Death Knoll

The tulpas razing the city were oblivious to Dante as he stepped into the street. The sword Sparda felt unnaturally hot against his palm. As if against his will, he remained perfectly still with his back to the house until a pack of gargoyles finally noticed him. Five of them landed in a circle around him. Dante finally brought Sparda to bear. The sword's heat increased, but he easily ignored it. Before any gargoyle could move against him, he swung the sword. He spun with the force of the swing. The tip slashed through the first two before the other three jumped back out of reach.

Ten more fell from the sky. The heat radiated up Dante's arm as he quickly stared down the gargoyles. He did not notice the lightning flashing between his wrist and elbow. With an earsplitting battlecry, he charged into the fray. His brain was unaware of what he was doing. He fought, swung, and slashed as if his body worked independently of his mind. Black oozing flesh and blood splashed in every direction as Sparda cleaved everything in its path. When the entire pack of gargoyles finally fell over, Dante emerged unscathed. There was no blood on him.

He raised his eyes to watch more creatures approach. There were several of them staring back at him. He watched some of them gather together as if planning something in a huddle. The heat in his arm quickly spread throughout the rest of his body. It was then Dante realized something was amiss. Rather than wait for the tulpas to finish whatever they were doing, he ran headlong towards them.

Three of them converged into a single mass of black goo. Frustrated, Dante screamed like a madman. None of the creatures paid him attention. He felt the sword emit a blistering heat, but his hand clung to it even tighter. He smelled smoldering leather. His brain processed this in a split second before he engaged in another battle charge. One of the remaining tulpas met him halfway, but before the tulpa could do anything, Dante cleaved it in half with one mighty swing. It was then he realized Sparda was literally engulfed in a bright red flame from hilt to tip.

More tulpas quickly piled onto the growing mass. The others jumped at Dante as if to prevent him from reaching it. He easily plowed through them. A shortlived trail of fire was left in the air with each swing. The black mass instantly took on the form of a giant humanoid, about twice Dante's height. Dante skidded to a stop as a pair of wings emerged from the creature's shoulders. A single powerful flap propelled it into the air. The wind generated knocked down most things and people who were unfortunate enough to be in its path.

Dante plunged Sparda into the ground. The flame emitted a bright white flash. This time the heat was enough to make Dante cringe, but he maintained his grip on the hilt. When the light died, the flames kicked up a bit in the wind. Dante waited until the giant creature flew a distance before pulling the sword free. He knew from the wind direction alone that the creature was headed in the same direction Lilith left to confront Kaliel. Dante leaped into the air. He swung and released Sparda towards the creature's neck. A flaming scythe flew like a boomerang for its target. Sensing the danger, the creature stopped to turn. It held up an enormous hand as if to slap the sword aside. Instead, Sparda easily slashed through the skin and continued through the creature's chest.

Though it passed through without severing anything, Sparda left blazing streaks through the wounds. It circled around and returned to Dante before his feet hit the ground. As if in slow motion, Dante held out his hand, still tingling from the flames, to catch Sparda. A few extra sparks sputtered when he seized the hilt. When he landed, the flames leapt up his hand. The pain lasted for a split second. When it was over, his clothes darkened until they were completely black. His hair instantly grew to his shoulders. Black tribal designs appeared on his skin. His eyes became an eerie silver, almost white. Dante knew something strange was happening. All of this occurred without the aid of his devil trigger.

The flying creature overshadowed Dante on the ground. The markings on his skin left a minute burning sensation which was negligible compared to the burning sword.

"I'll give you one minute!" he yelled into the air.

The creature took a few more flaps away before raising its hand. A glowing red sphere formed in the palm. Dante was already on the move. He dashed out of the way in time to avoid the sphere as it crashed into the ground. The resulting shockway created fissures in the concrete.

"On second thought, time's up." Dante activated his devil trigger and flew at the creature. He swung for the creature, but it maintained a safe distance of reach. The flames on the sword shot out. The edge of its right wing was scorched. The creature shrieked. Without realizing what he was doing, Dante summoned energy into his hand and forced it through the sword. He plunged the flaming blade towards the creature, but it backed out of reach, but the flames scorched it again. Dante tossed Sparda at the creature again. When the sword passed through, a massive amount of blood shot from the wound.

Dante flew through the fountain of blood. He planted both hands around the creature's head and squeezed as hard as possible. He placed a foot against the creature's chest and yanked. He heard its neck snap, but it managed to pull free of his grip. Its head was twisted at an unnatural angle.

Without looking, Dante reached out to catch Sparda on its return trip. The flames were brighter and hotter than before. Dante chased the creature until he was nearly on top of it. It flapped its wings to maintain altitude, but it was too confused and in too much pain to do anything else. Dante turned Sparda downwards and plunged it through the creature's chest. The creature's body went into spasms as if the three tulpas within it were fighting to break free. Lines of fire emanated from the sword through the creature's body. The flames sputtered and died as Dante pulled Sparda free in time to jump back and watch the creature plummet to the ground. Dante watched in disguised shock as the creature crashed through the roof of a house. He returned to human form and dropped into the flying debris. The tribal markings disappeared, and his eyes returned to their original color.

The dust settled quickly. The ooze from the creature's form splattered across the rubble and scattered as if in fear for its life. Dante ignored it. His eyes were focused on a woman's bloody hand protruding from under the debris. Though the hand was the only thing he could see, he knew whose hand it was. He kicked the debris aside to expose her face. Kyra's body lay on its back. Her eyes were open, but he knew they were not looking at anything. He forced himself to step over the body to sift through more rubble. He found Eryc lying close beside her. Eryc's neck had been partially severed by a piece of metal debris.

Dante was not sure how long he stared at what was left of Eryc and Kyra. He walked around their crushed bodies until he found the Yamato unscratched. He squeezed the hilt of the Yamato as he lifted it from the debris. Now that Eryc and Kyra were dead, the island had no hope once Kaliel died. That train of thought suddenly caused Dante to panic. For a moment his brain battled between letting Kaliel die, and saving the people himself, though he knew they no longer had any true hope of salvation. Dante groaned as if in pain before transforming again. He flew off in the direction he knew Lilith and Kaliel would be.

(X)

Dante found his daughter lying on the stone walkway leading to a cathedral of a dead village. It was almost a miniature version of the one she had been buried in. A drying pool of blood spread from a gaping wound in her torso. Her eyes turned towards him as if to indicate she was still alive, but her breaths were strong enough to see her chest moving. Dante rolled his eyes as he kneeled and propped her into a sitting position.

"What the hell did you do?"

"I did what I had to. I'm severing the bond." She stopped to take another breath. She coughed a mouthful of blood but somehow managed to laugh. "He has no idea what's happening."

"The bond? You mean, in the grave."

Lilith did not register what he said, but she answered anyway. "If one of us doesn't die, I'll be stuck with him forever." Her voice grew weak as she began slipping away.

Not sure what to do, Dante picked her up and walked into the cathedral. There was something wrong with the place. He could sense death in every piece of stone and wood used to construct it. He carefully placed Lilith onto the altar, placed the Yamato beside her, and stepped back. He raised his hand as if to wipe his face, but his hand stopped short when he noticed fresh blood on his glove. Lilith's wound had started bleeding again. This time it dripped over the altar as if part of a morbid human sacrifice.

Dante leaned over her as his paternal instincts went into overload. He ignored the blood his hand was leaving in her hair. "That was a damned foolish thing you did."

"Do you expect me to just kill him instead?" There was an obvious edge of sarcasm, even bitterness, in Lilith's voice. Dante straightened. He turned his head aside as if listening for something. Lilith did not notice. "It's either him or me."

"She's right about that," Kaliel responded from the entrance of the cathedral. Dante turned completely to face him. Kaliel staggered to the nearest pew to sit down. The broken blade was still in the chest wound. "And you know what will happen if it's me."

"Enough of that bullshit," Dante demanded.

Kaliel tossed the bone sword aside. "Don't think I don't know about what Kyra tried to do. About teaching someone else to take my place. Lo and behold, in trying to protect her, your own actions got her killed. Justice is poetic."

"Indeed it is." Dante fought the urge to run to Kaliel and gouge his eyes out. He settled for scowling instead.

Kaliel lowered his eyes to Lilith. She looked his way long enough for him to see more blood spill from her mouth. She looked back towards the ceiling. "You know, she showed me what she could do. It was pretty impressive, given she wasn't at 100 percent. Maybe not even half that."

"Don't think you've won yet."

"Does it matter?" Kaliel leaned forward and wiped his own blood from his mouth. "Lilith or the island? One life for tens of thousands? Which one of us do you think will die first?"

Kaliel looked up in time to see Dante's scowl deepen. Dante opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped short when he felt the tale-tell tingling in his eyes. He continued staring at Kaliel until the first tear of Sparda's Sorrow broke free. A sudden sense of dread overcame him. He turned back towards the altar to check on Lilith. She was staring straight up at the ceiling as before, but he knew something was wrong. The essence of death he sensed within the cathedral was growing stronger. The bleeding had stopped, but Lilith's chest no longer moved with each breath. Dante knew in that instant that Lilith had died.

Kaliel's weak laughter broke the silence. "What do you know? She beat me to it."

"Don't count on it." Dante did not realize he said it until after he finished it. Not knowing what else to do, he grabbed Lilith by her shoulders and gave her body a single hard shake. "You have to come back. It's over."

Kaliel glanced at the shard of bone blade in his chest. He felt his bond to Lilith break and dissipate. Her remaining power leaked from his body. "That's it," he said as if confirming a diagnosis. "She's completely gone."

Dante looked aside as if preparing to retort. Instead, he gave Lilith's body another hearty shake. Her head flopped around as if she were a doll. He shook her a few more times before deciding it was futile.

"What exactly are you trying to accomplish up there?" Kaliel asked. "The island is safe."

"To hell with you! And this island!" Dante snatched Sparda and pointed it at Kaliel. "I'd rather kill you myself now!"

Kaliel released the loudest laugh his pain would allow. He grabbed the pew in front of him and used it for support as he stood. "Do you want the islanders' blood on your hands, too? By all means, try it."

Dante felt the bloody tears drip down his chin and neck. He lowered the sword and leaned against the altar. "What's the point? You and I have danced this dance before. Quite frankly I'm sick of it. And you. And this island. To hell with all of you."

"Those are not the words of a hero."

"I never claimed nor acknowledged being one."

"Fair enough." Kaliel tossed his bone sword aside. "You're just a killer for hire. Must have been great with Lilith's friends."

Kaliel was surprised when Dante laughed. "I was the class favorite." He wiped his own face with his clean glove and slapped his hands together in a prayer position. He rubbed them slowly together. Little arcs of lightning flashed between his fingers.

Kaliel raised his hand. "Just because I no longer have your daughter's power doesn't mean I don't have any of my own."

"In the end . . ."

Dante's thought was interrupted by Lilith moaning behind him. He stepped away from the altar as Lilith took one deep gasp. Both he and Kaliel watched her slowly sit up. The gaping wound had sealed itself without a single scar, but she was still obviously weak. She dangled her feet over the altar and dropped to the floor.

"In the end," she said to Kaliel, "it still comes down to you and me."