Author's note: I bet some of you thought this fic wasn't going to return. But here we are. This is a very short chapter. I haven't actually written anything for this fic in ages, so I'm trying to get back into the flow and feel of things. There is a reference right at the end of this chapter to something I believe I read in an interview with Hideki Kamiya long back. I'm not sure if that memory is correct, but it does certainly seem lore-accurate for the characters concerned, hence writing the scene.

Anyway, if you do want to see this fic update more regularly, then leave reviews! Say things. No one wants to write for a dead audience. ;)

"You've heard of it, haven't you? The Legend of Sparda. A long time ago, there was a demon swordsman. He served the Prince of Darkness, until one day, he woke up to justice. He rose up against his former master, for the sake of those who couldn't protect themselves. The battle was long and hard, but this lone demon swordsman did the impossible: he defeated the Demon King himself. In doing so, he single handedly saved humanity. But in time, even that miraculous victory faded into obscurity, and was lost in the pages of history.

But you see, what is pure and good never truly dies.

The noble Dark Knight may have died, but his legacy lived on.

In time, a new Dark Knight rose. This is his story."

Chapter 20: Onward to New Adventures

Evernight Castle, Land of Darkness:

A heavy thud echoed across the grounds. There were no living animals around, but several smaller Grimm skittered away quickly in fear. In general, the unliving creatures made themselves scarce. They were familiar with their mistress' moods, and at the moment, she wasn't in a good one.

"Damn it! Damn it all!"

Salem hunched over, breathing heavily. Across the room from her, the planning table, which had once had maps and carefully obtained information from all over Remnant resting upon it, was now embedded in the wall. Throwing a fit and tossing things around ill befitted her. She knew that. But she had just watched years', no, entire centuries' worth of careful planning and preparation go up in flames.

There was no possible way for her to have foreseen it. After all, even the existence of demons had been something she'd considered a mere myth, a legend, something she would never have to deal with herself. Needless to say, one actually appearing out of nowhere, and effortlessly destroying an entire army of her Grimm wasn't something she had ever accounted for. It was all absurd: every last bit of it. The incredible power of that demon, the way he fought, almost as if he was playing, and the fact that he had protected humans. Absurd! What kind of ancient evil horror protected humans? It was the furthest possible thing from what she had imagined a demon would do. But no, there was something even more absurd than that. With all of the Grimm in the area decimated, she had had no way to see what was happening there at the time. But afterwards, the video that had been circulating all over Remnant found its way even to her.

The red demon had transformed into a man. A human.

A mere human had that kind of power.

After all this time, it wouldn't be that thrice-damned Ozma who would stop her, or even the inheritors' of their children's power. Or even those two self-proclaimed gods. No, she had been stopped in her tracks by a mortal, a human being, of all things.

If she wasn't immortal, she would have thrown herself off the tower in frustration.

Calm down, she told herself. I have to think clearly. Anger makes fools of everyone.

The situation was bad, but not unsalvageable. This mysterious man was still a demon, even if he had a human side. And by all accounts, that must mean there was a part of him that revelled in death and destruction. And he wasn't one of the fools who would be taken in by Ozma's tricks and join him. No, in fact, this might even be the best situation: she had intended to find the demon and convince him to join her anyway. Now, she knew exactly how to find him.

But, it was always best to have a backup plan.

Destabilising and then destroying Vale had been the first in a line of dominoes she had carefully arranged. But even if she had failed to topple it over, it didn't mean her plans were completely derailed. Her agent in Vale still remained. While the Relic of Choice hadn't been located, it might still be possible to obtain the Fall Maiden's power. In the meantime, the search would continue for the other Relics. If the devil wouldn't make a deal with her, then she would use the power of the gods' creations. Either way, the goal didn't change: destroy Remnant, and make those two old fools pay for what they had done to her.

She turned to her three followers in the room.

"Proceed with our plans as usual. One anomaly can't be everywhere at once. We may have lost the battle, but we'll win the war."

Watts, Tyrian and Hazel briefly glanced at each other, their faces paling slightly.

"Uh… just checking, but you have received reports from all fronts, right?"

"Reports?"

She didn't actually need reports from her Grimm forces, since she could see through their eyes directly.

Wait, hold on a second.

She had originally been attacking Vale on two fronts. Aside from the smaller ambush force meant to destroy the city, she had also planned to advance a larger force through the countryside. However, the mysterious demon's arrival had distracted her to the extent that she had completely forgotten to check on the status of the latter.

Which, come to think of it… why couldn't she feel the presence of any of those Grimm anymore?

She looked at the three men in the room.

"Explain."

All three of them swallowed.

"Uh… I think you should watch the news."

"The news?"

Salem grabbed a Scroll, and browsed to the news. It took her only a second to find what they must have been talking about: after all, it was the headline, and the topmost video on the feed.

As for the video itself, it showcased five more demons… utterly obliterating her other advancing force.

"..."

"FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

Elsewhere in Remnant:

"Dante, what's wrong? You're staring off into space."

"Eh, I just thought I heard someone swearing real loud, you know? Like their entire life's work had just been ruined or something."

Yang frowned.

"That's… an oddly specific description."

She shook her head.

"Anyway, we're getting distracted here. I was going to show you the news."

Dante sighed. "Don't bother. I've already seen it. The videos are everywhere."

He wasn't sure what to make of four more named demons suddenly revealing themselves in Remnant, or the fact that Nevan was with them, and that all five of them had been caught on video destroying a legion of Grimm. Well, destruction itself wasn't unusual for demons. That was kind of what they did. All day, every day. Except, the five of them had actually stayed behind afterwards and helped with reconstruction. In fact, they were reported to be living with the villagers even now.

Strangest of all, Nevan had actually been approached by reporters.

"I speak for the five of us here. In the times to come, more and more of our kind will reveal themselves. While not all of them can be trusted, rest assured that all five of us come as allies to humankind, and will protect you… from these filthy creatures of unlife you call the Grimm, and from those of our kind who seek to harm you."

"And… who… what are you?"

"We are demons. To be specific, we are The Council of Five, and we represent the one true Demon King, who has been living among you, protecting you."

"He's been here in Vale? Can you identify him?"

"We will not do so. He will reveal himself to you when he chooses to, when the time is right."

Dante had a headache just thinking about it. He had no idea what kind of weird plan Nevan was up to, but he doubted it could be anything good. While she wasn't evil, that didn't mean she couldn't cause a considerable amount of chaos.

Maybe I should have kept a closer eye on her after all.

"What is she up to…?" he wondered aloud.

"You should probably go check on weird demon lady," said Yang helpfully. "Since you went viral, the whole demon situation isn't really a secret anymore. And then, right around the same time, she and her little group pull their own gig. Something's going on for sure."

She did have a point. It seemed a little suspicious that two different Grimm legions would attack two different locations in the kingdom at the same time. Then there was the whole deal with Ozpin and the "Woman in the Tower" too. He'd spoken to Roman, and had gotten the gist of the power struggle playing out. On the one side, there was Ozpin and his little group, who held most of the actual authority within the Kingdoms. Through careful control and manipulation of media and perception, they kept the humans under control. While the stated purpose of the army of hunters was to eliminate Grimm threats, they all answered, in some way or another, to Ozpin. Roman didn't know much more than that, but he did point out that someone who kept as many secrets as the headmaster likely wasn't a trustworthy person. On the other hand, there was the figure in the shadows. Roman had no idea who they were, but this person was Cinder's true boss, and the one who had hired him to destabilise and steal from Vale. Whoever they were, they had been able to get even the White Fang to serve them.

There were pieces missing to this puzzle.

Dante had concluded from reading the book Cinder had given him that Ozpin's enemy was the titular "Woman in the Tower". Ozpin himself had said that the book was misleading. However, Ozpin himself frequently misled people. And on top of all that were the Grimm themselves. While all worlds had their own distinct natural habitats, there was something weird about the presence of the Grimm. Just why didn't people find their existence here more alarming? After all, creatures of unlife inhabiting the world of the living isn't a natural circumstance. He strongly suspected that Ozpin and the "Woman in the Tower" knew more about what was going on there.

And then, there was the situation with Nevan's group.

Plenty of smaller demons had slipped in through the cracks between worlds caused by the Qliphoth. What was more worrying though, was that several named demons had managed to come through as well. Nevan's group had five in total. Dante had already defeated Orion and Raijin. However, there was no telling how many more might be out there. And what was all that about a demon king? Was Nevan really still going on about that?

But then again, Lucifer himself had suggested that Dante take the vacant throne.

Sounds like a pain-in-the-ass gig if I've ever heard of one.

He would have to decline.

Nevan was all right for now. In any case, she didn't appear to have any plans of hurting any humans.

So for the moment, he would prioritise the other problem.

Ozpin wouldn't reveal anything. Not willingly anyway. It was certainly a possibility to go and beat it out of him… but that would mean being branded an enemy of the world, and that sounded like a bit much of a hassle to Dante. However, that still left one other option. After all, Ozpin wasn't the only one who knew the truth about this world. Flipping out his Scroll, he found a number he had obtained from Roman, and dialled it.

The one on the other end answered after a single ring, and when she spoke, her voice was equal parts nervous, terrified and hopeful.

"H-hello?" said Cinder.

"All right," said Dante. "I'll take you up on your little offer. But first, I'll need to meet your boss. Those are my terms. Think about it, and let me know-"

"Agreed!" she answered before he could even finish. "I-I-I'll set up a meeting and get back to you. However, it is a long journey. You should prepare yourself."

The call ended, and Dante blinked at his Scroll.

"Hmm. Well, that went well, I guess."

"So… just like that, huh? You're going to meet the other side," said Yang.

"Might as well. No point putting it off. Speaking off, they should be about ready to leave. I better go see them off."

The two of them got up and made their way out of the office. Outside the Devil May Cry establishment building, a group was gathered. Dante glanced at them all.

"So I guess this is it, huh?" he said.

"You sure you don't want to come?" asked Nero.

Dante shook his head.

"I'm where I need to be. But like I said, drop in anytime."

Nero nodded. As for the older Devil Hunter, he looked at the rest of the group. Morrison, Lady and Vergil all seemed ready to go. For a brief moment, the twins stared at each other, before they came to an unspoken agreement. What was in the past should now remain in the past. There was no reason to continue their rivalry anymore. Vergil unsheathed Yamato, and prepared to cut through dimensions once more.

As he did this, Dante turned to Trish, noticing she wasn't standing with the rest of the group.

"You leave something behind or what?"

She shook her head.

"Not at all. Well, not unless you count me."

Dante blinked a few times.

"Wait… you're not saying…"

The slightest hint of a grin appeared on her face.

"Well, the Earth had gotten a bit boring for me. There's only so much time I can spend sitting around and hiding in the shadows between jobs. This place seems a bit more exciting."

The Legendary Devil Hunter stared for a while at her.

"... Are you sure?"

The smile on her face grew slightly warmer.

"I'm not a human, remember? I've no attachment to the Earth. But I do have a reason to be here."

For a brief moment, Dante's eyes widened.

"... I see. Well, we'll be getting a lot more work here, and Devil May Cry could use some help. So stay as long as you want."

She nodded, and the pair turned to face those who would be returning to the Earth.

Behind them, the Remnant group watched the entire interaction with curiosity.

Coco even decided to whisper to Glynda.

"Hey, teach. Should you be worried about those two?"

Glynda thought back to her conversation with Trish the previous night.

"You were made in the image of Dante's mother?"

"More or less. Some things were made noticeably different."

Trish looked at her own chest meaningfully, causing Glynda's eyes to follow. The faintest hint of a blush appeared on the witch's face.

"... It's actually incredible that he doesn't have an Oedipus complex by now."

Trish laughed.

"What would be the point?" she said. "We're closer than that anyway."

Back in the present, Glynda stared at the two, as she answered her student.

"No, not really. The two of them aren't what you're thinking."

Coco frowned.

"They seem pretty close to me."

"Why wouldn't they be?"

The younger woman kept pestering for an answer, but Glynda refused to elaborate, saying only that Coco would "get it when she was a bit older".

As for Vergil, he unsheathed Yamato with a smooth movement, and sliced open a portal. With some final goodbyes said, the Earth and Remnant branches of the Devil May Cry parted ways… for the moment.

Closing note: I believe the original interview went something along these lines-

Interviewer: What is the relationship between Dante and Trish? Are they friends or lovers or something else?

Kamiya: They are much closer than that.

I'm unsure if it really was Hideki Kamiya giving that answer, or if this interview even actually happened. As I've said, it's an old-memory, so maybe I'm wrong. I could google it, of course, but I chose not to. Leaves a little bit of mystery and room for interpretation to the characters, which I like.

The way I personally always saw it was that Trish was Dante's link to his humanity, while he was her reason for living, making the two of them indeed "much closer than lovers".