Chapter 32: Our Powers Combined
Yang stared with horror at the figure that had stepped onto Remnant. His muscular frame was scarred and cut open in several places, and dark blood oozed from his wounds. He leaned heavily on his right leg. But he was still standing. He gripped his spear so hard, veins bulged on the back of his hand. His gaze was fixed right on the one who had, up until moments ago, been a giant serpent.
"He's still alive…" the blonde said, taking a step back. "How…?"
The fight had long ago gone far beyond the realm of things she was familiar with. Dead warriors from another world rising to fight again, before being put down once more. Demons creating alternate dimensions simply to have a place to do battle. Demons who changed the landscape with the force of a single step. It was absurd. It was the sort of thing that happened only in stories. In myth and legend. Yet, the stuff of legends had come out of the books, and walked into their reality.
She looked at Malevar. The Serpent, who was now in the form of a slender human with silver hair, looked just as shocked as she felt.
"Didn't you…blow up an entire dimension with him inside?", she asked.
Malevar could not reply.
He had indeed fractured the fabric of Valhalla's time-space. Essentially, he had created a small crack in the reality of the realm, and that crack had grown and spread throughout all of it, causing the collapse of the entire world. This was the process on which universal destruction was based, the way in which entire universes were erased from existence. The only ones capable of such a feat were God Himself, and Lucifer. Malevar's spell was an imitation of their ways, the best he could do with his powers. While it wasn't the same as wiping an entire universe out in an instant, it could at least achieve that result over time. This was his trump card.
A desperation technique that he had not planned to use.
Yet, somehow, the legendary Irish warrior had survived even that, survived the very erosion of reality itself.
Was he simply that powerful?
Had he become a conceptual existence that now resided in the realm of ideas?
Either way, it was clear that demonic power could not defeat him.
Cu Chulainn himself looked beyond furious. His eyes resembled burning furnaces, and he snarled, sharp fangs clenched as he glared at the sorcerer.
Malevar had less than a split second's warning.
Moving with frightening speed, the spearman closed the distance between them. Before the sorcerer could react, an iron hand had gripped his throat. Cu Chulainn lifted him off the ground as though he weighed nothing. Twisting, he slammed the Serpent's human form down onto his knee.
The most horrific sound Yang had ever heard echoed through the destroyed forest. Bones, ligaments and muscles gave way, as the sorcerer's back was shattered.
"I would have given you a quick death," said Cu Chulainn. "But a worm like you will suffer."
Malevar could not reply: even with his demonic physique, the pain was unimaginable: he could not move, even as his body desperately tried to regenerate from the injury. Before it could do so, the Hound threw him onto the ground. All the sorcerer saw was the flash of the crimson spear. A moment later, blood spurted from his face. His jaw and its contents had been sliced off.
Two more slices followed, and both his hands were gone.
"I know how Magic works. You'll speak no more incantations with that foul tongue, and form no more seals with those hands."
Standing over his fallen foe, he raised Gae Bolg high with both hands, prepared to run him through and end his life.
Before he could do so, he heard the sound of rapid footsteps, and turned, barely blocking a sword from slicing his neck.
He glared with outrage at Valkyrie.
"Even you? Even now?" he roared. "You save this worthless piece of trash? Do you not care for all the warriors who fought and died for you?! You would protect the one who erased their home?"
"Save the speeches," fired back Valkyrie. "YOU were the one who killed them again. I have no love for the snake. Yet, you are the one who threatens this world, and its peace."
The two struggled.
Cu Chulainn's False Riastrad had ended already. Surviving the death of a realm had weakened him tremendously.
Valkyrie herself was exhausted. The act of causing Valhalla to manifest, and summoning all her followers, had drained her.
Both warriors were at their limit.
"I only wanted… a battle with Dante!", he shouted.
"And what do you think such a battle would do to this world? You blind fool, look past yourself for once. You were a hero, once upon a time."
"A hero? And for whom? For weak, pathetic worms without a shred of honour, without any love, or sense of right! Spare me your lectures of pity! I have none for humans! Not until they earn it!"
He began to push Valkyrie back. The demoness adjusted her footing, and managed to hold her ground.
"I'll not let you condemn an entire world over the failures of some. The ones who betrayed you are long dead and gone. The people of this world have nothing to do with it!"
Neither of them had the strength to knock the other back cleanly. They broke away at the same time, and swung once more, exchanging blows.
Yang watched. It was the first time in the entire battle that she had actually been able to see the movements of the two warriors. It was a sign of how much they had slowed down.
She turned to the others.
"We have to stop them."
"Are you out of your mind?" said Weiss. "Have you seen what we're up against?"
"I agree with Weiss," said Blake. "They're weakened, but they're still beyond anything we can take right now. Our best bet is to take this chance to get away, and call Dante."
Certainly, now was the best opportunity to do something like that. Cu Chulainn was on one leg. Even with his incredible speed, he wouldn't be able to chase them for long. That, and he wouldn't be able to get away from Valkyrie in the first place. In any case, he seemed more focused on the two demons than the five of them.
But…
"That demon lady…" said Yang. "You heard her, didn't you? She's fighting for this place. For our world."
"That's what she claims," pointed out Weiss. "Demons are intelligent, remember? Dante told us that long ago. They can lie. Besides… we don't know what her goals are."
"I don't think she's lying," said Ruby. "What about you?"
They turned to Penny, who had been silent for a while now.
"... I do not believe Valkyrie is lying. It is not in her nature."
"They're here and fighting," said Yang. "For this world. For us. Knowing that… I can't run away. It's true, maybe we could get away and call Dante. But it would be too late for her."
Weiss stared at her.
"You're really suggesting that we help a demon? Even if she's really trustworthy, that snake… man… whatever he is, that sorcerer… he isn't. You saw what he did. You all did. He destroyed an entire world."
"In order to defeat him," said Yang, referring to Cu Chulainn. She hesitated.
That was a whole other can of worms.
She had heard their bits of conversation in the middle of all the fighting. It was impossible not to.
Despite everything, the spearman hadn't seemed to her to be evil.
Misguided maybe. And it sure seemed like he was carrying some burdens of his own. But wasn't that true for everyone? She had a few ghosts that haunted her too.
"You know, humans do shitty things all the time. It doesn't automatically make us all monsters", she said. "And yeah, I know we don't all kill like a million people in a fight. But… that's just it, isn't it? It was a fight. What was he supposed to do? Just let them take him out?"
She looked at all of them.
"What's happening here… it's a misunderstanding. I'm sure of it. There's something Dante tried to teach us."
Behind her, the two demons continued to fight, proud remnants of a time long gone, and places that would never come back.
Ghosts of the past, one fighting to cling to all he had left, while the other fought to ensure that another world did not meet the same fate.
"It doesn't matter whether you're human or demon. It's possible for humans to be as messed up as any monster… just as there are demons who can do the right thing.
"And I know that running away here isn't the right thing."
She clenched her fist.
"This is why I became a hunter. So that I could fight when I needed to. So that I could do the right thing."
She understood at last why she was really confused.
It was because there was no obvious evil here.
Cu Chulainn talked a big game about disdaining humanity.
But so far, he hadn't attacked the four humans here directly, unprovoked. Not even once.
Betrayed, injured, and on the verge of death he might be, but he hadn't attacked those weaker than him, even after they had struck first.
Yang might not know his history, or the first thing about being a demon.
But she did understand a fighter's spirit.
All of this was a misunderstanding.
Her job, then, was to end it before it went too far. There was more to all three of these demons than met the eye.
"It's not our place to judge," she said. "We save the lives we can. That's our job. Whether they're human… or demon."
She looked at them all again.
"... Tch. Fine!" said Weiss. "Dying out here in the middle of nowhere trying to fight monsters. I suppose it's not the worst way to go."
Blake looked down.
For a while, she had forgotten.
The reason she had followed Dante was because he had shown her that the path to ending prejudices and divisions began with being able to see past them oneself. Human, faunus, demon… all different. But all ultimately just living beings trying to survive the best they could. Sure, there could be evil in all three of those races. But that didn't mean that everyone was the same. It came down to the individual. She was terrified, but she knew Yang was right about one thing.
If she backed down here, her warrior spirit would never be the same again.
"I'll fight," she said aloud. This time, she wouldn't run away.
Both Ruby and Penny nodded.
The demon girl turned to look at the two legendary warriors.
"... It is a risk. A single mistake can mean our deaths. But it is not without hope of victory. Believe in your human hearts, and strike true."
Yang grinned.
"No big plan this time?" she asked.
"What would be the use? He is a splendid warrior, and will not be caught off guard again. And besides…"
She bared her sharp fangs, a reminder that she wasn't human either.
"... I have my pride too."
"Heh. Fair enough. From here on out, there's no more safety net."
{OST: Red Like Roses II}
Cu Chulainn strained. His one functional leg was barely able to hold him upright. But he would not give up.
As Valkyrie swung at him, he hopped backward. Gripping his spear with both hands, he unleashed a barrage of millions of stabs in the blink of an eye. Matching his speed, Valkyrie parried every single one her own sword, the collisions causing sparks as the air caught fire from the heat of the impacts.
This was as far as he could go with his body in its current condition… if he was relying on physical abilities only.
But he was also a master of runes.
Switching to a one-handed grip, he used his free hand to form a sign.
Portals appeared in the air, and he thrust into them.
All of a sudden, his spear was coming at Valkyrie from all around: above, behind, from the sides, from below.
She shielded herself with her wings, barely avoiding a fatal stab.
Having forced her onto the defensive, the Hound grabbed his spear with both hands, preparing to deliver a thrust that would break through her defence with sheer power.
Before he could do so, however, he felt demonic energy behind him.
Wheeling around, he swatted the Summoned Swords out of the air.
"You lot… again?"
Penny conjured up a spectral minigun in her hands, and opened fire. Spinning Gae Bolg in a circle, Cu Chulainn was able to block every bullet. However, his reactions were slower than before, and he was not able to counter Yang, who came in from the side, smashing him in the jaw with an Aura-empowered punch.
"That's enough, big guy," she said. "You've proved your point. Knock it off."
Roaring, he swung his arm outwards in a backfist blow that would have taken her head off. But at this stage in the fight, it was slow enough that Yang was able to dodge it, though barely.
As she leapt away, shards of ice shot forward, crashing into the demonic warrior's chest.
For the first time in the fight, Cu Chulainn took a step backwards.
He was bleeding from where Weiss' glyph art had struck him.
Before he could react, a wire wrapped around his neck.
Blake had leapt into the air, and thrown Gambol Shroud's line unerringly.
Landing, she pulled backwards, planting her feet and using all her strength. She already knew it wouldn't be enough, but backup was on its way.
Gravity glyphs appeared in front of her, and pushed her back, tightening to line around the Hound's throat even further.
Even as this happened, Ruby appeared right in front of him, and fired point blank shots with her sniper rifle.
Cu Chulainn reeled backwards.
"Now's your chance!" shouted Yang.
To say Valkyrie was amazed would be an understatement.
The humans had overcome their fear, and were fighting a demon lord of their own free will, on equal ground.
She would not waste the opportunity they had created.
"Forgive me."
Leaping forward, she pierced Cu Chulainn, running him through the back with her golden blade.
The legendary spearman nearly dropped to one knee.
Nearly.
Somehow, he was still able to remain standing.
At this last moment, his opponents were showing some courage.
It was up to him, then, to respond in kind.
{Coldrain: Remember}
Grabbing Valkyrie's sword with both hands, he pulled it all the way through and clean out from his chest, disarming her in the process. Catching the handle as it flew out, he turned around and swung right at her.
For the first time in her thousands of years of fighting, the Ruler of the Hall of the Dead was completely awestruck, caught by a technique she couldn't even have imagined.
It was pure instinct that allowed her to raise her stone wings in time.
Even then, she was sent flying backward by the force of the blow.
Cu Chulainn wasn't done.
Although he was originally from an era and a place where neither firearms nor shifter weapons had existed, he had seen team RWBY use their weapons enough times by now to figure out how they worked.
Leaping forward, he used his spear to trip Ruby, sending her cartwheeling in the air. At the same time, he grabbed Crescent Rose, and pulled it out of her grip.
The young team leader's eyes widened.
"Weapon steal? No fair!" she whined.
Spinning the sniper rifle, he reloaded it one-handed as he turned, pointing it right at Weiss.
"Oh sh-"
Before she could finish saying something she herself would not have approved of, bullets slammed into her Aura, depleting a good chunk of it and sending her sliding backwards.
"I'm not done yet…"
Tossing Gae Bolg into the air, he used the brief window of having one hand free to form a sign. A rune appeared, dating back to ancient Greece, from where his ancestors had obtained it, a rune that replicated Geryon's power.
Time slowed to a crawl for all except him.
Grabbing the line around his neck, he pulled, tossing Blake into the air, where he fired several shots at her from Crescent Rose. Transforming the shifter weapon to its scythe form, he hurled it at Penny.
Time returned to its usual flow as the rune faded.
The shots that had been near-frozen in mid-air crashed into Blake almost all at once, juggling her and depleting her Aura.
Penny was able to avoid being cut in half by Crescent Rose by creating a shield in front of herself, but the weapon broke through, with the blunt part of it striking her and sending her sprawling.
With all five other combatants incapacitated, Cu Chulainn dashed in towards Yang.
The blonde ducked under his first two blows, which were hooks, only to eat the follow-up right cross. A liver blow followed, and then a final hook which sent her flying.
Having beaten her at her preferred style of fighting, he held up one hand, and caught Gae Bolg as it fell.
Weiss groaned.
"Well, a question I had has been answered now…" she said, as she slowly straightened up. She still had some Aura left, but not much.
"Yeah?" said Blake. "And what's that?"
"It turns out style is, in fact, something demons naturally have."
Everyone groaned.
"If we get out of this alive, remind me to remind you," said Yang. "Never make another joke again. You suck at it."
"Hey, I tried!"
Despite their attempts at lightheartedness, they knew they didn't have much left in the tank.
On the other hand, Cu Chulainn was finally breathing hard. It was a miracle he was breathing at all: the hole in his chest had healed to some extent, but he was still bleeding, and there were all his other injuries as well.
"This is far enough," said Yang. "Aren't you tired yet? What are you even fighting for anymore?"
"The fight itself is reason enough. It's the only thing, the only pure thing in the world."
"That's a lie, and you know it!" shouted the blonde.
Having taken his shots head-on, she now knew for sure, in a way words couldn't convey: Cu Chulainn was neither evil, nor was combat the only thing he valued.
"All this while, you could have killed us any time with that spear of yours. But you didn't. What's your explanation for that?"
Valkyrie rose to her feet, and added her voice.
"The human speaks the truth, Cu Chulainn! It is not too late for your soul. Not yet."
"... Silence… I have heard enough… I will end this now…"
But there was doubt in his voice.
His strength, which came from his unshakable conviction, was weakened, because over the course of the fight, he had changed.
The outcome was up in the air.
It was at this point that a voice that hadn't spoken for a while finally did so again.
"Combine… your powers… and you will win. Human and demon together… are complete."
Malevar had finally healed up enough to sit up and speak. His jaw and mouth had regenerated, though his back was still recovering.
Yang looked at him.
Human and demon combined?
And then she remembered what Dante had told her about Devil Arms.
It was dangerous, because the wielder's mind and soul had to be strong enough to overcome the demon's will, and force them into obedience. The only other way… was if the demon willingly agreed to share their power.
She looked at Malevar.
Not in a million years.
She turned to Valkyrie.
"... Don't even think about it."
Yang laughed.
"Yeah, I figured as much. But if a demon can give a human their power… then the reverse should be possible too."
Valkyrie's eyes widened.
"Human power…? But how…?"
Yang focused. Dante had taught them how to focus their energy and transfer it to their weapons for charged shots and hits. This was a little different, but the idea behind it had to be the same. When she had found and gathered the power inside, pictured transferring it to Valkyrie. There was a good deal of distance between them, and she had never tried projecting Aura across a space before.
Yet, it worked.
The incomplete power of humans, and that of demons, came together, and became whole.
Valkyrie stood tall.
Is this what Sparda felt? What Dante feels?
Facing Cu Chulainn, she clenched her fists, not summoning a sword.
There was nothing to be gained from killing an outstanding warrior like him.
Yang's feelings had come through in the energy she had given Valkyrie, and the demoness knew that there was only one condition for true victory here.
"Enough have died already. The cycle will end here."
"That… is not for you to decide!" said Cu Chulainn, but the confidence and conviction of before was lacking.
In his heart, he already knew the outcome.
The two charged at each other, and fist met spear.
Gae Bolg, the weapon that granted certain death, was confronted by the closest thing to divinity that could exist in our world.
And it lost.
The crimson spear shattered, as the desperation technique Yang had wanted to use effectively for so long, finally struck an opponent at its full potential, in the hands of Valkyrie.
The Aura-empowered fist, flowing with demonic strength and energy, broke all the way through Gae Bolg, and struck Cu Chulainn's jaw.
For a fraction of a second, everything around the point of impact seemed to warp.
Then, the demon was sent flying.
The last thought Cu Chulainn registered before losing consciousness was the knowledge that he had finally lost a fight fair and square.
Valkyrie dropped to her knees, utterly spent, and all around her, the others mirrored the movement.
"It's… finally over…", said Weiss.
Unwinnable Boss Battle: Cu Chulainn- Cleared
Author's note: And there we have it. The long boss fight comes to an end. I genuinely wanted a moment where the RWBY cast gets to shine. It's hard to pull off in a DMC crossover, because Dante is a spotlight magnet (as he should be). Even so, I wanted to give other characters a chance to grow and do cool things, because that's the entire fun of a story: no one character exists in isolation.
Fun fact: I was originally planning to have Valkyrie become Yang's Devil Arm in this story, probably from the moment she first appeared, or even before that. As it progressed, however, the sort of mentor-student/guardian-ward relationship between her and Oscar ended up being really wholesome, so I didn't feel like ending it that way. As it turns out, it allowed me to write the reverse of a typical scene: instead of the human wielding demonic power, it's the other way around here, and I think it came out okay.
Anyway, next time around, we have something a lot of you have been waiting for. Dante makes his return, and I think the next several chapters will all feature him.
A couple of reader comments this time around were very interesting, so let's address some of them!
camilo navas: So in his canon lore, Cu Chulainn is a demigod, and also the reincarnation of the god who is his father. In the 'verse of this fic, demons and gods share the same origin, and their supernatural abilities stem from the same power: reality-warping, or Magic. The other side to that power, or the yin to its yang, is humanity. The two combined is the closest thing to true divinity that can exist in anyone besides God. Since Cu Chulainn was already a demigod, he had the Magic within him, as well as the humanity. After being betrayed and losing his loved ones, he loses faith in humanity, and chooses to give it up. Demons= Divinity-Humanity, so that is how he ended up a demon.
Blindluck92: Yeah, old Malevar's plan really didn't work out there. I am sort of glad that his character is also starting to stand a little (pun not intended). I've left hints here and there as to what his intentions are, and while this was a good episode where he gets to break out of his shell a little, I think his big reveal arc is yet to come. Cu Chulainn really ended up being this story's Vegeta, haha. Saiyan Arc Vegeta was a menace and a half, and it took Goku plus all his friends to beat him. That was also one of the most tense fights in DB IMO.
Matthew: Ayo, I'm glad you liked him! I first learned about him from Fate, and then I read up about his lore, and found out just how insane he actually is. He's super OP, and bosses who aren't pure evil are some of the best, so I'm glad I was able to write a version of him that's hopefully likeable and fun.
CriticaofRandomness: This might be the greatest comment I've ever read. You win.
Carow: That story was "a long time ago", as Vergil would say. I would like to think I've improved since then. That being said, I think you're taking that chapter a bit too seriously, and overthinking it. I don't recall exactly what I wrote for it, but from what I remember, the primary idea was the feelings between them. That was the really important part, at least to me.
DancingMac: Thanks! Yeah, it's fun to work in stuff like that into the story. I think the absolute best fanfics are the ones where authors understand the essence of the characters and worlds, and use that to take them to completely different places where they would never go in canon. I certainly hope I'm heading in that direction. Writers of different stories often draw on similar ideas, since they basically draw on various mythological or philosophical ideas from various sources. A good example of this is chakra/ki/spirit energy from Naruto, DB and Bleach. While there are some differences between those, they are very much connected, and can interact with each other. RWBY has its own parallel to that in Aura, and since DMC is set in Capcom-verse, it definitely has ki and related concepts. There's of course Magic, since it's something that exists in both DMC and RWBY.