Nero had a map prepared for them by the time they returned the next morning. It was of no real surprise that Dante walked into the agency's lobby with a box of pizza waiting for him. Of course, he knew it wasn't, but the best kind of pizza was the kind that had been sitting out for a couple of hours. Was that weird? Nah. Dante didn't even care.

On the map, Nero had pointed out a total of twelve X's that he marked. They were scattered across the entire region. It would definitely be a process to take them all down, even if he had some help. Not that he was about to ask for it; he was too damn proud for that.

"Well, looks like we've got ourselves a road trip, Lyssa."

"We can always split up, if you want to cover more ground."

"You can't get rid of me that easily." He knew that wasn't what she intended, but in all reality, the whole point of this was to keep her in check, and to be there in case she lost control in one way or another. It would be counter-productive if they went their separate ways so soon.

"Damn," Lyssa snapped her fingers, grinning. "It was worth a shot."

"Ew. You guys get a room." Nero huffed, looking less annoyed and more amused.

They spent about an hour devising a plan, setting up an order in which to take down the Icons of Jezebeth. It was hard to say whether or not time was on their side. Who could say if Ardyn planned to stop them, or if he was just biding his time?

Before Dante and Lyssa left, Nero provided him with a handheld device. It functioned as a cell phone, but also allowed Nero to send coordinates that would lead them to each icon's location.

By the time they left, the air was unbearably humid. Still damp from the overnight storm, the roads were fogged by a blanket of steam. It took the couple about two hours to reach the town where a church resided that kept an icon. Apparently, the place was run entirely by women, though they had completely misconstrued the beliefs of Jezebeth. Most of the heretics did, thinking the succubus and her more notorious sister were driven by the idea of women in power, which was only a small fraction of the story. Ludicrous as it was to have any shrine standing as a tribute to a goddess of lust, the sisters of this church were less about sex and more about empowering women.

Boy, did they have it all wrong.

The church only closed up during the sunlight hours, which gave Dante and Lyssa plenty of time to search for the icon. Nero had said these things didn't always look identical, but they could be anything from statues to altars to small figurines. They were going to have to be thorough in their hunt.

The church had to be several decades old, and it certainly looked like it. Not that Dante expected anything extravagant. They couldn't have gotten a whole lot of money to renovate with such a small base of worship. These women were humble, but based off of the red curtains over the windows, as well as the furniture being mostly of crimson cushions, it was clear they were passionate about a recurring theme.

"They must really like red."

Behind him, Lyssa's voice echoed. "Says the guy wearing the red coat."

"Hey, this is my lucky coat."

"Shh... do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Dante was clueless as they walked into a smaller room, though it appeared to reach a dead end. Nothing inside seemed out of place. Lyssa, however, was scanning the place with her eyes as if she saw something he couldn't. "Lyss?"

"I think what we're looking for is close." She started feeling the walls, as though she was trying to unearth a secret passage or something. Dante tried to help, pulling an old tapestry from the far side of the room. He placed his hand against the wall, putting pressure on a couple of different spots until it suddenly gave, then opened forward like a door.

"Damn, I'm good."

Lyssa came up behind him, but as she did, she stopped short with a gasp. She shuffled back a bit, as if she had been pushed by some invisible force.

"What is it?" Dante didn't know whether or not to be concerned. She didn't appear to be in pain, but she did look as though she had seen a ghost.

She pointed towards the room they had exposed. It was huge, and seemed to reach out deeper into a tunnel. However, she was indicating to a tall statue in the dark, one that could barely be seen from where they stood. It took the form of a naked woman with great horns, her bare foot pressed on top of the back of a nude man that held an agonizing expression on his face.

That was it. It had to be. Lyssa stepped through the doorway first, sliding past him to enter the chamber. Dante followed her, looking towards the tunnel entrance to their right. While it didn't seem like they needed to go that way, he knew there was something coming from that direction.

"Better make it quick. We're about to have company, and I don't think it's friendly."

As Lyssa got closer to the statue, small lights appeared on the ground before her. They were red candles, and Dante was starting to think they wouldn't light up on their own for just anybody. She looked at it for a moment, curious, as if she was trying to find some sort of answer from within the icon. Then, a demonic screech echoed from the darkness of the tunnel. Dante readied his Cerberus nunchaku, spinning it by his side in figure eights.

Meanwhile, Lyssa seemed to have snapped out of her haze, drawing out her dual scythes and twirling them rapidly. As they stilled, there were spears on either end of the handles, and she plowed then into the statue's chest and face.

Again, there came another screech, much louder and angrier this time, as the icon reduced to rubble on the ground. From the tunnel came a great naga. She vaguely reminded him of the infamous Echidna, but the creature wasn't a forest-dweller. She possessed the top half of a beautiful woman, and her girthy, serpentine bottom half stretched for at least ten feet. Her scales were a deep red, and suddenly, Dante realized the fascination with the color.

"Tressssssssspasserssss..." A forked tongue licked the air towards him, and she glared a glowing, yellow stare at Lyssa. "You've dessstroyed her!"

"That old thing?" Dante taunted. "Poor choice of interior decorating. This place really needs some work."

"Foolssss! You will ssssssuffer..."

She lashed her giant tail at him, and Dante jumped effortlessly into the air. With the nunchucks at his disposal, he began to whip them at the attacking limb. "Hooah!!" Adrenaline raged as he dodged its side swipe, ducking underneath it and rolling towards the giant serpent for more direct combat. He loved the thrill of a good fight. A lot of the time, it was just a game to him because it was hardly a challenge.

This time, though, Echidna-wannabe was a little faster than he anticipated, moving more like a viper than a constrictor. Her tail swept at him again, but then, came back around from behind at double the speed, sending him flying into the wall. Dante grunted as he got up, the wind practically knocked out of him. That was quite a blow.

"Hey!" shouted Lyssa from behind the naga. "Get your hands off my man, you big, ugly bitch!"

Turning its back to Dante, the monster hissed in rage. "Ugly? How dare you, you foul, lesssssser demon!?"

"Lesser?" Lyssa scoffed, and from the air, she drew out her giant scythe, its blade riddled with flames. "You hear that, Dante? She must have not gotten the memo."

"I wouldn't mess with her," Dante warned the naga, leaning against the wall. If Lyssa wanted to take this matter into her own hands, then by all means, he'd sit this one out. Besides, she was looking pretty riled up, and he really didn't want to get in her way.

The fat tail came around at Lyssa now, and now, the brawl was on between the two chicks in the room. The naga was easily three times bigger than her, but the succubus moved a lot faster now than before, dodging assaults left and right and returning them with her own. The curved blade she had embedded deep into the demon's shoulder, causing it to howl and hiss in agony. Then, suddenly, with great strength, it used its arms to throw Lyssa across the chamber. As she hit the wall, she bounced right back, landing on the ground with a heavy exhale. Yet, as she got ready to strike, the naga conjured something up its sleeve - a giant ball of electricity that sent Lyssa right back into the ground. Dante jumped back into the fray, and a giant shield formed around their enemy, electrifying anything that touched it. As it grew larger, it sent both him and Lyssa back once again. He was pretty well beat at this point, but if he just transformed...

A giant wall of fire broke through the shield suddenly, tearing it down and jabbing right through the naga's chest. Again, it screamed in pain, its cry almost resembling that of a banshee's.

But the flames didn't come from Dante. Where Lyssa stood was now a winged demon, flames jutting from it like it was the sun. This demon most definitely had a feminine form, one that Dante could not mistaken was Lyssa's. However, pale skin was now adorned with black and gold armor that left little to the imagination. What the shining metal did not cover, the flickering fire seemed to make up for.

On top of her head, she doned a set of magnificent horns, though they almost seemed to resemble an ornate helmet that covered the top half of her face, shielding her eyes completely.

So, this was Lyssa's demonic form. Dante stared, aghast. As two, long lines that appeared to be rope glowing with fire shot out and snatched the Naga by both arms, he noticed they came from the succubus's hands. She grabbed tightly around them, then yanked hard, dismembering the other demon's arms like they were just flimsy, tree branches. Blood sprayed everywhere, leaving Dante to just gawk as the naga was finished off with a fiery scythe to the throat, removing its head clean from its shoulders. Its pulverized body collapsed to the floor, leaving the both of them in silence. Slowly, Lyssa returned to her human appearance, and even she seemed a bit surprised by her own accomplishment.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side," Dante finally spoke. He wondered if he was the reason she had evolved in this manner. Judging by the expression on her face, this was her first time.

Then, he walked to her, thinking maybe he needed to be more concerned. She was splattered in blood, and her green eyes looked astonished.

"You alright?"

She finally looked at him, and she smiled. That was a good sign. Then, to his unexpected surprise, she quickly closed the distance between them, catching his lips in a hungry kiss. Dante didn't have time to reconsider. He tilted his head to the right, deepening the kiss and tasting her tongue with his. The adrenaline was so intense from the fight for the both of them, there was only one way to finish it, and no doubt, she had not yet come down from her high as a vengeful demon.

A fatal lust lingered over the both of them as he pressed her into the closest wall, his hands searching her body. To his disappointment, her transformation didn't render her nude, but that never stopped him.

What did, however, stop him, was a tiny voice that he initially thought was in his head. It sounded distant, but Lyssa's down casting eyes to his coat pocket made him realize that it was Nero's voice he was hearing. He pulled the phone from his pocket, huffing irritably into it as he heard his nephew calling his name.

"Hello? Are you there? Dante?"

"What? What do you want?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out from you. Did you just butt-dial me?"

Meanwhile, Dante barely was paying attention to the question coming from the other end, and instead, was watching Lyssa as she took her hands to the button of his trousers and unfastened it, along with the zipper. Damn, this girl was ready to go.

"I- probably did. We ran into some trouble, got a little rambunctious."

"Okay, that makes sense. We noticed you guys had been hanging out there for while."

"We?" It took all of his power not to speak with a shudder as Lyssa's hand dug into his pants and gripped around him. He didn't know whether to give her a glare or a moan of approval.

"Oh, yeah. Morrison is here. He's helping me locate the other icons. Some of them are a little more evasive."

"Great. Sounds good."

"Did you find it? The icon?"

Lyssa was dropping to her knees now, mischievous eyes looking up at him as she freed his member from its confines. Dante bit his bottom lip, eagerness washing over him in a desperate wave up until the moment her warm mouth enveloped him.

"Yup! Gotta dash. Something's come up. Ciao."

He all but articulately hung up the call. The device fell to the stone floor with a clattering sound. He didn't even give a damn if it had shattered as both of his hands pressed into the wall in front of him. She was a lethal goddess with her lips, leaving him nearly trembling at the sheer ecstasy she rendered him to.

One hand found her hair, brushing it between his fingers until a particularly strong wave of pleasure shot through him. He gripped at her roots, his hand not really needing to guide the back-and-forth movement of her head, as she was doing that pretty damn well on her own. She took nearly all of his fully erect cock into her mouth, which Dante imagined wasn't an easy feat, but then again, Lyssa was a succubus. He was only guessing, but maybe she was supposed to be exceptional at this sort of thing.

He was so close now, but he didn't want this to be over so quickly. Besides, he had something a bit devious in mind, now that they were clearly comfortable with trying new and dirty things with each other.

Reluctantly, Dante pulled back his hips, forcing her to be left with an empty, agape mouth. For a moment, even she seemed disappointed, but he was quick to pull her to her feet and spin her around to face the wall. She was so compliant as he tore down her pants and underwear just beneath her knees, and with his shaft still plenty well lubricated with her saliva, and still harder than a diamond crystal, he squeezed her supple ass cheeks, pulling them apart to push himself in.

Both of them sounded a gasp and a moan, Dante's just a little louder than hers. She was so tight, he couldn't believe how incredible it felt. Granted, the insertion was a bit more challenging than before, but the effort was well worth it. Soon, he was thrusting in, one of his hands reaching around and fondling her clit to keep her stimulated. Being so thoughtful was quite rewarding. The sounds of sheer ecstasy came from her lips like audible honey, and she tightened around him more like a vice grip. She had her hands on the wall, keeping herself stable as she was bent over in front him. As he continued to pound into her, the sound of flesh smacking against flesh echoed through the tunnel, bouncing back to them.

"Oh yeah... Lyss, you feel so good..." A pair of fingers invaded her sex, causing a bigger rise in her as she spread her legs further apart. Her juices coated his digits, and he recalled how delicious she tasted. Dante fucked her harder, his free hand striking her backside, ushering a wail from her that he knew could only be the good kind.

"Dante..." she moaned, and his name spilling from her lips so sensually just about did him in. That's right. He was the one who was driving her into that insane spiral of pleasure. It made his ego soar.

His body racked with paramount ecstasy as he finally filled her, shooting into her a cannon fire that was immediately followed by the tightest grip around his member that he had ever felt. Almost in unison, she came with him, her body pushing backwards into him until it was all over. Dante, feeling winded, leaned down and planted a couple of kisses along her upper back. As he did, his eyes happened to find the dilapidated statue that laid a few yards away. It was almost eerie, how the lifeless eyes seemed to be watching them, and he thought it might just be his imagination. Though he had to wonder now if he might have to suffer Jezebeth's wrath for his lewdness.