Cassius took point on their way to their destination. As they navigated the various alleyways, they took note of the Holy Knights that battled any scarecrows that appeared.
"What's that weapon they're using?" Xenovia asked him.
"They're called the Order of the Sword. That weapon is an Exceed Drive sword. Basically it's a sword that has a motorcycle handle as a hilt. Revving the hilt superheats the blade and makes it an effective weapon against demons." Cassius explained as he continued to walk.
Xenovia looked at the sword of a holy knight once more, before she looked to her light blade.
"... I wish I had one of those instead of this toy..." She said a little bitterly. She never did like the Light Blades, she was a heavy hitter, and a light blade didn't have any weight to it!
Cassius looked back to her, before noticing something else.
"Looks like your wish is about to come true." he said as he pointed towards where an unnamed holy knight just fell victim to a Scarecrow Leg.
He charged past her and used Satanael to quickly destroy the demon. Before he picked up the weapon and inspected it.
"Yeah this might suit you better for the time being." he said to her as he got closer.
She looked at the bloodstained weapon Cassius had pilfered from the deceased knight.
"I... but what about my light blade?" She asked him.
He blinked before suddenly getting an idea.
"Hold on. Give it here." He said with a gesture of a hand.
She glanced at her weapon, before hesitantly handing the weapon to him.
"Just a sec." He said before chucking both of the weapons into his inventory, luckily Xenovia already knew about his video game powers otherwise she might have been shocked.
"Alright let's see..." He muttered as he opened his crafting system. He wasn't making a devil arm so this should be simple.
Selecting the Order Sword and the Light blade as the base materials he spent some red orbs on the fusion of the two weapons. The results were worth it.
The weapon held the same appearance as the Order Sword, but the grip of the hilt had been replaced with a heavily modified version of the Lightblade hilt.
Cassius retrieved the newly created weapon from his inventory and brandished it with a few test swings.
"Not bad if I do say so myself." He said as he handed the weapon to the girl.
She gingerly took the weapon from the half devil and held it in her sword hand.
"This is... perfect." She said with a growing excitement.
A window popped up in front of her.
[《Order Sword: Lux acquired.》]
"Uh... a window just popped up." she said.
"Probably the Item name. Trying opening the description." He said, already knowing it.
She did as asked and another window popped up.
[《Order Sword: Lux - A modified Order Sword. The exceed drive has been modified to generate a holy flame when the hilt is cranked. The blade can dissolve into motes of light to make transportation easier.》]
Xenovia looked at the blade curiously.
"How do I make the blade vanish?" she asked, only for the weapon to do exactly as she wanted it to, leaving her with the motorcycle hilt/Exceed Drive.
"Like that." He snorted, only to dodge a playful punch from the girl.
"Zip it you." She snarked at him before placing the hilt onto the back of her waist... with it somehow managing to stick itself to her person.
Cassius knew better than to question it however.
With all that said and done, the pair continued their trek to their destination.
Cassius and Xenovia looked at the dilapidated mineshaft with trepidation.
The place had clearly been abandoned for a very long time.
"Is this really the way we have to go?" She asked with no small amount of skepticism.
"... It's the only place close to the city that I can think of." He said before taking a step into the mineshaft.
Xenovia watched him go for several seconds before sighing and following after him.
The pair stayed alert as they walked throughout the cavernous expanse, eventually they came to a shaft that extended upwards into the stone.
Cassius knew that above them was their destination.
"How do we get up there?" She asked him, not seeing any usable stairs or platforms to help them ascend.
He knew how... but she wasn't going to like it.
"Hold onto me..." he said, wrapping his human arm around her waist.
"Wha-!? Hey?!" She protested for a second before watching him summon a large phantom hand and launch it towards a protruding stone spike about 40 feet in the air.
The next thing she knew they were slingshoting through the air, landing on the spike, before the process repeated.
Xenovia couldn't help the laugh that exploded from her lips. It was like riding a roller coaster!
Cassius spared her a glance and saw the wide smile on her face.
"At least she's having fun." he thought as he lashed out with his devil bringer again.
Soon enough they reached the top and found themselves standing before another path, one that was a little more straight forward.
"Looks like we're getting close." Xenovia noted as they continued on their way.
"Yeah... but I'm not liking the lack of demon activity here." Cassius said as he looked around.
In the game this whole area was full of demons, for them to not come across even one measly scarecrow was disturbing.
"... Yeah neither do I. The city was flooded with them so why isn't there any here?" she wondered alongside him.
Truthfully she just wanted to test her new and improved weapon.
Cassius looked around as they walked, just incase of any ambushes. Fortunately they seemed to be alone.
"Hey look... there's an exit up ahead." Xenovia pointed to an opening just ahead of them.
Cassius let out a nervous breath. If he was about to fight who he thought he was... then he needed to be calm. He may have been the first boss of the game... but this wasn't a game. This was real life. And he was about to to fight Berial... the conqueror of the Fire Hell.
This fact ran through his mind as he and Xenovia passed through the exit and into the open air.
There were numerous wooden buildings that looked relatively new. Cassius guessed that people had been living in them until just recently.
In DMC4 these buildings were in ruins so he doubted anyone would be returning to them once the invasion was over.
"This place is deserted..." Xenovia said as they passed by a building with the front door swinging in the wind.
"Yeah. They likely either went to the church..." He began, leaving the other option in the air.
Or they died... that's what was left unsaid, and Xenovia knew it.
They walked in silence for about a minute, before they cleared the buildings and saw something that gave them both pause.
A giant slab of black stone.
"The Artificial hell gate..." Cassius thought. as they stared up at it.
"What the hell is that?" Xenovia asked in awe of the structure.
"A major cultural artifact?" Cassius quipped prompting her to look at him like he'd grown a second head.
"What?" she asked.
He shook his head.
"Nothing..." He said with a chuckle before walking forwards, only to stop after only few steps.
"What is it?" Xenovia asked him.
"Looks like I solved the question on where our devilish friends went." he said with a gesture to the cliff where the Hell gate stood.
Xenovia strained her eyes towards the cliff and barely managed to see a group of scarecrows being ordered around by a darkskinned man in white.
"Are they... following his commands?" She asked Cassius, worry in her tone.
"Looks that way..." He replied.
"Agnus' machinations much have recently started then... the hell gate must be in construction." he thought as he watched the scarecrows obey the man.
"Hey what's that orb he's got?" Xenovia asked him with a finger pointed towards the man, who was placing it onto some kind of altar.
"Shit... Xenovia Run!" Cassius barked at her. She didn't need to be told twice as the hellgate began to crackle and glow with a hot orange light.
The pair ran towards cover, however Xenovia tripped and both knew she wouldn't be able to get up in time. Cassius threw himself onto the girl to cover her body, just in time for the Hell Gate to explode.
Though neither of them could see it, the resulting blast completely incinerated the Scarecrows and somehow knocked Agnus into back into the hell gate itself, which then opened and swallowed the man.
Cassius looked back to the now open hell gate, just in time to see a certain fiery demon pull himself through the portal.
"Fuck... that's definitely Berial..." He cursed as he looked over the centauric fire demon.
Xenovia stared up at Cassius with a stunned expression. She couldn't believe that he had used himself as a half-human shield to keep her safe.
However his words made her glance to the hell gate and see what they were dealing with.
"What the hell... is that what we have to fight?" She struggled to process the sheer size of the demon as he leapt down from the cliff that the hell gate perched upon.
"Stay here..." Cassius muttered to her as he stood up.
"What are you-" She was cut off by a sharp look from her fellow teen.
Cassius began to walk towards the Lion themed Centaur Demon, Satanael already in his grasp.
Xenovia watched the two with a great deal of tension. However she blinked when Cassius stopped right in front of the demon.
"Sorry pal but we're closed for the day. So how's about you go home and roast some marshmallows?" He said with a dismissive wave of his devil bringer.
The demon looked down at the boy and sniffed the air.
"That arm... boy are you human... or a demon?" Berial demanded as he pointed his fiery blade mere inches from the boy.
"Nunya how's about that?" Cassius batted the molten blade away with his demonic left arm.
"You dare!? Do you not know who I am?! I am-"
"Berial the fire Kitten. Yeah yeah whatever. So listen I'm gonna give you a choice. Either go home willingly... or I'm going to kick your ass so hard that both Argosax and Balrog will have no choice but to transfer your ass to the Frozen Hell just so you can get some proper treatment for all the swelling." Cassius waved off the demon's karen rant in favor of name dropping the demon's bosses.
During the exchange Xenovia watched Cassius with a look that clearly said that she thought he was nuts.
Berial let out a low rumbling growl at the sheer audacity of the boy's words.
"Hrmmm... A human with some guts. Never before have I met a human like you." Berial said with a hint of respect in his tone.
"Yeah well there may be a lot of humans but none like me." Cassius said with a theatrical bow that was quickly becoming signature of him.
Berial let out a bellowing laugh.
"Well said human. However guts will not carry you far without skill to back it up!" Berial bellowed before trusting his molten blade at the half-devil.
Cassius reacted quickly and thrust his own blade forward to meet the demon's.
The resulting shockwave caused all the flames around them and the demon's body to be snuffed out.
For a millisecond Satanael seemed to flash oranged in response to the fire.
Xenovia felt her hair get blown back from the sudden blast of wind.
She felt her knees buckle but she used Lux to stabilize herself.
"Impressive. Perhaps you may be a worthy opponent after all." Berial mused as he used his shoulder to rest the blade.
"Glad I didn't disappoint. So why don't we just skip the chitchat and just get right down to the nitty-gritty?" Cassius replied with a "come here" geature.
"Hmph, very well human. Prepare yourself, for you face Berial the Champion of the Fire Hell!" Berial roared, his fire blazed back to life as he did so.
Cassius blinked at the change in title.
"I guess he hasn't conquered the Fire Hell yet." It would explain a few things.
Suddenly the world froze and turned gray.
[《Challenge updated: Repel Berial, Champion of the Fire Hell.
Player has played music during a battle... unlocking BGM settings. Music will be randomly assigned. You may assign music upon returning home via the Settings menu.》]
Cassius blinked again and the world returned to normal.
"Really... you stopped time just to tell me that I can play music?" He mentally asked the system with disbelief.
The response he got was...
Play: Buzz Fightyear by Oni Inc.
Cassius bopped his head for a few seconds to the rhythm.
"Well at least it has good taste." He said before he looked back at Xenovia.
"If you want a bit of the Action feel free. If not... well... feel free to chill for a bit. I'll deal with this bad kitty." He said, doing a halfway decent impression of the old lady from the Madagascar movies.
Xenovia giggled a bit at his joke before rising to her full height, Lux now resting on her right shoulder.
"What kind of partner would I be if I let you do all the work?" She gave him an eager grin, which he returned.
"Alright then... let's neuter this kitten!" He said, charging at the legs of the massive fire demon. He fired a few shots at the ankles of the demon with Satanael.
The power behind the light infused bullet caused the demon to stagger slightly, which was enough for Xenovia to use the demon's legs as a spring board and slash at the demon's face. It was fruitless however as the demon's molten stone body was too hard for her blade to damage.
"Useless attacks from mere vermin." Berial mocked before swatting the girl away.
Cassius quickly snatched her out of the air with his devil bringer.
"Regular attacks won't hurt him when he's on fire like that. We need to snuff out his flames, but for now focus on charging up. I'll take care of the fire." Cassius told her.
"How?" She asked him.
He just shrugged.
"Don't know. I'll think of something." he said before leaving the gaping Xenovia behind in favor of shooting at the demon.
The shots impacted Berial's chest and for a second the flames on his torso seemed to dissipate.
Cassius narrowed his eyes as he saw that.
"Did that just..." he took a few more pot shots at the demon to confirm his suspicions.
Sure enough the flames vanished once more.
"Well that's convenient." He chuckled as he glanced at his first devil arm, it was then he noticed that Satanael had gained an orange aura to it.
Deciding to finally put his first devil arm's capability to a more thorough test, Cassius streaked towards the larger demon's torso, blade poised for a thrusting attack similar to Dante's Stinger.
At the same time as his thrust he pulled the trigger of Satanael. The combination of bullet and blade sent Berial reeling back, his was fire snuffed out from the force. He was now left vulnerable.
"Xenovia!" Cassius called to the girl, just in time to see a blue and gold streak, blur past him and spin a total of three times, hitting all four legs of the demon in a vortex of golden flame.
"Grah!?" The demon exclaimed in both pain and shock as he buckled to the ground, his head now mere feet from the menacingly grinning faces of Xenovia and Cassius.
Berial looked at them and couldn't help but wonder if they were the real demon's here.
"What was that about Useless Vermin?" Xenovia asked with her weapon, which she absolutely loved by the way, resting once more on her shoulder.
Cassius cracked his knuckles at the demon with a cockly smirk.
Berial couldn't help but chuckle at the pair.
"Well fought. You have my Respect humans. Very well. I shall return to the demon realm for now. But I shall return one day." Berial vowed.
Cassius shrugged.
"I wouldn't if I were you. But we both know you will. And you know what. That's fine. It won't be me who stops you anyways." Cassius said in a "what can you do" manner.
Berial let out another rumble before he rose to his full height. With a mighty roar he burst into a horned lion head shaped fireball and vanished into the Hell gate, which promply closed.
"Now to ensure that this thing stays closed for a while..." Cassius muttered before he grabbed a surprised Xenovia and slingshoted them up to the foot of the hellgate.
After releasing Xenovia he walked over to the glowing orb that sat on the altar.
Taking it off the Altar he was surprised when it shifted in something other than Lucifer, aka the devil's backpack.
In fact... it wasn't even a weapon, it was a hooded windbreaker made of black reptilian scaled leather, with the interior made of some sort of thin ultraviolet/purple cloth.
The back of the windbreaker had some sort of circular apparatus between where the shoulder blades would rest. The apparatus was filled with various colors of some kind of crystals, it reminded Cassius of a video he'd seen before his reincarnation.
A fan animation of RWBY called SLVR, specifically the S of the team.
From either side of the apparatus a set of skeletal batlike wings were etched in the same shade of Ultraviolet Purple into the black scales of the windbreaker.
[《Devil Arm: La Muerte Acquired》]
"Open Description." Cassius said with a raised brow.
[《Devil Arm: La Muerte, the wings of the Reaper. A unique devil arm that possesses no combative capacity on its own. Capable of manifesting Skeletal wings to allow user to fly, in exchange for user's magical power. The crystals on the back of the coat allow user to open portals between dimensions and space for travel, can also be used to add demonic elements to other devil arms and the devil bringer. Does not unequip when switching Devil Arms.》]
Cassius read the description of the coat and immediately knew he was going to have fun with this.
With a quickly flick of his arm he tossed the jacket high into the air, before jumping up after it. The coat slipped onto his arms like it had a will of its own, as Cassius executed a triple backflip.
Time slowed around him, as he pointed his left and right hands outwards in the shape of finger guns. As time resumed, he continued to spin through the air as several portals were "fired" from his fingers.
He stop his spin and lashed out with his devil bringer, the phantom arm of which was now sparking with purple lighting. The phantom limb entered the portal and reappeared from another portal. Cassius pulled himself through the portals and equipped Hollow S Jack.
He kicked down towards another portal that was lower to the ground, entering and reappearing through a much higher portal.
Equipping Satanael, he slammed his blade down like Dante's Helmbreaker, again he entered another portal and reappeared from a vertical facing portal.
Cassius spun in mid-air like a helicopter, his devil bringer manifested the phantom arm that held the bastard sword made of light, while his actual devil bringer arm held the shotgun he'd taken from the pizzeria owner, which he shot several times as he spun.
Ending his spin, he front-flipped and a pair of grim reaper wings of purple energy manifested to allow him to gently drop to the ground.
"Phew! I'll take this, thank you very much." He panted to the large hellgate with a mock salute before he walked away with a stylish swish of his new jacket.
Xenovia looked at him with shock and awe at his display.
"What... was that?" she asked him.
"This?" he asked her holding his new coat by the tail.
She nodded at him.
"It's a Devil Arm. A weapon made from demon materials, or from when a demon willingly gives up their soul and powers to those that defeat them." He explained.
"I've... never heard of such a thing." She said.
"And you'll never find anything like it either. Atleast not in our world. Devil Arms are more commonly made from materials. Demons like Berial don't typically exist in our world anymore. They've all evolved into what are known as Devils today. The closest thing to Demons are Stray Devils. I can only make them because of how my Sacred is set up." He explained to her.
She seemed to understand.
"So basically they're a byproduct of this world and your Sacred Gear." She said.
"Yeah pretty much." He said with a grin.
"Well we beat the boss... we should be able to go home now right?" Xenovia asked, she was exhausted.
Cassius looked at his HUD and saw that there was now another timer that was rapidly counting down.
"Looks like it." he said just in time for the timer to his zero and they were both teleported back to the forest they originated from, with not even an hour having passed between their teleportation time and the real world.
"Phew..." Xenovia huffed before stretching her body.
"I'm beat..." She groaned.
Cassius could agree with that, his fatigue meter was at 89%.
He opened his menu and was about to dissolve the party when he hesitated.
"Hey uh Xenovia..." he asked as an idea formulated in his mind.
"Hm?" she asked him.
"Well... there's another 24 hour timer... would you be willing to join again me tomorrow night? We could use these challenges to train together for the Exorcist Examination?" he asked her with a nervous scratch of his head.
She looked at him and blinked.
"I thought you'd never ask. That was the best night training I've ever had. Plus I feel like I can get some proper sleep tonight!" she grinned at him.
He returned it with one of his own.
"Sweet! Then same time tomorrow night?" he asked her.
She nodded.
"Alright, we should head back then. Bwfore Griselda gets suspicious." He said before gesturing in and "after you" manner.
"Well aren't you a gentleman." she joked with him as she passed.
Cassius snorted before he followed after her.
The next three months passed in a blur for both Cassius and Xenovia. By day they would train with Griselda, who btw was insanely suspicious over where Xenovia had gotten Lux and where Cassius had gotten La Muerte and Hollow S. Jack. By night however they would use the challenges to get stronger. The challenges were different than the tutorial one, as it mostly consisted of them climbing the various floors of the Bloody Palace, which Cassius had unlocked after the first night.
They'd never gotten past the 20th floor, which was where a copy of Berial was, due to them not unlocking the next set of floors. They apparently had to complete another challenge like the first one to unlock it.
The rewards Cassius had recieved from the first challenge, the random skill book, the random gear set box, and the gold orb, had all been used up. The Gear set box had given him a set of black clothes that looked eerily like a Japanese men's school uniform just without the blazer. Honestly he thought he looked like a grizzled detective with how he wore the shirt underneath his coat with the loosened tie.
He kept wearing the pants that Griselda had given him though. Jeans were more comfortable than the dress pants of the uniform. Although he would prefer to get some cargo pants... not that he really needed the extra pockets.
It would provide a bit of cover when he needed to use a Vital star or other items however...
He'd have to get some while they were in Vatican City for the exams, he figured as he walked with Xenovia and Griselda through the city.
Luckily no one seemed to recognize him as he walked through the town with his devil bringer covered and in the new sling that Griselda had gotten him.
Xenovia on the other hand... got a lot of attention, judging by the whisperings of various Nuns and Exorcists that saw them on the streets.
Apparently she was quite famous for her high levels of Holy power, she was even once in line to be a holy maiden in training, but her talent for the sword blossomed and Griselda thought it would be a waste for that talent to fade.
How does he know these things you ask?
"Because both of them won't stop talking about it..." Cassius thought dryly as he followed the pair through the city.
They weren't in the underground area he had been to the last time he was here.
The church apparently spared no expense when it came to lodgings for their agents, considering they were on their way to one of the most expensive hotels in Vatican city the name of which Cassius couldn't even hope to pronounce correctly... mostly because he didn't care enough to try.
Upon reaching their destination, they climbed the steps of the fantastical Roman style Villa that was their hotel and let themselves into the lobby. Cassius looked around the lobby that probably cost more money to maintain than even the American white house.
He noticed they weren't the only exorcist trainee and mentor groups in the lobby.
Most consisted of a pair of one trainee and one mentor, but some, like their own group, was two trainees and one mentor. There was even one with three trainees to a mentor.
One of the trio of trainees Cassius recognized and tensed as a result.
Long blonde hair with her bange held up in a braid that doubled as a way to hold of the majority of her hair in a low ponytail. Blue eyes that gleamed with both innocence and playfulness.
She wore a simple nun's gown, but it was shorter to allow ease of movement and was plated in some kind of plate armor that was different from what she wore in the future during her time in the hero faction.
Before Cassius' eyes stood Jeanne, the host for the soul of Joan of Arc.
"So she was a member of the church at one point." Cassius noted as he watched her.
Unfortunately for him he stared a bit to long and Jeanne's eyes flickered to meet his. They looked in each other's eyes from across the room for what seemed like several seconds, before she broke eye contact with him and pulled at the sleeve of her mentor, a handsome if not a bit sleezy looking frenchman with greasy slicked back hair with the pencil thin mustache that was stereotypical of frenchman.
The man noticed their group and licked his lips at Griselda...
"I'm gonna kill him." Cassius thought as he sent a menacing glare at the man who actually stopped in his leering at Griselda's body to look at him.
The man looked back to Jeanne, and asked her something that Cassius couldn't make out.
She nodded, but Cassius noticed that she seemed to be in a daze from the man's words.
Cassius narrowed his eyes, and his glare grew more intense as the man's party decided to approach them.
"Madamoiselle Griselda! It has been so long! Mmwah! mmwah!" the man said in his over the top french accent, he planted a pair of kisses on the woman's cheek.
The smile Griselda held was strained.
"Father Pier good to see you! I hardly recognized you with your recent..." she trailed off.
"Hoh Hoh! Loss of Mass? Think nothing of it my dear. I admit I was uh... how you say...uh Overweigh! Yes that is the word." Pier laughed jovially to the woman, yet his eyes never stopped roaming her body.
"Oi french fry... keep your eyes to yourself, before I remove them." Cassius said coldly to the man, his hand twitching to summon Satanael at a moment's notice.
Everyone stilled as his words processed.
Xenovia looked at him aghast at the blatent disrespect. Jeanne and Pier's students, bar one, looked affronted by what he had called the man, and even more angry than the man himself looked.
The last student of the man was the only male of the trio, and even then he possessed an androgynous appearance that screamed femininity. The boy seemed almost amused by what he'd said about his mentor.
The boy sent Cassius on edge, there was something very wrong about the boy.
The only one who seemed even a little happy that he'd spoken up was Griselda herself, at least he thought so considering the slight twitch of her mouth and a twinkle in her eye.
The man bristled and loomed over him.
"And who might you be... cripple boy." The man grit out with a strange look in his eyes, expecting him to cowtow before him.
He clearly was shocked when Cassius snorted at him.
"If that's you're idea of intimidation... then it's pathetic. I've seen better scare tactics in a thirteen year old girl!" Cassius taunted, but he wasn't lying. He'd accidentally walked in on Xenovia while she showered and the resulting battle nearly destroyed his ability to procreate.
Cassius suppressed a shudder at the memory in favor of keeping up his cocky smirk.
Pier's face turned a bright red with anger as he nearly exploded at the half devil.
Griselda decided to step in at that moment.
"Forgive my disciple, he is merely overly protective of my well being. Surely man like you could understand right Pier?" She said with a dazzling smile.
Cassius snorted again, but was ignored.
Pier seemed to calm down at the explanation.
"Ahem... yes I can understand that my dear. Please, allow me to introduce my own disciples." Pier said as he gestured to his three student.
"The blonde young lady is Jeanne, the heiress to the saint of Orleans. And this love young woman is Martha." Pier introduced as he jesture to each of the girls.
Martha was a straightened dark haired girl in her late teens, with tanned skin from constant exposure to the sun.
Cassius thought it was funny that the frenchman something managed to get two girls named after saints for his trainees.
But he didn't let it show of course.
"And this young man is-" He was cut off by the boy.
"Rikard. Pleasure to meet you." Rikard said with a gentlemanly bow, however his attention was focused solely on Cassius.
Said half devil looked the boy up and down. He was of fair complexion with void black hair and a pair of mesmerizing green eyes.
He didn't like the boy one bit. Everything about the boy triggered his demonic instincts to fight.
It was like looking at a snake that was ready to pounce.
"Hn." Cassius grunted.
"How rude." Pier sniffed at his actions before returning to give both Xenovia and Griselda a drazzling smile.
Cassius tuned out the conversation in favor of watching Rikard. There was something off about him and Cassius intended to find out.
However before he could even try to figure something out, Griselda came and gently led them away.
Xenovia began to scold him for his attitude towards such a handsome man.
Cassius thought she was acting a bit off from her usual self but knew no way of figuring out the reason.
However as he spared one final glance to the boy he decided to try out something.
His blue eyes flashed red with the pattern of the Alpha Stigma and his eyes widened at what he saw.