Author's note: We're back. It's been quite a while, but it feels good to be working on this story again. I think we'll be seeing updates more often, though no promises on that. Now, DMC fans obviously know that Vergil is coming. Words cannot express the hype. With that being said, I have a lot of things planned for this story. So please review, and let me know what you think of this chapter, and the fic overall. All your support is appreciated, and I'm thankful to all of you. You guys make this more fun to write, and it's great to be part of both these fandoms, RWBY and DMC. Chapter 6: Immeasurable
"Unhhh…!"
"Come on, pump out that rep!"
Jaune grunted, feeling the muscles in his chest and arms burning. The weight almost didn't seem to be moving. Almost. With a final push that went past his limits, he managed to force the barbell up, locking out at the top.
"There we go!"
Immediately, the weight was taken off his hands, and he let his arms collapse, utterly spent. With a groan, he sat up and turned backwards, looking at the older man who had agreed to train him. Instead of racking the bar, Dante had gripped it, and taken a step back, and was now doing some easy biceps curls with it. Jaune stared for a while. Normally, he'd feel a little resentful to see someone curl his working weight for a bench press, but given that it was Dante, he couldn't find it in himself to be mad. Plus, there was no point lying: it was cool as hell.
Satisfied, the devil hunter racked the weight.
"Not that I'm complaining," said Jaune. "But… uh… is this really the training that's going to help me?"
Dante nodded, as though the answer to that should be obvious.
"But of course, Jauney! In order to fight, you need strength, and that's something you're kinda lacking a little right now. Don't worry about it, though. Just stick to my training and eat right, and you'll make gains in no time."
Jaune didn't look quite so sure about that, going by the expression on his face. He regularly saw Ruby, a girl half his size, swing around a scythe he probably couldn't lift. And she wasn't even the strongest person in their year. He didn't quite see himself catching up to people like that with good old fashioned weight training.
"I just… I thought you needed some kind of crazy Aura-based training or some kind of special super secret method to get stronger, you know?" he said out loud.
In his mind, Dante had a flashback of himself in his teen years, struggling to learn how to workout and fight. And then he remembered Vergil, raising the Temen ni Gru and trying to unlock the Force Edge.
He smiled slightly.
"Sorry to disappoint you, kid. There are no shortcuts to strength."
Jaune looked down at the floor.
"But that also means there's no reason you can't catch up. If you put in the work, you can get stronger. That's all there is to it."
Jaune raised his head, staring at Dante in slight surprise.
He hadn't really expected something like that to come out of the grizzled warrior.
Everyone on Remnant talked about potential, and talent, and Dust, and Semblance, and who knows what else.
It was daunting for a guy who felt like he didn't have any of that.
In the midst of all that, was Dante, with something so simple and down-to-earth.
Work hard, and get results.
That, Jaune could understand.
It wasn't going to be easy.
But he finally felt like he could do it.
He nodded.
"Dante… thanks."
The silver-haired warrior waved it away.
"Don't mention it. Speaking of, we're done for the day, but we have training again tomorrow, so don't be late, all right?"
Jaune replied in the affirmative, and the two decided to end the session. Gathering up his towel, Dante wiped some of the sweat off himself, then decided to make his way out of the Training Facility. There were a lot of things to be done today, and he would need to be on his A-game.
As he made his way up to his living quarters, he thought back to his meeting with the group he was supposed to be investigating.
Cinder Fall. That was her name.
That woman was bad news. Dante could see it right from the moment he laid eyes on her. He could see it in her, so clear, she may as well have written it on her face. A lust for power, at any cost. It reminded him a little of someone he knew very well. But that was where the similarities ended. Even at his worst, Vergil was ultimately a man of honour, who despised dirty tricks and deceit. While he wasn't above destroying people who stood in his way, he didn't go out of his way to do it. Cinder on the other hand… Dante had a feeling she was a messy cook, the kind that broke a lot of eggs to make an omelette that ultimately tasted like shit.
Oh well. It was nothing he couldn't handle. He'd just have to keep a closer eye on her.
And that meant, he'd need to keep his cover. Which meant, he'd need to find a way to complete the job she'd given him.
"There is something you can do for me, Mr. Redgrave.""Oh? And what would that be?""There are certain people who've been… a thorn in our side. We would like you to eliminate them. You'll be generously compensated, of course. And it would be a big help to us."He sighed.
"Things always have to be complicated, huh?"
He pulled out the Scroll Torchwick had given him to communicate with their group. With a touch, he opened its interface, and found the photo of the target. He looked at it for a moment before closing the device and tucking it away. He'd take care of that later. For the moment, he had other things to do. A shower and breakfast were in order, and after that, something which would, hopefully, not end up being too much trouble.
Beacon Dockyard, One Hour Later:
Glynda Goodwitch tapped her riding crop against her thigh. She was looking off into the distance, a stern look on her face. However, if one were to look closely, one would see the presence of tension that was not normally to be seen there. Barely visible crinkles around the eyes from the muscles there. A set jaw. And, as mentioned before, the continuous tapping of the riding crop, occasionally punctuated by adjusting her glasses.
A short distance away, Yang looked at the vetern huntress, and leaned in to whisper to her partner.
"Is it me or does she look a little… tense? More than usual, I mean."
Blake continued to read, not looking up from the PDF on her Scroll.
"Hmm," was all she said.
Truth be told, as little encouragement as she was giving Yang's observation, she couldn't deny that she had noticed it too. And she knew exactly the reason for it. After all, she was nervous too. Her teammates hadn't noticed it yet, but she had. Because of her experiences, she had been able to spot the danger, which no one at Beacon seemed to have noticed, even as they all fawned on him.
Dante.
The man was dangerous.
He was hiding something.
She could sense it. He was good at hiding it. Too good. And that was why she didn't want it to be uncovered.
And now, they were supposed to be going on a mission with that very man.
Somewhere far away from Beacon. Their numbers would be limited. Looking around, Blake saw the other students who had been hand-picked to go on this "special class". Apart from herself and Yang, there was also Ruby and Weiss, completing the team of RWBY. To no one's surprise, Pyrrha Nikos was present as well. It would have been strange if the top of the first years was missing. But also along for the ride were Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. And, finally, someone completely unexpected: the second year, Velvet Scarlatina. To finish off the number was Glynda Goodwitch herself.
To be sure, a formidable force of powerful hunters-in-training, and a proven veteran.
But even with all of them, Blake's danger senses were ringing wildly, even as she read to try and mask her anxiety.
"Hey, looks like everyone's here. Guess we're good to go then."
Her head snapped up, even as her eyes darted to the sound of that voice.
Walking towards them was a familiar figure, trademark red jacket on as usual. As ever, he appeared to be unarmed, though Blake knew that didn't mean anything. The man could summon weapons out of nowhere. As he approached, the Faunus tensed up, putting her Scroll away. One hand inched closer to her weapon, ready to draw it, even as her legs bent slightly in preparation to run.
If Dante noticed any of these actions though, he certainly didn't comment on them. He looked energetic and upbeat as always. If anything, he looked eager, as if looking forward to what was coming. Blake wasn't sure what to make of that. As she watched, Dante's attention shifted to the other Faunus among them,Velvet.
"You turned up, huh?"
The second year nodded, looking determined.
Although she didn't say anything, the look in her eyes did not go unnoticed by Blake. There was respect there, even trust.
What exactly happened between these two?
The day before, team CFVY had been brought back from their mission. Three of its members had been severely injured, but none of the damage had been permanent. They were recovering in the medical wing at the moment. As for Velvet, she had been unharmed. The teacher in charge of that mission was Dante, a fact that didn't do anything to boost Blake's confidence.
But she didn't have time to dwell on it.
An unspoken warning remained stuck in her throat as her partner approached the silver-haired man.
"Hey, I showed up like you asked. This better be one hell of a surprise you've got in store for me."
The blonde grinned fiercely.
For once, Dante didn't feel a headache coming on from her.
"Oh, trust me. It's going to be one hell of a party."
Grimm were all right, but nothing really got his blood racing like killing demons.
Unfortunately, his moment of enthusiasm was rained on by a certain combat instructor.
"Ahem."
Dante turned to see Glynda Goodwitch glaring at him, disapproval etched in her face deeply.
"Might I remind to you, Miss Xiao Long, to please behave with proper decorum when interacting with teachers."
"Eh?" said Dante, "It's all right. Let the kids be themselves."
Yang, who had immediately begun to feel the effects of Goodwitch's withering glare, perked up when she realized the impossible had happened. A teacher had actually backed her up against the feared disciplinarian who sent even the likes of Port running for cover.
"Wait, really? Hell yeah!"
She sent a fist towards Dante, who bumped it with his own without looking.
A vein twitched on Goodwitch's temple.
"And as for you, Dante, stop encouraging her! Beacon already has enough added to its repair bills courtesy of this one."
"Lighten up, will you?" replied the devil hunter.
He smirked slightly, as her frown deepened.
It was at this point that Yang's jaw dropped open as she realized what was happening.
He's… he's teasing Goodwitch?
In front of her, Dante seemed to grow, until he stood as a giant, towering above all others. Where others might be satisfied with rescuing the princess, the silver-haired warrior was the type to woo the monster herself.
What a man. And I thought I was a thrill seeker."Dante…" growled Goodwitch.
"Psst, Dante," whispered Yang. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but a strategic retreat might be a good idea for now. Still, major props for doing what you're doing."
Dante looked at the vein on the blonde witch's temple, which looked on the verge of bursting.
"Yeah, maybe that'll be for the best."
He held up his hands in a gesture of peace.
"All right, all right. How about we get this show on the road then?"
Glynda glared at him for a moment longer, then relented.
"Fine. But I'll be watching."
Dante turned away and walked towards the waiting Bullhead.
"Right on! You guys are in for a treat."
The group boarded the aircraft, which pushed itself off the ground and into the air.
As Dante entered the cockpit, the pilot turned to give an uncertain look.
"So uh… do we have a destination?"
His orders from Ozpin had been a little vague.
"Take Dante where he wants to go."The silver haired man grinned.
"Not to worry. I've got it right here."
He pulled out his Scroll, and opened the map application, only to frown.
"That's strange… could have sworn I marked those locations last night."
Behind him, the entirety of the group sweatdropped. Goodwitch felt a headache coming on. She took deep breaths.
Calm. Remain calm.
Walking over, she held out her hand.
"Give it here. Where exactly were you planning on going?"
Dante handed her the Scroll.
"There's a forest a little ways west. No, not that one. A little further along. Yeah, that's the place."
"To set up a marker just tap a location once and then hit this button that pops up, see?"
"Oh, that's how. I get it."
"To save the marker, you have to-"
As the surreal conversation in the cockpit continued, the teens looked on with a mixture of disbelief, wonder and disappointment, as the veteran huntress and picture of discipline tried to teach the strongest warrior and immeasurable badass the intricacies of using a tablet computer.
"This isn't real, is it?" said Weiss. "Please tell me I didn't run away from home for this."
Ruby laughed nervously.
"It's not that bad, right? They're figuring it out."
Yang, of course, was taking notes furiously.
"... flipped the ancient technique on his head. Normally, the guy uses the excuse of teaching the girl something to get close to her, but he managed to make her teach him something, and get the same results. What a master."
Blake narrowed her eyes.
"Are you… taking notes of his attempts to hit on Goodwitch?"
"Yes."
The Faunus would have asked for a copy of those notes, if she hadn't been more concerned by the fact that even the blonde witch seemed oblivious to the danger the red-clad man represented.
As for Pyrrha, her mind was elsewhere. For some reason, Jaune had come back to the dorm earlier in the morning all sweaty. Not that she minded.
About an hour later, they had reached the location Dante had chosen.
The Bullhead hovered above the forest. Unlike the Forever Fall, the leaves here were green, as tended to be the case with most trees.
"We're getting off here," the devil hunter said. "I've been told you're all good at coming up with landing strategies on the fly. So don't let yourself down. At least not too fast."
A collective groan was heard, with only Yang actually laughing appreciatively.
Without further ado, Dante jumped off the Bullhead's open hatch.
As he fell, he oriented himself so that he was angled almost vertically downwards, reducing air resistance. As he flew towards the earth like an arrow, he revelled in the feeling of the wind in his hair. He had plenty of time, so he looked around, deciding to see if the others were doing all right.
Some distance away, Yang was using the recoil from her shotgun gauntlets to push herself forward, countering the downward force and heading for the trees.
Past her, Ruby was using a similar strategy, but given the higher force feedback from her sniper rifle, she simply provided a direct upward force to counter gravity and slow down her fall, by shooting repeatedly.
Ren and Nora had teamed up. The ginger was laughing maniacally, even as she used her grenade launcher to achieve the greatest recoil out of any of them, each shot pushing her almost horizontally towards the trees, while Ren hung on to her. He also had one of his submachine guns in hand, a grappling hook visible on it.
As for Pyrrha, there was no point concealing her magnetism anymore. She was skating on her shield, using her Semblance to control its path downwards.
And finally, there was Velvet. This was Dante's first time getting a look at her abilities, and he wasn't disappointed. Using her weapon, which took the form of a camera, she had created what looked like a hard light construct, similar to the Summoned Swords both Nero and Vergil could use. In her case though, what she had called forth was a glider, which she was using expertly to sail through the air gracefully.
Unsurprisingly, Goodwitch was the most in control out of all of them. Interestingly, she seemed capable of freeform flight, kind of like Superman from the comics Dante had read back on his own world.
The devil hunter nodded to himself, satisfied.
Guess I don't need to worry about them.Summoning a Trickster circle under him, he performed a handstand and sprung off it, flipping through the air like a gymnast.
"Wooohooooo! Yeaaah!"
Corkscrewing as he flipped, he approached the ground at breakneck velocity.
Reaching out a hand, he summoned Devil Sword Dante, the demonic blade appearing in a flash of flames. Using the weapon's innate powers, he decided to use an ability that he had acquired recently.
Hey, Vergil. I got these too now.
Glowing orange blades warped into existence out of nowhere, forming replacements for Trickster circles. Instead of only one, however, they formed an entire ladder, the blades being evenly spaced out, all the way down to the ground below.
Placing a foot on one of them as he fell, he pushed off it, simultaneously correcting his balance. With his staircase already in place, he ran down the path of Summoned Swords,, each blade disappearing the moment he stepped off it.
Several feet away, Glynda watched his movements with no small amount of curiosity. The more he saw of Dante, the more she realized how little she knew about him.
Hard light constructs?
Her eyes narrowed.
He didn't seem to be using any kind of Dust to create them. Was this one of his powers then? A Semblance?
Who are you, Dante?She would have to save that question for later though. Dante had reached the ground first, his makeshift staircase already gone as though it was never there. But he was still holding that massive sword in his hands.
Goodwitch alighted gently on the ground. All around, the students made their landings. A moment later, those of them who had needed to use the trees to slow down their fall came into the clearing, and the group was all in one place.
"All right," said Dante, looking around to make sure no one was missing. "We're here. You've all waited long enough, so I'll cut right to the chase. Two of you already know what we're here for. The rest of you, you're about to find out."
His eyes sharpened, uncharacteristically serious.
"I'm only going to say this once. I know you're young and capable, and you like messing around. But doing it here and now will be the last mistake you make. Do what I say while we're here, and do not act on your own unless I give the say-so."
Normally, the likes of Yang might not have cared much about a warning like that, but this was different. Dante was strong, and for him to advise caution, there must be reason indeed.
"What are we hunting?" she asked aloud, her warrior's blood burning for a good fight.
Dante looked her straight in the eye as he answered, with one word.
"Demons."
A moment passed by.
Everyone blinked.
Then, Pyrrha decided to ask the question on the entire group's minds.
"Umm… Professor… by demons, are you being figurative?"
"Nope," replied Dante.
"So… actual demons? Mythical creatures from hell, bringing fire and death?"
"Fire, ice, lightning, and a whole lot more. But yeah, death. Especially that. Lots of it."
Pyrrha looked at him nervously. Dante's words were joking, but there was truth in them. He was serious when he was talking about demons.
She looked at Goodwitch for support, only to see that the woman was not arguing, and did not seem to be shocked at Dante's words. Only uneasy, and on her guard.
Pyrrha's eyes widened only momentarily as she took in the situation.
Before she had the time to reflect on it, though, Dante spoke.
"They're coming. Stay in a group, and don't move, if you know what's good for you."
Blake's heart pounded furiously in her chest. She couldn't hear them, nor smell them. As a Faunus, that was alarming. From birth, she had been able to rely on her senses to know that danger was coming. Yet, now, it was on its way, but she couldn't detect it.
It was terrifying.
Dante stepped forward.
In a moment, the joking facade of the teacher at Beacon wore off, replaced by the Legendary Devil Hunter.
All around them the ground seemed to open up.
Swirling pools of shadow appeared, like bottomless pits, and out of them, they emerged. Shadowy figures hooded and cloaked. Their visible flesh was rotted, their faces and limbs almost skeletal. Black eyes burned as though with fire, glaring at the hunters with hatred. Unlike the Grimm, who were merely lifeless creatures behaving the only way they could, these beings were alive. Malice oozed off them, even as they approached, dragging their sinister scythes along the grass, leaving trails of fire behind them from their burning blades. They resembled nothing so much as reapers come to collect souls.
[DMC 3 OST: Cerberus Battle]
Dante burst into movement, so quick, even the trained eyes of the hunters lost sight of him. Glynda looked around wildly, and spotted him ten yards away, his massive sword cleaving through three of the figures, which dissipated instantly. The warrior transitioned into another swing, slashing around him in a wide arc as she shifted his weapon from one to another mid-swing. The resultant move cut down two more of the creatures that had been right behind him. Having cleared every enemy in a 360 degree arc around him, he dashed forward. What followed was a barrage of thrusts that created blasting winds. The Hell Caina gathered in front of him were skewered through as though by machine gun fire, their perforated flesh fading away into wisps.
Without a second's rest, Dante moved. A red aura flashed, and he vanished from view.
Glynda blinked, and the devil hunter reappeared twenty feet away, high in the air. His sword was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he was holding his two handguns. Pointed downwards, he spun wildly like a hurricane as he descended, rapid-firing as he did so. The aerial fire tore through the ranks of the enemy in seconds. Even before landing, Dante disappeared again, the red flash once more replacing him.
Short range teleportation, Glynda noted. Yet another power to add to his list of formidable abilities.
A bead of sweat rolled down her neck.
These reaper-like creatures were nothing she couldn't handle. Yet, even knowing she could take them own, for some reason, dread filled her. Something about them was inherently scary. They were dangerous, in ways the Grimm were not.
Little did she know, she was staring into the abyss.
And it was just beginning to stare back.
Dante had already reached another group of the Hell Caina.
As he raised his sword behind him, a hum filled the air, and it burned ominously. When he swung, multiple blades made of energy whirled forward, slicing through the demons. Dante looked around. He couldn't sense any of them closeby. That meant this was a brief respite. More were coming. He could sense their demonic power. But this was a chance to prepare the others for the onslaught. Using his Trickster style, he teleported over to the others again.
They were staring at him. Any doubts they'd had regarding the existence of demons were gone. But they hadn't understood the danger. Not yet.
He could see the eagerness in their eyes. Especially Yang's.
On the other end of the spectrum, he could see the fear in Blake and Velvet.
There was a time for inspiring speeches. This was not it.
He flicked his sword, the resulting gust of wind breaking everyone out of their trance.
How to train someone to face demons? Guess I'll have to figure it out as I go.
"Hell Caina," he said out loud, drawing from his vast store of knowledge regarding the hordes of the demon world. "Rank and file lowlives that are a dime a dozen. They don't move as fast as Beowulves, and they're not as strong as Ursa. But they're more dangerous by far. The head is the weak spot, but be ready. They won't go down easy."
Yang cocked her gauntlets.
"You kidding me?" she said. "These chumps won't even be a warmup."
"Hey!" said Dante, making no effort to keep his tone light. "Get your head in the game, kid. Don't mess around!" That goes for all of you!"
Chastised, Yang decided to hold back her retort.
Instead, she sharpened her senses, preparing for the next wave to arrive.
Right on cue, they came.
Once more, the pools of darkness opened up, and they emerged.
These weren't portals to the demon world. Those would have closed already with the last of the Qliphoth's power gone. No, these guys had already crossed over. Demons were capable of concealing their presence, sometimes within shadowy pocket dimensions.
Dante knew this.
Another thing to tell them later.
For the moment, he kept his eyes on the battle. For the moment, he wouldn't intervene, simply see how well they would do on their own.
The Hell Caina emerged from their hiding space, and the warriors of Remnant attacked.
Predictably, Ruby dashed forward using her Semblance, taking advantage of her speed to cut a path through the groups of demons with her scythe.
Working in unison with her, Weiss summoned her glyphs, shooting fire at any demons that tried to crowd around Ruby and block her dashes.
On another part of the battlefield, Blake had split into shadow clones, using them to distract the Caina while she crept up behind them and disposed of them with stabs to the head.
She took notes. Good.
Elsewhere, Yang had charged headfirst into another group, and was wrecking havoc among the demons with flurries of punches and shotgun blasts.
As for Velvet, she was, surprisingly, not using her camera to create anything. Instead, she was using a simple hunting knife, evading the Cainas' attacks with deft movements while stabbing them.
Dante immediately understood what she was doing.
Saving energy for when she really needs it. Smart girl.Nora and Ren were working together, the former's grenades and the latter's quick slashes forming an odd but effective combo.
She disorients the groups with a smoke bomb or throws them up with a blast, and he finishes them off with those blades.Predictably, Pyrrha Nikos was handling herself well. Staying well out of range of them, she took them out with rifle fire, while moving in and out to attack with her weapon's spear form as well.
And finally, there was Goodwitch herself. Always maintaining a safe distance, she was able to use her telekinesis to dispose of her foes, snapping their necks or breaking their limbs without needing to get close.
Dante nodded.
Should be happening. Just about now.
As he looked on, the first one to hit the snag was Yang.
As he attacked relentlessly, the Hell Cainas in front of her raised their scythes to block. Smirking. Yang pulled back her arm, and let loose with a powerful right cross.
Which did absolutely nothing.
She barely had time for her eyes to widen in surprise.
And she barely avoided the counter slash from one of them. Even as she swayed backwards, the blade of the scythe grazed her cheek… and drew blood.
Yang slid backwards, alarmed.
"No way… they can go through Aura?"
[DMC OST: Ultra Violet]
Everyone present heard her words. And suddenly, any thoughts they might have had of having an easy fight on their hands were gone.
Dante had known this was coming. Even lesser demons were capable of channelling their energy to block attacks from creatures who exceeded them in strength. Just as they were capable of using the same energy to focus their attacks and cut through special protection anyone might have.
"Yang!"
Ruby, distracted, by the attack that her sister nearly took, looked away. Only for a fraction of a second, but it was enough. When she turned around, one of the demons was rushing right at her, dragging its scythe along the ground behind it.
She immediately levelled Crescent Rose at it, and fired sniper rounds.
To her horror, even as the bullets blasted off chunks of its torso, it kept coming, until it was in range. The scythe was tearing through the air, right towards her neck. Paralysed by the shock of having her trusty weapon fail to bring it down, Ruby couldn't react, though she was more than fast enough to do so.
Weiss gathered energy, desperately trying to form a glyph to repel the creature, but she knew it wouldn't be fast enough.
The world seemed to stop, as her thoughts raced.
This is how it ends?
The heiress couldn't believe it. To be killed by a pathetic lowlife demon, some scum from hell, in a battle out here in the middle of nowhere. Because of a careless mistake.
Stupid, careless Ruby. Always rushing into action without thinking.
You never listen. Never.
And more than anything, stupid careless Weiss.
For failing to protect her.
BANG.
A blast of red tore through the air.
To call it a bullet would be an understatement.
It was more like a shot of pure energy. The demon's entire upper body had been utterly obliterated, not a single trace of it left.
Everyone froze up, Hell Cainas included, slowly turning to see Dante holding out the darker coloured handgun, Ebony, scarlet energy still pulsing around it, as smoke drifted from the barrel.
"You take these guys seriously yet?" said Dante.
Although he maintained a cool air, he knew just how close that had been. While he felt confident enough styling on demons, this was because he knew his own power, and knew his own skill, tempered through countless battles.
The Remnant crew, while no doubt skilled in their own right, were new to fighting demons. And they needed to do this right.
Everyone resumed the battle, understanding now that this was no joke.
Holding nothing back, they proceeded to annihilate the rest of the demon rank and file without taking any further risks. They remained on the lookout for their unpredictable scythe swings, as well as their powerful defence. Five minutes later, the groups had been eliminated, giving them all a breather.
Lowering her gauntlets, Yang turned to look at her combat instructor.
"You didn't tell me they could bypass Aura," she said, glaring.
"I told you to not take them lightly," replied Dante. He sighed.
Maybe a different tact was in order.
"Listen. This is all new to you. You're already fighting one war, and now I come telling you there's another. That can't be good. But here's the deal. I picked you lot specifically, because I think you have what it takes. I'll say it straight: demons are more dangerous than the Grimm, by a mile and a half. If you don't want this fight, this is your chance to back out. There's no shame in it. You've already got a lot on your plates. But if you choose to continue, you're going to face a lot more than what you just did. You can ask Velvet about that. She's already seen what they're capable of."
Their gazes flicked to the second year girl before returning to Dante.
No one took a step back.
"All right then," he said. "Like you saw, demons have certain specific abilities. Many of them ignore things like physics completely."
"How come you're able to fight them so easily?" asked Ruby.
It was a perfectly innocent question, but it put Dante in a difficult situation.
His true nature wasn't something he planned on revealing yet. Though it was only a matter of time before they figured it out anyway.
"I'm strong," he answered simply. "And I've got experience fighting them."
The group couldn't argue with that.
The next question came from Pyrrha.
"You said these Hell Caina are rank and file. And yet, their powers seemed to bypass Aura completely. What kind of power do the stronger demons have then?"
It was the question that had been on everyone's minds. And now that it had been asked, they all stared at Dante with apprehension, afraid of what he might reveal.
"You're about to find out," he answered simply.
Blake spoke for the first time. She did not like the sound of what he had just said.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Those guys were just the grunts. They never act on their own. If they're here, it's because there's a stronger demon present, leading them. Now that you've taken out his underlings, he's going to show himself."
Velvet's face went white. She had steeled her courage to come this far, but hearing Dante's words, she knew another was coming.
Another like Orion.
The devil hunter noted her fear right away.
"Hey. You guys. I'll be handling this one. So stay back, all right?"
He turned to Goodwitch.
She was more experienced than the others. It might be a good idea for her to get a feel of fighting high level demons.
"Glynda. You up for this?"
Her glare sharpened.
"I didn't come here for nothing," she replied. Now that she was aware of the danger demons posed, she wouldn't let her guard down. Her experience had kicked in, and she had subdued her fears.
"Good," said Dante.
Up ahead in the distance, he had already seen it coming, though the others hadn't.
A lightning bolt, coming down from a cloudless sky.
It crashed down on the ground, shattering a large chunk of earth, forming a crater large enough to fit a small house in.
In the centre of it stood the demon.
Velvet's breath hitched as she looked upon him, as did Blake's. Their Faunus instincts, highly developed, told them to run.
Human beings should have no business fighting monsters like that.
The demon was around the same size as Orion had been, towering far about the tallest humans. While muscular, his entire body was covered in strange scales, and his head ended in a spiked crest similar to a pyramid. On either of the side planes, golden eyes gleamed. His arms and legs appeared to be heavily armoured, as though he was wearing gauntlets and greaves, and lightning flashed around his entire frame.
Ignoring the others, his eyes fixed upon Dante.
"You. I thought I had felt your power. It seems I wasn't mistaken.""Yeah, whatever. Can we just get to it? I'm in the middle of a lesson here, and I'm going to need you to cooperate so these kids can learn something."
With a snarl, the demon dashed forward, sending boulder-sized shards of the earth flying from the force of his step.
Dante stepped forward to meet him, metal gauntlets and greaves appearing on his arms and legs out of nowhere.
Two fists shot towards each other, and collided.
The shockwave created a second crater, obliterating a hemispherical section of the ground that was at least twenty metres in radius.
Boss Battle: [OST: Yakuza 0, Two Dragons]
Lord of Lightning, Raijin
Both Dante and Raijin clenched their teeth, both of them pushing the other back and the same time. With roars, the two warriors rushed in again, attacking with a barrage of kicks and punches that clashed against each other with thunderous impacts louder than gunshots. Lightning and fire burst from each strike as the two were evenly matched. The two mirrored each other perfectly, jabs smashing against jabs, hooks against hooks, roundhouse kicks against roundhouse kicks.
With a final clash of kicks, their armoured shins smashed against each other sending both of them sliding back.
Dante hadn't met too many demons who were trained martial artists before. This guy was an exception. He had real skill.
"Not bad," the devil hunter complimented.
"It appears I underestimated you, Son of-"
Before he could finish what he was saying, Dante casually tossed up a boulder and football-kicked it right into the demon's face to shut him up. He wasn't quite ready for his secret to be exposed yet.
"Glynda!" he shouted. "Do you know what to do?"
In answer, the witch leapt into the air, hovering there as she used her telekinesis to grab hold of all of the debris, lifting it up and launching all of it at Raijin at once, hoping to bury him alive.
The cocoon of rock and earth held for three seconds before the lightning lord broke out of it with strength alone, effortlessly smashing it apart like nothing.
"You dare fight me with dishonour?"
"Watch out for electricity!" warned Dante, knowing what was coming next.
Contrary to popular belief, staying in the air wouldn't provide any protection from lightning. The best defence here might be a good offence.
So thinking, Glynda instead reached out with her telekinesis and tried to grab the demon himself, hoping to tear him apart like paper.
To her surprise, she couldn't hold him at all.
It was as if there was a space around him, within which her powers simply dissipated to nothing.
She roared out in uncharacteristic anger and frustration.
"Just how many cheap abilities do demons have?" she shouted.
Dante laughed.
"You should try fighting Fausts sometime."
Even as he spoke, however, he teleported till he was right in front of her.
Just in time, as a lightning bolt shot towards him that had obviously been meant for her.
Using Royal Guard, Dante blocked the energy and absorbed it, converting it into power for himself.
Before gravity could take effect and bring him down, he summoned a Trickster circle and pushed off it, launching himself towards Raijin.
With Dante coming right at him, he could not gather energy for another lightning bolt. Instead, he narrowly avoided a vicious right cross, trying to counter with a gut punch, which Dante blocked before using his momentum to flip over the demon and land behind him. Raijin immediately turned, and the two once more engaged in close combat.
The lightning lord was enraged, and it showed in the way he attacked.
Using his innate demonic ability, his body surged as it transformed back and forth between flesh and lightning. His fists and feet sailed through the air as lightning, moving hundreds of times as fast as Ruby's top speed, and turning back into flesh and bone right before the moment of contact, to maximize the blunt force damage.
Glynda stared in awe.
She couldn't follow the demonic kickboxer's movements at all.
But that wasn't the only part that had her in shock.
Dante was somehow still avoiding damage. Glynda couldn't see his movements either, but considering the fact that in the brief flashes when he was visible, he seemed completely unhurt, it would mean…
Impossible. He's dodging lightning?She shook her head.
I need to focus. If he's only dodging without doing anything to hit back…
The answer hit her right away.
He was keeping Raijin occupied.
So that she could land the finishing blow.
But how?! I can barely see him.
He's literally electricity! Wait… he's electricity… that's it.
The sheer ridiculousness of what she was thinking would have caused her to reject the idea on any other day. But right now, she was fighting an impossible enemy. She had to use the logic of the impossible against him.
She turned to face Ruby.
"... Miss Rose, I'm going to need to borrow your weapon."
"... HUH?! But, but, you have your own."
"It's an order."
Ruby groaned, but held out Crescent Rose anyway.
Glynda pulled it towards her with her powers, telekinetically finding the switch and transforming it into scythe form as she did so.
I'm only going to get one shot at this.
She was worried about getting the timing right, but Dante had it covered.
Out of the corner of his eye, he'd spotted her grabbing the scythe, so he knew she'd understood his intentions.
As yet another one of Raijin's kicks came towards him, he rolled his eyes.
The lightning may as well have been moving in slow motion to him.
Poor guy probably thinks I can't hit him when he's in lightning form. Sorry, buddy.
While it was true that Balrog couldn't hurt lightning, Royal Guard had no such limitations on it.
Raijin's brain didn't even have time to register that Dante had also converted his body into energy right before his kick could connect.
What he did register was the feeling of absolute, mind numbing agony as a mid-charged, perfectly timed Royal Release caught him, launching him backwards, even while he was in lightning form.
The demon didn't know what to be more surprised by. The fact that he was feeling pain even when he was in lightning form, in which he didn't have a nervous system at all, or the fact that Dante could hurt lightning.
In the years to come, Glynda would often ask herself that too.
How exactly it is that a person can physically hurt lightning.
It was only the first of many of Dante's feats that she would witness, all of which broke physics one way or another.
But at the time, the only thing she noticed was that her chance had arrived.
Snarling in rage, Raijin was beginning to lift himself off the ground. But before he could turn into lightning again, a scythe hurtled through the air, its blade bisecting him as it embedded itself into the ground.
Crescent Rose' body, of course, was all metal, and try as he might, Raijin couldn't get away from it, failing, and reverting to flesh form, in two halves.
"That actually worked," said Glynda, more surprised than anything.
"Good job!" said Dante. "You've got the idea by now, right? All demons have a weakness. Find it and use it against them."
The blonde witch couldn't even begin to list the reasons why that was harder than it sounded. But before she could do so, she saw, to her horror, that Raijin's two halves had crawled away from Crescent Rose, and were now joining together again. No sooner had he done so than he once more turned himself into living electricity. And as soon as he transformed into flesh and blood again, he was completely healed.
Glynda, who by now had rejected much of her pre-established notions of reality, only glared at Dante.
"... Mind explaining that?"
Dante rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Yeah, I forgot to mention. High level demons have almost perfect regeneration and healing."
I have it too, he thought, though he didn't mention that aloud. Boy had that come in handy against his twin.
Meanwhile, on Earth:Vergil paused in the middle of his photorealistic oil painting of Eva.
He had remembered a certain incident at the top of the Temen ni Gru.
"That's a fond memory," he mused aloud, before returning to his painting.
Back on Remnant:"You forgot to mention that they can just… pull themselves together after a fatal attack?" Glynda all but grunted out.
"Not all of them," Dante protested. "This guy's a bit tougher than usual. Isn't that right, big guy?"
"Die, scum!", was all Raijin said. His patience and dignity were both utterly drained by this time, by this opponent who was not only absurdly powerful, but wasn't taking him seriously at all.
Dante appeared to him to be the physical manifestation of all that was unfair in the world.
The devil hunter sighed. The lesson had overall been a success. Not every demon they ran into would have Raijin's power or his resilience. And Glynda had picked up on the basic idea of being cautious and creative at the same time. Even the students had started to get that.
He might as well end this encounter now.
"Look, there are two ways this can go," he said to Raijin. "You can agree to never hurt a human again in your life. Or I can make you wish that's the option you'd picked."
He already knew how to beat the demon. There were several ways, and all of them would be painful, which wasn't really something Dante liked, since he wasn't a sadist. If anything, no matter how flashy his attacks looked, they put away the opponent quickly, only letting them feel the minimum amount of pain, if any at all.
"I'll destroy you, and then this world! I'll make you regret this mockery!"So saying, he launched himself, holding nothing back.
Gathering every last bit of energy he could, he turned himself into a figure composed of lightning. Flashing over to Dante, he gripped the devil hunter's throat, aiming to not only electrocute him, but turn him to ashes.
"Dante!", Glynda screamed when she saw he hadn't avoided the attack.
No! It can't end this way!
As she was about to try to do something, anything, to try and save him, she noticed a few things.
First, that Dante was still on his feet.
Second, he wasn't taking damage.
Third, his body seemed to be covered in some kind of scaly, organic suit of armour.
Dreadnought Form: The pinnacle of Royal Guard, this manifests Dante's demonic energy as a physical armour that makes him invulnerable to all damage.He normally didn't use this power since it felt completely unfair and drained all the excitement from a fight, but he'd have to make an exception this once.
Several minutes did Raijin's desperate attempt at an electric chokehold last. The very stone Dante stood on had been melted into a puddle from the heat. And yet, Dante stood, unhurt.
Finally, with all his energy and stamina exhausted, the lightning lord had no choice but to turn back into living flesh.
"You done?" came the distorted voice from the armour.
The Dreadnought Form vanished in flames, revealing Dante standing in his human form, looking at Raijin almost with sadness in his eyes.
"How…", grunted the demon. "How do you have such power…"
It shouldn't come as a surprise. Raijin knew of the Dark Knight's legend. There were newer stories too, which said that his son had surpassed even him.
And yet, to feel it himself was an entirely different matter.
He had gone up against Dante, and realized that calling his strength great would be an understatement.
It would be truer to say that it was immeasurable.
The legendary devil hunter sighed.
"You cool off yet, buddy?"
"Damn you," was all the lightning lord said.
Yet, even as defiant as he was, he realized he had been completely and utterly defeated. And the most terrifying part about it was that Dante had not even been close to fighting with even half his strength.
As his soul acknowledged defeat, his body faded into wisps of light which coalesced into a single glowing sphere of light, which floated over into Dante's hand.
"What the…" said Yang.
Dante still had Balrog equipped, but the Devil Arm changed. New metal parts came into existence, merging with it.
The resulting combination of two different Devil Arms was a heavier set of gauntlets and greaves that matched Vergil's Beowulf in weight.
Raijin- A Devil Arm that can boost power and speed, and also grant the ability to transform into lightning. Dante can combine Raijin and Balrog to gain destructive power equivalent to Devil Trigger in his normal form. However, this weapon must be used sparingly, since each attack from it can change the landscape.
"Well, that takes care of that," he said.
He looked at the others, who all looked like their collective grasp of reality was on the verge of breaking.
"Some explanations are in order," he said. "How about we take care of that over lunch?"