Hazbin Devils

Chapter 14 Special Edition (Vergil)

"Mrs. Mayberry? What're you doing with Dante's phone?"

"Sorry, Vergil, but your brother came back bloodied and hurt. I'm helping Charlie look after him. He's recovering, but it looks like he'll be out for a while."

"I see. What happened?"

"Husk said he fought with Azazel and Valentino."

"I always told him not to rush into fights…but…thank you, Mrs. Mayberry, send Charlotte my thanks too."

"I will. Do take care of yourself too, Vergil. Thanks again for helping me."

"Yeah, don't mention it. I gotta go, there's something I need to do."

"Will you be back soon?"

"I can only hope…"

Vergil stared himself in the mirror with a blank expression. His hair was wet after a morning shower and for a moment, he wanted to convince himself that he was staring back at his younger brother. Taking several slow and thoughtful deep breaths, he dried his hair quickly and put on a fresh pair of clothes before exiting the bathroom. Moxxie had passed by him initially without noticing him as he was busy reading something on his phone. Only when he heard Vergil sniffle a bit did he stop to look at him.

"You're awake. Good, Blitzo just messaged several additional details for our guard duty later," Moxxie said in a professional tone.

"And what would those be?" Vergil asked nonchalantly while still drying his hair with the towel.

"Stolas is attending a meeting with several other high-ranking demon lords and ladies and word is that Lucifer himself is coming too. Quite important as you can see," Moxxie explained. He scrolled the message down further and continued. "There're bound to be assassins so we need to protect Stolas at all cost."

"I don't understand. Stolas is a demon prince, and if he's rich, why's he hiring a bunch of assassins to protect him? Why not proper bodyguards?" Vergil asked.

Moxxie mockingly whispered as if trying to tell him a secret. "He's infatuated with Blitzo. You heard what he said that day, so you get the idea."

"Of course, how can I forget," Vergil remarked dryly before tossing the wet towel into the laundry bag. "When do we leave then?"

"In about an hour, the boss'll come pick us up. We'll be picking up Stolas too so I suggest you watch your manners. I heard he can turn people to stone with just a stare," Moxxie said while glancing at his watch.

"I'll keep that in mind," said the blue demon while coolly sweeping back his hair.

Vergil went to the kitchen to get something to eat in the meantime and for the first time in a long while, he felt like he had a bottomless stomach. Millie was kind enough to prepare an extra plate of ham and eggs, something that he had missed eating for a very long time. While he had his breakfast, the blue demon noticed a newspaper on the table. He reached out for it out of curiosity, and the news in the front page talked about the meeting of high-ranking demons. Apparently, this was planned for some time before he and Dante's arrival; the increasing invasion from their hell was just a coincidence and – Vergil suspected – would be a point of concern raised.

There was a bit of minor news located at the bottom of the page, but one that caught his interest. Had Mrs. Mayberry not explained to him over the phone, Vergil would have dismissed it as inconsequential. There were no pictures attached, but the news talked about how someone had raided the penthouse of one of hell's overlords. No prize for guessing who, Vergil thought to himself. He snapped out of his thoughts when Millie placed a cup of coffee in front of him.

"You look like you needed a bit of oomph," she said with a warm smile.

"Not a coffee drinker, but I appreciate the gesture," Vergil said flatly.

"Lemme guess, tea for Mr. Samurai?" the she-imp asked jokingly.

"A cultured drink for a more cultured mindset I suppose," Vergil shot back with a dry smile.

Millie slugged his shoulder and said with a playful grin, "If you weren't working for us, I'd probably rip you a new one for being a smartass."

"I'd love to see you try but we've got more important things to do," Vergil said. He put down the newspaper and took a sip of coffee. "What's the meeting about anyway?"

"Don't know," Millie answered with a shrug. "And honestly, I ain't paid enough to care."

Vergil glared at her for a bit before returning to his cup of coffee. "Fair enough, though it got me curious."

"Maybe you can ask Stolas or something."

"If he isn't a profane avian, I might consider."

Millie merely shrugged in response and went back to preparing breakfast for her husband and herself. Vergil quickly finished up his coffee in the meantime and offered to help the she-imp with preparing breakfast. Given that he spent less time trying out different things in life compared to honing his fighting skills, Vergil did not blame Millie for not trusting him with the frying pan. After all, how one could ruin fried eggs was beyond her. Still, he made up for it by helping her with the dishes.

After he was done, the blue demon spirited away while the imp couple had their breakfast. He had discovered a divinity statue located in the apartment's laundry room. Nobody seemed to pay it any heed and the few curious souls that decided to check it out quickly lost interest as the statue did not interact with them in any way. The few imps that were in the laundry room stared at Vergil for a bit before his return glare made them look away. Inwardly, he smiled at the fact that his demon form intimidated people. That would at least stop them from asking too many questions, demon or not.

When he touched the statue, everything around him stopped like someone had pressed the pause button on a TV remote. The wall clock's pendulum paused in a leftward swing, the imp child behind Vergil had just thrown a paper wad at him with the child stuck in a throwing pose while the paper wad was left in mid-air, and the numerous other washing machines that were in use had nothing but blurs in their baskets. Even the noise around him disappeared with only absolute silence surrounding him. For the first time in a long time, he could hear the beating of his own heart magnified into thunderous booms.

He had absorbed a lot of red orbs ever since being trapped in the underworld and he wondered if there was anything left the statue could offer. As ran the question through his mind, the statue reacted by producing a purple-coloured orb in front of him. Initially, Vergil thought it was odd that the statue would offer him something he already had, but upon closer inspection he noticed that the orb's hue was very concentrated and the carvings looked very different. It looked almost like the skull of a fanged beast.

Nevertheless, Vergil took it and saw a stream of red draw into the statue as it withdrew some of the orbs he had on him. With the odd purple orb in his possession, the blue demon crushed it in his hand and immediately felt a surge of energy course through his body. He instantly felt younger and more energetic, a thrilling sensation that he thoroughly missed from his younger years. He summoned his doppelganger as a test and it did not feel anymore taxing than breathing normally. Whatever the orb was, it certainly supercharged his energy.

"Never one to turn down more power," he said to himself.

The moment he unsummoned his doppelganger, he could hear sounds again and also felt something hit his back. He ignored the giggling imp child and exited the laundry room to meet up with Moxxie and Millie at the lobby. Blitzo was there and was having a conversation with the two of them (and saying something that made Moxxie fume) when he noticed the blue demon walking towards him.

"Ah, V, just the guy I needed to see," Blitzo said with a grin while elbowing him.

"I never knew I was that popular," Vergil said dryly.

"Psh, popular you ain't, V. Gotta give 'em the good 'ol wave and smile if you wanna attract people," Blitzo said straightforwardly. Vergil crossed his arms and the imp immediately cleared his throat. "Anyway, I've just got some information on Stolas's seating position in the grand hall. Conveniently, it's by a very large window."

Vergil rubbed his chin and nodded. "Convenient indeed. And where is this grand hall at?"

"Pentagram City, near the northern end. Big gothic cathedral thing."

"Pentagram City you say?" Vergil said in an intrigued tone. "Well, we should get going then, best not to waste any time."

"Whoa there, Eager McBeaver, where's all this sudden motivation from? Like the enthusiasm, V, but you're acting like you have a dying relative there or something."

The blue demon paused. He was very sure he did not tell Blitzo about Dante. It hit way too close to home but Vergil was certain the imp was not a psychic nor did Moxxie and Millie overhear his conversation over the phone since they were busy screwing each other's brains out when the call happened. Regardless, him being in Pentagram City meant that he could visit the hotel and check on Dante, assuming he was allowed the time.

"No," Vergil replied after a few seconds of mulling. "But I'm sure you shouldn't keep your client waiting.

Blitzo shrugged and said, "Fair enough. Hope you packed enough clothing cos we'll be covering his feathered ass for six days there. Plenty of shit can hit the gigantic fan and I reckon we'll be meeting a fair few familiar fucknuggets trying to cap him."

"Six days?!" Moxxie exclaimed. "The fuck're they discussing about?! What about our other clients?!"

"Don't know don't care. We're getting paid more than those other clients combined, so they can go fuck themselves." He held up a finger before Moxxie could interrupt him. "No, Moxxie, no toilet breaks on the way."

With that said, Moxxie hurried back to his room. While waiting for him, Blitzo felt Vergil tap his head. "I agreed to accomplishing five contracts for you and you're just throwing them away like that?" he asked.

"What about it?"

"Are you gonna scam me out of the deal since this is technically only my second agreed contract? Quite convenient that you left out this little detail, Blitzo," Vergil replied with narrowed eyes and a gruff tone.

"Hey, details change, gotta be flexible when it comes to contracts. Besides, we're assassins for hire; not goody-two-shoes missionaries," Blitzo answered in such a casual manner that it made the blue demon frown even harder.

Vergil grabbed Blitzo by the collar so quickly that Millie only registered what had happened a second later with her knife drawn. He easily lifted the imp up like he was made of feathers and brought him to eye level.

"V, don't do this," Millie warned with a cautious look on her face.

"My matter is with this ne'er-do-well," Vergil said without looking at her. "As for you, boss, I'm not in the mood for any sort of games."

Blitzo swallowed a big wad of saliva while trying futilely to free himself from the blue demon's steel-like grip. Out of the many adversaries he had fought against, the imp hated to admit it but Vergil was one of the few people who struck genuine terror in him. Not even Martha or Striker could accomplish that. His burning electric blue gaze pierced through his own glowing yellow eyes like a lightning bolt lighting up the dusk sky.

"Well…how 'bout we consider each day as one contract? There's plenty to do after all," Blitzo said with a nervous grin.

Almost immediately, the blue demon let go of him. "Good."

Moxxie returned just in time to see his wife armed with a knife and Blitzo rubbing his sore neck while standing in front of Vergil. He had a hunch in regards to what had transpired but chose not to ask about it. Instead, he pretended that nothing had happened and walked up to them with as straight a face as possible.

"Let's get going I guess?" Moxxie asked with uncertainty.

"Yeah, good fucking idea," Blitzo muttered.

"I am the storm that is approaching, provoking, black clouds in isolation!"

Octavia quietly mouthed the lyrics along with the song while also tapping her feet with the rhythm. She thought about singing along when the young owl demon saw a decrepit-looking van drive into the driveway of her family mansion. Almost immediately after the van's engine stopped, she sighed and shook her head when she heard her mother Stella started shouting and cursing at Stolas. She was so loud that the Octavia could hear her shouting over the song.

At that point, it had become such a daily occurrence that the young owl demon had learned to ignore it. To some point, so did her father Stolas but he had always tried to be diplomatic and explain to his wife, but she would not have any of it. Stella had even a few days ago drew a sword to threaten her husband with but he seemed unfazed by it. It was up to their servants to stop her, even that took huge amount of effort to restrain her raging mother.

"Oh dad," Octavia muttered softly as she turned away from the balcony to check on her parents.

If Vergil had known the van to be such an uncomfortable piece of junk, he would have told them he preferred to fly. However, since the meeting venue was so far away, he had no choice but to follow along for the ride. And I thought Nico's van looked horrendous, he thought to himself. Blitzo's choice of music certainly did not make the ride experience any better and Vergil found himself with a throbbing headache that even in his demon form he could not ignore. He swore that Blitzo was purposely playing the music loudly just to get back at him for what he did earlier. If Dante was here, he would probably join along with the singing and make a total ass of himself.

Millie seemed to tolerate her boss but at least Moxxie shared his sentiments. His request to turn the volume down got repeatedly ignored anyway so nothing of value has happened. Thankfully, when they reached Stolas's mansion, Blitzo had took the effort to turn off the radio but he was still humming the song. Their person of interest had not made an appearance yet so there was nothing to do but wait. While Blitzo attempted to make a call to remind Stolas that they were here, Vergil found himself examining the mansion closely with his gaze wandering about and back into the interior of the van.

There seemed to be an angry-looking owl creature storming out of the main entrance with another owl creature following behind looking like it was trying to explain something to the other. A smaller-sized and younger looking owl followed too, beckoning the two to stop whatever they were arguing about. Vergil snorted softly and shook his head slowly at the sight and summoned a sword to twirl out of boredom.

"Quite a family," he muttered.

"She's only angry cos I fucked her husband," Blitzo said casually.

"Right, of course you did," Vergil said, not wanting to know the details. "That grey one is Stolas I reckon?"

"The one and only," Millie answered in Blitzo's stead.

Vergil crushed the still twirling sword in his hand, causing Millie to flinch in surprise. "He doesn't look like much to me."

Blitzo chuckled and turned around to look at Vergil. "Oh boy, if only you knew, dear V."

"Please don't call me that."

"You frustrated, dear V?" Blitzo asked with a cheeky smile, causing Vergil to summon a sword right in front of his face. "Okay, point taken."

The argument ended with the wife slapping him across the face, much to the dismay of their daughter. She hesitated for a moment before storming to a waiting car where she got in and slammed the door before the chauffeur could close it for her. Unfazed, the chauffeur proceeded to drive her to somewhere of her choosing. When the car passed by Blitzo's van, Vergil could see her angry glare at the imp before turning her head up in an arrogant manner.

"Man, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed," Millie commented.

"Pretty much Loona every single day," Moxxie added.

"Hey, we don't talk bad about Loonie, okay?!" Blitzo said angrily.

Vergil ignored the two and focused his attention on Stolas and his daughter. He saw her trying to comfort her crestfallen father and she said something that made him smile a bit. Inwardly, Vergil felt a creeping sense of jealousy when he saw the two hug each other. Familial love, something that was robbed from him a long time ago, by demons no less. Yet here he was, witnessing demons showing familial love towards each other, like any other human family would. He subconsciously curled his hand into a fist so hard that he inadvertently cracked his knuckles.

"Ridiculous," Vergil growled while loosening his hand after realising how hard his grip was.

"You…okay there, Vergil?" Millie asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he muttered. He let loosened his fist and took a deep breath. "Just thinking about something."

After Stolas had some last words with his daughter, they bade each other farewell with her watching her father approach the van. Vergil found it rather amusing that he walked like he was some regal bigshot, but the moment he neared the van, his face broke into one of unhindered anticipation and excitement. He could literally see the owl demon's smile become wider. Millie had tugged Vergil's arm, beckoning him to move and make space for Stolas.

Upon entering the van and the door sliding shut, the owl demon began fawning over Blitzo. "Blitzy, there you are my handsome imp! I'm really sorry you had to witness that…scene."

"Oh, I didn't really care anyway," Blitzo said casually while typing something on his phone.

"It's always such a blessing to have such a fine bodyguard as yourself look after me. After all, you'll never know what's going to happen in such an important meeting," Stolas said with a loving look on his face.

Vergil thought it funny to see some royalty acting like a damsel over a lowborn imp. He tried to suppress some amused chuckle but accidentally made a throaty sound that caught Stolas's attention. The owl demon's eyes widened slightly when he noticed a blue demon stranger seated in the van with them. He then narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to examine Vergil, and the blue demon thought he heard a thoughtful hoot coming from him.

"And who might you be?" Stolas asked.

"Vergil," the blue demon answered tersely.

Stolas turned to look at Blitzo and said, "Blitzy, I didn't know you hired a new employee."

"He's a temporary hire," Blitzo answered while starting the van's engine. "We uh…needed some extra help."

"Interesting," Stolas mused while looking at the blue demon. "What brings you all the way to Imp City then?"

Vergil shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Do you want to know the truth or an elaborate story?"

"Aren't you cheeky," Stolas said with a chuckle. "You know, there's something about you that seems…familiar."

"I don't believe we've met before."

"Of course, but the energy you're giving off feels familiar. I normally pride myself with an excellent memory but the answer continues to evade me. Ah, well, I'll remember in due time."

"Tch, whatever you say."

To say that the ride was awkward and uncomfortable was an understatement. A tense and palpable silence fell in the van that not even Blitzo had something to say about the matter. Stolas did not seem all too concerned as he took out a mirror to groom his head feathers and adjust his crown, not bothering to make eye contact with anyone else in the van. After a short while, however, the owl demon was the one to break the silence by telling all sorts of stories and acting like a submissive person to ol "big-dicked Blitzy". It grated Vergil's nerves but he forced himself to think about other things.

During a particularly bad traffic jam that led to out of town, Vergil had almost nodded off to the constant vibration of the van. That was until he felt an explosion rock the vehicle which quickly jolted him awake. Moxxie let out a cry of surprise while Millie was quick to reach to the back for a weapon. Stolas's expression remained calm and regal with his only movement being to adjust his off-centre crown.

"I thought they banned demolition derbies on the freeway," Moxxie said while pulling out a knife and a pistol from the glove compartment.

"Don't look like any demolition derby to me; more like an infestation. Look at that ant thingy," Blitzo said matter-of-factly as he unbuckled himself.

Moxxie made an uncomfortable sound at the sight of empusas. Millie reached for the door handle and pulled open the door. However, before she could leap out, Vergil had rushed past her with his sword drawn and eager for a fight. He immediately sought out the closest demon and sliced it into pieces it in cold silence. Before all the imps could even get out of the van, the blue demon had already hacked a dozen of them. His movement was like greased lightning and not even stopped cars or heavy vehicles stopped his momentum.

"Man, this guy's got issues," Blitzo commented while lifting his shades.

"So…what now, sir?" Millie asked.

"I dunno, he's doing all the work for us," Blitzo answered.

There was empusa on his van that was ready to pounce on them, but the imp just took out a pistol and pointed it behind him without looking. Three bullets fired and all of them found their mark, causing the creature too fall off the van and landing beside the opened door. Stolas watched it dissolve and leave behind some orbs, and he picked up one of them out of curiosity. He frowned and rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he tried to recall where he had seen something like this before. Stolas turned his attention to Vergil and his eyes widened when he saw the blue phantom sword that he occasionally used. His eyesight was sharp enough that he could make out the shimmering details of it.

A short while later, Vergil had cleared the freeway of marauding demons. With the last death scissors reduced to ashes from a well-placed Judgement Cut, the blue demon sheathed his sword slowly that ended with a satisfying click. He turned around to head back towards the van, but Vergil had found himself facing a crowd of local demons with cameras and phones taking pictures of him. There was even a news crew nearby who were busy trying to set up an interview with him.

"Damn it," Vergil muttered. He ran to the van and literally leapt into the open door while deftly closing the door behind him. Thankfully, the imps were already in it waiting for him. Looking at Blitzo, he said, "Drive".

He acknowledged and stepped on the accelerator. The van rammed and pushed past some cars that were in the way and Blitzo outright ignored anyone that got in his way. With more good luck on Vergil's side, the road quickly cleared up to the open highway, and everyone except Stolas sighed a collective sigh of relief.

"Man, V, where've you been in all my career?" Blitzo asked jokingly. "Imagine what I could do with a dozen of you."

"I said to not get used to it," Vergil snapped. "I'm only holding up my end of the deal."

"Vergil," Stolas interrupted, causing the blue demon to glare at him. "What do you call this?" he asked while holding up a medium-sized red orb.

He hesitated for a bit before saying, "It's just a red orb. What about it?"

"Would it interest you if I said that I've seen these before?" the owl demon asked in return.

Everyone else in the van turned to look at Stolas with wide eyes, but Blitzo only looked for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the road and swerved just in time to avoid a slow car. Vergil's expression did not change but his voice was noticeably lower.

"What're you getting at, Stolas?" he asked cautiously.

"You know…a very long time ago, I met a demon who was looking for a way home using my grimoire. Lucifer sent him my way if I remember correctly. Quite a dapper of a demon that chap, you could say I had a bit of a crush on him back then," Stolas reminisced with a small smile on his face. "His mannerisms were rather gentlemanly, and you'll find no other demon who would ask so politely. I was happy to accept some red orbs for my studies and let him use my grimoire in return."

"And?"

"I remember he had a sword that looks almost exactly like the blue sword you used. This demon…what was his name again?" Stolas muttered and perked up when he managed to recall at last. "Sparda, that was it."

"Hold on, you know my father?" Vergil blurted and paused suddenly when he realised that he just gave away his own background.

"Hold the fuck up!" Blitzo exclaimed while stealing a quick glance over his shoulder. "You knew V's father?! Talk about a small world."

Stolas's smile widened and he tossed the red orb at Vergil who promptly caught it in his hand. "The way you fought with that sword of yours, the red orbs that these demons leave behind, I had a feeling I saw all these somewhere before." He cleared his throat and his smile had shrunk a bit. "Gentlemanly you are not, Vergil, but now that I notice it, I'm starting to see some similarities between you and your handsome father."

"Please don't make it awkward for me."

Stolas hmphed and look in front of him. "It makes me wonder where Sparda's sportiness went. I knew he didn't care much for me but he played along. Oh, how it makes my heart flutter."

"I didn't need to know that or have any mental images," said an exasperated Vergil as he tried not to think about it.

"But you don't need to worry," Stolas said while ignoring Vergil's mental anguish. "My heart now belongs to Blitzy and that's final," he swooned.

"Oh brother," Blitzo muttered.

Stolas opened his hand at Vergil and said, "That blue sword I saw you using, can I have a look at it?"

Vergil wordlessly summoned Mirage Edge and handed it to the owl demon. He took the phantom sword in his hand and ran his other hand over it slowly as if to admire it. The blue glow from the sword illuminated Stolas's face, making him look rather intimidating yet at the same time, regal.

"That's exactly how I remembered Force Edge when your father showed it to me," Stolas reminisced while holding the sword like a child before returning it to Vergil. "Quite a fine weapon too…but where's the real one?"

"Someone else has it," Vergil said cryptically while unsummoning Mirage Edge.

Stolas rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "And that would be?"

"None of your business."

The owl demon stared at the blue demon for a bit before laughing and waving his hand dismissively. "Ah, keeping the family weapon a secret, is it? Fair enough. By the way, Vergil, can I see your human form?"

"Is that really necessary?" Vergil asked with a frown.

"Indulge my curiosity for a bit, please?" Stolas asked in a rather ditzy manner.

Vergil sighed softly and said, "How annoying…"

Dante tried moving his hands but it felt like somebody had drove stingers into his nerves. His body hurt all over as if he got whacked over and over by a crowd of Beowulfs. The pain was good, it was an indicator that he was still alive and well. His hearing was a bit muffled, but he could hear some people talking next to him. One voice sounded almost like Charlie, the other was male. They were arguing about something and the male voice sounded like he was despairing about something. Moments later, he could hear the sound of a door being swung open violently and slammed shut.

He tried moving his fingers again despite the stinging sensation. With a bit of stubbornness and perseverance, the devil hunter curled the fingers on his right hand. Sluggish but still responsive, Dante thought to himself. While trying to move the fingers on his left hand, his mind immediately went to work recalling what had happened that put him in this state. He remembered trying to fight Valentino's demonic form and managed to beat him into a stalemate, but anything else after that was nothing but a sea of blanks.

"Can't believe I had my ass handed to me," he thought to himself. "Gotta step up my game."

His eyes shot open and immediately started scanning the room. The female voice he heard was indeed from Charlie, but she looked rather distraught about something and too distracted to notice Dante moving his fingers. The red demon grunted in exertion, causing the demon princess to take notice of him. She quickly rushed to his side and bent down to examine him. His hearing had yet to recover entirely, so it gave him an excuse to ignore whatever advice she was trying to give him.

With an even greater push and concentrating his demonic energy for a release, Dante forced himself up and instantly triggered his transformation. Charlie yelped and fell on her backside in surprise. His devil form went to work patching up whatever wounds he had as he got out of his bed and helped up.

"Sorry for the scare," Dante apologised.

"I-It's nothing," Charlie remarked quickly while dusting her pants. "But…what the fuck were you thinking?!" she suddenly in sudden rage that caught the demon hunter off guard. This was the first time he saw her grow horns and her eyes becoming blood red.

"Whoa, easy with the fire, princess. I've had it worse before," said Dante while holding up his hands.

"That's not the point! What were you thinking, trying to take on one of the overlords like that?!" she fumed while jabbing a finger at Dante's chest.

"Hey, hey, Azazel's my main concern and Valentino was in the way."

"And did you get Azazel?"

"Well…no. I almost got him though."

Taking a deep breath, Charlie sighed explosively to calm herself down. Her horns had retracted and her eyes returned to a normal shade of light yellow. "Dante, I know you're concerned about going home, but putting your life on the line isn't the way to go," she said while rubbing her forehead.

"It was my only chance to kill him and retrieve Yamato's power back."

"And by doing that, it caused a commotion. I'm trying to make the hotel look good, to look like the place for sinners to find redemption…to stop the exterminations. In the end, sometimes I feel like I'm running a circus," she muttered while her head was lowered. "Seems to me that only Mrs. Mayberry is genuinely interested in redeeming herself."

Dante held up a finger and wanted to say something, but he tactfully kept his mouth shut and just lowered his finger. He resumed the use of his human form and decided to pat her shoulder instead. Thankfully, Charlie did not shrug him off but it bummed him to see her crestfallen like that, especially when she did her best to be perhaps one of the more positive things around here.

"Look, you're right, that was pretty stupid of me trying to pull off a stupid stunt like that," Dante said while removing his hand from her shoulder. "But I hope you understand that it's not my intention to get you or the hotel involved in any of this. If it helps, I can live by myself. I cannot let my own enemy ruin your world and where I'm from, they're very much capable of that."

"Are you honestly trying to get into trouble again?" Charlie asked with a frown and a gruff tone.

Dante paused for a bit and chuckled. "Maybe I am. Fighting is all I've ever known since that fateful night. It's what I live for ever since, but I also fight because I'm continuing the legacy of my father in protecting the human world. There's a reason why they call me the devil hunter."

"But we aren't humans."

"I know, but as much as it confuses my sensibilities, the demons here are marginally more human than the demons that I know and love…to fight," he joked. "Maybe there is still hope for redemption here, but where I'm from, there is no heaven," Dante said darkly.

Charlie's eyes widened but she did not make eye contact with him, instead choosing to look at the floor as she imagined a world without heaven. "Great, now you're confusing my sensibilities," she said with a half-hearted attempt to grin.

Dante laughed and sighed while shaking his head. "At the end of the day, Charlie, you do what you can to protect what you hold dear in your world while I protect mine. Azazel cannot be allowed to go scot-free because if he does, he's going to cause more damage to this world. There's no telling what would happen if the demons I know started taking over this underworld."

"My father wouldn't allow it to happen," Charlie said with a resolute and grim expression.

"For all our sakes, I hope he doesn't. No son or daughter should clean up their dad's mess," Dante said wistfully. He looked around for his sword and found it leaning against the bed. He picked it up and gave it a swing to test his strength. "Where is Angel? There's something I want to ask him."

Charlie pointed at the sword and asked, "You're not gonna kill him, are you?"

"No," Dante replied while shaking his head. "But I'm curious as to why he decided to go with a convoluted betrayal plan. If he really is being coerced by Valentino, then maybe I can still save him. Don't worry," Dante said as he unsummoned his sword. "I'll be tactful this time," he added with a smile.

A/N: Well, episode 5 certainly was a fun one to watch. Pitch battle between Vergil and Striker, anyone?