Chapter 11 - Two ANNOYING Demons!
Not long did Noire have to wait for the elevator to reach the top, not long at all, which she found fairly pleasant. It wasn't often that they took the amount of time this one did, and since she had nobody but herself, it went straight to the top. Well, there wasn't ALWAYS just herself, Noire would have smacked herself for that little fib, as (expectedly) during that time she had to fight against a bunch of Demons which wanted to take her head. There weren't that many though in each wave, at most 4 to 5, even 6 at one point. This had confused Noire at first, but when she felt the elevator start slowing down did she realize i: the combined weight would gradually slow it to a halt, maybe even force it back down to the bottom. That wouldn't be allowed, Noire felt, so she instead killed the Demons before they could grow too numerous. Fighting so few however was as easy as taking a breath to her, after having been forced to fight against huge waves before in that secret missions' waves.
Once she reached the top however, the blackette reached a walkway which lead to an outside corridor. This let her, once she had walked out into it, see into the city below her, the city which she had risked everything to come here. "You know something Siegfried…" she began barely above a whisper, her eyes shining with a melancholic light as she eyed the city. She put her hands on the stone wall which served the purpose of stopping her from falling over, eyeing the city sadly. "Seeing Lastation as silent as this… it gives off the exact opposite feeling compared to its normal state. I… don't like it, Lastation right now feels almost lifeless, like all its energy has been sapped dry, like a vampire has drained it of all its lifeblood. Are you sure the citizens are alright? These Demons aren't out to kill them are they?"
…It is not likely that this is the case. The Demons have concentrated themselves in this Tower thanks to your presence, it seems. Apparently, they were drawn to you before you even entered this Temen-Ni-Gru, if you had searched for anyone who could possibly resist the spell blanketing Lastation, you would have done more harm than good. In a way, this is a lucky break for you, as a leader perhaps it would have been better if you did focus on finding survivors. However, that would not have solved the problem, and now that we know what we do it would have needlessly put innocents at risks. Still, I can relate to this feeling you feel, as I myself do not like this spell either. We will break it though, Noire, should we meet the one who cast it and defeat them. Only then will the people wake up…
Hearing that filled Noire with a sense of relief, knowing that her people would be alright in the long run. She figured that they wouldn't know of what was happening currently, and to Noire herself this felt like an optimal solution. She didn't want to cause them needless panic, instead she would rather they focus on fixing Lastation and surpassing their original glory. However, there was one thing on her mind when she heard the words Siegfried said. 'Yeah… though, I wonder, is killing the caster, if it's a Heroic Spirit, really the right thing to do? What I mean is, if we kill the caster before all this mess with the Temen-Ni-Gru is resolved, people will take one look at it and mass panic will ensue. Especially when they see Demons in their midst. So…'
What Noire was trying to say, was that she felt like killing the caster should remain at the bottom of the priority list, and only be done once she had resolved the situation with the Temen-Ni-Gru, as well as whoever was the mastermind behind all of this. Noire didn't want to alarm her people any more than necessary, and who knows what the other Nations may think of this matter should they learn of this. It could set a bad example for her people, which could negatively impact the future in an unknown number of ways. She didn't want that, so she feared killing the caster before the correct time presented itself may end up backfiring on her.
… You do have a point, Noire. This spell is cast over the entire city, not just these slums. Everyone is in a blissful sleep-like state right now, so if they wake up and see something like this, questions will be asked. Asked towards you, that is, and you won't be there to answer them thanks to settling matters here. I can see the danger, however we should make sure we know more about this spell first, so perhaps interrogating the caster before we decide his or her fate would be a wise move. However, that is up to you, I will not instruct you on how to guide your nation for you. My kingdom is no more, I can only teach you what I know so you don't make the same mistakes…
"Yeah… your right, Siegfried. Thanks…" by the end of this conversation, Noire did feel quite better about herself, and her choices. She still felt like she could do more, but she suppressed it for the time being. She had to make sure to get this stuff done as soon as possible so she could perform damage control in the aftermath. Though, considering this and the zombie invasion from before, this seemed much smaller in scale in comparison. With that in mind, Noire continued walking down the corridor, coming to a set of doors which lead further into the demonic Tower.
Entering through the massive red doors, Noire came to a large, square-shaped room. The room itself looked pretty spacious, with a large floor that had four flat spots which looked like they were once places for pillars, arranged to form the corners of a square. Ahead, was a tall door which had two TALL statues, tall enough to reach ¾ of the room's total height. The whole place, just like the other rooms Noire had visited thus far, had been lit up by torch light, with this one being no exception. It did its job well though, casting a dark, ominous and dangerous atmosphere… even though Noire had already been here for a while so she had gotten used to it.
Sometimes though, Noire had to wonder…
Did Demons ever NOT take themselves so seriously?
Thinking back on it…
Maybe not.
Wow… these guys could learn a thing or two about how to be more laid back, seriously, geez.
The blackette walked slowly inside, gradually getting the sense that there was danger coming her way so she drew out her Balmung. All the while, she searched around by glancing to and fro, her crimson eyes shining with weariness whilst her footsteps remained audible throughout the short trek. They practically filled the entire room with their presence, giving Noire the impression this place had about the same hollow-like feeling as the building's structure. 'I can sense Demonic Power in the atmosphere… looks like I'm about to hit a boss battle soon enough.' She thought to herself, scowling as she mentally prepared herself.
Siegfried said nothing, but instead hummed in agreement. Balmung trembled in her grip.
By the time she had reached the centre of the room…
"LOOK brother! Its BEEN ages, BUT we FINALLY have COMPANY! A woman, AT that!"
"I see THAT! A young, ATTRACTIVE woman, BROTHER! We MUST entertain OUR GUEST!"
Two voices spoke up in tandem with each other, causing Noire to halt her steps and look around for the source. She didn't take that long though, due to finding them atop the massive statues, but she couldn't make out what the voices were.
One of them felt quite… well, literally like a fierce flame which burned everything in its path. It felt like someone who was hot-headed, loud-mouthed and didn't have any tact when in complicated situations.
As for the other voice, it stood as a stark contrast to the first one, as this one sounded cool, calm and collected. She attributed it to a calm breeze blowing through the vicinity, quietly and gently compared to the fierceness of the first voice.
Still, whilst pride surged forth within her being at being found attractive, it diminished slightly when she realized that such praise came from Demons.
"WHAT should WE do?"
"HOW do I know? WE need TO come UP with SOMETHING!"
Still, Noire didn't want to dawdle around here, she was in a hurry after all. Her agitation with these Demons gradually grew as the seconds passed, their mixed voices grating on her nerves the more she heard them. Noire may be used to hearing all kinds of different voices from her staff back in the Basilicom, but for some reason even the slimiest, scummiest members paled in comparison to these two.
Thus, this resulted in the black-haired CPU beginning to lose her patience in waiting for these Demons to finish their little spiel, and come down here already. At this point however, her mind concluded these Demons would likely take forever if she didn't take them down soon enough, so Noire groaned in annoyance, placing her hands on her hips as she began pacing about, trying to control her temper.
"look BROTHER, our GUEST is GROANING."
"GROAN? What IS groan?"
"WELL, a GROAN is WHEN…"
Okay, NOW Noire's fuse exploded within her mind. Quickly, she unholstered Luce and Ombra, twirling them around her fingers by their trigger guards before aiming and letting loose a couple bullets. Each one flew into the space where the voices came from with two loud BANG sounds. "Enough already! Ugh, you two are so IRRITATING!" She exclaimed, her outburst surprising the two Demons and shutting them up. Thank god, but it wasn't like Noire was finished with them just yet. "Can't you two READ the situation here?! How long are you two boneheads going to yap on like a pair of old ladies sitting in a park?!" She shouted further, though she didn't get a response from them. "If you still haven't gotten the hint yet, I'll be like those tutorial menus and fill you two in: Your 'GUEST' wants to go through, GOT IT?!"
Finally done with her mini charade just now, Noire stopped speaking and begun heaving, having said all that whilst in one whole breath. Thus, she needed to regain her composure a little bit there. 'You know, in hindsight, perhaps insulting two prideful yet annoying Demons that I will be killing soon MAY not have been the best idea.' A part of her, which she had kept suppressed for the duration of her rant, thought to herself.
Still, her rant seemed to have worked, if what happened next was any indication. Rumbling sounds filled the room, causing tremors to shake it to its foundations. However, Noire didn't let that stop her, instead she kept her balance before hopping back, flipping backwards whilst tossing her twin Handguns into the air. She landed about 13 meters away from her original position. All the while, two clouds of dust formed atop the statues, which signified to Noire how these two Demons had begun to move.
"Yes… THAT is CORRECT! Thank YOU, guest, FOR reminding US! Brother! OUR duty IS to GUARD this DOOR!"
"AGREED, brother! GUEST, we CANNOT let YOU pass!"
(Play OST - Devil May Cry 3 Soundtrack - Agni & Rudra Battle)
Both Demons launched a pair of loud war cries as a pair of blues slammed into the ground before her. Now that she could see them though, as Noire entered her Sword Mistress Stance with Balmung, she saw that these two Demons… took the form of two, headless muscular 'macho' humanoids. Each of them had armour over their waists, thighs, and arms. Each form also seemed to wield a uniquely shaped scimitar with jagged edges, one being crimson like the body holding it, and the same for the other only with a blue colour scheme. The blades looked to have segments appearing to interlock like a Celtic knot, while their ends looked slightly jagged but not pointed as a normal blade would be. The pommels formed these weird-looking… "heads", and the guards of both are round and plain. Noire got the suspicion that it was the heads on the swords which spoke, which told her a few things.
The most important being…
That as cliché as it sounded, the battle had finally begun.
To Start, Noire glanced upwards to see her Guns still flipping through the air, whilst sensing her opponents charging at her. An idea shot through her mind, to which Noire smirked to herself. She had a WHOLE load of agitation to vent onto these two, and they were going to freaking LIKE it! This in mind, Noire bent her legs before breaking into a mad sprint, closing the distance between the three of them rapidly. Right as they were about to collide however, with the two Demons swinging their swords (which they held in opposing hands, Noire realized), towards her head, Noire reacted. She flipped herself forwards over their weapons, which sailed through empty air instead, before landing on top of one and using him as a Springboard to jump up towards her guns. She flipped backwards constantly as she tossed Balmung down like a Javelin mid-flip. This allowed her to impale the back of the blue humanoid, knocking him down to the ground whilst she grabbed her guns in mid-air, twisting so she remained in an upright position before unleashing a hailstorm of rapid-fire bullet barrage upon the red Demon.
In Response to this, the Red Demon quickly used its sword arm to block the bullets, but the barrage managed to make it stumble backwards anyways. Looked like even though Luce and Ombra specialized in rapid fire barrages which could kill weaker Demons, stronger ones had better resistance to their bullets. Good to note for the future, Noire felt, as she prepared herself for landing, before she noticed another alarming danger. Whilst she had been falling, the Blue Demon, with Balmung still impaling its back, got back up and rushed towards her landing spot, thrusting its sword where it predicted her torso would be in the next few seconds. If this attack hit, she would have an abundance of blood explode out of her stomach as well as her mouth, whilst the injury itself would have been a near fatal one which would have impeded her combat potential. It wasn't like she could dodge unless she activated her FAFNIR ARMOUR and flew away, but with the rate she was falling Noire doubted she'd have enough time to escape unscathed.
Thus, she went with option B.
With calculated timing which only someone with as much finesse as her could pull off, Noire instead fired at the ground where she landed, slowing her landing so that when the sword met where her Abdomen would have been… instead, she landed on top of the blade's backedge, perfectly balancing herself on it. The head on the blade's pommel looked like it got surprised from this when it saw it, but Noire didn't pay attention to it, instead she flipped over the Blue Demon whilst firing her left Gun, Ombra, into the space where its head would have been. As for the right one, Luce, she holstered it so, during her descent behind it, she could grasp Balmung's handle and yank it out, causing a massive bloody horizontal wound to erupt from its body. Blood exploded outwards like a geyser, splattering against the ground whilst the Demon stumbled forwards, caught off balance by it.
Danger senses kicked in beside her, and Noire barely raised her Balmung in time to block… what looked to have been a massive sword slash wreathed in flames, the size of which could rival an entire limb's worth, lengthwise too. 'Whoa! So, the redone manipulates fire, huh? Guess the other one manipulates wind?' Noire hypothesized, though she internally corrected herself when, once it turned to face her, the Blue Demon swung its blade and launched a massive Tornado towards her. 'No, wind. Alright, fire, and wind, while I use lightning…'
…A dangerous combination Noire. Fire and Wind work well together, one controls air currents and the other can fan the flames to greater intensity. Be wary of any combination attacks…
'You read my mind, Siegfried…' she thought back to her Heroic Spirit, cutting the connection when she had to bend backwards. Lest she wanted to get her head decapitated when the Red Demon sped on by, swinging at her neck. Using the position to her advantage, Noire back flipped into the air, before coming down on a slash to the Demon's headless area, believing that to be its weak spot. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a mistake, as the sword it carried was quickly swung to counter her smash, both weapons colliding to result in a POWERFUL shockwave. One which blew Noire back about 23 meters. Basically, she got sent flying across the room, with both Demons charging towards her together. 'Wait, these two… they're freaking ninja running!'
Indeed, as they charged at her Noire noticed these two moved like the Ninjas from that shounen magazine, somersaulting into the air before coming down on her position. Unfortunately for her, Noire didn't have the kind of Physical strength needed to block a strike like that, so instead she activated her ZANDATSU and jumped forwards, rolling several times till she had cleared about 6 meters, before using the momentum to get back to her feet and twist around to face her enemies, all in one fluid motion. Yeah, Noire moved with quite the significant grace in combat, even if her physical strength may need to get a boost somehow in the future.
"This WOMAN is STRONG, brother!"
"YES, she IS, brother!"
"WE must COMMEND her FOR her STRENGTH!"
"Still, WE cannot LET her PASS!"
"Right!"
'Ugh, even in battle, those two yammer on!'
Noire seriously debated just activating a Twilight Wave to try and shut them up, consequences be damned.
Twirling around to face her, both the Demons before her, didn't let up on their assaults either. Both of them madly sprinted towards her like a pair of angry bulls, the red Demon's Sword became wreathed in demonic flames. Tongues of it arcing around its blade like a concentrated inferno of malice. Enough to melt half of this entire room thanks to the scorching heat. As it swung towards her middle region, Noire hopped forwards, twisting into a side slash which cut through it's weapon shoulder easily. She then landed on one hand, performing a handstand whilst throwing Balmung into the air with her other hand. She quickly caught it in between her legs and had it block a slash from the follow-up slash from the Blue Demon.
Noire, after this happened, immediately flipped into the air before switching her grip on Balmung from her legs to her right hand, twisting around in mid-air and launching a series of VACUUM SLASH attacks, keeping her opponents from chasing after her. The Blue Demon quickly stepped between them and its red brother, before the sword around it became engulfed in a vicious, hurricane gale which it used to generate a defensive tornado around itself, blocking the attack. Still, served the purpose of halting them as Noire slid across the ground to a halt. She didn't let this be the end though, quickly breaking the ground beneath her feet whilst jumping to the side, making to break into a sprint before switching to a side slide, bending her head backwards to avoid a fiery red blade from, well... helping her get a head.
Ugh, puns aside, the blackette stepped back several times before she jumped towards it, spinning like a sausage through the air to avoid a slash from the Blue Demon before flipping forwards, slamming Balmung into the Red Demon's sword. The strength she had built up managed to break the ground beneath it the moment their blades clashed, before the two weapons repelled each other and sent their wielders flying. Flipping backwards before she could land though, Noire bounced straight back by launching a VACUUM SLASH behind her like an aerial draft, twisting her body into a reverse horizontal slash, one which to her joy, the Demon couldn't block in time. As a result...
SCHING!
SPLATTER!
It became so silent at that moment, one could easily hear a pin drop. That silence got ruined though, by the sounds of blood splattering against the ground got released, following the severing of the Red Demon's arm. All the while, the useless limb fell to the ground without even making the SLIGHTEST of sounds. Noire quickly landed on the ground, twirling around to face her enemy whilst assuming her stance. 'There!' the blackette thought, a victorious smirk forming on her lips at the sight. 'Shame that guy managed to switch hands at the last second, so I couldn't initiate any followups. Now that I've severed its arm though, I'll be able to kill that Demon easier and then...!'
...Noire, above you!...
'Eh?!' Glancing up thanks to her Heroic Spirit, Noire gasped when she saw BOTH Demons somersaulting into the air, before coming down on her with rapid fire speed. Their blades both were engulfed in their own respective elements, fire and wind which kept fueling each other's intensity. Noire quickly responded by activating her ZANDATSU to give her a quicker reaction time, before hopping away lest she get herself smashed and burned at the same time. She didn't like the thought of flames touching her skin, she burned easily, never tanned.
Just afterwards, did the ability wear off, so the two Demons only hit the space she had once been. Whilst the two Demons raced towards her with the intent of hacking away at her, which they begun in the next second showing off their high speed, Noire quickly shifted into a defensive version of the Sword Mistress Style at the last second. This allowed her to block, parry and dodge their swings with royal grace, testing her flexibility to its limits as she weaved in and out of their strikes whilst delivering strikes of her own to their legs. Not to mention, with her proficiency with her VIBRATION ATTACK Skill, the technique involving sending vibrations through her sword into the weapons of her opponent to damage their bodies internally, Noire felt like she had been dishing out way more damage than the Demons had.
Yet, no matter how many times Balmung attacked them, these two bodies just kept coming at her, not letting up in their assault in the slightest! Furthermore, each of them kept launching one volley of wind and/or fire attack after another against her, forcing Noire to keep on her toes It really pissed Noire off, though beneath that she harbored an ocean of concern. 'This isn't good, no matter how many hits I land, small or large, these guys just don't stay down! Their Teamwork isn't that bad, either, its like they know what the other is thinking before even making the move! Since i'm on the defensive now, I can't unleash any big attacks, too. Even if I could, I risk destroying this place, and i'd rather not use my FAFNIR ARMOUR right now. What to do...!'
Just then, Noire had to raise Balmung and pump energy into it, causing the blade to gain a dull white glow which blocked both the flames as well as the gale force winds from the Demon swords at the same time. Noire felt her legs buckle from the combined impacts, as well as a 8 meter large crater which formed around her, nearly causing her to blanch at the strength these Demons had. Fortunately, the ground around her had a strong materiel, otherwise she could envision herself and the other Demons falling through the tower down to the very bottom. Just then, Noire caught sight of something flying from their weapons at the points of their collision... which turned out to be Sparks.
'Sparks...? Wait, that's it!'
Realization released itself through her mind as Noire found herself forming an epiphany. Lightning! That could help her, since she had a Lightning attributed Satanic Treasure! Not only that, but thinking back on her previous instances with striking and colliding with these guys, Noire had noticed that despite lacking heads the bodies functioned just like an ordinary one should. That meant they had a Nerves system, which was basically one big mass of electrical impulses. If she could channel her Lightning, even better if she amplified it with ELECTRO CHARGE, then she could potentially short circuit them and leave them out of commission!
'Its worth a shot, at least!'
With this plan formed, Noire quickly dodged another volley of wind blades by flipping through the air, somersaulting repeatedly before she landed, then jumped back again to avoid an overhead fiery sword attack. Noire ended up flipping backwards to landing on a wall, causing cracks to spread across it from where she hit, before she bounced back, heading towards the flame Demon. With her blade glowing, Noire reared it back for a swing, ending up colliding with the Demon's flaming blade, and just when it reared its other fist back for a punch...
Noire quickly acted.
"Go, Raijin! ELECTRO CHARGE!"
The black-haired CPU howled as she summoned her Satanic Treasure, letting it connect to her whilst amping it with her Skill. This resulted in an EXPLOSION of Lightning which erupted from the Satanic Treasure's form, and for a brief moment Noire heard a monster's howl come from it. Afterwards though, the blackette shook her head and looked towards her target, which seemed to mimic someone being electrocuted fairly well with dozens of sparks flying across its form. The Demonic red humanoid body stumbled backwards a few times, still erratically jerking itself like crazy, before... at last, it fell to the ground, motionless.
"Huff... huff... Looks like I did it..." Noire muttered, both pleased and fatigued at the same time. That had been a risky gamble, especially with the threat of being burned by those flames. In some ways, Lightning created flames, like when it hit wood. She wouldn't lie (in her mind at least), that she feared more flames would have been made for that Demon, but it turned out not to be the case. Thus, she had defeated one opponent, now all she had to do would be to defeat the other with the same method... at least, that was what she felt, before she saw what happened next.
"BROTHER!"
"I am FINE, brother! MY host, HOWEVER, is DONE!"
"So IT would SEEM! Come THEN, brother! LET us UNITE! We CAN work TOGETHER to DEFEAT this WARRIOR!"
"Yes, BROTHER!"
'Uhhhh, did those two... say what I think they did...?' Noire thought, a slight pit of dread forming in the depths of her stomach as she quickly moved towards the crimson sword with an electricity-clad Balmung. She tried to destroy it, even used her ZANDATSU to slow time down to give her more of an opening, however the moment she had been about to swing... a blast of flames erupted before her and forced her back, allowing the crimson sword to flip itself OUT of the ground like a plant being uprooted... right into the waiting outstretched hand of the blue headless Demon. With bot swords, engulfed in their own elements, in hand the Blue Demon banged the heads together, before performing a series of CQC katas for duel swords, proving its competency in that field. This served to make Noire's brow twitch madly, especially since she realized that her previous plan had somewhat backfired on her, instead of weakening the enemy she had only made them stronger.
…It would be wise to consider going all out now. Activate the power of the FAFNIR ARMOUR, summon Ashbringer. It seems they will be needed for you to triumph...
Adhering to the advice of Siegfried, Noire nodded as she did those following things, holding both swords in her hands whilst spreading her large dragon wings in a threatening position. All the while, she activated her LIGHT DRIVE and DIVINE SHIELD for further enhancement. ELECTRO CHARGE and Raijin installed powerful yet volatile Lightning over her swords too, making her look less like a goddess and more of a lightning attributed dragon warrior. A warrior about to jump into the battlefield and cause utter havoc. Glaring with her draconian eyes towards the Demon holding the two swords, Noire gave a loud battle cry, her legs bending before she dashed into a sprint, leaving two foot-sized craters where she stood. Her movements, fast as lightning like they were, never left the gazes of the two swords as the body wielding them dashed right back, both of them colliding into a festival of slashes.
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
Sounds of slashing filled the air, as well as many flashes which could only have come from blades colliding. Both sides, Noire's Ashbringer and Balmung, as well as the duel flame and gale swords, rammed into one another like angry bulls, determined to dominate the other with sparks flying in such high numbers that it could have been mistaken for a firework show. Not to mention, these slashes rung about within a large space, almost resembling a dome between these two fighters whilst they duked it out in a fast, furious manner, resembling two lions fighting over a territorial dispute.
Finally, both sides clashed together, and everything else around them ceased to be, so if anyone watched them, they would realize that they had been moving so fast that they'd made those slashes and other phenomenon appear. As the two grinded against one another, Noire grunted whilst lightning Sparks few freely, easily batted away from the Demon by the combination of fire and wind. 'Tch, this is not good, I can't get a lead on this guy! Those swords aren't exposing any openings!' She realized, as throughout that skirmish of theirs, not ONE of her attacks towards the body's vital areas had managed to land, all the while some of its had landed on her body. Fortunately she had the FAFNIR ARMOUR activated, or she would have been dead by this point.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes! BROTHER, this WARRIOR is FUN!"
"Indeed, BROTHER! This WARRIOR has SKILL! It HAS been TOO long SINCE we LAST fought THIS hard!"
'These guys sure love to run their mouth...' Noire thought, scowling mentally as she activated her ZANDATSU after throwing her arms upwards, bringing both blades down in an x to try and slash him whilst the ability remained active. Unfortunately for her, however, Noire failed to notice the bright glow of the crimson sword, which caused her to not only jump back when flames erupted from it in an explosive inferno, but also disable her ability as well. ZANDATSU was always quite a draining Skill, even after she had trained it this thoroughly, so she didn't let it remain active for long, just quick bursts. As she slid to a halt across the ground, digging her feet in to quicken the process, Noire looked up to glare at her opponent... only to see several spinning blades of wind shoot through the raging inferno towards her.
Quickly, she spread her wings and took flight, avoiding the blades and circling around to where she floated behind the blue Demon. She would have performed a reverse circular manoeuvre like that aerial ace move from pocketed monstrosities (something which seemed to be quite popular in Lowee, according to some articles she had once read), but then the blue Demon Host had launched itself into a somersault backwards, intending to cannonball right into her. 'Whoa!' Quickly reacting to this, Noire swiftly circled around it, using the momentum to twirl into a reverse diagonal VACUUM SLASH attack from Balmung, then a HAMMER OF JUSTICE from Ashbringer.
Upon its landing, the Demon reacted to this threat thanks to it being seen by the swords (which Noire correctly assumed were controlling the body and acted as surveillance to it), by quickly launching a tornado of wind before it then jumping away, the tornado successfully blocking the attack due to being a stronger wind. Not letting this chance go, the Demon clutched the dual swords it wielded, before jumping towards Noire and spinning through the air like a disk top. When it closed the distance between them, it came out into a double slash with the fiery sword first. Noire managed to twist herself in the same direction though, which allowed her to parry and deflect it away with Ashbringer, so when the wind sword followed suit she used Balmung to block it.
Both struggled for dominance in the air for a time, completely at an impasse. Despite Noire having the wings of a dragon coming out her back, nothing she could do would make the creature budge from it's position. She figured that the wind sword was responsible somehow, but didn't put too much thought into it. She couldn't even use her previous strategy with Raijin, since they would likely pick up on it this time as, during this battle, she had seen that their annoyance didn't make their intelligence that of a toddler. In combat, she may as well be fighting an intelligent master of the battlefield, something which she got from their many clashes which forced her to grit her teeth as she tried coming up with a new strategy against her opponent.
After a short moment, both of them kicked off one another, shooting towards the ground before going straight for one another. As they did, Noire wondered how she could defeat this enemy, racking her brain for any details she could do. 'The only thing I can think of is to use my ZANDATSU to slow everything around me, then strike at any exposed openings. But when I do that, that flame sword's going to sense it and unleash that inferno thing, again! Then, that gale sword's going to launch wind blades in my direction! What to do...'
A part of her wanted to take the same risk she had taken with fighting the Cerberus back in the chamber, however Noire refused that notion. As much as she would want to, she didn't wish to destroy the tower and everything around her, she didn't want to endanger the lives of her people. As such, the blackette felt like she had to come up with an alternative solution.
Once the two broke away, the eyes of the two swords flashed, making Noire's own widen in silent realization 'Oh shit, looks like they're pulling something big!' she thought frantically in her mind. She soon got proven right when, in that one instant, flames and winds ROARED to life from the swords, increasing their size to that of an average car whilst the swords themselves howled from the power they exuded right now. Raising both enlarged blades, the body wielding them smashed both down on Noire's position too fast for her to react in time. The only thing she could do? Shield herself with her wings.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
In that instant, everything in the room got covered when a massive explosion shook it, filling the room with smoke so thick that one wouldn't be able to see their own hand. Winds and flames coursed through the area in some strange mix, turning the whole area into a paradise of both elements, flames dancing along the ground whilst winds swept through the air like dozens of blades at once. I complete paradox, one could consider the state the room had transformed into as a result of the twin swords' attack.
"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH...!"
A hand swept through horizontally, blowing the smoke away from its owner to reveal Noire... heaving like mad, partially transformed back into her human state. She only had half her suit on with her armour badly damaged, one wing left, and her body looked to be covered with all kinds of different burns as well as cuts from the wind. Not only that, but both her suit and what could be seen of her original outfit had been damaged badly, torn to shreds like dozens of vicious wolves had tried to destroy it. Blood trailed down the side of her head from a space just above the eyebrow, causing a trial of blood to run down and cover her eye, forcing it shut as she glared with her sole draconian eye towards her opponent's position.
She had not been able to successfully block that strike, it seemed.
Glaring through the smoke, Noire could see it through the smoke as a vague silhouette, just standing there, seemingly revelling in its victory. 'That asshole... I swear, I will utterly RIP this guy APART for forcing me int this state...!' Noire screamed within her mind, a draconian fury bubbling inside her being right now. Her eyes almost began to glow with fiery murderous intent, grittingher teeth so hard that they might shatter under the strain. 'Still, with this smoke, it feels like the enemy assumes me to be down... I can use this to catch them off guard...' she thought to herself, forcing her mind to think rationally still lest it lose itself within this inferno of hatred roaring within her.
But, how could she attack? Her body wasn't in a state where it would be able to fight much longer, not like this. She'd have to disable her FAFNIR ARMOUR after this last attack, since she'd no longer be able to retain it otherwise. If only she could go HDD, THAT would give her the strength she could have used to end this early! Though, Noire pushed that complaint down and focused on finding a solution, she just had to think of one. All enemies had a weakness, so she critically analysed the battle from her own perspective, then an outside one. She memorized everything to a T, down to the tiniest movement for a solution, then compounded the data into her mind.
Whilst she did this... an idea sprang forth within her mind!
'Of course! Why didn't I notice this sooner?!' The blackette thought whilst a small, evil smile formed over her lips. She didn't notice this, but behind her a flash of a dark malice appeared, before it vanished the next second.
"BROTHER... this HAS been ONE enjoyable FIGHT..."
"You ARE indeed CORRECT, brother. SHAME such a WARRIOR had to FALL today."
"SHAME it IS, brother..."
Standing within the smoke, both swords glowed with the light of their victory, having found themselves confident in their victory against their opponent. They didn't believe she had survived one bit, not at all, and why would they? Both swords had released an EXTRODINARY amount of power just now, an amount which if used recklessly would have annihilated the entire tower had they not directed it to one point. Both Swords were Demon Swords, they were sentient Satanic Treasures with great powers over the flame and the gale. If any were to try and pass through their gate, then they would have to face their wrath, despite how much the two argued like the siblings they were with one another.
Both swords had been sealed here for as long as they could recall... which had been back in the DPU Era. They remembered it well, using their supreme powers and teamwork to devastate armies of enemies in their path to glory. They recalled burning Demon Princes alive, chopping others up and laying waste to countless human populations. They'd been called the 'swords of ruination' back then, and their reputation due to their exploits made many tremble in fear of them. DPUs even regarded them warily though the stronger ones always wanted a piece of them on the battlefield, which was something both swords enjoyed immensely. Having such exalted powers take an interest in them made them both grow way beyond confident in their powers, so they would go and challenge any kind of DPU who would happen across them.
Though, that had ended when they met one DPU who just happened to be strolling by...
What that DPU's appearance looked like had faded from their memories at this point, but they could remember his name well, for this DPU had sealed them within the Temen-Ni-Gru for over 30 trillion years. It would only be natural for them to want to see the outside world again. As they had faced this recent opponent though, they had finally felt like they had a possibility of escaping their current fate, especially with the elements they'd sensed bubbling within her: Divinity, draconic, demonic, the winds of change swirled around her in their eyes, making them get their hopes up.
Alas, it was not to be...
Or so they thought.
"GOTCHYA!"
"?!/?!"
Both swords gasped when, from their rear flank, the damaged but not yet downed 'opponent' that they had been talking about just now suddenly appeared, her guns Luce and Ombra having been drawn and opened fire on their asses. Well, not really the ass, but actually the areas round their eyes. As a result. both swords grunted and closed their eyes to protect them, since they knew well the history behind those guns and thus didn't want to lose their eyesight.
Exactly what Noire had planned.
Appearing behind them with her FAFNIR ARMOUR gone, the blackette quickly engaged her ZANDATSU, slowing time around her whilst she aimed her dual and guns and shot the swords out of the body's hands. Switching to Balmung and empowering it with ELECTRO CHARGE, Noire promptly went to town on the body, rapidly swinging it with a vicious assault of slashes which focused on severing the body parts, all before laying the smackdown on the main body. That, and since the swords were in the air, spinning like freaking beyblades whilst under ZANDATSU's influence... they could do nothing but watch. Especially when Noire pumped Raijin up and discharged a massive blast of lightning, one which incinerated what remained of the body to dust leaving them with no body to use for their powers.
Seeing this, both blades instantly felt it: this would be the end of the fight.
This warrior had won...
She had won without any kind of rebuttal.
And it felt GLORIOUS.
(OST END)
"Haa… Haaa… haaaaa…"
Sweat rolled down her forehead whilst Noire raised her free hand, taking out some healing items from her Inventory and ingesting them. After she found herself back in presentable condition (having swapped out her outfits quickly so nobody could see, so she now wore a duplicate of her outfit undamaged), Noire took a look at her supply, and mentally smiled to herself. 'Seems like my supply's still good. I have enough on me to keep me going through the rest of the Tower, I hope...' she thought to herself. This marked another one of the few times she had to use healing items at the end of a battle, and whilst it wasn't anything major to heal, she didn't want to know what it would be like to run out of supplies. THAT just reminded her of what happened to a few rookie Guild Agents who felt WAY too cocky about a seemingly harmless mission to procure the necessary equipment before hand... nobody wanted to end up like how they did.
Still, this battle had been a close one, not to mention a difficult battle. She had almost lost it there with that last attack, not to mention the swordsmanship that this Demon pair displayed far surpasses her own. The way one blade move so fiercely, as if its very nature would have been able to match a blazing inferno, whilst another moved with such quick, agile lethality that it felt like the winds themselves bit down on her flesh... these two swords had such technique which felt like it had been honed over countless battles of life or death. Noire easily felt this during their scuffles, her own Sword Mistress Style feeling way too inferior to the practiced technique these guys had. Then again, she could see why, if it was true that this tower existed many years ago, as in the DPU Era, then these Demons MUST have been from that time period too. She still didn't know too much about that era, save from the talk she had with Cerberus, but she hadn't been all that shocked that it existed. Seriously, she'd seen enough living proof of that already.
'Now that its over though, I'll be able to move on through this darned tower...' Noire thought with a triumphant look in her eyes, stepping towards the door. Now that she had defeated her opposition, there was no way they would be able to stop her progress any further. After all, they may be powerful swords, but if they needed large bodies like that, then they definitely would be powerless without them. With that in mind, Noire sheathed Balmung onto her back, sighing softly whilst muttering "glad that's over..." under her breath when she felt the sword's familiar weight resting on her back. Carrying this thing around so much, gave her a sense of understanding tot hose kinds of warriors she'd seen in Leanbox who did the same thing, even though Inventories existed in this world. There was just something so... comforting, about having a massive weapon on your back able to be drawn at any time if one is skilled enough.
"WAIT!"
"Yes, WAIT!"
"Geez, you guys seriously need to...!" Noire growled as she turned to look at them. Didn't they realize she had defeated them, what was the point of talking to her now? That was what she thought. Having to listen to these two annoying demons ramble on like they had really grinded on her nerves, especially since she was in a hurry to get through this tower to find whoever it was that had challenged her. When she made to voice these feelings of irritation bubbling inside, the blackette remained unable to. Simply due to the fact that the swords had begun talking again.
"WE have been WAITING for A LONG time!"
"YES, a VERY long TIME!"
"For SOMEONE stronger than US!"
"Someone WHO can CONTROL us!"
"MY name is AGNI!"
"I am RUDRA!"
"You SHALL take US along WITH you!"
"We CAN be of GREAT help to YOU!"
Just when she made to say something back, Noire stopped when her mind processed completely what these two had just said. Take them along with her? Did that really come out of their mouths? The thought of having two annoying swords for companions in this place really bothered her, especially since they liked to nag and nag all the damn time. It felt to her like she had two Neptune's to deal with, which sounded like hell itself, especially since she knew how bad ONE of them was from experience... although, annoyance felt much better than outright malice. That opinion came from knowing how she had been like in the past.
Still, the possibilities which could come from having these dual Swords as weapons did tempt her, if only a little. Noire wouldn't lie and say she didn't want power, the power to protect her people from any and all threats to Lastation. Threats which had been gathering all around Gamindustri from the stars as of late, what with al he Demons and the Abnormals. Not to mention she knew how powerful these Demonic weapons could be when she thought about other Devil Arms she had seen in action, like that one Rebellion sword or those Ebony and Ivory Guns. Thus, she found herself in a dilemma of what to do, she couldn't outright refuse since well she did indeed want their power at the end of the day, there was no denying that. Without strength, one truly cannot protect anything, she knew this lesson for a fact already. Even Siegfried had hammered this lesson home, like Mundus hadn't done so before. But, she didn't want to deal with their constant banter since she felt like she would go insane by the end of the day.
However, in the next few seconds, her decision got WAY easier.
"YOU have MANY weapons, MANY powers at your DISPOSAL! We SEE that NOW."
"We CAN offer YOU our ESSENCE, which CAN imbue YOU with POWERS beyond IMAGINING!"
"You ALSO gain our COMBAT KNOWLEDGE, refining YOUR sword ABILITIES further, ALONGSIDE newer ELEMENTS!"
"Would THAT be a SUITABLE alternative?"
Noire found herself replying before she could even ponder the offer. "Yes, that'll be good." She spoke clearly and with firm finality. The thought of not having to deal with these guys chattering definitely helped if this offer was any indication, plus it meant she still got their powers anyways, so every side wins. She got power and not annoying companions, whilst these two got the freedom which they seemed to covet. Noire wasn't a fool, she could sense through their eyes that these two swords wanted freedom from this place, no matter what form of freedom that may be. If this were to happen, they'd likely do anything for it.
"YES!"
"It is DONE, then!"
Both swords showed eagerness and excitement as well, especially when their forms began to glow with their respective elements. These two elements, wind and fire, completely consumed their physical forms, and before long Noire found herself standing before two draconian beings, beings formed through those elements. These wind and fire dragons circled around Noire, almost as if judging her, before they entered her body through her chest area, making her gasp when she felt their power flowing into her. Noire almost stumbled backwards from this, but she held her ground until the dragons had completely entered her being. Not only this though, but she also felt their knowledge of swordplay flow into her mind, as well as memories of their countless battles against opponents the likes she could never even DREAM of. She learned of their backgrounds, of their emotions, of their sealing by an unknown DPU since that memory had become fuzzy over time (not like she could get mad about that though).
'Agni and Rudra, huh...?' The blackette thought when the feeling of them merging with her passed, placing a hand over her torso whilst closing her eyes, letting their memories play out one more time through her mind. Thanks to the newfound memories she got, something which she had made sure to distinguish from her own memories to avoid any kind of identity crisis, Noire found that these two Demon Swords also had a fairly good layout of the Tower itself. Like they had been here on an adventure once before, having mapped the entire place out in their minds, which now had become part of her. NOW she didn't have to worry about where to go anymore, not when she had an actual freaking map downloaded into her head. It may have taken away the feeling of being on an adventure, exploring the unknown, but that would be a fine price to pay for being able to save her people.
Once she had finished reviewing them for the time being, learning much more about the DPU Era than she could have learned about before, Noire tried to feel out where their powers had ended up. This resulted in her consciousness sinking deeper and deeper into herself, right where she felt the power of the Goddess was, waiting for her call... only, she found something else there as well. Something... she couldn't quite identify as of yet, but it remained there, floating close to her Goddess Powers but completely different in feeling. Unlike the warm divinity she felt when using Share Energy, this power felt... raw, primal, chaotic... Demonic, even. 'What...? What is this...?' she wondered, frowning as she tried to lock onto this power, but for some reason she felt a rebound within her consciousness. Like it was trying to tell her not to use this power as of yet.
'I'll think on this later, especially since now I can continue on my trek, finally.' Noire thought to herself, shrugging her shoulders while she proceeded to enter the door, passing through to continue her journey through the Temen-Ni-Gru.
Chapter end!
Whew, another one, done.
Now, for those who don't know, I actually wanted to make this fight way shorter then continue on with the story, but... well, that didn't happen. I wanted to show just how difficult the DMC 3 Bosses can be. Plus, in terms of swordplay, I've made it so that Noire is inferior to Agni and Rudra, but managed to win by destroying the hosts they had taken for their powers. It actually made me feel like these swords had parasitic qualities to them at one point, with how those bodies are described. It was the strategy for players to win in the game, so I mirrored it here whilst showing Noire struggling, and the reason why she hadn't used that Heavy Sword she had gained from the secret mission... well, I'm pretty sure you all can guess from the reactions she had to it.
As for Agni and Rudra, instead of making them simply powerful Demons like Cerberus, I instead chose to make them sentient Satanic Treasures. I wanted to expand on some possibilities for these items of Demonic Power, as well as show how versatile they can be aside from just Raijin which Noire possesses right now. Thus, with their essence having been absorbed into Noire, it opens the window to some other ideas I've had in mind for the other Satanic Treasures I've introduced so far, like Nico and Neptune's rings and such. Not only does she gain their powers, though its something which is a part of a future development, she also has their memories, which she can view for inspiration in developing her sword skills. This will become MUCCH more necessary later in the main story, where she and the rest of the party reunite with Nico, since as much as she knows now about the DPU era, it cannot even BEGIN to compare with what Nico knows about it. Of course, absorbing a Satanic Treasure's essence means destroying the item as well since their essence is pretty much their Soul, but the payoff is that they gain tremendous power from it, kind of like absorbing a Devil's soul through their blood in a Demonic Ascension Ceremony, which will NOT be forgotten about. Trust me.
Anyways, look forward to what happens in the future, and remember: Devils Never Cry.
Peace out!
