The dark air was the canvas for yet another violent artistic spectacle. The sparks and fire were gone, replaced by long, quick strokes of blue, red, and purple streaks through the air. At times the blue and red would interact in such unison as to almost create their own shade of purple. However, the lightning quick combat was soon interrupted with a single resounding crack. With that, red and blue turned into dots, and purple into a line segment.
"Like I said, he might be able to take us on, but his weapons can't." Vergil reiterated as they observed Terrence tossing his broken katana away. He didn't seem worried, despite their progress. Then again, he probably had plenty more weapons on his person, so their advantage wasn't all that significant at the moment.
"The situation isn't complicated; we have one opponent with straightforward abilities. It's unlikely that Enzeru or Ritorno will return to the fight. Diva is out of harm's way. All we need to do is keep whittling down his weapons until he has to fight hand-to-hand. He'll probably use his full strength at that point, but together Dante and I should be able to deal with that without taking significant damage. All we need to do is play it safe and not make any mistakes."
With his katana and short sword broken, Terrence drew out the twin swords that had been sheathed along his back. They readied themselves for both a charge and a surprise attack from behind. What came instead was a bit different; with a swipe from one of his swords, Terrence sent some manner of sonic boom through the air. It sounded like a jet had just gone supersonic in their direction, but both of them leapt over it so as to be neither struck by the attack nor separated. Using the other sword, Terrence performed the same technique. Luckily for them, they were fast enough to descend back to the ground before it hit them. As they landed, however, the twins realized Terrence's actual aim; he had been trying to mess with their mobility. The sonic boom had been powerful, and the center of the attack would have gone right through either of them, but it was the gust of wind which followed that Terrence had been after.
"Are those really human swords?! This doesn't make sense!" Vergil shouted in his head.
They regained their footing, but Terrence was already on his way; the sheathes for the katana and short sword now spun towards their faces to block their vision. Rather than risk getting their weapons out of position, they both took the paltry damage. Terrence's blades seemed to almost materialize out of the air, but their reflexes matched his movements. They blocked with their superior weapons and though neither was in a position to push him back, they avoided getting put off balance themselves.
"Now!"
They both side-kicked Terrence away and drew Ebony & Ivory. Terrence frowned and crossed his swords in front of him to ward off the bullets. They grinned in response and touched the pistols together. It wasn't quite a "jackpot" moment, but the brothers would take what they could get.
BAM!
The twin swords shattered, despite Terrence channeling some of his energy into them. He was too quick for the bullets, and flipped in sync with them. Still, he was down two more weapons, and it didn't look like he actually had many more weapons. Except…
"Move!"
Terrence had drawn his coat back and revealed a sheathe for various throwing knives stitched directly into the lining. They wouldn't do much on their own, but given whatever technique he'd used before, it was likely he could augment their attack damage.
"What ability is he using to modify his projectile attacks? Is he simply channeling his energy and swinging it out somehow? Or does he imbue his weapons with something that gives them special powers?"
To combat his abilities they first needed to understand them. Vergil tricked a ways forward and turned around to gaze at the effects of the daggers. They didn't seem to trail anything behind, and didn't have any additional properties such as electricity or fire attached to them. At the same time, it was virtually impossible to see them. Perhaps the only thing they had going for them was the speed with which they traveled through the air.
"In that case…"
Vergil tricked up into the air and sent a line of judgment cuts down towards Terrence to create a barrier of sorts. Then he followed behind them as they dissipated, preparing to deal a decisive blow, or at least to interrupt his barrage. However, by the time the last judgment cut had ceased, Terrence wasn't there. A quick glance revealed that he had seen through the tactic and retreated. When Vergil landed, a salvo of seemingly light-speed projectiles awaited him. It was only his proficiency with Yamato that allowed Vergil to avoid getting skewered, and he now understood the point behind Terrence's ranged attacks. A couple shots from Dante forced Terrence to move and send a few daggers his way, allowing Vergil to finally break off and get behind cover.
"He doesn't need to imbue them with any special power; he can send several dozens of them into an opponent in only a couple seconds. With his speed that's enough time to get a surprise attack on them."
With how quickly he was throwing the daggers, though, it was likely Terrence would soon be running out of them; even with the extensive sheathe he'd stitched into his coat. Their strategy was still valid. Vergil checked around the corner of his building to see Dante taking cover behind a large piece of rubble. He was taking pot shots at Terrence and trying to keep him occupied, but they both knew that it wouldn't take long for the demon king to flank him.
Vergil tricked from the building to behind another large piece of debris, trying to guarantee that when Terrence got an advantage on Dante, it would give him an advantage over the assailant. Unfortunately they didn't have enough time, and Terrence seemed to simply appear a few yards behind Dante. Vergil couldn't get to them, so instead he threw Ebony as hard as he could to his brother. When Dante caught it he brought both pistols around in his signature "gunslinger" style position and reenacted the battle of speed that Terrence and Vergil had been fighting not long ago. However, Vergil was in a much better position to sneak up on Terrence now, since he was behind him. A few careful advances forward, and he was ready. Vergil slid forward, swinging out with Yamato as if he were drawing it from a sheathe, aiming for Terrence's neck. Even with how much strength he had, they both knew the young man would have to dodge the attack. When he did, it was him on the defensive; avoiding Dante's gunfire.
"The advantage is ours. All we need to do now is keep him on the defensive and exhaust his options."
Vergil got into a stance to perform his judgment cut, but as he prepared to unleash the technique, he felt something descending towards him. He rolled out of the way and came up to face the newcomer. It was with both disappointment and legitimate concern that he noted it was Anthony.
"Looks like hoping that he would end up on our side was a bit too optimistic. And now we have someone else to deal with aside from Terrence."
"Anthony, this is the only warning you're going to get; if you take Terrence's side on this, we won't go easy on you."
Anthony didn't have his usual attitude, and it was obvious that the only reason he came to Terrence's aid was because of their fraternal bond. Either way, they'd had the advantage, and now it was gone. He had to get Anthony out of the fight quick or their chances of winning weren't looking too good.
"Too good of a combatant to kill… maybe if I can immobilize him somehow… Well, let's start with his weapon."
Vergil didn't waste time; he tricked forward and slashed at Anthony's center with Yamato. The young man knew what his game was, and refused to block with his machete; instead he ducked under the slash and hacked at his legs. Vergil kicked off the ground so that he could avoid the attack and keep his momentum going. Anthony rolled past him and they both turned around towards each other as they reestablished their footing.
Deciding to change tactics, Vergil turned his attention towards Terrence, who was starting to make his way towards them. Dropping into his stance once again, Vergil prepared another judgment cut. Anthony dashed forward, not willing to give him a chance to attack Terrence. But when he got in range, the purple sphere of displaced energy appeared all the same; right in front of him. It was all Anthony could do to keep his body out of the way, and his weapon was rent apart by the distorted gravity. With nothing but a handguard on his weapon, Anthony tossed it away.
"Worrying so much about his brother; he didn't consider that it was a feint."
Despite now being unarmed, Anthony didn't seem too concerned. That made Vergil wary, but he couldn't afford to waste any time; he slid forward and once more slashed out at Anthony's torso. He knew the young man could avoid the attack, but maybe it would put him in a position for Vergil to knock him away. When he did avoid the attack, it was in the form of simply falling back onto the ground… as five projectiles shot into Vergil's torso and knocked him down.
"Agh! Damnit!"
The brothers had synchronized their movements so that Anthony could act as a blind while Terrence threw more of his daggers past him. Vergil had forgotten that these two were just as adept at combining their movements and tactics as he and Dante were. And pretty soon it was going to be a two-on-one battle, given Terrence's current direction. Dante wouldn't be able to do very much from as far away as he was; he had to take Anthony down now.
Removing the daggers from his body, Vergil spun up from the ground and created several of his summoned swords in a rotating ring around his body. He dashed forward towards Anthony, who was evidently surprised by the ability. When Vergil reached him, he jumped into the air to avoid the attack, and likely to open his opponent up for more of Terrence's daggers. Vergil was ready, though, and he stood his ground to fend off the elder twin's projectiles as his summoned swords appeared behind his body and jutted up towards Anthony. Given his position in the air, not even the boy's quick reflexes could save him from the attack; the spectral blades punctured his body propelled him up into the sky.
"That will only buy me half a minute. This is it!"
Vergil dashed through the air and slashed out with Yamato; even with how strong Terrence was, he couldn't block the attack with his bare hands. Even if it did cut him in half, the boy's chiropteran lineage alone would keep him from dying. As the attack closed in, though, Terrence pulled a combat knife from inside his coat; the weapon Vergil had forgotten about. Channeling his energy through the blade, Terrence increased its durability just enough so that it would slow Yamato down for him to dive past. Fortunately Dante's quick trigger finger could also stop just as fast, so he didn't charge into a storm of lead.
"It's fine; Anthony will still be dealing with the swords, and Terrence used up his last real weapon. We can just repeat the tactic."
Vergil tricked behind Terrence so as not to waste any time, and though the attack wasn't as strong, it still wouldn't be possible to block it. Terrence was drawing up from the ground, so he didn't even have enough time to dodge it. He turned about, raising his hands to presumably try and block- and thrust the remainder of Anthony's machete at him. Vergil scowled as Terrence once more managed to slow his attack down just enough to avoid getting harmed. At the same time, he could feel Anthony descending down towards him. Even unarmed, he couldn't take the risk of getting into close combat with both of them. So he swung at Terrence again while backing off- and Yamato's blade was caught between Terrence's hands. He pulled back, but the young demon king was determined not to let his weapon go. With no other options but to let Yamato go or thrust forward, Vergil charged. Terrence's boots ground through the earth as he was pushed back through the soil, but the blade itself didn't budge. Anthony could be heard landing behind him, and Vergil cursed.
He wouldn't let Yamato go; Terrence being without a decent weapon was arguably their only remaining advantage in this fight. So long as he survived whatever damage the two could do to him, it was worth maintaining that advantage. Vergil tightened his grip on Yamato, and turned to face Anthony. As he did, the young man was tackled to the ground. Vergil grinned as Dante pinned one brother to the ground and drew his pistols to fire at the other, who had no choice but to back off. As he rose, Dante planted a boot on Anthony's chest and offered a quick apology before impaling him with Rebellion up to the hilt before twisting it. The young man tried in vain to free himself while Dante came up beside Vergil. Once again, it was two on one; and Terrence no longer had any weapons.
"Now, then; where were we?"
