, reminding her the Order's castle sat atop a snow-capped mountain. She shivered hard.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of heels clicking grew closer. Nero squinted, spotting a woman sauntering across the bridge under the moonlight, moving with a catlike strut.
White hair, dark skin, dressed in a white gown adorned with peacock feathers, exposing way too much skin for a snowy mountain. Definitely not human.
But when Nero recognized her, relief washed over her. Dodging a Gladius demon swooping from above, she kicked it into the pool without looking back and shouted, "Help!"
The woman barely moved, but two throwing knives sliced past Nero's ear, clipping a few blonde strands and pinning two Gladius demons to the wall.
In a blink, the woman vanished, reappearing above Nero. Knives now back in her hands, she coiled around an incoming Bianco Angelo like a snake, her fingers dancing. In seconds, the hollow knight's armor was dismantled into six pieces.
Nero grabbed the fallen knight's lance, skewering two diving Gladius demons with a flourish. She hurled the lance, pinning the last one to the wall alongside the others, then bent over, catching her breath.
The woman spread her arms like a gymnast sticking a landing, her high heels clicking lightly on the stone. Clack.
"Thanks," Nero said, looking up.
"Gloria," the woman replied, introducing herself. She twirled her knives between her fingers, sliding them into her thigh-high boots, then swayed closer to Nero.
Her hand reached out, white leather gloves brushing from Nero's jaw to her earlobe, lifting a strand of blonde hair.
Nero froze as Gloria's face leaned in, her hands instinctively clutching her chest, body tensing. "W-Wait—"
"Sorry about your hair," Gloria said, pulling back instantly. "I'm new around here, haven't met you before. But you're Nero, right? Credo's sister?"
"Y-Yeah."
Nero's voice came out a bit high-pitched but quickly steadied. She knew Gloria was a fake identity, created by someone infiltrating the Order to sabotage their plans. One of the few people she could trust right now.
"That's weird, though," Gloria said, resting a hand on her chin, blinking. "I heard Credo's little sister was fatally wounded, being patched up by Agnus. So why are you out here, running from these little 'toys'?"
"Agnus is bad news!"
Nero blurted it out, then caught herself, thinking how to share her intel without sounding off. "He said he needed my blood to awaken… the 'Savior'…"
Gloria raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Nero forced herself to stay calm, mentally checking her story for holes. It held up. "I refused, and he turned into a demon! Tried to kill me, said—"
"Okay, okay, I get it," Gloria cut her off, crossing her arms, her tone shifting. "I hear you. But that's not what I asked."
She stepped closer, pushing aside Nero's guarding hands to touch the demonic, hardened flesh at her chest. "What's this all about?"
Nero stiffened, stammering, "I-I woke up, and it was already like this."
Gloria closed her eyes, as if sensing something. Nero's breathing quickened from nerves, her lips pressed tight, face paling.
"Is this the real deal?"
Gloria frowned, opening her eyes and pulling her hand back. She studied Nero's tense frame, then suddenly said, "Bet it's cold in those soaked clothes, huh?"
"Huh?" Nero snapped out of it, realizing she was trembling. "Yeah, kinda."
"Here."
Gloria produced a crimson gown with a shawl from nowhere and tossed it to Nero.
Nero caught it, bewildered. "Uh… thanks?"
Gloria didn't respond, just stood there, staring. After a beat, she smirked. "Oh, what, need a more private spot to change?"
Nero's cheeks twitched, flushing red. "Isn't that obvious?!"
Even if she were still a guy, she wouldn't be stripping in broad—well, moonlit—daylight.
She kept her voice low, but the end spiked with irritation.
"My bad," Gloria said with a shrug, turning toward the skybridge. "Come on."
Nero clutched the dress, trailing behind Gloria like a lost fawn. They crossed the bridge and slipped into a cave hidden behind the waterfall.
"This work? Go on, change. Let me see."
Why does she need to see?
Nero stayed quiet, not asking the question.
She ditched the soaked, bloodied, tattered cleric's robe, wringing out her hair. Slipping into Gloria's crimson gown, she adjusted it over her frame.
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