Diva fell to the floor of the chamber as the tendrils evaporated into black mist. It was hardly a graceful landing on her part, but considering her skull was still intact she wasn't going to complain.

Pushing up from the ground, her blue eyes gazed out towards the room, seeing the Marionette's mask hovering in mid-air. The lithe body attached to it was limp and, seeing the sword sticking through its chest, she wasn't surprised. She heard no heavy breathing, so assumed it was dead. However, when it spoke up in a whisper the girl guessed she'd been wrong.

"I- impossible."

"You're the one that chose not to increase your durability with your new powers." Spoke a voice behind it.

In a sudden move the Marionette swung itself off of the sword and collapsed on the ground, scuttling away like a bug. When it reached the wall the thing climbed it until its humanoid body reformed and it gazed at the young man that floated down through the air.

"Terrence?" She asked, seeing the boy in his usual attire with all of his weapons.

He glanced at her before lowering his katana and gazing at the demon king with an apathetic gaze. It was an extremely different expression than Enzeru had revealed after attacking Mundus, the previous demon king. Then again, the Marionette wasn't quite dead.

"Why did you do this, Terrence?" A sorrowful voice called out. However, she doubted the feeling came from anything but the mask's dominant face.

"Isn't it obvious? Why would I choose to follow you if I could have that power for myself?"

The chiropteran swallowed, wondering what Terrence meant by that.

"Besides, as you are now, I can kill you easily."

The mask changed and the entire expanse of darkness throughout the room seemed to turn into a thousand tendrils. It's mask began to switch as it spoke, "We'll see about that!"

Diva blinked, and Terrence was covered in darkness. She heard tearing and flesh being torn from its bones, but not from his location. The girl wondered what was going on, and then she saw a glint behind the Marionette. The room's darkness seemed to recede as various objects sailed down through the air and impaled themselves in the floor. As they did Terrence reared back, and then his left hand jumped forth and crushed the demon's mask as well as the rest of its head. The Marionette's corpse began to fall backwards towards the ground, and he withdrew the katana that had been imbedded in its chest.

"Reality is the only judge."

Then the body hit the floor and it trembled as if in its death spasms.

"This… this doesn't change anything." Spoke something within the mask.

Diva found herself wondering how the thing could still be alive, though it seemed to be breathing its last breaths. She felt a gaze upon her.

"You will kill-" It was cut off as Terrence's foot crushed whatever life was left in the head.

No declaration of victory followed as the demon's corpse dissolved into a similar black mist as the tendrils. The whole room's energy seemed to draw inwards, with Terrence as its nucleus. Diva wondered in apprehension more than fear whether this turn of events was really better off. But as she was blinded by both light and darkness, the girl realized it didn't matter.

"What's the matter? Getting tired, are we?" Ritorno chided as he adjusted his footing.

Vergil was breathing heavily, though he didn't know if it was out of fatigue or concern for Diva. His heart raced, and the half-demon knew that if it weren't for half of his lineage, he would have dropped dead by now.

"Answer me! What did you mean?"

The older man sighed and raised his weapon, aiming it horizontally.

"What makes you think I have an obligation to tell you anything?"

Vergil snarled and ran at the man. Ritorno smirked as he did a full twist and swung his sword at his enemy's neck. There was a clang as the two came to a stop, both wide-eyed. Between them was a young man with jet black hair and an apathetic gaze. Vergil realized, as he gazed at Terrence, that something seemed different about him.

"What the hell?" Ritorno spoke in a normal tone but with an obvious degree of surprise.

"The demon king's power is mine." He said.

Ritorno gasped as his sword was struck away and Terrence, almost in a mocking gesture, spun through the man and cut across his chest. Blood fell from the cavity and drenched the floor, and before he could react Terrence's shoe collided with his face and blasted him through the wall. His scream echoed hatred more than fear as he plummeted several stories to the ground below. It was impossible to tell if the impact killed him, but either way he was no longer a threat.

Vergil felt a bead of sweat drop from his chin as his body finally seemed to work. The aching in his muscles reminded him of just how hard he had been fighting. Further, it served to remind him of just how unimaginable it had been that Terrence could defeat the man so quickly and effortlessly. There was something to be said for the element of surprise, but still.

"Wait, he obtained the powers of the demon king?"

"Where is Div-"

"I'm right here, Vergil." The girl spoke to him as she walked from the vanishing portal beneath the throne.

"It's over; the demon is dead."

"Then he…"

Diva nodded and came to stand by him as both gazed at the young man who now finally sheathed his weapon.

"Yes; Terrence killed it and then took its power. He must have made the Marionette think he would side with it so as to get close. Then he killed it when it was about to do the same to me."

The half-demon didn't know if he was more appreciative or wary of the young man's acts. However, if Terrence truly had no intention but to destroy it would have been easy enough to kill both combatants while they were stunned. He also wouldn't have bothered to save Diva.

"We can go back now." She concluded.

Terrence blinked and walked towards the hole in the wall. Gazing down at the ground below, he turned his head to address them for a moment.

"You two tell everyone what happened. I'll take care of things down below."

With that he hopped through the damaged wall and fell silently several hundred feet. Based on the screams and shrieks that followed, the fall didn't seem to affect his battle efficiency. Vergil had to admit that the young man's power was impressive. Even considering the energy he had attained, his natural ability was obvious.

"Let's go, Vergil." She spoke to him.

Finally he managed to nod and they made their way to the portal that led back to the "dark knight room". Once there they spotted Enzeru and Anthony. Explaining to them what had happened, the young twin soon departed to find his elder sibling. Down below the statues could be heard falling to the ground and within a minute no sounds of battle could be heard. It really was over.

"I guess I've got a fan." Enzeru remarked on how Terrence had essentially emulated his own coupe years before.

"Maybe. Though thankfully he decided to leave the tower as is." Vergil responded in regards to the man's utter destruction of Mundus' tower while they were still in the vicinity.

"True. But at least I had the decency to be sociable. Young mister Terrence didn't even come to pay me the respect I deserve for providing him with such a great role model."

Diva giggled at Enzeru but Vergil found himself unable to enjoy any degree of humor. He didn't like how things had progressed. Rather, he didn't quite trust Terrence with the powers he had attained. If it was one thing he knew, it was that emotionally unstable people shouldn't be in control of such power. And he doubted that Terrence was an entirely moral person.

The trio returned to the lower floor and informed the others as to what was going on. Vergil noticed that Dante was possessed of a similar view as he, though neither expressed such thoughts. The others were powerful warriors, but the brothers knew just how corruptive power could be for those who were already touched by darkness.

When they made their way outside the tower an elephant graveyard of demon corpses awaited them. Some seemed to have almost died of shock in that they appeared otherwise unhurt. Meanwhile others were rent into unrecognizable shapes. Anthony and Terrence could be seen standing in the midst of corpses even as a portal opened out of nowhere in front of the defacto Demon King.

"We're done here. Let's go back." He said before stepping through the portal, followed shortly thereafter by his twin. The rest of the group began to wade their way through the corpses before Dante started kicking the carcasses aside with his boots. Diva, however, noticed that Vergil hadn't moved.

"Is something wrong?" She asked him, snapping the half-demon out of his thoughts.

"No, I was just thinking. Sorry about that. Let's go."