Hello all of you. This Alitolexlto here. I apalogize for the long wait, but this is finally it; the third chapter. Again, I'm sorry I took so long with this update but to be fair, this was a long chapter to complete for me so it took a lot of my time to finish it up. Plus I was just so busy with other things in college and having to finish my sophomore year.
Remember, only ten chapters for this story.
Remember, to view some of the art designs I have for the characters in the story, visit deviantart where a copy of this story is as well.
Since DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition already came out, I figure this would be to celebrate Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition coming out soon. Chances are I won't be done by then either but hey, Devil May Cry is Devil May Cry.
Disclaimer: I own no characters except OC's. DmC: Devil May Cry belongs solely to Capcom and Ninja Theory.
Song Inspirations:
Nosia: The Trade
John Williams: Palpatine's teachings
Sword of The Stranger: Ihojin no Yaiba
Woodkid: Falling
Bleach: Fade to Black OST: #24 Pray That You Always Understand Me
Bleach: Fade to Black OST: #4 Pray That You Always Understand Me
This day…
This was the day…
This would be the day everything changed. All That I knew, all of the order I believed in…all would be shifted right before my eyes…Never could I have believed this day would come…
The day…I awoke.
December 28th B.C.
I was lead through dark hallways of stone with Seditio and Mundus leading the way forward. To say I was cautious was the understatement I had mused on. For I was no more a sheep being led by wolves into the feeding den. Where they would take me and what their reason for such mysterious airs about them gave me a quiet sense of dread. Something warned me to turn back within me; a foreboding veil had draped over my proper judge of trust in the only two I've ever known as brothers and put me in a place of fear.
Nonetheless, I was foolish enough to continue with them.
The halls slowly began to illuminate with torches surrounding a rounded room that felt devoided of life at all. On the hard wood ground was drawn a large glyph of, what had the atrocious stench of, pig's blood. The pattern was one I have never seen before, and the design of it was beyond my simple sensibilities.
"Here we are." Seditio announced as he stepped around the blood painted circle and into one of the circles of the glyph.
"What is this?" I asked cautiously.
"This is what is known as a medium's glyph." Seditio explained as he sat in the circle with legs crossed. "This glyph will allow us to exit our bodies and divulge into a spiritual form; unseen to any lingering eyes."
"What nonsense are you speaking of? Clearly you have had too much ale—it shows quite clearly." I said, "Now enough of these trivial games. I must return to the field to—"
My words were snatched from me by the harsh pulling of my collar by the overpowering Mundus in a fit of rage.
"This is no game, Sparda!" Mundus seethed as he eyes stared bitterly into my own. "That war out there means nothing to you, or to me, or to anyone!"
"Mundus! Calm yourself!" Seditio calmed with a hand on Mundus's shoulder. "Once he sees the truth…then he will know."
Mundus took a moment to continue staring daggers into my eyes before finally releasing me. I stumbled a bit at his sudden release but was able to regain my proper footing easily. I looked towards Seditio for clarification as to what Mundus spoke about.
Seditio only walked to me and held a look of lethargy; something I was not use to seeing on a man such as Seditio unless the situation was extremely dreadful.
"Sparda…" He said, "I must warn you, my friend; what you are about to see may come as a disturbing revelation to you…I only do this because you are the closest thing I have to a true family, and I mean no harm unto you…but you must know the truth."
"What truth?"
"The truth about Lucifer, your lord…what his true aim is in this war."
I was confused. Seditio could see that from the way he sighed through his nostrils.
"Come. Better to show you then to tell you."
I hesitated his gesture to move me. I did not want to be lead astray nor feel the fury of the lord if he were to ever discover our absence on the field of battle. Not only that, but there was too much wrong with what was transpiring here. I could feel it in my gut…but looking into Seditio's eyes as they truly wanted me to see what he has seen…
…Dropped my defenses, and allowed him to move me.
Seditio lead me into the glyph bellow our feet and sat me down within one of the circles of it. Once I was propped down, Mundus sat in the circle next to me, and Seditio in the other. Together we formed the outer points of a triangle; all circling a strange symbol of words scribed in the middle.
"Sparda, I would like for you to close your eyes." Seditio asked.
"What? Why—"
"Close your eyes, Sparda." Mundus angrily repeated.
I sighed to myself and did as told.
"Now, listen to the sound of my voice, and my voice only." Seditio said, "We will be entering through Limbo, but covered in a veil within the veil. You will feel a strange feeling within your chest. Do not fight it. Let it immerse you. It is only the process of your spirit escaping your body."
I nodded.
"Good. Now…I want you to take three deep breaths on my word."
"I nodded again.
"Now…In…Out…
"…In….Out…
"….In…Out…"
Suddenly, my body felt as if my chest was slowly being opened by a pair of hands. I felt no pain, no other feeling even. All that could be felt was the unsettling feeling of my own heart being held at full beating. No other sound filled the air and none of my five senses stayed with me for long. Even breathing became absent, yet…I did not suffocate nor lose consciousness.
I simply felt an air of calmness and serenity in the moment.
"…
"…a…
"…arda…
"…Sparda…Sparda, open your eyes."
I followed the orders of Seditio's voice, and before my vision laid the change of scenery all together. I suddenly found myself within a spacious and towering room of red and fire. The ground bellow laid no floor at all; only the distortion of the many dead souls of humans who were unfortunate to arrive here as their final destination. Above me was a chandelier made up of human bones and melted phalluses for the candles.
But what gendered my attention was the sight of a swirling vortex of fire and blood placed right towards the wall. It seethed with great dread and ferocious amounts of demonic essence. Its very miasma could steal the very life from any weak hearted fool who came in contact with it. But one thing that put me in great fear of it was the odor. The unmatched stench of the gate almost made me vomit. It was a corroding scent that I could not bear…and yet it was a familiar feeling to me.
"Sparda…"
I turned quickly to see Seditio and Mundus behind me. However they were in strange black distortion. I looked down to find myself to also be in black distortion as well of black ink forming into a solidified form. My initial response was fear and it showed clear as day.
"W-What is this black magic?-!" I yelled in a panic.
"Calm yourself, Sparda." Mundus said with an authoritative tone.
"We told you. We only want to show you the truth." Seditio said, "And here it lies—within the chambers of Lucifer."
My spine grew stiff as ice with my body trembling with the many goose bumps lining my arms. Though I was no longer within my body, I could still feel sweat under my arms. This was a great mistake I had made in submitting to these two men in their lead towards a path I should not have walked down with them.
"W-What?-!"
"Sparda please calm yourself—"
"Do not hold my tongue, Seditio! I will not allow your prettied words to sway me any further!" I exclaimed fearfully. "You both have forced me to see a place I have been scorned from seeing with my own eyes! And in these ghostly forms no less! Please let me leave immediately!"
But my outcries were left on deaf ears at the sound of fire being ignited within a fireplace. From those hellish flames, walked our lord in his best robes. I felt unworthy of seeing such radiance and grace before my lowly eyes and had the strongest desire to turn away. But my neck was clutched by Mundus who forced me to watch all that went on in the room. He shuffled his feet upon the distortion of ground below him and stood before the swirling portal. He stared at it in magnificence—as if it were the most precious form in existence.
"Soon…" He uttered.
All was silence save for the moaning of human souls bellow and the energy that formed within the large edifice before my lord. What purpose did this portal have that made even my lord stare in glory of it? And why did he feel such a need to hide it from the rest of his people? I did not feel comfortable being in the room and desperately wanted to escape. I felt great dishonor for even laying eyes on his private quarters. I was ready to rip out of Mundus's clutches and try to find a way to escape this ghostly form the best way I could.
My actions and plans fell the moment I saw something appear within a bright light behind my lord. I recognized the light…I had seen it…fought it…for years.
The white light dissipated and revealed a being with golden hair, draped in white robes, and his wings and fluttering as a bird but as white and heavenly as the clouds in the sky.
My lord turned towards him and what traced his lips was a gesture I had never seen from him—a smile. He seemed to have been a completely different person as oppose to the ruthless and firmly cruel lord he had worshipped and obeyed since his creation.
"Michael…it has been a while." My lord spoke almost…graciously.
"Yes. It has." The angel nodded with a firm expression.
"I must say, it is good to see you again." My lord smiled as he walked towards the angel.
"No…it isn't…" Michael said in disapproval. This made my master stop in mid stride. "But somehow I knew this day would come some way or another."
"Then you know what I am offering unto both you and my father, correct?"
"Of course. Why would you not? Which means you have realized the error of your ways?"
"Far from it."
"What?"
"What I did…what I have created; they are all of just causes." My lord said with fury. "I was not wrong to question our father's so-called wisdom. In his creation, he put so much faith within the humans that he even bore his own essence into the flesh and blood of a virgin woman to present unto the Earth! He puts his faith in garbage, and I refused to follow in his demands!"
"And look where you have arrived as a result!" Michael yelled. "Scorned onto the planet with no reason for living except to bring chaos to our home; you have no just cause to your actions! They were all of selfish endeavors!"
"Selfish? WE became nothing but tools to him!" He pointed towards the trapped human souls of the damned bellow both of them. "Do you not see the space bellow slowly being filled to the brim? We were casted out as mere objects to THEM,Michael! Most of them do not even believe we exist on that blue rock! We were something more than this! Now we are simply means to an end for these pathetic pieces of meat that could be decimated with but a sneeze! How are THEY more worthy of being loved by God more than us? We should be ruling them as our subjects!"
Michael could only shake his head in disappoint. "It appears you have not learned a single thing. You are still as self-centered as you were in Heaven, and your arrogance knows no bounds. The humans are God's greatest conquest and we as higher beings should be gracious that he has appointed us as powers to protect them as much as we can behind the veil."
"You say that…but are YOU gracious?" my lord challenged, "Can you truly say this is what you want?"
There was a pause between the two that filled an awkward tension in the room. I had never seen my lord act so…feverishly. It almost felt as if he himself was no longer the lord that I had always worshipped as unwavering and mighty. His voice was not as thunderous and his great authority seemed to have fallen short right before my eyes.
"Enough of these words." Michael finally said, "I did not come here to argue with you. You have called upon me personally, so speak."
There were no immediate words or arguing between the two. A sigh escaped my master's lips. "Very well… As you know, what I offer to you and our father will serve as a right to return to the thrown I so deservingly claimed. For you see, ruling this kingdom of vermin and filth are below my capabilities. They only know war and pleasure, and I grow disgusted by them every single moment I have to look at them. These putrid demon scum are the embodiment of my desperate plea to rejoin my original brothers once more."
"And you believe that will be all it takes?" Michael said apathetically, "For what you have done, it will require more than a plea and swearing your loyalties back in our father's good graces. You must fulfill your end of this agreement in order for your ligancy to be trusted."
"Simply tell me what I must do, and it shall be done…" My master groveled.
"You must cease this war once and for all, Lucifer…you must destroy your demon legion. You must destroy hell."
My breath hitched the second I had head such a heavy and disastrous proposal. My chest had grown heavy with this deep bitterness of anguish chaining it down. All that I had known was a small fraction of what had been really been set for the rest of my own kind and even myself; annihilation of the most horrendous kind. I did not want to believe it. I did not want to see it. All the truth I had grown so deeply in love with had slowly departed from me in a spiraling whirlwind of despair.
I…I didn't want to see any more of this. I ran to Seditio and without warning, grabbed him roughly by the collar and howled in a state of panic, "Let me leave here, Seditio! Let me abandon these walls and return to my own realm! Let me go back to doing battle for my lord! Let me search for the Angel that murdered our own! Let me drink with you again in the tavern while enjoying ourselves! Let me…! LET ME HAVE A PURPOSE!-!"
"Mundus!"
Suddenly I felt my back collar be yanked back, constricting my throat in the process. However, my eyes had fallen to mirages all around my view—dashing by in a distortional afterimage of darkness and phantasms, I had soared through this endless loop of outlandish light before I had found myself and my proper bearings.
There I sat in the middle of their pentagram, feeling all of my energy drained from my pours, while they seemed just as liberated from the sorrow I had swarming inside of me. All the adrenaline I had felt on the battlefield seemed to have been absorbed into the tension in the scene I had to bear witness to. All had been so mist-filled and agonizing around me. I did not feel the aloofness of battle that I would usually feel against Angels. I felt no hubris power surge through me.
I truly felt nothing…nothing but anguish.
All that I believed I knew, was shattered right before my eyes.
"Sparda…?" Seditio called to me. I did not respond. I only stared to the ground with a heavy casted shadow over me. The shadow being Mundus, who grabbed my shoulders harshly.
"Sparda, I know the animosity you are feeling as of now, and fully accept any and all rage that is within you, but you must see the truth for what it is, or face annihilation like the rest of our brothers. We have such important knowledge in our hands that can create a change on the stone slab. We can overthrow Lucifer and save our lives from certain destruction."
I had lost the rest of his long-winded exposition on turning the tide of the war and the ruling and focused on the instance of what he said; overthrow Lucifer.
Lucifer? The Lucifer? Our very Lord and creator who felt it necessary to create us to fulfill his…no. I knew better now. I understood it all in that moment. Harsh realities were not foreign to me. Though my time on Earth has been short lived, I fully grasped the idea that not everything will always be as it seemed. But I was so easily convinced to the teachings of my Lord that all I was doing was for a just cause to further the goals of the one who created me. He was the one who made me so why would I not do what he desired?
But I knew…at that very point, I knew for myself the truth of the matter—I was no warrior for my Lord…I was cattle. And I was stupid to believe otherwise.
"…do you understand, Sparda?"
I had returned to my proper state of mind and looked up at Lucifer. His stern expression asked for me to grasp the gravity of what I now knew. The truth and all burdens it had to offer to my heart.
I hated this heaviness. I wanted it to just disappear…I wanted to kill it. I wanted to suffocate it into the filth it came from. I desired my hands to wring its thin neck and clench until I could see the life leave its eyes. I wanted to revel in its agony as I take what little existence it tried to hold on to.
I wanted this pain to die…I wanted…I wanted blood…his blood.
"Take me..."
Mundus looked in confusion. "What…?"
"Take me…to him."
I looked deep into Mundus's eyes; a scorching bitterness filled with furious rage and regret washed over my once proud eyes, now drowned in the anguish of my past foolishness in being blinded for so long. Now my true eyes were finally open.
"I want to do it…" I said harshly, "I want…to kill Lucifer."
December 7th B.C.
So much had changed these last 12 months since that day.
Most what I thought was a stable understanding of what my existence on this spherical rock was had become a blur to my eyes. All that was fed to me by the silver tongue of my Lord had been a passing wind to my ears. The words of loyalty and a false sense of dignity was forfeited into nonsense I had to force myself to replicate before I knew what I knew now for a year.
But these demanding strains of false worship would not last long. No…tomorrow will be the day.
Tomorrow…
Tomorrow…
Tomorrow…
Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow…
Tomorrow…I paint the world red with his blood.
December 8th B.C.
The time has come.
December 9th B.C.
I*erased*
I don't know…*erased*
It wasn't what…*erased**erased*erased*erased*
I…had succeeded…but…at what cost…?
December 15th B.C.
It had been days since my last entry. So much has happened. But I will never forget it. Every detail and every moment of carnage I felt…it was all there.
And now…I'm ready to write it down once and for all.
We had done it. We had succeeded in rallying the most trust worthy of men to follow our commands in this shrouded rebellion. A band of 50 men gathered within the secret quarters that Mundus and Seditio had shown me. Of course we had to be weary of who entered and as such, anyone who attempted to leave the quarters would automatically be whipped of their memories—forgetting everything from the knowledge of Lucifer's true purpose to the knowledge of a rebellion and these quarters as well. We spared no expense.
We all sat around a circular table made of smooth but hard wood with drinks offered to us all to tie us down. Murmuring took place amongst the men—most groveling at their own foolishness to accept the words of Lucifer so blindly. Others who had served him for years felt just as outraged.
I understood their pain greatly. But I could not help but feel a mix of anxiety…and giddiness. I had been stressed and lost sleepless nights; pondering the result of this rebellion against the one we once called a god. What if we are all killed in an instant? Lucifer's power is no doubt beyond our own understanding. We could all be obliterated in seconds upon facing him with only a snap of his fingers…and yet…I felt ecstasy. I didn't know why this had entered my mindset or the purpose for it…but I quickly realized what that was…
…The desire of freedom.
"SILENCE!-!"
All halted their tongues to the thunderous, echoing howl of Mundus, who, along with Seditio and I, stood before the edge of the table.
"My brothers! We have faced prosecution, loss, arbitrary treatment, and of course…lies." The crowd of men booed loudly. It was like a wave of echoings that resonated within the room. "Settle down now."
The men did as they were told in a quick dying down.
"So then…we…" he raised his hands towards them all before clenching them shut. "We…have the power. The power to turn the tide for the way things have become! We have always held within us, the same power that can overthrow an entire battalion of Angels! The one we called God was an Angel! A fallen one! What makes him so powerful that he is no different from the ones whose blood stains our blades in their final hours?-!" The crowd agreed with a call. "Our strength and numbers were the superior! We should not be ruled by one putrid fallen Angel, that person should be ruled by us!" The crowd howled. "And so, no more shall we run to the beckoning and call of the very one who had slowly been throwing us into the pits of death, with us, his sheep to the slaughter. No more will our strength and power be wasted on a war that leads to our own deaths, win or lose. No more will we lose many of our brothers to his desires! No, this day…! This day! Is! Our! AWAKENING!-!-!"
The room exploded into howling cheers and thunderous applause. I looked out and smiled confidently. We were about to lead a movement of fury and anarchy towards a new tomorrow this night. This night was the night that all would change since my own birth. I was not only able to experience this change in age, but be one of the leaders to making it so. Our time was now.
We pushed hard. We had no real plan of action to try and break through the defenses of the so-called Lord. We had no alternative to turn towards in the off chance that our first plan of action failed. We did not even know what would be the result of what we were doing had we been wrong about the strength of our adversaries. All that swam through our minds were the words that Mundus spoke that burned into our hearts to full our strength.
We broke through the doors of the King of Hell and fought our way through the rooms of death and wicked beast. I myself had slaughtered and destroyed the ones I once called brothers in this high of sadistic ferociousness. This was the same high I had longed for back in most of the battles against the Angels—the same high that I was so forced to hold back for so long at the risk of going too far and destroying what was still beautiful in the world…but no beauty was held here and no weak to hold myself from hacking into nothingness. Though they were my brothers, they were now my enemies. And like all my enemies, they had to face the sharpness of my blade as their final moments of life.
Our small band of freedom fighters climbed through wave after wave of demons and hellhounds and beast of the like, while losing many a men behind us in the process of our careless thirst for Lucifer's blood. I shed no tears for those lost. Not even now do I feel a single feeling of regret for any. Even now, I have not since carried their grief over my back. I did not question why they meant so little to me when almost a year or so ago, the ones who died on the battle field against one angel were the burdens that held my heart back. What made these same men's deaths not even hurt me? I don't know for sure.
But what I did know was that the door to Lucifer's room was right before me—towering with its wicked design and horrid preventability from entering. A large skull of a giant beat rested upon it, almost like a warning for even the strongest to fall if they challenge the Lord of Hell.
For that very moment in all this carnage, I felt a slight sensation of turmoil wallow me. For that one moment I did not know what I was to do. I looked behind me to find no more men standing with me. Only I, Seditio, and Mundus were able to be fortunate enough to stand strong in the presence of the door to Lucifer. The doubt had taken over and…I was scared…scared of dying…
But then, two hands had gripped my shoulders. They were firm and tight, but…they trembled. They were hands filled with doubt from men who shared my same fears.
I looked to my left to see these cowards of men who were as I was.
"Fear not, Sparda…" Seditio said to me, with sheer confidence in his eyes as he stared towards the door. "…We will be victorious. We will create a new world of our own. We will be free of Lucifer."
I looked to my right to see the coward of men just as I was.
"We will not fall…" Mundus said to me, with the same confidence towards the door. "We have come this far to let fear falter us. We must put ourselves in each other's trust. Understand?"
I could feel it? Though both feared for what awaited us behind that door, they held their ground strong and looked death straight into the face. They were true warriors to their core. And what was I? A lowly demon would have actually considered cowering in fear towards the greatest battle of my existence?
No…I could not falter now. This was my fight as well.
And so I too stood tall, starring the possible final glance of life before my eyes, and I stared hard with furrowed brow towards the end. I welcomed it, and I will fight it.
"Let us go, my brothers."
And with all our strength combined, we all pushed forward the door, ready to end this Golden Age, once and for all.
I had fallen. My feet could not support me.
I laid in darkness of the deepest pit, filled with the lifeless bodies of human bones and marrow. I did not regain consciousness until a few moments ago. What could have happened to me? I do not know for sure. All I could vaguely remember was me and my brothers opening the door to face Lucifer once and for all, but…then I had been hit. Something punctured me in my chest and I had fallen to the ground instantly. I check my torso, only to find a large gash that tore through my cloak and bleed harshly. But I could feel no pain from it. For that was not what I concerned myself over.
I stared up into the opening above. It was dark sky filled with clouds. It snowed. But of course it did. I had forgotten it would snow at some point…But then I saw it—A single white feather as pure as snow drop fell into the darkness—unafraid of the evil that nested bellow. But it had its target to waste away onto my sword. It fell right onto its rusted blade and dripped away.
It was a sign. It had to be a sign. But from who?
None of that mattered to me at that time though. I had been foolish to leave my brothers to fight Lucifer alone.
I stood over the lifeless bodies of humans from beneath me and took hold of my sword once again.
I placed it on my back along with my shield, and climbed from the bottom of the pit by sinking my fingers into the walls. I quickly rid myself of the darkness from below and tore through the blood and mess and had grasped for the ledge.
Finally I had pulled myself to the surface. Before me stood a towering marble statue of, what appeared to be, Lucifer, with his wings stretched out far and his arms holding above his head the same portal that was in his own quarters. This was the Hell Gate he had taken so much care of. Now it sat in the hands of his marbled statue, into the snow-filled air.
And I sat only minutes away from its general position; across rubble floor pieces and darkness bellow them.
I could faintly catch chanting in the distance and flames gathering around the fingertips of the statue. Something was occurring. And I knew it needed to be stopped.
I took to my feet and ran across the broken floor towards the towering statue that stood in the distance. Flames had stood in my way but I continued across, running with all my might no matter what. I called to my brothers; yelling their names for a response. For if I had to fight alone, I did not believe I could survive.
As I made my way towards the most stable of floors that was further elevated towards the statue, I could see a single elite demon warrior cutting its way through many of our own demon men like nothing. Its mask was red with a lifeless grin and its body modified with horrid design. Dual blades were held in its hands and blood was what surrounded it.
It had taken sight of me and focused its attacks unto me. It also took off to kill me.
"Move now!" I shouted bitterly. "I said move!-!"
I reached for my sword on my back, and the moment I did, it felt…lighter. It felt as though I were grabbing only a handle and no blade at all. Nevertheless I had swung down hard across the demon's path and within my sight; the Derkavac had been severed in two with little to no struggle at all. Its blood had painted my now shimmering blade that almost looked as though it were brand new once more.
I paid it no immediate mind and focused only on the path at hand.
I continued forward and leaped up the elevated floors that had broken apart. Further I approached the statue as demon minions fell before my blade as easily as I could imagine. I continued to call for my brothers' names until one would answer to me. But so far none had. I grew anxious for their voices and desperate to find them.
I had finally reached a platform of stairs that lead straight towards the statue before me. The snow barely posed a challenge to me and neither did the coming dark forces of demonic brethren I once knew. All fell to my sword and blood was what splattered the stairs. I quickened my pace further in hopes of arriving to my brothers in time towards the top of the marble statue above me. With no response from them and the odds not in our favor, I only hoped I was not too late to offer any form of aid to save them.
Finally I stood before the statue that loomed over me and what felt like the rest of the world in my eyes. I had to find some quick means to travel up towards the top. But I put into question how?
Until I saw it; a circular pentagram in the snowing ground that had not been activated yet. I know since Seditio had shown me its inner markings and how to use it. This gave me a small glimmer of hope that both he and Mundus still lived.
I immediately stepped forth into the pentagram and placed my hand into the inner sphere in the middle of it. I uttered the incantations that Seditio had told me to utter if ever he resorted to these particular pentagrams to be used, and waited for the shining light to envelope me whole.
Moments passed before I had arrived at the top of the giant stone oddity's head. Within my sight I could see my own brothers of war batting vigorously against the Angelic ruler of hell, but alas despite his best efforts at trying to subdue the two demon warriors, Lucifer's efforts fell in vein as he was being defeated by them. Seditio, with his own swordsmanship winning against Lucifer's defense, while Mundus with his brute force and metallic black claws. Every attempt Lucifer tried was a wasted one and only left him open for attack and loss of his own defenses.
However that seemed to have suddenly turned within the spur of a second as Lucifer successfully knocked back Seditio and sent him flying almost across the ground. He pushed Mundus away and soared across the sky with his feeble angelic wings towards Seditio to kill him.
I acted quick and soared across the ground with blade lunged forward to intercept Lucifer's attack with his extended glowing palm. It was a mere quick second in time as my blade had successfully curved his hand towards the side and thus make him lose his trajectory of flight for a brief moment.
This unfortunately did not stop him as he only turned and brought forth his other glowing hand to back hand me across my face with such intensity that it send my body hurtling towards Seditio.
Luckily Seditio and I thought quickly in a sort of synchronized manner. He caught me in mid-fly and slipped into my hand, his own blade, before pushing me forward with all his remaining strength he had in his arms and a call of my name to succeed. Once again, I lunged into him and my blades had successfully hacked into his gut. Blood had covered most of my vision with the aching shriek of my once powerful lord. To hear such a scream from your creator was a heart-wrenching thing to hear, but my thirst for vengeance and satisfaction for all the years of being a slave made the somber emotions pass.
I rapidly swung my and Seditio's swords with great fury—leaving no room for openings or chances for him to strike. I gave no mercy, and had all my fierce anger behind each swing. Blood stained my blade with each rip of skin I carved into. But no matter how deep I slashed, there seemed to be no way to bring down Lucifer. He still stood on his feet, despite him being cut down. Even with my mightiest of swings, I was still no match for his him.
"SPARDA! UP!"
I heard the call of Mundus from my side and did as he said. In my ditch efforts to end this battle once and for all, I had hastily tapped into my inner demonic essence within me, and transformed my human visage into the embodiment of my inner demonic self—a coal-skinned humanoid beast of black armor and sharp black wings. My horns rose above my head and curved inward, while my eyes glowed with a fierce red aura. I had brought both blades into a mighty uppercut and had sent Lucifer into the air with sheer power behind my swing.
I had fallen to my knees and returned my human body to its original form whilst looking up into the sky to see Lucifer spiraling into the air.
Off the periphery of my sight, I could see a gathering aura gather around where Mundus stood. He gathered the very elements around the statue and formed them around his body to build a hard mass around himself. The Marble of the statue's head beneath me had broken apart and flew directly into the heavy mass that surrounded where Mundus was. The sky grew cold and swarming in red above. The giant mass had grown so enormous that it had almost overcome the very statue's height. Soon the ground beneath me and Seditio began to break apart into rubble.
I put both mine and Seditio's sword on my back and ran towards him as he was preparing a pentagram to escape this destruction around us. The moment I grabbed his hand, he slammed free hand into the pentagram and within moments we both dissipated to a safer distance.
Seditio and I had arrived on the ledge of what use to be the entrance to Lucifer's counters before it had evolved into the destruction all around us.
But there in the distance…I saw it.
The towering giant of grey marble and corroding darkness had gather together to create a beastly creature of great terror. Its face held three eyes with furrowed brows and fiery red within its mouth. The arms that once belonged to the statue were only pieces of the body's hard armor, protruding from its back while the head was the center piece for his chest. And even still, more pieces of other buildings and even the very demons that were foolish enough to stand their grounds were also being absorbed by the giant beast.
"Look with your eyes open, Sparda…For this…this is Mundus." Seditio said.
I looked in absolute amazement at the sheer velocity and power he exhibited with just the elements around him. He truly deserved the right to be our leader in this long war we were fighting. But it seemed that now it had finally come to an end with Mundus.
I quickly noticed the falling of Lucifer from the sky once more as he descended from the clouds.
He disappeared within the clutched of Mundus's giant grasp.
I could not assume he had died so easily…not from such weak force as that. Mundus played with his prey first.
"Well now, look how the mighty have fallen." Mundus said with an echoing deep voice that reached the heavens above. "To even imagine that I had once praised you just as the others of my brethren have—a regretful blunder on my part to follow in their example…but now I hold God in my hand. And with God in my very hand and under my whim, that would assimilate me to be something…beyond you…beyond God…yes…a god."
"Y-You…! You…fool!" I could hear the raging agony that was my lord crying out from the folds of Mundus's giant clutches. "Y-YOU…DO NOT EVEN BEGIN…UGH…TO UNDERSTAND THE GRAVITY OF…WHAT IT MEANS TO BE GOD…!-! YOU…A MERE DEMON…! I CREATED YOU…! I CREATED ALL OF YOU!-! AND YOU BETRAY ME?-!-! ME WHO HAS GIVEN YOU LIFE?-!-! ME WHO HAS TAUGHT YOU, RAISED YOU, AND GIVEN YOU ALL I HAVE TO OFFER!-!-! AND YOU TURN AGAINST ME?-!-!"
"It's too late to speak so boldly now, Lucifer." Mundus proclaimed loudly. "Your kingdom has fallen, and so have you. And it is only fair that I deliver your final judgement. Goodbye...my lord."
I could not turn away. My eyes only watched with undetermined emotions riling up within me. I had no proper understanding of what was happening before me at that moment, nor did I even begin to question it. All that I thought I had known and all I believed in for as long as I lived...all of it being held in the palms of my own kind, and slowly crushed into oblivion. Was this anarchy? And if so, what would come of it? What would come next for the demons? What would become of me?
It appeared all those questioned lied in the final howl of the one who had created us all...as he was slowly destroyed by the very thing he had created...never to howl again.
All laid silent in the echoing howls of the sky. For once I felt a slow serine of silence overcome both me and my surroundings. Not a single sound could be heard from yonder nor near me. I could still recall the beating in my heart that day-it burrowed through my chest and hurt me physically.
I was immediately brought back to my own state of mind at the sudden grasp of my shoulder from behind me, followed by a warm embrace around my neck by large sweaty forearms.
"Hail, Sparda! We are victorious!" Seditio cheered to the high heavens.
"We must celibate our victory with the survivors!" Mundus also cheered with me. I was surprised to see him with us considering his massively looming body still stood there in the distance far off, still clutching a fist tightly in the air.
But I worried not for such illogical questions. For now, it was a time of joyous celebration for us all as our new lives have finally begun. This was the day in which we would make history in carving our own lives and making new what was so tarnished for many years before.
And so I cheered with them like a gaggle of fools drunk on the finest of ale. No negative words or afterthoughts could begin to take the three of us down from our victory. Tonight, we would no doubt feast and drink like gods ourselves and make our own rules of how we shall live.
Finally we had all fallen to exhaustion in our cheering and merriment to take hold of what we have done. We looked off into the distance; through the destruction that was no doubt unavoidable and the many demon lives lost in our rebellion against the overseer, we had met with victory. Though bittersweet, was delicious to partake nonetheless.
"So then...this is it." Seditio said, "The one who had secretly abused us, tortured us, and made our lives mean so little in this meaningless petty battle has finally been defeated. This life has come to an end."
"Yes, all that we have suffered through for so many years could now be forgotten." Mundus said, "No more will we have to be slaves to the one who claimed to be above our own. Now we are the only ones who can rule ourselves with no one to tell us otherwise. THIS is what it means to be free."
"free..." I repeated. I could not fully understand the meaning of the word freedom until that day...that day...that...day...yes...I understood the meaning of freedom that day...
"Yes...we have been freed...now then, what will come next?" Mundus wondered.
"Does it matter? We are free to create our own destinies." Seditio said happily. "To be quite frank, I could go for a cold brew right about now."
"Heh, always thinking of drink before anything else!" I laughed, "Does nothing change with you?"
"Sadly no, it seems!" Seditio chuckled.
"But that's just it...isn't it...?"
We both simmered our laughter down to hear Mundus out on his words.
"I mean...that is what this rebellion against Lucifer was for, correct? To change what we have thought was freedom?" He began to tread away from us in his own thoughts. "But here we all are; we will all still be drunk off ale...we'll all still be mindless sloths but now masterless mindless sloths...All that we know will be thrown away to reveal that...we truly will never be able to form our own destinies."
"Mundus...?" Seditio tried to get Mundus's attention.
"We have been raised and brought up to not have our own lives. We were only trained to serve and protect someone and no more...That was each of our jobs...well that and the love for battle and murder...so then, will we truly ever be free...?"
"M-Mundus, what are you muttering about now?" Seditio asked hesitantly.
"No...no, we will not...our true freedom was never through our lord, Lucifer...no...our freedom was the freedom to no longer think...to be the ones to have someone lead us...to guide us...to guide them..."
"Mundus, what nonsense are you-"
"It has all become so clear!" Mundus immediately said, turning towards Seditio with an expression that admittedly put a shiver of fear down my spine; realization. "Don't you see, Seditio, Sparda? what we have done is not lay waste to a ruler...but simply cleared a path for another to take his place!"
Both I and Seditio looked at Mundus, both lost in confusion in what he was trying to say to us. I did not want to believe that he was trying to convey something but my chest beat in a frantic pace that I was dying to hear what it was.
"What do you mean?" Seditio questioned.
"Do you not see, this is what the next step in our new world is!" Mundus said joyously, "This is our lasting peace and our way towards a new tomorrow! We need a firm hand to watch over us! No one as tyrannical and worthless as Lucifer, but rather a stronger and more fearsome leader who will rule with an iron fist to further this evolutionary growth...! Someone...someone like me..."
"What?-! That is ridiculous! We fought Lucifer and this war for freedom, and you want to take that all away and replace it with the exact same thing?-!" Seditio argued angrily. "I do not believe what you are saying!"
"I have no desire of replicating all the foulness that Lucifer had created." Mundus assured him, "All will be restructured to a new form of prosperity. Don't you understand...we are wild animals...We are like carnivorous beast, desperate for our next prey! Do you really think that we will all survive like that?-! it would not be long before we start ripping each other's faces off! That is the kind of species we were naturally created to be!"
"But this is not what we wanted!" Seditio yelled, "This is not what our brethren would want-"
"AND WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW OF BRETHREN, NEPHILIM!-!"
All went dead cold and silent. Like a wisp of air had suddenly stolen the serenity around us.
A Nephilim? What could that have been? I had no knowledge of that word, nor its significance. And why did Seditio not foretell me that he was this Nephilim Mundus called him?
"M-Mundus...How...do you...?"
Mundus gave a low humming chuckle. "You think me so blind that I would not figure it out? You reek of their scent,-hell, your hair was indication enough."
"But...we were so careful...! How could you have known?"
"You hear many things within the deepest corners of Hell. And sometimes, you stumble upon those small nuggets of authenticity that can become the very thing that changes everything." His eyes turned towards I, "So, when did you find it fit to tell Sparda of your origin?"
"Sparda has nothing to do with this!" Seditio shouted.
"Seditio, what does he speak of?" I asked desperately. "What is this Nephilim?"
"I'm so glad you have asked, Sparda!" Mundus intervened.
"MUNDUS, NO!"
"Your so-called brother is in fact a hybrid!" Mundus roared, "He is a hybrid of both Angel AND Demon!"
I could not believe what I had just heard. For a moment it took me moments to register the sheer lunacy of what Mundus had just shared with me. But even as it slowly sunk in, I still could not find it within me to actually believe it for concept of both Angel and Demon being fused to make one single being was practically inconceivable. There could be no possible way that such a species even existed...but it did...and he was standing with me and Mundus this whole time.
In those moments of staring at him, I felt an entirely new wave of emotions wash over me; one that neglected the familiarity of the one I called friend, while also losing every shred of enjoyment I had grasped the very coat tails of just a fr minutes happy has died, and revelation has taken its place.
"I will let you both deal with this." Mundus said as he disappeared.
"S-Sparda...?"
I could not...I couldn't look at him the same way...it was all so...different now. Everything was so unclear to me. I couldn't grasp what I wanted and what was right anymore. I began to ramble within my own mind. All seemed so unclear to me as to what to do now. He was an Angel...but still of my own brethren...but to be a demon...you must be fully demon...right?
"Sparda!" Seditio tried to reach me in an attempt to touch me. "Sparda, please-"
Suddenly, it all went black from there. I had so quickly lost all consciousness of my actions and had somehow fallen to the darkness of my own mind. I could hear the faint echoings of howling and the faintness of my own name being called. At first it sounded so filled with panic...before slowly falling to struggling...and finally...a deathly whisper.
But why did this strange feeling feel so familiar?
but then...I remembered...it as the same as the tavern...with that wench...I had fallen prey to my desires of carnage and debauchery, to the point that...
no...no, not again...how I wished it were not true...how I wished that I would not have to suffer through such horrors again. Just once I wished that it would not have turned out such a way again...
but...my eyes once again opened...
I dare not grasp my situation or surroundings...but it was a difficult thing to do when all you saw blood painting the very ground you walk on.
I made the terrible mistake of looking down towards what stood under one of my feet...and what meaty flesh my blade was currently plunged into.
But I did...I saw him...I saw his eyes slowly dissipate from existence...I saw his chest torn asunder and his flesh torn into by mauling claws...I saw the grog load of blood that coughed from his throat...I saw the twitching of his snubbed hand tendons...I saw for my own eyes...his beating heart within his chest...
I could not keep my own breathing in order and fell into my own pit of despair as I had seethed in anguish. No single withdrawal of emotions could escape me. I could not hold back a single tear from my eyes...I try to wipe my eye, only to instead to see the hands of a monster-coated with the blood of the one I had once called a friend...now that friend laid close to death right before my own blade.
"S...Se...Se...N-No, I did...I di..." I tried to mutter at the very least a single word, but my own tongue was scattered with so much I wanted to try and say, try to explain...but no words could be made without releasing my anguish and pain along with it.
But he did speak...he spoke to me.
"Ugh...S-Spar...da..." I quickly abandoned my blade and kneeled down to join him as he laid there, drifting away from this life. "P-Please...do not...blame yourself..."
"No...! Do not...Do not say...!" I gritted my teeth to hold in the grief I so desperately wanted to be rid of.
A touch...a single touch was enough to withhold me together once more...A single touch to my cheek...a blood-smothered touch.
"Please...fear not...for my passing...for...I know...I-I know that...UGH!" The more he spoke, the more blood had bleed from his lips.
"No more! Cease this useless speaking!" I desperately pleaded.
But he did not comply. Instead, I watched in horror as he did the sole action that I will never forget...he reached into his opened chest cavity, and from it, ripped out his own beating heart.
I can still hear it...that incisive thumping...I can not seem to be rid of it even now. Why...? Why...?
Why...?
"S-Sparda...I-I want you...to be the one...who will...forever have that...which I hold dear..." he struggled to say between gasps of his last breaths of air. "I-I will...never...truly be...separated from you...So...p-please...take...take me...within you...s-so that...you will one day...know what to do...I know you will...y...yo...you will...b...b...b..e..."
What? What was it? What were his last words? What could they have been? Please, do not leave. Don't leave me now! I do not want to go so quickly! I do not want to be alone! You were there for me for so many years of my existence and-
no...
no, I have cried my tears...I only need to record...so that I may at least never forget...
And so, there his body lay...there lay the last of this Golden Age that was promised to be an era of new beginnings and the final change that we all could live in...but was this truly the change that he had dreamt of? was his own life, lost to the hands of his...his family...his final wish for this new wave of existence?
To this day, I do not know.
And in that moment, I could not question right then and there what he wanted. All I could do was drown my own sorrows as I ingested his heart. The splatter of blood and the taste of iron...it was so...savory. The texture, the tenderness; it was like an intense ecstasy that seemed to have even quelled and exceeded the blood lust for battle...it left me with great serenity. My own emotions had seemed to settle at its taste. I felt so...rejuvenated. Not happy, not sad, but...revived.
Once I had finished, I stood back up once more.
I took my blade in hand and took it from within Seditio's chest. But...something unexplainable commenced.
Seditio's body had slowly faded into ashes that had somehow solidified into hard steel and finally, into glistening metal on the very blood-painted ground under it. I had picked it up to see what had produced from the very ashes of him; a silvery longsword of great design and absolute beauty, though fierce in appearance.
It was the grace of an Angel...but the carnage of a Demon. Denouncing both titles for its own; a symbol of rebellion.
I felt him...I felt him within the sword...I could feel him...I could see him...always in the periphery of my eye...I turn so quick but always miss him...but...in his spirit, I knew he was there...watching over me...protecting me...so long as he was within my hands.
And it was at that moment that I realized it.
The Golden Age...was finally over.