2015, October 11th, 2:52 PM

Urizen was thrown back by Dante's assault, staggering and trying to regain his strength. He hadn't anticipated that Dante would come back, let alone be this powerful. In that form, there was no defeating him, he had to start draining his power into the tree to finish the fruit. Once that was done, his plans would be complete. Slash after slash, blow after blow, Dante beat him back. Even when his power had run out and he returned to his human form, he still proved to be too powerful, eventually sending the Usurper to his knees.

"Even after all this time, you still don't get it, do you?"

Dante taunted the defeated Tyrant, summoning his new weapon, his will, to his hand. But before he could deal the finishing blow, the Qliphoth began shaking violently. Urizen smiled, finally, he had won.

"It is you that does not understand, brother. It is too late. The Qliphoth is emerged in its entirety, the fruit is complete."

A geyser of blood shout out behind The Demon King, and he turned and walked through it. Dante unsuccessfully tried to give chase, only to fail to catch up

"I await you down below."

The Usurper said before disappearing.

2:51 PM

V and Gendo had arrived outside the Qliphoth, and were awaiting reinforcements from NERV to take the injured back and treat them. As they waited, Gendo surprisingly became anxious. He had not anticipated the surge of power Dante would receive, and by the looks of it, he had unlocked his full power. A power to surpass even Sparda. He looked at V, who was now weak, and frail and crumbling. He could end him with a simple bullet to the back of the head, and pin it on the demons, an acceptable plan, given the circumstances. But as he reached for the gun inside his coat, the ground shook violently, stopping him from committing to the assassination. Both of their attention was fixed on the Qliphoth. Which now extended past the permanent blood-red sky and stretched outside the planet itself. He couldn't believe it, Urizen had done it. He had accomplished the same feat as Mundus, and if he consumed the fruit, who knows what would happen? All of a sudden, he hoped Dante would win. And as if things couldn't have gotten worse. An alarm began ringing through his radio, warning him of an coming Angel. Suddenly, he felt something hit the back of his head, hard. He tried striking back with Alastor but was quickly disarmed by a familiar blade, the Yamato. V then knocked Gendo out cold with by slamming the bottom of the hilt against Gendo's face, breaking his glasses and allowing him to start desecding through the Qliphoth and catch up to Dante. This was the only opportunity he would get if he was going to become whole again...

2:54 PM

"Come on, Ikari. Pick up!"

Kozo Fuyutsuki silently muttered as he stood on the Command Center. Observing the incoming Angel through the giant monitors. Gendo had ordered him to hold down the fort, but if he was missing during an Angel attack, things weren't going well. He quickly took over, ordering the deployment of Unit-01 and Unit-02 to take down the Angel. He had to take care of the immediate threat, then he could find Ikari.

2:57 PM

As Dante rapidly approached the bottom of the Qliphoth, using his newfound powers to destroy anything in his path, he started slowing down. He needed to wait for V if their plan was going to work. But at the same time, he found himself increasingly worrying about Nero and his friends, if V left them behind, they'd be at the mercy of the King Of Bastards. If anything happened to them, Dante would make Third Impact look like a joke. A heavy panting drew his attention behind him. Looking back, he saw V, weakly following behind. He tried to help him, only for V to dismiss him out of hand, summoning Shadow instead to take care of movement.

The two traveled deeper into the murky, bloody tree. Slaughtering any demons in their way and racing to catch up with Urizen. Eventually, they arrived at a portal-like entrance to where the fruit was being held, and without hesitation, threw themselves into it. On the other side, Urizen awaited. Staring hungrily at the Fruit in front of him, made of so much Lilim blood that it had all condensed into a single, unstoppable power. Furthermore, the place around them, the soon-to-be arena, was their childhood home. As if the Fruit was taunting the Usurper, telling him that he can change anything.

"Yep, this is where it all started. The day mom saved me... And left you behind..."

Dante said to his Demon brother. In one last attempt to get through to him

"The thing you don't know is, she tried to save you too. She kept searching and searching... Until it killed her-"

"I have no recollection of this place, or this memory. It is an illusion, created by this extraordinary fruit..."

Urizen interrupted Dante. Finally reaching for the apple-shaped object of power.

"With it, I will have... EVERYTHING."

The Demon hungrily devoured it in a matter of seconds, blood staining his mouth. And with that, the illusion shattered. Cracks appeared in the sky as it fell like broken glass. And Urizen began to change, shedding the roots on his back and his old form. Embracing the power he had received.

"Come to me, brother..."

The new King Of The Underworld said, hatred in his eyes and a glowing power emanating from his hands.

"I shall enlighten you, Dante!"

Urizen teleported forward, attempting to punch Dante and V. Only for the latter to summon Nightmare to absorb the hit. The King's fist embedded itself into the murky beast's chest and became stuck. In a flash, Dante scaled Nightmare's back and slashed at his brother with his sword of the same name. The Usurper staggered back, but with his hand now free, he fired a blast using the angelic blood siphoned from Lilith, recreating the Fifth Angel's attack. The blast stalemated Nightmare, forcing V to summon Shadow and Griffon while he focused on healing him. The shadowy feline jumped in the air, turning into a demonic buzzsaw and flying directly towards Urizen. Meanwhile, Griffon powered up to summon a storm of lightning

"Dante, aim your sword up!"

The Eagle-Demon shouted, Dante pointed his sword up, causing it to be struck by lightning and empowering it. He used this power to Stab it directly into Urizen, using it all and electrocuting the King. This, combined with Shadow's attack, staggered Urizen, making him fall to one knee. The Demon half of Vergil quickly recovered, throwing all the attackers back with a burst of demonic power. As soon as they were gone, he began focusing all his power so that it was at its strongest. He would not lose here, not to Dante, not to his pathetic humanity.

"Power..."

Urizen growled ferociously, tapping into his full potential and launching a barrage of attacks, trying to overwhelm Dante and V. He succeeded, throwing them on the defensive and injuring V's familiars. It was at this time that Nightmare had finished healing, and V came up with a plan to overwhelm the Usurper

"Dante, use your demonic form! I will assist you with what little power I have."

V yelled out over the cacophony of sorcery and combat. The Devil Hunter nodded, assuming his true form and charging into battle with V at his side, wielding the Yamato. Urizen rushed forward, clashing with Dante as they struggled for every inch of ground. Suddenly, Urizen's arm was cut off, leaving him weakened and bleeding.

"An eye for an eye."

The mage said, attacking again, cutting through the space between them to perform long range attacks. The Devil-Trigger powered Dante took this as his opportunity to end the fight, stabbing the Devil Sword Dante into the King's chest with all his might as the last of his power faded, returning him to human form.

Urizen had lost. one-armed and bleeding on the ground, he fell backwards, allowing the wound in his chest to gush blood freely. The two battered warriors looked on, and V knew what he had to do.

"It is time, Dante."

He said to his brother, looking at the Usurper with a determined expression on his face.

"Do what you gotta do."

Dante reassured, standing back and allowing V to go through with it. The mage climbed onto the defeated demon's chest and locking eyes with the hateful creature.

"You... Something as weak as you... was able to defeat me?... Is this... My limit?"

The King choked out in-between gasping for air. V was ashamed that this is what the "ultimate power" he sought was.

"It is not about loss. Strength is a choice. Fighting to protect those you love... Dante taught me that."

V retorted, enraging the Demon with his last sentence. Not willing to waste any more of his already dwindling time, V raised the Yamato upwards, chanting the incantation to reunite them.

"While thy branches mix with mine... And our roots together join."

And with that, he drove the blade downward, joining both of them in a beam of light that destroyed what remained of the illusion. Dante was thrown back by the sheet force of the beam, skidding to a halt a dozen meters away. He raised his hand to protect his eyes from the almost blinding light. A few moments later, it disappated, and what Dante saw brought a smile to his face. Where V and Urizen had been, there stood a figure with silver hair, holding an ever-familliar blade and wearing a black coat with silver accents. Finally, after all the years of separation and misery and rivalry and hatred. Vergil had returned...

Author's note: He's back!

You may have noticed I skipped a bunch of bosses in the Qliphoth, that's because I suck at writing fight scenes and Urizen was literally the longest one I've had. I hope you'll all forgive me as this is only a hobbie I have. Israfel's in for a real treat next part ;)