Author's note: Please forgive any grammatical errors you find. I haven't had the time to go through this again after writing it.
Chapter 1, part I: A Devil in Remnant
It was another bright day at Beacon. The sun was high, no clouds were in sight, and a soft breeze was blowing. All around the massive campus, students were out and about, moving with energy and a sense of purpose. After all, this was the first day of term. Those unfamiliar with the place could be forgiven for thinking it was just a regular high school (albeit a pretty fancy one). The truth, of course, was about as far from that as could be. This was a school for hunters, the sole line of defence between humanity and an entire host of creeping, bloodthirsty beasts that would stop at nothing to devour it. As one might imagine, everyone was busy going about their work. Our half-demon hero was no exception.
Dante was holding in his hands an electronic device somewhat similar to the smartphones that had recently become so popular back in his own world. It was a crystal screen, bordered by a titanium frame. Lacking any buttons other than a power switch, it was controlled entirely by tapping the interface shown on the screen itself. This machine, which combined the functions of a personal computer, phone, diary, GPS system, and pretty much anything else you could think of, was called a "Scroll". At the moment, he was using it to access his schedule for the day, which included the classes he would be teaching.
First years, huh?
If he were to be quite honest, this felt like it was going to be a drag. Looking after a bunch of kids was not his idea of a good time, something he'd mentioned as soon as he'd been informed he'd be a teacher. Needless to say, he'd received quite the telling-off from Glynda Goodwitch, the woman stating in no uncertain terms that he was not to coast through the classes. In other words, he'd have to actually take this seriously. He sighed.
What am I even doing here?
He had absolutely no idea how to teach. While he himself was proficient in many different disciplines, he'd acquired those skills on the fly, from watching others do it, figuring out how it worked, and giving it a try himself. It had been trial and error, and a huge factor in its success had been the fact that all his learning had been practical. Throughout his life, he'd met a few people who'd taught him things and given advice, but he'd never had a sustained apprenticeship with anyone. A big part of it had been instinct: he'd always done what came naturally to him, allowing his body to guide him. How exactly was he supposed to impart any of that to others? How was he even supposed to translate it to a written format? He'd reached the point where most of the things he did were stored in his brain and movements and feelings. He had no idea how to explain it in words.
Shaking his head, he turned off the Scroll's display and slipped it into his pocket. He looked around, taking in the unfamiliar sight of the room he was in. To be fair, his lodgings were quite comfortable. Clean bathroom, nice bed, a wardrobe (which he had yet to fill), a study table, and plenty of space. The window looked out onto the Beacon grounds, giving a good view of them. He didn't really have anything to complain about. In addition, he'd been told he could get his meals at the school cafeteria whenever he wanted.
Well, it's not a bad deal. Might as well put some effort into holding up my end of it.
Walking over to the wardrobe mirror, he checked his reflection once. It had felt pretty good to take a nice, long bath and be clean again after the whole Qliphoth adventure. He'd decided to leave his hair as it was, but he had shaved his stubble off. His jacket had been cleaned up and delivered to his room earlier in the morning, and he now put it on. It was amazing how much younger he looked as a result of these changes; Dante could scarcely believe his own eyes. He even felt younger. Was this the result of that mental self-image stuff he kept hearing about? Whatever it was, he liked it.
No point in overthinking it. A job is a job, right?
Settling it thus, and feeling much better, he headed out, ready to face the day.
As the devil hunter walked down the corridor, he drew more than a few glances. Before long, word spread among the students of a rugged, silver haired man who might be a new teacher. Thus, by the time he reached the cafeteria, it was in a state of gossip. No sooner had he made his entrance than several pairs of eyes found him. People whispered excitedly among themselves, and there were even those who managed to make some lien off well-placed bets.
Okay?
Not really sure what to make of the reaction, he decided to ignore it. He was feeling hungry, and the food looked good. Sadly though, there was no pizza, nor any strawberry sundaes. Instead, he loaded up his plate with eggs, grilled meat and bread. Once he had done this, he searched for a place to sit. It seemed that the students were free to use any of the tables laid out in the hall, while the teachers had a separate table only for them. He spotted Ozpin seated there, and the Headmaster nodded slightly at him. Beside him was the Good Witch herself, who merely gave him a sharp glare. Seeing an empty chair next to them, he decided to make his way over.
As he sat down, the Headmaster greeted him, smiling slightly.
"Ah, Dante. I trust your accommodations are to your liking?"
"They're pretty good," the devil hunter admitted. It wasn't quite home, but it was a good place nonetheless.
Ozpin nodded, seemingly satisfied.
"First day of term," he said. "I hope you're ready. You've got class in a few minutes."
He remembered the look on Dante's face when he'd first told him he'd be teaching here. He'd seen it before plenty of times on veteran hunters taking their first ever class at the institute. It was the look of an expert warrior who doubted their ability to teach. And as a matter of fact, it was a valid concern: not all those who are great at something are also great at teaching it. However, Ozpin firmly believed that all experienced fighters had something or the other they could give the students of Beacon. If nothing else, the ones who had passed the Initiation were capable of learning from observation. And there was also the simple fact that Dante was not here just as a member of faculty. Ozpin needed him for his battle power, and he very much intended to send him out into the field. The teaching job was a way to get to know him, understand what kind of person he was, and what role he might play best in the war against the Grimm Queen.
In complete contrast to his uncertainty of the day before, however, the man in red looked calm and relaxed at the moment.
"I'll figure something out," he replied, before taking a bite of his food.
Ozpin smiled. He'd heard all he needed.
Glynda, however, was a different story.
While she had a good deal of faith in the Headmaster's judgement (which was absolutely necessary to retain one's sanity, given some of the decisions he took), she wasn't quite convinced he was right in this particular case. Even as the devil hunter ate, she looked at him skeptically. There was no shadow of a doubt he was an exceptional fighter. In fact, she'd been glad when Ozpin had recruited him. All the way until the point where he said he wanted him to teach. They barely knew anything about the man! The very thought of trusting him around the students was absurd! And there was the fact that he was from a different world! Evil he might not be, but there was no telling what kind of influence he would be on them.
"Dante," she said. "Did you go through the file I sent you?"
The man in red looked at her.
He had skimmed through bits and pieces of it the night before.
"Parts of it," he answered shortly.
Glynda frowned.
"That will not suffice," she said sharply.
Dante rolled his eyes, though he couldn't deny that a part of him was feeling highly amused. It was the same part that enjoyed annoying Lady with quips. Also the same part that had been highly entertained by the look on Nero's face when the kid had realized he'd let him knock the Rebellion out of his hand.
Place feels more like home already, he noted.
"History lessons aren't my thing," he said aloud. "Besides, what's any of that got to do with me?"
The blonde looked scandalized at his question, giving him a glare that would have reduced many a faculty member to a blubbering mess, but which only served to make the morning much, much better for Dante.
He had to admit, the strict look suited her: she was absurdly cute when she glared at him.
He did have the sense to not say that out-loud though.
"It has everything to do with you," she said, through gritted teeth. "Hunters exist to protect society, Dante. And in order to do that, they must be aware of society. We do not just kill Grimm. It is also our job to help keep order within the Kingdoms, and reassure the people. To that end, I highly suggest you familiarize yourself with the brief history I sent you!"
"Sure," replied Dante. "What do you want me to focus on? The formation of the Settlements? The Faunus civil rights movement? Or the bit about those White Fang people?"
Glynda blinked.
The slight smirk that had made its way onto Dante's face grew. Glynda blushed as she realized he'd been playing.
The nerve…!
How dare he fool around about something so crucial! More importantly, how dare he trick her like this!
As for Dante, he was having the time of his life.
Trish was impossible to joke around with: she reminded him too much of his mother. Lady was an expert trickster in her own right. And that Bayonetta woman he occasionally ran into was too freaky even for him.
But the blonde woman glaring at him right now?
She was absolutely perfect.
A little of what he was thinking must have shown on his face, because her eyes narrowed.
"Dante?"
"Yeah?"
She smiled brightly.
"Consider stabbing yourself at the earliest possibility."
Dante made a silent gesture of "hell yeah", doing a mini fist pump of victory.
Next to the two of them, Ozpin grinned knowingly, and with no small amount of relief. The good thing about having an even bigger maverick than himself around was that Glynda's attention (and subsequent ire) would no longer be focused on him.
However, none of them could stay there forever. Finishing breakfast, the three parted, each of them proceeding towards their own duties.
For the red-clad devil, that meant making his way to the Combat Training arena, whose location he found in the Scroll's floor plan of Beacon. It was one floor below ground level, along with several other training rooms. As he passed them by, he noted the presence of various weights, along with what looked to be robotic sparring partners.
Hmm. I should take a look at those later.
It had been a long time since Dante had actually trained. As his physical abilities had grown, no gym had had equipment capable of giving him an adequate challenge. As for combat, he got into so many real fights, they proved to be all he needed for practice and improvement. And of course, he had to maintain secrecy. Here on Remnant, on the other hand, the presence of superhuman warriors and bloodthirsty monsters was a publicly known fact. So there was no reason not to workout properly.
For the moment, though, he had a class to teach.
He stopped in front of the Combat Training arena's door, and placed his scroll into the identification slot. A computerized voice acknowledged him, and the metal door slid open upwards.
Entering, he found himself in a room that reminded him of the Colosseum back home. There was a circular central platform at the bottom, and spectator stands surrounding it, rising in steps.
Nice.
The place fit well with Dante's sense of style.
It seemed like a fitting place for the cultivation of fighting skills.
He grinned. This kept getting better and better.
Walking down, he took his place on the central platform, and crossed his arms.
He didn't need to wait long.
Moments later, students began to trickle in, coming in groups.
He noticed they were all dressed in battle gear, and carrying their weapons. As they walked in, they stared at him with curiosity, and in some cases, awe. Dante, of course, was at the moment unaware that he was the hot topic of discussion among the students. He decided to chalk it up to a case of teen spirits.
Heh. Pretty catchy guitar riff, not gonna lie.
Putting the thought of 90s grunge music out of his head, he decided to observe the young hunters in training, ignoring their whispers, and instead analysing their physiques, posture and movements. Most of them looked like they had undergone basic training, and had a decent level of fitness along with good combat abilities. But that was only the beginning of what was required. And Dante didn't believe in evaluating by appearance alone.
He took note of the weapons they carried. Almost every single was different. There was a variety of staves, maces, swords, spears, axes and other weapons on display, along with several others that seemed to be in some kind of stored or retracted form, hiding their true nature. He remembered reading in Glynda's file about the development of hunter weapons, which combined ranged and melee functions into a single tool which could shift forms to switch between them. In addition, many of them utilized something called Dust, which appeared to have elemental properties.
There was still a lot to learn about them, but Dante had understood everything he needed to for the moment. A lifetime of using and dealing with demonic weapons that had all manner of functions and strange properties had given him an ability to figure out very quickly how any battle implement might be used. From what he could see, most of the students were carrying these shifter-weapons, though there were a few that were carrying some classics, including, notably, a blond boy who was armed with a longsword. However, said boy did not look like a fighter.
Dante was slightly puzzled at that. From what he understood, the requirements for getting into Beacon were quite stringent. Well, there were always exceptions.
He turned his attention to the rest of the students. They all stood gathered in front of the entrance.
"That's him? Colour me impressed."
So whispered a girl with long, rather wild blonde hair to her partner. The blonde was dressed in a brown button-up jacket, leather skirt with dark pants underneath, and boots. She was armed with gold gauntlets, which had visible shells stored in attached compartments.
Shotgun gauntlets, Dante noted.
To the point, loud, and effective.
Much the same kind of approach he preferred himself.
And true to the type, the weapon's wielder seemed spirited, brash, and in-your-face. The blonde winked flirtatiously at Dante.
He decided to ignore the gesture.
Despite what Lady might think of him, he wasn't unused to women hitting on him.
Still, he had to admit, the blonde seemed to be at a higher level compared to most of her peers. He made a mental note of that fact, before turning his attention to her partner, who seemed to be the exact opposite in terms of personality.
Reserved, calm and cautious, she was looking at Dante calculatingly. He noted the sheathed blade at her waist, and couldn't help but smirk internally.
Hey, Vergil. I found someone you might take a liking to.
No doubt the blade had some kind of hidden property. An interesting fact was that the sheath had a handle too.
Standing close to these two girls was another pair. One of them had silver hair tied back in a ponytail. She had a proud, aristocratic bearing that bordered on haughtiness, though it didn't seem to be directed at him. However, she was staring quite intently, clearly evaluating him.
And next to her was a girl who looked younger than all the rest. She was shorter and lighter of build, wearing a black and red dress. A red weapon that was clearly in its retracted state was clasped to her belt. Looking at it, it was hard to tell what it might be. She stared excitedly at Dante, grinning.
Ooh boy. I don't like that look.
It was the overly energetic look that only the young and innocent could have. The look that was generally followed by an unstoppable stream of questions.
Shuddering slightly, he moved on.
The next team that caught his attention was interesting too. For one thing, it included the blond boy he had noticed earlier, who didn't appear to have any fighting skill. Interestingly though, his three teammates did not appear to think the least bit less of him for this. All three of them stood by him, their body language clearly indicating how close they all were.
Dante nodded slightly in approval.
Good folks.
A warrior who wasn't loyal to his own wasn't a warrior Dante could ever respect.
Of the three on the team who were experienced, one was a boy in green and white clothing that was similar to those worn in Asia back home. His black hair had a pink highlight in front, and was neatly tied back. He also appeared to be armed with a pair of twin daggers… that doubled as submachine guns. From looking at him, Dante could tell he was quite skilled at unarmed combat, which was always important.
The girl next to him, who seemed rather close to the boy, was a little on the short side, and smiled brightly, waving. She had short, orange hair, and carried a massive hammer.
So… laugh hard and hit harder? Gotcha.
Which led… to the final member on the team.
Rather tall for a girl, she had a lean, athletic build, dressed in armour reminiscent of the Spartans. A bronze shield was strapped to her back. Also visible was the handle of a sword, most likely the equivalent of a hoplite's short sword. She seemed calm and focused. Analysing, but not overthinking. And she was definitely a skilled fighter.
So she's the strongest one here.
She was indeed on a completely different level compared to her peers, with the exception of the rambunctious blonde brawler.
Having observed the entire class, Dante came to a conclusion.
But before voicing it aloud, he wanted to get to know them a little.
In true RWBY fashion, of course, he couldn't just get right to it.
The blonde girl with the gauntlets raised a hand, eagerly trying to get his attention.
Their eyes met, and Dante looked around, waiting to see if anyone else would have anything to say.
When no one came to his rescue, he sighed.
"Yes?" he asked, looking at her.
"We have no idea who you are, teach," said the girl. "Give us an introduction!"
The enthusiastic tone of her voice, combined with her general popularity, and the fact that everyone was curious about him anyway, meant that many people voiced similar opinions.
Once more, Dante sighed.
Well, to be fair, I was going to have to do it anyway.
"Name's Dante," he said. "I'm your Combat Instructor. Nice to meet you."
Blank silence greeted him, along with eager stares. Clearly, they wanted more.
"Oh come on, we already know that much! Tell us a little about yourself, will ya?" said the blonde.
Once more, sounds of approval from the others.
Wait, shouldn't I be the one asking the questions?
It was clear from the murmuring, however, that this wasn't going anywhere unless he answered the question. Of course, he could just tell them to shut up and do the class, but he knew that wouldn't help.
Although Dante had never been anyone's formal student, he knew one thing: all the warriors from whom he had learnt, all the fighters whose moves and techniques he had observed and made his own, he respected.
If these kids were to learn from him, he would have to earn their respect.
And the first step to that, was to give them respect.
"Fine," he said. "I won't go into details, but I come from far away. A place none of you have ever been to, and most likely none of you ever will."
Some shocked and impressed whispering followed, but he continued.
"I'll be honest with you: I haven't fought Grimm before. The first time I faced any was yesterday."
Stares of disbelief followed.
A teacher at Beacon hadn't fought Grimm before?
Dante, however, continued.
"What I've fought though, are creatures I hope none of you ever encounter. And I've fought them for over thirty years. And in those thirty years, I've learned that no matter what form they take, the monsters that prey on humanity here, and the ones who do so where I come from: they aren't so different. They kill just the same… and they can be killed just the same."
When he finished speaking, silence followed.
This time, it was silence that indicated people were actually listening to him.
When he was sure there were no questions, he decided to get started.
"So, combat. I can see most of you've gotten into a fight or two in your lives."
A few chuckles were heard, and Dante smiled slightly.
"But I can't really train you unless I know what you're capable of, now can I?"
The stares of the students became excited, as they realized what was coming.
"Now, according to this schedule, I've got 90 minutes with you today, and we've already spent a good 10 minutes talking, so I suggest we begin your first assignment right away."
This time, it was the redheaded Spartan-like warrior who raised her hand.
"And what is our assignment?"
Dante grinned.
"You'll be duelling me. One by one. All of you."
"Umm… you're kidding right?", one of them asked.
"Nope," said Dante, shaking his head.
"Uh, teach… you might be an Instructor and all, but its physically impossible for one human to have enough Aura to take on thirty Aura-enhanced opponents one after the other."
"Yeah, don't worry about all that," said Dante, waving off the objections. "Just come at me. I need to see what all of you can actually do."
When they didn't look convinced, he decided to try a different tactic.
"Hmm. All right: how about this then? If, by the end of this class, none of you succeed in knocking me down, you'll all be getting extra assignments. The kind that'll make you pull all-nighters."
As expected, the disbelief turned to anger and eagerness.
He nodded to himself.
Good.
Stepping back slightly, he gestured at one of the students, whom he picked at random, to come up.
The boy, dressed in full armour like a knight, and carrying a mace, stepped onto the platform, leering.
"Don't blame me if you get hurt, old man."
In answer, Dante simply performed the universal gesture of "come on".
And so began the First Years' evaluation at the hands of the Son of Sparda.
Chapter 1, Part II: One Hell of a Test
Pyrrha Nikos couldn't believe what she was seeing.
It had been less than an hour since the assignment had begun. In that time, more than half of the class had been uncompromisingly, utterly and completely defeated.
It was as terrifying as it was impressive, and it was all ridiculous.
Pyrrha had not known what to think of the rumours surrounding the new teacher. Being a tad more mature than most of her peers, she had tried to see past the common statements about him being hot.
She'd been a little surprised when she'd seen him, and learnt that he had almost no experience with Grimm. And that was when she'd become skeptical.
Of course, that skepticism had only grown when he'd chosen to go up against Cardin unarmed.
Less than a minute, and a couple of throws later, her impression stood corrected.
The first year bully lay in a heap on the floor, unable to move. He was sweating heavily, and panting, struggling to get up.
Dante helped him to his feet, and told him to go stand with others, before gesturing to the next student to come forward.
It was with a great deal more apprehension that a lad wielding a spear took his turn.
What followed was a martial arts clinic.
The red-clad hunter took on every single fully-armed student, using nothing but his hands and feet. They tried everything against him: melee attacks, gunfire, even their Semblances. It was all equally ineffective. It wasn't as though he was moving much faster than them, or hitting with a great deal more strength (though Pyrrha had a feeling he could do both if he wanted). No, he was fighting them at close to their own level of physical ability, outclassing them with his superior skill. Dashing around, rolling to avoid gunshots, or sometimes just casually deflecting the bullets with his hands, dodging and parrying whatever spears, swords or other weapons were used. And all the while, he attacked as and when he pleased, using a variety of kicks, punches, palm strikes, pressure points and throws to defeat his opponents with the least possible amount of effort.
It was completely unreal.
His unarmed fighting skills were an order of magnitude greater than any of the instructors at Mistral.
Pyrrha saw several techniques she had never even thought about.
So this is an expert hunter? Incredible.
As she looked on, Weiss Schnee attempted to freeze the ground to give herself a tactical advantage, only for the new teacher to skate over the ice and move even faster, sliding and leaping into a brilliant aerial flip, in the course of which he grabbed onto the heiress' head and threw her out of the arena. He landed right at the edge of the platform himself, on a small patch of ground that hadn't been frozen over.
Weiss did not look happy at being on the receiving end of the throw, scowling angrily at the Instructor as she returned to take her place amongst the others. Ruby tried to console her: the dark-haired girl had already had her spar. Her high-speed dashes had all been avoided by Dante, who seemed to know what she was about to do before she even did it. Finally, he'd casually used a trip-throw against her, leaving her staring up at the ceiling.
By now, all the students had been defeated, barring two.
Yang Xiao Long, and Pyrrha herself.
Unlike everyone else, the fiery blonde actually looked excited at the prospect of facing the seemingly unbeatable Instructor.
"I'm up next," she said, stepping forward. "Sorry, P-Money. But I'm taking this guy down."
Pyrrha said nothing, only sharpening her focus, tracking every move the two fighters made.
Yang was considerably more skilled than most of the first years, meaning this would be an important duel.
Dante decided to prepare the arena for the spar.
A flash of flame burst from his hand, which seemed to be covered by a gauntlet for a second. The heat immediately flash-evaporated the ice covering the platform. With a wave of his hand, he blew the vapours away, clearing the view.
What was that?! He has a flame Semblance?
It had been two quick for Pyrrha to see properly or figure out any of its specifics. All she knew was that he could generate a tremendous amount of heat almost instantly. And it didn't seem to strain him in the least to do it.
Figures, of course. As if his skills weren't enough, he had an incredibly powerful Semblance to go with them, which, incidentally, he hadn't even needed to use against any of them. Pyrrha wasn't the type to have an overly high of herself, but even she was slightly disheartened at the gap between them and a professional.
Yang, of course, had no such thoughts in her head.
She leapt onto the platform, whistling slightly.
"So you are hot," she said. It was a once in a lifetime chance to get away with using that line on a teacher, and she wasn't going to let it pass by.
From the audience, her younger sister squealed in second-hand embarrassment.
Dante sighed.
So far, most of the students he'd fought hadn't been the chatty type. In any case, they'd been too busy trying to find a way to hit him to speak.
This blonde was, as he'd noted earlier, a little better than the others.
And she had a bigger mouth too.
"That's… pretty inappropriate," he said, as she approached.
She grinned. A regular teacher would have put her in detention for that little quip. She'd known from the moment she'd seen the silver-haired warrior that he was the same as her. Someone who didn't give a damn about the rules.
"Aww come on, Professor. Lighten up, will ya? Twenty-eight win streak is a pretty good reason to smile, if you ask me. There's no shame in losing to me."
She winked.
Dante smirked slightly. Her one-liner game needed some work, but at least she had a sense of humour.
"Nah, you twerps don't count," he replied. "And don't worry, there's no shame in losing to me either."
Yang's grin became wider.
Finally, someone who knew how to trash-talk properly.
[Tekken 5 OST: Crimson Sunset]
She took up her fighting stance, raising Ember Celica high.
"Let's give 'em a good show, teach."
Dante rolled his eyes, but he couldn't deny, he was finally feeling some excitement about dueling one of his students.
Skipping lightly on his feet, he lowered his right arm, getting into a flicker stance that was his own version of Jeet Kune Do.
"Come on, then."
Yang dashed in.
Owing to the nature of her weapons, every punch could also be a potential shotgun blast, meaning she could seamlessly switch from melee to ranged or vice versa, and opponents couldn't block her attacks the normal way, since they never knew when they might be on the receiving end of a shot.
Dante knew this, of course.
So when Yang struck out with a right cross, he avoided it by side-stepping. Without giving her a chance to follow up, he grabbed the extended arm and pulled her in, while ramming his elbow into her face. The strike turned into a throw, as he used the back of the same arm to push her head backwards, while sweeping both of her legs forward with one of his own.
To her credit, the blonde was able to react to the counter, which would have dropped most opponents.
Going with the momentum, she flipped over in mid-air to avoid landing on her back, and used the movement to free her arm from his grip. Adding a spin to the aerial acrobatic, she lashed out with a reverse roundhouse kick aimed at the back of his head.
Dante saw the blow coming, and ducked it while moving forward, so that by the time Yang had almost landed on her feet, he was standing behind her.
She instinctively turned, arms up high to guard. Which was a good thing, because Dante's own reverse kick slammed into her, launching her backwards.
He's strong!
If that hit had connected with her head, her Aura would have taken a massive dent.
She managed to land safely, flipping over once more and then skidding along the ground to disperse the momentum.
Coming to a stop, she grinned fiercely.
Finally. Finally.
A teacher who knew how to fight using their own body! Weapons were good and all, but if you couldn't fight unarmed, were you even a fighter?
"That was dirty, teach. With that kind power, why bother with all these flowy movements?"
Dante knew where she was coming from.
Back when he had been in his teens, he had been much the same. Charging forward headfirst, seeking to overcome every opponent with strength. Come to think of it, Nero had been the same. Heck, he'd been even more of a berserker. It had taken Dante three duels with Vergil to overcome that tendency properly, and he'd made sure to impart that lesson to his nephew as well.
It was ironic. Dante was stronger now than he could have dreamed of when he was a teenager. But his fighting style was no longer dependent on overpowering the enemy with brute force.
He smirked.
Time to pass the lesson on to her as well.
"You should try these 'flowy movements' sometime," he said. "You'd be surprised what they can do."
Yang snorted.
"Yeah, right. Sorry, Professor. I think I'll stick to what I'm using now."
Dante shrugged.
"Suit yourself, kid."
The blonde brawler frowned. Although she wasn't showing the least bit of anxiousness, she knew from the initial exchange that she wouldn't be able to beat him by rushing in head first without a plan. In terms of strength and speed, Dante was her superior, and she had a feeling he was holding back most of his power. In addition, he was also very skilled as a martial artist. She wouldn't be able to break through his defenses like she did everyone else's.
A direct attack won't work at my current level. Let's test his reactions.
Several of her classmates had automatic weapons with a higher rate of fire than Ember Celica, but most of those had predictable trajectories, since their gun forms clearly made it evident when they were taking aim, and what they were aiming at.
With Ember Celica though, it was possible to disguise one's shots. Like fistfighting, a straight could turn into a hook mid-swing, and the shot could come in from an angle instead right in front. And that was only one of the countless feints possible.
Dante might be fast, but could he correctly read and avoid all her attacks, especially when you factored in the spread of the shotgun blasts?
"Time to light this place up."
She leapt high into the air.
The man in red frowned slightly.
She wasn't closing in on him.
And that meant, this was going to be a ranged attack.
Little predictable there, kid.
Dante had already figured out what made her gauntlets more dangerous than most hunter weapons. With his enhanced vision, it would have been possible to read her individual attacks. But that was an unnecessarily complicated response.
Instead, he stood his ground, going into a low, defensive stance, one hand slightly extended, the other in front of his chest.
Summoning his demonic energy, he created an almost invisible barrier around his body.
This was the technique he had developed during his ascent of the Temen-ni-gru.
A technique that concentrated demonic energy and manifested it physically to block all attacks.
Against Vergil's extraordinarily sharp and precise attacks, it had been the perfect defence.
Royal Guard.
Yang stared in shock as her countless shots simply bounced off the air around Dante, hitting some kind of barrier with a loud noise. Each impact caused the otherwise invisible shield to glow red, revealing its presence.
"Hey, no fair!" she yelled out. "What kind of cheap move is that?"
"Hey, I never said I wouldn't defend myself."
The gold dragon clenched her teeth. She was running out of options now. The only thing that remained was her ace in the hole.
But I haven't taken enough damage to use it!
Had… had Dante known about her Semblance? Was that why he hadn't attacked aggressively?
No, that made no sense. He'd merely been giving her a chance to show her skills, like he'd given everyone else.
Can I bait him into hitting me?
She looked at the nonchalantly smiling devil hunter.
Yeah, right, and Boarbatusks can fly.
There was no way she'd be able to get under his skin. The man seemed unflappable. He was too calm and cool for her taunts to enrage him.
That left only one other way.
She could still use her Semblance, but without having absorbed any energy from attacks, the only way she could power it was to use her own Aura as fuel.
Got no other choice, do I?
She tapped into her Aura, allowing it to flow through her as her Semblance accessed it, converting into power.
Dante looked on, curious.
The burning golden energy surrounding her reminded him somewhat of his own demonic aura. When demons have their fighting spirit and bloodlust at their peak, their latent powers manifest, often visible in the form of dark energy or pulses of lightning. Dante had observed that this applied to him, as it also did to Nero and Vergil.
While Yang didn't have demonic blood in her veins, he had a feeling what she was doing was similar to what he did.
If that had been himself in her place, he would have been gathering whatever power he could in order to Trigger, and end the fight with one overwhelming attack.
He'd already seen the flaw in the blonde girl as a warrior.
Now it was time to reveal it to her.
"It isn't going to work," he said. "You should stop here. This fight is already over."
"Like hell it is," replied the blonde, her eyes turning red. "You haven't seen anything yet!"
Here it comes.
Dante gave no outward sign of his preparedness though. Smirking slightly, he shook his head.
"Come on. Learn to take a loss gracefully, will you?"
"AFTER YOU!" shouted Yang. Her power fully charged, or as charged as it could be without absorbing anything from outside, she charged in with an explosive burst of speed that was incomparable to her previous moves.
Dante noted this was the fastest he'd seen anyone in Remnant move, barring that one little girl with the scythe. The blonde also hit way harder than her.
But it still wasn't enough.
He could see her coming, and from the way she was crouching low, he surmised that the attack would be some kind of rising strike, like a jumping knee or an uppercut.
It would have been easy to strike first, but too dangerous.
Considering the velocity at which she was moving, even simply holding his fist in place would mean she'd take an impact that could send a bus flying.
Normally, there was no reason to hold back to this extent in any of his fights. Not against the demons he hunted, nor against Vergil or Nero, both of whom could take the punishment. Even Trish boasted incredible durability, along with the demonic trait of regeneration. The exception, of course, was Lady, but it had been years since he'd fought her, and she hadn't been able to push him this far.
New problems required new solutions, and in that moment, Dante came up with one.
As the blonde closed in, he moved forward to meet her, going low as well.
He watched her movements carefully, and saw the punch coming.
Deliberately, he didn't raise his hands, making her believe she'd be able to land the blow.
When the fist was an inch away from crashing into his face, he used it.
The Royal Release was a formless counter that utilized demonic energy to temporarily make Dante's entire body intangible. It was what allowed him to pass through whatever attack the enemy used, unharmed, before striking back.
Utilizing that moment of intangibility, he allowed Yang's full-power attack to go through.
The blonde blinked.
Her power expended, along with her momentum, she was now completely stationary.
Dante phased back into tangible form.
Instead of hitting her while she was still moving, which was how the Royal Release normally worked, he had waited an extra fraction of a second.
Now, he simply grabbed her face and swept her legs, performing a sweep-throw very similar to the one he had used to defeat Ruby.
The blonde's back hit the ground, and Dante immediately trapped one of her arms under his knee, while pinning her opposite shoulder with his hand.
Yang's eyes widened, before turning from red back to lilac.
"You cool off yet, kid?"
The encounter had been highly reminiscent of his second fight with Nero.
Yang seemed like she was about to snap at him in anger but turned her head away.
"You played me from the start," she said.
It had been a fantastic duel, far and away the best one she'd ever had in her life. But somehow, she felt cheated.
Dante let go of her and got to his feet, holding out a hand. She looked at it for a moment before accepting, and allowing him to help her up.
"I just wanted to show you something," the devil hunter said.
Yang waited for him to elaborate.
"You're good," he said. "But you're too headstrong. And you have a tendency to get pissed. I'll admit, I was a bit of a hothead too, when I was your age."
His voice became slightly softer.
"And I paid the price for it. Luckily, I survived. Not everyone's going to have that kind of luck. You can't rush every opponent, and hope to beat them down. Sooner or later, you're going to run into someone who'll use that against you. Let you make a mistake. And when you do, it'll be too late."
Yang looked down, quiet for the first time since the assignment had begun.
This was the first time she'd been properly chastised for her temper and brash approach. Her father had never properly told her off for it.
Somehow, she wasn't as mad as she thought she'd be.
Dante grinned.
"But hey, that's enough of that. You did good."
Yang still looked quite disheartened. Dante sighed. This was another difficult thing about teaching kids.
"I'll let you in on a little secret," he said. "That final punch would have done some damage if it had landed."
The brawler looked up disbelievingly.
"No way."
"Yep. Stick around, and I'll show you how to connect it one day."
Yang felt her despair vanish, replaced by a fierce excitement.
"You better, teach. I'll hold you to that."
"Good girl. Now go on. I still gotta face the Spartan princess over there."
The two of them turned to look at the single remaining first year who hadn't sparred with the new teacher yet.
"Pyrrha Nikos," said Yang. "Good luck, Professor."
"Is she that tough?"
The brawler looked at him seriously.
"If anyone here stands a better chance against you than me, it's her."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Yang walked off the arena, and the two remaining fighters stared each other down.
"Well, come on then. Let's get this over with," said the man in red.
Pyrrha approached, stepping onto the platform, sliding her shield and sword off her back and into her hands.
[DMC 1 OST: Ultra Violet]
"So you're the strongest of the first years," said Dante.
Pyrrha said nothing. She'd watched the fight with Yang carefully, and already knew how deceptively good he was at psychological warfare and subtly throwing someone off their game through taunts.
She carefully considered the situation.
He's strong and fast. At close range, he'll disarm me or take me down with some kind of throw. But I can't just stay at a distance either. He has that strange power that seems to deflect bullets harmlessly.
Mid range proved to be the best option. Staying away would basically turn the fight into a stalemate. Besides, though he hadn't done so yet, nothing was stopping him from using that flame Semblance again.
Decision made, she moved forward quickly, transitioning Miló into its spear form and immediately thrusting it to test her opponent.
Dante leaned to the side, avoiding the blow, and ducked under the following slash, stepping back and circling around to keep his distance. He noticed right away that she was different from any of the other students.
Yang's furious blows had more force, and Ruby's Semblance had more speed. Blake's use of clones had been interesting too, as had Weiss' various spells.
But in terms of sheer skill and experience, Pyrrha stood head and shoulders above her classmates.
Dante couldn't enter into striking range at will, nor could he easily find an opening to counter her. Not without breaking his self-imposed rule of restricting his physical abilities.
He continued to dodge, occasionally parrying a spear thrust or blocking a shield bash.
It was a few seconds later that he felt something tugging at his waist.
My belt?
It was only a slight pull, but it surprised him enough that Pyrrha was able to close the distance and strike out with her spear.
He leaned his torso to the side with inhuman agility, avoiding the thrust aimed at his chest.
Taking the opportunity, he gripped the handle of the weapon, and pulled it out of her grasp.
To his surprise, it slid forward on its own, though Pyrrha wasn't holding it, scratching his hand as it escaped.
Miló returned to its owner, who assumed her stance again.
Dante looked down at his belt buckle, and then at the spear again, which was made almost entirely of metal, and suddenly, it clicked.
"You're Magneto, aren't you!"
The first person he could think of was the mutant from the X-Men comics he'd enjoyed reading back home.
Pyrrha made no answer. The reference escaped her, but from the name "Magneto", it was obvious Dante had figured out what her Semblance was.
Not good!
The element of surprise was gone now.
She wondered for a moment if anyone else had understood the meaning of Dante's words. Hiding her Semblance wasn't super important to her, but she preferred to not make it obvious. Having a hidden ace in the hole was an advantage, one which allowed her to make subtle use of it, such as pushing her opponent's weapons just slightly off course, or firing with just a little more accuracy than otherwise possible.
As for Dante, he grinned with approval.
The Spartan princess did have a sneaky side to her.
Over the years, he had learnt the benefit of such an approach too.
And considering her skills, maybe it would be all right if he finally armed himself too.
He was curious to see if her magnetism worked on Devil Arms anyway.
"Congratulations. You've passed the first part. This boss battle will now enter stage two."
[DMC 5 OST: Voltaic Black Knight]
He held out his hand, and Devil Sword Dante materialized in a flash of red flames.
Pyrrha's eyes widened. Even as an elite student, she couldn't help but be intimidated.
What kind of sword is that?!
The massive blade appeared be made of metal, though large parts of it, including the handle and a section running down the middle, seemed to be composed either of organic matter, or some kind of rock. The pommel had a large red stone in it.
The rest of the class gasped in awe.
"No fucking way," said Yang, not even caring that everyone heard her.
"That… is so cool!", shouted Ruby, who was in fits of glee at the appearance of a new weapon.
Without warning, Dante slid forward, thrusting the demon sword at his opponent.
Pyrrha raised her shield to block instinctively, but was still pushed back by the impact.
The sword was as heavy as it looked.
A single swing from that thing could go right through someone!
And suddenly, the entire playing field had changed.
Armed with the enormous sword, Dante was no longer at a reach disadvantage in melee. And that wasn't even taking into account the variety of ways he could now attack.
Each slash Pyrrha blocked rattled her frame.
Taking one of those unprotected would end the fight immediately.
It made her warrior's blood boil.
More than any of her instructors. Any of the competitors she had defeated on the way to four championships.
This was a true battle.
Abandoning her usual restraints, she unleashed her full might.
As the legendary devil hunter and the Mistralian champion clashed, the first years found themselves enraptured.
It was a showdown like nothing they'd ever witnessed before.
And the Invincible Girl was at a disadvantage.
With every blow exchanged, she was losing ground, finding it harder and harder to maintain her defences.
Seeing the last, and best of them, about to lose united the students.
No matter how powerful the new teacher was, their pride refused to allow him a clean thirty-zero sweep against them.
"Come on, Pyrrha!"
"Go get him, girl!"
"Don't give up!"
She recognized the voices of her teammates. And following them came those of the rest of her classmates too, all them firmly behind her.
It was a strange inversion of what she had experienced in the tournaments. There, she had been the favourite. Unsurprisingly, it was always her opponent who was cheered. Everyone loves a good underdog after all.
This was her first time actually having the support of the crowd.
Somehow, it didn't feel bad.
Allowing their temporary unity as the first years of Beacon to give her strength, she fought back furiously.
[RWBY OST: Red Like Roses, Part II]
Knowing it was pointless to try to resist the weight of the Devil Sword, she switched to parrying, while using her own lighter weapon to attack more frequently, switching seamlessly from spear to sword form and back to launch an incredible sequence of slashes, thrusts and counter-swings, even working in kicks and shield bashes as she forced the man in red back with sheer force of will.
"Hell yeah! Now we're talking!"
Dante dashed backwards, a red aura surrounding him as he moved with speed that made it look like he was teleporting.
"You ready?"
He charged back in.
Pyrrha leapt high into the air, throwing her shield at him. Mid-flight, it changed direction, curving around and zipping towards him from behind. At the same time, she tried using her Polarity to make sure he couldn't block with his sword. Unfortunately, her power had no effect on the strange weapon.
Dante swung the sword around his back, deflecting the incoming shield without even looking, before leaping up to attack with an ascending slash.
Up in the air, Pyrrha had no footing to work with, and every hit she blocked caused her to spin and flip around from the impact.
Going with the momentum, she countered with a desperate kick, jumping off Dante's chest to gain distance, and transforming her weapon into its rifle form to shoot.
Once more, Dante seemed to teleport, this time back to the ground, avoiding every shot.
Pyrrha landed twenty feet away, breathing heavily.
"Not bad at all," the teacher complimented. "But you lack something. And it's why you're going to lose here."
In an uncharacteristic show of emotion, the redhead roared out loud as she lunged forward.
But Dante had seen enough of her moves to know that the incoming attack was going to be yet another thrust.
Holding his arm out, he effortlessly spun the demon sword vertically in his hand, unleashing a classic Swordmaster technique.
Prop Shredder- Legends say this is the most stylish way to disarm an opponent. These legends have yet to be proven wrong.
The demonic blade smashed into Pyrrha's leaf sword from below, easily knocking it out of her hand.
Before she could move, Devil Sword Dante was flicked up, stopping inches from her throat.
"And that's enough for today," said the Son of Sparda.
Pyrrha's heart was pounding furiously in her chest. A part of her refused to believe it was over. But she knew it was.
Slowly, she straightened up, and Dante lowered his word, which vanished the same way it had appeared.
He looked at her with approval. Out of all of them, she had pushed him the furthest.
Unfortunately, the poor redhead looked close to tears.
It was not entirely surprising to Dante.
For all her calmness and control over herself, she was still just a young girl. And if she was used to winning, then this would be a hard pill for her to swallow, no matter how humble she might be.
I know it was for me, he thought, recalling the duel at the top of the Temen-ni-gru.
He decided to be a little kinder than he normally was.
The girl already seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. There was no point keeping her in unnecessary suspense.
"You're probably not happy about the result. But you should be. You did well."
She looked up to face him, eyes glittering.
"I'll tell you now why you lost. It's not because you didn't work hard. Or because you didn't work smart. It's not because of technique, or lack of skill. What you lack, is killer instinct. In a fight, intent beats technique, ten times out of ten. And when it came down to the wire, my will to not lose was stronger than yours."
"I… lost because my will is weak?" Pyrrha echoed, her voice hollow.
Dante sighed.
"Yes." He continued before she could spiral into more self-loathing. "And that's perfectly fine. No one is strong all the time. And there's a simple way to gain unbeatable will."
"And that is?"
"Find something worth fighting for. Just something to think about, kid. You're young. There's plenty of time to do it."
He turned to the rest of the class.
"And that concludes your assignment. Now, I recall saying that if none of you succeeded in knocking me down, you'd all be getting extra work."
A chorus of groans followed, and he grinned in response.
"Nice way to motivate you, wouldn't you say?"
"Wait…", said someone. "You lied?"
"Yep," said Dante nonchalantly.
Ignoring their angry muttering, he went on.
"Hey, there's no point groaning about it. I never said this class was going to be easy. But now I have an idea of what we need to do."
The whispers faded.
"Don't be late tomorrow. You're not going to want to miss what comes next."