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Devil May Cry: The End of the Line
PART XXI
"This is it."
The trio stood amidst the courtyard and stared up … and further up. The black, red-veined pillar stretched up far, far into the sky, spewing its sickening light that continued to blanket the entire region in impenetrable darkness.
"How are you guys getting up there?" Lady asked, squinting up at the thing.
"I'm not." Said Dante, drawing surprised looks from the other two. "Think I'll just sit myself down here," which he did. "And let Vergil climb up and save the world."
Vergil snorted, whilst Lady shook her head and glanced around the courtyard. She spotted a flight of stone steps leading down to her right and pointed towards it.
"There." She said. "That should take me down to the ante-chamber in the basement."
"And you are certain this will work?" Vergil asked her. She glanced at him, lit by the hellish red hue from the pillar, and shrugged.
"If you have a better idea …" she trailed off. As it was, he didn't. He strolled over to Dante and yanked him to his feet.
"Hey! Easy on the merchandise."
"Shut up."
"Good luck." Lady said. Vergil stared at her for a moment. He nodded slightly, then snapped his head around and barked at Dante.
"Ready?"
Dante looked incredulous. "Man, I was born ready."
Lady sniggered and drew her pistol. As blue fire enveloped the twins, Dante waved to her. "Have fun!" she heard him say, before they were engulfed, a ball of pale blue fire streaking upwards. Lady watched it for a moment, before turning and hurrying off towards the stairs.
---
They materialised upon the very top of the pillar of Avernus. As soon as he felt solid stone beneath his feet, Dante yanked his arm from his brothers grasp and strode forwards with his customary swagger.
It was just like the circular pillar of the Temen-ni-gru. They stood upon a wide metal disc with intricate carvings, and at the centre some kind of mechanism spewed forth a strange light. It was presumably this that was expanding the portal to the demon world above them.
Vergil stepped up to the edge of the circle, and found himself staring down at Avernus Fortress, which seemed tiny from such a height. It was a long way down …
"Lets get this show on the road then, shall we?" said Dante, stepping up to the centre of the circle and drawing his sword. Vergil pulled back and walked over, to stand opposite him. He too drew his sword, the Yamato. As one, they both extended the palm of their left hands and drew the blade of their swords across them, slicing neatly into the flesh. They then turned their palms downwards and let the blood flow into the clear liquid at the centre of the strange mechanism. The liquid clouded red from the droplets of their blood, and was soon black in colour.
As they did this, they both muttered ancient incantations that Lady had forced them to memorise several hours ago. After several seconds the cuts in their hands healed and the flow of blood subsided. They both sheathed their blades (Vergil whipping his around in a swift motion which flicked the blood clear of his weapon) and stood back.
Nothing happened.
Nevertheless, they both wore satisfied expressions. Dante cracked his knuckles and started humming under his breath. Vergil crossed his arms and began tapping his foot. Now they had to wait … now it was Lady's turn.
---
Lady descended once more into the bowels of Avernus fortress, but this time closer to her goal. Pistol gripped in her sweating hands, she wiped a mixture of soot and moisture from her brow and breathed heavily. The humidity was intense, the heat building as she sprinted down and around non-descript passages, until finally –
"I found it." She said, staring wide-eyed around the cavernous chamber. It was perfectly round and at least thirty to forty feet high, cut from jet-black obsidian mixed with luminite, which cast an eerie glow over the hall. At the centre was a wide pedestal made from what seemed to be a smooth white metal. The same red light that issued forth from the pillar outside was being projected from the pedestal and up to the ceiling.
All around it, reaching from the floor straight up to the ceiling, were great pillars of glowing violet crystal. Arcs of raw energy crackled between them, and she could see that each pillar fed a line of power through the floor and into the white pedestal.
She advanced, cautiously, aware that such an important place would not have been left unguarded. She reached the pedestal and holstered her pistol. Glancing nervously around, she drew a knife and began repeating the steps of Dante and Vergil, letting her blood flow into the light whilst chanting the same strange language …
---
Vergil was just about to demand that Dante cease humming, when he was interrupted by a deep roll of thunder. They both fell silent and stared up into the blackness above them.
Three red orbs materialised in the air, arcs of glowing energy dancing back and forth between them. Vergil smiled up at them.
"It seems we warrant his personal attention, brother!" he shouted.
"About damn time! What the hell took you so long?" Dante yelled up at the sinister eyes.
"Foolish humans."
A chill shot down their spines as they heard the voice of Mundus, a voice they both detested with all their hearts. Still, if they felt any fear they knew better than to show it.
"You know, you're right? He's a total fool. Can't take him anywhere." He said, pointing at Vergil, who scowled at him.
"Pitiful. I shall snuff out your worthless lives with a wave of my hand."
Dante stared at the eyes, then across at Vergil. "Hey, is it just me, or does he sound scared?"
Vergil nodded. "He does. I think he is afraid of us."
"Silence scum!" Mundus' voice boomed around them. The eyes flared and a massive bolt of lightning shot towards them. They both dashed away, leaving an afterimage in the air as they moved with blurring speed. The bolt struck the ground where they had stood an instant before, leaving a black, smoking scorch mark.
"Is that all you got?" Dante screamed at the eyes. "Cause I can dance all day!"
"Show us you're true power!" Vergil shouted, clenching his hand into a fist.
As if on cue, there was a tremendous flash of light that momentarily lit up the umbrella of darkness that shrouded the land. Then the darkness itself split apart, and Mundus stepped through …
---
Lady finished chanting. She lowered the knife and stared down at the now inky black pool of liquid.
Nothing happened.
Suddenly, her watch beeped loudly, a strange artificial sound, like a chirping. She stared at it, the digits 00:00 flashing on and off. That was it, time was up. They'd done it – assuming Dante and Vergil had encountered no problems, it would all soon be over.
The idea had come to her even before their meeting at the office. Mundus was an even greater threat than ever before because he now had Sparda's powers … but, she recalled from the stories her father had told her, Sparda had sealed his power away with the rest of the demon world, fearing that it had grown too great. He had used a spell, an ancient piece of magic that sacraficed his own devils blood and the blood of a mortal priestess. The same blood that flowed through her veins.
So, she had reasoned. If they were to recreate the spell – using Dante and Vergil's blood in place of Sparda's, and hers in place of the priestess (Just as Arkham had once done) then they could close the portal to the demon world and trap Sparda's power on the other side. If they timed it just right, then Mundus would be trapped in the mortal body of Sparda in this world, whilst his prized powers were stuck in the underworld. He would be helpless.
That was the plan, and at that instant the entire fortress began to tremble. Tremors shook through the ground, chunks of obsidian raining down and shattering on the ground around her. Lady grinned and thumped the air in celebration. It was working! The spell was working!
---
Dante and Vergil stood together, and stared dumbfounded up at the being that emerged before them. It was the demonic form of Sparda, but it was huge. At least ten feet tall and broader than both of them put side by side. Massive horns curled around the side of a dark head, of which they could see only three red slits of light – the eyes of the devil. The massive demon was held aloft by four great bat-like wings that seemed to be formed out of tangible darkness. And finally, sheathed across its broad back, was the Sparda sword itself.
Mundus swooped down, leaving a trail of crackling red energy in his wake. His strange wings beat at the air, and he came to a halt, hovering a good dozen or so feet above them, arms crossed patiently. His twisted black face turned to regard them, and he leered at them in much the same way one would glare in annoyance at a troublesome fly.
"So Vergil, have you come crawling back to serve your true master?"
"The strings are cut, Mundus! I am no longer your puppet!" Vergil shouted defiantly. "The sons of Sparda have come to finish you, once and for all!"
They heard a strange, metallic wailing, and realized a moment later that Mundus was laughing.
"What can you possibly hope to accomplish? You have no power. No weapons that can harm me. There is nothing you can do. I can wipe you both from existence with the slightest gesture." He threw his arms out wide and roared in rage down at them, a massive blast of air driving them both backwards as if they were standing in the face of a hurricane. "I AM A GOD AND YOU WILL BOW BEFORE ME!"
Suddenly, they heard a tiny but distinct Beeping. As the gale subsided, Dante glanced at the watch on his wrist, which was flashing 00:00. He shot a look at Vergil, who smiled callously. Together, they turned and glared malevolently up at Mundus.
"The only person who shall bow is you, Mundus." Vergil said.
"This is your last curtain call, dude." Said Dante.
The entire fortress began to shake and tremble, the pillar vibrating as powerful tremors shot up it and almost hurled them both to their feet. A massive wave of energy erupted from deep within the bowels of the fortress, which swept outwards in all directions.
When it struck Mundus, there was an explosion of light. All sound ceased. Everything went white.
Finally, it subsided. Their vision and hearing returned. Dante had to stop and catch his breath, or he would have punched the air and Whooped. He grinned across at his brother.
"It worked!" he started to say. Vergil's expression froze him cold. He was staring up at something. Dante turned, and saw to his horror that Mundus still drifted aloft, completely unchanged. "No!"
"How?" Vergil muttered, unbelieving. Above them, Mundus let out another nerve-grating laugh.
"Pathetic fools! Did you think I would not know what you had done? How can you still doubt my power? Your pitiful spell was less than a nuisance to me." He sailed up higher into the air and gestured with his great black, claw like hands, causing the very air to crackle with energy.
"I am a God – and now, you shall feel my wrath!"