Mission 21

Double Fight

Nero starts to sprint and jumps high up in the air. When he lands on the gallery, he rams his sword in the ground. There is nothing more to cut as Hera and Dante could dodge to both sides. Nero continues using his sword, whirling it around wildly. First to the left towards Hera, then right towards Dante. Both block the strokes with their swords. After Nero's attention was briefly focused on Dante and his sword crossed that of him, he abruptly switches to Hera. As one is accustomed from Nero, his attacks are dynamic, so that it requires quick reactions on Hera's part.

Just when it seems as if Nero had gotten his teeth into fighting Hera as she were his personal opponent and Dante wants to take advantage of the moment to jump down to Vergil, Nero wields his Red Queen and pulls Dante back into the rain of attacks. He cuts through the columns of ice reaching up to the ceiling and which are the result of Vergil's previous assaults. Several ice shards and chunks of ice flit through the air. Also some severed columns of ice detach from the ceiling and drop down. Nero manages to use the frozen constructs for his attacks by throwing or hitting them in Dante's direction with his Devil Bringer. They thunder against the hard floor and shatter into smaller pieces as Dante evades them.

"Nero!" Hera exclaims, hoping that her voice reaches her half-brother's subconscious and that it stops Vergil's control spell.

Hera already used this method in her first fight against Nero on the beach and even if it didn't work at that time, it might work now.

Nero, however, fights on persistently and does not let his focus shift from Dante.

"... I'm so sick of you!" Hera shouts to Vergil who is literally waiting to receive her down there.

Meanwhile, Dante makes a particularly powerful blow whereupon Nero staggers backwards and in front of Hera's feet.

"It's best if everyone stays with his sibling", Dante says to Hera and wants to use the resulting free space and jump down to Vergil, but immediately Nero thwarts him with his Devil Bringer.

With a conjured extension of his demon arm, he grabs Dante by the torso and throws him towards the wall that adjoins the gallery and where Hera was chained a few moments ago. While the flight, Dante makes use of his agility and thus prevents himself from hitting the stone wall.

"Why don't we just mix it up?! My dance with Hera wasn't finished ...!" Vergil calls with a mischievous grin, and as if he had given Nero a command by thought control, he runs towards Dante and attacks him again to keep him near the wall.

Nero succeeds with his techniques quite well. Dante cannot get past him, no matter what tricks he uses. Obviously, Vergil is completely the master over Nero, so that he also enriches him with a higher fighting power.

Standing at the edge of the gallery's broken railing, Hera turns her body to Vergil. In doing so, she also turns away from the conflict between Dante and Nero, at the same time ignoring the warning head-shaking directed at her by Dante. She equips herself with Soul.

"Hey!" Dante shouts to her but in no time at all Hera has put herself into the balanced Blood Angel mode and flits down to the King of the Underworld.

Vergil crosses his two swords as protection against Hera's attack. Although she is unable to inflict physical damage on Vergil, she can push him back several feet due to her fast approach. Already when Hera stormed towards Vergil, a wall consisting of white, electrically charged spheres had formed behind him. So it wasn't primarily Hera's plan to hurt Vergil, but to push him into that wall of spheres. Exactly one step back from Vergil is now needed to make Hera's plan work.

He finally gives her the answer by forcibly pushing her back and up to the ceiling. Having regained control of her body, Hera wants to storm towards Vergil again, but now he, too, rises up, evades there, and lets her thunder into the wall of spheres summoned by herself, just that Vergil has turned it into ice in the meantime.

Hera rushes through the wall with her enormous speed and is immediately confronted with the next one; this time it is the one of the room. However, she does not fall victim to this wall, so she pushes herself off there and dashes straight back to her opponent, destroying the rest of the orb barrier with a sword stroke.

Near the ceiling, they are fighting their sword duel which is occasionally accompanied by magic attacks. Then they are using all the space the hall offers, except for that of the gallery.

After all, the gallery's space is needed by Dante and Nero. The devil hunter still tries to cope with the young man but it seems not to be that easy as Nero almost acts like Dante's mirror image; thus Dante feels forced to use his Devil Trigger to put an end to the parallel actions of his opponent. After calling up this version, things are already going better for Dante, but he still cannot free himself from the impasse created by Nero.

"Sorry, buddy, but I gotta do it this way ..." Dante says in a demonic voice and hits Nero's Red Queen with his fist.

The sword is fully taken by electric current, and so is the body of its owner. The electric shock paralyzes Nero and gives Dante time to move up to Vergil and Hera.

As if the electric shock to Nero had weakened Vergil as well, Dante watches on his way through the air how Hera successfully attacks Vergil; all of Hera's summoned arrows rain down on Vergil. The devil hunter also wants to take advantage of this moment of Vergil's weakness and sends a fiery hail of bullets in the direction of his brother. Vergil, however, can muster up enough energy to fend off this attack. He is also able to block Dante's sword blows with the Sparda sword in his left hand and to keep Hera busy at the same time with Yamato.

Vergil abruptly spreads his wings, and with that his protective armor. As a result, Vergil's left side is better protected, so that he no longer needs a sword to protect his body from Dante's onslaughts. His two blades are now completely directed against Hera. He fights emphatically, but his blows are also slower. Nevertheless, five strokes are enough to make the Blood Angel hit the ground with the last blow.

Dante wants to switch to Vergil's right side which has become free after he realizes that he cannot break the armor in any way, but Vergil does not even allow Dante to change sides and pushes him back with his swords only to knock him down to the ground with his robust armor also.

The ungentle landing on the ground has torn both Dante and Hera out of their higher forms, and when they stand up in their human appearance, Nero storms towards them. The group battle desired by Vergil now actively takes place as he floats down to the fighting parties and thus enters the battle arena.

With aggressive techniques, in which he increasingly uses his Devil Bringer, Nero takes on Hera while Vergil fights Dante in close proximity. Hera currently cannot do anything but to evade and block Nero's attacks. This alone, however, turns out to be a tricky business for her. It happens quite quickly that she is grabbed by Nero's summoned extension of the demon arm. Shortly before he wants to throw her through the room, Dante interferes and strikes against the blue appearance of the Devil Bringer, so that Nero's magic power is interrupted and he has to release Hera.

Not hesitating a second, Vergil intervenes and lets a wave filled with darkness emerge from the ground and sends it in the direction of Dante and Hera. The Blood Angel builds up a protective wall which also covers Dante since the devil hunter still fights Nero with his back to Vergil and would thus be more easily exposed to the attack of the Demon King.

The wave bounces off the protective wall and sloshes back to the ground. Dante uses the momentum due to his previous sword stroke and makes his weapon clash against Nero's. The young man falls back and slides across the icy ground.

Meanwhile, Vergil has broke Hera's wall with a brute frontal attack. Just as he is about to continue his series of attacks, Dante quickly switches to his nunchaku and creates a wave of fire against Vergil. The Demon King can evade it, but with that he is now cut off from Hera. Dante now switches back to Rebellion and storms towards Vergil to attract his attention and force him to stay in defense mode.

Indeed, Vergil is now well occupied with self-defense, so that Hera makes another attempt to create a magic trap for Dante's brother. This is also supposed to contain bright energy to counteract the darkness emanating from Vergil. Since Dante buys her more time to create a more effective power, she can concentrate her forces accordingly, and in no time a bright white light has appeared behind Vergil.

As intense as the brightness of the sun's rays and as sharp as needles, the energy penetrates Vergil's back in a dizzying array. His body visibly twitches. This, however, is not meant to be already it. The glaring light extends over Vergil which makes him disappear in it for a short time and when the light spits him out again, he painfully crashes to the ground.

Dante and Hera look at each other silently. It seems as if they were communicating with each other by thought and at the same time praising each other's fighting action. The attack may have been the most effective one of all on the part of Dante and Hera so far, and they also make a good team, with Hera whose strength lies more in the field of magic and Dante as a physical talent, but this does not mean the end of the fight at all. Vergil gets up and immediately strikes out with his two blades. A diagonal blue and purple beam radiates out of both blades and races towards Dante and Hera. They have just enough speed of reaction to repel the beam with their melee weapons but are pushed back by the force.

They slide through the dark liquid Vergil has created and which appeared as a wave a few moments ago. That dark water also floods the hall and the corridor outside the room. Nero's back is soaked in it as well. He did not get up from the floor since Dante's blow and lies now, breathing heavily, near a corner of the hall.

"I think it's time for more guests ..." Vergil who is also gasping, even if this may not be as drastic as that of Nero, says.

Vergil's eyes light up brightly and when he slightly nods, Dante and Hera find themselves in a sea of demons. As a result, Nero disappears from Dante's as well as Hera's field of vision, and instead they may look at the beings consisting of all the skeletal demons they have encountered since the beginning of their adventure.

"Seriously?! They're allowed to join the party?! I thought this was only the area for VIPs!", Dante shouts across the room to address his words to Vergil who has disappeared in the demon horde.

"My thinkin' is that the mighty Demon King just needs a break!" Hera replies.

"I'm quite satisfied with my choice of guests", Vergil's voice sounds and abruptly he can be seen on the gallery. "But if they bother you, feel free to disinvite them yourself!"

As if this sentence was the starting signal for the next stage of the fight, the horde pounces on Dante and Hera.

The duo carves out a little more space and as soon as this is done, Dante jumps up for a hail of bullets to expand it even more. All of a sudden Vergil appears in the air directly behind him and let his blades hurtle towards Dante from both sides.

Hera who is recognizing this - because it is not only the blue glow from Vergil's devil mode that stands out in color from the dull demons, thus making his presence very conspicuous, but also his blades which are now surrounded by a more intense and treacherous blue-purple energy - dashes up in the air with Soul ahead.

As briskly and out of the blue as Vergil appeared behind Dante, he disappears again. Hera only has to repel the strong energy resulting from Vergil's sword stroke with Sparda's blade, while Dante takes on the one from Yamato.

Even though Dante probably could have freed himself from the unfavorable situation, the jump up from Hera was not completely in vain because up here she has a better view of the battlefield and can actually see Nero in the hustle and bustle. The young man is just about to stand up. It is as if Vergil now had the capacity again or just feels like letting Nero rejoin in the fight. Where Vergil himself has disappeared to, Hera cannot make out.

Dante is back on the ground before Hera and right in the middle of the horde where he continues the fight against the demons. Flames and lightning which are caused by Dante's different weapons surround him, so that quickly one demon after the other gets killed.

"Same tactic as before?!" Dante says to Hera as she lands near him and gives him support.

"I'm in!" She responds, "Don't know where Vergil is but Nero's back in the game!"

"Okay ...!"

Hardly has she mentioned his name, he is already visible in the group of demons, striving his way through. Dante and Hera know very well that they are Nero's target.

Reaching them, Nero raises his sword against Hera. Dante blocks the blow for her while she keeps the demons in check. Then both Dante and Hera alternately have a short sword fight with Nero. Now the young man starts to use his revolver, but the shots land in the mass of demons. At the point where the last bullet shot by Nero bounces off, Vergil appears as if from nowhere.

Executing several blows, Vergil sends his energies in the form of swords to Dante and Hera, and thus not only to Nero as well but also to the demons. This causes the death of two creatures of Vergil's own produced flock. However, he seems not to mind that kind of loss.

Hera builds up another protective wall that covers her brother, Dante, and herself. In order to do this, Dante simultaneously has to engage in a sword fight with Nero since he does not want to stop his offensive actions. However, this is probably not that bad because as long as Nero is actively fighting Dante, he will stay close to him and thus within the protective barrier created by Hera.

Vergil lets arise another black wave and disappears. Hera has to fight against the dark force to keep the protective barrier from dissolving. This time, the wave is even more resistant. It does not whip against the transparent shield and then sinks back as normal water would do but the wave literally pushes against Hera's defense. The demons also beat and scratch at the shield while Dante continues trying to keep Nero in check.

Both Dante and Hera clearly notice that the difficulty of the fight has increased many times over due to their actual opponent, Vergil - as if he were to gather strength to surprise Dante and Hera in certain moments. Just like in the current situation in which he has disappeared into nothingness, so that he can probably make further plans without ruffle or excitement.

Is the increased level a sign that Dante and Hera are very close to extinguishing the Demon King, so that he, in order to avoid such a scenario in any case, uses all of his available powers and balls to the wall? How long is the battle to last otherwise?

In terms of surprises, Hera has one up her sleeve.

"Okay, Dante, can you buy me some time?!"

"... For what...?! ... And how ...?!" Dante says strained since his blade crosses that of Nero, starting a trial of strength.

"I don't know how, but I need your help ...! ... Now!"

Hera's protective barrier gives in. Dante abruptly switches to the devil's mode and with the increased power he gains, he succeeds in pushing Nero away from him. Once again Nero falls to the ground, slides through the murky water, knocks over a few demons, and lands outside in the passage to the hall. To his left and right, Dante wildly deals blows and strokes which are also accompanied by flames and lightning. He also incorporates shots and now even switches to his cudgel whose tentacles he uses as a whip.

In the meantime, Hera was able to push the dark wave that threatened to break over their heads away from her and the devil hunter by means of a bright energy, and thus got rid of some more demons. While Dante, primarily as a physical fighter, single-handedly and busy, keeps the demons at bay from himself and Hera, the Blood Angel uses all her strength to concentrate on her sword.

"... And when's somethin' happenin'?!" He calls to her. Because of the devil's mode, his voice sounds metallic.

Out of the corner of his right eye, he can see how Nero is already rushing down the corridor towards the battlefield. Suddenly, another picture appears on his left: Vergil has emerged there and is standing directly behind Hera, his back turned to her. If one did not know it better, one might think he would want to back her.

Vergil pulls both swords forward and then up to let them rush towards Hera's back. Abruptly, Dante drops his focus on the demons and strikes a powerful blow at Vergil to stop him. Before the point of his blades even touch Hera's back, Vergil disappears. Dante's sword stroke, however, continues.

The blue-lilac energy which has been automatically released by Vergil through the sword stroke bounces off Dante's blade and is instead passed on to a demon that feels this power to the fullest. Having saved Hera from Vergil's attack, it is Dante himself who runs into danger of hurting her because the blade of his broadsword is still rushing towards Hera's back due to the momentum of his previous attack. Dante does not have enough reaction capacity to pull the blade back or to change the way of its cut. He manages only just to deactivate his Devil Trigger, thus creating a weakened version of a blow à la Dante.

Rebellion does hit, but her sword Soul and not herself. Hera became early enough aware of Vergil's ambush and was prepared for Dante's weapon.

Their blades are crossing. Hera grins contentedly at him as she speaks:

"We have a new friend."

Dante's gaze wanders over Hera's head towards the figure that has emerged behind her. He looks directly into the eye sockets of a skeleton demon. This one, however, is different in its appearance from those he was allowed to make do with before. The figure is much larger than the others. Long, black, and frizzy hair sprouts towards the demon's left side, and an old, dirty bandage is wrapped around the mouth. Dante continues to peer over Hera's right shoulder and recognizes the aubergine-colored, scuffed piece of fabric that covers part of the ribcage and extends to the kneecaps.

This demon is now preparing to take on fighting the rest of the creatures with bow and arrow and is also providing support for Dante and Hera.

"... Nice to meet you ...?" The demon hunter says seemingly perplexed.

He removes his blade from that of Hera, turns his body to the right side energetically, and thunders his sword against Nero's. Hera has imitated Dante's movement in parallel, just that she turned her body to her right side, so that she now may welcome Vergil next to her, clashing her blade, Soul, against his weapons.

Dante does not want to hurt Nero any further unnecessarily. He knows that Vergil wants just that. Dante's patience for another swordfight with Nero, however, is coming to an end; just as he is longing for the end of this final fight. Vergil's teleportation abilities should be prevented. On him should last such fast and powerful series of attacks that he gets pinned down to not be able to escape.

The devil hunter headbutts Nero. Then he delivers a blow to his belly which makes Nero writhe in pain, and afterwards he hits him to the ground with his elbow. Needless to say, Dante was careful not to discharge electricity from his brass knuckles.

"... Take it as a little revenge for the punches you presented me with when we first met", Dante says to Nero as he bends down, reaches for Red Queen, and rams it into the demon hand of the young man.

He screams in pain. His voice is still accompanied by a deep, demonic sound. In addition to that noise it is to hear that Vergil must have suffered damage also.

Abruptly, Hera stops her attacks on Vergil whom she has been able to keep busy in the meantime, and turns towards Dante.

"What are you doing?! Are you insane?!"

"That arm ain't his anyway! It belongs to him!" Dante points with Rebellion at Vergil who has slightly bent in pain and is now straightening his body again. "Well, my friend. I think it's about time to get you from the dance floor and to finish the party!"