Disclaimer: I don't own Witcher or DMC franchise

Wlyman2009: The answer for the new demon lies in chapter 8 - author notes at the end of the page - 2nd line.

Meech Macko, Wlyman2009 and Guest: I accept that you are right about the potential of Dante x Ciri pair up. I will seriously consider about what can be done to get that.

Warning: May have strong language, violence

Chapter 10: Byzantine power game

Geralt had reached Velen and things turned out to be different. He met the last surviving crone and through her, learned of a terrible incident that happened 2 days before his arrival. While investigating, he was attacked by strange creatures and got a minor wound. He then called Yennefer to help him in this investigation. Geralt awaits her arrival, but something strange happens.

Geralt while resting on a rock, suddenly infrasonic growling echoes started to resonate. Geralt barely heard words in an unknown tongue in the echoes. He stood upon the rock, his heart beat slightly increased. This time the air around him became even more heavy and surprisingly, the medallion didn't react to it. Geralt felt immense hostility around him.

"Shit! What now?" thought Geralt and this time, not just the swamp but a portion of Velen darkened with the sunlight still present.

"This is definitely magic, I can feel it. But why my medallion's not reacting to it?" asked Geralt to himself. The echoes started to physically wear Geralt down.

He readied his Aerondight and jumped off the rock and slowly, steadily took his steps along the swamp. Something was interfering with his witcher senses. He was having a hard time concentrating. A mix of darkness in a dim evening light made even his cat eyes, strain to see the surroundings. He crept amidst the now demolished abandoned huts to check.

Geralt suddenly started to feel a chill and a smog appears out of his mouth while exhaling just like when he felt the presence of the Wild hunt. But he knew it was something else. He heard a deep gritting sound that seemed to come from a wolf.

He slowly turned his head backwards prepared to face whatever heinous present behind. When he turned to look back,

" **RRRAAAHHHHH** " Not a wolf, but a beast, straight out of gruesome nightmares, a face once seen could never be forgotten. It roared at him with it's face distorted revealing demonic features. Geralt was stunned and his already white skin turned ghostly white out of fear and jumped on his feet backwards from the creature.

It looked just like Weavess explained. It had ruby gem like eyes, long bunch of porcupine hairs, muscular body with reptilian feet and hands with powerful claws. The creature appeared deep blue black.

Geralt at that instant realized that this was the creature that made even the Weavess to piss on herself. If Geralt knew to read demon's facial expression, He recognized the evil maniac and anger in it.

Before Geralt could do anything, The beast suddenly turned to black mist and covered Geralt and used the force to throw him in the air.

"WHOOAAA!" yelled Geralt before falling down the ground over the stagnated water. He then got to his feet only to see the creature moving like a mist.

"So this is why there weren't many foot prints" thought Geralt with a grunt.

It emerged out of the mist and swung it's clawed arm to attack him. This time, Geralt blocked it with his Aerondight. He struggled a bit as the demon was so physically stronger. Geralt instantly scrapped the sword against it's arm and dodged beneath it and connected it with a slash to the back. It caused a cut wound but it instantly healed(like Wolverine) and that stunned him. The demon slowly turned to face with it's body posture normal at him or precisely gave a mocking stare.

"Oh...FUCK!" thought Geralt. Then the demon without a notice swung it's both arms violently at him in series at lethal speed. Geralt barely managed to tackle each and every slashes and some attacks got too close to him. It was pushing him to his limits.

Then suddenly, the demon went atop a tree and roared at him. Geralt was catching his lost breath. The demon just made him to feel tired and thus exposing him highly vulnerable. He turned to look at the demon above and gave a smirk.

"What? Got tired?" daunted Geralt which proved to be the biggest mistake in his life.

The demon turned to mist and instantly covered Geralt and threw him in the air to it's left. Geralt was yelling in mild fear. But before he could fall down and touch the ground, the demon appeared at the exact place and again covered him with mist and threw him to the opposite side. Again the demon appeared at the place before he could reach the ground, this tme threw him vertically up and from there it bounced him down and then kicked him straight horizontally that made Geralt to fly in the air and hit a tree and fall down. Imagine this whole attack happened in just 4 seconds. It was quick flash of an attack.

"AAHHH! SHH-...FUCK!...**GRUNT**..." These were the only thing that Geralt was able utter that too with difficulty. The attack caused multiple lacerations, 3 broken ribs, and torn shoulder blade tendons. This was when he realized the stupidest move of daunting a creature he knew nothing about and the fact that this attack was simply meant to toy with him. For a moment, he reminded himself of how he used to toy with the monsters he set out to hunt.

To make matters worse, Geralt was internally hemorrhaging. He spewed the blood from his mouth. He was struggling to stand. He used his sword anchored to the ground as a support to get to his feet. Even then, he couldn't stand fully. He leaned his back over the tree and desperately looked at the porcupine haired demon slowly walking at him.

Geralt was outright confused as to where this creature might have came and was even more suspicious of it's powers. He had never faced any creatures like this before. Of course, he had fought and defeated Dettlaff who had the same mist like powers. But this was even more punishing, hardcore.

"**HEAVY BREATHING**...Yen, if it get's late, I love you very much!" muttered Geralt, his final words after admitting defeat against this unstoppable freak of nature with so much pain. He knew that instant that this was gonna be his last moment. He never thought, he was gonna end up like this all of a sudden. He gave credit to the demon's strength. Geralt vehemently stared at the being.

"Come on you filth! Finish this!" yelled Geralt. The demon closed the gap and choked Geralt's neck with it's left arm and lifted him up with ease. Geralt had little strength to resist but was totally in vain. It was analyzing him, tilting it's head left and right and to Geralt's surprise, it talked in a deep demonic growling ugly voice, but in a language he never recognized.

"Yaf zmulc haf til kyiz py?" said the demon.
("You think you can beat me?")

"Yaf mfpilw vory ulwuqluoutilz"
("You humans are insignificant")

"Olty xe'p valy suzm haf, xe sudd eryeiry za aeyl zmy qizy vorv fldyiwm mydd ulza zmuw sardv"
("Once I'm done with you, I will prepare to open the gate and unleash hell into this world")

The demon finished talking and used it's demonic tongue and made a scratch in his cheek as a blood mark.

"Aahh!" Geralt grunted in pain as it burned his mind with the exact same words in the unknown language.

Then the demon threw him down a few meters to his right and walked away as the other shadow creatures surrounded him, prepared to kill him. The demons all at a time raised their arms to finish him, Geralt showed no expression in his face as he was certain of his fate but then a sudden flash of light appeared.

"**BOOM**" a loud sound came and all of a sudden, a bright light as if the sun itself has reached the ground lit the whole swamp and incinerated the shadow creatures away.

"What's that!?" muttered Geralt lying down struggling to see what it was. Finally a woman in fully covered black dress with a hood covering her head. She released the hood to reveal her face which Geralt managed to look at.

"YEN! Thank God, you are here" said Geralt excitedly seeing his lover. But he can see that Yennefer's face was not happy. She immediately knelt down and tended to him with her arms.

"Geralt! You-...What happened to you!? You are bleeding both in and out" said Yennefer despondently, tensed to see him hurt. Geralt struggled to speak but his mutations were slowly healing him.

"*COUGH*...I saw that...THING. It's too powerful. Yen, we need to get the hell outta here. It's not safe here. I need medication before getting into another fight" said Geralt hastily.

"Geralt, what were those shadow creatures?" asked Yennefer. Geralt slowly managed to get to his feet.

"These are demons. I know that for sure. But there's something more powerful here. Now we can't see it though. Seems-..."

"GERALT! I think...that THING has found us" whispered Yennefer interrupting Geralt who watched her face horrified at the sight of something in front of them. Geralt was confused and slowly turned to look at what Yen was staring at.

They both saw the same porcupine haired demon with ruby eyes staring at them with it's claws ready to tear them apart.

"Is this the demon you said about?" asked Yennefer without letting her eyes of the demon. Even for Yennefer, that thing was grisly, horrendous, imparting fear, nothing but a nightmare.

The demon growled and its eyes glowed and the swamp again became dark.

Suddenly it turned to mist and pounced on them.

"YEN! WATCH OUT!" yelled Geralt who then pushed Yennefer to his left and cast an active shield. It blocked the creature's attack just for once and the next swing shattered the shield and threw Geralt backward.

"GERALT!" screamed Yen and immediately cast a spell to hit a lightning bolt at the demon's body. But it didn't do a thing to harm it but dragged its attention. It slowly turned to face her and lunged at her. This time she used a powerful spell and charged an energy ball between her palms and when the demon closed the gap, she released it fully that knocked the demon back with great force. But it did nothing other than forcing it back. The demon just raised his arms to block the energy attack and to prevent the light and dust.

Yennefer was stunned to see the demon standing a few metres away, harmless.

"Hm hm hm Huh ha ha!" was the mockery from that creature. It once again stupefied Yennefer with it's speech.

"I wsyyz duzzdy sapil suzm qryiz easyrw"
("A sweet little woman with great powers")

"Taa wiv zmiz uz sal'z myde haf iqiulwz py"
("Too sad that it won't help you against me")

said the demon in an unknown language.

"What the hell was that?! I never heard that language!" thought Yennefer. This bought Geralt enough time to run and pierce the sword from the back. The demon just reacted to the stab force. It suddenly swapped its front and back body from the same position just like that to face Geralt. It then knocked Geralt down and Yennefer used a powerful magical fire on it which seemed to quite stagger it. Yen used this distraction to get to Geralt.

"By the Goddess, Never seen a creature like this. How did it get here?" asked Yennefer, her breathing quite rapid.

"No idea. But it was powerful enough to kill everything here" replied Geralt. The demon after putting out the flames turned to face them slowly and did nothing but corrupted the atmosphere with dark magic that acted like a psychological toxin.

Both Yennefer and Geralt grunted in pain in response and knelt down gritting their teeth and holding their heads.

"Ge...Geralt!...Wha-...What's-...ppening" asked Yennefer who struggled to speak. Geralt couldn't speak as he was writhing in pain. Both felt their head being hammered and drilled down with a large stake. Their minds, visions started to distort, see things crazy.

"Ye-...YEN! Get us outta here!" gritted Geralt. Yennefer without saying anything slowly turned and raised her right hand to recite a spell and open a portal out of velen.

Yen succeeded in opening a portal just n front of them. She immediately held Geralt by her left arm and crawled into the portal. The portal did a good job in sucking them in at great speed. The demon watched this entirely and immediately teleported to them and swung it's right arm before they could escape. But Geralt and Yen were successful in escaping the creature and the portal closed behind.

...

Yennefer and Geralt were thrown out of the portal in the middle of nowhere that was just an open space. They were relieved that they were out of the forest and landed on a grass field.

"*HEAVY BREATHING*...Think we are safe" said Geralt who was lying just the way he landed and fell down. Yennefer took time to respond and Geralt started to worry. He then got up slowly to see Yennefer sitting on the ground with both the legs crossed to left and showing her back to him. He then slowly got up tensed and walked towards her front and stood only to see her holding her palm over her right upper abdomen below her breasts. When Geralt sharply gazed at the spot, he noticed blood dripping down from there.

"Damn, you are bleeding, Yen" said Geralt hurrying to remove her hand out of the wound. He then saw 3 claw scratches quite deeper and blood was dripping out fast.

"It hurts like hell!" grunted Yennefer.

"Wait, I'll help you to stop the bleeding for now. But we need to get to a healer soon" said Geralt who then unpacked a small bottle that had white raffard's decoction to stop bleeding while it won't regenerate the lost tissues. That was the reason that she must attend a healer.

"Take this white raffard. It will stop the bleeding, but it won't be enough" said Geralt giving her the bottle.

"Eeww! I never liked it's taste, but what the hell!" Yennefer hesitantly drank the potion. After a few minutes, the bleeding stopped but the cut was open which can decay over time that may bring new problem. Yennefer still after taking the potion felt tired because of the subsequent loss of blood.

He then helped her by putting her one arm over his neck and held her waist for support. Geralt then whistled for Roach. It came running towards him as it had already escaped the swamps. Then the three slowly walked towards a big tree at the edge of the canopy of woods that leads to the hills on the other side.

They finally reached the tree and laid Yennefer to the ground and had her lean back over the bark. He knelt over her position.

"Gerrrallttt-...Why do I feel tired so much?" asked Yennefer who appeared half fainted with her vision and voice blurring. Geralt felt pity for his lover over her condition. He felt more pranged with guilt by assuming he was responsible for her condition and that had he not called her, she might have been safe.

"Sorry, Yen. I shouldn't have called you. Partly, I am to be blamed. This was something new and I thought only you could know-..." said Geralt who was instantly stopped by Yennefer who placed her right index finger over Geralt's lips. Geralt blushed a bit though not like a typical human. Yennefer smiled and talked.

"It was the right thing to do. Besides, who would keep you alive every time you step in the wet mud?" said Yennefer.

"You have lost some blood, so you will feel dizzy. Let's rest here for sometime and then we'll leave" said Geralt pointing out to a big tree a few meters behind them.

"Geralt, you too are hurt. You need treatment" said Yennefer.

"I can manage for quite a long time with the potions. But you need help" said Geralt. Yennefer looked down dejected. She wanted to tell something to him. She was feeling all the way wrong since the creature attacked her. She felt quite different. She more precisely felt something, a foreign presence in her blood.

"Geralt, I feel different" said Yen to which he blinked.

"I don't understand" said Geralt. Yennefer slowly managed to stand with Geralt's help. She took a deep breath and spoke.

"There is something inside me. I can feel it" said Yennefer which drew suspicion to Geralt.

"What is it?" asked Geralt, once again tensed.

"I don't know. But I feel weaker than before. It happened after that demon hurt me. I-...I feel something has gone out of me...just wait" said Yennefer who then hastily turned away from Geralt and walked a few steps from him and raised her arms to cast a spell.

"G'vala glan" said Yennefer waiting for the effects but to her dismay, nothing happened. Yennefer was stunned. Geralt was gazing at her in confusion.

"Yen?"

"G'vala glan! Puriecto Caninundis!...Damn it!" grunted Yennefer in anger, but felt weak even to be angry. Her face turned woeful, dejected.

"Yen, what happened to you?" asked Geralt, this time with more concern. Yennefer lifted her head to face Geralt's worried face. She then talked.

"I think I'm no longer the charming sorceress you admired, Geralt...I lost my magical abilities" said Yennefer with sadness in her voice which shocked Geralt.

"What!? How could that happen?" asked Geralt startled. Yennefer's face frowned and dejected. She slowly nodded dismissively,

"I...Don't know. That creature must be of different magic source. The first moment, I stepped in the swamps, I felt that energy. It must have negated my sorcery" said Yennefer rewinding her memories of that fight.

"But you say it's magic, but my medallion didn't even hum in it's presence" said Geralt.

"Like I said, must be a different source unidentified" said Yennefer. Geralt nodded as he too was still having the pain due to injuries he sustained.

"We'll tend to this after wards, let's rest here. There are fruits that would sate us for now. Then we need to get to Ellander. Nenneke can help us. It would take more than a week on horse, but we'll manage" said Geralt placing his palm over her shoulder like an assurance. Yen smiled at his care for her.

"HOW?" came a male human voice a few meters behind Geralt which alerted the witcher of all his senses.

Geralt had heard this voice before. A voice he hated vehemently, a voice he never wished to hear again. He instantly drew his Aerondight in his right hand and a flintlock in his left and turned quick aiming his gun at the man who talked and readying his sword to strike him. Geralt saw him, saw the man or just the facade. He gritted his teeth in anger as the bald man was casually staring at him giving a sardonic, mischievous smile.

Yennefer slowly got up to her feet, confused at the presence of a man all of a sudden.

"Geralt, Who's this?" asked Yennefer. The man slowly walked towards them.

"Yen, stay away! He's no different from the creature we faced at the swamps" warned Geralt. Yennefer stared at him suspiciously. The bald man laughed at them.

"What an ignorance! Geralt, Why don't you introduce me to your Yennefer?" asked the man. Yennefer was stunned to hear him say her name.

"I'm sorry, but have we acquainted before?" asked Yennefer blinking. Before the bald man could say something, Geralt interrupted.

"Doesn't matter" said Geralt and immediately charged towards the man with his sword. But just after taking two steps, the man simply raised his palm which abruptly stopped Geralt from moving, like locking him in that place.

"**GRUNT**" grunted Geralt unable to move. Yennefer had her eyes widened at what the man did. Without magic, she started to feel little afraid, speechless. She recognized his magical ability just through observation. The bald man noticed her reaction and after few seconds, released him of his hold. Geralt fell down out of sudden balance and then slowly got up.

"Who-are-you? And how do you know us?" asked Yennefer quite staggered.

"Gaunter O' Dimm, at your service, Lady Yennefer" replied the man bowing to her traditionally. Geralt stared at him with fire in his eyes, but he knew he can't even raise a finger against him.

"You spoke to Geralt like you already know him" said Yennefer. O'Dimm was quite surprised to hear her say that.

"Oh-Oh...Geralt, So you didn't tell her our story. Well, how disappointing!" said O'Dimm. Yennefer turned to look at Geralt in surprise. Geralt let a sigh and talked.

"I'll give a short description. This Gaunter O'Dimm, which is not his real name is a man or a thing that carries great power and someone who gives people what they wish for and put them in misery. I happened to save one such ataman from that misery that was put forth by-..." said Geralt, lifting his finger, pointing O'Dimm, "Him, 2 decades back" finished Geralt while O'Dimm was interestingly listening to his explanation.

Yennefer on the other hand only partially understood what Geralt said. She was still blinking as to how his lover never mentioned these incidents even after a long time.

"Now, what do you want, O'Dimm? Want me for another ugly job so that I can kick your ass once more!" asked Geralt with much hate. O'Dimm's face turned stoic,

"Geralt, last time, you never did that. You just had little bit of an extra luck factor...That's it. But...I'm not here for that" replied O'Dimm. Geralt's anger softened little bit. Gaunter then walked out the tree shade to face the forests on the other far side of Velen.

"The creature so dangerous and deadly you faced an hour ago in the swamps?" asked O'Dimm which stunned the two.

"How the hell did he know that?" wondered Yen.

"I came to investigate that" replied O'Dimm. Geralt's face expressed disbelief.

"Hah-hah! And you want me to believe that? Why shouldn't I presume that-..."

"That I brought that demon in to the swamps? Geralt, there are things that I don't do. This is one of those. Besides, It's powers were what that drew me here" said O'Dimm in a serious tone. Geralt felt ambivalent with his words. He knew about O'Dimm and his lies. But that tone was something Geralt couldn't resist. O'Dimm then turned and smiled at them,

"And watched how you fared against that being. Tsk tsk...Very poor! At least you would live though I cannot say the same for her"

Geralt and Yennefer both felt irate at his statement, but something about their survival drew suspicion.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Geralt, his eyebrows shrunk. O'Dimm let a grim smile that slightly revealed his evil features in his face that Geralt recognized but not Yennefer.

"She got hurt by that demon and lost her magical abilities. But that's not over. She is succumbing to the infernal poison" said O'Dimm which shocked both Geralt and Yennefer.

"A What?...Yen!" muttered Geralt and hastily turned to look at Yennefer who also listened to his words and saw her face withered.

"I-...I never thought it could have gone too far" said Yennefer sad.

"No more lies, O'Dimm. I don't believe your bullshit!" Geralt replied angrily. O'Dimm didn't mind his human emotions.

"Geralt, I already told you that I never lie at anything. But I can't help if others misunderstood my words. What I said is real" replied O'Dimm.

"What is this infernal poison? how do we get rid of it?" asked Geralt without wasting a second. O'Dimm smirked at that and spoke.

" 'Infernal' refers to the 3rd plane of existence called the 'Underworld' or simply 'Hell'. It's occupied by creatures called the Infernal demons. This creature in the swamps is one such being. Imagine what the associated poison could be" replied O'Dimm.

Yennefer instantly reminded herself of the conversation she had weeks ago about the underworld, 'hell' with Avallac'h, Ciri and Dante. She then got a clear picture.

"So what are you gonna do?" asked Geralt.

"I want to find out why an infernal is in this world while it is preposterous to hear" replied O'Dimm.

Geralt never liked Gaunter O'Dimm after he learned his true nature decades ago. But at present, he seemed to know what was really happening to Yennefer, so he was tempted to ask that very question he never liked to ask especially to him. But before Geralt could ask, O'Dimm turned to face him with a smile and replied.

"And Geralt? Before you ask, Yes, I can help Yen with her cure" said O'Dimm to which Geralt raised his eyebrows in surprise. Yennefer dazed at that. Though the current conversation between Geralt and this mysterious man O'Dimm is more hostile, she still felt uncomfortable in accepting his help.

"Is there even a cure?" asked Yennefer.

"Yes-.." said O'Dimm dragging his voice.

"And?" asked Geralt.

"My help doesn't come free" replied O'Dimm, plain and simple. Geralt predicted this as there's always a catch with O'Dimm. But Geralt was afraid what he might ask in return. Geralt wanted to save Yennefer and he was ready to do anything. Yennefer didn't even know what to say.

"Listen, I hate you to the core. You are never welcome in our place. But right now, I have no choice" said Geralt desperately. O'Dimm raised his left eyebrow in disapproval.

"You people are always hypocrites. You don't welcome me, But you welcome someone else in my place. What sort of hospitality is that?" asked O'Dimm cryptically. Geralt didn't understand the meaning as did Yennefer.

"I don't understand" said Geralt.

"But Yennefer does" said O'Dimm.

"Me!?" asked Yennefer. O'Dimm slowly walked around the two clapping his fingers letting a grim smile.

"Well -well -well...More than a couple weeks ago, this world had a visitor from another world and he's still here. Soooo...Human like..." said O'Dimm. Yennefer was trembling in astonishment. She knew what Gaunter was talking about. Geralt was confused as to who he referred to.

"Dante?" asked Yennefer astounded.

"Who?" asked Geralt.

"Geralt, I'll explain that after" replied Yennefer and then turned to O'Dimm, "How do you know about this human from another world?" asked Yennefer warily.

"First of all, Human? Really? You still dwell in that delusion, Hah! You know what's the worst punishment in life? To live in ignorance. I think you can live with that" mocked O'Dimm.

"What's the meaning of that?" asked Yennefer incandescently.

"That's irrelavent. But trust me when I say this-..." said O'Dimm who then clapped his hands twice in succession. Suddenly everything around Geralt including Yennefer stopped just like that. Geralt had seen this trick before. O'Dimm stopped time, an addicted move. Geralt simply looked around and then to O'Dimm.

"Like I said before-..."

"I know, your help doesn't come free. What do you want in return to get that information?" asked Geralt. O'Dimm's face turned dead serious.

"It was irresponsible of you two to voluntarily seek trouble here" said O'Dimm.

"Get to the point already" growled Geralt impatiently.

"Whoa Geralt, Don't get grumpy! I need the most valuable thing in exchange for this classified information" said O'Dimm. Geralt predicted this too.

"I know how this plays out. I know the risks. Still, you are right, I am responsible for Yennefer's condition and I'll set it right by...pledging my soul for her. I already did this for her before. And I don't hesitate to do it again" said Geralt speaking his mind without a break.

"Huh, How melodramatic! But your soul is not what I want" said O'Dimm which confused Geralt.

"Then what?" asked Geralt. O'Dimm gave a ferocious glare towards the witcher.

"Not now Geralt, I will ask for something very very close and personal to you when Yennefer's cured and you can't and won't deny that" said O'Dimm. Geralt couldn't draw right conclusions from that blunt response as part of him urged to accept his help and the other part urged not to trust him. Geralt now has only the binary choice, either accept and save Yennefer without dwelling on what he might ask in future as a pay or decline help and let Yennefer die.

"How do I trust you?" asked Geralt.

"Yennefer's hardly got a month or two to live and no herbs or alchemy can cure her, only the information I have" replied O'Dimm. Geralt tensed and started to sweat slightly. O'Dimm made an irate yet uncomfortably a valid point.

"Right, I accept" said Geralt without giving a second thought.

"Then it's a deal, done" cheered O'Dimm and burned a similar mark like before, but this time at the back of his neck.

"AAHH" Geralt grunted in pain reaching his hand over the burned part.

"Well, You know what it's purpose is" said Gaunter. Geralt wasn't amused with what he did. He knew he pretty much signed a death warrant of his own will, but he was always ready to do the absolute necessary thing when time comes.

"Now tell me how to cure Yen" urged Geralt. O'Dimm took a closer step towards Geralt and spoke.

"I don't have the cure. But there is one special herb called 'Jade petal' so rare that it's quite improbable if it even grows in this or any other world. But you can give a try with a highly experienced alchemist" said O'Dimm then turning to walk away from the witcher.

"That's it!? I don't have time to round the world to do it" said Geralt loud and clear.

"Ah Geralt, sometimes you complicate even the simplest things. There's someone you know, who could round the world in seconds" said O'Dimm. Geralt looked down in confusion and fnally hit upon what O'Dimm truly meant.

"Ciri" said Geralt to which Gaunter smirked.

"Get to the continent east of here. You can find the bst healers to ask this" said O'Dimm and turned to walk away. But he again stopped and turned his head halfway.

"And Geralt, I will be waiting" said O'Dimm and proceeded to walk.

"Wait! Is it really true that you actually came to investigate the demon in the swamps or did you plan this out to play us fools?" asked Geralt seriously. O'Dimm turned and kept a stoic face,

"I don't lie Geralt and definitely a coincidence that we meet again, but its not necessary that I should be more concerned with your mistrust...See you later" said O'Dimm and then continued to walk and then he vanished all of a sudden.

The moment he vanished, the time resumed it's flow and everything moved. The situation became normal. Geralt felt something jump started all of a sudden and that made him feel a little disoriented.

Yennefer didn't know a thing about what happened until that moment. She saw Geralt but not that man, O'Dimm. She was confused to and turned her head to see the missing person.

"Uh...Geralt? Where's that guy? He was standing right next to you and now he's gone?" asked Yen. Geralt raised his eyebrow unable to answer her questions.

But suddenly she started to fell dizzy and even almost fainted.

"Shit! Yen, stay with me!" said Geralt worried about Yen. Geralt might not like O'Dimm, but he's well aware of his powers. If he said that Yen's dying, then it's the truth.

"**DEEP BREATH**...Well, I think it's the poison that the man mentioned. But Geralt!? How did he know these things? Who is he?" asked Yennefer. Geralt helped Yen to lean back over the tree bark and he sat down besides her. He felt that it was time for her to tell her the truth.

"That guy Gaunter O'Dimm is not a man or a mage as you would think" started Geralt. He then went on to explain the adventures with a Redanian nobleman-turned-bandit named Olgierd Von Everec. His strange deal with this O'Dimm, then Geralt working for O'Dimm as a debt and fulfilling 3 wishes of Olgierd and hitting upon the truth and the real heineous nature of O'Dimm as the evil incarnate, Preventing O'Dimm from taking Olgierd's soul by tricking him into playing a game and then banishing him to his home dimension. It took 45 minutes to explain her in detail.

Yennefer was palpitated and had a grisly feeling with Geralt's story.

"Shit! And why...would someone as powerful as him would even take interest in us? Is this some kind of ruse? Is he playing us?" asked Yenenfer stunned for a long time.

"No. Though I don't trust him one bit, he gave me an important information about how to save you from this poison" replied Geralt. Yennefer was suspicious as Geralt's face was frowned when he answered. She can see something was bothering him.

"Geralt? You yourself said that he doesn't do anything free. What did you bargain for this information?" asked Yenenfer looking at Geralt's face dubiously. Geralt couldn't give an answer.

"You know what? That's actually unimportant than the information. He said that there's this rare herb called 'Jade petal' that grows somewhere in this world. Only that can cure you" said Geralt, his face inscrutable.

"Never heard that kind of herb! But any highly experienced alchemists or herbalists can say this. It means we got a lot of job to do, that is if I survive that long" frowned Yennefer.

"Actually, Ciri can help us. She can search and get this herb so fast with her powers" said Geralt.

"Geralt, It's not necessary to drag others into this headache who had nothing to do with this, especially Ciri" objected Yennefer. Geralt looked bland in confusion.

"*SIGH*...I know you do this because you feel guilt of bringing me into this trouble. If yes, then you need to know one truth. You are damn wrong!"

"What!?"

"Yes, Even before you called me, My magic skull detected a powerful energy concentrated in over the entire western continent, powerful enough to be felt through out the world. The time you called me to investigate the same thing was just coincidence" finished Yennefer. Geralt was stunned to hear the truth. He never expected this. On one part, he felt relieved that Yen knew what she was doing. But the other part made him fear about the demon's powers influencing the world.

"Whatever, now we gotta find that herb, Ciri is the only one who can get it fast. If needed, I'll assist her in her journey if you are worried with her safety" said Geralt which Yennefer hesitatingly found convincing and acceptable. Geralt drew a relaxed breath and then changed the topic. He freely sat besides her.

"I wanted ask something. Who is this human from the other world you spoke of? Tell me from the first" said Geralt who was eager to learn this. Yennefer felt confused as to where to start the explanation. The stories surrounding Dante had always been intriguing.

"Hm, I don't know if you would even believe this" said Yennefer and then proceeded to explain everything that happened 18 days back.

She explained how this human Dante arrived in this world and how Ciri helped him in acclimatizing, the stories that were surrounding him and his world 'Earth', The powers he carry with himself, How he singlehandedly destroyed a Golem brute in Dol blathana which made Geralt to feel mythical, then how he killed the creatures that attacked Vengerberg, Then their journey to meet with Avallac'h in Skellige who claimed to have known Dante a long time ago, The information about Dante's world 'Earth' and all the legends about humanity's ancient past, stories about Sparda that went as backwards to the point of the conjunction. Then she also told him about how Avallac'h promised to help Dante to get to his world.

With that, Yennefer completed her story after explaining it for 2 hours straight. Geralt at that instant felt that O'Dimm's story was more believable than this bedtime story. But he cannot shove it aside like that.

"So humans are truly from a different world...Earth? Huh, no one in Aen seidhe would believe that except us. And why does the name Sparda doesn't ring any bell?" asked Geralt feeling dumbstruck.

"Those scriptures are in the forbidden section everywhere you can find. Ancient scholars knew it's destructive potential" said Yennefer.

"While this is crazy as it sounds, It had only been a couple weeks and a few more days since his arrival. And O'Dimm's knowledge of his presence isn't very surprising" said Geralt still amazed with this Dante character.

"Geralt, you and I both know how beings like him travel between worlds in disguise. If he's the evil incarnate as you said, then he could be anywhere in this universe and Dante's world could be one of them, there's no doubt about it" replied Yennefer. Geralt understood her point.

"Even after getting cured, I've got a lot of things to do. This world had not been the same for the last 18 days and I intend to find out why" said Yennefer seriously. Geralt half minded her words and spoke.

"Right, First we'll rest here. After a couple of hours, we need to move to the eastern continent. Maybe Ellander, Nenneke is our best shot" said Geralt to which she smiled and nodded.

...

Lammas, 7th savaed (August 3, 1300)
Ellander, 08:30 PM

Dante and Ciri reached Ellander and was welcomed by mother Nenneke at the temple. While having a lovely conversation, Dante, by chance happened to explain his expertise and profession which drew Nenneke and Ciri's attention. Ciri was suspicious when he said that he hunts down demons of the underworld and seemed to have a great knowledge of the infernals. She wondered why Dante never revealed that part before, keeping himself silent like a dumb ass, but now. Nenneke then explained the story of a man named Boris who had some problem which Dante claimed to know what it truly was. Also he said that he could help them with the case.

Nenneke was happy and then the three prepared to leave to the outskirts to visit Boris's house.

"So, Dante? What do you plan to do once you learn anything there?" asked Ciri. Dante kept a stoic face.

"I don't know Ciri. I need know how neck deep the situation is. Then, I'll improvise" replied Dante. Then they both saw Nenneke getting out of her room and ready to leave.

"So, shall we?" asked Nenneke. The two nodded 'yes'.

"Dante, I hope you ride horses. We'll get you one from the temple" said Nenneke. Dante was quite skeptical about riding horse. He used to ride superbikes and cars. But at the Temenigru, in his early days, he had his experience with Geryon- The Time Steed.

"Yeah, I can manage" replied Dante not so sure.

Then the three got to their horses. Nenneke's was a white and brown Zerrikanian, Ciri's was Kelpie, Dante was given a black mare.

"So, why don't you lead us" said Dante. Nenneke nodded and the three left the temple.

It would be 30 minutes to reach the city borders to get to Boris's house. They were riding the horses at medium speed.

"So Dante, Before we go, How far you expect things to get worse?" asked Nenneke. Dante's face was stoic. Multiple thoughts were spinning his head.

"Well, First I need to conduct the investigation, only after that I can say" replied Dante.

"Alright" said Nenneke.

Then after 30 minutes at the city borders where there was a wide sand pathway with grasses on both the sides for quite a distance, A typical village scenery. There was a house, not too big and not too small and shabby. It was good and It was a two storey of medium height. The house looked good, well maintained. The house sat exactly in the middle of the grass field. Only thing is

From the road, the three managed to see the house. There was a kid, a boy playing while a woman who appeared to be his mother was laying all the washed clothes over the rope. Then she asked her son to get inside to go to bed.

"That's her, Boris's wife" said Nenneke. Ciri was confused. To her, everything seemed normal.

"Hm, Things don't appear gloomy as you said. Are you sure, the family's still not safe?" asked Ciri. Dante was looking at the house...No, glaring at the house. He immediately got off the horse and slowly took a few steps to the grass. His face was serious and it was already minute after they asked him the question.

Ciri and Nenneke followed on foot and Ciri stood by his left blinking at Dante's face.

"Is anything wrong?" asked Ciri concerned. Dante was looking at the house. To his eyes, he was seeing something strange around the house. Suddenly he felt everything black and sinistrical laugh of an inhuman entity came from his back or more like in his mind. Dante was alarmed and found the root of the problem. He then turned to face her.

"Let's go meet them" said Dante.

"Right" replied Nenneke. Then the three walked towards the home. But the woman and her son already went inside and were about to close the door. Nenneke ran to catch her up.

"Wait!...Elisa!" she called out. The woman stopped half way and saw Nenneke running towards her house. Elisa was stunned to see her.

"Mother Nenneke? I didn't quite expect you here at this time" said Elisa quite surprised to see her. But insantly her eyes detected a young woman and a midaged man carrying a big sword on his back approaching them.

"Uh, What's happening here? Who are they?" asked Elisa in suspicion.

"Greetings mam, I'm Dante" Dante introduced himself to which the woman stood silent and bug eyed. Elisa wore a traditional village dress and was around 33-35 years old. Dante managed to see the hidden sadness in her face despite her charm. When Ciri introduced herself, she recognized her name, but not as the princess, but as the infamous witcheress.

"Is there anything wrong for you three to be here?" asked Elisa. Nenneke looked serious and spoke.

"We came here to talk about Boris and you two" replied Nenneke. Elisa's face frowned and wondered why they wanted to reopen old wounds.

"I don't wish to-..."

"No, Listen to me. This is very much important, so please" rushed Ciri. For some reason, the woman though hesitant, decided to let them inside.

"Alright, We'll talk inside. Please come in" said Elisa then opened the door fully. Then the three entered Elisa's house. It was still lit with will lanterns.

"Please have a seat" said Elisa. Ciri and Nenneke took two chair and sat besides a table. When Dante took his sword and had it leaning over a wardrobe. and was supposed to take a seat, He instantly caught his eyes over a shadowy figure of an inhuman nature floating and moving behind Elisa from her left to right, who was just seated opposite to the three. Dante's face turned mildly grim at the sight but didn't express it too much.

"So, Dante? You a witcher?" asked Elisa.

"No he's not" replied Ciri amused.

"I'm a paranormal expert and an investigator and you know...got a big sword-..."

"I understand. Let me bring you a nice tea" said Elisa and left to kitchen. Dante looked at Ciri who in turn looked at him.

"What do you think?" asked Dante to which she shrugged. Dante instantly saw the kid across the space between the wall and the stairs playing.

Once again, Dante saw the same shadowy inhuman figure float behind the boy and his face turned serious again. He felt relieved that he was right that the family's still not safe. But he's gonna need information before he carry out the investigation. The kid then faced Dante and kept staring at him curiously. Then he walked towards him.

"What's your name, kid?" asked Dante smiling at him. The boy after a few seconds spoke.

"Mikel" replied the boy.

"So you and your mother live in this house?" asked Dante.

"No. My friend lives here too all the time though my mother couldn't see him, says that I am imagining" replied the boy which stunned the three. They were sharing a glance towards each other.

"Who is this mysterious friend?" asked Ciri carefully.

"He calls himself 'The Ox man'" replied Mikel.

"Ox man?" asked Dante.

"Yes. He has horns and he is big and he's always with me" said Mikel. The three's faces turned dead serious. Dante almost found out what this kid was talking about.

"Does this Ox man talk to you?" asked Ciri looking confused.

"Yes, he comes to my house every night and leaves by morning. He's in this house even as we speak" said the kid.

"I can see that" muttered Dante.

"What was that?" asked Ciri, but he nodded 'No'.

Then Nenneke asked the boy to go back and play. The kid did just as he was told and then she spoke to Dante.

"He's 10 years old. But what is this Ox friend he's talking about!?" asked Nenneke confused.

"Just tell me something, Is this the only house they were living?" asked Dante.

"Yes. They built it before Mikel was born, 10 years back and Boris died the next year in this very house" replied Nenneke.

By the time, Elisa came with a big teapot upon a plate and 3 small cups.

"Here it is and apologies for the delay" said Elisa who then helped the three with the tea. Dante, Ciri and Nenneke drank the tea slowly and they loved the taste very much.

"Nice tea, thanks. But we came here to talk something important to you" said Nenneke. Elisa's face again turned dull,

"You wanted to talk about Boris...*SIGH*...Fine, what it is?" asked Elisa. This time Dante spoke.

"How your husband died? I need exact details" asked Dante. Elisa was in dilemma to whether tell him or not. Nenneke gave a assuring nod to proceed.

"He's here to help, Elisa. Don't be afraid" said Nenneke.

"I don't know what help I needed anymore? But still I'll tell you" replied Elisa. She then proceeded to explain it for the next 20 minutes.

She revealed that Boris was a natural artist and owned an expensive arts shop. But little did anyone knew that there were other things in his mind. Boris had an inate interest in witchcraft even at the age of 12. When he was 20, one day, he somehow managed to get a book on ancient infernal rituals through a friend in Oxenfurt academy and did a forbidden ritual to conjure up a powerful malevolent entity.

When Boris was a studying arts in the academy, there were a gang of students or more precisely bullies who used to beat him so hard. They even hurled vulgarism towards his parents. Boris was a young man who lost all his temper after this prolonged barbarism. But he was gifted with great knowledge in arts and his secret admiration towards witchcraft made him just to do...THAT.

He did something that was no different from the evil, the bullies did to him. He conjured an entity through the very ritual to punish the bullies. A week later, news spread throughout Oxenfurt and Novigrad about the death of 7 students in an unknown bloody massacre. Boris felt immense satisfaction, but the poor man didn't know that his actions have dire consequences. He immediately recited a spell break to abruptly break the connection with the entiy without the knowledge that things don't always work to his favor.

While performing the ritual, he knew he had to use a drop of his own blood to summon the entity, but that act will bind his soul to that entity. The spell break sealed the gateway to the otherside with the entity latching to Boris. As a punishment for deceit, Boris was tortured for the remaining years until he was forced to commit suicide after Mikel turned one.

Ciri and Nenneke were horrified with the story and were looking at Elisa wide eyed. Dante was little surpised as he already expected this outcome. Elisa began to weep while telling her story.

The three wanted to console her but didn't know what to do. Ciri's face turned disappointingly dull and sighed.

"Your son says he's got a friend in this house. Who is it?" asked Dante. Elisa stopped crying and looked at Dante surprised.

"I take it that my son fed you with all those fairy tale stories. Listen, this imaginary friend of his, is nothing more than a child's made up mind. Please ignore that nonsense" said Elisa pressing her tone. Dante understood that whatever's here had set it's eyes on the kid and only the kid.

"But I don't understand. You already know this, mother. Why do you ask now?" asked Elisa confused and suspicious.

"Before she answers your questions, I would like to have a few words with Ciri and Nenneke in private, so please excuse us" said Dante and showed head signature to them to follow him.

Ciri, Nenneke and Dante, all three went outside to talk.

"What is it Dante?" asked Ciri.

"I was right about the issue. This family is still not safe. A powerful demonic entity lurks this house" said Dante.

"Good thing that you knew this already and that you're with us" said Nenneke feeling little relieved.

"Geralt taught me how to face the inhuman wraiths or entities. We can deal with this" said Ciri clapping her right fist over her left palm, too much excited. Dante was not too enthusiased.

"Ciri, I told you before that we are not currently dealing with the entities of the mirror dimension. The demon that lurks here is one of the Infernals. They reside the 3rd plane of existence and your fighting rules don't apply here" said Dante in a quite higher tone that made Ciri to feel quite castigated. Her face turned mildly irate. It's Ciri's nature that she vehemently dislikes anyone saying something can't be done.

Dante saw her facial expression and nodded disappointingly, though he can understand that. He can clearly see that without proper knowledge on how to deal with the demons they have not faced before, it's risky, no matter how powerful. She might have proved against the shadow demons or the blitz attack on Vengerberg, but doesn't mean she had mastered everything. For eg., Ciri might be the lady of space and time, but she can bleed when cut by a simple knife.

"*Ahem*...I think there's not much needed explanation here, Instead, let's focus on saving helping them" said Ciri mildly irate.

"Ciri, I can see that you are quite offended, but let him do this job. Like he said, we may not know much about these things" said Nenneke placing her palm over her shoulder. Ciri after a minute was convinced.

"Right, if you think you can do this, then fine. What's your plan?" asked Ciri.

"Simple, lure the demon out, but make sure neither Elisa nor Mikel's hurt" said Dante and went inside. Ciri and Nenneke followed him.

"Elisa, we would like to have a conversation in private" said Dante. Elisa still couldn't figure out what was happening.

"Right" replied Elisa and everyone went into the bedroom opposite to the kitchen.

"What is it?" asked Elisa. Dante prepared himself to tell the truth. He took a couple of minutes to talk.

"Your husband Boris, performed a ritual using his own blood to conjure up a demon from the underworld, a form of pact. He used the demon to fulfil his wishes. But he had to give something valuable in return" said Dante.

"What he might have done?" asked Elisa confused.

"The demons usually seek one's soul for this service and it was the same in your husband's case. He broke the pact by closing the gateway to the other side to cheat. But he didn't know that the demon had attached itself to him knowing this deceit. So it tortured him and had him commit suicide to get his soul" said Dante. Elisa was horrified and began to cry again.

"I-...I never thought-...Oh!...Boris!" wept Elisa.

"And now, the demon had attached itself to you and your son" said Dante that shocked Elisa.

"WHAT?"

"Yes. I saw it the moment I stepped into this house" said Dante reminding the shadow he saw behind them.

"But, we never came to any harm!" said Elisa.

"Not you, but your son had already fallen victim to it. This mysterious friend he talked about is none other than that same demon. It's using Mikel as a conduit to get to this world and feed itself of your misery. It won't stop until it gets both of your soul" said Dante which shocked Elisa.

"NO! That should not happen! I already lost Boris and I WILL definitely never lose my son!...GOD!..." said Elisa in despair.

"Which is why you need to listen to me very carefully. Nenneke said the whole story to me about this. She said that your family's safe with Boris's death. But it was me who said that it's untrue" said Dante.

"I take it that you are here to help. What do you want me to do?" asked Elisa.

...

After 30 minutes, Dante, Ciri, Nenneke and Elisa came out of the bedroom. He had given her instructions to follow. Dante was ready to kill the demon. Then the three walked out of the house.

"So at 1:00 PM, you are gonna force the demon out, don't you?" asked Ciri.

"Yes and in that time, It's better Nenneke stayed somewhere safe" said Dante.

"Don't worry about me. I have seen a lot like this. And, here...The holy water of Melitele you asked for" said Nenneke opening her pouch to give him a bottle of holy water. Dante took it and held it in his hands.

"Now all we have to do is wait till 1:00" said Ciri who then went sit in a chair outside, near the entrance.

...

Velen swamps...

The strange porcupine haired, ruby eyed black demon had now summoned it's legions into the swamp. After facing Geralt and Yennefer, the demon had crowded the place. It looks like they were planning something. The black demon ordered the legions to work on someting while it was walking around the swamps.

Suddenly it raised its arms sidewards and recited a powerful spell. Suddenly a big circular seal formed throughout Velen with 6 ancient infernal glyphs and it glowed for few seconds and then vanished.

"Tupy oar hafr vorrujid, miwzyr"
"Time for your arrival, Master"

said the Demon and laughed whose voice echoed the swamps.

...

A/N: Well, From this chapter onwards, the story might slowly build up the Dante x Ciri storyline and Gaunter O'Dimm's part will be significant.

Geralt or Yennefer getting beaten up doesn't mean they are weak. As Dante said, they need different rules. Once learned, it would come certain in handy.

Dante will teach the witchers and mages here about the fighting rules of the infernal demons of hell, especially Ciri and while training her...you know...the possibilities?... :-) She will initially fall for his strength and powers and may be later, who knows...