"I had a friend… a real close one."
Nero, locked in a standoff with Shoko, and Shoko herself both turned at the sound of that amplified voice. In that moment, they saw Tomori Takamatsu, of all people, gripping her weapon again, soaring beneath the night sky, her heartfelt words spilling out like poetry.
She spoke: "A long time ago, there was this friend. She was like a radiant star, bursting into my world, lighting up my lonely existence."
"Now, of all times…" Shoko muttered, her gaze drifting back, voice low like she was talking to herself.
Tomori's tender words wove into magic through the eagle-claw tip of her staff, transforming into blazing light that illuminated the demon-infested ground. The demons, drowning in the toxic swamp Rikki had conjured, were hit by the glow. Black smoke poured from them as they collapsed, slowly swallowed by the mire.
Now Soyo and Rena only had to deal with the few demons that broke free. In a single moment, Tomori and Rikki had flipped the battle below.
Nero, catching that Aine could whip up barriers, already had a plan forming. Like he was answering Tomori's call, he swung his scythe in a wide arc, carving a jagged path through the air. He blitzed past enemies like lightning, landing right in Shoko's face.
"Oh, spirit of joy!" he belted out, voice ringing. "Forgive my impatient heart!"
Down below, Tomori kept her monologue going: "But I got greedy for that star's warmth and set it ablaze. The burning star turned into a meteor, smashing the world to pieces."
"You live in the eternal light of life, blazing with joy and passion!" Nero sang.
Shoko vanished from Nero's sight, her fingers slamming the organ keys. This time, the music wasn't calm or composed—it was wild, practically screaming with longing and rage.
At the music's command, three attacks hit at once. Nero ducked low, clashing briefly with the speeding Pride Devil, then pulled back. Spinning, he smashed a barrage of magic orbs with his scythe, weaving through laser blasts before landing back on the Savior.
"I didn't want to lose her, didn't want to forget. I gathered the scattered light and hid it in my heart, but nothing stayed. It all just… faded away," Tomori continued, her voice rising with passion.
Nero touched down on the Savior's head, his blade shattering another core crystal without a second thought, driving deep.
"Tell me, do you still yearn for the higher skies, chasing divine grace?" he sang.
Nero dove back inside the Savior. Here, where he'd once taken down the former Pope and Agnus, Shoko sat at her organ, fingers dancing frantically across the black-and-white keys.
She didn't say a word, like she didn't even notice Nero's arrival. Nero didn't rush to attack either. Instead, he plunged Yamato into the scarlet ground, forged from demonic flesh.
"Nay, my kin!" he sang on. "The will of the blessed aligns with divine grace—stand in your place, and you'll find joy and peace!"
Nero's real target was the colossal Savior itself. Outside, the massive statue was grinding to a halt, cracking and crumbling. The Yamato, stabbed into the ground, pulsed with immense magic, sprouting a dense sword array from the crystals controlling the Savior's power, shattering them all.
The crimson earth faded to ashen white. Shoko sat in the collapsing hall, still playing the organ without pause.
"The world fell apart, pitch black. I curled up in the dark, terrified, terrified," Tomori recited, her voice intertwining with the organ's booming notes, growing stronger.
Right then, Nero burst through the crumbling walls, gliding out of the Savior and landing beside a bewildered Aine Chihaya.
In front of a stunned and clueless Aine, Nero folded his wings and said, "Aine Chihaya, I'm gonna need your help."
"Huh? Me?" Aine pointed at herself, shocked. She never imagined someone as badass as Samael would ask her for a hand.
Talk about flipping the script.
"You heard me," Nero said, grabbing her hand with no room for argument, pulling her toward the Savior. "Trap her with your weapon—just for a split second."
"Uh… got it! I'm on it!" Aine replied, practically buzzing —
System: The response has been truncated due to length constraints. Here's the continuation of the translation, picking up where it left off, maintaining the Devil May Cry series' tone with Nero's cocky swagger, dramatic flair, and sharp dialogue:
---
with excitement.
Meanwhile, the poetry and organ music—strange bedfellows that somehow meshed perfectly—were hitting their climax. Amid the frenzied notes, Tomori poured her soul out, her voice climbing higher until it was practically a scream:
"Scared of the cold, scared of the warmth, scared of being alone, scared of company… The world's a mess, and my heart's torn apart by this messed-up world, echoing with hollow winds.
"That sound's screaming, but I can't make out its words. I'm drowning in countless voices, and the drowning me reaches for the sky, trying to grab the star I lost.
"Shining star, warm star, cold star, vanished star. Even if it's gone, I still reach for the sky.
"That's my my star. Even if I can't touch it anymore, I'll never forget."
The statue crumbled. Falling rubble crashed onto the organ, adding a jarring dissonance to the song's final notes. Shoko waved her hand, dismissing the organ, and stood, turning to face behind her.
Nero was already there.
"Playtime's over," he said.
Shoko, done with her performance, fixed him with an icy stare, her voice devoid of emotion. "You and Tomori? Neither of you are leaving here today."
Nero smirked, saying nothing. He just tilted his head, flashing a signal to someone behind him.
The signal meant one thing—
"Aine, now."
In that instant, layer after layer of barriers erupted from the ground beneath Shoko, swallowing her whole. Nero didn't hesitate, stepping right into the trap with her, both sealed at the core of the barrier.
Using the power he'd infused into the scattered rubble, Nero drew on the fragments and belted out the final line of his unfinished hymn:
"Just as rivers flow to the sea, all we are returns to Him."
That magic, fused with Yamato's power, poured into the barrier, severing inside from out. For one fleeting moment, Shoko was cut off from the world, locked in with no escape!
Then, Yamato's cold gleam flashed as it silently plunged into Shoko's body.
Without a word, Nero unleashed Yamato's power, severing the phantom bearing "Shoko Toyokawa's" will from the demon "Nanna" entirely.
Her ghostly form dissolved like dust in the wind. Shoko gazed at the blade piercing her chest, accepting her fate with eerie calm.
Before she faded completely, her delicate fingers, wrapped in black lace, gripped Nero's hand on Yamato's hilt. She leaned in, their dark masks clinking together, her cheek brushing his.
"Don't think you'll win a second time," she whispered, her final breath grazing Nero's ear before she vanished.
The red moon dimmed, and the world plunged into darkness.