Chapter Twenty Seven: Retribution
Notes: Ah yes. I've been waiting for two damn weeks for you all to get to read this one. This is going to be a wild time. Buck up and get ready for turbulence!
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The air in the open cavern was practically statically charged as the three descendants of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda navigated their way through the dense underbrush, their coats catching on every conceivable obstacle and slowing them down slightly. The eldest of the twins was clearly in a hurry for some sudden and unidentified reason, and seemed to be just shy of an actual panic fueled sprint, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by his youngest son and his younger identical twin. Considering Vergil's generally calm and collected demeanor that bordered on cold dismissal at times, this sudden uptake in barely concealed panic was actually extremely unnerving to his compatriots, especially Nero.
Although he had not spent his entire life around his father, Nero was keen enough to realize that Vergil shouldn't be walking at what could be charitably described as a light sprint through an area that they had no familiarity with and that was inhabited by a sinister death cult that apparently served a particularly worrisome demon. He had warned both Nero and V against doing that very thing just before V had explained enough of his plan to them to get them to go along with it. If only they could go back to that more innocent time before all of this had happened. But perhaps it was better this way. At least they knew what they were up against now. That had been V's intention in the first place.
Nero could practically still see the look on Vergil's face when V had confidently advised the two of them that he planned to be captured so that he might learn more about the inner-workings of the cult that stalked him so relentlessly. Vergil had immediately objected, something that V seemed to anticipate. But he'd reminded his father that both he and Nero had made it into adulthood by going off of their gut instinct and doing what they thought was right. He'd rightly concluded that learning about their opponents could be invaluable, especially when it came to light that they might be more numerous than they had originally anticipated just a short while ago. And when V had reminded his father that they had agreed to work together in regards to solving this issue, Vergil had hesitantly caved, clearly regretting the statement.
Trusting both of his sons was something that he generally didn't have too much of an issue with. They both came off to him as honest and deserving of his confidence in their capabilities. But when it came to plans that could get them severely injured or even killed Vergil was much less flexible. Nero could only guess that the eldest Son of Sparda had agreed to do so in the hopes that it might instill something in V. Perhaps to show that he had confidence in his ability to think things through in light of the stern talking to that he'd just give them both about wandering off into unknown situations and areas without a plan? That was all that Nero could glean from it. But regardless, he himself had been willing to do what V thought was right. He'd seen his intellect in action before in Redgrave City, and anyone who could stealth his way thought that forsaken hellscape by themselves with summons that he now knew he'd only just acquired was capable of making an infallible plan.
But how could any of them have planned for the eventuality that a super powerful demon might be bankrolling a den of somewhat capable summoners?
Nero certainly wouldn't have. He'd never even heard of that type of demon before. A demon prince? Why was there more than one of them? Were they all related to one another, or was it a ranking that they had earned through power and intimidation or something of the like? Nero had no way of knowing outside of asking one of his companions, so he intended to do just that. But he got the distinct feeling that Vergil was in no mood to discuss the finer points of underworld leadership with him at a time like this.
"So this demon… Is he a friend of yours or something? You seem like you've met him before." Nero said as he approached Vergil from behind. The devil slayer had halted his ceaseless march through the thick underbrush in favor of simply cutting through the section they were facing. Why go the long way around when you could go through, especially when so much was at risk and they were seemingly so far from their destination?
Vergil swung the blade once, at least from what Nero could tell. A moment later, the tall pine tree in front of them toppled over noisy and crushed a nearby boulder, cracking it down the middle. One could only assume that the element of surprise was no longer his father's main concern. That fact alone was enough to put Nero on edge, but the fact that Dante seemed to be waiting for a reply didn't help. The youngest of the three normally looked to the two oldest members of his family for assistance with matters he didn't know about. This was one of those matters. The realization that Dante didn't seem to know either startled him. Having to possibly go up against a demon that only one of them knew anything about wasn't the kind of bet he liked to take these days, especially after how spectacularly bad things had gone just two months prior.
"... We've had occasion to interact with one another. He's a rare breed, both cunning and capable, with the patience to sit and wait for an opportunity for as long as he deems necessary. But when he decides to strike…" Vergil stopped talking for a moment, seemingly considering something. His lack of comfort with the situation at hand only grew stronger the longer he had to acknowledge the fact that things had come to this." When I returned from the Underworld, I was in a considerably weakened state. Belial helped put me there. Doing battle against him at that point would've been foolish. The wounds he dealt me part of the reason I was so eager to reclaim Yamato upon returning to the human world."
Dante let out a long, deep sigh, taking in the gravity of his older brother's sentiment. It was not every day that he had to go up against the kind of demon that could give Vergil a run for his money, even if he was in a vulnerable state. Even at his lowest, the oldest Son of Sparda was far above the pay grade of the vast majority of Hell's denizens. And the fact that he'd managed to actually wound Vergil to the point where he had to basically make a tactical retreat to the human world to escape him didn't bode well.
"What do you think he wants with V? Did you throw some of those fancy insults his way and manage to rile him up or something? Because if he holds grudges anything like Mundus did..." Dante started and then trailed off, not even slightly interested in revisiting that chapter of his life. He had enough things to worry about at present without adding his past transgressions to them.
Nero gave them both a sideways look, internally questioning himself as to what the hell they were both talking about. "Who's Mundus?"
The younger member of the group could practically feel Vergil die inside at the mention of that name. For a moment, he seemed to visibly recoil in discomfort at the prospect of talking about it. That alone was enough of an answer for Nero, at least for the time being. After all, they were going against this Belial and his right hand man Agreus, right? This wasn't the time to have things get bogged down in the details. All he needed to know for the time being was who to put a bullet in, and how many it would take to put them down for good so that they could leave this place and it's problems behind them. V didn't need to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder in anticipation of another attack, and they didn't need to be constantly worried about him.
"You know what? Nevermind. I have a better question." Nero said as Dante turned towards him, seemingly about to answer in his older twin's stead. The demon hunter in red nodded as if to ask him to continue." How would this demon even know about V? I mean, you said you fought him before, but you didn't even know about us back then. How could he know V existed without you knowing first?"
Vergil stayed quiet for another moment, felling another thick section of the almost maze-like section of woods that they found themselves in at the end of his razor sharp blade. He looked just about ready to simply fly over the area and search for V that way, but he hadn't made the decision to do so just yet.
"I knew about him. I didn't know about you. And I have no theories as to how he found out." Vergil said in an almost resigned tone. With the revelation that Belial was their opponent, ever passing second felt like an eternity. He needed to know that V was safe, and that was not something that he could achieve from this distance. "As for a reason for him to do this... I don't have one. Belial is above things as petty as grudges. He cares little for minor infractions. He only surfaces when he wants something from-"
As if he'd been hit head on in the face by something, Vergil stopped dead in his tracks. In that instant, he figured out what it was that the cult might be after. And the very idea of it was enough to send him into a frantic roulette of negative possibilities, reducing his mind to little more than a revolving door of nightmare scenarios. As if to compliment the hopeless atmosphere, the conduit suddenly let off another shockwave of energy, this one considerable stronger than the last. The trees bend backwards far enough to touch the ground and the cavern shook violently as parts of the cave shook violently in response to the blast, sending the three devil hunters backwards onto the ground with a thud. An audible screech somewhat akin to the sounds that Gilgamesh had made during Nero's battle with it in Redgrave City rattled the air around them, irritating their ears somewhat.
Just a second later, a second, decidedly different shockwave erupted across the landscape, not so much shaking things as much as it seemed to bathe them in a dark energy. It was thick and fleeting, only lasting a moment before dissipating. The major difference was the effect it had on the descendants of the Dark Knight Sparda. For a brief moment, the three of them triggered before reverting back to their more human forms and leaving the trio as startled as they were disoriented.
Before any of them could climb all the way to their feet, the sound of metal bending against its will followed by a loud, blood curdling scream echoed through the space between them and the conduit, earning a startled look from Nero as he took a moment to consider what might have just happened. Vergil seemed literally frozen in place, be it from disbelief or terror he couldn't say. His father's face was literally unreadable. But Dante's reaction was a bit easier to gauge. The devil hunter in red practically burst into laughter, shaking his head in what had to be disbelief as he clambered to his feet and adjusted his posture before summoning his blade and walking in the direction of the commotion. Vergil slowly adjusted his posture and joined him, although still with a certain degree of hesitation that Nero found unsettling and hard to quantify.
"... What the fuck was that?" Nero asked as he followed along after them, the group now speeding up their pace in silent acknowledgement of the situation and it's possible consequences. The youngest of the three could swear he'd felt something like that before, but couldn't pinpoint the precise moment when he'd experienced it. But regardless, he couldn't help but notice it. There was a certain uncanny familiarity to it that he'd be remiss to overlook. And he had a feeling he was about to find out what it was.
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For a moment, V's entire brain seemed to lack the ability to process the gravity of the injury that had been dealt to him. He blinked slowly, not so much feeling his heartbeat as he was hearing it. The same went for his breath as he drew in slow, deliberate drags of air in a desperate attempt to not teeter over the edge into unconsciousness. His sight was crystal clear for the first time since he'd been brought down there, and that was mostly due to the fact that he was in such an astounding amount of pain that he was probably staring straight up in the air with an exasperated look on his face that would honestly be quite funny if it wasn't due to the fact that he had a knife stuck between his trapezius and his clavicle.
And he absolutely did despite every wish that he had otherwise.
In all honesty, he'd expected of the deranged madman to stab him in the chest or cut his throat, but the idea of being stabbed downward in the space between his shoulder blade and his throat had never crossed his mind. And he was now positive that it was his least favorite place to be stabbed, because to say it was excruciating would've been an undeniable understatement. His entire chest and throat area on his left side felt like it was on fire, and he was pouring blood from the severed artery that had been severely punctured by the blade. V wouldn't have been shocked to find out that the blade had narrowly missed his heart or the top of one of his lungs due to the angle and the length of the blade involved, especially since it was still stuck in his shoulder. Should he consider himself lucky or cursed?
Content with his handiwork, Agreus had simply dropped him onto the ground after he'd stabbed him, the aura of pleasure that radiated off of him at the sight of V so near death unmistakable even through a featureless mask. And as he laid there, not entirely sure how he was going to get out of that situation, a low, barreling, and entirely inhuman voice came from within the conduit behind him. And it seemed thoroughly displeased.
"You are entirely too eager to please me, servant. I told you I needed him alive!"
Agreus backpedaled slightly at the statement, clearly rattled. "And he shall be, Master. I simply had to be sure. What are a few wounds to one with the blood of a devil coursing through their veins? Even one as weak as this boy?"
V would've vocalized his feelings about such a statement, but he couldn't find the mental energy to. The only thing he could feel aside from the lethargy that came with the massive blood loss he'd suffered through was the sensation of something powerful welling up from within him. The latent power that he'd felt activate when he'd first been brought near the conduit seemed to trickle down through the rest of his body, and now it was spreading like a wildfire. As Agreus and the disembodied voice spoke to one another, V teetered ever closer to the edge, but what that edge was, he couldn't say. The murky depths beckoned, and he was tempted to give in to that call if only to quench the all consuming fire that burned within him. And to fulfill his desire for revenge.
"Do not assume to know how my kind function, servant. You are not one of us. Now give me what I came here for and leave before you prematurely deprive me of what little usefulness you still possess."
The young summoner could practically feel Agreus flinch at his master's order before he bowed and turned to face him again. V was actually somewhat surprised to see that the demon that the cultist served seemed to actually think less of him than he did. In truth, he didn't know how that could even be possible. "As you wish, Master. It shall be done."
V wasn't sure what caused it to happen, but the moment that cultist in white stepped towards him, something inside of him shifted. The thin line that he'd walked for the last little while practically snapped and crumbled beneath him, sending him plummeting into the darkness that he felt welling up from within him. For a brief moment, V closed his eyes. And as he reopened them, he caught a glimpse of Agreus as he stopped dead in his tracks in stunned terror. And then all hell broke loose.
With a sudden cascade of power that he couldn't honestly believe had originated from him, a shockwave of black and green energy erupted from within him and shot out across the entire area on a collision path with everything in sight as he was overtaken by the overwhelming force of nature that was his initial transformation. The metal loop that had previously bound him suddenly felt like a cheap toy in comparison to the rush of strength and adrenaline that he'd been hit with. He had no idea what he was capable of doing in that moment, but one thing was for certain: he knew he could break free of his restraints and give Agreus a taste of his own medicine.
And he planned to do just that.
It took basically no effort for him to snap free from the restraints. The metal pulley strained against his resolve and crumbled shortly after. It had only been strong enough to hold him when he was in a more vulnerable state, but in that moment, it lost the battle and toppled over against the ground, slamming onto the stone surface of the altar with a powerful thud that sent the cultist toppling over. Since V was already on the ground, it took very little effort for him to grab a hold of his aggressor and pin him down with his right arm. Unfortunately, the muscles in his left arm still burned painfully.
As if instinctively, it occurred to V in that moment that he still owed Agreus a parting gift. He had made the decision to give as good as he'd gotten, and he intended to make good on that promise. In an act born purely of his desire to help educate his captor as to what it felt like to be stabbed in the leg with a ceremonial dagger, V used his right hand to grip the handle of the bladed instrument and pulled it from his neck in one swift, painful moment. Regardless of his extreme discomfort with the action, it had to come out one way or another. He then immediately turned the blade on Agreus and stabbed him in the upper thigh in precisely the same spot that he'd inflicted his wound and withdrew the blade, keeping a grip on it. Although he now possessed a set of razor sharp claws and fangs, he was aware that possessing a knife was an advantageous strategy, even if he was far from proficient with one.
The cultist cried out in pain and jumped to his feet, stumbling back towards the edge of the conduit as it split down the middle, black energy still radiating from it. V somehow managed to drag himself to his feet, but found that he was far from steady as he stumbled forward and fell over to one side, making impact with the ground again. He winced at the unwanted contact and attempted to stand back up, intent on finishing off Agreus before he could make his escape. Just as his long, needle-like nails made contact with the cult leader's exposed neck, the man in white stumbled back and crashed through the rift in the conduit. The collision triggered some sort of adverse reaction that caused the rift to crumble as it sent forth another powerful shockwave, sending V flying backwards into the shallow black waters of the corrupted pool.
Upon landing in the cursed black water, V gasped and jumped back out of it, his strength and triggered state rapidly regressing as he dragged himself over to the edge of the stone tablet and towards what he assumed to be the exit. As he went, he pocketed the blade and caught sight of the book that the cultist had been carrying. Unwilling to pass up an opportunity to examine it if he made it out of the collapsing cavern alive, he slumped over and picked it up, tucking it away for later. He had entrusted his own book to Vergil back at the entrance before they'd enacted the plan, so he had more than enough room to store it on his person.
The cavern crumbled around him in small sections as the conduit continued to shudder and buckle, breaking off into pieces and falling in the pool of water below. V gradually slowed as he went, despite the fact that he was attempting to move quicker in order to escape. Where was everyone? Had they been led astray by the vast network of tunnels that snaked through the earth to reach this place? One could only hope that wasn't the case. And even if they were with him, would they see him in the pitch black darkness of the cave? He was soaked head to toe in a mixture of the black liquid from the conduit and his own blood, much to the dismay of the non-sentient white shirt Kyrie had talked him into wearing. At least it was now a color more to his liking.
Every cloud.
His injured leg and neck burned as he limped along, more or less unsure as to where he was actually going. Despite the fact that more light was being let in from the holes in the roof of the cavern, his own vision was dimming. Without the extra dose of adrenaline in his system from his involuntary trigger, he was hopelessly low on blood and the energy to carry on much longer. The only upside was that his injuries had ceased bleeding during his transformation, the rush of demonic power more or less acting as a band-aid during the process. His body had patched itself up as much as it possibly could given the circumstances, but he knew that he was still wounded and weak. He couldn't last much longer in such a state, especially lost and alone with nowhere to go.
What he wouldn't have done for Griffon to be by his side.
Or his cane...
Or for the energy and know how to trigger a second time.
He was almost certain that he'd possessed wings for a moment.
Just as he reached a small open patch in the underbrush, a familiar voice called out to him. V glanced up from the ground he'd been too weak to look up from and shuttered slightly at the sight before him. Standing across the clearing from him were Dante, Vergil, and Nero, more than likely just as surprised to see him as he was to see them. Upon catching sight of the sorry state that he was in, they rushed forward to meet him, and not a moment too soon. Vergil managed to get within an arm's reach of him before he crumbled like wet cardboard in a storm and his legs buckled, sending him crashing face first into his bewildered parent.
Vergil kneeled down to make eye contact with the young summoner, allowing him to simply slump over on him as he caught his breath. Although he was not unconscious, it didn't take a particularly keen eye to realize that there was no way he was walking out of there. V had long since reached his breaking point, and there was no going any further. The devil slayer in blue took a moment to quietly take in the sight before him, the gravity of the situation not lost on him. Although he didn't say it (or anything at all) as Vergil quietly placed his hand on the back of V's injured shoulder to covertly assess the damage, he was quite proud of him for making it as far as he had with so little still left in him. Anyone present could tell that he'd struggled considerably to arrive at the location that he had in such short order, especially without the assistance of his family. V's true strength came from his willpower and refusal to lay down and die at the hands of his enemies, and Vergil couldn't help but respect that. It was a similar sentiment.
"... You should rest. Do not try to get up." Vergil said almost breathlessly, relief settling over him and he turned towards Dante and Nero. The two of them had been standing a few feet behind him, giving them the space that they clearly needed. "Take him for a moment."
Nero stepped forward without any form of hesitation, no consideration for the heart attack all the blood he'd be soaked in as a result would probably cause Kyrie when they next met passing through his mind. He would worry about that when they were out of there. Dante hovered around the three of them, trying and mostly succeeding in his attempts to hide his concern. His body language gave it away more than anything else. The devil hunter in red was simply relieved to see that V was still breathing, especially considering how bad he looked. There really was something to him, wasn't there? While he had no idea what had transpired down there, he knew what had just happened to V. All of them did, though the younger of the twin Sons of Sparda wasn't entirely sure if Nero had clued into it just yet. That kind of power was unmistakable.
Vergil took the opportunity to unsheath Yamato and open up a portal to another location before turning towards Nero and Dante. "Go. I'll take him."
The two shared a curious look before wordlessly following his lead. This wasn't the time for questions, and wherever the gate led had to be better than where they were, if only for the fact that it probably wasn't a collapsing cave. As soon as they'd passed through, Vergil kneeled over and brushed off the breathless attempt that V made to offer to stand and simply scooped him up, carrying him bridal style through the portal. The young summoner attempted to protest for a moment before caving to his father's silent demands. V closed his eyes and finally allowed exhaustion to settle over him in earnest, letting out a sigh of relief and discomfort. There was no point in trying to accomplish anything else, not with the state he was in.
As Vergil approached the portal, he paused for a moment. The desire to go and do a quick check of the area to try and assess what they'd been up to was almost overwhelming, but he knew that V couldn't spare that kind of time. He would have to return after he'd seen to it that both of his troublemaking spawn were somewhere less hazardous. A quick glance down confirmed that V was still conscious, though less so than he had been moment's prior. And in that moment, it seemed that the cold irony of the situation settled over the Darkslayer. Vergil had followed through on his prior threat back at the hotel after all.
He'd found something to carry after all.
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Oh, boy, this is going to be one hell of a comment section. I'm excited and scared to see what everyone is going to say all at once. It took me so long to write this chapter that I can't even put it into words. Thanks again for all of you awesome support, and I'll see you next Wednesday! I'll keep you posted on my possible upcoming work hours. I've been off work since before Soliloquy started, but I'm going to try my hardest to keep the same upload schedule. Wish I could just get paid to stay at home and write for you all!