And here we are, part 2 of Blows and Brimstone. Glad to see everyone likes the story and hopefully will get as many followers as Godly Demon, one can only hope. Anyway, more references for the Devil May Cry series will appear in the story, even the reboot. As a stand-alone game, DmC was good, but cannot ever compare to the redeal. In any case, more references will appear and I hope everyone likes where the story is going.

To Dragon Bone Z: I will not kill Nerscylla off, not yet anyway, she still has an important role to play and to increase the drama and tension of the story. So, just deal with her for a while.

I. AM. SO. SORRY!

I am so sorry for making you all wait for so long! It wasn't fair to any of you who really like this story to make you wait for nearly a year! It really wasn't alright at all and I am sorry. All I can say in my defense is that I had been working on Devil May Cry for so long I had started to get kinda tired of writing the same thing for such a long period of time. So I basically took a very long vacation from the story to pursue and explore other ideas for stories as well as starting new ones. I want to thank zarmag in particular for not giving up and reminding me about this story and that I still had work to do. So for that, I want to give a special shout out to zarmag for never giving up on this story and pushing to get me to work on it again. I also want to apologize for ignoring you for a while as well, I've had a lot on my mind with some college classes I am taking, the whole COVID-19 pandemic, the upcoming presidential election; I just needed some time to deal with it. Not to mention, getting into writing the whole story again. However, I am thankful that you still want to see what happens next in this story. Thanks, buddy; you're the best.

I would also like to clarify something about the story. It has been brought to my attention that there has been some issue with the labeling for this story, specifically the pairing between Nero and Saeko. The labeling states that Nero is paired with an OC where I claim that the OC is actually just Saeko from Highschool of the Dead. I would like to state that I'm sorry if some people believe I am claiming that I created Saeko, that is not the case. I did not create Saeko, it's just that I do not have an option to pair her with Nero, at least with her proper name given that Saeko is not found in either Devil May Cry or Percy Jackson. I wanted to label it so that Nero is paired with someone, just not anyone from either DMC or PJ, and the only option I had was to use the OC label for characters. I am sorry if this upset some people and I've managed to find a workaround in the form of writing (Nero X Saeko in the description, the reason I did not do this earlier was that I did not believe I had enough room to write it in but upon looking once more, I could).

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Capcom owns DMC and Rick Riordan owns Percy Jackson.


Devil May Cry: Slayer's Return

Chapter 8: Blows and Brimstone Part 2

Pavilion Café, Washington DC, U.S.

Nothing. She had found absolutely nothing.

Athena was currently sitting at a cafe not far from the National Archive with a laptop on the table, having decided to use the internet to try and search for any clues where she might find a document to who or what Mundus was. While Kronos did say that Mundus was a demon, her father wanted to be certain and tasked her with finding out any information involving a demon named by the name of Mundus. With access to pretty much every database on the planet thanks to her godly status, Athena had been searching for about an hour and was getting extremely frustrated.

Because in all that time, in all that research, she found nothing.

Nothing.

Absolutely. Nothing!

Now she was certain that someone or something was purposely making sure that any information regarding Mundus did not exist, or was not accessible to anyone. Being denied like this was not something Athena was used to and she did not appreciate it at all.

She continued typing on her computer trying other databases but always met the same result.

Nothing found.

She even tried the FBI database and lo and behold, nothing.

Athena did consider searching up Nero, Hestia's son, but the information regarding the boy was extremely limited and did not lead to anything useful. Something else that bothered the goddess of wisdom, such little information regarding the boy. Up until two years ago, it was as if he didn't exist at all, something very strange to the deity. Athena even tried facial recognition for his allies but met the same result: little to no information.

This search for answers was creating more questions than answers.

"Who are you?" muttered Athena to herself as she folded her arms and leaned back into her chair, staring at a photo of Nero.

"Excuse me?"

Athena looked up to see a young man standing to her left, his hands in his coat pockets while his eyes focused on the deity.

"Do you need some help?" he asked kindly.

"Excuse me?" responded Athena carefully.

"My apologies," said the man, bowing his head slightly, "It's just that I overheard your conversation at the archive, that you were having trouble performing some research and it sounded very important."

Athena rolled her eyes, thinking this was some man who was hoping to get lucky somehow.

"I'm sorry, but this isn't any of your business so if you would please-"

"Researching the demon king Mundus is a difficult task," stated the man, cutting Athena off and immediately getting her attention. The deity narrowed her eyes slightly when he spoke.

"Who are you?" demanded Athena carefully.

"Someone who knows a few facts about beings such as Mundus," replied the stranger evenly as he took a seat across the table from her, "One such fact that regular databases will not help you in this search."

"Why would you help me?" pressed Athena, sitting up straight as she focused all her attention on the man.

"For one, there are two types of people who are researching a being like Mundus," answered the stranger, "One type are those who wish to do terrible things with the creatures related to Mundus."

"And the other?"

The stranger pushed his glasses up and looked Athena right in the eyes, "The other type are people whose entire perception of the world has been shattered, and now they want to know just what kind of monsters lurk in our world and just how afraid they should be of what else can go bump in the night."

Athena shifted in her chair at that, hearing the dark tone the stranger took when speaking to her.

"What is it you know of Mundus?" she asked, wanting to get as much information as possible about this demon.

"Unfortunately, I am not that adept with descriptions or history," sighed the stranger, however, he leaned forward and grabbed one of the napkins that were on the table, he glanced at Athena for a moment, holding out his right hand. The goddess narrowed her eyes at first but eventually reached into her jacket and pulled out a pen, handing it to him, "But I know someone who will have all the information you need."

The stranger began writing down what looked to be an address of some kind, prompting Athena to lean forward to have a glance. Upon finishing, he picked up the napkin and pen and held them out for the goddess to take.

"He goes by the name Phineas, he owns a bookstore at this address," he stated while standing up from the table, "Once you find him, tell him what you seek and that Bradley Hagel sent you."

It was upon further inspection did Athena notice one thing in particular. The postal code.

"This address is for New Orleans," stated the goddess as she stood up, glaring at Bradley.

"I said I could help you with information regarding Mundus," he replied evenly, pushing his hands into his coat pockets, "But it is you who must make the effort to do the research."

Bradley started to walk past Athena though he paused for a moment by her side and leaned over to her ear, "Also, do not underestimate the sons of Sparda and blood of Sparda for even a second. And if I were you, I would pick up the pace. You know all to well that Zeus doesn't like being kept waiting."

Athena's eyes went wide, for a second. He knew?! He knew that she was a goddess and who her father was?! In that split second of shock, Bradley passed the goddess of wisdom.

"Hey!" she began, getting out of her stupor and spun around to try and stop Bradley, "Wai-?!"

When Athena turned around, Bradley was gone. The goddess of wisdom swung her head around trying to find him, but whoever he was, he was gone. The deity looked around a few more times, but it was clear, he wasn't anywhere in sight.

The daughter of Zeus narrowed her eyes before letting out an annoyed groan before she looked at the napkin. On it was an address, postal code, and the name of the bookstore in question.

'Diaboli Archive.'

Athena was skeptical of how valid this information was. One major reason for her distrust was because of the postal code. 70166. The postal code for Storyville, New Orleans, a historic and still active Red Light District.

The goddess debated whether or not she should follow through with this lead. This was the first solid piece of information she needed to do her research, but the location of said information was in a section of town where prostitution was very prominent.

After a minute of debate, Athena let out a sigh and steeled herself. Grabbing her computer, she put it in her coat and glanced at the address once more. In a bright flash, that was shielded thanks to the Mist so mortals didn't see what happened, the goddess of wisdom vanished from sight. Little did she know, that Bradley hadn't gone far and watched her leave. He was standing at the entrance to the National Archive, out of sight of the goddess.

"So proud. So naive," muttered Bradley to himself before he glanced to his right and saw his wife hook her arm around his.

"Are you going to tell me what that was all about?" she asked kindly, giving him an inquisitive look.

"I will, Angelina," promised Bradley as he leaned over and gave a soft kiss, surprising her momentarily. He pulled back and gave a warm smile, "But for now, let's just enjoy D.C. Our tour is starting soon."

Angelina nodded and the two entered the building and head towards a group of other tourists who wanted to learn about the National Archive. However, Bradley recalled when he first encountered the son of Sparda, knowing exactly what was going on. He felt the barrier between words break if only for a moment and he knew who was responsible for its breaking.

Mundus has sired many descendants but none were like this one. In short, Dante and his allies were in the fight for not only their lives but the lives of every creature in the human world. However he shouldn't think about that now, he had his wife to think about.

While a husband and wife were enjoying themselves, a group of six were far from having fun.


Uroboros Mining Co., Vie de Marli, Caribbean

Inside the main chamber of the shutdown mine, the sounds of battle echoed through the hundreds of tunnels within the earth. Along with crashes of metal, inhuman roars and shrieks, blasts of heat could be felt through the tunnels as the six demon hunters fought the devil Balrog and whatever demons that were still lurking around. It went without saying that the fight was pretty bloody and gruesome to the untrained eye, but for the Hunters, this was another day in the office.

Nero had Red Queen drawn in his left hand, mercilessly hacking right through whatever demon that came his way. The youngest member of the line of Sparda was cleaving away at any demon that came within striking distance of Red Queen. The former weapon of the Order of the Sword was currently working in overdrive, the human-demon-god hybrid constantly gunning the Exceed with all of its power.

"Come on!" jeered Nero as he sliced one lesser demon in half before spinning around and slicing the legs off another that tried attacking him from behind, "Is that all you losers got?"

The youngest hunter dashed to the side to avoid one demon that tried smashing him into the ground. The son of Hestia suddenly lashed out his right hand, Devil Bringer lighting up as a spectral version of the young adult's right arm appeared. The clawed appendaged grabbed the demon by its leg and yanked him towards the hunter. The white-haired teen proceeded to smash the demon into the ground like a rag doll, kicking up some dirt in the process.

Several roars from behind got Nero's attention. Snapping his head in the direction, he saw several demons charging towards him. Still gripping the leg of the demon he smashed, Nero smirked before he let out a yell of exertion as he started bashing the poor demon into its brethren.

While Nero was taking care of the demons that attacked him, the others were dealing with the lesser demons that went after them. Trish was using her handguns to shoot whatever demon that came her way, only really using the Devil Sword Sparda on her back when she actually needed it. Alongside the blonde demoness was Lady who was using twin 9mm handguns, shooting the heads of any demon that came her way, , only really using the Devil Sword Sparda on her back when she actually needed it. The former servant of Mundus was easily in her element, switching from her trusty handguns, Luce and Ombra, pistols that once belonged to Sparda himself, to the massive sword on her back. Gripping the handle, Trish slashed at the incoming demonic apes, slashing down to cleave one lengthwise, before swinging up, slicing open the chest of another before she swung horizontally, cleaving a third in half at the waist.

Each demon howled in pain as they dissolved into dust while Trish was already attacking another group of demons, Sparda transforming into its scythe form so she could throw it at a line of lessers and engage a few others in unarmed combat. One might think this would be suicide, but for Trish, it was another day at the office as every time she threw a punch or a kick, her fist or high-heeled boot respectively was wreathed with golden electricity, zapping each demon she struck. It also helped that she was much stronger than a human and far more durable as well.

Alongside the blonde demoness was Lady who was using twin 9mm handguns, shooting the heads of any demon that came her way. At times, the human demon hunter would switch to one of her other weapons in her very large arsenal she carried. Inside her belt was a very large assortment of hand grenades, which the woman tossed about five out directly in front of her while jumping back to avoid the shrapnel of those explosive devices as the nades detonated, catching about five demons within their blasts. Lady the rolled to the side, avoiding the swipe of a lesser demon that tried attacking the demon hunter with red and blue eyes.

Getting right to her feet, Lady grabbed her main tool of demonic destruction: her rocket launcher, Kalina Ann, named after her late mother. Resting the explosive launcher on her shoulder, Lady took aim at around 10 lesser demons. It should be worth mentioning that despite being inside a cave, the demon hunter was still wearing her amber sunglasses, however, for good reason. The buxom demon huntress smirked as the right lens lit up with a small display as the demons in her line of sight were target locked for her launcher. Pulling the trigger on Kalina Ann, the powerful rocket launcher let loose a salvo of miniature rockets. The small projectiles screamed towards the lesser demons, exploding on collision.

While the blonde and raven huntresses took care of the lesser demons that attacked them, Lucia was dealing with her attackers in her own unique way. Out of the entire group, the redhead had the smallest weapons, but that didn't make her any less deadly to demonkind, as Lucia knew exactly how to use the Cutlaseer, her own trademark swords. Shaped like elephant tusks curved in opposite directions, the artificially created demoness used the small blades to incredible effect, being able to swing the blades much faster than the swords used by the others. On top of her faster swing speed, the adopted daughter of Matier was very acrobatic, much like Trish and Lady were. Lucia carved up whatever demon came her way while also using some throwing daggers as well, she was more than able to hold her own in a fight.

After throwing a pair of daggers, Lucia backflipped into the air to avoid a demon that rushed her from behind. Landing on its back, she stabbed her Cutlaseer into its shoulders before ripping one out and plunging it into the side of its head. Satisfied that was dead, she jumped off the lesser demon, and while in the air, she hurled three daggers into three demons, the sharp projectiles piercing the beasts' respective faces. While they wailed in pain, Lucia quickly closed the distance between them when she landed and in a wide slash, decapitated all the demons in one swing. Following her swing, the redhead crouched down low and took something out from her belt and placed it on the ground beneath her. When several lesser demons charged, Lucia leaped into the air to allow the four or so demons that lunged at her to crash into each other on top of the object Lucia left behind. It was then the small object exploded, taking out all the demons piled on top of it just as Lucia landed back down on the group. Lucia's own take on explosives, Cranky Bombs; could be thrown like grenades or set on the ground.

Back with Nero, the hunter had Red Queen drawn once more, using his sword to mercilessly slash demons apart left and right. However, he paused for a second after taking the head off another demon as his attention fell onto the sixth and newest member of their group.

Saeko was weaving between lesser demons with incredible grace while using her sword, a Kissaki Moroha-Zukuri-style double-edged nihonto katana to be exact. Unlike the dark-forged katana, Yamato that Nero carried, The Murata-tou lacked any devastating magical abilities, but what it was capable of, was being able to wound or kill any demon as well as any sword against a normal human. The purple-haired girl moved with purpose and flow as she slashed any demon that came close. One demon tried slashing the young woman with its claws, but Saeko used the blade of her sword to deflect the outstretched limb and hack it right off. Before she spun around, reversing her grip on her sword before plunging the blade into the demon's stomach with her back to the creature.

Ripping the sword out, the huntress rushed towards another demon, still holding her katana in a reverse grip, she leaped up into the air and performed a quick spin while above the beast, and sliced the head right off. Landing back on her feet, Saeko then spun around to her right, avoiding another lesser demon and retaliated by slicing its waist. It was then, she reached towards the back of her belt and drew her gun. As it turned out, the handgun Nero assumed was a Desert Eagle wasn't actually one, but a variant of the Beretta 92FS, the M92 Vertec. Unlike other 92FS models, the Vertex has a vertical grip, short-reach trigger, thinner grip panels, integral accessory rail, as well as several other modifications.

With her sword in her right hand and gun in her left, Saeko took on whatever demon that came at her. With wide and quick slashes, she cut down any that came too close and took out others just outside her sword's range. Swiping with elegant but deadly grace, Saeko took out several demons with the Murata-tou and finished others off with deadly shots from her Vertec handgun. While she was taking out their foes Nero watched her.

"She's good," he commented, mainly to himself as he rested Red Queen on his shoulder.

"Admiring her from afar, now complimenting her?" teased Trish as she approached the youngest hunter from behind, prompting Nero to turn around to face her as she sheathed Sparda across her back, "Are you sure you don't like her?"

"Not this again," grumbled the son of Hestia, sheathing Red Queen on his back and folding his arms before turning back to Saeko as she shot two more demons with her gun before she used another as a step ladder to jump up into the air and slash it across the back as she came back down.

"Teasing Nero again, Trish?" asked Lady as she twirled her handguns on her fingers before holstering them, having finished off the demons that were attacking her.

"Just having some fun," replied the blonde demoness with a soft chuckle.

"At my expense," muttered the white-haired young adult as he unfolded his arms and drew Blue Rose before he shot a lesser demon between the eyes right behind him.

"I assume this has been going on for about as long as Ms. Busujima has been a part of our group?" inquired Lucia as she also joined the group, tossing a Crank Bomb behind her which then exploded, turning about three demons into meaty chunks.

"Pretty much," replied Lady as she took a grenade of her own from her belt and tossed it away from the group, blowing up several lesser demons.

"Starting to see why Dante isn't always thrilled when you two are around," remarked the youngest hunter to himself as he glanced off to the side.

"Nero, there's nothing wrong with liking someone, and besides," Trish spoke up; however, she paused for a moment as she moved towards Dante's nephew and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Don't you think it's time to move on?"

"If it were that easy don't you think I would have?" countered Nero as he swiped the blonde's hand off him, "You know as well as I do it's not. Not after what happened."

With nothing more to say he stepped away from the three women, his back to them as he looked down at the floor of the abandoned mine. Meanwhile, Trish, Lady, and Lucia just looked at the white-haired young adult for a moment before looking towards each other. The blonde demoness just sighed and shook her head while Lady folded her arms and glanced down. They both knew, and Lucia to an extent that Nero was right, he couldn't just move on after losing Kyrie. Kyrie was basically his entire world, his everything; she was the light in the darkness that kept him from turning out as someone worse. She helped him keep his humanity and accept his demonic nature. No one could just move on from someone like that, especially someone like Nero.

While this was happening, Saeko just finished taking out the last demon that was attacking her. Holstering her Vertec, she suddenly flicked her sword out in an incredibly quick slash. The speed of which she swung the sword was enough to actually remove the demon blood that stained the silver steeled katana. This was a symbolic process called Chiburui or chiburi, which translates from Japanese into "shaking off the blood". While it may not be possible for an average swordsman to remove all the blood from their blade with a simple swipe, there are some who can perform the feat, her being one of those few. With the blood now removed from her sword, the purple-haired huntress sheathed her blade back in its saya.

With the demons that once attacked her dead, she turned to face the other members of the group and headed towards them. As she approached, she noticed that something… was bothering Nero. She saw that he had his right hand pressed against his chest and his eyes closed. She was just able to make out the words 'not again' from the hunter.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked Trish, making her way towards the three women, but kept her attention on Nero, "He looks… conflicted."

"Nero is fine, he's just trying to come to terms with something that happened in the past," replied the blonde as she also directed her attention to Dante's nephew.

"How do you mean?" inquired Saeko, turning towards the former servant of Mundus, her eyebrow raised.

"It's not my place to tell," Trish answered, "If you want to know, you should ask Nero. But don't expect an answer, he's still not over what happened."

While not a concrete answer, the young woman nodded as she returned her focus towards Nero. While she was not a fully-fledged demon hunter like the others, she did know that being a demon hunter was a career that came with all forms of pain. From physical and mental suffering to emotional torment. Demons and Devils can be extremely petty to being outright sadistic and cruel. They play mind games, figure out what it is that a person fears losing most, and use whatever they can to make their victims suffer. There was no getting around that fact, all demon hunters faced this fact at some point, and it looked as though it was Nero's turn to do so as well. But it did make her wonder what happened to him. What event caused his pain?

Before could ask herself any other question a loud bellow echoed through the chamber, drawing the attention of all the other demon hunters within to look towards the final member of their group and the one with the longest career of hunting demons.

Dante was completely in his element, a wide grin on his face, his eyes full of joy and fun as he held Rebellion in his right hand and took on the lesser demons that attacked while also fighting the devil that warranted all this attention: Balrog. The son of Sparda swung his claymore sized sword as if it weighed next to nothing with incredible speed, slicing lesser demons completely in half. The demon hunter charged towards one lesser demon that was already midway through throwing a punch at him and proceeded to slice that demon's arm off. Jumping back to dodge another demon that tried smashing him into the ground, Dante swung Rebellion upward, the blade ripping the demons open vertically before spinning around and bringing the Devil Arm down, slicing the demon in half from its left shoulder down to its right hip.

Another lesser demon charged towards Dante from behind, but the demon hunter merely smirked as he leashed out his right leg, his boot slamming into the demon's stomach causing it to keel over before spinning around to decapitate another that charged the hunter from his right. It was then Dante, jumped to the side, dodging Balrog's fist that crushed the ground where he previously was standing. The son of Sparda let out a chuckle as he twirled Rebellion around in his hand before he thrust the sword forward at the fire devil. Seemingly sliding across the floor, the tip of his sword impacted against Balrog's arms as he defended himself against the devil arm that once belonged to the Legendary Dark Knight.

The devil grunted as it swung its tail at him, but missed as Dante leaped into the air. While still in the air, a symbol appeared underneath Dante which allowed him to somehow jump again despite being suspended in thin air and jump right over the fire demon. Twisting around, the demon hunter took Rebellion in both hands and brought the sword down across Balrog's back, causing the beast to snarl in pain as it stumbled forward. Bring his arms in close to his body as a boxer would, the devil lunged towards Dante, pulling its right arm back to throw a fist wreathed in flames at the son of Sparda. The white-haired veteran demon hunter jumped up over the fist but was forced to defend himself when the devil then threw a sudden uppercut with its other arm. The blow collided with Rebellion as Dante used the flat side to defend himself against the attack and was sent flying through the air but landed with hardly any effort back on the ground.

"I must admit, son of Sparda," stated Balrog as it flexed its arms and entered a boxer's stance, "You more than live up to your reputation, if not surpass it. Not many are able to avoid my attacks so easily."

"Well, there's a first time for everything," replied the Legendary Devil Hunter, "For example, you don't seem too mad about me avoiding you like I just did."

"The joy I am receiving from facing such a worthy foe is greater than the annoyance I feel when you evade my blows," replied the fire devil, "And as you said: 'there's a first time for everything.'"

"That there is," agreed Dante as he rushed towards Balrog once more, the creature pulling his fist back and launching another blow. The two combatants far to absorbed in their own world of combat to notice the spectators watching them.

"Should we not assist Dante?" asked Saeko glancing at Lady, Trish, Lucia, and Nero to her left.

"Trust me, Dante is more than able to take care of himself," replied Trish without even taking her attention off the fight in front of them, "If anything, we should help Balrog, if only to give him more of a chance."

"Yeah, Dante still hasn't started to take him seriously," added Lady.

"Besides, why spoil the show?" interjected Nero as he followed his arms.

Saeko didn't seem to agree with their decision to not help at first, but then she did admit that she noticed he didn't seem to be taking the devil as a threat seriously. If anything, he was merely toying with the beast. While each other demon hunters had their own opinions on the fight before them, Lucia was the only one who's thoughts differed the most from them.

After she and Dante had parted ways after they defeated Argosax, Lucia had decided to commit herself to improve her studies and get stronger. When Argosax was defeated, she realized that Dante was far more skilled in combat than her and had way more experience in fighting demons. In a way, she felt as though she owed Dante because, without him, she would have more than likely failed to stop Argosax. It was for that reason wanted to improve her studies and get stronger so that would never have to rely on Dante again, but to also repay him for all that he had done for her.

But watching him fight now, she realized that he had only gotten stronger since the last time they fought side by side. The creation of Arius clenched her hand tightly as she wondered if Dante's battle prowess was a result of his experience or was it simply because he had the blood of Sparda coursing through his body.

One might say it was a combination of both as the fight between Dante and Balrog was beginning to heat up, quite literally. The flames that formed the fire demon's wings were burning even hotter as the ground beneath the beast was actually starting to melt from the temperature. It was after the fire demon stomped its foot against the ground to send a wave of fire at Dante, who expertly dodged the attack, a question formed in the Devil Hunter's head.

"Think we could pause for a second?" asked Dante as he sheathed Rebellion across his back and made the 'timeout' motion with his hands, "I gotta ask you something."

"What is it you desire to know?" replied Balrog.

"How come you like fire so much?" asked the Devil Hunter, "I mean you're not the only devil to use. There's Berial, Agni, Phantom, and Ifrit who all use fire. So how come fire is such a common choice among demons? What's the appeal?"

"Simple," answered Balrog, as he pulled back his right fist, "Fire is unprecedented. Though many before me have used this element, I exceed all of them!"

"You don't say?" drawled Dante as he folded his arms.

"I do!" affirmed the fire devil as it raised its claw into the air, "Now die!"

It then brought the limb down with a monstrous speed right on top of Dante, with every bit of power. But as this happens, the Devil Hunter never lost his carefree smirk. What happened next was a massive cloud of dust was thrown into the air.

"Dante?!" shouted Lucia who took a step forward but was stopped by Lady who grabbed her shoulder.

"He's fine," assured the devil huntress, "He's taken far worse than that."

"I impaled him with Rebellion once," commented Nero, drawing all eyes to him. It was after a second he noticed their stares, ranging from 'seriously?' to 'What?!'.

"What?" demanded the youngest descendant of Sparda, "We've all attacked Dante at some point. Trish impaled him with dad's sword while Lady shot him in the head, both when they first met Dante."

"Fair enough," shrugged Lady while Trish hummed in acceptance.

"You impaled your own uncle?" asked Saeko, still surprised to hear Nero admit something so casually.

"Didn't know we were related at the time," he explained, "Besides, being impaled is nothing new to him."

Saeko didn't seem ready to let this go just yet, so the grandson of Sparda decided to change the subject back to the fight, "Seems like Dante has made his move."

Returning their attention back to where Balrog and Dante stood, the dust cloud had settled enough to reveal that the demonic fist that would have turned a normal person into a smear on the ground was frozen a few centimeters from Dante's face. It was upon a closer look did the group notice that the two were separated by a near-invisible wall, but that wasn't all. In Dante's hands was not Rebellion but a different Devil Arm entirely: a three-pronged nunchaku to be exact.

"It's been a long time since I've used these, I'm not good with heat," commented Dante as the barrier between him and Balrog suddenly shattered into fragments, forcing the devil back. Fragments from the barrier were scattered as far as the group of four watching the fight between the hunter and the fire demon. Lucia noticed one of the fragments had landed quite close to her. Curious, she bent down to pick it up. Immediately, she felt how cold the fragment was.

"Ice?" noted Saeko as she noticed the fragment in the redhead's hand.

"Didn't think Dante still had that," commented Nero as he folded his arms, "Thought he sold his Devil Arms to Enzo."

Speaking of the Devil Hunter, the son of Sparda suddenly began twisting the nunchuks around in his hands with a noticeable amount of skill, even flipping them over his shoulder, all the while letting out obviously exaggerated whoops that you would hear in some cheesy kung fu movie or cartoon. It was after a few more seconds of this did Dante enter an exactly exaggerated stance. As he held this pose, the nunchucks chains began emitting some cool air.

"This form and this power... Did you subjugate one of the Cerberus?" Balrog asked before his tone changed, "Do you think the strength of those mongrels is enough to defeat my fire?"

"I don't know," shrugged Dante with a smile, "Let's find out."

With that, Dante launched himself over Balrog and proceeded to whip the fire demon with Cerberus. The icy weapons bashed into the devil, causing it to roar in annoyance as it was not a fan of such cold. The sudden reveal of this weapon had actually caused Lucia to remember something her mother once told her, "Among the devilish weapons (Devil Arms) there are special ones - they represent the demons themselves, who took the form of swords, axes, and everything else. If you want to get this, you have to crush the demon and gain power over him. Or become a friend to him." So Dante was able to gain this Devil Arm though one of two ways: forcing the demon to submit to him, or befriending it. Dante didn't strike her as the type to force someone, even a demon into his service so he must've found a way to befriend this demon. If so, how? Because it seemed that it was paying off completely.

Balrog was trying to retaliate against Dante, throwing his fist forward, but missed Dante as he confidently flew through the air, as if he suddenly gained the ability to fly right then and there. While in the air, the chains on Cerberus bent in such a way as if it was preparing to bite someone like a real dog. Landing back down on the ground, the Legendary Devil Hunter charged back into the fray and back at Balrog, spinning like an axle on a car, Dante used Cerberus to land multiple hits against the fire demon, holding the nunchaku by the ring that connected each chain to its respective handle.

Balrog roared in fury as he retaliated by attempting to stomp right onto of the Devil Hunter, but missed as Dante rolled to the side. Getting back to his feet, the son of Spardaslipped his hand into the ring of Cerberus and spun the weapon on his wrist behind his back for a moment.

"Freeze!" he shouted as he thrust the weapon into the ground in front of him, all three handles striking the ground. From the point the Devil Arm hit the ground, large spikes of ice shot up in front of him, moving in a straight line right at Balrog where the spikes of ice actually sent the fire demon staggering backward before it fell onto its back.

"C'mon puppy," Dante suddenly said to seemingly no one around him but if you looked at where his attention was, it was on Cerberus in his hand, "it's not like I got rid of you."

Resuming the fight, Dante rushed right towards Balrog, planning to take the fire demon out while it was down. But this what the former right hand of Argosax was waiting for. When Dante jumped up into the air, the fire demon tucked his right leg in and sent out a brutal kick that struck Dante dead on, sending him flying back and sliding a good twenty feet.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" roared Balrog as he suddenly began gathering as much fire as he could in his right fist. With enough fire, the fire demon launched itself right towards Dante, its right arm reared back. With no time to dodge, Dante does the only thing he can and surrounds himself with Cerberus's ice. Whatever kind of protection that ice offered was worthless as Balrog punched right through the ice and struck Cerberus dead on.

A massive flash erupted from the point of the collision before a shockwave followed. Balrog was blasted back, tumbling across the ground while Nero, Saeko, and the others were sent sliding back several feet not being as badly affected by the shockwave.

"Anyone else hear about a thousand tiny bells?" asked Nero as he held his right ear.

"Yeah," replied Lady as she was also holding her head.

Nodding, Nero turned his attention to Saeko to see that she had fallen onto one knee. Walking over to her, he held out his left hand to the purple-haired huntress.

"You okay?" he asked her, Saeko taking his hand after a moment.

"I'm fine, thank you," she answered, "But what about Dante?"

Looking to the point of the miniature explosion, they could see the son of Sparda was pretty much completely unharmed. Standing up from the center of the shockwave, Dante blushed his coat off before turning his attention to the ground before him.

"So much for puppy," he commented, his tone neutral as he then directed his attention to Balrog, who was struggling to get back to his feet, "But he went out fighting like he wanted. So I guess I'll have to finish the job."

Making his way towards the downed fire demon, Dante drew Rebellion. Rolling onto his knees, Balrog was panting, exhausted from the fight. The beast was hunched over, using its left hand to support itself as the explosion to destroyed Cerberus had also destroyed Balrog's right hand. Seeing that the fire demon was running on fumes, Dante decided to ask the demon something first.

"Well… wanna continue?" he asked, bending down at his knees slightly.

"No…," replied Balrog, completely out of breath, "I know better than to continued to fight the son of the Great Sparda."

"But it didn't stop you from fighting in the first place," pointed out the Legendary Devil Hunter.

"You humans have a saying: curiosity killed the cat," Balrog began, "There are many rumors surrounding you, Dante. About how you defeated the emperor, Mundus and took the ruler of Argosax… Rumors can often be exaggerated, but…"

"But?"

"Those rumors greatly undersell you," stated Balrog, as his breathing became slower and the fires that surrounded him began to waver and die.

"So," said Dante as he stood up straight, "you're giving up."

Balrog took a deep breath before exhaling slowly.

"I am."

That caught Dante by surprise, as well as Nero, Saeko, Trish, Lady, and Lucia. This demon was giving up? Any other demon would have kept fighting to the bitter end, refusing to even acknowledge the idea that anything else was greater than it. But here was one surrendering.

"I understand your confusion, but if I tried to fight, I would lose," explained the fire demon, "The difference between us is too great for me to even compare. But this will not be my end…"

The flames that surrounded Balrog suddenly flashed and swept towards Dante, swirling around the Devil Hunter in a whirlwind of fire.

"Dante!" shouted Lucia as she was about to go help, but was stopped by Trish.

"He's fine," said the blonde demoness, getting Lucia to look at her, "If anything, he's about to get an upgrade."

Not quite sure about what she meant, she returned her attention to the miniature tornado that surrounded the son of Sparda. Mustering whatever strength remained, Balrog rose to his feet before going down on one knee.

"I want to continue to fight! Fight with the strong! The strongest! I will not die at your hand!" proclaimed Balrog as his body suddenly turned to ash. The flames that surrounded Dante swept down and picked up the ashes before rushing to Dante, enveloping him, "I will become your instrument, son of Sparda! Use me! So I can continue to fight! I can save strength in endless battles! And when I gain enough power to crush you, we will fight again!"

With the demon's final words, the flames that covered Dante from head to toe vanished, revealing the Devil Hunter to be completely unharmed. True to Trish's word, the son of Sparda had indeed received an upgrade in the form of new weapons to replace the loss of Cerberus. This new Devil Arm took the form of a set of gauntlets, greaves, and shoulder pads. All of the components were metal and plated in such a way that they looked like cooled magma. The gauntlets have yellow eyes on the back of the hands that have black slit pupils. The shoulder pads have two large spikes that curve out to the sides of Dante before curving upwards.

"Huh," said Dante after a moment, inspecting his new weapons.

"Dante?" asked Lucia, approaching the son of Sparda with the others in tow, "Are you alright?"

Dante stared at her for a moment before responding, "As you can see-"

"No problem," Balrog's voice suddenly came from the weapons, causing Lucia to step back in surprise, "Not a single one."

"Hey," began Dante, looking at the weapon on his hands, "If you want me to carry you with me, sit on your hand straight and keep quiet. We've got enough to deal with as is and your chit chat gets on my nerves, so do us a favor and shut it. Got it?"

Balrog didn't respond after a moment, not giving any indication of whether or not he would listen to this request.

"Better," stated the son of Sparda as the newly acquired Devil Arm vanished from his arms, legs, and shoulders and into his coat.

"If we're done here, I think we should get going before we waste any more time," suggested Nero, "We've got a long boat ride ahead."

"I agree with Nero," spoke up Saeko as she turned to the mine exit, "We had better move fast if we are to avoid Poseidon's notice when we take the boat back to the mainland."

"Well then," concluded Dante as he and the others made their way out of the mine, "Next stop, Fortuna."

"Fortuna…," Nero said quietly to himself as a few memories surfaced, some of them were good while others, less so. Saeko glanced over at Nero for a moment, seeing the same look on his face appear once more. A concerned expression soon adorned her own visage as she looked at Nero for a few more seconds.

'What happened to you, Nero?' she asked herself.

New questions rose for select individuals, one person was about to finally find some answers of her own.


New Orleans, Louisiana

She finally had a solid lead, granted it was a lead given to her by a complete stranger who approached her at complete random and then vanished as fast as he appeared, it was still far more than she had accomplished on her own. And while her pride had definitely taken a blow, being forced to rely on someone else for help, her desire to solve this puzzle outweighed her injured pride. So here she was, in the Deep South of the United States, in the capital city of Louisiana. This part of New Orleans was once known as Storyville, the red lights district of the city from the 1890s to the late 1910s. While she would have preferred to be someplace else, she couldn't give up now, not when she was so close.

Standing in front of what looked like a run-down bookstore that bore the name Diaboli Archive. The building appeared to be of gothic design, which caused the goddess of wisdom to frown but put that aside for the moment as she started towards the bookstore. Pushing the wooden door open, a bell that was hung just over the doorframe rang. Letting the door close behind her, Athena took in the whole bookstore. The place was no bigger than one of the cabins found in Camp Half-Blood. Bookshelves lined the walls while tables had books stacked on top of them. In the back was a cashiers desk and a doorway that led into what she assumed was the back room.

"Hello?" called out Athena, "Is anyone here?"

"I'll be with you in a moment," said a man's voice from the back room before the owner of the bookstore emerged. The man was clearly worn, having a white mustache and white goatee, and barely any hair anymore. He had winkled skin on his face, but the most prominent thing about the man was that he only had one eye. A grayish-blue left eye while an eyepatch of sorts covered his right. He was wearing a red jacket which was open to reveal a necklace dangling around his neck. He also wore grey pants and black shoes.

"I'm very sorry for the delay," apologized the man as he stepped towards Athena, "I don't get customers very often these days. Not when people can just download books on the internet."

"It's alright," assured Athena after a moment of pause, "I'm trying to conduct some research, but haven't been able to make any progress. It wasn't until I was directed here by someone who said I could find what I was looking for here in your store."

"I'll see what I can do to help you, ma'am," answered the man, "But where are my manners: my name is Phineas, I am the owner of this bookstore."

"It's good to meet you, Phineas," replied Athena.

"Now," began the owner of the bookstore, "What is it you're researching?"

"I am trying to find any information regarding a demon," explained the goddess of wisdom. As soon as she said that, she noticed Phineas's entire demeanor changed at the mention of 'demon'.

"'Demon', you say," repeated the man, his tone becoming cold.

"Yes," nodded Athena; her guard up fully, "I was doing research about a demon named 'Mundus' and haven't made any progress. That was until a man named Bradley Hagel sent me here."

"Ah," Phineas relaxed, albeit slightly as he scratched his withering beard, "Bradley sent you. I do believe I have just what you need."

Turning away from her, Phineas headed towards the back of the store once more, leaving Athena alone for a moment. Not soon after did he return carrying a very thick and very old book in his hands. The book was hardcover with some leather over the cover and spin. The spine had intricate details etched into it. Phineas carried it over to the cashier's desk with Athena following closely as he moved behind the desk with her on the other side. With a grunt, he put the book that was about as wide as a cafeteria plastic tray is long. On the cover, Athena could read the title of the book.

Necrocompendium.

"If Mundus is who you want to know about," began Phineas as he pushed the book towards Athena, "You will find everything you need in these pages. As well as much more."

"Thank you," thanked Athena as she was about to take the book, the man pulled it back for a moment.

"But before you read that book, let me give you a piece of advice," he offered, "When you read that book, try opening your mind. What looks like a dead-end is really a puzzle. It's all a matter of… perspective."

Athena seemed taken back somewhat by the advice but nodded none the less.

"Good, now if I were you, I'd get studying," suggested Phineas, "And don't worry about paying, it's on the house."

"Thank you," replied the goddess of wisdom as she grabbed the book with both hands and hauled it off the table. The daughter of Zeus was taken aback by how heavy the book was, even with her godly strength. But right now, she was too happy to finally have a solid source of information.

As she left the bookstore, Phineas' appearance suddenly shifted. Where once he appeared human, now he had indigo skin and gaunt features. His ears were now pointed, but he kept his mustache and beard. His clothing shifted so that he appeared to be wearing exquisite robes. The right half of his head is comprised of a mechanical device with a lens in it.

"Good luck, pagans," said the now revealed demon, "you will need every bit to survive what is coming."

To Be Continued...