Again, thank you for your support! And sorry for the slight delay.
To DevilsNeverCry: That flashback is technically in DMC4SE, so I will add it in the extra chapter of the previous story.
Vergil said some poem lines as well? Wow, looks like I forgot a lot. And thanks to your review, now I have a running joke for this story.
To GhostHaloRWBY: Eh... in context, it's next to impossible on how I could pull Adam into Schnee's Mansion without a reason. You can propose one if you want.
June 15. 05:32 AM
M02 QLIPHOTH
Events were set in motion back before Urizen took his throne, when a silent, hooded figure came to tear off Nero's demonic right arm. Now, a month later, Nero is back with a brand new power – his Devil Breakers – to smash his way through the demon swarms in Red Grave and reunite with V.
"By the way, Red Grave City is Dante's homeland."
"Aww… I feel bad for Dante…" Nora sulks a bit while hugging a pillow.
"I can sympathize." Ren nods, remembering their past. "It's not fun seeing your home getting destroyed by the Grimm."
Nico's van is stopping before yellow ribbons that blocks anything from going forward and falling right down to the hole ahead. "That's it. No more wheels from here." The driver concludes.
"All right. Guess I'm walkin', then." Nero accepts his fate to get wet as he's heading out the road when the rain falls.
"Yo yo yo, check it out." The gunsmith stops him for a moment to give him something. When Nero questions what the item is, she replies: "From Morrison. I think it's his manifesto."
"Why can't he call them?" Blake asks out loud. "It's definitely faster than writing a letter, right?"
"I think some people just like doing it the old fashion way." Jaune guesses. "I mean, swords with guns are cool, but I'm sticking with my trusted Crocea Mors."
"…Fair point."
'It's been a good 30 years since I last wrote something like a letter. Don't have a typewriter or nothing, so unfortunately you're stuck with my shitty handwriting for now.'
"I think this is just for a funny moment." Winter sighs. "Now I can see that damn crow just doing this to troll me."
"You still despite him that badly?" Willow asks while covering her mouth with her left hand to hide a smile on her face, knowing the 'rivalry' relationship between the Specialist and the Huntsman.
"You have no idea, Mom."
'I heard you're heading back to Red Grave. Wasn't sure exactly what I could do for you… I'm not a powerhouse like you, or the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Still, given my business, the least I can do is get you a few leads. Can't say exactly how useful they'll be to you, but hey… gotta be better than nothing, right?
So the first time I met Dante, he actually went by a different name: Tony Redgrave.
Bet that got your attention, huh? Tony Redgrave… Red Grave City… Just a coincidence? Or something more? I honestly can't say.'
"You ruined the fun part." Ruby says in disappointment.
"Oops."
'Still, figured if you're heading in that direction you might be able to learn the truth yourself. That's why I've decided to tell you everything about the Dante I know.
It ain't every day that I just give this stuff away, boy. You'd best be grateful.'
"Aside from actual no benefits gained, shouldn't this kind of information be known?" Pyrrha asks in confusion.
"I don't think demon hunting is a well-known job." Weiss says. "Unlike Grimm, demons don't actually appear that much in Devil May Cry's world."
After reading the letter, Nero then asks Nico: "Hey, we doin' this or what?"
"I'm waiting on you." The gunsmith is now in her working corner. "I'm cookin'. Any special orders?"
She then starts listing out the Devil Breakers she can make:
Successor to the Devil Bringer: Overture
Shockwaves that rock the heavens: Gerbera
Demonic brush with brilliance: Gerbera GP01
"That's cool descriptions." Yang comments, which Ruby slightly shrieks in agreement and excitement.
"You like pasta, right? Try this baby on for size."
Buono! Pasta Breaker
"…Eh…" That's everyone's reaction seeing this one, with Ruby finishing: "Maybe just for cooking, in Nero's case?"
"Here. For those hard-to-reach itches. Kyrie'll love it! Catch my meaning?"
A helping hand: Sweet Surrender
Most of the group instantly cover their faces while turning away in embarrassment since they remember how it works when activated, with Yang crackles: "I would like one for my kitty please!"
"Don't you dare!" This is even more flustered when Ruby accidentally found 'Ninjas of Love', and her face now reaches the heat that might be able to fry eggs.
Old faithful: Mega Buster
"An arm cannon. Cool!" Yang says as everyone slowly recovers.
After that, the game shows the tutorials of the buying menus. Looking through the skills, Weiss then notices Split is having a different command, and the old command is being used for a new move called Payline. "It seems Red Queen has some new moves."
"Easier to deal with those 'flung away' enemies." Blake understands why. "They get knocked back way too often."
"Can we buy new Devil Breakers, please?" Ruby pleads.
"Maybe… let's just get through the…" Weiss stops midway when she sees a certain move in 'Abilities' section. "What the… 3 million orbs? For a taunt? Who… that's just straight up rip-off!"
"That's… a business…"
"Even if it is, that's way too much." Blake agrees with the Heiress. "Maybe half of it would be okay."
"…Well, there IS another reason… but I can't say it yet. Sorry. Also, unless you have a lot of Red Orbs and knows which does what, I suggest to not buy the Breakers. They're dropped throughout the game."
"…We will see." Weiss decides to not argue further.
"Aw…" Ruby whines a bit, disappointed that she can't see more of the awesome arms.
At the start of the mission, Nero has already crossed the gap and stood on the ground before the van. He turns back to the van once and Nico honks at him: "What're you, lonely? Hurry up and get moving!"
"…Why do I imagine Ruby and Weiss here?" Jaune jokes.
"Because it's probably true! Ruby doesn't want to…"
"Stop, Nora. Before you earn a shot to the face."
Said duo is now blushing.
"I need to catch up to V, fast." Unfazed by previous conversation, the young Devil Hunter heads into the city, while occasional earthquakes happen and break things on his path. He then reaches some sorts of a playground and sees statues… or dried-up people with gestures of trying to run away or screaming in pain. He touches one of them and the body withers away and turns into dust. "What a mess…"
"Even Grimm couldn't make this kind of mess." Winter grunts, disgusted at what the demons are doing.
"Not even in the previous game is the situation so devastating." Blake rubs her face in both annoyance and frustration. "Acid spitting can be fixable, but this?"
"It's even more painful when they don't have Aura." Willow sighs. "Like he said, it's a mess."
From far away, Nero notices an Empusa, which notices him and runs away. He follows him to a clear section of traffic… and has a clear view of the grown-up tree with blood red mists surrounding it. Some Empusas then appear and approach, causing him to enter a fighting position.
"How many people has that tree killed?" Pyrrha asks in fear. "Just for a month…"
"I'm more concerned of the ones who live." Jaune rubs his face, thinking about their 'end' if things didn't change.
"Either way, we just have to beat the boss, stopping him from causing troubles."
"Easier said than done, Yang." The cat Faunus counters. "Even Dante couldn't beat him, and we don't know where he is now."
"Maybe V knows the way?" Ruby hopes. "He seems to know a lot…"
"On the surface, maybe. But he's still a mysterious person." Blake replies.
While fighting the demons on his way, Nero starts thinking out loud: "What are demons doing in a city like this? There something to this place?"
"Maybe? Since it's Dante's hometown." Weiss guesses.
After dealing with the roots, Nero heads into a big mansion in the city, possibly a department of sort. There's a statue of a Pegasus in the middle of the courtyard… and the car in front of it is suddenly flung towards the Hunter while being cut in half. Nero does a backflip to dodge one half while kicking the other away. Not bothered with the explosion behind him, he looks forward to check which demon did that. He sees a trio of skeleton demons emerging from the ground through black mist, wearing ragged robe while carrying a scythe for each.
Cleaving vanguard: Hell Caina
"…Dead man should stay dead."
"Not applied to professor Monty and Ozpin though, Ren."
The Gunslinger just pokes his friend's forehead with his index finger while the girl just tucks her tongue out childishly, knowing she wins the round.
"But… they are demons, or…"
"They are, madam Willow. Or… I'm not sure, sorry. Not someone into religions."
Though the new demons are just cannon-folders, so Weiss has no problems cleaning them up while messing around. Mid-flight, she jumps up and accidentally presses Taunt, and Nero does an air-spin while placing his feet on Red Queen like a skateboard. "Oh, now we can taunt mid-air?"
"Don't expect me to just stand still and taunt!" Yang is totally in with the new addition.
Heading into the mansion, Weiss starts going around and explores the building, though most are being destroyed. Occasionally the bugs and the skeletons show up as 'walking money'.
Nero then heads to the second floor and looks at the ruins inside the building. From afar, he notices V and his familiars fighting against some demons. "Huh… Looks like I'm gonna make it there before you do, V."
"Technically he's still ahead of you, Nero." Ruby comments.
Weiss then notices the 'Starring' again, and a cane symbol next to it. Putting down her controller…
"You are tired already?"
"Watching how they fight, Jaune."
The group then sees why: V and his familiars are indeed still fighting against the demons. They can't see the panther one very well, but they can see the bird doing thunder hits. V mostly dodges and lets the familiars do their works.
After a minute, Weiss picks the controller and starts moving Nero around the building… and leads him to a room with an infested wall, with a parasite creature near it. Nero then picks up the thing called 'Larva that kills the demon tree: Nidhogg Hatchling' and puts it into his pocket, which makes everyone cringe in disgust. He then heads to the wall and pulls the thing out and places it on the wall. The parasite then enters, and moments later, the infested wall falls down in pieces with a 'not-too-pretty' vision.
"Shoulda just hacked my way through."
"You should." Everyone agrees.
Nero continues his walk, and during that he wonders if V is a demon or not… then gets lost for a few seconds. After going around the building and finding another parasite, he has to beat more Hell Cainas popping up. During that he accidentally breaks the floor, which turns out to be an entrance to another BOF.
"That was the floor's fault, not mine!"
"That's either Nora's or Ruby's response." Jaune jokes, causing the two to tuck their tongues out in embarrassment.
Breaking down another infested wall, he reaches the top floor of the building. However, a root suddenly appears and blocks his direct way out of the building, so he has to take a turn to a room. And that's where a secret mission exists.
"…Between picking up papers being pinned on random walls and lining up symbols on the walls, which would you prefer Winter?"
"The latter, if it's nothing serious. If it's time crucial, then the former." The Specialist answers her sister's question.
Just like the last game, the first secret mission is to eliminate a number of demons in a specific amount of time. After killing some with normal combos, Weiss charges up the Gerbera and releases the attack, which turns into a laser beam that goes through the demons and damages them until death.
"Ah, good old times."
"Don't bring that up."
Willow looks at the Scroll in confusion. Both lines are voiced by 'seemingly' the same person, yet…
"Right, we did try blasting T.O up!"
"We didn't do things like Nero did though, Nora. But I agree that's fun!" The Brawler then fist-pumps the Hammer-wielder.
"…Those two are twins in a sense, Mother."
"Oh, no wonder. Thank you Winter."
Nero then returns back to the current world with all his Devil Breakers intact even after being used in the secret mission. Heading to the top floor, he gets into a room and goes to the balcony that has the view of the tree. "I'm getting really sick of this stupid tree…" Jumping down to ground level, he plans to go to the left road but it's raised up by the root of the tree. He's forced to take the right road, and then he meets another infested wall that blocks his way to the previously blocked road. The parasite is in the end of the road so he begrudgingly runs down the way while beating up the bugs.
When he returns back, the road suddenly collapses, though it's not too deep so he can easily jump back up. However, a demon wielding two big cleavers jumps down and slams the weapons on him, causing the Demon Hunter to jump back. He quickly ducks when another one tries to decapitate him from behind, then jumps right through between the two cleavers slashing horizontally, avoiding death. Now he's completely in one side and can take a look of what demons just attacked him.
Brutal berserker: Hell Antenora
"So… a bigger version of the other one."
"Yep." Both Huntsmen teams agree with Weiss' shortened description of the new enemy.
Though, everyone sees a clear difference of this enemy to the Hell Caina: when they're knocked out, some parts of their bodies turn purple and the attacks can't stagger them. However, if the timing is right, it's possible to deflect their slashes.
"These deflects could save us a lot of health." Ruby says while pouting a bit. "And it looks cool too. I wish we had that in the previous game."
"It's ten years of making between the two. Don't complain." Weiss counters.
After dealing with the demon pair and the infested wall, Nero continues his way forward. Then, a nearby public phone rings up…
"…Who would call a payphone?" Winter sees no logic in this current situation. "And in the middle of a mess as well."
"I'm more awed at how the phones still work." Willow has a similar thinking about it.
Nero decides to pick it up…
"Took ya long enough, dumbass! What happened to the third-ring rule?" A certain gunsmith's shout can be heard instantly. "Tell ya what, you call ME from now on, and I'll hustle on over." She then ends the call and focuses on driving.
Nero then waits for a few seconds inside the booth and takes a look at the higher road in front of him… and sees the van driving off the road and falling right before him, and somehow Nico drifts it just right to not flip the van.
"…Now I want to race her."
"Just wait and see what crazier things she will do, Yang."
After making some adjustments to the Devil Breakers set and one Blue Orb being bought, Weiss heads to the boss zone.
Landing on top of a building, Nero heads towards a way that leads into the structure. However, a yellow car falls right on top of him, with the missing side door lining up perfectly to him. The van then flips away with Nero inside and stops just right before the wall behind him. Once it's over, the Hunter kicks off the other door and exits the car. "Somebody call a doctor?"
"I can see Pyrrha doing the exact same thing!"
"I'm not that good, Nora."
Nero looks up on top of the tower where the car falls from, and sees a huge demon on it. "Human… I wasn't expecting any survivors!" It then jumps down and smashes the car with one feet while planning to do the same to Nero on the other. However, Nero has already jumped away to safety.
"Sorry to disappoint ya." The demon takes a look around to see where the Hunter is. "Hey." It finally recognizes him standing on the platform on its eye level to the left. "Ya happen to see a guy around here, about this big, uses a cane? I'm supposed to meet him. Did you snack on him?"
"Just a casual day at the office." Yang laughs at how Nero just jokes around the demon without a care.
Ignoring the joke, the demon points its finger towards Nero and says: "Your blood… is a very precious sacrifice… Eating you would do me no good." Then its hands start moving up as it continues: "I must have every last drop… to rule the Underworld… as King!"
And it starts smashing the area where Nero just stood, who just jumps away and lands on another solid ground. He then casually sits on the edge of a brick wall and mocks the demon: "King? You? I don't know… I mean, you are a big guy and all, but you seem more like a knuckle-scrapping fart in the wind that anything else. No offense."
"That's not how you use 'No offense'." Winter sighs while pinching her nose bridge, with Willow slightly giggling.
"Nah, I think that works perfectly." Yang crackles.
"Though Nero does has a point." Blake comments. "Comparing to Berial, this guy is just Cardin in term of fighting."
"So a badass Jaune versus a dumb Cardin, again!" Nora happily suggests a title for this fight.
"Puny human… Do you know who I am?"
"Just another demon going to die." Blake's summary earns everyone's agreement.
"I shall show you… the wrath… of the MIGHTY GOLIATH!" It shouts and kicks the wall where Nero sits, and he just jumps away like nothing.
When he lands, Nero turns back to see Goliath picking up debris… and thrusts them directly into its stomach, which now opens like a mouth…
"First, ew." Weiss grunts. "Second, whose idea is this?"
"They're demons, not normal animals. They won't follow normal logic." Pyrrha replies. "But, I do agree that it's disgusting."
"At least they're no Chimera."
"How bad can they…"
"Combine three or more Grimm and you get one."
"…I see your point now." Willow now knows that the level of abomination can even be worse.
The lower mouth then closes for a few seconds, causing Nero to slightly tilt his head in confusion. Then the mouth opens and shoots out a very similar fire ball Urizen fired at him like before. Though the aim is very off that it hits the wall behind the Hunter. That causes the Hunter to laugh at the demon and mocks: "Cool trick! Hey, do you do parties?"
Enough with the mocking, Goliath roars with both its mouths which starts the real fight.
Nero VS Incandescent colossus Goliath
"At least the name sounds cool." Jaune shrugs.
"I hope he's better than Berial, though."
"Berial is good, Weiss. Just… we played in normal difficulty!" Ruby argues.
"Then let's just judge base on this level then." Blake concludes.
Weiss goes for the first initiation, but the shockwave from Goliath's shout temporarily pushes her slightly away while causing no damage. As the boss rants, she keeps Snatching on him while slashing him with normal and Exceeded cuts, and uses Gerbera's force as an air dodge when Goliath's arm is about to hit her.
"I think I would prefer using Gerbera from start to finish. So easy to dodge with it."
"The developers will think of something to counter that, Weiss." Blake knows that one move won't succeed twice.
About one-fifth of health being lost, Goliath jumps high up in the air then slams down hard, causing the roof to break and both of the fighters fall down to the lower level. Weiss quickly recovers first and continues hitting the demon. Then she quickly dodges away as Goliath grabs a pillar of the building and swings it in an attempt to hit her.
"Tremble before my might!"
"It's your grave… Jack it up all you want."
Though, while his attacks are easy to see, his big size causes the hit-box to be much bigger than expected, and Weiss accidentally takes a hit from using Gerbera a bit too soon and loses the arm in the process.
"…Never mind what I just said."
"Is that all, you puny human?" Goliath then jumps into the corner of the area for some reasons. "Stop buzzing around!"
"How about you stop jumping as well?" Yang mocks.
Weiss then sees the stomach-mouth slightly opening up, and the wall that leads to the clear field outside collapses. She takes the small moment to escape the narrow area, and watches the mouth open wide and suck everything in its way. The building then collapses, and Goliath quickly jumps out and slams down into the middle of the spacious area.
"For a big demon, he sure likes jumping." Ren comments as Weiss attaches a charged Overture on Goliath and detonates it.
"Using your body weight and gravity to crush people is also a strategy." Winter replies, watching the demon swinging its arms around him to try to throw Weiss away. "But… I seriously never fight one doing that, or even see one like this demon who is qualified as a Huntsman."
"Uh, the leader of…"
"I'm avoiding calling them 'fat', mother. And I don't mean body-builders."
Goliath then does a charge up then explodes like Berial did, except that the time to dodge is way longer, though the affected area seems to be bigger. Then, it says: "The fruit is mine!"
"…So…"
"Urizen is trying to grow the tree, in order to make a something." Weiss finishes what Ruby plans to say. "And Goliath said that blood is precious…"
"The quality of the fruit of a tree depends on how you grow it." Willow understands. "So in demon's logic…"
"That fruit would give the one who eats it power." Winter finishes.
"How could a mere human do this!?" Getting hit too many times, Goliath falls on its legs and tries to keep himself off the ground with its arms.
"Says a mere demon… How about we wrap this up?" Taking the chance, Nero starts cutting the demon as fast as possible before it can get back up.
"Yeah… Goliath really just feels like a big demon." Weiss says, a little disappointed.
"Comparing to the Arma Gigas you fought?
"They are just the same, to be honest."
Completely overwhelmed by Nero, Goliath is thrown towards the building that collapses on him. The demon starts getting up while rambling about not falling here and his attempt to get the fruit and rule the underworld. Nero plans to shoot him in the face with Blue Rose, then he sees the bird of V starting to annoy the big demon…
"I curse my stars in bitter grief and woe…" V starts appearing behind a debris, reading his own diary in his left hand while swinging the cane on the other. "That made my love so high and me, so low."
Blake's Scroll suddenly rings up, and she looks to see the poem appearing on the screen. "Uh… what is this for?"
"You wrote it."
"Makes sense." Yang instantly follows without a doubt, causing the Faunus' face to blush up. "I mean, you read a lot, so you must have something like this written somewhere."
"I like books, doesn't mean I can produce these quotes out that easily." The girl pouts, which earns her chuckles from the others. "Seriously, who wrote this?"
"William Blake."
That causes Yang to laugh wholeheartedly while pulling the Faunus into a friendly hug, which causes the blush to go deeper. "Now you have a penname if you want to write books!"
"Shut up." The girl sends out a weak reply, which causes her friend to laugh harder.
"Is V going to read a lot of poems?"
"Oh you will see, Nora."
When V finishes, he points the grip of the cane (he's holding the middle part) to Goliath. A black panther then springs out and turns itself into a spinning blade and attacks the demon, causing a deep wound to Goliath.
The demon 'for some reasons' is surprised of V's appearance, as it plans to say something, but the wounds quickly weakens him.
"Little wanderer…" V starts approaching the demon. "Hie thee home!" He then stabs the demon's forehead with the cane's tip, pushing it deep until the grip touches the demon, then forcefully pulls it out, killing the demon.
Blake's Scroll pings again, with her saying: "So another one…"
"Good time to produce books, heh?" That earns Yang a light slap to the face.
Nero watches Goliath fading away as he jokes: "Thought I was gonna have to pick you out of his… tummy teeth."
"Pardon my delay. I was… catching up on some…" V then shows his book. "Reading."
"Nice counter." Nora chuckles.
"Yeah… Looks like a real page-turner." They then watch a part of the tree falls as Nero asks: "So… You think Dante's still in there?"
"If Urizen defeated him, then I expect he's not much more than Qliphoth pollen by now."
"A what?"
"Qliphoth." V re-addresses the tree's name. "It's a tree that grows in the underworld."
"Um… shouldn't underworld be… underground? How can you grow a tree there?" Willow doesn't understand at first how that works.
"It's a Heaven-Earth-Hell thing. 'Underworld' is in a different dimension."
"It thrives on human blood, and those whose blood it sucks, well…" V points his cane towards the unfortunate victims. "Let's just say they don't turn out too well."
Nero does feel bad about the people, but they have more important things to do. "Well, in any case… we need to find out. If Dante's alive, we'll save him. If not, we don't."
"Wait." V interrupts Nero's walk by putting the grip of the cane on Nero's shoulder. "First, we need to exterminate some… Qliphoth roots."
Nero clearly sees V's eyes turning away before saying the name of the objects, but he decides not to question.
"So V does have some hidden motives." Weiss comments. "And it doesn't feel the same with the 'Dante being mistaken as bad guy' in the previous one."
"If he's me, I would instantly question V."
"Sometimes it just won't work, miss Winter." Pyrrha argues. "Roman is a good example."
Though, Nero does question when he sees the animals around him: "V… what the hell are you?"
The answer never comes, and then the van arrives behind them, pushing another car away.
"It's going to be her habit, isn't it?" Jaune shakes his head at how Nico controls the van.
"I know, I know, I'm late. Shut it!" Before the duo says a word, the driver says first. "The roads were all clogged." She turns to V and asks: "Hey, you must be V, huh?" She then notices something below his feet. "Hey, you gonna get that?" V looks down to the object, which turns out to be Goliath's horn. "Ding ding ding, right by your feet!" The fragile man swings the thing to her, which she grabs it and sniffs. "Woo hee! I'm gonna make something amaaazing out of this!"
"Did you just sniff that?" Nero questions with a disgusted look. "Do you have any idea where that's been?"
"Up your butt?"
"Ruby with Yang's fool-mouth, that's it." Weiss decides a last, for now, description of Nico's personality.
"Focus on the mission." Nero gives up and goes for the last retort before he and V head into the van so the trio can get to the next destination.