As the three arrived at in the long devastated foyer of the castle, their gazes were all transfixed on two figures in amongst the ruin of smashed walls, singed carpet and shattered windows: One was a pure white horse with pale blue eyes, gently whining to the creature next to it.
There was nothing creative about him really. As one who bore a name like Death, he fit the title ideally. Nothing but bones wrapped in a black cloak, the hood tossed back to reveal his skull, which was faced downwards at his boney fingers strumming at an altogether ordinary mandolin, which was all that seemed out of place.
"What… The hell?" Dante said with the raise of an eyebrow and a double take.
"You were quite prompt," the demon remarked, its voice very cold and calm, "Very impressive… I suppose you were expecting a fight."
"You…" Kyrie struggled to say. "You're supposed to be…?"
"Yes child," the skeleton replied, still strumming. "I am the final of The Plutuson's horsemen, those said to foretell his reign, and the end of days."
"But then… Does that mean you are-" Lucia began, confused before he interrupted her.
"If you're asking if I am the one who leads the righteous to the heavens and the damned to the pits, no, I am not that creature." The sockets of his eyes finally looked up from his mandolin, which he set aside. "I am not death… I am simply called Death."
"Alright bud, I really don't care," Dante interrupted. "You already said you're one of The Plutuson's heralds, and I'm going to have to take you down for that," he whipped out one of his pistols and pointed it right at the demon's head. Death gave him a little look that suggested he'd raise an eyebrow if he had one and resumed playing his mandolin.
"Go ahead. There's nothing to me but bones anyway. I'll be dust before I feel a thing."
Dante was held his place for a moment as his companions looked on in confusion before slipping the gun back into its holster. "What are you trying to pull?"
"Nothing," Death replied. "I am not interested in fighting you. If you are going to kill me, do it."
"This is clearly some kind of trap," Lucia said, standing by Dante's side. "What, will the dust you're made of poison us or something? You said you're Death, can you just kill us at will or some garbage like that?"
"I told you," the demon replied, "I am not the Death you mortal have come to know… I do not lead souls and I do not reap them." They continued to stare, confused as he pushed himself to his feet, his full height, something like ten feet now evident. He hadn't appeared nearly so impressive while just sitting, where the extra few feet came from none of them had a clue. "Not to say it is of much importance… But if you must know I am a doppelgänger of sorts for the true angel of death."
"A… What?"
Death set aside his mandolin. "The true angel of death has little in common with myself… He appears as an attractive young man and his cloak is lined with gold… I was bred from mankind's fear of him… He's truly a gentle soul, authoritative when need be, but not intimidating in the least… Human fears give way to their nightmares, and as a nightmare joins collective conscious, it finds a way to take shape, as I have."
Dante found himself unusually transfixed by the demon's words, so much so that even as he thought he should attack, he still didn't, perhaps for fear of some trap, or perhaps to hear him continue.
"The angel of death is just that… An angel. A herald of the almighty. I am a herald of the damned. We are two sides of the same coin, in some ways I suppose… The angel of death shuffles off the dead to the existence after life's end. I, in turn, live a kind of non-life. I do not kill, I do not lead, I do not reap. Even in Hell I simply sat and waited as I do now."
"Okay, okay look," Dante said, slowly growing frustrated again. "Look, I don't care if there are angels, or God, or anything else in all this, okay? If you've got the motivation of a misunderstood teenager, what the hell are you doing here?"
"Fulfilling my end of the bargin," Death replied. "In spite of my disinterest, I am indeed mankind's greatest fear. And their fears grant me strength. With all of that strength, I can be used to open the final Hell gate and allow the end to come. In exchange, I will be granted the experience of true non-existence. Not death, non-existence. And there is nothing I desire more."
The four stood quietly, no sounds within the castle's ruins but the whining of the horse before Dante again wrenched out his pistols and began firing. The noise echoed across the island as he fired blast after blast of lightning through the demon, shredding his cloak and bones, though they did not turn to dust as the creature said they would. After a minute he pulled Rebellion from its place on his coat and slashed across the demon, knocking him to the ground. Again there was quiet as Dante and his companions looked on at the seemingly vanquished demon.
"Was… Was that it?" Kyrie asked. "Did we stop the opening? Did we stop Armageddon?!"
With some visible struggle the demon got back on its feet. With its cloak now shredded it was notable that it contained a beating heart (though what it was beating without blood was questionable) within its ribcage.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Death said. "But there will be no stopping Armageddon. Not by you and not by-"
The demon was suddenly interrupted as a deep black hand brutally smashed through its back, clutching the heart in its center until it erupted.
"Anyone!" And with that all movement within Death ceased, the dead demon falling to the ground, nothing more than a pile of bones. The three all looked upwards in shock at a figure seemingly shaped from black ink with three great, fiery eyes looked on at them.
"I guess the talk is true then Dante… Fool me once, shame on you." The Plutuson mocked.
"What the hell was that?! And… And what the hell is that?!" Kyrie demanded.
"I can feel you hiding the same question Dante," The Plutuson paced around the four a little, an eye on each of them, but his top one on his greatest enemy. "What the hell was that?"
"I'm not really too interested in that either actually," Dante said, drawing Rebellion again. "I'm just here to keep the end from coming."
"Oh please Dante, did you really think it was that simple?!" The Plutuson cackled. "A man aspiring to godhood manipulates you and your brother into opening a tower into Hell. A woman shows up at your door who looks exactly like your mother, promising you revenge, and you just believe her instantly?! Haven't you learned in all these years Dante? Or is that how you keep ending up in this spot?"
Dante lunged at the still black shadow, The Plutuson locking with his longsword. "So go ahead, guess what the twist was this time."
"You're wearing women's underwear under all that black," Dante sneered. The Plutuson threw him off, a kind of sneer of his own coming across his face.
"Ha… Ha ha… That was actually a good one… About damn time!" The Plutuson cackled. "No. Not in a million years you sack of shit… It was never about opening those damn gates! Not the ones you're thinking of." There was a moment of hesitation from the opposing party before he continued, "Sparda could never hope to overwhelm my father on his own. Not while he was at his best… He managed a few lucky strikes, brought out some dragons… And like the sight you just saw, tore out his heart, leaving him capable of being overcome by scum like your old man." The sneer seemed to shift into a fully toothed smile. "Unable to destroy such incredible, raw power, he sealed it away and bound it by a sacred enchantment."
Dante bit at his lip. "Aw come on, no!"
"That spell could only be broken when the four horseman were defeated and their blood spilled upon the four Hell gates!"
"You used us!" Lucia screamed.
"Oh it wasn't easy. Only Death would accept the responsibility easily. The others wanted no part in my work. They didn't know they were part of the plan, I just assured them I'd need their might to help overtake this pathetic rock. Since I was trapped on the other side, I couldn't finish them myself… Sure was convenient all of you demon hunters were running around!"
It was then that Kyrie snapped from her place, swinging the Red Queen right at his neck. The blade cut part way through, surely right through his vocal chords, but The Plutuson had no reaction to the cut. He grabbed ahold of the sword and wrenched it from his neck and starred at her with all three of her eyes.
"Where did you get this sword?" He asked. Kyrie didn't reply. In spite of Dante shouting she stop she pulled out the Blue Rose and fired into his face. Still he had no reaction, only more firmly asking, "Where did you get that gun?"
"What's it matter to you?!" Kyrie demanded, dodging backwards and taking several more shots at him. The inky black surrounding The Plutuson began to dissipate. He was still a projection of some kind, but his features were now more clear, the deep black hair with the white tips, the red lined scales, the dark coat, everything. Kyrie was not deterred by this and again swung at him, only for him to catch her with his bright red hand that was now properly colored. After catching the blade he twisted his arm and threw her aside, still examining it.
"What… Is this? I've… Seen this before…"
Dante took a lunge of his own but The Plutuson gave him only passing attention, dodging him out as he continued to look at the blade. Practically on the verge of hypervenelation, Kyrie screamed and ran at him, firing as many times as she could with the Blue Rose before throwing a punch at his pale, skin-like center, tears in her eyes and crying louder and louder.
"You killed him!" She screamed. "You bastard you killed all of them! But him… You killed him you son of a bitch!"
The Plutuson grabbed at her face and clutched her cheeks, forcing her to look him in the eyes.
"You really know how to pick them Dante," he mocked. "This one's clearly lost her mind."
"Bastard!" She kept screaming. "Bastard you killed him! Nero… You killed Nero!"
At this point, for the first time since his new rise to power, The Plutuson flinched.
"I… I what?"
Kyrie pushed him away in his momentary daze and snatched the Red Queen out of his hand and stabbed him through his stomach, no sign of pain on his face. She could hardly say anything, her throat too knotted to manage anything but "Nero" over and over again.
The Plutuson started to shake and convulse. Dante and Lucia both took the moment and slashed him from his sides, though even then he didn't react.
"I… Nero… Nero… You… Agh!" The Plutuson jumped backwards, all three of them wrenching their weapons out as he did, confusion on his face, gritting his teeth as he looked on at the three. For one moment the third eye on his forehead closed. No eyelid was evident, as if when he closed the eye it wasn't there at all. At the same time that it closed his hair fell forward from its slicked back place and, for just a moment, emanated entirely white.
"Ky… Kyrie…?" The Plutuson struggled to say.
"You… Know my name?"
There were no more words exchanged as the demon's third eye opened again and his hair reverted to its black, beads of sweat dripping down his face as he threw out his shimmering red arm and snatched Kyrie from her place. She kicked and screamed against him as the two were wrapped in the inky darkness and vanished from Mallet.
"What was that?" Lucia cried. "Where… Where did they go?!"
"I think I have an idea," Dante said. "We don't have much time though… Especially if Nero's serious about how he's opening that gate!"
"Nero?!" Lucia exclaimed, more confused than ever.
"I'll explain on the way. We don't have much time!"
