Disclaimer: I don't own DMC or Witcher franchise.

Sorry folks, with my tight office and personal schedule, its becoming a bit difficult for frequent updates. It will take time, but not abandoned. So stay tuned.

Chapter 15:

Velen swamps, midnight...

Dante finished fighting the dark accursed being though it pushed him hard to use a lot of his strength and tactics to defeat it. But he was quite haunted for some time looking at the being that's been put down by his trusty Rebellion. The being changed its form at light speed to reveal a human whose face Dante would never forget. A face which is one of the few reasons of his fighting the demons his entire life.

The others were done with the hymns that were spawned from the ground as they watched Dante standing few meters away from them looking at the supposed corpse of the demonic entity.

"What happened to him?" Ciri asked concerned at the sight of frown upon Dante's face. Others noticed that expression too.

"Don't know. Let us check with him" Geralt replied as he sheathed his Aerondight.

The 5 walked towards Dante which he didn't even notice. They all stood side by side with him, wondering why was he staring at the entity for long time.

"YOU DID IT! GODS! Never thought we would be treated with such a fight!" Yen said trying to cheer him up though she could see it wasn't getting anywhere.

"Dante?...DANTE?" Avallach shook his shoulder to bring him back to the present.

"Uhh-...What?" he asked as if nothing happened.

"What happened to you?..You've been staring at the corpse for quite some time. Fancying its beauty?" Regis sarcastically asked.

"Dante, is something wrong? If anything's bothering you, please do tell us" Ciri said placing her left palm to his arms in a comforting manner.

"*SIGH*...nothing just catching my breath! This thing was too powerful to manage alone" Dante said hiding the little bit of emotion he gave out just before.

"But you did one hell of a job. Never seen anyone fight like that when we barely escaped its clutches. Besides, you do have your own special magic, quite strong too" Geralt commended him with a warm smile.

"Yeah whatever" he said smugly.

"Now what should we do now?" Ciri asked.

"We need move forward. We are expecting a big company. The one who's behind all these" Dante said.

"You mean someone is there?" Avallach asked shrinking his eyebrows.

"Yes, this demon spoke that its master is still here. I wish to meet him" Dante said determined.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go" Ciri said as she started to walk forward.

"NO!" Dante said that stunned the others including her. Ciri turned to look at him confused.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"We agreed to face this off together. Don't you remember?" Yennefer asked folding her hands.

"That was before what I learned here" he said

"And what did you precisely learn?" Regis asked to which Dante hesitated to talk for a moment. But went on to tell them anyway.

"What we are gonna see inside that red dome is not some demon. Its a demon lord, one of the seven that rules a domain of the underworld. Just like we spoke back at the palace." Dante finished saying which quite shook Avallach.

'A demon lord!? By the Gods!" he thought with mild fear gripping his mind. Of course Avallach is one of the few elven sages who has profound knowledge on the infernal realm and the beings that dwell there. So he has every right to be nervous.

"Then our hunch was correct. Who?" he asked nervously.

"Mephisto. He is the one waiting for us inside. The souls they have been collecting was for him to enter this world with enough strength" Dante replied to which the others felt a mix of emotions like fear, surprise and confusion.

"What would a demon lord want in this place anyway?" Regis asked.

"Thats what I aim to find out. Besides I assume he's got the locket. If he consumes the souls-..." Dante said

"He will become stronger here and manage fine without needing to go back to his realm" Geralt finished it for him now understanding the grave threat they are in.

"And that is precisely why you all should get the hell outta this place!" Dante said not wanting to drag them into a fight that they can't stand a chance and risk their lives.

"That's not gonna happen. We go together and face him whatever be the case" Geralt said outright objecting Dante's words.

"What? Do you even-.."

"Geralt's right. I am done running from dangers which I've been doing it in the past. We are coming with you" Ciri said firmly leaving no room for argument. Dante was quite irate that they don't take this seriously, but can't blame them either since the people in Aen Seidhe is not aware of these lurking dangers and all those knowledge has been lost and the only few sources are locked up and kept out of reach.

"You DON'T GET IT!" Dante pressed his words in irritation.

"They are too dangerous to fight. I have faced them in my time back in my world that leaves much less to be desired" Dante said in all seriousness.

"Then you need our help. What makes you think you can face Mephisto alone and survive? No offense" Yennefer asked a question that proved quite tricky for Dante to answer.

He was never afraid to tell them about his bloodline, but everyone who knew about it or close to him always ended up in death's throes which he was not willing on these people too.

"Listen, we know what we are up against. so let us do it together. We came this far and we can't turn our back, not now" Avallach said patting his shoulder twice with a slight nod.

"Though I am not much into big conflicts these days, I still did give my word of helping you. So I will stay" Regis said unnervingly. Besides, he never feared death as only a higher vampire like him can actually kill him.

Dante couldnt find words to reply. On one end, he didn't want to put them in danger willingly. But there was another trail of thought. If he failed to stop the hell lord, he may come to harm them anyway for which he wasn't sure if they are prepared. So he decided the better option is to keep them close to him and protect at all costs.

"Fine, looks like you all made up your minds. But on one condition, stay close to me no matter what and when I yell run, you RUN!" he said setting up the ground rules. The other chuckled as they finally managed to convince him.

"Fine, fine. Will do" Ciri said with a laugh.

"But before we go, we need to take this demon with us to a safe place" he said.

"We wanna WHAT? Are you crazy? Besides, whats this demon corpse useful to us anyway?" Geralt asked feeling a bit agonized. This was a nightmare to him and taking it with them was the last thing he would like to do.

"Actually, this thing is not a demon exactly. It body is just a shell. There is a human trapped inside" Dante said not wanting to let go of a chance to save his brother.

"A human? How would you know?" Yennefer asked as she had dealt with this type of magic before.

"It was so fast, but I managed to peek into it momentarily to see it with my own eyes. A human is trapped inside. That's for sure" he said. Dante didn't want to reveal that was in fact his brother, but he was perplexed here as he was happy and sad at the same time. Happy to see him again, but sad to see him in this state.

"Hmm, a magic like this is not out of the realm of possibility. Avallach himself was once trapped inside an ugly cursed body named 'Uma'. It was an ancient elven curse that took quite an effort to break it" Yennefer said as those involved recalled the past times. Dante gave a quirky look at the elven sage with smirk. Ciri and Geralt were chuckling at that.

"I don't even wish to talk about it. It has left a really bad taste in my mouth" Avallach replied shaking his head to let those thoughts get out. He was quite embarrassed to talk about it too.

"Then do you think we can break it open?" Dante asked with blissful hope to Yen. She pondered for a while in silence.

"I can't say for sure. If this is because of a curse, this magic is totally beyond my understanding. Its entirely new to me. I need to study before even dabbling with any kind of spell" Yen said though she wondered why Dante so much wanted to help this thing.

"What kind of magic are we talking about?" Ciri asked in confusion.

"The infernal. The most dangerous, prohibited and there is not a person in the continent with the knowledge to use it" Avallach replied.

That's when Dante was reminded of something. He remembers the assassins stealing an infernal tome from Oxenfurt. He himself knew its insane, but he felt he gotta try.

"I think the infernal tome the assassins stole perhaps can help. I searched the assassin's bodies but they didn't have it. If I am right, this should be here somewhere" Dante replied.

"Well then if you can find and bring it to me. I can study and work on them. But no guarantee"

"It could be dangerous to use a magic that we know frighteningly very little. Why risk it?" Regis said speaking logically as he felt this was unnecessary. Of course he would occasionally help people but not at great risk that could also prove its pointless when it doesn't end up being beneficial to the receiver.

"I agree with Regis. We can't risk our own safety" Geralt complimented his vampire friend.

"Everything we do from here is a risk. I need to know why a man is inside and above all, I don't wish to abandon him even after knowing he could have been saved. Perhaps we can learn something from him if we manage to pull this off" Dante countered their argument with determination.

"I know Vergil can be an asshole...but whatever happened to him now was not his fault" Dante thought.

Others took a time to process what he said. Even though it still didn't make full sense, they understood Dante was firm to help this thing out.

"Fine, then we will take it back. Find a way to cure whoever's inside" Yen replied.

"I don't want to delay this. One of us has to take him to a safe place now, just to be sure"

"Perhaps Yennefer, you can take him back now easily. You can summon portals" Avallach suggested.

"And to where?" she asked.

"I think its best we took that thing back to the old fortress" Ciri suggested to which Dante nodded in approval.

"Wait, you mean the Witcher's fortress? The school of Wolf?" Geralt asked raising his eyebrows in confusion. This in fact brings back memories of their time with being chased by the wild hunt.

"Its abandoned and in rare luck, we may find Eskel, lambert and even Keira" Ciri said bringing a valid point.

"hmm, not a charming place, yet, nothing like a ruined fort that keeps us safe...Especially if the place is still intact. Fine, I will take it there. But what about the spells and tomes for research?" Yen asked.

"We will be back with the tome those assassins stole. That will have all the info we need" Dante said to which she nodded.

"Then, farewell. See you all soon!" She said as she opened a portal and telekinetically carried the black demon and both vanished.

"Fine, now lets move in" Dante said as the 5 walked towards the dome.

"Damn! The medallion is humming crazy. I need to take this off if I can keep senses sharp" Geralt said as he removed the witcher medallion.

"But what if something attacks us, wont you need a heads up?" Ciri asked.

"At this point, it looks like this whole place wants us dead. So wont be needing this for now" he replied which drew a laugh from Ciri. Regis started to feel his senses overwhelmed.

"Regis, you alright?" Avallach asked looking concerned at the vampire.

"Something is here...Something powerful-...**WHOOSSH**" Regis said as he vanished into a blood cloud to other's shock.

"Whoa! Where did the blood sucker go?" Dante asked surprised to see him vanish

"REGIS!-...REGIS!-..." Geralt and Ciri yelled his name only to get no response.

Suddenly the red dome expanded and covered them all.

"Bloody hell! What happened?" Ciri yelled as they all readied themselves for a fight.

"Nothing good!" Dante said they all heard howling wind like noise all over and suddenly a red gas like thing charged towards them.

"WATCH OUT!" Geralt yelled as he slashed the cloud with Aerondight that burned the gas. Suddenly another gas thing charged at them as Dante took out his Rebellion and slashed a couple times that burned out. Dante knew who or what is inside and he decided to call out.

"Alright! COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE! I can still smell you!" Dante yelled with a grin on his face as he knew the party was gonna get crazy.

Suddenly a strange figure revealed itself forming from the same red cloud.

"There he is" Avallach said as everyone turned to look out at the strange entity that was revealing itself.

A red humanoid being with bat wings and short ram horns and burning hot yellow eyes and short fangs in the mouth. The body had tatoo like profiles that was glowing as hot as its eyes. The lower body was covered with red cloth as if torn in the edge. The being was muscular and 6'6 tall.

"What-...in GOD's name is-...THAT!?" Ciri asked, here eyes widened in horror as she held her sword up high though trembling in mild fear. In her time, she has seen the Wild hunt which is the worst in her case. Even the big demon in Ellander that possessed Boris never scared her only felt the vast difference in physical strength. But this being in front of her, scares her the most. She is totally creeped out at the sight of him.

Avallac'h for his part, knew what exactly he was looking at as he has spent a portion of his life learning about creatures like him.

Geralt was only reminded of someone that he crossed path with decades back that almost costed him his life. And even recently he even crossed paths with him to get info on how to save Yen from her death. But he knew O'Dimm never does anything out of pureness of his heart. He is starting to think if O'Dimm himself was somehow responsible for this in the first place. But Shakeslock told that O'Dimm never worked directly instead manipulated others to meet his needs.

"Welcome to my domain! I am Mephistopheles" he being spoke in a mix of human and inhuman tone.

"What do you want in this place?" Geralt asked though he himself was a little shaken at the sight of the being. But Dante was stilll having a calm and collected face which surprised the other 3, less in Avallach's case.

"For a Faustian Devil, you chose a garbage of a place to keep your golden chair...hah!" Dante said with a smug, giving a witty taunt.

"That broke my heart. But in the next few minutes of your life span, you are entitled to know the truth"

"How did a Hell Lord managed to step foot on this world?" Avallach cautiously proceeded.

"I thought it would be oblivious for an Elven Sage. Of course, the underworld denizens need the hell gates to crossover. But Aen Seidhe?...Hmmm, this world-...with a little support-.."

"You mean the soul cocktail you've been cooking lately" Dante said obviously getting to the truth.

"Yes, Thousands and Thousands of soul wandering the world because of war, unethical killing practices..."

"So thats what Vilgefortz's been upto for a century. But how is you, him and these assassins and the infernal tome stolen from Oxenfurt all connects?" Geralt asked frustrated to get an answer.

"What do you exactly plan to do here?" Ciri asked to which Mephisto curiously looked at her with a grin that didn't sit well with her.

"The world Dante comes from is too weak to for hell lords like us to move without the gates and Yamato, which is the key is in the possession of Dante's kin. But this world is unlike Earth, its swimming in the ocean of magic. All I needed was to get to the surface to see myself out"

"But still for your demons Ville to merge with this place, you need a gate and key. That was always the rule. So basically, you are screwed man. You need to go home..or-.." Dante said waving his Rebellion sword.

"Dante, I know where the gate is and you-...my dumb friend, just brought the key to me-...ha ha!" Mephisto said laughing as he sent an energy wave towards Ciri. Dante immediately blocked it by hitting it with his sword that sent it upwards.

"CIRI!" Geralt yelled in anger as he charged towards him and sent a powerful Aard wave. But it only turned him into a mist. Mephisto then immediately appeared behind and attacked him. But Geralt blocked it with his blade though he could feel the physical superiority of the Hell lord. Geralt then threw his arm to deliver a slash to his abdomen to which he was unfazed and with a simple wave, Geralt was thrown back.

"Aahh!" Geralt grunted as he got up to his feet. Mephisto appeared besides him lifting him up, choking his neck.

**ZZAAATT**

"AAAHH!"

A powerful lightning strike hit the former prince of hell and he flew back dropping Geralt to the ground. Geralt rubbed his neck as he picked up the Aerondight.

The lightning was from none other than Dante.

Ciri spotted Mephisto materializing from the red cloud as she warped towards him holding the blade high in the air.

"YAAAGGHHH!" Ciri slashed the blade at full strength but it passed through his semi-solid body as ectoplasm like red material was floating around him.

All of a sudden Avallach used his staff to summon a powerful energy concentrated into it and shot the energy wave towards the hell lord.

"BEHOLD THE DIVINE LIGHT, DEMON!" Avallach yelled.

"ARRRRHHH!" Mephisto yelled in mild pain as the energy was holy in nature, but soon it lost its charm. As Mephisto absorbed it voluntarily and then turned it into a bright red energy and delivered an omni-directional blast.

**BOOOM**

"OHH CRAP!" Dante yelled as he tried to block the incoming wave but it broke the royal guard seal and sent him flying back.

The shockwave blew everything away tripping everyone off their feet. Avallach struggled to get up

"Ughh-...HOW!? ITS PURE DIVINE ELVEN-..." the sage struggled with words.

"It is-...time to return the favor"

**ZZZAP**
A long and sharp light solidified like a spear was sent to his direction.

"NO!" Geralt yelled and before anyone could anything, the spear of light pierced Avallach's abdomen.

*BLOOD DRIPPING*

"*GASP*-...*RAPID BREATHING*" Avallach struggled to breathe as he slowly felt death crawling over his feet ready to rip his soul out of his body. The elven sage has lived through centuries and has been through a lot, had pulled of a lot of death defying stunts and jobs. He always knocked death door but never answered it. But this one truly felt like this was it. The end of his life, Death has answered the knocking door for him.

"Avallach! NO!" Ciri cried at the sight of his once mentor and reached out to him. Dante couldn't even believe what just happened as he watched the elven man whom he very recently thought could be best pals, fighting for his life.

"MORTAL FOOLS!" Mephisto's voice growled across the space.

Mephisto's eyes turned bright blood red as he threw Ciri away by turning into a dense mist and hitting her body. Before he could deliver a fatal blow, Dante ran towards her and helped her get back up feet.

Dante immediately summoned Agni and Rudra and spun the two swords in a single hand like a high-speed blower fan. It created a torrent of wind and fire clashing against Mephisto. But the hell lord was bit more powerful, so Dante's eyes glowed crimson red that augmented the firestorm with his demonic energy.

Ciri for a moment noticed his eyes change and was a bit terrified.

"Those-...Those eyes!" Ciri thought. The firestorm managed to repel Mephisto back.

"TIME TO END THIS!" Mephisto yelled as he was blasted by Geralt with a combination for Yrden and Aard which he augmented with a spell. The shockwave sent everyone reeling back, including Geralt as Mephisto's physical body rolled on the floor as he got up.

"DANTE! We need to stop him soon! I cant's pull a stunt like this again! Avallach-...he-.."

But Mephisto is a powerful hell lord and he always have a lot of tricks up his sleeve.

Immediately from the ground a strange thick root caught Geralt, constricted him like an anaconda and pinned him to the wall.

"Aahhh!" Geralt felt the root almost crushing his mutagen enhanced bones.

The same root from multiple directions tried to grab Dante, but with Agni and Rudra, he slashed them to pieces as he air dodged each of their attacks in acrobatic fashion.

"Dante then shot the guns towards the roots that were holding Geralt only to be bounced off by a red shield that was protecting it. He then reached out root to cut it off. But Mephisto all of sudden appeared before him with his rebellion he dropped to the ground, and brutally stabbed him to his heart.

"AHH!" Dante yelled in pain though he was more than used to this, like when it happened with Abigail, Vergil, Nero etc., Mephisto then threw the sword impaled Dante towards a tree stem that pinned itself strongly.

"DANTE! I'm Coming!" Ciri saw Dante struggling against the hell lord which is a first time she's actually witnessing. Ciri has only seen Dante handle any monsters and demons with ease but the way this hell lord was giving him tough time only worried her more.

Before Ciri could help, she was surrounded by shadow demons as they appeared out of nowhere. The demons lunged at her. Ciri teleported around to slash them away.

Two demons lunged from opposite sides, which she killed by first teleporting to its neck and cutting it off. Then in mid-air turning to deliver a vertical slash that chopped it into two. Then another demon jumped and slashed Ciri's right arm with claws that made it bleed.

"Ahh!" Ciri yelled in pain as she dropped to the ground. But then swung her sword with full strength that cut the demon's head. She then focused her powers and started to warp around each and every demon one by one as she killed them by slashing their bodies in sequence.

When she was done with them, she started to feel tired as she felt the energy drained from her. It was when Mephisto sent two roots from the ground to hold Ciri's arms that made her drop her sword. She become immobile as she shook herself to free from the roots.

"Why dont you fight fair Demon, if you are as powerful as say!?" Ciri taunted Mephisto to which he only smiled in amusement.

"I dont have any need to fight you. I only a few drops of your blood. Even at such insignificant amounts, Yamato's energy is highly dangerous and useful" Mephisto answered.

"And use it to-...RRHHH-...to open the hell gates and bring your forces here!" Ciri spit the words for him.

"Actually, that's true. But to rule all planes of existence, a hell lord needs a power of a god! Only the fruit born from the Qliphoth tree can grant it. Once I open the hell gate, the seeds of the Qliphoth will be sown. The blood of every living being in the continent will be sucked dry for the tree to grow and bear the fruit. Earth, Dante's world was our original target, but Aen Seidhe!?-..this is much more-..." Mephisto said to which Ciri listened as she felt her heart cold in fear and terrified at the malicious plans they have for this world. Not only Ciri, But Dante, Geralt and Avallach who is still barely alive listened to what he said.

"Now for the key-..." Mephisto said as he slowly pierced the skin of Ciri's arm with his demonic claw.

"AAHHH-...STOP! GUH-...!" Ciri yelled in pain as the demon's claw burned her skin as blood started dripping. Mephisto immediately collected it in a magical vial and threw it to a shadow demon as it grabbed it and vanished into thin air.

Geralt who was watching his Daughter being tortured by the demon felt anger and immense sadness as he couldn't protect her and cursed himself not having the strength. He saw Dante who was brutally pinned to the tree stem with his sword as he was a bit unconscious.

"Guh-...*SPITTING BLOOD*-...Dante-...Wake up! Ciri needs you! PLEASE!" Avallach tried in vain to bring the Son of Sparda to his senses.

"Now that I have your blood, time to cut loose ends!" the hell lord said as he summoned a sword and raised it in the air high above to swing it and kill Ciri. Ciri at that instant she realized nothing can be done by her and was ready to accept the fate, though she was sad that the demons are going to succeed and all of her loved ones will die.

She glanced at her father once with a warm smile remembering the good times with him and Yennefer. She then closed her eyes awaiting the inevitable.

"CIRI! NOOOO!' Geralt yelled in deep anger and fear.

**DEEP GROWL**

"RRRAAAAHHH!" A powerful growl echoed the atmosphere and all of a sudden,

**BOOOM**

"A powerful fireball flew at great speed and blasted Mephisto from where he stood into the wall and exploded violently. The hell lord scattered into mist. As the fire and dust settled. the roots let Ciri go as she fell down.

"*COUGH* *COUGH*-...she coughed as she watched her hands and realized she was alive to her extreme surprise.

Geralt for his part was also let loose from the roots as he fell to the ground and slowly picked his swords up.

Avallach for his part watched the magnificent sight before him and smirk, lying on the ground.

The three turned towards the same place where they heard the growl. Geralt and Ciri were wide eyed and stupefied at what they were seeing, is such an understatement.

They were looking at Dante, his sword Rebellion still impaled in his chest as his eyes were glowing red. Ciri and Geralt couldn't even comprehend how he's still alive from the certain death. Too many questions ran in their minds.

"He-...He's definitely not human! But what is he!?" Geralt thought, trembling.

"Dante!-...You're -...alive! How's this possible!? I always thought you were some monster hunter with great skills-...but this!?-...who are you really!?" Ciri thought as her eyes were fixed on the devil hunter.

Mephisto slowly formed himself again and stood opposite to Dante.

"Ha ha ha!-...I knew I cant kill you that easily, Son of Sparda! Hell, If Mundus and Argosax cant do it, what are my chances!" Mephisto said to which Geralt and Ciri were shocked at the name calling

"Sparda!? What are you talking about!?" Ciri asked to which Mephisto was amused.

"Oh well well well! Looks like you've been keeping secrets about yourself! Why!? To protect the people of this world!?" Mephisto asked.

"You're gonna keep talking like this!? I'm still gonna kick your ass! So why don't we settle this real quick!?" Dante said smirking at them as he slowly pulled the rebellion out of his chest. Then he threw the sword towards the tree.

Mephisto's eyes burned and his body covered in red cloud as he grew in size. Dante kept his arms in 'X' fashion and pulled it down fast as his body glowed in black and red and immediately a demonic energy surged through him and

*BOOOM*

A powerful explosion in the place that sent torrents of energy wave. Geralt grabbed Ciri and pierced the sword in the ground as Quen bubble shield covered them both. As the explosion settled, they all saw a huge demon standing 11 ft tall, with brimstone like tough body and large sets of 4 out to full span. It face was bestial with ruby like eyes glowing, two small horns protruding from its forehead and another horn from the back of its head to front.

There were two crimson spikes from its forearms. Geralt and Ciri were in loss of words. Their eyes cant believe what they were seeing. All this time, the Dante they knew, The Dante, Ciri befriended, travelled and spent time together-...was a Demon.

"No-..NO! Its the majin devil form! How is this even possible!? But now I understand how Argosax fell. Today-...YOU WILL DIE" Mephisto yelled as he charged towards Dante. Dante simply warped away with a blinding flash. Mephisto after stopping himself, saw his body was cut deep with Dante's wrist spike. Dante slowly turned to him.

Mephisto then angrily charged at him at blinding speed and was violently swinging his arms to which Dante effortlessly dodged every attack and finally held Mephisto's left fist with his left hand and punched straight in the face that sent him crashing through the ground. Dante instantly teleported and stomped the ground that caused a tremor and form a crevice. Then Dante didn't waste time as he teleported towards him did multiple upward and downward slashes that Mephisto couldn't dodge in time as his speed was beyond even his comprehension. Then he finally grabbed the hell lord and through hin in the air and raised his right arm and shot a big sized energy round that exploded on the hell lord.

Mephisto fell hard, crashing as he started to show signs of wound and trauma. Mephisto struggled to get up.

"Huh-..Hehe-...No matter what power you gain Dante, Samael is going to win! The underworld will rule!" Mephisto said as he was bleeding and gladly accepted his fate. Dante flapped his wings and then folded it front. Then a powerful energy concentrated at the center of the tip of four wing as he raised his both arms front and

**BAAAM**

A powerful stream of demonic energy in a straight line hit Mephisto at full force

"AAAAAHHHHHH-...!" the hell lord yelled in pain as his body started to crack in pieces due to the stress and then finally burst into ashes with a loud sonic boom that echoed the whole forest.

Just like the calm after the storm, the dust, wind and echoes settled, the red cloud that was forming a dome that covered the whole forest vanished as the clear starry sky showed up. The atmosphere was light again with no more foulness. The night was silent again.

Geralt and Ciri were still gazing at the devil in terror. Dante turned to look at them and he got out of his majin devil form and fell to the ground from a couple feet in air. Dante's wounds all healed up. He then turned to look at Avallach who was almost dead as he was lying still on the ground.

"Yo! Old man!" Dante said as he ran towards him. He placed his palm on his head and felt it cold, But still feeling his soul inside fighting to keep itself alive. Geralt and Ciri walked towards Avallach's body looking in grief as they have lost a friend.

"He's gone" Geralt said sadly.

"No, not yet. Huh, this is gonna sting!" he said as he held Avallach's hands and closed his eyes. Avallach's body glowed a bit and his wounds flared in white light as it slowly covered itself and healed completely. Geralt and Ciri's eyes widened in shock as they were witnessing a miracle.

Avallach was fully healed but he was still lying still. Then all of a sudden, they all heard a loud gasp as the elven sage let the air flow into his lungs as he got up.

"Whoa! Easy pointy ears! Welcome to the land of the living!" Dante said with a smirk.

"Avallach!" Ciri called out as she gave him a mild hug. The sage was a bit surprised by that gesture as he turned to look at Geralt.

"She was devastated to see you die. Glad you are back!" Geralt said with warm smile.

Avllach then turned to Dante and spoke with faint smile, "I guess, I am in your debt. Thanks you Dante"

"Huh, don't sweat it!" Dante replied.

Then all of a sudden, they all heard another gasp.

"GERALT!" The voice of a familiar friend whom they all thought they lost was back.

"REGIS!" Ciri called out loud as she ran towards him to give him a solid hug.

"Good to see you are doing well my child!" Regis said with a smile.

"What happened to you?" Avallach asked who was back on his feet.

"The red mist that was there moments ago, its mystical aura reacted with my vampiric form and assimilated with it. Like being trapped in a closed jar filled with a storm" Regis explained how he felt during his disappearance.

"Well, its all over now. With the threat being dealt with, you are free!" Geralt said.

"So what happened?" Regis asked curiously.

"It was Mephisto, one of the hell lords. Turns out, all the souls he collected was to get to the surface. But he and his cohorts have an even bigger party planned. Soon, its gonna bite everyone ass!" Dante explained in his usual sarcastic tone. Regis raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"Which brings us to the next part of this conversation!" Ciri said looking at Dante keeping a neutral face. Dante sighed as he realized he's gonna get a earful.

"Dante!? You lied to me-..to us! About you. We trusted you! I- trusted you! After all this time we journeyed together, how could you!?" Ciri yelled at him in anger with tears almost flowing out. To her, she felt betrayed.

"My medallion went crazy every time I was near you. I knew something was wrong" Geralt said warily looking at him.

The thing is they don't want to have any reservations as Dante belongs to Evil because he's demon. But the time they spent and they things they all learned about him, the things he did all screamed otherwise and none of them were evil. And now they are in dilemma as to what to believe about this white haired man. It could be true or all a facade.

"Hey! Dont be so quick to judge, missy! Uhh, a little help here!?" Dante said turned to the elven sage.

"I knew this for a long time, Zireael. Dante is the Son of Sparda!" Avallach said to which others were stunned beyond measure.

"So-...You are the son of the very demon that fought its own kind during the previous conjunction to protect us all! They are not fairy tales. They are so real!" Ciri said in confusion as she couldn't think straight.

"And the man who saved me was the very legendary dark knight!" Regis said now realizing the ultimate truth.

"I am still not sure if we can trust you anymore. Now we have a lot of questions and concerns as to the real reason of your stay here" Geralt said openly to the devil hunter felling troubled at the fact that they have a demon among them and to his experience, dealing with them always ended up bad.

"Contrary to the belief, Dante is not our enemy or Evil. He is hero who once saved all the worlds from his place, threats like Mundus, Argosax they all could have eventually found us here and destroyed, undoing Sparda's noble work. Just because he's a demon doesn't mean you should hate him. We have seen normal people capable of worse. Sparda single handedly saved everyone from annihilation and Dante has been carrying on that legacy for decades." Avallach explained to them in hopes of helping them understand.

"*SIGH* There's reason I didn't tell you. Not many from the place where I come know my real self. They all assume I'm so good at the hunting demons. I keep this as secret to protect the people I care about, cuz every douchebag downstairs hate me and my brother to this day and will do anything to kill us. If its anything, my mother's a human and she was killed by Mundus's demons. So I hunt them all this time as my own version of vengeance. That is all. But if you still don't trust me, I get it, considering how people of this world act with extreme pre-judice when it comes to supernatural and non-humans. But right now, we have a bigger problem" Dante said explaining his side of story to which Geralt and Ciri were surprised.

They found his answer to be more human than anything. Now They feel like they might have acted to rash in his case with rationale instead of looking into him deeply assess his character.

"Right, I am truly sorry. Its just-...its not that everyday you hear that there's a guardian devil looking out for us all. But still I need to know a lot more to fully trust you" Ciri said finally with a smile to which Dante chuckled as he saw the humor in her statement.

"Now that its settled, lets focus on what to do next. The demons now have Ciri's blood. The hell gate will be open anytime. We need to warn the mages in Aretuza, that is where the hell gate is, the fountain. You all go to Kaer Morhen, I will meet with Eida and have the others evacuate the institute" Avallach said to which others nodded.

"Mephisto also said something about Qliphoth. Do you know what that is?" Geralt asked.

"Yes, it is a tree that grows out of the underworld to the mortal world. It needs blood to grow and when it has enough, it will bear a fruit. And the demon that consumes it-..."

"Will become the king of the Underworld and rule every realm!" Geralt finished in grim tone as he began to worry for the safety of the entire world. But thats when something struck Dante as to Mephisto's last words before dying.

"Samel is going to win-...!" Dante thought and pieced it together to finally realize the grand plot.

"Its Samael. Samael is the one planning all this. He wants to consume the Qliphoth and become the king. Without Yamato and access to my world, he has magic rich planet with a hell gate as an alternative. Shit!" Dante said.

"Samael is -...!?" Regis asked in question.

"One of the 7 hell lords and the most cunning and powerful one. If Samael is involved, we need to be ready for everything. Everything is at stake" Avallach said to which others turned a bot despondent.

"Well, whoever it is. We will kick their sorry asses back to hell and show them why not to mess with us!" Dante cheered them up.

"I will take my leave here, folks! See you all later" Avallach bid goodbye as he opened a portal to his place to carry on the next important set of works.

"Then we will go to the Witcher's fortress, Yen might need our help" Geralt said to which Ciri nodded. Then they all held their arms in line as Ciri prepared to teleport to Kaer Morhen.

"And there is one other thing I need to tell you guys and girls about that black demon" Dante said as they all vanished into thin air.

...

A/N: Thats all for now. Also there will be one more chapter posted pretty soon and I also want to finish this story first before proceeding to the others. Plus, now you know how this story is going to progress. See you all soon and thanks for waiting.