Disclaimer: I don't own DMC or Witcher novels or games.

Chapter 5: The strange 12 hours.

Dante and Ciri left the Dol blathana castle together to get to Rivia. But as the distance was great, she offered to teleport to Rivian forest from which they proceed on foot.

"Dammit, Another portal? I hate portals!" gritted Dante. Ciri was surprised to hear that as there's one other person who passionately hated portals, her adoptive father Geralt.

"Looks like I'm seeing another Geralt" muttered Ciri.

"What was that?" asked Dante turning to her

"Nothing!...nothing" replied Ciri in a dismissive tone. Dante smirked at that.

"So, What's this place you are gonna take me?" asked Dante.

"It's called Rivia. A dominion shared with another kingdom called 'Lyria' " explained Ciri.

"Why do I even care?" thought Dante with a chuckle.

"Huh, I thought getting away's gonna be a walk in a park. Now it looks like I'm gonna get my blood dried up" said Dante with a smirk though a slight irritation in voice. Ciri started to lose her patience. She lost count of Dante's whining.

"You know, I think you should quit whining. You have started to become an annoyance!" said Ciri with a hint of anger in her voice. Dante was stunned when she said that. He gave a glance at her face in surprise.

"You ever been in a shitstorm like this?" asked Dante.

"It's not like you have lost your head. And yes, I have been in situations, losing my own track for several years! So you just shut your trap!" said Ciri in anger. Dante couldn't believe he was silenced like this by a woman. The only other person who chastised him like this was his partner Lady. But Dante started to like Ciri's attitude. He started to laugh much to her surprise. Ciri was puzzled.

"What?" asked Ciri raising her eyebrow.

"No..uh...Nothing. Let's go" said Dante. Then Dante and Ciri walked into the wood adjacent to the castle. Ciri decided to leave kelpie here as she didn't want her mare to be terrified during teleportation.

"Alright, this is it. Now hold on to my hands. I'm gonna teleport us to Rivia" said Ciri. Dante stood by her left and hold on to her left palm with his right hand.

"Will it hurt?" asked Dante with a jest.

"No. But it might tickle a bit" said Ciri with a chuckle. Then she concentrated and a bluish green energy field surrounded them and the next instant, they got vanished in a blink of an eye.

...

In Rivia...

Yennefer finally reached Rivia after a long ride on a horse back. She arrived at the Rivian gate and slowly rid her horse into the city. It was morning around 7:30 am. She was looking everywhere from buildings to the people walking in the streets. She didn't carry much luggage with her.

She then reached a 2 storey building. She left the horse in a near by stable and took the bag she carried with her and went near the building's doorstep. She then knocked the door. No response, so she knocked again. After a few seconds, finally the door was opened and a woman with twin hair plaits and with appearance in her 30's appeared. But her eyes were fully covered.

"Hello Yennefer, It's been many years since I last saw you"

"Yes Philippa and thanks that you still remember me"

Philippa Ealhart is one of the founding members of the lodge of sorceresses and the one behind solely destabilizing the north years ago by assassinating kings. The most notable being assassination of king Vizimir, father of Radovid V. Her actions had the worst ramifications, execution of mages, pellars, herbalists, alchemists. Not only that, but also she lost her vision as a punishment and is uncured till this day.

"Sorry, I have been busy for quite sometime" replied Philippa.

"Won't you ask your friend to come inside out of courtesy?" asked Yennefer in a jest.

"You came a long way to see me, so why would I send you back" replied Philippa sarcastically and went inside waving her to come in. Yennefer simply smirked.

"Hm, after all these years not even changed a bit" muttered Yennefer and took her bag went inside. She could see the lanterns lit. with tables fresh with fruits. Phillipa went upstairs and yennefer followed. There yennefer saw alchemy sets, some herbs and distillery. She also noticed Philippa working with her megascope. Yennefer could see Philippa was quite restless.

Yennefer put her bag in the nearby bed and went near Philippa.

"So, it's true you are indeed busy. Planning to contact someone?" asked Yennefer.

"Not just one, but to any of our sisters available"

"Why? Is it some emergency?" asked Yennefer seriously.

"Well, it looks like obviously you didn't notice" said Philippa which puzzled Yennefer.

"Please, make some sense" said Yennefer folding her hands. Philippa was silent for a moment looking at her. Then she talked.

"Few hours ago, I picked up a powerful magical resonance"

"Where?"

"You wouldn't believe, but I shouldn't be able feel it here."

"You mean to say you picked it up beyond your range?" asked Yennefer.

"Yes. It means it's powerful and dangerous. If I can sense a magic here, then the source should be within city's limits. But I checked it, and there was no magical presence even deep in the Rivian forests"

"So, is it too far? My my! This is intriguing. What magical essence could it be?" said Yennefer who's now puzzled with this incident. Yennefer is one of the powerful sorceresses. She has also mastered the arts of black magic. But even then, She doesn't have Philippa's ability to sense magic at a range like she does.

"But I will deal with that later. Surely you must be here on some business" said Philippa.

"Actually yes. I came here to give you this letter" said Yennefer taking a yellow letter from her bag. She then handed over it to her.

"A letter? Let me see" said Philippa. Though she lost her eyes, She can magically simulate visions by tracing her fingers over the texts. She cast a spell and golden light shone over the letter from her palm. She then traced her finger over the text as it appeared in her mind.

"Hm...Oh!...Ok" muttered Philippa while going through the text. After reading the letter, she folded her hands and looked at yennefer tilting her head to her left slightly.

"So, you want me to do this?" asked Philippa.

"It's just an invitation. You can accept or decline right away" said Yennefer. Philippa kept her right palm at her fore head.

"So they have reopened the school at both Ban Ard and Aretuza. Rita want me join either school as a teacher?" asked Philippa.

"I would say it's difficult for someone with a dark reputation like you. But still, this is a good change. You can consider this" said Yennefer.

"I know you would say that"

"And it's also a surprise you haven't involved yourself in conspiracies for 2 decades. 'Teacher' would have a nice ring to it" said Yennefer.

There was an absolute silence. Philippa was giving a thought to this request. On one end, Yennefer's right, she indeed have a dark past. But on the other side, it's a nice change.

"Well, Tell Rita I need sometime to decide" said Philippa.

"No problem for me, for her. Take your time" said Yennefer.

"What are you going to do with this magic you sensed?" asked Yennefer

"I have no way but to ask the other mages I know of" replied Philippa.

"Then I think it's time I went" said Yennefer.

"You could stay here, if you want"

"No, I am off to Ellander. So, until next time. Farewell" said Yennefer to which Philippa nodded. She then took her bag in her hand and prepared to leave. She opened the door and got out.

...

A while ago...

Just a few meters into the Rivian woods, A bluish green energy surge occurred and suddenly outta nowhere came Dante and Ciri with a slight force. They both were staring at the trees for a moment. Several thoughts were spinning in Dante's head.

"Hah!...You know? I really love this!" said Dante in over-excitement. Ciri was smiling back.

"Wish I had this kinda power" said Dante then, "Huh, Vergil? Looks like there's someone like you here" thought Dante with a smirk.

"And bring trouble at your door step" said Ciri.

"What was that about?" asked Dante confused. Ciri looked down and sighed.

"Nothing, Now let us get inside the city" said Ciri.

"Whoa whoa!...Gimme a break" said Dante with his hands in hips. Ciri tilted her head right and gave a puzzled look.

"Now what?" asked Ciri.

"Listen, I don't know how long I've been outta my world. But now I'm feeling hungry and I'll get tired soon" said Dante. Ciri sighed a bit but she knew he was telling the truth coz even she feels tired and hungry.

"Actually, even I too feel hungry. We'll get to the nearest inn" said Ciri.

"Good" said Dante, "Shit, I ain't got a buck in my name to buy anything" said Dante his face frowned a bit. Dante always had a terrible luck with money. He had a huge debt to be repaid to his friend Lady, but fortunately he settled everything. After that for quite some years, he was seeing some good money from the contracts he took before fighting Argosax. But it's not like he carries money everywhere he goes, definitely not to hell.

"Buck? You mean money?" asked Ciri on a hunch raising her eyebrow.

"Yeah. I don't carry it everywhere. Besides, I don't even know what you people call your currency" said Dante.

"Crowns, that's what we call it. And don't fret, I've got enough. I'll buy you" said Ciri. Dante was stunned. He was a stranger here and never expected to be helped by someone this much. There was a slight pause.

"Wow, I didn't expect this generosity" said Dante, his face quite serious.

"Consider it as a vote of thanks for helping with the golem. It might have been a hard time for us, were it not for you" said Ciri with a smile. Dante was convinced with that. He then shrugged his shoulder in acceptance.

"Alright. That's good. So, shall we?" asked Dante. Ciri gave a nod.

Then both Dante and Ciri walked past the trees, towards the roadway. They crossed only few tree rows and reached the road in few seconds. Then both walked along the road towards the city gate. Some people were starring at Dante in bewilderment for his odd appearance and a big sword on his back and even he noticed a few.

"Huh, I used to carry my sword in a case to hide it from the public, not to drag unwanted attention" said Dante.

"Don't worry, It's common here. Though...It's still odd in your case" chuckled Ciri. Dante didn't say anything other than giving a simple smug.

They both reached the city gate which was kept open. There were 2 guards standing with sheathed Rivian steel sword and large battle axe in their hands kept standing on the ground and both had a flintlock revolvers in their left hip holster. They wore an armor that had a crest of 4 alternate blue and white colors with a condor's insignia in the middle and diamond and manticore symbols in the colored sections. The guards saw Dante and Ciri coming and both had swords on their backs. The man in red coat had a bigger sword on his back. They found him suspicious.

"Halt! Who are you two?" asked one guard "And you! Your are not from around here, aren't you? and I assume you're not here to seek trouble despite having that big blade on your back" he said turning towards Dante. Dante folded his hands and smirked. But the other guard's face changed suddenly after seeing the woman with him.

"You pompous fool! Don't you recognize her? That's Cirilla!" yelled another guard. Dante wondered what's happening. That guard's face was terrified. He realized his mistake.

"My goodness! I-..I-...I'm sorry princess" said the guard staggering in guilt.

"No problem. And this man is a traveler hailing from a far off land across the seas and I am his guide" said Ciri.

"But that sword on his bac-..."

"That sword, he uses to protect himself. He's a warrior in his place" said Ciri in a commanding tone. Dante was surprised with the whole act. He realized that calling Ciri a princess meant that she was some king's daughter.

"So, you're gonna stop us, now? asked Dante.

"No Sire! Sorry for the trouble" said the other guard and both went to their respective places to let them in. Dante and Ciri then entered the city.

"Princess, huh? asked Dante with a quizzical smile. Ciri mischievously shrugged her shoulder. They started walking again.

"Well, I am wondering what influenced a king's daughter to choose a life of witcher" asked Dante in a surprised tone.

"Simple, I prefer adventure over politics" replied Ciri.

"And not every adventure is admirable. It's only a matter of time before it turns into a pain in the ass" said Dante.

"Please, I have had my own share of adventures for more than 30 years. I have been on the road for a long time" said Ciri. Dante was stunned and awestrucked.

"30?! You look like some 25 year old kid!" exclaimed Dante. Ciri felt offended, but blushed a bit at his reference.

"Actually, I am 48 years old" said Ciri. Dante's face turned dead panned in surprise. He became speechless and Ciri talked. (Assuming Ciri was 20 during W3, taking her birth year as 1252 and age 48 as of 1300)

"My powers severely slowed my aging the day it got manifested, but it's not like I'm immortal." explained Ciri. Dante chuckled a bit thinking about himself.

"Wait, Did you call me...Kid? A man who himself looks like in his 30s?" asked Ciri mocking him. But little did she know about him. He is 65 years old, but the time itself is different between the two worlds.

"I'm just like you. I'm 65 and my powers did the same thing to me" said Dante much to her astonishment.

"You're 65?! So you are 17 older than me" Ciri astonished to which he mocked by shrugging his shoulder, giving a mischievous smile.

"*SIGH*...Fine, let us get to an inn, have our breakfast and find the sorceress" said Ciri. Dante simply nodded 'yes'.

They both walked through the city streets. As Ciri walked, she was glancing through the past memories of Rivia. The Rivian massacre where her adopted parents, Geralt and Yennefer died. Geralt was killed by an angry human mob where as yennefer died trying to revive him. Ciri came to their aid teleporting them to a pocket universe called the 'Isle of Avalon' under an apple tree where they healed slowly.

Dante was quite intrigued with the city's infrastructure and the people living. He found the city so alive even in the early morning. Though lacking the technology his world had, still out of honesty he found this medieval city beautiful. But it will only stay that way until he doesn't learn the dark history of the continents. Some of the people were looking at Dante bizarre like an 'odd one out'. But he didn't mind them.

They reached a market area where their road goes straight as it is. The market was in the left side where a separate street goes from the market's far end. But Ciri suddenly saw something, someone more precisely nearby a far off building located along their street. Ciri immediately identified a woman dressed in black. She inwardly thanked god for they had just arrived in time to meet the one they had been looking for.

"Dante! There, look!" said Ciri loud, pointing her right index finger to the far away place where the woman in black was standing. Dante managed to take a look at the woman. He too could see her.

"The woman in black dress?" asked Dante.

"Yes! She is the one we are looking for" said Ciri in excitement.

"You mean, she's the one who will help us find the one who knows the navigator?" asked Dante raising his eyebrow.

"Yes. We need to hurry. Come!" said Ciri loud and started running. Dante joined her. They both jogged towards her and finally slowed down a couple meters from her position.

The woman in black was having a bag in her right hand and someone closed the house's door which she exited. Dante and Ciri couldn't see who the person was. The woman went to a nearby stable to get her horse, then Ciri called her name out loud for her hear.

"Yen!" yelled Ciri. The woman turned back to see who called her name. The moment she saw who it was, her face blossomed in happiness. Ciri again jogged towards her.

"Ciri! It's been a long time!" cheered the woman. They both hugged for a few seconds and released the hold.

Dante was watching it a few feet away. Then the woman and Ciri watched Dante walking slowly towards them.

The woman's face expressed both curiosity and bewilderness at the sight of him. A white haired man wearing a long deep crimson coat with its sleeve folded in his forearms and gloves that shows his knckles and the index finger, a black inner suit with 3 belts, A pair of black pants with red and golden lining in the lower limb(This is for the narration sake, for you readers, simply DMC4 Dante). The strangest thing was a gigantic sword on his back. But his face was handsome and attractive standing 6'3" and was muscular.

"Well, it's quite a sight for your reconciliation" said Dante now turning towards Ciri, "But care to introduce me?" asked Dante.

"Ciri? Who is this strange companion of yours?" asked the woman in confusion. Ciri gave a faint smile and then spoke.

"Yen, His name is Dante and we both came to see you because, he needs help from someone like you" said Ciri without a break. Yennefer couldn't make any sense out of this dry response. She was wary of this human standing before her.

"Ciri, I can't help with this bland reply" said Yennefer. Ciri sighed a bit as she too know she didn't make any sense.

"Listen, we are tired and haven't eaten anything for a long time. Let us go to an inn. There, I will explain everything" said Ciri. Yennefer could see the weight in her words though confused. So she decided to take them to a nearby inn.

"Alright, there's an inn nearby" pointing to a street adjacent to them. "That corner, at the end of that street? That's the inn. Let us go" said Yennefer. Ciri nodded. Dante smirked inside regarding his diet. All he use to eat was pizzas and strawberry sundaes.

"Hah, Sure as hell, I'm not gonna get pizzas and strawberry sundaes here" thought Dante.

Then Dante, Ciri and Yennefer walked their way to the inn. They took the street and turned left at the end to see the inn. It had a board hung at the entrance with the Inn's name 'Silver side' written on it. Dante couldn't identify the language it was written yet it was strangely familiar to him.

They all entered the inn to see lots of people in the tables having beer, meat, sandwiches etc., having a laughable conversations, playing cards. It was very active in the early morning. Dante was intrigued with the inn. He could see a lot of people having a good time.

"No matter where, somethings never change!" exclaimed Dante. Yennefer raised her eyebrow in confusion. Ciri smiled a bit at his reference.

"There" Ciri pointed out an empty table. "We can sit there" said Ciri. Then the three walked towards the table.

Some people seated, were distracted by Dante's presence. Some of them were staring at him like they have seen something else. They were murmuring among themselves. The main reason Dante stands as an odd one out was his costume, appearance and the big sword of his. Dante didn't mind them as he expected this kind of reaction from people coz he was from another world despite being a human.

Ciri, Yennefer and Dante reached the unoccupied table and they three sat. Yennefer and Ciri took one seat and Dante sat opposite to them. He took his sword and kept by his right side resting on the seat. The inn keeper came near them. She was an old woman in her sixties.

"What would the ladies aaaannnnd...gentleman...would like me to serve?" asked the lady showing a blinking face expression at Dante. She also glanced warily at the sword near by.

"A nice breakfast would do" replied Yennefer.

"Well then, a ham sandwich and goat's milk would do good" said the old woman.

"Works well for me" said Dante with a smirk.

"Me too" replied Ciri. Yennefer then ordered 3 for them.

"I'll be back in a minute" said the woman and went away.

"So, Dante right?" asked Yennefer to which he nodded.

"Ciri said you need help? But first, who are you?" asked Yennefer. Before Dante could answer, Ciri answered for him.

"Yen, he's not from around here" said Ciri.

"You mean, from a far off continent across the seas?" asked Yennefer.

"No. He's not...from this world" staggered Ciri.

Yennefer was stunned and her eyes widened and her jaws slightly dropped. Her face expressed a mix of surprise and peer. She was speechless. She didn't expect to hear or see anything like this, especially in an inn. She once again looked at Dante with suspicion, then turned to Ciri.

"Ciri? you serious?" asked Yennefer.

"What she said is true. I am from another world" casually replied Dante.

"How's that even possible? Or is this some trick?" asked Yennefer dismissively.

"No. I found him on my way from Zerrikania near the blue mountains just 12 hours ago. Accidentally, he arrived here through a portal" replied Ciri.

Yennefer didn't know what to say or ask. She's a sorceress and much familiar with traveling between worlds. Of course Ciri, who as the ability to do that is her adopted daughter. But she didn't expect someone from another world to be here sitting with them having a breakfast. To add fuel to the flames, he was without a doubt, a human which itself raises a lot of questions and suspicion.

"A human from another world!? Is that even possible? Wow, my life is full of surprises" Yennefer exclaimed.

"I need to get back to my world and Ciri said you could help us in a way" said Dante.

"Maybe or maybe not. But not here. We will go to my house at Vengerberg. There you can explain yourself with details" said Yennefer.

"And where is that?" asked Dante feeling disgusted for taking a long ride again.

"It's far from here. But...I always have my way" said Yennefer looking at Ciri with a smirk.

"Yen, I think you have rounded a bit. You should start walking instead of roaming around with portals" said Ciri with a sarcastic smile. Dante couldn't help but smile in amusement.

Yennefer let out a faint laugh, "Looks like you still hold on to those witty remarks" said Yennefer. Then she turned to Dante and talked.

"I'll help you. Perhaps, this has picked my interest" said Yennefer.

"Thanks Yen. Actually, we both have a lot to tell you. Let's finish our eating and get to your house" said Ciri. Yennefer nodded at that.

Dante in the mean time suddenly noticed a man with his hood on, watching him for a long time while having his drink. He was seated in the adjacent table to his left looking at him from the opposite direction. He was alone and was spying on him. Dante's eyes shrunk in suspicion. But he didn't stare him back, not wanting to raise suspicion.

This is when the old woman came with 3 plates of ham sandwiches and 3 mugs of goat's milk.

"Here's your order" said the woman placing the plates and mugs. Each plate had 2 ham sandwiches with knives and fork. Then the woman went away.

The three then ate the sandwiches and drank the milk and then they had some water. The three finished their breakfast in 10 minutes.

Dante still watched the mysterious man glancing at him. This was unusual even for him. He doubted whether this was just a stare because of his odd dressing or something else. But he decided not to bother. Then the man stood up from his table and walked away from that place.

"Was he starin at a ghost?" thought Dante.

"Huh, That was a nice sandwich we had" said Ciri then turning to Dante "So, did it sate you?' asked Ciri. Dante snapped out of his thoughts and then talked.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I had good bite" said Dante smiling in gratitude. But Yennefer noticed the delay he took to answer and his facial expression.

"Is something wrong?" asked Yennefer.

"No...nothin" replied Dante, dismissively nodding.

"Thanks for the treat Ciri" said Dante.

"Ah it's nothing compared to what you did" replied Ciri returning the smile. Yennefer didn't understand what they talked about.

"What he did?" asked Yennefer raising her eyebrow.

"I'll explain everything at your house. Now if we're done, let's pay up and go" said Ciri. Yen and Dante agreed. Dante sheathed his sword on his back and the three walked out of the table towards the inn keeper. Ciri paid for the food and then left the inn.

"So, are you gonna use the portal to your house here just like that?"asked Ciri.

"No. We'll use the narrow passage in the nearby building to open a portal without anyone seeing" replied Yennefer. Ciri and Dante nodded and they walked towards the nearby building. Between the inn and the building the narrow passage where no one can see as the building's pillar and a street side shop clearly hides the passage.

Then reached the passage and walked to its end where there was a wall blocking.

"You want me break that wall?" asked Dante calm.

"No, just hold on for a second" replied Yennefer and then cast a spell to open a golden yellow black glowing portal over the wall. Dante raised is eyebrow in mild amusement and then the three walked into it. After that, the portal closed behind them.

...

After few minutes, Dante, Ciri and Yennefer exited the portal at the Vengerberg city's outskirts. The place was a grass land with some huts, trees and bushes in the far off land. The sunlight was just warm and the temperature was comfortable. Not much of activity on the road, especially there. From that point, the three walked along the road.

"So, what do you call this place?" asked Dante.

"Vengerberg, Capital of the kingdom of Aedirn" replied Ciri.

"A city of comfort. Industrial revolution here made the city prime focus of tradings of high grade textile and cosmetics. Even house good educational institutions" said Yennefer.

Dante was quite intrigued with the city's development. The industrial revolution in his world was only in the mid 19th century, but seeing the same level of growth in 13th century in this world was something he found worth noting.

"I think we're quite far from the city gates. We got enough time to talk while walking our way in" said Ciri.

"Good idea!" said Yenenfer turning her head facing Dante, "So Dante, What's your story? How did you get here?" asked Yennefer. Ciri was eagerly watching the conversation, but decided to answer because the story started with her.

"Actually last night around 8:00 pm, I was on my way from Zerrikania. Just a few hundred metres from the blue mountains, I witnessed Dante blasting out of a portal" replied Ciri.

"Really? You sound like it was an accident" said Yennefer.

"That's right. It was indeed an accident" said Dante. When Ciri mentioned portal, Yennefer was stunned because, using portals to travel between worlds involves very high level magic. Only experts like the navigators can do something like that. This made her ever more curious to learn his origins.

"So, is your world associated with magic? Portals to travel between worlds require incredible level of sorcery" asked Yennefer.

"To a degree, yes. But my world doesn't have sorcerers and alchemists in greater population like this world does" replied Dante. Yennefer raised her eyebrows in confusion and looked at Ciri with the same expression.

"Actually, before we came to Rivia, we were in Dol blathana" said Ciri.

"Dol-...!? What you both were doing there?" asked Yennefer keeping her face serious.

"From the mountains, It was the nearest region where we could actually see any mages. Dante needed a mage's help who can help him to get back to his world" said Ciri.

"And what? You decided to ask Francesca for help?" asked Yennefer with her eyebrows raised.

"But if not for that big fuckin rock, we would have saved some time" said Dante that brought both the woman's attention.

"What is he talking about?" asked Yennefer suspiciously.

"Actually, sometime after our arrival at the castle, Dol blathana was attacked by a golem, A brute" said Ciri which shocked Yennefer. She stopped walking and was staring at them both. Of course, it would shock her as she knew about a golem brute. She knew that they bring utter destruction.

"Ciri! If it's attacked by a brute, we need to help them!" yennefer yelled in tense.

"Uh..Uh..Uh..Godspeed Yen! The golem has been crushed to dust" said Ciri calming Yen down. Yen was once again confused. Dante let out a smug folding his hands.

"Ciri, You know what it takes to kill a brute!" said Yennefer.

"Just someone strong enough to take it down" replied Ciri which made Yennefer puzzled.

"Who did it?" demanded Yennefer. Ciri glanced at Dante with a smirk.

"This man" said Ciri pointing towards Dante. Yennefer was stunned. She can't believe a man from another world destroyed a brute which would otherwise take full might of sorcerers and witchers combined.

"You?!" asked Yennefer surprised, looking at Dante.

"I won't say it was an easy fight. That SOB was tough" said Dante calm and cool.

"And even carries strange weapons with him. He summons them through magic" replied Ciri. Yennefer's face expressed a surprise smile.

"Alright, You have piqued my interest young man. You did something unimaginable" exclaimed Yennefer. Dante chuckled for calling him young man. In fact they have no idea how old Dante was with respect to the Aen seidhe and Aen elle. Then everyone again started walking. They almost reached the city's gate.

"The sorceresses of that place said that some navigator guy can help me" said Dante.

"Navigators, Yes. They are capable of helping you" said Yennefer.

"But, they mentioned that only Avallac'h can lead us to the navigator. Also they said that you were the last person who had seen him at Aedd gynvael" said Ciri.

Yennefer was then reminded of her meeting with the elven sage. At Aedd gynvael 3 months ago, She met with Avallac'h in lifting the 'winter queen' curse which Geralt refused to do for unknown reasons. The fact that the winter queen was an old and very powerful specter of a wild hunt, she needed the sage's help in lifting it. The curse was complicated in multiple levels. King Tankred Thyssen of Kovir and Poviss wished to renovate the ancient elven ruins, but was wary of the ruin's dark past. It was the combined effort of Yennefer, Triss merigold, King's advisor and Avallac'h. After weakening the spirit, Avallach used a rare elven black pearl to contain the spirit and took it with him. Then Tankred began the renovation.

That's the last time she saw the sage. Before leaving for Toussaint, she met with Francesca and mentioned these events during their conversation.

"Yes, That was 3 months ago. I was on a business" replied Yennefer.

"Do you know where he is?" asked Ciri.

"Yes. He's in Skellige Isle" said Yennefer.

"What's he doing in Skellige? I already broke his laboratory" replied Ciri said sarcastically.

Thanks to you, with queen Cerys's permission, he had set up another one" replied Yennefer with a smile.

"Why does he even need a lab in Skellige? When he's got his home world?" asked Ciri.

"He said that would be the perfect place whenever he was in Aen seidhe. Other than that, Even I don't know" replied Yennefer.

"Hah, Suspicious as ever" said Ciri curling her mouth and nod dismissively.

Dante who was listening to their conversation, spoke.

In the meantime, suddely dark clouds started to form over the city slowly becoming visible.

"Can you take us to his laboratory?" asked Dante.

"I don't know where it is. But we can ask the queen herself" replied Yennefer. Then she turned to Dante and talked, "You can explain yourself. Even I might be able to help you" said Yennefer.

"Sure and thanks" said Dante to which she nodded. Now the clouds have gathered greatly such that it was highly visible and felt odd. The three noticed the clouds and were confused.

"Where did the clouds come from? They don't seem natural" said Yennefer suspiciously.

The were now near the city gate. But Ciri's face suddenly turned in awe at the sight of something. She was terrified.

"Yen, look! Over there!" yelled Ciri pointing her finger towards the town. The three saw the town from outside. There were multiple smokes rising in the air with lots of explosive sounds. There were screams of people running blind in terror. The guards who stood near the gates readied their weapons and ran inside the town to look for the source of trouble.

"What the hell is that!?" asked Dante seriously.

"Yen, What's happening?" asked Ciri loud.

"I dont know, but some troubles set foot. Let's hurry and check it out" said Yennefer. Then the three started running into the town through the gate.

...

After entering the city, the three saw burning buildings. 6 of the city guards gathered at the middle of the boulevard. The civilians were screaming in terror. There was something that killed few of the people at the same time at blinding speed.

The guards looked like they had seen something, a kind of golden lightning arc like thing. The soldiers were keeping their long battle axe ready looking for the 'thing'.

"Guards! Keep your eyes open! Something's attacking all over the city!" yelled one soldier.

"Form a Circle!" yelled another soldier. The guards stood in a big circular formation to watch the entire 360o.

Suddenly one of guards yelled in pain.

"RRAHH" yelled and before they could see what attacked him, he was dead and smudged in blood with some heat vapors coming from the torn gut.

"Shit! What the fuck was that!?" yelled a guard. Another guard was dropped dead in split second.

"th th th th...Oh no! Oh no! we are fighting a goddamn ghost!" another guard freaked out.

Dante, Ciri and Yennefer just witnessed the mess that happened in a minute. Dante saw the golden electric arc in the air moving as if teleporting from one building to another all over around. He knew what exactly was that thing. He had faced them before at the fortuna castle in his world, The Blitz. And now he's confused and tensed.

Dante was wondering if those demons were present in all the worlds or was it just coincidence with his presence here. This is the second similar situation he's facing, the first being the shadow demons he faced at the mountains. It had only been 12+ hours since his arrival and he was already fighting demon hordes without a gap. Something about the situation made him wary. Blitz's presence in this world, that too exactly after the moment they came to the city doesn't seem coincidental to Dante. He started to feel as if someone had been on his trail for a long time.

"Blitz? here? How the hell!?" Dante exclaimed in a low voice.

Ciri and Yennefer were terrified to see the creatures tearing apart the town. They didn't know how many of them were attacking.

"My goodness! What are those things?" asked Yennefer, feeling wretched.

"I have never seen creatures like this before!" said Ciri drawing her fast.

"Whatever they are, they are fast, almost like you Ciri" said Yennefer.

"That thing's called Blitz, a demon with the power of electricity" said Dante, his face fixed.

"Wha-..? How do you know?" asked Yennefer turning to him shocked and surprised. Ciri got a sense of deja vu. She was looking at him not too surprised.

"I take it you have faced them before?" asked Ciri bluntly.

"Yeah and no time to explain. These are tough bastards" said Dante.

"How do we stop them?" asked Yennefer.

"Their body's surrounded by electrical shield. Drop them, they will be vulnerable to any attack. But you only have limited time. Even guns can drop their shield" said Dante and immediately left to help the people.

"Guns huh?" thought Ciri drawing her dual flintlock revolvers and sheathed her sword.

"If it's electricity, I just know how to drop them" said Yennefer now looking at Ciri, "Be careful".

Yennefer decided to use water to to ground them and drain their shield and then use any attack to kill them. Then Ciri transported both of them further inside the town to help.

Meanwhile, the remaining four guards were being toyed by the demon. One of the Blitz appeared briefly and charged the electricity in it's hands and shot it at one guard. The discharge instantly burned and incinerated him.

"FUUUKKK!" yelled a guard after witnessing the death. Then the blitz appeared before the remaining three guards. It lunged towards the three where they stood motionless in fear.

But suddenly multiple gunshots were heard and the blitz roared and was taken back by the force of the bullets. The blitz staggered a bit. The guards turned to look at the man in red and black suit pointing his guns against the blitz.

"You wanna live? Get you asses outta here!" yelled Dante. They were warily staring at him.

"NOW!" he yelled again and then they nodded their head and went away from that place to a safe hideout. The blitz regained its composture. But unfortunately, there were 2 blitz that were teleporting to both sides at blinding speed. Now the 2 blitz were facing Dante ready to attack. Dante had complete attention on both.

Then the 2 lunged towards him. He immediately jumped and used the 'sky star' trickster style and landed behind them. As the two turned back to see him, Dante charged his guns rained down energy filled bullets at the 2 blitz. The demonic energy stunned and drained the shield of one blitz while the other evaded the attack. Dante wasted no time, he holstered his guns and drew his sword and dashed at the unshielded blitz using the 'Air trick' trickster ability.

Then he striked hard in it's body to which it roared in pain, but noticed the other blitz lunging at him. Dante air dodged behind the weak blitz which got accidentally knocked out. Dante used this opportunity and drew his Ivory and shot energized rounds at the blitz weakening it. Now both the blitz lost their shields. Dante then alternatively dashed between the 2 blitz and strike multiple times with rebellion and with each strike, they get weakened. But suddenly, their bodies began to glow with red electricity. Dante knew what it exactly meant. It's the vicious stage just before it's death. Now it will be even more quick and brutal.

He immediately dashed back quick to escape it's clutches. Now the 2 blitz were teleporting even faster. One lunged at him, he had no choice but to do the 'air trick' to a safe distance. He then charged the sword with energy to give the final death blow. When the blitz teleport dashed at him, he timed the strike and gave the death blow with a heavy grunt. The blitz flew back and fell to the floor. Then suddenly, it glowed red even more and then blasted away to death.

That left only one. The blitz roared at him.

"Hah! Come on! Come to daddy" Dante taunted with a smirk.

The blitz teleported towards him. He immediately jumped and did the 'sky star' move and landed far behind it. Then instantly, he channeled the rage in his hands and was posing in royalguard stance. When the blitz dashed at him, Dante did the 'royal release' that not only killed the blitz but also blasted away near him that knocked Dante a few steps back, letting out a grunt.

Then he took the sword in his hand looking at the mess, the still burning buildings and the tension in the air. The surrounding was slightly filled with smoke. The survived 3 guards then came out from their hiding and watched Dante in awe as he managed to kill the demons. They were watching him in terror. Usually, witchers deal with these kind of problem but they could see he wasn't a witcher. Though human, he looked totally different to them.

"Oi! That was one freakin show you did there" said one guard in surprise.

"Thanks for the compliment, pal" replied Dante.

"Who are ye? Never seen a man like ya before" asked another guard.

"Sorry pal, I have to check if there are more of these in the town. So..?" said Dante.

"Sure, sure. And thanks for the help. We are in your debt" said the 3rd guard. Dante simply smirked and shrugged his shoulder in acknowledgment and then he ran towards a two storey building and then leapt high to it's roof.

"Shit! Is he a human? Clearly no human can jump like that, even witchers and mages" said a guard.

"Whatever man, he just saved our ass" said the other guard.

...

Meanwhile Ciri and Yennefer were at the very big square in the town where there were 6 blitz lunging everywhere, breaking and burning things, killing the people in the vicinity.

Already, before reaching the square, they together faced 2 blitz. Ciri used her guns on Dante's advice and dropped their shields down. She also noticed that shooting it's face causes it to lose the shield more quickly but the chances are low to shoot it's face precisely. Until then she had to use her powers to warp around enemies. Once done, she used her witcher sword to carry out multiple slashes. But then again she too faced the problem of blitz turning red. If not for her powers, it would have drained her life. She felt difficult in attacking at that stage. But Yennefer used spell to summon water and splash it over, that would ground the electricity and weaken it. If it's red, it would die by exploding itself. But the electricity shot from it's hands had the ability even to break the shields.

Similarly Yennefer used magic to shield her self from it's attacks, but the electric punch weakens her shield and felt difficult in managing. But at the right timing, the water through her spells weakens them by draining their shields. Then use magically summoned fire and blades to hit the blitz. When it turned red, she had to do nothing but splash some more magically summoned water that would cause it to explode.

"Shit! There are still 6 like that here" said Yennefer.

"Yen, have you seen anything like this before in your life?" asked Ciri.

"No. But they clearly are other worldly creatures. That Dante seems to know them already" replied Yennefer.

"Looks like some pretty big magic work had been carried out to bring these things here. This is the 3rd strange incident happening in 12 hours" said Ciri.

"I know. Once this is over, I'm going to do something about this" said Yennefer. Ciri nodded at that.

"Right, now let's take care of these things here" said Ciri.

Then both went into the square to the blitz's vicinity. They saw them both and lunged at them. Ciri instantly teleported aside and Yennefer raised the shield. The blitz attacked the shield and she grunted to the applied force. Ciri then appeared and shot her revolver at the blitz, but couldn't aim at the face. The bullets managed to hurt the blitz so it teleported towards. Yennefer used this opportunity to splash the water again that drained its electric barrier. Then Ciri created a powerful warp field around the blitz and slashed the blitz multiple times until it bled to death. When the field was removed, It fell and blasted to nothing. To the outside observer, It appeared as if Ciri attacked the blitz at light speed.

With one down, 5 to go for them. But unfortunately, all the 5 blitz stopped their rampage in the square and turned to look at Ciri and Yennefer.

"Uh Oh! Looks like we got all the remaining's attention" said Ciri dead panned.

"Ciri, if they all come at same time, no way we can throw offense. We both must use the shields to save ourselves" said Yennefer.

Just like they predicted, all the 5 blitz teleported towards them at the same time.

"NOW!" yelled Yennefer and both Ciri and Yennefer together raised the shield now a durable. But the Blitz combined attack still made them stagger. Ciri let out a grunt in stress.

"Ye-..Yen, we can't-... hold-...forever!" said Ciri in a stressed tone.

"Don't give away Ciri. We can do this" said Yennefer, trying to encourage Ciri.

When the 5 again lunged at them, suddenly a powerful shockwave knocked all the blitz back to a distance.

Yen and Ciri were surprised. They released their hold to turn back and see who did that. To their amazement, it was none other than Dante. He watched them both stuggling from above a building. So he jumped to the ground to help Ciri and Yen.

They both saw Dante standing with the sword in his hand in a stance. He then walked to them.

"Huh, took you long enough" said Ciri sneering.

"Sorry ladies, Had my fair share of troubles on my way" smirked Dante. This is when those 5 blitz slowly gained their composture and then roared at the attacker.

"Alright, this party is gonna get even more crazy!" said Dante turning to Ciri and Yen.

"You both tend to the wounded. I'll take care of these SOBs" said Dante. Yennefer looked at him in suspicion for some time and then took Ciri with her to help the others.

"Okay assholes! Let's rock!" said Dante with a laugh. The blitz then pounced at Dante.

He immediately dashed to his left. When another was about to hit him, he air dodged to its back and immediately drew the Ebony and stormed with energized rounds. Three more came from his left, right and front. He leapt with a back flip far away from them.

He then raised the sword towards the sky and closed his eyes and focused. Suddenly, a powerful lightning from the clouds surged into the sword and to his body. He then opened his eyes bringing the sword down. The blade was blinking with the coated lightning. Dante summoned the 'Alastor'. He then waved his hands, taunting them to attack him. One blitz pounced on him, Dante timed the strike and blew the blitz with his sword. The Alastor made him immune to electric attacks. The blitz's electric barrier overloaded and vanished. He then did the 'air trick' to get near it and slash it with his sword. Suddenly another blitz jumped at him. He immediately turned and used his left hand palm to shoot a powerful lightning arc at it. The arc fried it's barrier and was knocked back. He then jumped and did the 'helm breaker at the previous blitz he was fighting. The move instantly killed the blitz which blasted away. The Alastor's lightning negated the blitz ability to turn red.

Then he did the powerful 'stinger' attack to the blitz he knocked out with the arc which was impaled deep with the sword's force. The Dante lifted the blitz with his sword and bent his body backwards and pound the impaled blitz to the ground. Then, he lifted the blitz from that stance and pounded the blitz again to the ground, this time to his front. Then held his sword with both the hands and revolved like the weight throw sport and threw away the blitz from his sword with great speed. The blitz died in the mid-air. There were 3 remaining blitz.

Yennefer and Ciri while helping others, watched Dante's incredible fighting prowess and his strange magical powers in awe. Even Ciri who had seen his abilities before was dumbstruck seeing him summoning a lightning. They felt like HE was manhandling them.

"My god! Never seen anyone powerful like this" said Yennefer stunned at the sight.

"Surely, to evade those creatures teleport attacks, one should have an incredible reflex and still that won't be enough" said Ciri who was equally stunned at his power levels.

The remaining 3 blitz leapt at him from multiple direction. Dante acurately maneuvered the attacks and had the three in a position he wanted. He gave a slight smirk and then dashed at them to unleash the most devastating rebellion move, 'The dance macabre'. 3 quick slashes, a round body trip and a million slash followed by 3 power slashes that staggered the 3 blitz. Then charged his sword enough and delivered the final fatal death blow that not only tore the blitz into the air, but also the resultant shockwave flew past and hit a building far behind which cracked under the force.

That was the last. All the blitz in the town were obliterated. Dante then calmly released the Alastor from him and sheathed his sword, knocking the dust out of his hands. His fight with the 5 blitz lasted only for 5 minutes (Imagine how fast he fought). And the cloud that formed above the city also vanished bringing down the warmth sunlight back.

Dante then slowly took a look at the square which was partially ruined by the demons. The guards and the people who hid themselves and ran from the place were staring at him in astonishment and shock. They have never seen a human this powerful who fought these demons at lethal speed as if they were nothing. Then the guards snapped out of their gaze and tend to the civilians. He saw Yennefer and Ciri walking towards him.

"THAT...was one hell of a performance. You seem more than what you say about yourself" exclaimed Ciri with a smile. Yennefer was speechless for sometime. Dante was still in confusion

"I have a lot of questions to ask you" said Yennefer keeping her face serious. Dante knew what this was about.

"I am glad to answer if you people help me get off this world" replied Dante folding his hands.

"Before that, I need to ask you something. You said you knew these creatures. Have you faced them before" asked Ciri.

"Yes. In my world" replied Dante. Yennefer was doing mind calculations about the situation. 3 attacks in 12 hours was something made her wary.

"You should know that the shadow demons we faced at the mountains and these lightning creatures you call 'Blitz' never belonged to this world. You said you knew both the entities. Something tells me that those creatures actually came for you" said Ciri which startled Dante's mind.

"Even the golem's attack? Brutes are powerful, but they never meddle in the mortals business. Attacking a city is too unusual for the golem brute" said Yennefer her face showing some clarity. Even Dante felt the same thing. Fighting the very demons in another world which he faced in his own world was weird for him.

"Can you make any sense out of it?" asked Dante. There was a moment of pause. She kept her fingers in her chin.

"Hm, Fighting other worldly entities we've never seen or heard before and golem's attack...There must be some kind of magical rift that spans the world"

"Meaning?" asked Ciri.

"Someone with incredibly powerful sorcery is playing with the rifts i.e., The hidden pathways between the worlds" said Yennefer.

"In that case Yen, My powers would easily detect them" said Ciri her face showing discomfort.

"That's the point. Someone who can even mask himself from you" said Yennefer.

"Is that even possible?" asked Dante.

"Clearly the recent events are a perfect witness" replied Yennefer.

"So what do we do now?" asked Ciri doleful.

"I am going to gather all the mages to investigate this matter. Its slowly getting out of hand" said Yennefer seriously. Then she turned to Dante.

"Dante, You said you faced these creatures in your world and even fought them like nothing. Who are you actually?" asked Yenenfer growing suspicious.

"I had already told Ciri. In my world, I am a hunter of sorts. The sword I carry gave me powers. With that, I fight the evil forces and drive them away or kill them for good" replied Dante with a twisted expression.

"Hm, I think it will do for now though I can say you are clearly hiding something. But, no time to prowl on that now" said Yenenfer.

"Wait! Yen, Avallac'h? He can help us. I think he clearly knew about those rifts you said about more than us" said Ciri wide eyed.

"Then you and Dante go to Skellige and meet Creys. I will gather the mages at Thanedd to see through this. I don't think we can stay here for a long time" said Yennefer turning to Ciri.

"See you, Ciri" said Yennefer and teleported away. Dante and Ciri took a moment of silence.

"So, can you take us to that place she said" asked Dante.

"Sure, We can't waste any time here" said Ciri.

She had a feeling that these 12 hours of unfortunate incidents had some connection with Dante, but she waited for the right moment to ask.

She then held Dante's hand and teleported away to Skellige Isles and escaped the place before anyone could interrupt them.

...

That's it. It's really difficult to write the action sequences, especially Dante's. So there won't be any fight for atleast next 2-3 chapters, only story tell.

Finally, Ciri realized that something is not right in their world and something is playing with them without anyone's knowledge. Ciri and Dante are gonna meet with Avallac'h and a great surprise is waiting for Dante at Skellige, something he never expected.

Yennefer will gather the mages at thanedd and find out if there's anything messing with the world. In the process, they are gonna find something horrific. And the answers they get will once again have them at where it all began.

As for Geralt, he will not appear for quite sometime as he hasn't yet reached Velen.