“Come… back, Emilia,” Nero spoke as gently as he could.

“Why?”

“I will tell you, just come back first.”

Emilia slowly walked to Nero and stood in front of him.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Show me your hands.”

Emilia showed her right hand, then looked at Nero.

“I said ‘hands’, so you need to show your both hands.”

Emilia showed both of her arms. “What is it?”

“Can you carry Sophia for a moment?” he asked.

“Why?”

“Because I only have two hands, and I can’t do anything if my hands are preoccupied.”

Emilia nodded, and Nero passed Sophia to Emilia.

“Don’t drop her— I don’t think she is that heavy.”

Nero walked near Venus’ body but stopped at a distance about a meter from the body. He stood there for a while, then muttered something.

Even though it was a shallow voice, Emilia was able to hear some of it.

‘Did he say ‘It is already done’ or something?’ Emilia pondered.

Nero then sighed as if he was relieved about something, then looked down at Venus’ body.

His eyes widened in surprise as he inspected Venus’ body with his eyes.

“What are the odds now, eh?” he said.

“Nero?”

Nero looked back at Emilia and said as he shook his head, “It’s nothing.”

He walked closer to Venus’ body, then swiped his thumb to his finger as the blood drop came out, and he said, “O~ the one who resides in the void, heed my—”

A dark portal appeared in front of Nero, and some jumped from inside with a voice saying, “You called, master?”

It was a girl’s voice, and she had white hair, white clothes, and her face was covered by a white mask with nothing but red marks on it— not even eye sockets.

Nero sighed and then scoffed. “You should have at least let me complete the summoning; you ruined the impact.”

“You called me after a long, long time, so I was excited to see your face.”

Nero raised his eyebrows and asked, “Hang on, you know how much time has passed?”

“No, I don’t, because where I live— there is nothing but darkness and there is no flow of time— it’s a void. But after seeing your change in appearance, I can assume a long time has passed, or perhaps, I am wrong?”

“Indeed, a long time has passed, but I don’t know how long. I was sealed, and… well, it’s a long story, so I will tell you some other time, but for now…” Nero picked up Venus’ body.

“I want you to heal this girl.”

Emilia rushed to Nero and shouted, “What?! Venus is alive?!”

“Her body is long dead, but her soul is alive,” Nero replied.

“But… it’s been like a day. How is that possible?”

“Oh, believe me, the world can be full of surprises.”

“Then.. then… you are saying that Venus can be saved, right?!”

Nero looked at Emilia’s smiling face for the first time, and he was taken aback. He did see Emilia’s happy face before when she changed her clothes using her magic, but it was Nero’s first time seeing Emilia’s genuinely smiling face.

“Can she be saved?!” Emilia asked again, bringing Nero back to his senses.

Nero decided to ignore Emilia’s question and turned to the woman. “Nure, can you do it?”

Nure turned her face to Emilia and stared at her for a while.

“Nure, something’s wrong?” Nero questioned.

Nure bowed down and said in an apologetic voice, “My deepest apology, master. I was just wondering who this girl might be?”

“Oh! This girl is Emilia, and she is a half-angel who broke my seal and freed me.”

Nure once again looked at Emilia— but this time, Emilia stared back at Nure. They stared at each other for a while; even though Nure’s face couldn’t be seen, it was as though they were staring at each other’s souls.

Nero looked at both Emilia and Nure back and forth with a puzzled expression on his face, “Are you doing some staring contest? If yes, then I don’t think this is the best time.”

Nure then looked at Sophia and said, “Does Sophia need treatment too?”

“No, she is fine. You just…” Nero handed Venus’ body to Nure, “Do what I asked you to, okay?”

“Consider it done,” Nure nodded.

“Alright, You may go now.”

“Master, you are forgetting something.”

“Oh! Right.” 

Nero swiped his thumb on his finger and moved it to Nure as the drop of blood moved from Nero’s hand and floated to Nure.

“I will need some more,” said Nure.

“Isn’t one drop enough?”

“It is, but I need to rest for myself. It’s been so long since I last drank your blood.”

“O… kay.” Nero swiped his thumb again and raised his finger. “Take as much as you want.”

“That’s so generous of you, master.”

“Don’t mention it.” Nero didn’t want to look at Emilia’s face for some reason.

After taking about three bottles worth of Nero’s blood, Nure turned around and entered the portal.

“See you soon, master. You too, angry angel.” then, the portal closed.

Nero shot a glance at Emilia and saw her glaring at him.

He cleared his throat, then said, “Shall we go now?”

Nero started walking, but Emilia didn’t move.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“What question?” Nero walked back to Emilia to take Sophia.

“Can Venus’ be saved?”

“I can’t guarantee that.”

Emilia looked at Sophia with a sad expression on her face— though she was just trying to look down at the ground.

Nero chuckled and patted Emilia’s head as he said, “Don’t worry. She can be saved, and she will be saved— I can guarantee that. Nure can make anything possible.”

He took Sophia from Emilia and added, “As long as I ask her nicely.”

Nero and Emilia started walking, and after about 15 more minutes of walking, they could finally see the exit.

“I was never a fan of dungeons,” Nero commented as he and Emilia left the dungeon.

“Have you been in dungeons before?” Emilia asked.

“I have lost counts.”

Nero looked up at the sky, then scoffed as he frowned his face.

“What’s wrong?” Emilia asked.

“I can’t see the moons, and the gates are closed.” Nero could see throw the clouds.

“The clouds are covering the moons, and it seems it’s going to rain soon.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t.”

Emilia glanced at Nero with a puzzled yet calm face and asked in a gentle voice, “What gates were you talking about?”

“The gates of heavens.”

[Note- The ‘Nure’ here is pronounced as Nu + Rei (ray).]