DEVIL MAY CRY

THE

BATTLEGROUND

CHAPTER XIV

Faint white rays of light pierced through the velvet red drapes covering the tall windows in the giant Throneroom. Enormous marble pillars held up a stone gray roof that looked down upon a white marble floor.

A thin strip of velvet red carpet was evenly placed over seven large steps, which led to an enormous Throne.

On the Throne sat the Dark Angel of Hell himself. His long, gray robe was draped over his massive frame, exposing his well-built chiseled chest. He placed one of his massive stone arms underneath his elbow and the other underneath his chin as he stroked his thick, curly stone beard.

Mundus waited patiently for the arrival of his honored guests.

At the end of the Throneroom, two giant Demon Guards holding long, sharp staffs slowly opened the doors as two cloaked warriors entered.

As the two warriors approached the steps that led up to the massive Throne, they glanced at each other.

Then, one after the other, they removed their black hoods that covered their heads.

The demon warrior on the right had glowing green eyes that burned furiously. His charcoal gray skin was wrapped in a set of thin, fleshy green veins. The white light that shone in through the windows at the sides of the room bounced off of his bald head, creating just enough light to accentuate his dark facial features.

The warrior on the left's eyes burned an icy blue color. He was almost entirely jet black except for some of his exposed armor, which was outlined in deep purple and red. His charcoal gray face seemed even darker than it should have been because of his spiky silver hair. Two average-sized horns protruded from each side of his forehead above each eye.

Both warriors took a slow bow, then gazed up to the Lord of the Underworld.

Mundus tilted his head back in approval, then spoke to the two black demons.

First, he looked to the demon on the right.

"General Kade, I see you have returned from your task unharmed as expected. Congratulations."

General Kade nodded. "Yes, my Lord." Kade was Mundus' highest ranking General. Never had Hell seen such a wise and skilled warrior.

Mundus then looked to the warrior on the left.

"The Dark Knight Sparda. I see you too have returned from your mission unharmed as expected. Congratulations."

Sparda nodded to Mundus. "Yes, my Lord." If Kade ever had an equal rival, it was Sparda. He was the quickest, strongest, and most cunning warrior to ever occupy Hell. He had not been serving Lord Mundus as long as Kade, but their skill levels were surely even.

Kade and Sparda had only been working and training together for a short time, but both had an unspoken honor for each other. They knew that they were the two best warriors in the Demon World.

And so did Lord Mundus.

"You have been summoned to my Throneroom to receive my personal gratitude for your services," Mundus began as he focused on Sparda.

"And the crowning of a new General."

Sparda frowned slightly. He knew he would soon join the ranks of Kade and all the other Generals of Mundus's army, but he did not expect it to be this soon.

It had in fact, only been a matter of hours since he and Kade returned from their latest mission in the Human World.

"Sparda," Mundus said. Sparda took a single step forward. "Yes, my Lord?"

"You may now consider yourself a General among Hell. You have not yet reached the ranks of General Kade, but I have a strong feeling you soon will."

Kade looked over at Sparda.

"Congratulations, my friend."

Sparda nodded at Kade, then looked back at his Lord.

"Thank you, Lord Mundus. As your newest General, I shall not disappoint you."

A sick grin slowly crept up on the lips of Mundus as he nodded to both of his Generals.

"That is all."

With that, both Kade and Sparda bowed slowly once again and turned away from the giant Throne where Mundus sat.

As they walked away from the Throne, Sparda could think of only two things: one was the angel he met in the Human World.

The angel named Eva.

The other was the guilt he felt for not slaying Lord Mundus where he sat. Neither Lord Mundus nor Kade knew it at the moment, but the mysterious blonde-haired woman named Eva that would compel Sparda to rise against Hell; to rise against Mundus.

Sparda knew that Kade respected him, but he also knew that Kade would stay loyal to his Lord at any cost.

Even if it meant murdering Sparda.

As they approached the Throneroom doors, Sparda looked over at Kade…
And saw the same noble warrior he had respected and befriended all those yeas ago in the Underworld. Sparda's vision of being in Mundus' Throneroom quickly faded back to the portal.

Sparda thought back to when he and Kade battled in that very Throneroom after Kade was ordered to do so.

He remembered how momentarily angered Kade was when he found out that Sparda wished to overthrow Mundus and rebel against the Demons of the Underworld.

He remembered how much they both hated fighting each other, and how Kade would not stop at any cost since Mundus watched on. If Kade did in fact fail, it would mean torture and then death.

After he defeated Kade and took him to the Sanctuary underneath the water, Sparda also remembered how Mundus secretly sought the assistance of Bolverk in hunting them both down.

The fiery portal swirled around Kade and shone an orange glow on his charcoal skin as he looked over to Sparda. Kade nodded and closed his eyes. He obviously had some vague idea of what Sparda was reminiscing about.

He spoke up through the hissing and fiery crackles of the portal.

"Have confidence, Sparda. We will defeat him."

Sparda nodded and looked back to his son. Dante was looking straight forward and smiling. He shifted his momentum and pushed his body forward as he flipped in the air. He cheered loudly.

"Don't know about you guys but I'm ready to kick some ass!"

Sparda smiled to himself and looked back at his friend. "Don't worry, Kade. I have a feeling we will do just fine tonight."

Kade looked forward and took a deep breath as he could see the faint image of a large Temple coming into focus.

"This is it."

Sparda allowed Kade and Dante to exit the portal first.

In an instant, Kade and Dante appeared on the other side of the portal. Their feet made a soft crunch as they landed on the Gothic Temple's rocky floor.

Sparda was the last to exit the fiery portal. As he did, closed his eyes and thought of all the evil Lord Mundus had inflicted upon his closest companions and his family.

The evil Lord Mundus had inflicted upon him.

He opened his eyes and saw the Dark Angel of Hell himself standing in front of Dante and Kade.

Sparda also looked up to Mundus' right and saw the great Demon General Bolverk standing with his sword pointed at the ground like always.

He also faintly saw a bald man in a brown, leather suit down a long hallway in a small room holding a book and touching some sort of dark magic. He was on a lower level of the Temple.

"That must be Arkham," he thought to himself.

After a moment of silence, Kade was the first to speak.

"Greetings, Lord Mundus," he said as he nodded his head to his former Lord.

Mundus' eyes quickly shone a great red as he frowned viciously.

"How dare you show your pathetic false allegiance to me, worm!" Mundus spat at Kade.

Kade took a step forward. "That was no show of allegiance, my Lord." He began as he quickly unequipped his sword from his back and brought it down hard to the ground.

"That was the last time I shall ever greet you with those words because after tonight, you will no longer be Lord Mundus of the Underworld."

Kade slashed his sword against the ground, creating small sparks of yellow light.

"After tonight, you will no longer exist."

Mundus simply laughed at his former General.

"You three actually think you can defeat me," Mundus held his hand up to Bolverk.

"You think you can take down my greatest General," Mundus then pointed down to Arkham on the lower level. "Or one of my greatest sorcerers!"

Dante stepped forward and crossed his arms. "Yeah, that sounds about right, you fucking stone Jesus on steroids!"

Mundus frowned. "You, young boy, will be the first to die here in this BattleBround!"

Mundus lunged forward as he brought his sword down on Dante.

In an instant, his attack was quickly blocked. Sparda used both of his massive hands to clutch his sword and push the Dark Angel back. Mundus stumbled back as he hit one of the walls of the Temple.

Bolverk shook slightly as Mundus hit. He regained his composure, then removed his giant, tribal sword from the bridge and exhaled.

Mundus growled and slowly walked back to where Sparda stood.

"You and I have unfinished business, Mundus. You will not fight my son."

Sparda swung his sword in the air, brought it back to his chest and pointed the tip at Mundus.

"You will fight me."

Mundus grinned in delight. "I have waited ages to get the chance to…"

His words were cut short.

Sparda put a charcoal finger to his lips and closed his eyes.

"Do not speak." He opened his icy blue eyes and looked at Mundus.

"Just die."

Mundus roared and lunged at Sparda with his sword drawn. Sparda quickly side stepped and kicked Mundus in the spine. Mundus went tumbling over into a nearby pile of rubbish.

Meanwhile, Dante and Kade continued to stare at Bolverk on the bridge.

All of a sudden, and quick, steady stream of rain flooded the temple. Bolverk held his hand up and swished the rain around with his massive, bony fingers. He looked at Dante and Kade.

"I have already had the pleasure of battling you, young Dante." Bolverk looked at Kade.

"But I have never had the honor of battling the General whom I replaced all those years ago."

Kade nodded. "It truly would be an honor Bolverk. Shall we?" Kade asked as he walked over to the narrow bridge.

Bolverk nodded as he swung his sword around and clashed it against a side of the bridge.

"We shall."

Wasting no time, Kade quickly front flipped onto the bridge and slashed down on the mighty Bolverk. Bolverk blocked it, but staggered a little as he pushed away from Kade's blade.

Dante looked around him.

"Okay, I guess I know who I'm taking."

Dante began to descend the steps that would lead him to Arkham. Quickly changing his mind, he ran back up the stairs and ran over to Mundus. He punched him in the back of the head and quickly turned around and ran.

Angered by the cheap shot, Mundus turned around and glared.

Dante just laughed and kept on running with his back turned. What he didn't realize was that he created the perfect opportunity for his father to attack.

Sparda quickly took advantage and gripped Mundus' neck with one arm and his shoulder with the other.

With great strength, Sparda shoulder threw Mundus over his head. Mundus created a large crack in the Temple floor as he landed.

Mundus got to his feet and balled his fists. Slowly, large red balls of mist began to materialize around each fist as his eyes grew redder.

"What you do not realize, Sparda, is that I have grown much stronger since our last encounter in Hell. I have all the power I need to finally finish you."

Mundus quickly shot three giant spiked red orbs at Sparda's mid section. He managed to block the first two, but the third connected. Sparda clutched his side in pain and quickly smashed away at the orb lodged in him. It broke off and the shards quickly fell to the ground.

Before Sparda could advance, four more red spiked orbs penetrated his charcoal skin. He fell to the soaking wet temple floor and groaned in pain.

Mundus walked over to where he lay and put his hands on his hips.

"I will take over this world, Sparda. I will merge it with my world." He pointed a large finger down at Sparda.

"And there is nothing you can do to stop me!"

Dante quickly finished running down the remainder of the steps that led him to Arkham. As he entered the entranceway, Dante clapped his hands together.

"Okay, Arkham. Let's go. Come on. Let's get this over with."

Dante leaned in a little and raised his eyebrows.

"Did you hear me buddy?"

The black wall of magic that surrounded the altar and the two amulets slowly vanished. Arkham slowly clutched the amulets and turned to Dante.

Dante frowned as he looked at the red amulets that belonged to him and his brother.

"So that's why Mundus was here in the first place. He needed our amulets."

Dante crossed his arms. "So you think I'll just step aside and let you take those to Mundus up there?"

Arkham slowly started to walk toward Dante.

Dante shook his head. "I don't think so pal."

Dante quickly grabbed Arkham's hand and punched him in the face. Arkham's head snapped back quickly. He glanced at Dante and held out his hand.

Like bolts of lightning, small bursts of magic came shooting out of Arkham's hand. They all hit Dante individually all over his body.

He fell to his knees and clutched his chest. Arkham quickly held out his foot and kicked Dante's head into the temple wall. A small trickle of blood slowly ran down Dante's cheek as a large wound opened up around his left eye.

Arkham tightened his grip on the chains of the amulets as he gazed down at them. He looked back to Dante, then slowly exited the lower level of the temple.

Dante slowly staggered to his feet and followed him.

Both Bolverk and Kade sighed heavily as they once again clashed their swords together.

In many ways, they were evenly matched.

Kade slowly pushed away from Bolverk and kicked him in the stomach. Bolverk heaved over a little, then stood at his full height.

He acted as if he was going to strike with his sword, then punched Kade in the face with his other hand. Kade's head snapped back as Bolverk quickly followed up with a sharp kick to his chest. Kade staggered back and hit a side of the bridge.

Bolverk cracked his thin neck and walked toward Kade. Kade yelled and quickly kneed Bolverk in the stomach, then uppercutted him in the jaw. Now it was Bolverk's turn to stagger back.

Bolverk grinned and nodded at Kade. "Good," he said.

"But not nearly good enough."

Arkham slowly climbed the steps that led up to his Lord.

As he did, Mundus caught sight of him. He stopped his assault on the helpless Sparda and held up his hand to the air.

"Yes Arkham! We have succeeded!"

Mundus raised his hands in victory. Sparda shook his head as he quickly rose from the rocky ground and clutched his massive sword from the cold floor.

He kicked Mundus in the mid section and slashed him in his stone chest with his massive sword.

Mundus clutched his chest and grunted. He looked over to Arkham.

"Quickly Arkham! Create a portal! Take us away from this BattleGround!"

Slowly, Arkham walked up to the bridge where Bolverk and Kade were battling on and front flipped up onto it. He walked the length of it to its end and opened his small book of spells.

Holding the two amulets in the air, he created two gigantic portals similar to the one which they used to enter the temple. As the portals swirled, Mundus fended off Sparda long enough to move closer to the bridge. As he did, Dante reached the higher level of the temple.

Mundus slashed Sparda across his charcoal chest with his sword and kicked him back away from the bridge.

"I told you you would not succeed, Legendary Dark Knight."

He quickly joined Arkham on the end of the bridge and looked back to Bolverk and Kade.

"Come, Bolverk! Join us!"

Bolverk looked to Mundus, then glanced back at Kade. "It truly has been a pleasure, Kade." He walked over to Mundus and Arkham.

"But I must go."

Before he exited the area, Bolverk looked down to Sparda and nodded.

For some unknown reason, Sparda felt he had no choice but to show idle respect and return the nod. As Bolverk continued to gaze at Sparda, Sparda could hear his faint whisper in his mind.

"I truly apologize, Sparda. But I stay loyal to my Lords. I have too much respect for them to betray the trust they hold in me. So follow us if you will, but know that what you find on the other end might not be what you are truly looking for. It could be pleasant, it could be morbid. Either way, it can only be you who ends this battle."

Sparda nodded.

"I will, Bolverk."

Bolverk was the first to step trough the first massive portal. As Mundus began to enter Bolverk's portal and Arkham began to enter his, Mundus looked down at Arkham's hand.

"Give those to me, Arkham. Give them to me now."

Slowly, Arkham began to hand over the two amulets.

Sparda began to sprint over to the bridge. He quickly jumped up and ran the length of it.

As Sparda brushed past Kade, Kade held out his hand in objection. "No Sparda! Don't!"

Just as Arkham began to hand Mundus the amulets, Dante grabbed his sword and with precision, threw it at the portal.

As the sword traveled through the air, time itself seemed to slow down.

"Please God…" Dante begged.

As the sword neared the portal, Mundus' eyes widened.

"No!"

Before Arkham could hand over the other Amulet to his Master, Dante's sword cut his arm high up, causing him to clutch it with his other hand.

Before Mundus could reach over to Arkham's portal and grab the Amulet from him, Sparda leapt into the air and kicked Mundus in the chest. As Mundus backed up into the portal, he screamed once again.

"No!"

By this time, Kade had also ran the length of the narrow bridge. Arkham slowly looked down at the amulet in his hand. He turned around and slowly entered his portal.

Before he could fully exit, he felt the cold, hard grip of Kade's hands clutch his wrist. Arkham's eyes widened as the amulet the he was holding came out of his hand and flew into the portal. His body began to get sucked into the portal like a piece of dust in a vacuum.

Kade gritted his teeth as he fought the overwhelming strength of the portal.

Arkham's eyes shone red as he stared ad Kade's green eyes.

Sparda ran over to Arkham's portal and also gripped Arkham's wrist.

Dante had reached the end of the bridge. All he could do was stare at his Father and Kade desperately holding on to Arkham.

"What can I do, Father?" he asked frantically.

Sparda looked back to Dante.

"Do you know of any way to defeat Arkham? We must get that amulet back!" he yelled to his son.

Before Dante answered back, he remembered the one woman who could truly figure out how to defeat Arkham.

"Arkham's daughter!" he yelled back to his Father.

Sparda nodded. "Go find her then! We do not have enough strength to pull him back through this portal, but if we can find where the portal leads to, then we will find him there!"

Dante nodded. Sparda and Kade both nodded to each other and let go of Arkham's wrist. He quickly vanished into his portal.

Sparda sighed and walked over to Mundus' and Bolverk's portal. He turned back to Kade and sighed.

"I must go Kade. I must stop them."

Kade closed his eyes and nodded. "I know, Sparda. I know. I also heard Bolverk's voice."

Dante nodded as well. "I heard it too, Father."

Sparda frowned, then nodded slightly. "Then that means he intended for us all to hear his words."

After a moment, Sparda and Kade slowly embraced. As they let go of each other, Sparda asked Kade a favor.

"Take care of my son once again, Kade. Help him find Arkham's daughter."

Kade nodded.

Sparda turned to his son.

"The portal is starting to vanish, Dante."

Dante nodded and embraced his Father. As he did, a small tear rolled down his cheek.

"Be careful, Father. I don't want to lose you again."

Sparda nodded to Dante. "You won't. I promise you that."

With that, Sparda closed his eyes and slowly stepped through the portal that would lead him away from the BattleGround and into his fate.

After both portals vanished, Dante and Kade surveyed the Gothic BattleBround from atop the narrow bridge.

Almost every wall was broken and cracked. The storm and the rain spread out quite a bit of the chunks of debris across the whole temple floor.

Dante laughed out loud. "I guess we decorated the place pretty well."

Kade also laughed and nodded. "I guess we did, Dante."

Dante looked down to the stairs that led to the entrance where the altar and the amulets were.

"This is where the battle started." He looked over to Kade.

"And in a way," before Dante could finish, Kade finished for him.

"This is where it ended."

Dante nodded. He noticed the orange tint reflecting off of all the walls and debris and quickly glanced up at the original portal that hovered above he and Kade. He had almost forgotten about it.

Kade looked up at it as well.

"This would lead us back to Hell." He looked over to Dante.

"Bolverk himself said that only Sparda could enter."

Kade winced. "It seems strange, but it almost seems as if Bolverk is trying to help Sparda."

Dante agreed.

"It would be more useful to find Arkham's daughter than to try to find your Father again, don't you think?"

Dante nodded.

"Yeah, and I know exactly where to find her."

The sun was almost rising when Kade decided to step out onto the small balcony in the apartment. The Earth Realm was quite an interesting place to him, and he was eager to learn more about it.

As he stepped out onto the balcony, a small bird landed on his shoulder and chirped.

Kade frowned and looked at the small bird..

"Greetings. I am Kade. Who are you?"

The bird merely chirped again and flew away.

Kade looked very confused and frowned. "Did I offend you?" he called out to the bird.

"I apologize."

Dante had chosen to sit in a chair in a corner of the bedroom.

In the bed, a young girl with short, jet black hair turned over and pulled up the covers to her chest.

She wore a small, pink satin night robe that went down to her mid thighs.

As she tossed and turned slightly, Dante frowned. He hoped, after all these years, she would be a little joyful to finally see him again.

After all, they had battled as teammates in the Temen-Ni-Gru.

Dante sighed. Should he have jumped through the portal with his Father? Should he have re-entered the portal that led back into the Underworld to try to stop Bolverk and Mundus?

As more and more questions began to flood his mind, Dante rested his head on his hand and sighed.

Somehow, he had to trust that the words Bolverk spoke truly meant something.

"Everything happens for a reason, Dante," he reassured himself.

As the orange morning sun rose, Dante sat dormant in the only available dark corner of the room, hoping that Mary would wake up soon.

Hopefully, she would see some sort of light at the end of this dark tunnel.

The small torches placed along the stone walls provided just the right amount of light for the Sorcerer Guildenstern to see what he was doing.

Slowly, he added the final touches onto his Demon masterpiece and clapped his scaly hands together.

"It is complete!" he said as he marveled at his creation.

There, lying on the large, scaly black demon altar in front of him, was one of the largest hybrid Demons that Hell had ever seen.

"Rise, my Demon!"

The giant beast rose and stood to its full height. It towered over Guildenstern.

It had a bluish gray skin tone that resembled Kade's charcoal skin. Light grayish white robes that were torn in several places covered its back and parts of its shoulders and waste like an overcoat. It was barely enough to conceal the creature's muscular build. The torch light reflected off of its bald head. The mammoth Demon had no mouth, nose or ears, only glowing amber eyes.

On its left arm, it harnessed the light blue power of water. On its right arm, swirled the orange and red power of fire.

Guildenstern clapped his hands together once again and placed his hand on the beast's arm.

"Let us get you acquainted with your Master."

In a dimly lit, black Throneroom that most of Hell's occupants had no knowledge of, there sat a man on a black throne.

Guildenstern and the giant hybrid beast stood before him.

There was only enough yellow light coming from the windows for Guildenstern and the creature to make out some of the man's blue overcoat and fleshy human hands.

Another light coming from a large chandelier that hung from the roof exposed his spiky, white hair and icy blue eyes.

He sat resting his head on his hand with one finger underneath his bottom lip. The others curled underneath the bottom of his chin.

His long, thin, golden and silver Katana Sword was leaning up against the left side of the throne upon which he sat.

Guildenstern took a single step forward.

"My Lord, he is complete."

He looked over to his hulk of a Demon.

"Element is complete."

Guildenstern smiled. "He possesses the brute strength of Bolverk and Marcellus, and the knowledge of both Kade and Sparda…"

The young male on the throne lashed out.

"You are never to mention their names in my presence!"

Guildenstern apologized, then bowed.

The young male looked over to Element and grinned through the darkness.

"Excellent."

"What is your first mission?" questioned the man on the throne.

Just like Bolverk's voice, Element's seemed to be a whisper that echoed from every corner of the room.

"To destroy Lord Mundus."

"Good."

"And your next mission?"

"To retrieve the two amulets."

"Good."

The man on the throne looked over to Guildenstern and nodded.

"He'll do just fine."

Guildenstern nodded and bowed. "I knew you would be happy, my Lord."

The man on the throne slowly pointed to the Throneroom doors.

"Go now, Element. Make the Underworld proud."

"Make your Lord proud."

As Element turned and started to exit the Throneroom, the young male sitting on the throne grinned once again.

With the assistance of both Guildenstern and Element, he would soon take full leadership over Hell. He would take full leadership over the Underworld.

If there was but one thing that would prevent Sparda from reaching the light at the end of the tunnel, it would be this mysterious hybrid Demon from the Underworld.

It would be Element...

The End.

Author's Note: Just when you thought it would end right? You'll have to wait just a little longer to find out what happens in the story. Well, I really hope you guys liked this Final Chapter. It was certainly an experience for me writing it. I felt like this Chapter and the first were by far the most interesting and hardest to write. Obviously, there will be a sequel to this story. The title will be "The Battleground II: The Gates Of Hell." I have gotten a good start on it and I will put it out fairly soon. Thanks for some of the compliments on the character 'Kade' that I created. I wasn't sure if he'd fit the story well or not, but i feel like he really did in the end. Thank you for all the support along the way, and like always, please R&R.

Chris Lozinski