Vurnomon's six wings flapped as he stood, his smile still there. "Just because you can cut me now doesn't mean you've won this!" He put his hand out and the spear returned back to him. "It just means it got more fun!" He rushed at her.
As Roszen prepared to block, she noticed that she could track him a lot easier now. She parried the blow and went straight for his head. Vurnomon was shocked how easily and fast she intercepted him. He ducked underneath and fell back.
"It's because you calmed down, little Rosy," Luna Rosa spoke. "You now have a way of killing him, and now it's his turn to be on the back foot!" Every Devil Arm roared in agreement.
Roszen felt rejuvenated as energy flowed through her. "I guess it is my turn then." Fire engulfed her as she activated her Devil Trigger. "You really should have stayed out of all our lives."
Vurnomon blocked the first scythe but was hit by the second. Jumping back, he spread his wings out, summoning six fireballs and launching them all at her. Roszen pulled out Kamaitachi at full face and swung, pushing all of the fireballs out the way, and blitzed Vurnomon before he could realize what happened. He still managed to escape her second strike as he blocked the first. "You're getting kinda predictable!" He sent a kick at her but she caught it and was ready to cut it off before she got a wing of fire in her face.
"You're the one that's getting predictable." She quickly showed up behind him, delivering a devastating blow to his back. "I'm just making sure I can still cut you!" He let out a hiss as he turned and smacked her with his spear.
They continued their dance, both sustaining injuries, Vurnomon gaining more than Roszen. They knocked each other back, both of their Devil Triggers vanishing. "You're definitely putting up a better fight than your mother did..." Vurnomon said as he got back up, leaning heavily on his staff. "but..." -his smile returned, as he moved into a battle stance- "this... dance has gone on long enough... don't you think, little Rosy?" His twisted smile widened. Roszen's expression didn't change but the hands around the scythe tightened their grip. "AND I JUST KNOW HOW!" He suddenly disappeared. Roszen frantically looked to where he went.
"MY LADY!" Krex yelled as he was smashed into the ground, turning to an orb upon impact.
Vurnomon's laughter was heard as he readied himself to skewer Akko. Akko was too shocked and in too much pain to say anything.
Vurnomon's laughter was suddenly stopped as he felt pain on his arm. Looking to where his staff was held, he saw nothing but a stump, then a scythe blade coming at him.
Roszen chopped off one arm, then his head, and soon the rest of his body. What was left were large meaty chunks of a body. Roszen took a few deep breaths as she saw Vurnomon's body disappear into a ball of light, but she didn't reach for it. She kept her focus on Akko who passed out. The orb flew to Roszen then turned into a spear before disappearing into her.
Roszen freed Akko and gently brought her down. The young girl looked like hell and had demon parts developing on her. The skin around her hands and feet were black, with claws emerging instead of nails. She had half a wing coming out of her right side, and a small black horn sprouting out of her forehead off to the left. Roszen took a deep breath and spoke a spell. "Une Plus Grande Guérison." Green light flowed all over Akko. The demon parts receded into her, but Roszen could feel it. The demon transformation was permanent, and it was only a matter of time before it would try and take over again.
"My lady...?" Krex and Dante walked up, Dante looking like he's about to pass out. "Is Miss Akko going to be alright?"
"She's alive, but I have no way of stopping the demonic transformation from going away further."
Dante stepped forward. "Hand me the kid." Roszen looked at him for a moment before passing her over. "Now sealing isn't my forte, but I should be able to slow it down for her to grow into it." Dante's demonic energy flowed from his arms and around Akko. After a minute, Dante dropped to his knees while Roszen caught Akko.
Roszen looked over her as she began to wake up. The demonic energy had settled but she could tell what Dante did was temporary, who knows how long it would last.
When Akko opened her eyes, Roszen saw that her eyes became a deeper red, almost as red as Roszen's hair. "Akko... you feeling ok?"
Akko looked over herself, no injuries to note, and she felt fine physically, but deep within her very soul she felt something very wrong. "I... feel like there's something inside me wanting out..." She shuddered, "It... it feels wrong..."
Roszen's face saddened. "I'm sorry... I tried to get to you sooner, but I..." She was cut off as Akko hugged her; she was crying again.
"I was so scared... every time I saw you get hurt... I-I wanted you to get out of there, forget about me... and save yourself..."
Roszen looked at her, stunned, before letting out a heartfelt laugh. Akko looked up, not expecting this. "How would I call myself a hero if I didn't save people like you?" She booped Akko's nose, making her giggle. "Saving people from the big scary monsters is what we devil hunters do best." Roszen got up, still carrying Akko. "Let's get you to your mother and get everybody out of here."
Before she could take a step, the remaining Hell Antenoras suddenly appeared out of portals, but before anyone could act, the demons knelt down in front of Roszen as if waiting for a command.
Roszen summoned the staff Vurnomon turned into. "The warlord's spear." She looked back to the demons. "So you'll do as I command?"
A grunt of acknowledgement was her answer.
Roszen gripped the spear. "Free any of the living prisoners and return them back to their homes. Except this one" -she lifted Akko- "And her mother, I'll do that personally." The Hell Antenoras grunted and disappeared into portals.
"So you now have your own personal army..." Dante slowly got up, dusting himself off. " I want one."
Roszen let out a chuckle. "You can barely run a shop, let alone a small army."
The group moved to where Lady and Mrs. Kagari, who was looking much better, were standing. Akko got out of Roszen's arms and nearly ran over her mother. The two cried for a long while.
When they finally got out, through a back entrance near the throne room- it had a working elevator!- they weren't surprised that the sun was rising. "It was almost noon when we arrived," Lady said while popping her bones.
Roszen let out a yawn, a sleepy Akko on her shoulder. "Let's just get to the car before either of us crash."
"Who's driving...?" Dante and Lady both looked like they were about to fall over.
"Krex, you know how to drive?" Krex was carrying Mrs. Kagari.
"Yes, my lady." He did not, but he was better than anyone else at that moment.
After a crazy drive and a week of just sleeping on a couch, Roszen was playing pool with Lady at Devil May Cry. Dante was out getting Akko and her mother back to Japan. How they both knew English very well was never answered; Roszen guessed Mr. Kagari was half American or something.
"And this is game," Lady said as she did a trick shot and got the 8 ball in, winning the game.
"Note to self: never challenge you to anything that involves shooting of any kind." Roszen deflated in defeat.
Lady giggled at her before looking at the time, then sighed. "Well, I need to get going, got a client that needs demons cleaned out of a warehouse." She grabbed a duffel bag off the couch then stopped at the door. "You're going to be alright here?" She looked back to Roszen, who was leaning against the pool table.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." She gave her an awkward smile. "N-no need to worry about me, Lady. I can take care of myself."
"Alright..." She opened the door. "I'll see you around." Then she left.
Roszen gave herself a minute before letting out a defeated sigh, leaning more against the pool table. She wiped her face, and the bags under her eyes became obvious, and the eyes themselves looked devoid of life. She sat there for what felt like hours, but was really about fifteen minutes. Finally deciding to get up, she walked upstairs to the room that would be hers.
The room didn't have anything too out there. A bed with two nightstands in the middle of the room, with a widow over it and a small closet to the side. Her pack was on the bed and Briallan, in her sheath, leaning against the right nightstand.
She quietly walked to the bed, sitting down beside it, then grabbed the sword and hugged it, tears falling soon after. She was finally alone, able to make clarity of her thoughts, no destinations of people or the lack of energy from exhaustion. Just herself and her thoughts. Krex stayed away, knowing his master needed space; his only hope was that she recovered quickly.
It started to rain as Roszen sat there for hours, letting herself wonder what she could have done differently, to find a way to save her mother, or at least let herself not be the one to kill her, but every time she thought of something, she was always reminded of the grim reality. Her mother was gone, and she failed to save her.
A sudden warm feeling came over her, like a mother hugging her child's worries away. She looked down at Briallan, the warmth coming from her. Roszen hugged the blade tighter. "I'm sorry... I'm so so sorry..." The more she cried, the warmer the feeling became.
"...It's... ok." Roszen stopped functioning. "It's... ok... little Rosy..." a voice, her mother's voice, weakly spoke, barely above a whisper.
Roszen looked at the blade, her tears drying up, before she tightened her grip on the sheath and got up. "Ok..." She knew what to do next.
Dante finally came back late into the night. Akko was sad Roszen or Lady didn't come see them off, but Lady had a client to go to and Roszen wanted to keep an eye on the shop. The rain came down pretty hard when he was driving back, and Dante would have been soaked if he did not have his red leather coat.
"I'm back!" he called out as he walked in; he saw the lights were off. He tested the switch, thinking he forgot to pay the power again, but when the lights came on he was a bit surprised. "Kid?" He walked through the main room. "Guess you're asleep again." He took the stairs up and went to her room. He gave a quiet knock. "Roszen?" The door wasn't latched so it opened a little from his knocks.
Poking his head in, he saw no one. Not her pack, Briallan, or her. Walking in, he saw a note on the nightstand addressed to him
Dear Dante, it read.
I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I need to tell the people, who were in the know, about what happened to mother, who were in the know, like my teacher. Then I'm going to help someone who's going to need me. I'm pretty sure you know who.
I left my number on the back if you need to get in touch; I already have the shop's number saved. I'll try and come visit as much as I can. So I'll see you soon... dad.
Love, your daughter Roszen.
Dante let out a sigh. "At least I got a letter this time." He folded up the letter and went back downstairs, put his feet up on his desk, and waited for the next adventure.