"Are you sure we're headed the right way, Roszen?" Lady asked as they walked through a lush, dense forest.

Roszen pulled out her necklace, which gave off a bright glow. "Well, the necklace is getting brighter, so we're close." The necklace could not only tell her if her mother was alive, but it could also show how close she was to her.

"This should be an easy job then."

Dante groaned. "Now it won't be."

"What?" Lady looked back at the man.

"You jinxed us, Lady, never assume. It will bite you in the ass."

Before Lady could speak, Roszen stopped as the forest ended behind them. "I believe we're here."

They all looked at the clearing, seeing a large building with a few silos next to it. "What is it with demons and warehouses?" Dante asked.

"It's actually an old milling plant," Roszen corrected. "I was hoping for an abandoned church, honestly."

Lady looked at her. "Why is that?"

"Just a little bucket list I have." She raised her hand out in front of her. "Kick demon ass in a church." She looked at Lady with a smirk. "The first on it is to find my father and give him a punch in the jewels."

"I feel bad for him," Dante commented. "So we're going to check this out or what?" He started moving without an answer, and the others quickly caught up.

As they entered the old mill, it looked like it hadn't seen human touch in decades, but nature had yet to reclaim this area. "Demons are definitely here," Dante said as he turned his head about.

"Yeah, I can definitely smell them..." Roszen pinched her nose in disgust.

"You smell the sulfur too?" He waved his hand in front of his face.

"What are you two talking about?" Lady asked, not smelling anything.

"Demons mark their territory with a chemical that smells a lot like sulfur; it's designed to ward off other demons and possibly attract humans, but that's theoretical right now." Roszen looked to Dante. "So how bad is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You have more experience than I. I've only started demon hunting about six months ago now."

"Well..." He took in a strong whiff. "We have a small army here, and I believe whoever is in charge knows we're here already." As soon as he said that several Imps appeared from the shadows. They were small in size, having white skull face masks with small horns on them. Their dark red bodies had two pairs of black bat wings, and they carried either bows or small spears as weapons.

Roszen took out her knives, and Lady was about to pull out her guns when Dante put a hand out in front of her. "Dante?"

He smiled and winked at her. "Alright, Short Stuff, it's the battle of the small fries; show me what you got!" He was slapped in the face by Roszen's tail, causing him to stagger.

"Keep poking fun at my height and I'll make you regret it!" Roszen jumped into the fray, while Dante and Lady stood by.

She took a quick count of her foes; there were ten overall, six with spears and four with bows. "I haven't faced these before... Let's see what they can do..." She rushed one with surprising speed, catching the first imp on the back foot. She managed to get in three stabs before the other imps tried to retaliate. Roszen jumped back as spears jammed into the ground where she was.

The imp she stabbed started glowing and its body expanded, becoming deformed. The other imps started to fly away when Roszen realized what was happening. The imp exploded and its skeleton acted as deadly shrapnel. She managed to get out of the explosion but was peppered by the spike-like bones. "Well ok that's new."

Arrows flew at her as her tail casually deflected them. A smirk appeared as an idea came about. Two of the spear imps charged at her. She parried the first one's spear then punched the other, sending him flying into his friends. Grabbing the first one with her tail, she delivered several fatal cuts before throwing him at the archers. They were too slow to react as their friend exploded on them.

Roszen looked to her next targets. She pulled out her fan at full face and blasted them with cold winds that knocked four of them into a support pillar. They staggered about, trying to get up. As they did so, she closed her fan to a quarter opening, poured demonic energy into it, and swung her arm in a wide arch, unleashing a slicing wind that cut through them and the pillar behind them.

She turned to Dante and Lady as the imps exploded. "So how was that?"

Dante put his hand to his chin. "I give you a B plus because you missed one." He pointed to an imp that was one of the archers, crawling away.

"Oh that, he's going to show us the entrance." She walked up to the imp, who started crawling faster, and picked him up with her tail. It started to shake under her gaze. "Tell you what, you show us the entrance to your little hideout and I won't hurt you." She raised him higher. "Does that seem fair?"

"Yes... Madam..." his voice strained as he pointed to a set of crates. Dante and Lady walked over and moved the crates to discover that underneath them was a hole.

Keeping her word, Roszen sat him down and let go. "You got yourself a name?" she said as she kneeled to his level.

The imp shook his head no. "Low level demons such as I don't have the privilege to have names... Madam." He was hunched over as if he was going to be hit for the lackluster answer.

"And if I gave you one?"

"He'll become your familiar," Dante called out. "Imps like him don't have names because they were made to become familiars for humans who were a bit crazy."

Roszen looked at the imp. "Would I be able to do it?" The imp's head shot up at that.

"I don't see why not; just be careful when making the contract. If you're not, you'll regret it."

She looked to Dante then back to the imp. "What do I get out of this arrangement?"

"If I become your familiar, you'll be able to call upon me at any time. I'll give you power and change my form to suit your needs."

"And what do you get?"

"A name, power, and a new purpose."

"Payment?"

"Right now, I'll take my life being in your hands than the Lord of this place, and the power boost."

"Alright," Roszen said as she stood up. "I'll grant you a name, the power you seek, and a new purpose of helping me." She felt the weight of the air slowly grow around her. "So long as you serve me well and faithful. This contract will last until I've either passed on from this world through death or I deem that your services are no longer required." She held out her hand to the imp. "Does this appear adequate to you?"

"Yes, my lady." The imp grasped her hand with his own.

"Then you'll be named Krex, my shield for when I have none, and my sword for my foes who dear stand in my way." The imp now named Krex slowly began to disappear into Roszen's arm. She saw energy flow up her arm and into her back. Her teeth clenched as a burning sensation spread across her back and shoulders. As soon as the sensation stopped, she checked under her clothes and saw what looked to be a pair of black feathered wing tattoos starting from her shoulder and going down her back. "I was going to get a tattoo when I was eighteen, but I guess now will do."

"Alright, Shortcake, let's see your new guardian angel." Dante gave a few claps.

Roszen's eyes locked onto Dante. "Krex." A slight tingling sensation ran up her back as Krex's new form appeared. He changed into a dark angelic knight, wearing full plate mail that was a dark silver. Black feathered wings sprouted from his back. While he now had a black hood on, his skull mask had stayed but the horns grew in size. In this new form, he was just as tall as Dante.,

"You know, I was joking about the whole guardian angel thing," Dante told Lady, who just smiled.

Krex looked himself over. "I was not expecting this..." His voice had deepened. No longer sounding like a pitiful thing, he now sounded as if puberty hit him three times over. "Interesting..."

"I was expecting that you would be a little thing flying around my shoulder, shooting at demons with a mini-gun or something," Roszen said.

Krex chuckled at that. "I've become something you desired subconsciously, apparently a guardian of some sort."

"So I take it you have a sword and shield?"

"And a bow," he said as he materialized a war bow in his hand.

"Nice." She looked to the others. "Let's get this show on the road." She and everyone else walked to the hole and jumped in.

They walked through a long dark tunnel for a few minutes before it opened up to a large, well lit room. It was sphere shaped and had three other exits. "So which way are we heading?" Dante asked.

Krex answered. "They all lead to the same place, but the center has the fastest route."

"Well, we have our answer," Lady said as she looked to Roszen. "We'll find your mother in no time, Roszen."

They began to move through the room but only got halfway before Krex suddenly got in front of Roszen. They all stopped and saw something walking toward them. It appeared to be a female demon, who had deathly pale skin and was about as tall as Lady. She had large bat wings and a long spade tail. Her armor looked to be more like eye candy than practical. There was a chest plate that functioned more as a corset, and the armor on her arms only reached up to her elbows. Instead of proper leg armor, she wore a pair of high heel boots that had armor plating up to her mid thigh. Lastly, her helmet had crescent moon shaped horns that were black and was nearly fully closed except for the mouth and eye holes that had streaks of blood pouring from them. All of the armor was colored a dull, matte silver. She lifted up a flaming broadsword towards them. "Stop... can't... run... want to... kill..." she forced out her words.

"Krex... who's that...?" Roszen asked, taking a step back.

"Vurnomon's right hand, the Courtesan." Krex summoned a sword and shield and got ready to protect his new master.

The Courtesan lifted her blade higher, the flames growing brighter. "No..." She brought the blade down and a column of fire raced towards them. "...escape."

Everyone dodged the flames but they were separated and the column of fire reached the ceiling. "Well that's not good." Roszen pulled out her fan, pouring as much demonic energy as she could into it before a hurricane force of wind hit the wall of flame.

"That's bad," Krex said as the flames didn't budge.

"Hey, Short Stuff, you alright?!" Dante called out.

"Yeah, I'm fine, asshole!" Roszen took a deep breath before continuing, "What about you guys?"

"She sent another one of those attacks, and me and Dante got separated," Lady's voice answered.

"Don't worry, you two, I'll get us out of here in no time." Right as Dante said those words, the Courtesan appeared at the end of the flames near Roszen.

"And that's worse." Krex got into a ready stance.

"Yeah, looks like there's going to be a change in plans." Roszen looked for a way out. "She's after me!"

"Oh hell/shit!" Both Lady and Dante shouted.

The Courtesan raised her sword then plunged it into the ground. Suddenly rushing Roszen, she said one word, "Death..." and punched her in the face.

Roszen was sent flying and bounced across the ground. "I didn't even register her moving...!" She saw the demon this time and dodged a kick but didn't see the left hook in time. The sound of metal on metal rang out as Krex appeared where Roszen was. "Good timing, Krex!"

"I'd be a very bad guardian if I failed this quickly."

"She's clearly toying with us." Roszen got out her knives with a little flourish. "This is going to be tough."

The Courtesan tilted her head at Krex before locking onto Roszen. She backhanded the guardian before he could move, making him soar across the room, then she suddenly appeared in front of Roszen with a kick aimed at her head.

Roszen spun under the kick and aimed a cut to the demon's exposed hip. The hit landed but the young demon hunter's eyes widened in shock; there was no cut, only sparks. She immediately sent in her tail only for it to be blocked by the Courtesan's very own. The force of which pushed Roszen back. "Pitiful..." the Courtesan said as she walked towards her.

"Why di-" Roszen couldn't finish her thought as she had to avoid another attack. She tried to retaliate by sending one knife to her chest and the other to her neck. However the blow to the chest ended in sparks and the demon grabbed Roszen's other arm before the last knife could reach her neck.

While the Courtesan held Roszen's arm, she used her free hand to deliver a devastating blow to Roszen's midsection. She coughed up spittle, air refusing to enter as her weight crashed against the ground. She couldn't move as she saw the Courtesan winding up a kick. The sound of wings flapping got her attention, and before she knew it she was several yards away from the Courtesan with Krex holding her up. "Good-" she coughed trying to get her breathing under control. "-Good timing."

"Can you stand?" She nodded as her breathing became more normal.

She looked at him. "Can you keep her attention? I think I figured something out."

"I can try, but she seems dead set on you." Krex readied his sword and rushed the Courtesan. Krex lunged his sword at her, but the blow ended in sparks again. He lunged once more in a different area, and she parried away the sword.

As Krex was fighting, Roszen managed to circumnavigate around the fight until the Courtesan's back was to her. She took a deep breath and focused her demonic energy into her legs. She needed to blitz her, and hopefully whatever she was planning would work. When the burning in her legs reached a near unbearable point, she bolted forward just as Krex landed another sparking blow on the Courtesan's shoulder. Her target couldn't react in time with both of them attacking. Roszen sent a knife to her hip, and it dug into the pale flesh, bringing forth blood.

The Courtesan jumped away, clenching her side, as Roszen smiled at her success. "You can only make your skin impenetrable in a small section and you can't change it until a set amount of time has passed. Why else would you block an attack?"

Krex stood next to her, applauding. "My lady, you are far sharper than I."

The Courtesan looked at her bloodied hand then to Roszen. Her eyes flashed red, and she reached out her hand toward them. "That doesn't look go- whoa!" Roszen sidestepped away as the Courtesan's sword came flying into the demon's hand. "Oh shit," was all that Roszen could say before she was on the back heel of an onslaught.

The Courtesan's attacks were powerful. For everyone that Roszen was able to dodge, the ground got torn up, and for the ones that she couldn't, she managed to block but would be sent flying into the nearby stone wall. After about the third time of being sent into the wall, the ceiling started to drop chunks, and cracks grew across the ground.

Roszen rolled across the ground, breathing erratically, arms and legs shaking as she got up. She saw Krex turn into an orb after taking a direct hit to the chest. "Dante... now would really be a good time to show up..."

The Courtesan brought her free hand over the balde and the flame reignited. "She's done that three times now..." Roszen straightened herself up. "She only does that when setting up a big attack..."

"Ha! Finally!" a voice called out from the fire wall. Dante finally got through. He pulled out his pistols, Ebony and Ivory. "Thanks for buying time, kid, but now it's time for the adults to play."

Roszen nodded, but before anything could happen, the Courtesan yelled, "NO!" and brought down her sword on to the ground, making the floor collapse.

Roszen bolted for Krex's orb before the floor fully gave way . She managed to grab it and fall into a tunnel-like slide. She tried her best to stay upright and not hit anything but at the end of the slide she hit a wall and everything went black.