AN:hey, it's me. I got something to say...
Classes are up recently and I've been encountering other problems that's been hindering my schedule in updating stories, new and old. I really want to apologize for this, I've been getting more and more tired as of late.
Depressing note aside, the sequel of "Devil's Impact: Legacy of The Storm" is finally here!
"Now don't take off the blindfold until I say so, okay?" Nero said, tying a piece of fabric onto his little brother's head.
"Okay..." the younger boy reply, feeling his older brother's hand as he guided him out of the room. "Where to?"
"It's a surprise, you'll like it!" Nero answered, moving in a strange pattern that Razor couldn't keep up with: a couples lefts here and a couple rights there, a sudden zigzagging pattern and a spiral or two. The grey-haired child wondered if they were in maze rather than their home.
After a lot of strange directions Nero took, the younger boy could feel the direct rays of heat touching his skin. "Out...side?" He asked, but Nero didn't respond.
Eventually after a while, Nero did stop in his tracks, removing his brother's blindfold off as he was welcomed by quite a sight: his eyes lit up as he saw the other family members, sitting on a blanket underneath the shade of a tree in an open field. His father being heavily focused on the bubbling pot resting on an open campfire as the mother and sister watched from further away.
"Happy birthday!" Nero shouted, garnering the attention of the others: his mother and sister waved at them, while his father only gave a brief smile before returning to the fire. "Well? Don't just stand there, come on!" Nero continued, grabbing Razor by the arm as he dragged him towards the blanket.
"Dad seems... busy" Razor pointed out, glancing at the white-haired man staring at the fire.
Nero quickly moved to his brother's side, cupping a hand over his ear. "That's because he's the only one here who can cook, no matter how much he tried to teach mom..." he whispered, earning a snicker from the younger boy.
"What was that, arashi?" A voice spoke up, belonging to Ei. While she smiled at the two boys, she didn't even bother to hide the ominous aura she emitted.
"S-sorry-" Nero was about to apologize, before his father suddenly shoved him out of the way: he watches as his father - with a ladle in hand - swatted away an oncoming knife, redirecting it from its original course and onto the ground.
Ei quickly followed suit, unsheathing her very own Musou Isshin as she prepared for what was about to come: her ears paid attention to every rustling of grass or leaves, but her husband was already attacking.
Four phantom blades materialized from his sides, flying into the leaves above as they embedded themselves onto something. A small droplet of red fell into Vergil's cheek as the aforementioned liquid began trickling down from a couple of leaves, which was soon followed by four corpses impaled by his phantom swords as he promptly kicked them away.
But he knew it wasn't over yet.
"Children, get behind me and your mother" he instructed, soon drawing the yamato out of its sheath. He patiently waited for another ambush, before the sounds of metal clanging erupted from Ei's side as she parried an oncoming strike from an agent's dagger, quickly following up with a fatal gash across the chest.
But a fiery bullet was soon making its way towards her, to which she responded by immediately conjuring up a lightning barrier: however, the elemental reaction between fire and lightning somewhat caused an explosion to happen. Which in return, causing her shield to begin faltering.
A fatui skirmisher soon appeared in the scene, wielding a flaming gun as he accompanied two others: another member appearing to be robust and wielded two large gauntlets, and another that held a giant hammer. The hammer-wielding agent soon moved to strike at the shogun, only for his hammer to bounce off as Vergil conjured his own infernal barrier. He soon shut down the barrier as he put a gash across the agent's chest chest, eventually forming an X as Ei quickly followed up with her own.
A repulsion field suddenly formed around Ei and Vergil, their swords beginning to channel energy in tandem.
"My Power... Shines Eternal!" They both shouted in unison, disappearing from the naked eye as the environment was surrounded by a whirlwind of slashes. One by one, the agents fell, their bodies overwhelmed by the slashes as the most unfortunate lost a limb or two. As they were finished, the land was stained in a crimson red.
"The Fatui have grown bolder, attacking even when we're at our most active..." Ei lamented, "why is Snezhnaya trying to start a war with Inazuma?"
"I do not know, but they've been doing this for years now..." Vergil replied, "it's much more frequent now ever since the other children were born."
With the last words leaving his mouth, Ei quickly ran to their children, inspecting to see if there were any injuries. Much to her relief, they were fine, but Razor seemed downcast.
"I'm sorry about your birthday, little Kaminari..." Ei apologize, gently caressing the young boy's head.
"It's...fine..." he said, putting up a smile, "I am okay..."
"If we do nothing but defend, they'll keep going at it" Vergil pointed out, "it's about time I do something about it"
"What are you planning to do?" She asked, watching him return the Yamato to its sheath.
"If the Archon of Snezhnaya wants a war, then I will gladly give it to them" the half-demon replied, "I'm ending this routine here and now."
"Then let me come with you" Ei suggested, "they have been provoking Inazuma for quite some time, so I believe that I should-"
"No, you stay" he said sternly, shutting down her suggestion. "You are a leader, and thus you are a vital aspect of this region."
He then shifted his gaze to the three kids, who looked rather nervous. "Even aside from that, the children still need their mother" he added, "it is unwise for both parents to leave their children unattended."
"I do not doubt your capabilities, Vergil" Ei began, "but the children also need their father, how would it affect them if you just disappeared?"
"I vowed that my children will not suffer the same misfortune as I have, so I will return home" Vergil assured, before suddenly taking off his coat.
"Vergil, what are you-"
"Think of this as my promise" he suggested, handing over his coat to her. "I'll come back for that once I am finished"
Ei said nothing as she looked at his coat, before returning her gaze to the man in front of her: she slowly wrapped her arms around him, to which he reciprocated.
"Stay alive" she told him, to which he laughed dryly.
"Foolishness woman, you worry for nothing" he replied, "after a month or two, I will return home"
"Then I will be there to welcome you back" she said, watching as her husband break away from their embrace and walked towards the children: she could heard their upset voices as he explained to them what was going on, before they pulled him into an embrace.
No words were said afterwards. They just watched as he went his separate way, heading towards the horizon as the family eventually returned home.
Not knowing they wouldn't see him for a long time...
Present Day
It was just another peaceful day
Amber scouted the plains to investigate the sightings of a newly-settled hilichurl camp, and sure enough, she caught a group of hilichurls bundled together with Mitachurl in their ranks. They rather infuriated based on the way they moved, what was causing them to go-
And then she saw it: a hooded stranger that didn't move as he stood there, his presence noticed by the hilichurls. Swiftly drawing her bow, she pulled onto its bowstring as the arrow soon ignited into flames, firing it onto an unsuspecting hilichurl. With the fire catching their attention, Amber quickly made her towards the hooded man.
"It's not safe here sir, come with me!" She instructed, pulling the hooded man out of the way. She quickly lead him into a much safer location, before returning her focus to the group of hilichurls
"just stay here for awhile sir, I'll return to you later" she added, drawing her bowstring as another arrow ignites into flames. However, the mitachurl was already lunging at her with full speed before she could react.
Suddenly, the man jumps above her, removing his cloak in the process to reveal what truly hid underneath it: a white-haired man wears a blue coat, where the end separates into three tailcoats. And from his back was a large, single edged, intricate blade with a golden crossguard, with a strange violet glow from within the openings.
The even stranger part was that his right arm was clad in a lacquer armor, as if his weakness was from his aforementioned arm.
He quickly grabbed the mitachurl's horn, stopping it from its tracks as it struggled to push him back.
"Hey, a little help here?" The man asked, restraining the mitachurl from moving any further. Amber quickly snapped out of her shock and pulled back her bowstring, allowing her arrow to reignite as she aimed for the mitachurl's mask.
The fiery arrow immediately dispersed as it came into contact with the mask, causing the mitachurl to howl in pain. Using the opportunity presented to him, the man quickly twisted the mitachurl, snapping its neck in the process.
"I'll thank you later, because right now..." the man trailed off, gazing onto the remainding hilichurls. He quickly drew his sword and lunged towards them, impaling the closest hilichurl with the giant blade. Amber soon joined in on the battle, covering the man's exposed flank whenever a hilichurl got too close.
Once they were done, she slowly approached the white-haired stranger, who seemed to be picking up the damaged masks. "It doesn't seem like you're from around here, may I know who you are?"
"Well, since you asked" the man shrugged, "name's Nero, and I'm looking for my old man, have you seen him?"
AN: Apparently I was notified that it was Razor's birthday, so I made this first chapter and shall upload it on the same day. So happy birthday, wolf-boy, you're the third character I got in the painful moments of the gatcha system.
Anyways, I have the odd need of pointing out that Nero's sword is an ascended version of the katsuragikiri, and that he's wearing his dad's coat.
Because in this continuity, Nero never met Kyrie, I can technically pair him up with someone here based on what the audience decides. But then again, I'll just end up pissing off twitter for making their "gay-coded" characters straight.
Actually, fuck twitter. Everyone! Tell me who you want me to pair Nero up with! But as long as it makes sense though! We're spiting the FUCK out of twitter tonight!
One last thing: I wonder if anyone realizes that I mixed two lines to make the title of the chapter?