Hazbin Devils

Chapter 11 (Vergil)

The sheer audacity was certainly both annoying and refreshing at the same time.

A hell caina ran at him with its scythe raised but Vergil stood still with his hand on Yamato's hilt. As soon as the demon got close enough, the blue demon unleashed a flurry of slashes so fast that they manifested as shining cuts in thin air. With a finishing strike, the hell caina was launched backwards into a car while Vergil forcefully sheathed his sword. Another of the demons tried to ambush him but he intercepted the scythe's blow by conjuring two summoned blades behind him. The swords crossed and the scythe was stopped dead mid-swing. Taking a deep breath, the blue demon unsheathed Yamato again swung around in a wide arc, splitting the air that Yamato passed by. The hell caina was cut in half the moment he sheathed his weapon again.

He had expected that to be the end of it, but to his concern, Vergil saw several tears open up in above him. A dozen more hell cainas fell from the dimensional holes and landed on the road and other abandoned cars while hellbats dove out like raptors in search for prey. While some of them diverted their attention to him, the rest began seeking out any of the imps and local demons that had either remained in their cars or were watching Vergil fight from the side-lines. Some of the imps were armed and managed to shoot a few of the bats down but the hell cainas took the punishment better. The imps scattered the moment they came close but some of the local demons decided to fight in their full demon form. It intrigued Vergil to see that they were capable of looking the part, at least he would have no qualms killing them if they got in his way.

In his temporary lapse in concentration, Vergil had found himself surrounded by a group of the scythe-wielding demons. Smiling inwardly, he readied his stance and waited for an attack, his hand hovering over Yamato's hilt. A few seconds later, one of them ran at him, screeching bloody murder while swinging its scythe at him. The tip of the scythe was only mere inches from Vergil's face when he made his move. In a blinding flash of light, Vergil was standing behind it with Yamato drawn and the attacking hell caina reduced to dust. Another one followed suit and launched its attack and was similarly disintegrated by the blue demon. Without letting go of the momentum, Vergil struck the rest of the demons who had not even had the chance to ready themselves. In just a few seconds, he had cut them all down and nothing remained of the hell cainas.

There came cries of fear behind him and when he looked around, Vergil saw what looked like a reptilian beast terrorising bystanders and using its head to knock away cars and even lorries. He had not seen such a demon before even during his long stint in the Underworld, but a threat is a threat and he had to deal with it quickly. The blue demon flew towards the beast with the intent of stabbing it in the back while it was distracted. However, what he did not expect was the beast raising its tail and whipping him across the head just before he could plunge Yamato into it. It sent him barrelling into the side of a van with enough force to knock it onto its side, nearly crushing an imp photographer but he had run away just in time.

Recovering quickly, Vergil made another attempt to take the creature down. It directed its attention at him but unlike a lot of the other lesser demons who would have charged at the first opportunity, this reptilian beast waited and flicked its tongue. Vergil frowned and slowed down to a halt just in time to see the creature disappear into thin air in a similar fashion to his air trick. He was quick to notice the reptilian beast appearing above him and dashed sideways. It landed on the spot where he was standing second earlier, crushing several vehicles in the process and throwing up a dust cloud.

Keeping Yamato and equipping himself with Beowulf, Vergil threw a couple of hard punches into its side followed with a rain of swords that stunned the creature temporarily. Charging up, he uppercut the demon three times with the final hit launching it into the air. He took out Yamato and performed several Judgement Cuts on it before the hulk slammed back onto the road. Even after receiving all that punishment, the reptile just flipped itself upright and roared at the blue demon. Instead of charging at him, however, it ran towards a mother and son duo that happened to be nearby who were busy escaping from their car.

The rumbling ground and cacophony of metal grinding on metal made the two shout in panic with the son trying to free his mother from a stuck seatbelt. No matter how much he fiddled and pulled, it would not budge. The son looked over his shoulder once more and to his horror, the demonic beast was behind him with its jaws wide open and ready to clamp down on him. He and his mother closed their eyes and waited for the inevitable, but nothing came. Instead, there was a loud thud as the beast abruptly fell onto the ground with Vergil gripping its tail tightly. His eyes were glowing brighter than usual.

"No more," he growled gutturally.

With a grunt of exertion, he pulled the creature towards him. With Mirage Edge in hand, Vergil swung it at its neck and opened a deep gash. He drove the blade into it and flew around the neck once, lopping the beast's head off. He landed on the road and took a deep breath while letting his hand go of Mirage Edge. The sword dissipated into blue particles. He heard movement coming from the beheaded reptile and quickly turned around. With a Judgement Cut End for good measure, the headless body and the head itself both disintegrated into fine red mist and a large pile of red orbs where the body once was.

He gave the mother and son duo a quick glance before turning his back on them and walked away brusquely. Vergil hated the feeling of helplessness in him, it reminded him of weakness. Yet, at the same time, he felt…happy to see that neither the parent or child having to grieve for a loss. Many others were not so lucky though, but there was no feeling of pity for them nor that sudden feeling of wanting to protect someone. The most painful memories never go away no matter how much you try to bury it, he told himself mentally while approaching his car. Much to his annoyance however, the car was damaged beyond repair during the sudden demonic invasion. Fortunately for him, the city was just a few kilometres away.

All he had to do was open his wings and fly.

Vergil had himself in an abandoned building while turning back into a human. The fight had taken a toll on him and he was fatigued enough that he had nearly collapsed onto the floor. The building which Mayberry said that I.M.P. was located happened to be just a block away. It had only just reached noon, so the swordsman afforded himself some rest before he confronted Blitzo. There was no place for him to sit since the bottom floor was a parking lot, so he went to a secluded corner and sat against a wall.

He had drifted off to sleep for a short while when he heard someone call his name. "Vergil," came a crisp and clear voice.

The swordsman opened his eyes and stood up quickly while unsheathing Yamato. He pointed the sword at the stranger in front of him. "Who're you, how'd you know my name?"

"You can call me Michael," the winged man said while approaching him slowly. Vergil could only watch as he used a finger to push and lower Yamato. "Don't worry, I'm not here to kill you. Yet."

"Then what're you here for?" he asked cautiously while also wondering as to why he could not lift his sword.

"I come with a warning, son of Sparda. I've been tasked with keeping an eye on ongoings here…and I wish to avoid any sort of…" he paused as he thought for a right word. "Unforeseen consequences." Vergil tried to lift his sword but could only heft a few inches as if it was made of entirely out of steel. "There's no need for weapon-pointing, it's quite uncouth for an otherwise affable meeting."

"Sounds more like a threat than something affable, doesn't it?" Vergil remarked calmly.

"An angel threatens only demons and those who directly affront God. I have a hard time deciding what you are. You have the aura of a demon, but I also see some humanness in you. Quite fascinating," Michael said with a tone of curiosity.

"Cut to the chase, Michael. What'd you want from me?" Vergil asked brusquely while sheathing his sword seeing that it was pointless in trying to raise it. Interestingly enough, Yamato became light enough to move about at that point.

The angel leaned against the wall beside Vergil. "As I said, I come with a warning. I know that you're trying to find a way back to where you came from, but I urge that you also stay and fight."

"And why should I do that?"

"Because these demons that are invading this side of our dimension are causing an imbalance."

"What'd you think I'm trying to do?" Vergil asked rhetorically. "I plan to take the book, open a portal, go back to where we came from, and slay the demon responsible for dropping us here in the first place. If we cut him down, they should stop invading."

"Should, Vergil?" Michael asked with a raised eyebrow. He stood up straight and dusted his outfit. "That doesn't sound very assuring of you." Vergil remained silent and just stared at the angel. "I assume that you're still not interested in meddling with our affairs?"

"No, lest we make it worse."

"I applaud your intentions, Vergil, I really do. However, life always finds a way to meddle in it regardless of whether you want to or not."

"Dante will take care of it."

"Take care of what?"

"With whatever he needs to do to stop others from misusing Yamato's stolen power."

"Again, commendable, but how long is it going to take? Time isn't on our side, Vergil," The Angel said grimly. "Every second that goes by, the demons from your dimension are spilling over in this one and some of the…artefacts from your world are being misused by demons here. With these two things going on, there's a possibility for an apocalyptic scenario not just for heaven and hell, but also the human world. Lucifer will lose his only reason for being the king of hell."

Vergil looked at Michael quickly with a scowl on his face. "What do you mean by that?"

"There're more reasons for Lucifer to be king of hell rather than just for being the first angel to rebel against God. He's an important part of the Pact," Michael explained softly. "I can't say much more than that out of obligation, but please, for the sake of all, stay and finish the fight."

The swordsman was silent and seeing that he did not bother sharing his thoughts about it, the angel shook his head and walked to the exit. He spread his wings and in a flash of white light, Michael disappeared. The only thing left behind that indicated his presence was a single white feather. Vergil picked it up out of curiosity. It felt warm and welcoming yet at the same time, it made him feel a bit weaker. The sensation was similar to that of the odd pistol he had kept since that encounter at the motel. If it had anti-demon properties, perhaps there could be some use for it.

Feeling refreshed enough as it is, Vergil made his move again.

Words of the angel ran through his mind and as much as he hated to admit it, Vergil could not help but slow his pace as he pondered about the implications and what Michael meant by the Pact. It seemed odd to him that angels and demons made pacts, but people said the same about demons having feelings. Perhaps not so odd in the grand scheme of things. Taking out his phone, he snapped a photo of the building and sent the image to Dante.

As he walked across the parking lot entrance beside the building, Vergil bumped into a tall and muscular hellhound and lost his balance. Much to his surprise, the demon held his hand and prevented him from falling backwards. "Sorry about that, didn't see you there," he said apologetically.

"Don't think about it," Vergil replied flatly. "I'm looking for I.M.P. Do you know which floor it's at?"

The hellhound's ears perked up while he let go of Vergil's hand. "Yeah, the office is opposite where I work. I can bring you there."

"That would be helpful," said the blue demon.

Interesting to see a creature of hell to be so cordial, Vergil thought. In fact, the hellhound was friendly enough to give his name as Vortex and that he and the company he worked for had an encounter with Blitzo before a couple of months back. He said that even though Verosika was quite unhappy about being jailed by human authorities, he himself held no grudge. The more Vergil tried not being interested about his ramblings, the more it fascinated him about it. This hell was getting more and more unfamiliar to him and he did not like it very much. Fortunately, Vortex did quiet down when they were in the elevator, giving him time to think of how to confront the imp later. He had not come to a conclusion yet when the doors opened, but Vergil already had an idea on what he wanted to do if Blitzo did not agree to his request.

"There's I.M.P. I saw Blitzo and his employees left an hour ago, probably out to kill someone," Vortex said while pointing at an office door. He stood by the door to a music studio, presumably the workplace he mentioned earlier. "I better get back to work," he said while crossing his arms.

"Yeah, you do that," Vergil remarked.

He walked to the door, took a deep breath, and opened it. For an office offering services to assassinate humans, the livery was rather bland. The blue demon did, however, notice quite a number of horse-themed pictures and posters decorated on the walls. A hellhound was seated at a desk, a female judging by her stature and looks. At first, she only gave him a glance before returning to her phone, seemingly uninterested in asking as to why he was there. Vergil frowned at the display of rudeness and wanted to chide her, but a couple of seconds in, she put down her phone and leaned on her desk, looking none the more interested.

"Yeah, can I help you?" she asked in a disinterested tone.

"I'm looking for a book," Vergil replied in a tone equal to hers.

She blinked once and frowned. "Dude, this isn't a library. Isn't it obvious?"

"I'm not here to borrow a book, dog," Vergil sneered and caused the hellhound's ear to twitch in anger. "Give me the grimoire and I won't have to hurt you."

"The gri – who the fuck do you think you are?!" she snarled angrily while pointing a finger at him.

Instead of answering her, Vergil surrounded her with a bunch of summoned swords. She paused and looked around her, her expression visibly changing into one of concern. "I won't ask you again. Where is the grimoire?"

"Seriously, dude, this isn't funny," the hellhound said in a rather weak attempt to intimidate him.

Before he could send the swords flying, he heard the office door open behind him. At first, there were sounds of people talking but it quickly turned into a scream of horror. Glancing over his shoulder, Vergil looked around just in time to see three imps at him, two of which were pointing guns at him. One in particular looked absolutely livid that even the white part of his face had turned a vibrant shade of red.

"What're you doing to my baby?!" he shouted.

"Baby?" Vergil repeated. "She's your daughter?"

"Yes, so if you do anything to her, I will make sure I'd fuck you over twice!" the imp shouted angrily.

Vergil shook his head and turned around while simultaneously re-orienting the swords at the three imps. So small, he thought. The blue demon had thought about drawing his weapon but decided against it, feeling like it was a waste of time. He sized them up individually. One of them was clearly a female, her knife hand being the dominant one while the other hand with a pistol took a backseat. Must be a melee fighter, Vergil thought calmly. The other imp was armed with what looked like a scoped rifle, looking rather cautious and kept glancing at the female imp. Not one for being up close and personal, must be related to the female one in some way. Then there was the middle lanky one who called the hellhound his 'baby'. Yet again, some form of parental emotion coming from demons. He despised it. Judging by how he's at the front and the first to talk, this must be Blitzo.

"Are you Blitzo?" Vergil asked nonchalantly.

"The o's silent, pal, and who wants to know?"

"Where's the grimoire? Give it to me and I won't have to kill anyone."

Blitzo frowned at him and pointed the pistol at his head. "You come into my office to demand something that belongs to me? I think you need a head check there. No way I'm giving a loon my grimoire, especially not one that tried to hurt my Loonie."

"That book doesn't even belong to you," Vergil stated with arms crossed. "It's important to me, and you can have it back once I'm done with it."

"Um, sir…" the other male imp tried to cut in but was waved off by Blitzo.

"Well, I need that for my job, blue boy. It's in the title and the jingle, look it up. If you want someone on Earth dead, we can work something out. Borrowing you my only means, not gonna happen."

"Sir, I think –"

"Moxxie, do you mind? I'm trying to teach this guy some manners."

"Yes, I can see that, but he's that guy from the news," the imp named Moxxie said while pulling out his phone.

Blitzo looked around at the phone, then back at Vergil again, doing a double take twice. Vergil on the other hand felt rather annoyed that he became the centrepiece of attention, something that he had desperately wanted to avoid. On hindsight, he felt that he should have just cut down any photographers that were in the area, or just let the locals take care of the invading demons themselves. Still, it had the unintentional effect of diffusing the situation because at that point, his hand was already on Yamato's hilt and was ready to send the swords flying.

The lanky imp held up and finger and walked to a nearby water cooler and dispensed a cup of water. He drank it in one gulp only to spit it out a second later. "What?!" he exclaimed.

"Wait, I don't get it. If you bothered becoming a hero, why're you attacking us?" the female imp asked in a tone mixed with curiosity and caution.

"I haven't attacked you yet, plus I never said I wanted to be a hero," Vergil corrected. "But…I suppose there's no need to resort to violence, if you listen to what I have to say."

Blitzo narrowed his eyes at him. "Go on," he said suspiciously.

Vergil had never thought himself much of a diplomat, but despite how their first encounter turned out, he was secretly glad that he did not have to cut anyone up. In fact, he got served with tea and biscuits as he narrated his side of the story to the imps and the hellhound whom he learned was named Loona. However, he had an odd feeling that one of them may have spat in his tea and the biscuits they served him felt hard as bricks. While the female imp named Millie and her husband Moxxie seemed sympathetic to him, Blitzo remained unmoved and Loona still looked like she was pissed at him for threatening her.

Blitzo had said something too the hellhound and she nodded her head before leaving the meeting room. By that point, Vergil felt fatigued again and had to revert back to his human form. To his intrigue, none of them seemed all alarmed about seeing a human in their midst, but Moxxie did ask why he suddenly used his human disguise instead. A quick lie about having more dextrous hands as a human seemed to silence him, and the less they learn about his abilities, the better his chances are at a surprise attack if they decided to ramp things up. So far, they were doing their best to be diplomatic about it.

"So, you're saying that some demon stole some dimensional-cutting power from your sword and you need another source to go back?" Blitzo asked.

"If I wasn't clear before, yes, that is the gist of it," Vergil answered.

"You selling that sword?" the lanky imp asked straightforwardly.

"No."

Blitzo shrugged at his employees. "I tried."

"So, now that I gave you my reason for wanting the book, is there something we can work out then?"

"Absolutely not," Blitzo said almost immediately, but he sank back into his chair and smiled smugly. "Unless you got money to offer. We're assassins, V; not charity workers."

Vergil pinched the bridge of his nose. "I came to this dimension as a stranger, did you really think I have any sort of money on me?"

"And we need the money to operate. We're not in a financially good spot," the imp said.

"Sir, you spent most of the money on stupid jingles and horse paraphernalia," Moxxie interjected while standing up. "We're operating in the red most of the time."

"Details, details. Moxxie, horses are eternal, and what've I told you about putting down my musical ambitions? Now shut the fuck up, sit down, and relax."

Moxxie grumbled something angrily but he did not argue against him. His wife came over to hold his hand while their boss turned his attention back to Vergil again. However, before he could say something, Millie had waved his hand at Blitzo. "Sir, if I may?"

"Yes, Mills, you may," Blitzo answered in a faux gentlemanly manner while Vergil looked at her.

"Since we can't let anyone use the book willy-nilly, why not we have V work for it?" she suggested helpfully.

Vergil stared blankly at her. "Are you suggesting that I kill people?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, since you don't have the money to use our services – and you look like one of them samurai fighters – maybe you can work for it," she said with a toothy smile. "What'd ya think, sir?" Millie asked Blitzo.

Blitzo hummed thoughtfully and tapped his chin. "I dunno, can he do five assassinations in a day without developing a guilty conscience like Moxx?"

"Hey!"

Vergil slammed Yamato onto the table and looked at them. "This sword has tasted the blood of humans and demons," he said while emphasising 'demon'. "I think it's clear to you what it – and by extension, me – has been through. If there is something I need, I'll work for it. I'll do your tasks, but if you go against your word when I'm done, I'll make sure you'll remember Yamato's bite."

Blitzo stared at him and rolled his eyes. "Alright, I'll promise to let you use the grimoire when you're done. You happy now? Geez, meeting too many edgy people these days. Moxx."

"Sir?" Moxxie responded.

"Vergil's gonna be staying with you and Millie tonight."

Moxxie slammed his hand on the table and stood up quickly. "What, since when did we agree to that?!"

"Since I said so," his boss replied abruptly. "I want you two to follow him tomorrow and make sure he completes our contracts. I'm sure we have a few tough ones he can handle."

"That literally isn't within our job scope!"

"It sure as fuck is now."

"What would you be doing then?" Millie asked Blitzo.

At that, he smirked and put on a pair of sunglasses. "Someone's gotta work on the new ad. I'm calling it 'Around the World in 80 Days', makes for a good promotion, no?"

He wanted to explain more about the ad when his mobile phone rang. The imp rolled his eyes when he saw a familiar name calling him. Again. However, Blitzo did not realise that his phone was connected to a nearby wireless speaker and it was playing on maximum volume.

"Oh Blitzy, Stolas here. I thought you might be interested in dropping by my mansion later tomorrow for an afternoon session. I've got that dress you always wanted and Stella is away to see her mother with Octavia. It'll get lonely here Blitzy, I'm sure you can put that big **** of yours to good use and ******* stick it right up my *** and cheer me up. Better yet, I want you to *************** CHOKE me and *** deep in my throat! What'd you say, handsome?"

Blitzo's expression had at that point remained relatively blank while Moxxie's jaw had basically touched the floor and Millie could not help but blush and giggle. As for Vergil, his expression about as blank as the lanky imp's. However, his finger did twitch slightly before he forced them to be still.

"Um, yeah, I'll be busy tomorrow, Stolas. Bye." He put the phone on the table and smashed it up with a hammer before throwing it into a bin along with the speaker and setting it them on fire with a single-use flamethrower. "Okay, my schedule just opened up and I'll be coming along after all. Uh...nobody heard that, right?"

Vergil eyeballed him and the imp couple and they stared at each other in awkward silence. "Must've been the wind," he muttered dismissively.

Everyone muttered in agreement.

And so begins Vergil's questline at Imp City. This took me longer than expected thanks to holidays and a whole lot of Arma 3 session with friends, but here it is finally! I have to admit that I'm writing humour isn't my biggest strength so I apologise if it comes out as forced. Quick question, do you think Verosika would be able to seduce Vergil? :p