Revised: 5-9-19
Mission 2: Homecoming - The Castle Town of Fortuna
-The Castle Town of Fortuna - Port Caerula-
The first change that he had noticed was the air. Even as they docked into the port, Nero could smell the pungent stench immediately. It reeked of death and decay, which was a far cry of the fresh, salty aroma that met his nostrils every day he had lived there.
At that moment, he realized that any portion of what was left of the home he grew to know were now eradicated entirely. And what was ironic, in his opinion, was that it was caused by the very people who had sworn to protect it.
He stood on the bow of Lady's boat, arms crossed as it docked near the Customs House, the three veteran hunters standing near the wheel all the while.
"Hey, kid! Mind telling us why we're stopping here first?!" Dante demanded as the boat came to a stop.
"Easy!" Nero responded as he jumped onto the stone dock. "There's something I gotta show you guys! Might help with the job."
"Kid, if you're pullin' our legs here-"
"I'm not!" he assured. "It's something I never got to do before I left. C'mon."
As Nero walked underneath the canopy made of junk, he noticed how little had changed in the ports. The wooden walkway that led to the Ferrum Hills was still intact, as well as the metal bridge toward the end of the path. He surmised that the controls on the upper level of the Customs House were still broken, by his hand no less. The stone pathway that led to the city was still there. The only noticeable difference was the debris over the water. Pieces of destroyed boats floated on the water's surface, indicating to other sailors that the island had a dark history to its name.
Nero silently scowled to himself. If this was how the ports were, he dreaded to know how the city looked after all this time.
He led the other hunters into the worn building of the Customs House, which was built with decaying brown bricks, and dirty windows surrounding it. He pushed through the metal doors and entered for the first time in three years.
-Customs House-
The young man slightly coughed due to the dust in the air. Trish and Lady did the same, while Dante merely waved his hands in front of him to swat the residue away.
The room was exactly the same as Nero remembered it, but there were a few new details. The walls were still littered with junk. On one side were grated fences, some of which were torn or out of place. Behind them was a spot here one could dock their boat, as water could be heard behind the fence. The other wall had cluttered junk on it, which included a ladder, tiles, and other uninteresting trinkets.
The center of the room was where the difference was spotted. There were overturned plastic tables and steel chairs, with spilled papers all over the floor.
Nero walked to his right, in the corner near the Blue Pedestal and the ladder that led to the bridge controls. There was a shelve that had trash on it, with a mop underneath. However, the young hunter's attention was focused on the board that was flat on the ground.
He lifted up, and sighed in relief. "Good. It's still here."
"Okay, what's this about, Nero?" Lady asked in annoyed tone.
He moved out of the way to show what was taped onto the board. "This is a map of the entire city," he pointed out before using the hand to indicate the red circles in parts of the map. "And these are the places we're gonna investigate."
"And what makes these areas so special?" Trish inquired.
"You see, after the 'Savior Incident' three years ago, me and whatever was left of the Order of the Sword - or at least those who actually thought that Sanctus was the crazy old crock that he was - formed a small group to find and destroy any and all traces of Stutterbox's research on demons. We wanted to prevent anyone else from getting their hands on it, so that no one would ever be subjected to that type of experimentation again."
Dante rubbed his chin hairs. "But you guys never got the chance to start, did ya?"
Nero shook his head. "No, we didn't. That was around the time the huge surge of demons that had escaped through the Hell Gate attacked. Back then, we were outnumbered, even with the group of Sanctus' sympathizers. I managed to off a good number of them, but it still wasn't enough. When the demons began to attack civilians, we had no choice but to flee. We'd already lost one-third of the island's population, so we couldn't take any chances. We left Fortuna for good. And after all this time, I'd nearly forgotten about our investigation, until I remembered it on our way here."
Lady raised her hand. "Not to sound rude, or anything, but what does this have to do with the job?"
"Simple. Our target's got an unhealthy fascination with demonology, especially when it comes to a certain demon: Sparda," he explained gravely as he quickly glanced at his comrades with a serious expression.
They were all familiar with the name of Dante's demon father, who had betrayed demon-kind in favor of humanity, and sealed the gateway to the Demon World two thousand years prior.
"Since the Order of the Sword worshiped Sparda, and considering the psychotic nature of their experiments, I figured that there was a slight chance that Sanctus and Agnus might've possibly found some other relics pertaining to Sparda. And the first place Agnus would record his findings would be in his notes. So if we find these safe houses, and if there's information hidden in them..."
"We might be able to find out why our guy even bothered to come here," Dante finished, realizing what the former knight was saying.
"But wait, what if he's just here to open the Hell Gate? He might not have known about their destruction until he actually arrived," Trish queried.
"Nah, I don't think so," Dante responded. "There's no way he would come here not knowing that I already destroyed them beforehand. It's possible, but knowing him, I doubt it."
Nodding at her partner's observation, Lady noticed something about the map that was off on the left part of it. "What's that huge blotch of red, Nero?"
Nero looked at the map, before shaking his head. "That's where the Savior fell after I crushed its face."
Dante looked at the map carefully. "Where're these places at, kid? You're the local here, so where do you want to start?"
The boy fidgeted slightly. "Actually... I was thinking that maybe we should split up."
The older devil hunter arched an eyebrow. "Come again?"
"Just hear me out," Nero pleaded. "There're four of these areas that need to be searched, and there's four of us. With everyone looking out for clues, we might be able to get this done faster, and find some important stuff sooner."
"And what happens when we get ambushed, eh?" the red-clad devil hunter pried.
"We all know enough to hold our own against a few demons," Nero answered.
"But what if it's him?" Lady countered.
The former knight flinched slightly, before answering. "Then we hold our own."
"Yeah, not happenin'," Dante disagreed. "That's a quick and easy way to get yourself in trouble-"
"I think we should do it," Trish said over his voice.
Dante did a double-take, before turning to the she-devil. "Say wha...?"
"We should do it," she repeated. "We'd be able to cover more ground that way. Besides, if we fought together, we wouldn't have time to warm up with a few demons beforehand. You'd just take them all."
"Ain't my fault you can't keep up, babe," Dante retorted.
"Still, we should do what the kiddo says. It might be fun. After all, who can resist a good fight?"
The Son of Sparda inwardly cursed. She knew he liked to have good fights every now and then. In fact, when he fought with Nero the first time, he wouldn't even use his full power; he'd use just enough to keep the fight going.
"Maybe... But there's still the issue of communication," he reminded.
Lady spoke up. "I think I can fix that." She then reached into one of her ammo pockets, and pulled out four small devices, which were black, round, and had antennas. "I figured that something like this might happen, so I brought these communicators just in case. They all have the same frequency, so we can keep in touch with each other." She handed one to each one of the hunters, saving the last one for herself.
"Now that just leaves us with the matter of who's going where," Trish breathed.
The Son of Sparda crossed his arms. "More importantly, what are those places on the map?"
The former knight pointed to the left of the map. "Well, these two blots over here are warehouses. According to his notes, Agnus used them to create Bianco Angelos through the Ascension Ceremony. They're deep inside the easternmost part of the city, which is also a part of the Business District."
Trish looked at the map with a growing smile on her face. "I'll take those warehouses."
"Honestly, I recommend you take someone else with you. And by 'someone,' I mean Dante," Lady advised.
"Wha- Why me?" Dante protested.
"Because, out of all of us, I'm the only one who can sail a boat. And unless you can't see, there's a huge blotch near the ports," she elaborated as she pointed at the bottom part of the map.
"I was about to suggest the same thing," Nero revealed. "Since you can man the boat, you can go check out the warehouses by the other ports, while at the same time keeping the boat safe."
"Hold up a sec, kid. Where do you fit into this?" the devil hunter interjected.
Nero shrugged, and pointed to the bottom right of the map. "I was thinking I'd head to the Residential District. There were plans to investigate the Order of the Sword Security Garrison. I figured that if Agnus was looking for test subjects for the Ascension Ceremony, that would have been the place to go. It's also where I slept for most of my life. I know the layout better than anyone here. If Agnus was scouting knights there, then it's just as good a place to look for clues as any."
Dante thought over what he had heard, and slowly nodded. "Okay, but say we do find some helpful clues. What do you want us to do with it?"
"If it's helpful or useful, like tech or designs for weapons we can use, I suggest you guys take it with you," Nero suggested. "Otherwise, burn everything when you're done. I don't want to risk anyone getting a hold anything that ends up making more demons. It could cause trouble in the future, so it's best we destroy the data now before it falls into the wrong hands."
"So what happens when we're done checking out these spots?" Trish asked.
The boy's face darkened slightly. "Then we meet up at the most obvious place to look." His left index finger pointed at the center of the map. "We head to the Arts District, a.k.a. the Opera House."
Lady blinked in confusion, and turned to Dante. "Wait, I thought you said he wasn't going to head for the Hell Gate?"
"I said he probably knew about their destruction. I didn't say that he wouldn't go to them," he clarified.
"Plus, the Order had a lot of secrets that they were willing to hide, even when I - or 'Gloria' - was with them. They may have hidden something else in the Opera House that none of us might've known about," Trish added.
Lady accepted the explanation. "Alright. Then we have our jobs."
Dante smirked. "The hell are we standin' around here for, then? Let's get to work!"
"Thank you, Ms. Kyrie!"
Nero smiled as Kyrie handed a bouquet of flowers to the little girl. Kyrie had requested that Nero go with her as she went to go pick up flowers for the city hospital. She planned to give a bouquet to each patient, hoping that the flowers would keep their spirits up, and encourage them to not give up on the hope of recovery. They were just about to head for the hospital when a little girl, one that Kyrie had watched over before, had approached them asking for a bouquet. Apparently, the hospital announced the arrival of the flowers, and the girl wanted to be the one to give her ailing mother the flowers personally.
With a story like that, Nero had to admit that even he would have given her a bouquet.
Kyrie smiled as the girl waved good-bye. She then turned towards Nero, but was surprised by his amused expression.
"What is it?" she asked shyly as she met his gaze.
Nero chuckled. "Nothin'. Just watching you be your usual, charitable self, is all." He then gave her a genuine smile. "You did good."
Kyrie returned the smile. "I'd like to think so..."
Grinning, Nero playfully shoved her. "Well, c'mon. Don't we have to go deliver these flowers?"
The young girl giggled before pushing the cart onward towards the hospital, with Nero by her side.
-Residential District-
Nero stood before the old flower shop. The windows were broken, and the sign had fallen from its perch. Inside, he could see the wilted remains of several flowers, as well as many overturned shelves and broken pots.
It was nothing but a shell of the joyful gathering place it used to be.
Frowning sadly, Nero continued his trek towards the Security Garrison.
-Order of the Sword Security Garrison-
Nero managed to get inside the large white building, with the Order's emblem on top of the doorway. The white bricks were decayed, and windows were either dirty or broken. Even the stained glass windows had some bits chipped off. Inside was a mess. Several objects were sprawled along the floor, which included papers, glass, and overturned plants. However, what truly stuck out was the blood and the corpses. The place reeked of death, with decayed corpses of knights leaning against the walls, as well as the dry blood splattered across them. The former knight assumed that his comrades had put up a fight when the demons came.
As Nero looked over the library for anything on their objective, he realized that he didn't personally know any of the other knights in the Order by name, let alone befriended any of them. The only ones he was familiar with were his friend Credo, the lecherous Swordmaster Evangelium, who was the man who finished Nero's training in the mastery of the sword, and his five pupils.
He recalled that they named their little group 'the Knights of the Round,' which was because each member named themselves after the fabled Knights of the Round Table of Arthurian legends. He was offered the chance to join them, but flat out refused. He had learned enough from them to know that they cared little for human life, and did not want others to believe him to be greater than he thought he was.
But even then, most knights looked down upon him for three reasons: his efficiency in battle, his 'heretical' use of a gun, and his refusal to believe in the Order's teachings. Because of this, he usually didn't work with any other knights. In fact, it made him me him stand out over the rest of the Order's knights to be selected to handle 'dirty jobs.'
At this, he recalled Dante's words about killing humans. How they were never supposed to kill humans, no matter how bad they were. Knock them around, maybe, but not kill them. However, what Dante didn't know was that during his time in the Order, the dirty work he was involved in was killing humans possessed by demons. The way Nero had justified it at the time was that once you were possessed by a demon, there was no saving you. The only mercy was death. He did it quietly, and quickly, because the Order needed to uphold its image that worshiping a demon would offer its worshipers divine protection. Those that weren't needed to be removed.
He wasn't really proud of it, and he was grateful no demon ever possessed a child during his tenure. But the point was that he was used to it. He had killed before. And he was prepared to do it again whenever the time came where he needed to, as it was with the dirty jobs.
And through this, he actually learned her preferred working alone. In this regard, at least he knew he could depend on himself and his own power. This attitude gave him the moniker of 'the Lone Wolf of the Order.'
Nevertheless, when the time came, his fellow comrades fought valiantly to protect the city and its people. A good number sacrificed themselves for the sake of others. That alone earned them his respect and eternal gratitude.
He sighed in frustration as he threw the papers on the floor. So far, after searching both the Garrison Library and the Executive Quarters, his search came up fruitless. No mention of potential demonic experimentation subjects, or ancient relics with connections to Sparda.
He looked outside, and saw that the sun's position had changed, which indicated that it was the middle of the afternoon. The group had arrived at the middle of the day, which meant that had spent around four hours looking through the complex. He surmised that there was at least three hours of daylight left. And since he had found nothing, the only thing left for him to do was to contact the others, and head for the Opera House.
But first, he wanted to visit his old room.
-Residential Quarters - Nero's Room-
Nero walked down the hallway, keeping a close eye on the numbers, before finally find his old room number: thirteen-oh-four.
Alarms blared through his head the moment he spotted the broken, blood-splattered door slightly open.
The former knight had his hand gripping his revolver in seconds, and swiftly pulled it out of its holster. He inched towards the door carefully, keeping his ears open for any suspicious sounds.
He walked past the doorway, and frowned at what he saw. A headless, decomposed body leaned against the drawer next to his window, with the severed head in the middle of his untucked bed. A knight must have gotten into his room before being mauled by demons during their raid on the city.
Sighing, the former knight holstered the Blue Rose, and warily walked into the room. Apart from the fallen coat rack by the door and the bloody mess, everything remained relatively unchanged.
Even the photo on the counter next to his bed.
Stepping over the legs of the body, the young hunter walked over to the counter, and picked up the photo. Luckily, it too remained untouched after all of this time. It was an image taken one year before the Savior Incident of him and his foster family. In the middle of it was Kyrie, with her hair still tied into a ponytail, and hands behind her back. Nero was to the left, with his arms crossed, and giving a small smile. Back then, his right arm was still normal; that of any regular human. On Kyrie's right, though, was her older brother, the Supreme Captain of the Holy Knights, Credo. His arms were behind his back, as he he wore a fully buttoned white coat with ornate yellow designs and the Order's insignia sewn into his sleeves. His brown, shoulder length hair was slicked backwards, while he practically glared at the camera with his light brown eyes.
The man betrayed Nero once, three years ago during the Savior Incident. Credo had sacrificed his humanity for his beliefs, becoming a demon modeled after the image of an angel, and challenged Nero to a duel when the boy had discovered the Order's true motives. Nero had won, but Agnus, the stuttering head researcher and alchemist of the Order, had kidnapped Kyrie right after that. The Mad Alchemist had even had the audacity to do it in front of both of them, no less. When the Order had kidnapped him as well, Credo was the one who first tried to set them free, but failed in the attempt, and was fatally wounded by the leader of the Order and the Mad Vicar of Sparda, Sanctus.
After Sanctus and the Savior were destroyed, Dante revealed to Nero that Credo had died from his injuries, and had given the devil hunter the last request of saving both him and his sister from Sanctus. According to the Son of Sparda, Credo dissolved into golden light, before vanishing from existence.
There was no better way for his honorable friend to go.
Sighing sadly, Nero put the frame back in its spot on the counter. Deciding that he had reminisced long enough, Nero decided to head for the Arts District.
That was when he heard the sound of demonic cackling just a few feet to his left.
Thinking quickly, he dove out of the window to his right, barely missing the swipe of a large blade.
-Training Grounds-
Nero fell over three floors before landing onto his feet with a crouch, dust kicking up around him the moment he landed. Looking up, the former knight saw that he was now in the Training Grounds, where rookies and high-ranking knights would train and practice their combat skills. It was here, in this very area, where Nero first learned how to fight.
His reverie was cut short, however, when he heard the demonic cackling again. This time, though, it was all around him. On the ground he noticed multiple burlap sacks that were scattered throughout the yard. Then, black beetles skittered out of nearby crevices, trashcans, and junk bins. The beetles moved along the ground, before finally entering one of the burlap sacks. The sack shifted left and right, before slowly inflating itself, giving Nero a good look at what stood before him.
The burlap sack formed the creature's body, which was stitched up with multiple other rags, and stood on two wooden pikes. One side had a wooden arm, while the other had a large guillotine blade. Its face had two hollow eyes, and a stitched up mouth. Suddenly, another burlap sack came to life as well. This one, however, had a doctor's mask sewn on its face, and the large blade was its right leg. More and more of these monsters, the Scarecrows, came to life, each with its own distinct features.
Nero scoffed in annoyance. "Great. The dirtbags finally popped up."
The demons said nothing as they slowly surrounded him.
An amused smile then made its way to his face. "Gotta admit, though, I was beginning to wonder when you all would show up. No way're you guys ever this quiet."
The Scarecrows inched forward, practically surrounding him.
The smile never left his face as he looked at every demon surrounding him. "But since you're all here, why don't we get this over with? Who wants to start us off?"
He heard glass breaking above him. Nero looked up, and saw that a Scarecrow had leaped out of the window he had jumped out of, and was falling towards him.
The young devil hunter scoffed. "Guess I'll go first, then!"
As the Scarecrow was about to maul him from mid-air, Nero swiftly did a back-flip, and kicked the demon into the crowd. The act pushed several of them backwards into the air due to the hard impact of the kick.
One of the demons recovered, only to receive the other end of Nero's left foot. The blow sent it crashing towards another group of demons, which sent more flying into the air. A Leg Scarecrow spun towards the devil hunter with its leg outstretched, but Nero ducked under it, and tripped its leg from underneath. He then did a spinning kick that sent it flying into another crowd of demons.
An Arm Scarecrow lunged for him, but he quickly backed away from the demon. It went for him again, but this time he caught the blunt side of the blade in his hand. Using the momentum of the downward swing, Nero lifted the demon into the air, and slammed it onto the ground. Before it could react, he planted his foot onto the Scarecrow's head, instantly killing it, and yanked the blade out.
Looking at the curved blade, he lurched his arm backwards before throwing the guillotine at the crowd. The blade spun around the demons, instantly slicing them. Due to the blade's curve, however, the weapon flew around Nero like a boomerang. Scarecrows screeched in pain as the guillotine tore through the burlap sacks, which caused green ooze to shoot out.
The blade then flew back to Nero, who ducked, and looked over his shoulder to see the blade impale itself into a Leg Scarecrow.
Standing up from his crouch, Nero noticed that there were now less Scarecrows than when he started. He figured that it was time to use his blade to cut them down to size.
He reached over his left shoulder, and grabbed the handle of his Durandal, the Red Queen, and brought its tip down to the concrete. With the blade held down, he twisted the handle, which activated the motor mechanism on the sword that shot out flammable propellant from the exhaust.
Nero narrowed his eyes. "Your turn!"
Three Scarecrows quickly lunged towards him. The former knight then ran forward, while holding his burning Durandal with his left hand over his right shoulder. Before any of the demons could strike him, he swiftly cut through them as he charged past. The force of his slash caused him to continue spinning, which allowed him to cut more demons in half. The propellant of his sword covered the blade in flames, which allowed it to cut through the Scarecrows in an arc of searing flames. The demons' remains fell to the ground, scorched by the might of his EX Streak technique.
When he finished, only three more Scarecrows were left: two Arm Scarecrows and one Leg Scarecrow. The two Arm Scarecrows moved towards the devil hunter, with the one on his right bringing its blade down. Nero deflected it with his own blade, and then struck the Scarecrow horizontally on its unguarded right side, before cutting through it again to slice through the unguarded left side of the other Arm Scarecrow.
Nero managed to look up, and saw that the last Leg Scarecrow was in the air, and bringing its blade down towards him. The hunter twisted his hand around the Red Queen's handle to grip it in reverse. With a mighty heave, he struck the demon with a vertical swing that launched it into the air, shortly following after it with a leap of his own. In mid-air, he hacked at it from left and right, with each swipe tearing away the burlap sacks that comprised the demon. After he landed four successful strikes, he arched his Durandal backwards, and swung downwards with a loud cry. The force of the blade eviscerated the demon in two, while sending the demon hunter down to the ground. He landed on his feet, while the Scarecrow's slimy innards spilled into the ground a few feet away.
Nero stood up, and visibly relaxed as the demon's remains dissolved. He sighed, as he rolled his neck. However, he smile fell into a frown when a sound came to his ears: the sound of something skidding along the concrete.
Quickly turning around, he saw that three massive rolling blades were heading for him, and he did not have much time to react. He swatted one of the blades to the right with his own, and then swatted the other to the left. Unfortunately, the last rolling blade was upon him, and he had no time to deflect it. Gritting his teeth, he twisted to the side, but timed it wrong. Knowing that he had no other options, he raised his cast in front of him to brace for the pain. He felt the blades rip through the his forearm before he landed on the ground. When he felt the ground on his back, the former knight rolled backwards onto his feet.
As he skidded backwards, Nero glanced at his new adversaries as they immediately stopped rolling, and landed on their stomachs, before getting to their feet, and facing him. Their skin comprised of leather sacks, which were stitched throughout their body, as well as zipped together with zippers. Their faces were made of leather, with two empty eye sockets, and a long trunk that was covered with brown leather, with a gold ring at the end. Their feet were actually two knives that impaled themselves into the ground to support each demon's balance. Both of their arms had three large blades, as well as a large singular one in the back. He stood up, warily keeping his eyes on the new demons: the Mega Scarecrows.
The stinging in his right arm quickly disappeared, and he examined it. To Nero's annoyance, he saw that the sling, the cast beneath it, and the lace that held it together was ripped. Other than the obvious tears, the clue that gave him the conclusion that the cast was now useless was the blue light that was coming from underneath it.
"Okaaay..." he mused in annoyance as he impaled the tip of the Red Queen to the ground. "Looks like we have a draw. I got your goons, and you landed a hit on me."
The demons approached slowly, only growling in response to his statement. Meanwhile, the demon hunter yanked his right arm to side, which ripped the lace that held his sling. He then proceeded to pull the sling out of his forearm, before throwing it to the side. As the sling landed softly on the ground, Nero reached for the red finger-less glove on his right hand, and took it off with his left.
The young man sighed as he shoved the glove into the left pocket of his pants. "So how's this, then? This time, we do sudden death rules. Winner takes all."
The three Mega Scarecrows screeched at him in response.
Nero then grabbed the hilt of his Durandal with his left hand, while slowly clenching his right fist.
"And all bets are off," he snarled as a blue light began to shine underneath his cast.
The Mega Scarecrow in the middle did not wait any longer, and lunged towards the devil hunter. Reacting to the demon's charge, Nero rushed forward while yanking the Red Queen from the ground. Dragging the sword behind him, the former knight brought his right arm forward. Both demon and warrior were within inches from each other.
And before they could touch each other, Nero's cast burst into a hue of blue light.
When it subsided, the Mega Scarecrow was struggling to escape the grasp of a spectral arm. The entire forearm was a phantasm blue, while most of the hand was covered with red flesh, but the clawed fingers were as blue as the entirety of the arm.
With the light gone, Nero's right limb was fully exposed. In the place of a regular human arm was, instead, an arm that was entirely disfigured, and was demonic to the point of being nearly draconic. His claws, palm, and forehand had glowing blue skin, with a large blue crack in the middle of his forearm. The rest of his arm was covered in red organic flesh, with a spike protruding from his elbow. Purple strap-like flesh covered the top part of his arm. More importantly, it resembled the spectral arm that held the demon in place.
Nero finally revealed the secret weapon that was his powerful right arm: the Devil Bringer.
With a snarl, Nero slammed the Mega Scarecrow into the ground with the phantom arm, the Bringer Claw. Then, with a furious cry, he ran forward, and kicked the demon hard in the face. He then leaped into the air, and lunged his Bringer forward, which in turn whipped the Bringer Claw forward to perform his Snatch technique. The Claw Snatched the demon, and brought it upwards to him. He grabbed it, and spun in mid-air. After making one spin, he then tossed the demon downwards towards one of the other demons, where it exploded in slimy green bits.
When he landed, Nero noticed that the blade that was on the previously alive Mega Scarecrow had shot into the air due to the force of its destruction. Thinking quickly, he gripped his sword like a baseball bat, and waited for the blade to come closer to the ground. When it was within blade's reach, he struck the blade right in the middle, which sent it flying towards the demons. One of the demons had also charged forward, but was right in the middle of the flying blade's path. The large guillotine impaled itself into the chest of the demon, which stopped its charge.
The other demon had ran towards the demon hybrid, while spinning the blades in its arms. They spun wildly, and were seen as a silver circular blur. The Mega Scarecrow then literally threw its arms towards the attacking hunter. Nero prepared himself as the sharp boomerangs came to him. He dove between the two boomerangs, and quickly got to his feet. He raised the Red Queen to attack as the blades returned to the Mega Scarecrow's shoulders.
The demon swung at him with its right blade, but he parried it with his blade. Nero then ducked underneath the left blade that went over his head. Using demonic energy, the part-demon slid backwards with both hands on his Red Queen. Using his Devil Bringer, he channeled blue demonic aura to envelop the entirety of the blade. He charged forward and slashed the Mega Scarecrow with a rising slash, thus finishing his Shuffle technique.
The demon fell onto its back, with a large gash on its chest, and blue demonic aura burning its burlap skin. However, Nero was not going to give it the chance to recover, and leaped upwards. Bringing the tip of his sword downwards, he let out a battle cry as he impaled his Red Queen into the chest of the Mega Scarecrow. The demon let out a screech of pain, but it was not over yet. Nero then twisted the handle of his blade, and revved it. Flaming propellant injected itself into the beast, and the Mega Scarecrow howled as its innards burned to ashes.
Suddenly, the Scarecrow then shot along the field, with Nero riding on top of it. He grinned ferociously as they approached a nearby wall to the street. When they were a few feet away from the wall, he pulled the sword out of the demon's chest, and jumped backwards. The Mega Scarecrow continued forward, until it smashed against the wall. When it made contact, however, it instead exploded in a surge of flames.
Nero did a back-flip before landing on his feet. He stood up, and placed his sword over his shoulder as he examined the fruits of his labor. The flames covered a large hole that led out of the complex, with smoke rising out of the sky. There were not enough flames to block his path, so he finally decided to sheath the Red Queen, leave the premises, and head for the next objective.
However, Nero made sure to charge up the energy in his arm. The Devil Bringer began to glow blue. After a few seconds, the glow became purple. A few more seconds after that, it became red.
When it did, the last Mega Scarecrow lunged for him in mid-air. The large blade from the first Mega Scarecrow was still embedded in its chest, but its blind fury caused it to simply ignore the pain. Knowing that the demon was upon him, Nero did a one-hundred-eighty degree spin, and whipped out his Blue Rose. He channeled all the demonic energy in his right arm into the dual-barrel revolver. And finally, he fired it at the demon.
Two bullets enveloped in demonic aura flew into the Mega Scarecrow's chest. As soon as they made contact, the demon's chest burst into pieces. The charred remains of the monster flew backwards into the ground, as burnt beetles and green slime covered the floor. The large blade in its back spun in the air, before impaling itself into the floor.
Nero kept his eyes narrowed at the remains of the demons, waiting for anything else to happen, gripping his gun tightly before finally relaxing. The devil hunter then twirled the gun in his hand skillfully, before finally holstering it.
"And that, folks, is how you bring down the house," he said to no one in particular as he walked out of his old training grounds.
As he walked away from the Garrison, Nero glanced at his Devil Bringer. He reached into his left pocket and pulled out some black medical tape. Nero examined the roll of tape, before shaking his head and putting it back in his pocket.
"Better save it for when I get back... If I get back, that is," he muttered. "Buying a new sling's gonna be a pain in the ass."
Suddenly, he heard a noise coming from the left pocket of his coat. Reaching for it, he then pulled out is portable communicator.
"This is Nero. Somebody call, over?" he asked.
-Abandoned Warehouse - Hidden Laboratory-
"Yeah, it's me, kid," Dante answered. "We heard a few pops over here. Everything okay on your end?"
"Yeah. Just ran into a few demons over here. Nothin' I couldn't handle on my own," Nero's voice responded on the older hunter's communicator.
"I see. Well, did ya find anything?"
"Nothing useful. No progress reports on potential suspects, or stupid notes on the whole 'Savior Project.' How are things on your end?"
Trish, who was standing near a small, empty tank, spoke into her walkie-talkie. "We founds some interesting notes about shards they were using. Apparently, Agnus used these demonic shards of a 'Black Angel' to give life to our old friends, the Bianco Angelos."
-Residential District-
Nero's eyebrow arched upon hearing the news. "Shards?... What else do those notes say?"
"Supposedly, Agnus was studying one of the shards more closely in this lab. Unfortunately, the capsule that was holding it is empty," confirmed Trish, as her voice responded from the communicator.
He frowned. "You think the target got to it first?"
"Possibly. Or maybe a demon found it, and now we've got a potentially powerful demon running amok."
"Just another day on the job," Dante quipped on the other end.
Nero merely sighed in frustration. "Anything else?"
"We got word from Lady right before we contacted you. According to her, most of the notes are 'ancient history.' And by 'ancient,' she meant useless. She's turning back, and heading for the rendezvous point."
"Yeah. I'm actually on my way there now. Listen, as soon as you guys finish, make sure you destroy all the research there."
-Hidden Laboratory-
"'So that no crazy kook can ever use it again.' Yeah, we got it kid," he said, as distant growls outside of the room caused him to smile expectantly. "And from the sound of things over here, it looks we're gonna have a little help with that."
"Alright, then. See you guys over here."
"And while you're at it, kid," interjected the red-clad devil hunter. "Don't do anything stupid. Like confronting the target if he decides to show up," he warned.
"Don't worry about me," was the younger hunter's response, before the walkie-talkie went silent.
Dante frowned, as he pocketed his communicator. "I got a bad feeling about this. And you know me, babe: I never get bad feelings."
Trish shrugged. "He might actually do as he's told, you know."
"Yeah," he nodded. "But then the kid wouldn't be the kid, now would he?"
Trish gave him a small smile as she put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, guess not... Anyway, we're gonna have guests in a bit."
Dante returned the smile with an expectant grin as he unholstered both Ebony and Ivory. "Yeah... Why don't we go say hi?"
-Business District-
Nero's trek was unpleasant to him, in the sense that it infuriated him. Everything his eyes landed on was a painful reminder to him of the events that led to the demise of his beloved home. He saw destroyed buildings that once belonged to respectful businesses, and apartment complexes that once housed innocent civilians. He knew the city was far from perfect, but he personally felt that no human being should ever have to experience what happened on that island. What bothered him the most was the stench of death that came from alleyways that housed rotting corpses.
Nevertheless, he kept a straight face as he walked in the middle of the street. Debris was on all sides, with abandoned cars littered around him, and the distant sound of the howling wind entered his eardrums. His eyes only faced forward, never leaving the stone arch with the iron doors in front of him. He was silent as he walked through the gate to enter the Opera House Plaza.
-Arts District - Opera House Plaza-
Nero continued walking as he entered the large, destroyed plaza. In front of him was the remains of the plaza's fountain, which still had running water flowing into the ground. In the distance, beyond the dead, wilted trees, was the remains of a large structure: the True Hell Gate. The young hunter recalled that Dante had destroyed it when the Order had unleashed the horde of demons in the Savior's wake.
The boy's eyes then faced forward, and looked at the building ahead of him: the Opera House of Fortuna. There it stood, with both of the large pools of clear water at its sides, and the Gothic spires surrounding the round building. Round stained-glass windows surrounded the dome, with steeples at its side. In the past, the people of Fortuna who were followers in the Order's teachings attended Sunday Mass there. And every year, during the Festival of the Blade, the people would gather around to watch the Order's Songstress perform. Nero was there at the last performance that was held in the Opera House.
Right before the Fall of Fortuna.
The former Knight of the Order walked towards the building, walking past the destroyed building. He was about to sit on the stone steps and wait for his partners, when something caught his eye. On the sides of the stone path towards the Opera House were large, black fences with stone lampposts. Sticking out of one of the lampposts was a blade that was usually found with Scarecrows. However, something about it was off.
Nero walked towards it to investigate. When he did, he found that the blade was indeed a Scarecrow's Guillotine. However, he noticed that it was only the top half of the blade, while the half that had the handle was nowhere present. But that was not why it caught his attention.
He touched the part of the blade that was cut softly. The boy slowly slid his hand across the metal. Nero's eyes narrowed evenly as he felt no imperfection in the touch, but flinched as the edge of the blade had cut into his index finger.
This told him that whatever cut the metal of the blade did it in a fluid manner, with no friction at all. But since he knew that the cut was a perfect slice, there was only one conclusion.
This blade's defect was caused by the target, who could possibly be inside.
Nero reached for the communicator in his coat pocket, but stopped himself. In his mind, he wrestled with himself for which action to take. His mind told him to contact his partners, and alert them of the possible sighting. That way, they could fight the target together. However, something deep in his mind, as well as the entirety of his heart, told him otherwise. If this truly was the target, then he wanted to confront him face-to-face, and alone. He wanted to look into culprit's eyes, before finally eliminating him.
There would be no compromise, and no talking. Only vengeance... And that alone, was everything to him.
At that moment, he made his choice.
His hand moved away from his coat pocket, and reached for the Blue Rose instead. Holding it upwards, he proceeded to walk up the stone steps slowly. Nero saw the only entrance to the Opera House was through the right corridor, so he walked down the red carpet that was tattered along it. When he reached the end, his eyes only fixated on the door inside. He even ignored the large, golden Divinity Statue that depicted a creature with a female body but the head of a lion holding a large, golden hourglass above it.
The devil hunter slowly reached for the door with his Devil Bringer. He felt the wooden texture with the tips of his claws, and felt the cold metal of the ornate gold corners of the door. He took a deep, silent breath, and pushed the door slightly open. The doors creaked as he opened it, which made him cringe. Deciding that he had to open it quickly, Nero pushed the door open and entered the building.
-Opera House-
The part demon caught the door before it could slam closed. He then pushed it softly to close the entrance. Keeping his gun raised, he then walked down the staircase to enter the bottom floor of the chamber. He held his gun, and opened the wooden door slightly to look inside. He could see that there were a lot of broken chairs and large stones from the ceiling. He could also make out some glass. More importantly, nobody was inside.
Still moving with caution, Nero entered into the stage floor. Looking around, he realized that there was not much light in the room, save for the ones coming from the windows, whether they were broken or not. Many broken or damaged benches were along the walls. Nero recalled that many of them were broken by both him and Dante during their first encounter here. Looking up, he saw that the large statue of Sparda was still damaged; another consequence of his first fight with Dante.
However, there were no signs of the target.
Relaxing, Nero holstered his gun, and took the communicator out of his pocket.
He pressed the button on its side, and spoke. "Dante, come in."
"Heya, kid. What's up?" said the voice of Dante on the other end.
Nero sighed. "I made it to the Opera House. I also secured the premises. It's vacant."
"I thought we were doin' that once we were all together?"
"I checked to see if any monsters were around. There aren't."
"Right," Dante replied with an unbelieving tone. "Listen, Lady just caught up to us. We're on our way to the Opera House now, so stay put until then."
The boy thought to himself before speaking again. "Just so you know, after I was done looking around, I found a small clue that may suggest that the target has been here."
Nero waited for a whole minute before he heard Dante's sarcastic reply. "Of course you did."
"I'm serious, old man!"
"Sure. Look, we'll be there shortly. Stay. Put. Or else I'm gonna kick your ass," the older devil hunter advised in an annoyed tone.
Nero frowned. Deciding to follow the man's instructions, he sat on the stage. Multiple scenarios went through his mind as he wondered how Dante would chastise him, and how he himself would respond.
The boy stopped however, when he felt a sensation in his right arm. He looked at his Devil Bringer, and noticed that the blue flesh - mostly the skin of his forearm - was glowing. This particular sensation was something he referred to as his Devil Bringer 'going off.' It usually occurred when a powerful surge of energy was nearby.
Glancing over his shoulder curiously, he frowned when he saw that a part of the floor was glowing: a circular crest where the Songstress would always stand during her performance on the stage. It looked like a sun, with an image that depicted hands reaching out in a circle in the center of it. And in the middle of all of that was a golden version of the Order's emblem. However, as soon as his Bringer went off, all the tile began to glow brightly in blue.
The young hunter arched an eyebrow curiously. He stood up on the stage, but did not step into the circle. After looking at it closely, Nero then recalled what Dante had told him long ago. After Dante defeated Agnus, a hidden elevator appeared that led to a hidden cavern beneath the island. Underneath the Opera House was a waterway that contained the Seal that opened the True Hell Gate. However, due to the destruction of the Hell Gate, the Seal was now rendered useless.
However, it was also likely that the target would come there.
The boy thought to himself. He could have a look, and see what was left of the Seal. However, he would risk himself getting in further trouble with the others. But if his assumption was correct, which was obvious considering the circumstances, then Nero would be one step closer to finding the target.
"And it's not like I'm going anywhere. I'm still technically 'staying put,'" he mused.
Deciding to test his luck, Nero slowly stepped onto the circle. He stood there for a few seconds before he felt a jolt underneath him. Then, the circle underneath began to descend downwards like an elevator, with Nero along for the ride.
Nero waited as the platform slowed to a stop. The space around him was very small, with gold linings along the walls. That all changed when he reached the bottom. The young hunter saw nothing but darkness, but his Devil Bringer began to glow, which gave the room enough light to give him a good view of his surroundings.
The platform had descended into a wide, circular room. Surrounding Nero along the walls were statuettes of Sparda that resembled the larger one in the Opera House. However, these statues were unharmed, and depicted Sparda in a robe while his hands were on the pommel of his sword that was pointing to the ground.
The other feature in the room was right in front of Nero. There were two iron doors, with golden emblems of the Order in the middle of them. Seeing as there were no handles on them, Nero realized that the doors needed to be pushed. So he walked over to the doors, opened the one on the right side, entered the next corridor.
-Hell Gate Seal-
The former knight walked into a dark corridor, with his Devil Bringer being the only light to guide him. He could hear water dripping down the corridor, as well as water rushing down. This told him that he needed to keep an eye out if he did not want to fall into water.
But as he walked down the corridor, two flames suddenly lit on the walls next to him. He swiftly unholstered the Blue Rose and pointed it forward. The young demon hybrid stood silently, waiting for something to occur. When nothing did, he continued to slowly tread forward. As he did, more flames lit themselves on the torches on the walls. The devil hunter continued to walk along the path, and finally made it to the end after a few minutes.
More flames lit up, and he got a good view of the seal. Before him was a walkway that led to a small round platform. Surrounding it were large stone pillars with fire lit on top of them. Beyond that were three large waterways going forward, to the right, and to the left. Beneath it all was water so clear, that it gave the viewer a perfect mirror image of them looking back at themselves.
Nero's footsteps echoed along the cavern as he walked along the walkway. He finally approached the circular platform, and got a good look at the seal. It was made of some kind of black stone. However, red lines pulsed intricately inward, that formed an "X" in the middle of it. The outline of the black Seal was illuminated with red light. In the very center of the circle was a small, ornate hole made of gold, which displayed a red light inside.
The young hunter knelt near the hole, and stared at it. This was the True Hell Gate's Seal. To unleash the demons for their grand plan, the Order had to use the key to open it. The key itself was none other than one of the Legendary Dark Knight's blades: the Dark O-Katana known as the Yamato.
Nero glanced at his Devil Bringer, and clenched it. Scoffing in disgust, he shook his head. Looking up, the former knight stared down into the darkness of the long cavern. He wondered what was inside, but figured that there was nothing but sewers.
Sighing he stood up. So far, there was nothing in there that was helpful in regards to the job. What was more unfortunate was that he was most likely going to get an earful from the others. A part of him hoped that they would not be there when he got back, but the thought was just wishful thinking.
"Guess this place is as empty as this whole stinkin' city," he remarked.
Unbeknownst to him, the blood from his finger cut earlier began to drip down to the floor. Right underneath his hand, however, was the hole of the Seal. Blood droplets fell around the hole, before a few drops fell inside. The drops evaporated in seconds, but released blue demonic aura
Nero squinted his eyes to look down the flooded tunnel, but was caught off guard when the floor beneath him began to glow a bright red. He covered his eyes with his Devil Bringer, continuously muttering "Shit" to himself as a humming noise went to his ears.
His eyes barely got a glimpse of the floor, and saw that the Seal's hole was shining red. But what really got his attention was that he was moving away from the platform, and moving towards the middle tunnel. The problem, though, was that his feet were not moving.
As he moved away from the light, he saw what was occurring. Somehow, the Seal generated an energy platform that hovered over the water. The entire platform was covered in red light, with the exact same pattern as the red lines on the Seal. The hovering platform forced the demon hybrid down to his right knee as he tried to register what was happening. When he realized what was going on, he was already too far to jump away.
Steadying himself to his feet, he pulled out the communicator and spoke to it. "Boss, come in! Dante, can you hear me?!" His response was static. "Hello?! Can anyone hear me?! Trish, Lady! Can anyone respond?!" Again, no one answered. "Shit!" he cursed.
Sighing exasperatedly, he put the walkie-talkie back into his coat, and unholstered his gun. He and the hovering platform were moving in deeper into the tunnel.
'...Well, I did want to know what was down here,' he thought humorously.
As he was covered in darkness, the only light he could see was the blue glow of the Devil Bringer and the red light of the platform. The platform moved down the corridor for a few minutes. Surrounding him was the sound of rushing water. After a few minutes, Nero finally saw something ahead. It was a wall, but on its surface was a large emblem of the Order of the Sword. Arching an eyebrow, the former knight wondered about its purpose.
Then, the platform began to glow brighter. At the same time, the large emblem on the wall began to glow red. Then, a large rumbling sound was heard, as the wall was raised into the ceiling. Behind it, were two lit torches on the side of two walls. What was strange about the torches, however, was that the flames were blue.
The platform hovered into the corridor. Immediately, Nero could hear that the sound of the water was stronger, indicating that it was going downwards. His suspicions were proved to be right when he felt his stomach churn as the platform descended forward.
His eyes widened when he heard the wall closing the entryway behind him. Nero was now trapped.
He did not know where this path lead to, but he knew one thing for certain.
"Dante's gonna kill me."
-Opera House-
"I'm gonna kill that kid."
Dante, Trish, and Lady stood before the large hole in the stage that led to the underground cavern. When they arrived, they had discovered the Nero had gone against the original plan, and went ahead by himself. This greatly annoyed a certain red-clad devil hunter.
"That brat always follows directions. And the one time I needed him to do just that, he doesn't... Should've seen this comin'," he sighed.
The blonde she-devil shrugged her shoulders prettily. "But then he wouldn't be the kid, would he?"
Dante only frowned in annoyance.
Sighing in frustration, Lady voiced out the next course of action. "Alright, which of you is gonna drop down there and get the elevator?"
Both women looked at Dante while the human devil hunter spoke. The man's frowned deepened.
"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," Trish quipped.
"Yeah, yeah..." he muttered in a resigned tone.
-Hidden Aqueduct-
Nero was now sitting down on the platform, with his legs crossed, and the claws of his Devil Bringer slowly strumming on his knee. He had gotten tired of standing, and decided to wait it out until the ride was over. However, he made sure to have his gun on hand.
The platform's descent ended a few minutes prior, and the young demon hunter was now moving forward. He saw that the floating platform was now closer to the water below, but there was no light ahead to tell him where he was heading, aside from the blue flames lit on the torches on the walls.
His face had a bored expression on it, but deep down, he was actually curious at these turn of events. Nero surmised that wherever he was going had to be important, if his own Devil Bringer brought him on this hidden path. The former knight wondered whether or not the corridor was something that even the Order was unaware of.
And as he mused to himself, a thought suddenly came to his head. What if at the end of this path... was the target himself?
Dante and the others were far away, which only meant one thing: Nero would have him all to himself.
The determined hunter continued to sit down on the platform as it floated forward. He did not know how long he had been on the platform made of energy. To him, it felt like minutes, but perhaps he was wrong, and he'd been missing for hours?
At one point, Nero rested his chin on his Bringer hand, with an unamused expression on his face. More minutes passed, and his eyes began to look tired. But just before he decided to sleep, however, a light got the boy's attention.
It was rather small, but still visible in distance. Nero stood up as the platform got closer to the light. When it did, he noticed that the surroundings had changed. The chamber that he was in now was wider than the corridor he was in a few minutes ago, but the blue flames along the wall were still visible. A large wall was in front of him, with pillars along it, and blue torches embedded on them.
The young man then felt the platform slow down, and he took it as his cue to stand up. The floating platform was approaching a stone dock, and Nero waited patiently for it to hover above it. When it finally did, the demon hunter stepped off of the platform. As soon as both feet were off of it, the platform shone with a bright red hue, before disappearing. The boy briefly glanced at it, before turning forward. Ahead, he saw some small stone steps leading to a large, ornate wall with rusting filaments that used to be gold, and some gem at the center.
Tightly gripping his Blue Rose, Nero walked forward with caution. His footsteps echoed across the chamber, as his eyes remained focused on the path ahead. His eyes squinted as he got closer and closer to the bright blue light. When he got close enough, he saw that it was a twisting pillar, just like the ones he had seen throughout the Savior Incident. He recalled that when he chanced upon these columns, they were usually powered by some sort of demonic artifact, which would soon be absorbed by his Devil Bringer, giving him new abilities and powers. Most of them, at least. Save for the Anima Mercury.
However, this pillar was very different, upon further inspection. This one was older, and more ruined. While there were gaps in the pillar that showed the effervescent light beneath which indicated the pillar was powered, this one's holes were chipped off and more broken. Even while its segments were twisting around, their rotation seemed slower compared to the ones in Fortuna.
Could this, then, be some sort of precursor to those pillars? Had Agnus been here before?
The item that powered the pillar was odd itself. It was gold metal object, with filaments that led to a pair of dragon or snake heads on top. In the middle was was a glowing blue gem, which seemed to be some kind of amber, with what looked like roots of a tree inside. There seemed to be some kind of tip jutting out form the bottom of it as well, making it seem like some sort of key.
Exerting some effort, Nero tried to absorb the object into the Devil Bringer, but frowned when it wouldn't. "Guess I gotta take you with me."
Placing the key into one of his coat's pockets, he then proceeded up towards the steps, until he was standing right in front of the large door. Inching his head forward, his eyes scanned the structure, looking to see if there was anything special or out of place. He got his answer when he felt a slight draft coming from a slight gap middle, where the two sections of the wall met . This was no wall, he realized, but a door.
Placing his hands on the structure, he tried to push it open, but found no quarter. Seeing that here were no handles or some such to pull it open, he then placed both of his hands in the wedge, and tried to pull the doors away from each other. He was encouraged even further when he felt the doors give ground. Using his superhuman strength, the younger hunter had only little difficult in moving both slabs of the door apart, and providing himself an opening.
And what he saw left him in complete awe.
-Chamber of Realities-
"...Whoa..." he whispered to himself.
Nero now found himself in a large circular room that was dome shaped. The floor was made up of clean marble, with gold filaments and accents, that even found itself along the the ornate walkway, and around the room, was gaps and sections that allowed running water. Along the dome were holes that let water rush in. Nero deduced that there must have been a tunnel under the water to let it out somewhere else, which was probably why the room was not flooded entirely.
But that was not what astounded him the most, leaving the young man's mouth slacked open in awe. That honor belonged to the structure in the middle of it all.
He walked down the walkway, and looked at what was in the center of the room. It was some sort of strange contraption. It looked to be something that resembled a model of the solar system, with rings spreading out from each other, but never once touching. Each ring held an object. Most of them held round lenses of glass, some of which where already aligned in front of each other, while others were spread about.
The only unique objects of this mechanism were the the crystals found on some of the rings. One was reddish-purple, emitting a dark aura that Nero could feel from here, meaning it was demonic in origin. The other was was yellow-orange, and had a bright aura. Nero could feel it as well, and while he felt a sort of unease at this object, the reason was something altogether different. It was instinctual and... opposite, for lack of a better term. Either way, he could feel that the origins of these gems were not human.
Yet at the very middle of these rings, right at the very top of the thick metal pole that held this contraption all together, was a large crystal that was colored blue. Like the crystals on the other metal rings, this crystal was rigid, with multiple dents around it, the tips at the top and bottom being very sharp. However, the crystal gave off a bright blue light that wrapped an eerie aura around it, but one that didn't make Nero sense a tinge of unease. In fact, it was quite the opposite. He felt something resonate within him as looked upon it. Something profound and indelible.
Upon reaching it, his Devil Bringer began to go off, reacting to all of the crystals' power. He glanced at his arm as it pulsed continuously like a heartbeat. The closer he got to the structure, the faster his right arm pulsed. Furrowing his eyes, he looked around to scan more of his new surroundings. The only object that stood out to him, however, was a large mirror in an alcove, almost directly opposite of the chamber's entrance. It looked as if it was a doorway, but there was nothing but the mirror there, showing an image of him looking back.
Soon, he found himself standing before the mechanism, his eyes transfixed on the large crystal as he approached it. The young man examined his arm. His blue skin shone as brightly as the central crystal as he stood before it.
There, he saw what seemed to be cornerstone of the machine: a round table held it firmly in place. He saw water at the center, with gold filaments outlining its edge, and gears beneath the water's surface. And there, right in front of him, was small socket on a pedestal facing the entrance. His mind working quickly, the devil hunter took out the key he had earlier. Looking at the bottom of it, he saw that the indent matched with the socket on the pedestal.
Shifting his jaw in thought, Nero pursed over the pros and cons of placing the key in its designated place. It did not take long, for he simple shrugged, and felt the pros outweighed the cons. With his Bringer hand, he placed the key over the socket, and then used extra force to firmly lock it in.
When he did this, however, he unintentionally pushed the down the pedestal, revealing itself as a switch meant to be depressed. As soon as it did, the water lit up, forcing the boy cover his eyes. Then, another triangular pedestal rose form the water, right in front of Nero. Lowering his arm, he saw what appeared to be the curious controls to this machine.
Upon examination, it was comprised of many buttons. At the points of each where the most different. The top was an image of a human spread out, similar to how Leonardo da Vinci drew out in some is drawings of old. However, this was merely an image, and not any button, unlike the rest of the panel. The other two on the bottom had two different emblems, one being a yellow circle with other growing arcs with wings on the side, while the other was a red circular emblem with three circles in the center, and other sharp arcs, with the center circle almost looking like an eye. It reminded Nero of an image on the ceiling of a bar he frequented a couple of times before.
However, while these buttons were vague, the ones in the center were easy to understand, somewhat. A triangle of circular buttons, each adding a button to the rows as it went down. It started with one button at the top, two below it, and increased until the row of buttons was five, making a total of fifteen buttons, each marked with a roman numeral of their number.
Unfortunately, though, it seemed that most of the buttons were damaged, for some reason or another, ruined, and with some segments of their surface chipped off.
The only one of them that was still intact, oddly enough... was the one labeled "XIII."
Slowly, he curiously extended his Devil Bringer to it. The young man hesitantly stopped right before touching its surface... but after a few seconds, finally depressed the button with his claw.
After waiting for a few seconds... nothing happened. No movement or sudden jerks of any kind or similar occurrences. Just nothing.
Frowning, he then moved to press the red button. This time, though, something did happen. The lenses shifted around, the ones away from the original formation aligning in the same position the others were facing, which Nero now realized was towards the mirror. He also saw that the red-purple crystal was aligned with the glass as well, aiming towards the the mirror also, and right before the blue one.
Blinking, Nero then pressed the yellow button. Just as he suspected, the yellow crystal replaced the dark one right before the blue one. He then pressed the XIII button again, and the some of the lenses broke away from the group, right back into the position that they were.
"Tch," Nero scoffed as he reached for the key in its socket. "Wonder what this thing's for?..."
He tugged on it, but found resistance. Gripping it tighter with his Devil Bringer, he then pulled the key from its place.
However, he was startled by the shock wave of energy released from that.
Immediately, the crystal began to glow brighter. Nero covered his eyes and stepped away from the glowing contraption. The rings began to descend to eye level, due to the center pole sinking into the pool. Suddenly, the young man became nervous when he heard a humming in front of him. Finally, after a few agonizing seconds, the humming stopped.
The crystals then shot a laser that went through the smaller lenses, and towards the large mirror on the other side. As the laser penetrated the lenses, it shone even brighter than before, but with a green hue. Nero then heard an even louder humming, and before he knew it, the mirror was beginning to glow with its own green glow. The color of the clear water in the chamber changed into that of light green as well.
They boy's eyes furrowed in panic, quickly glancing down at the key. Frantically, he placed it back inside the socket, but saw it did nothing. Just as quickly, he took it out, and placed it back in.
"C'mon, undo! Undo!" he cried, hoping to stop whatever was going on, but failing miserably. "Shit!"
Slamming his fist on the pedestal, he left the key in its socket as he raced next to the beam, raising his hand to cover his eyes as he watched the mirror continue to glow brighter. This went on for a whole minute, before the beam finally died down. However, this in turn was the opposite for the mirror, which seemed to have absorbed all the energy the crystal was producing.
Nero inched his head forward, squinting at the glowing object. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he could see that the mirror was no longer reflecting him. Rather, it seemed the flat surface of the mirror had disappeared, and now revealed itself to be a swirling vortex of green celestial atmosphere.
Before Nero could fully behold the sight, however, he suddenly felt slight tugs on the flaps of his coat. It was light at first, but after a few seconds, he felt it become stronger. Strong enough to start skidding him forward, even. It was at this point that he knew that this vortex was beginning to suck in everything in sight.
Him especially.
Rushing back towards the table, he suddenly yelped as he found himself thrown off his feet. He luckily managed to grab onto the edge of the round table with his Bringer, followed shortly after by his regular arm. Unfortunately, the suction from the vortex grew stronger. It also didn't help that his grip was loosening because his fingers were wet by the water inside the machine, some droplets even being sucked into the portal.
Finally, his left hand gave way. And just as it stretched back as far as it could, the force of the tug jerked Nero back enough to tear his Bringer away, making him fly towards the vortex. The demon-hybrid, in a last ditch effort, tried to use his Snatch technique to stop his flight, but it only proved to be far from his reach.
"No, no! NO-"
Before he could finish his cry, he was forced inside the portal, any sounds he was making then and there dying out.
The portal remained open for a few more seconds before the swirls of energy began dying down. The bright glow that had emanated from the passage began to dim, reverting back into its mirror state. Meanwhile, the mechanism began to rise back into its original position.
And as silence returned to the chamber, the glow coming from the key Nero had left behind in his panic dimmed slightly.
-Realm Between Realms-
"AAAAAAAHHH!" screamed the young devil hunter as he fell downwards.
Large rays of green light passed him by as he continued to fall into the endless tunnel. Wind pushed against Nero's face, both his hair and the tails of his blue coat flailed wildly.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" he cursed loudly as he tried to recover in mid-air. However, the force of the gravity pulling him gave him no respite.
After a few moments, Nero then saw a bright, white light below him. He was panicking as his body approached it. The closer he got to it, the more he was blinded.
When he finally reached it, the only thing he could see was white.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT! SHIT! SHIIIIIIT!" was the last thing he said before the light completely enveloped him.
-to be continued in the next mission-
Mission 3: Starting Off on the Wrong Foot
Nero awakens in a beach, finding himself in a foreign town. He discovers that not only is he far away from anything familiar, but has been spirited away to a new world. He finds himself in trouble with the local authorities, specifically a certain Sergeant. But even while traversing terra incognita, painful reminders of his past appear to him. He gazes at the sea, remembering what it is that he fights for.
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