"What. The. Fuck?".
Okay, as clever remarks go, that was hardly my best shot, but you have to understand the situation.
I was in the Demon World, doing the monthly culling all over the portals that lead to my turf on the mortal realm, chilling and killing, the usual, nothing out of the ordinary, when I found myself staring at a massive battle over a portal that I have never seen before.
According to the pacts that I have signed with lots of demon hunters, supernatural organizations, and the sorts, I am responsible for about a hundred kilometers around my portal. They do not try to use it, I do not meddle with their business. Clear, simple, easy, however, whenever something unusual or unknown happens, I also become the only one that could deal with it.
I was doing my monthly cleaning of demons and other pests, when I saw a battle that has been raging about fifty kilometers from my portal, between two armies of demons. The attacking army was the average demon army. A complete collection of monsters, abominations, and the such, from horned to ant-like, it was a swarm of beasts of all shapes and forms.
Among the hordes, stood giants that represented more powerful demons, I observed their lines and see none of the higher class. This horde was nothing more than cannon fodder, meat to the grinder to erode the defenses of the other army.
The other army is the one that had me confused, they were notably humane. Red skinned with black tattoos, fangs, and a crown of horns on their heads, but apart from that, their monochromatic black hair, and their stature; the average seemed to be seven feet, not counting the black armor that they wear; they were pretty humanoid.
In terms of power, the newcomers were faring pretty well against the low-level demons. Their serrated weapons were capable of butchering the low-class and even hurt the middle class, but the behemoths, here and there on the attacking hordes, forced their mages and archers to focus fire on them. In honor of the newcomers, I had to say that they are pretty tough and they are holding their ground surprisingly well. Alas, I was sure that a real Knight of Hell or a monster like Cerberus will cause severe casualties among them.
Curiously enough, even I can feel the demonic presence of the demons attacking, the essence of the defending army is way different from anything that I have felt before. I mean, I can feel their evil rolling in waves from them, but they lack the distinct stench of a real demon.
Not all demons are bloated masses of evil and chaos, I have met quite the collection of individuals that were gallivanting around the world and they are as dangerous as the average human. The point, in fact, there are demons that have even mated with humans and give birth to hybrids.
Dante, Lady, myself, individuals whose parentage included powerful demons. In the case of Dante, his pops were Sparda, in my case, well, that is still up to debate. No demon has even guessed right who was my old man, the only thing that they got right was that my mother was the strongest witch of the North, during the decadence of the Roman Empire. Circa 38 AD.
A claw slapped my face and I got out of my mussing by the struggling demon that I was choking with one of my Devil Arms. That was one of my, not all that much, endearing trait of mine, I tend to lost myself in though whenever something catches my fancy. The chains of Vulkan ignited and decapitated the struggling demon in a blink. I really love my chains, they are versatile and capable of igniting themselves, cutting through most materials like they are butter.
The chains retracted back into my coat and stood there, waiting for the next victim. Contrary to other Devil Arms, Vulkan was not entirely conscious, it was semi-empathic at best. It emits and receiver emotions and fill my mental commands to the letter, but lacks the consciousness that Devil Arms like Agni and Rudra had.
Dante has offered me to take the chatting swords and I will be dammed if I ever fall for such a scam, first of all, the twin scimitars are not my style, and second of all, I will strangle the chatting weapons in the first week. I had nothing against conversation, but they give me a headache. They are powerful, though, I can not deny that.
Zooming in, into the lines of the defenders, I saw that they are a dimorphic kind of demons. They have males and females, they do not seem to have a problem with women on the front lines; as several powerful warriors that were butchering small fry left and right were females; or on the mage and archer department.
This was a kind of demon that I have never seen, and that annoyed me. After almost a millennia on the demon-hunting business, whenever I found something new, I can not but felt a mixture of annoyance and giddiness. It's been a while since I had to deal with something new, however, an entirely new species, obviously capable of complex craft and magic, was something that will be giving me headaches for months.
In the future, I will look back to these words and curse fate, or whoever is laughing their asses off at my shenanigans and adventures, loud and deep, mentioning all their ancestors, hygiene, and sexual habits with animals of all sorts.
Rummaging a little on the infinite pockets of my beloved coat; another Devil Arm called Adramalech; I picked out a very nice camera and made some long-distance photos of the battle and the contenders, focusing on the newcomers. Thanks to the high zoom of the camera, subtly enhanced to be better than even an eagles vision, I can make some very nice photos.
I was far from the battle, and my entrance in such a brawl will not be welcome by any side, I was savvy enough to recognize that. The newcomers are not poor defendants, I can felt their evil essence even from miles away, and the local demons hate me with a passion. After millennia of kicking their asses back and forth, it was hardly a surprise. I would have loved to pick up samples of the new kids on the block, but right now, I will play it safe and prepare myself for a conflict before entering into that fray.
Not to mention, that I still had several kilometers to clean around my portal, the last thing that I need is to have a demon infestation in my backyard, it is always a nasty business and a sure method to have lots of upstarting demons with more horns than brain believing themselves the new Mundus.
So, duty calls, and I went back to my portal, exterminating any demons that got too close to comfort to my corner of the mortal world. I was born in Germany, in the cold depths of the Black Forest of Germany, and I have taken the responsibility of keeping Europe as clean as possible of the demon infestation.
Unfortunately, I am only one badass and there are always more bastards than bullets.
It took me three days of slaughtering to clean up my yard and to walk out of the Demon World. I confirmed that the battle was still going strong at the portal to whatever realm did these new demons came from.
In part, I was impressed. The demons of the hell that I know are stubborn if nothing else, and they are more than capable of tossing millions of meat bags at the enemy. But the newcomers seem to be cut from the same cloth and had their own absurdly amount of grunts to toss at the demons. I give them a year before the real powerhouses around make their appearance.
Asmodan, a Cerberus, maybe a Detauric, who knows, perhaps even a Knight or a Duke of Hell will take interest in the brawl and walk-in for a refreshing slaughter. It all depends on who is that interested in the newcomers or what are the newcomers doing here.
Among the demon hunter business, there are names that any hunter worth their salt knows. More than the hunters themselves, although, Dante, Trish, and Lady had become very famous these days after the events of Mallet Island and the disaster with the ninjas at Dumary Island, the names that echoed the most are the names of the brokers and Devil arms collectors and pawnbrokers.
Enzo Ferino and JD Morrison are two of the best information brokers that one could find in the demon-hunting business. More Morrison than Ferino, as the Italian-American had taken a backseat on the business after he lost an arm. Dante had to cut it to save his life.
Due to the fact that I operate mostly in Europe, Russia, and most of Africa, Enzo is one of my to-go contacts whenever I need anything related to my job. It has been like that for the last two decades and I am happy with the lad, even if he is eccentric as hell. Luckily for me and for him, I am one of his favorite clients because I sold lots of Devil Arms to him, and all of the jobs that I have taken from him always brought a lot of monetary benefits.
Enzo was a greedy lad and I was the goose of the golden eggs for him.
After a quick exchange of information through a webchat, with the Italian-American broker, I was forced to travel to Red Grave City, the home turf of Dante, and his merry crew. I liked them, they are a bit of a rowdy bunch, but they have their hearts in the right place. In order to get on the good graces of the bunch, you must remember to always bring pizza and booze.
With a box of pizza of each pizza present in the menu of the local pizza store and a plastic bag with high-quality wine and beers on my hands, I let Adramalech knock on the door of the infamous Devil May Cry building. From my right shoulder, a limb of gray fibers emerged and turned into a closed fist that rapped at the door.
Adramalech is, for a lack of a better term, a living coat. A gray coat capable of shape-shift, every single thread of the coat is alive and can alter its shape at will, weapons, tools, limbs, anything, the only thing is that it's always a gray coat, no matter how it changes. I had this Devil Arm for more than eight hundred years and, with Vulcan, are the only Devil Arms that have been with me, always.
I have wielded other Devil Arms, but so far, only Adramalech and Vulcan are a constant with me. The rest of the Devil Arms that I have collected or earned in combat with demons of all kind, I sold them at high prices at the auction houses that specialized on such items. Occult trinkets and bubbles are quite the source of income, it baffles me that Dante is broke ninety percent of the time. But, with the ladies that hounds him 24/7, I suppose that in order to keep such lionesses tame, lots and lots of dough must be invested.
The petite blonde girl that hangs around the building lately; a girl with some kind of unique bloodline or something, not really my business; opened the door and stared at me for a second.
"Greetings, little one", my cheerful voice surged from my mechanical looking mouth. "I am looking for Dante and the rest of his wild bunch, I brought food and refreshments", the extra limb at my shoulder pointed at the tower of pizza boxes at my left hand.
The blonde girl blinked, stared at me for a couple of seconds, before turning her face and call Morrison in a loud voice, telling the man that there is a weirdo at the door. I resent being called a weirdo.
"Rude", I point out to her and she suddenly realized that she was in front of me. Blushing she opened the door and let me walk inside of the office that Dante had set up in Red Grave city for his demon-hunting business. It was a pretty nice place, I can admit that, but I am an old bastard, and I prefer a more rustic environment. My own home is a cozy wood cabin in the middle of the absolute nowhere on the Black Forest. I have a deal with the local Werewolf clans for the territory, and for the last five centuries, it has worked like a charm.
"Oh, Damnas", saluted me, Morrison, from behind the Jukebox that Dante had in the office. I really liked the detail, I had a similar one in my own home. It was funny, that such vintage items are even more costly than some Devil Arms that I have sold in the past.
"Greetings, Morrison", I greet the man as well. "Can I have a word with you and the rest of the rowdy children?. I brought pizza and booze".
"And just for that, we are not going to kick your ass, old man", Dante emerged from the top floor of the building, dressed in his black pants and white shirt. Rebellion rested on his shoulders. Not three seconds later, Trish walked out of the same room, with her black leather corset and pants on.
"Leave him be, Dante", chided Trish. "He has the decency of paying his debts".
"My word is sacred", I nodded resting the tower of pizzas and the bag of drinks at the table. "And you can always try, you little rugrat", I laughed at Dante.
They quickly jump down the second floor and went for the grub. I was not hungry, but I rescued a six-pack of booze before the pair of demon hunters jumped at the food like a pair of starved wolves. Chuckling under my breath, I retreated and joined Morrison and the small blonde girl on the sidelines. Morrison sighed and joined the fray for the pizzas, meanwhile, the girl observed the scene with a mixture of exasperation and fondness. How odd.
"So...are you the mom of this collection of rowdy children?", I asked of her offering her a beer.
"Sometimes, I do believe so", grumbled the lass before she grabbed the can and stared at it with the kind of eyes that I have seen in war veterans, trying to find the answers to the universe at the bottom of a glass.
"No booze for you, young lady", appeared Morrison at her side, taking the beer from her. Much to her pouting displeasure, however, she huffed and charged into the fray that Morrison has abandoned to reclaim pizza for herself.
The little lioness seemed to be right at home and I knew from personal experience, that having responsibilities like the small girl around, tended to do good to people, on the other hand, I have seen the worst examples of parentage through the ages as well, so, I do hope that the lass will do well to Dante and his crew.
"A little too young for booze", chuckled Morrison at me. "In this country, the legal drinking age is eighteen".
"Bah", I shrugged it. "Eighteen. By that age, I was already the chieftain of my clan and had five ankle bitters of my own".
"We don't live in caves anymore, old man", chuckled Dante from his chair, chewing pizza with gusto.
"What are you speaking about?", I argued back. "Devil May Cry is your man cave, you rascal".
Dante grumbled and the blonde girl, Trish, and Morrison laughed at Dante's expense.
"At last mine have working plumbing", shot back Dante.
"Magic does wonderful things, young man", I sagely reminiscence those days where house commodities like plumbing, electricity, and the such were nothing but delirious dreams. "And I do not have to pay a bill the size of my arm for the maintenance of the place, seriously, how in the nine hell's name do you keep this place clean?".
"Wanked don't even thank me", chew fiercely the blond girl on her pizza with a scathing glare to Dante.
My deadpan, even with my mechanical face, was almost a physical force.
"My disappointment is immense", I declared in a neuter tone and a slice of pizza slapped my face, sticking to the obsidian colored surface of my half-metallic, half-demonic skin.
"What the fuck do you want, old fart?", growled Dante. The rest of his crew were enjoying the play, heck, they were even looking for popcorn.
Adramalech took the slice of pizza out of my face, cleaning my skin perfectly, and hold the pizza for me to chew on it. After a bite; a pretty good pizza this one; I chew up and took from inside of my coat a brown envelope. I tossed the envelope to the table, were it open and sprawled perfectly the dozen or so, photos that I have selected from those that I have taken of the newcomers.
"We have a newcomer down there", I announced and all levity abandoned the room.
"A newcomer?", echoed Morrison my words.
"I don't recognize them", added Trish, observing the photos. "They are battling with Balegor's armies, a Duke of Hell. Middle level at best. But I have never seen demons like this, surpisongly human and even with attractive males and females among them".
"Pretty demon ladies?. Where have I seen them before?", sarcastically commented Dante, but he was observing the photos as well.
"Pretty demon ladies with swords capable of slashing Goliaths down like they are made of silly putty", I pointed out. "They do not look advanced, in the sense that they do not use vehicles or guns, but their weapons are strong and sharp enough to cut demons down and those are not Devil Arms".
"Well, I have not seen any of them around", shrugged Dante. "Anything should I be wary off?".
"Individually, maybe not", I shrugged as well. "Judging from what I saw, the grunts of the army are about as strong as an Empusa, however, the leaders are as strong as a Nightmare demon and when they are together they are capable of taking down behemoths".
"And they are magicians", added Morrison with a photo on their hands.
"And good ones", I informed them. "I take that none of you is precisely versed in the arcane arts, nay?".
All shrugged, but the blonde girl seemed fascinated by the conversation. Well, I suppose she has already been exposed to the supernatural and it had zero sense trying to hide anything from her.
"The sorcerers among them are pretty versatile", I pointed out to the photo that Morrison held. "Lots of elemental magics, mostly fire, ice and electricity, illusions, capable of summoning lots of elemental warriors, and monsters of all kind, healing, transmutation, poisons, the entire nine yards. What they lack on sheer firepower, covered in spades with variety and some of the nastiest battle magics that I have ever seen".
My coat showed a photo of Dante and Trish.
"One of their favorite tricks is to toss a green ball of energy," I explained the scene on the photo, "a paralyzing spell judging from the results, and once the target is down, the heavily armored warriors around, tore the victim to pieces".
"Nasty buggers", commented Morrison at the grim images.
"Where the heck do they come from?", asked Trish.
"That is the thing", both Adramalech and I rose our hands in sync. "Balegor was laying siege to a portal that appeared in the middle of the layer of the Demon World where I had my portal, they have their own portal", my coat lifted the photo with the odd, runic covered anchor-like portal, "from where they spawn in the thousands, equaling the hordes of Balegor".
"Those are worrisome numbers", seriously said Trish, looking at the new demons, in a different light.
"Well, as long as they stay down there, I say let them slaughter each other", Dante continued eating pizza without a single care in the world.
"Ah, that's the thing, I think that they are an invading force". I dropped the bomb and even Dante stopped mid-bite.
"That's a big accusation", spoke Trish in a neuter voice.
"The way they act, the way they are setting up shop in the territories of Balegor, their deployment of troops, their numbers", I listed what I have seen down there. "That is an invading army if I ever saw one".
"They are trying to conquer hell?. Good luck with that. The thing is, that if they managed to anchor themselves at that layer of Hell, and with such competent mages around, it will be very easy to repeat the feat and dug that anchor, let's say in the middle of a populated city, here, on the human world".
"Bloody hell", muttered Morrison.
"But it is pretty hard no?", asked the small girl for the first time. "I mean, bringing hell to earth requires a lot of power, is not something easy".
Oh, shit, I was scaring the little sprout. It's been a while since I have to deal with children. The last time that I was a father was during World War One.
"Aye, it is bloody hard", I nodded. "But that's why I am shouting on the demon-hunting network that there is a new kid on the block, and carries a big stick. That's why I am here, I wanted to know if any of you had seen or fight any of these wankers".
"Sorry, old man, nothing of the sorts", shook his head Dante, and nor did Trish.
"I will be making some calls", said Morrison walking to the phone at the office.
"You dropped quite the bomb on us, old man", Dante continued devouring pizza.
"Just in case", I drank from my beer. "Better to know that these arseholes are around than found ourselves in the middle of a fucking demon invasion against an unknown breed of demon, again".
"Uh, true that". Chuckled Dante. "Where do this fuckers come from?". Asked me, Dante.
"I have no idea", I confessed. "Honestly?. That portal is completely unknown for me, nothing I have ever seen had similar characteristics, well, apart from the obvious, ominous red runes, evil aura, and evil paraphernalia, the usual".
"So, we are dealing with some kind of dimensional invasion?", raised an eyebrow Trish, stealing pizza from Dante's box without an ounce of shame.
"Maybe", I conceded the point. "I mean, the Demon World is practically bloody infinite, it had dimensions, pocket realms, rifts, all of them filled to the brim with who knows what kind of arcane horrors and eldritch abominations, so it is more than possible that some of those rifts had developed a method to branch out to new lands and go for the old' plundering and pillaging".
"But you are an old codger than has seen a lot of shit and none of these guys are familiar to you", deducted Dante. "Meaning, unknown, dangerous shit that can kill a lot of people".
It was easy to misjudge the cocky little shit, he is an unrepentant showoff and a manchild, but his heart is in the right place and that cocky attitude was his method of dealing with the constant madness that is the demon hunter's life.
"Nail It", I raised my beer, "but you are still a brat".
"Love you too, old fart", laughed Dante.
"Girls, you both are pretty", mocked Trish, the both of us and we both groaned at the demon lady.
Uh, speaking of ladies.
"You know, I thought that Lady was now part of your staff", crushing the empty beer can at my forehead, I tossed it to the garbage and nailed the throw, before opening a new one.
"She comes and goes", huffed Dante.
"How much money this time?", I sighed and Trish laughed, almost choking on her pizza slice.
"Come on lad, you and the money are like oil and water, are you sure that you are not cursed?. I know a couple of real curse-breakers that can take a look at your wallet and see if it is not cursed".
"Done that already", said the small girl with a frustrated sigh.
"Oh, are you an aspiring sorceress, lass?". I asked the girl with approval in my voice. "Ah, where are my manners, sorry", I suddenly remembered that I have not presented myself to the girl.
"I am Damnatus, Damnas for short, Nightborn, nice to meet you", I extended my hand to the girl who took it with a smile, happy that someone treated her like something more than a small child.
"Patty Lowell, nice to meet you too". She presented her as well and my left eye grew half an inch. I do not have eyebrows due to my metallic skin and body, but I managed to express some bodylanguage with time and effort.
"Related to Alan Lowell?". I asked and Patty nodded with a grimace. There was a story there.
"Then is no surprise that you have a talent for the arcane", I shrugged.
There was no need for me to inquire about her little "heiress of Abigail" birthright. I was not really wanting to meddle in business that had nothing to do with me. With the little lady around, means that Dante has already dealt with whatever shenanigans her bloodline was involved in or in the process of doing so.
Not my circus, not my monkeys, kind of deal.
"The little runt is not precisely good at it", chuckled Dante and Patty pouted and mumbled under her breath.
"Neither are you, and you are the so-called, professional demon hunter, runt", I pointed out to Dante and Patty barked in response pointing her finger at Dante with a triumphal grin.
"Finally someone sees it!", smiled Patty in triumph and Dante, snorted, returning to his pizza.
"So, back to my original question, is Lady around?. I would like to talk with her about the newcomers as well, maybe she has seen them these days?". I took another sip from my beer. "These newcomers rub me all the wrong way and I don't know why".
"Old age finally caught up with you grandpa?", mocked Dante, demolishing the third pizza in a few bites.
"Try being an adult, like you are supposed to be, and you will see how adulting is hard". I mocked back.
There is little need to say that Patty and Trish were enjoying the banter. See when I said that they only need popcorn?. Well, they have pizza, so I think, it counts. To be honest, my banter with Dante is practically a tradition. I was there the day Sparda took a family, fuck, I helped up the man to set up shop in Red Grave City. When you are as old as I am, and you have been involved in the majority of shit-hit-the-fan events all over the world, it is inevitable that you end up knowing all the powerhouses of the eras. I meet Sparda, I meet Machiavelli, I meet Argonax, and Abigail, I punched Mundus in the face when he was nothing but a Count in the Demon World. The list of Shitty Hills that I have busted is long.
At one time, a crazy lass said that I was Gumped, referring to the movie Forrest Gump, and how the lad had met a lot of influential figures all over the world during his life. I was similar, in that sense. I had met and influenced a long list of powerhouses during the eras.
In this modern age, Dante and his crew are the premiere demon-hunting crew of their continent, the fame of Dante went through the roof when he put down Mundus at Mallet Island, the Dumaris Island debacle, and the events at the Order of Ascension. On the last one, I should have ripped them a new one way sooner, but I was neck-deep in demon blood in the Kilimanjaro, at the end, Dante and the young lad, Nero, dealt with it. If anything, Dante's crew was the best at this side of the ocean, a solid deterrent for lots of demons and quite the relief for me, this last decade. I am possibly the oldest demon hunter alive that has not been incarcerated on the Demon World, killed, or disappeared in mysterious ways. Dante's crew could do without all that collateral damage, though.
Never hurt innocents, but the repair bills pilled to the roof most times.
"Lady was last seen in a nearby city", said Morrison after hanging the phone. The poor sod still has a lot of calls to make. "She was taking care of a case of disappearances, it was a supernatural case due to the bizarre and ritualistic nature of the disappearances".
"How odd are we talking about?", I curiously asked Morrison. I was the equivalent of a computer nerd but related to demonology and occultism, it has been my life, since day one. "Ah, nay, never mind, I will speak with Lady myself, if she is in a nearby city, I can travel there fast, can you give her a call that I am on my way and set up a rendezvous place?".
"That, I can do", smiled Morrison and started the call.
"Always on the hunt, uh?", commented Dante in a curiously neuter tone.
"I was born for this", I shrugged. "Quite literally, as my mother birthed me in order to, and I quote her, "defeat the wolf demon that haunts our lands". Turns out it was one of the puppies of Cerberus".
"That's sad", commented Patty.
"Already made my peace with that, the only thorn in my side is that I still don't know who is my father", I chugged my beer, crushed the can, and tossed it to the garbage bin in a swift motion, before opening another can. I can drink oceans of booze and I will not even be buzzed.
A sudden inspiration made me stare at the young sorceress that raised an eyebrow but in her bodylanguage, I could read her apprehension. She has been the receiving end of demonic attention before and that has left her a bit paranoid, to say the least. Not that I can blame the little lass. I know full well, how traumatizing and fucked up the Demon influence can be.
"Dante, you still have Nevan around, or have you sold her to cover your expenses?", I turned my attention to Dante.
Dante blinked stopping half bite on a slice of her fourth pizza; an action that Trish took advantage of to steal the last slice from the open box; and frowned.
"The vampire chick on the electric guitar?", Dante asked back. Bloody hell lad, after all this time and you are freaking unable to difference between demons?.
"A sidhe to the precise, a Leanan-sidhe", I pointed out to him and he just stared at me. "Never mind, you are not all that sharp in demonology, sorry, I forgot, I thought I was talking with a professional for a second", I deadpanned like a pro, with sarcasm dripping off my tone.
"Hilarious", droned Dante as well, but he answered nonetheless, "but yeah, I still have the sparky goth around". Dante confessed. "We made a killing at a rock festival, a month ago. She is the major of Thirst City, but she played the part well".
I summoned Adversary, the broken horn of the fallen Melchizedek, an ancient devil that created the basis for all the dark and demon magics know today. The broken and yellow bone was deceptively fragile, in truth, it was one of the sturdiest items in existence. I have used it, not only to learn sorcery through the ages but as a blunt weapon, on more than one occasion.
"Care for a trade?", I showed the broken horn to Dante. Trish was the one that reacted first. Holding her breath and frowning at the item.
Trish was a demon, a pure one, crafted by Mundus to look like the biological mother of Dante. The miasma of the horn was blatantly obvious for her, and her instincts told her that the horn was bad juju in great quantities.
"That's an ominous Devil Arm", Trish hissed like a cat on alert. Dante rose an eyebrow at that and observed me with a passing interest, far more interested in his pizza.
"Good eye", nodded at Trish.
"This little trinket is called Adversary", I had zero intentions of hiding anything from them. "It's one of the horns of Melchizedek".
Trish stiffened at that name, and now Dante stopped chewing, after seeing how Trish has reacted to that name. Dante's experiences with high-level demons were well known among the demon-hunting community and it was a fact that the lad hated them with a passion. Practically all Duke and above demons felt the same way about the Son of Sparda. As the lad said to me once, "Fuck them".
"It is a source of knowledge about sorcery, the best professor I could ever find, but, it is a Devil Arm, a piece of the soul of Melchizedek is trapped inside of the horn, and its whispers are always trying to influence the holder".
That was the gist of the thing.
A powerful method of learning sorcery. True sorcery, the real one, from one of the biggest bastard that has ever existed and that, possibly, was the founder of the basis of the sorcery systems that persisted even today. For centuries, I have held the horn, learning all of what I could from the whispers and the power that resides in the horn. Due to my Soul Stealing hex, I squeeze everything I wanted from the horn, bitch-slapping the whispers and the tricks that the remnant of the soul inside of the Devil Arm had. I had stolen and manipulated the souls of my enemies for millennia, even if my hex, is considered a taboo in practically all cultures through the ages.
"The little lass will get the perfect professor, and maybe all of you would benefit from it", I tossed a jab at Dante's ignorance on magic and demonology, "and I get Nevan, her bats are the perfect scouts and spies, along the electric barrier….and I always wanted to play the guitar". Okay, the last part was a bit unnecessary, but it will be a nice, "good old Damnas" touch to my words.
Add the fact that she is a gorgeous woman with a libido to match, as long as you understand what being the lover of a Leanan-sidhe encompasses, and anyone could understand why Nevan was of my interest. There was a reason why they are feared, nonetheless. Their kind feeds on love, life, and worship, and in return, they offered talents in the arts and their own inhumanely beautiful companionship.
Nevan was part of the guardians of Temen-ni-gru, the tower that Sparda sealed, Dante fought and turn her into the Devil Arm Nevan. She was quite infatuated with Dante, being physically close to Sparda and a handsome hybrid, but it was lust, not love and Dante knew it well, rejecting the advances of Nevan whenever she tried anything. Dante, much like other hybrids like us, sold or borrowed Devil Arms from the multiple breakers all over the world. There are collectors and occult expert that pays pretty money for even lesser Devil Arms. During our jobs, we tend to collect Devil Arms of the subjugated demons, and we do not keep them always with us. Sometimes they are nasty, others do not adjust to our fighting styles, others simply are too annoying, whatever the reasons, is rare for a demon hunter to keep too many Devil Arms with him.
Dante, for example, tends to keep Rebellion, and one or two another Devil Arms around, Lady never lets go of her bazooka, although it's not a Devil Arm on its own, Trish holds Sparda, the sword of the father of Dante. Me?. I always keep Adramalech and Vulcan with me.
Adversary was an unexpected reward centuries ago, and after I squeezed the thing for all its secrets, now it's just more than annoyance than a real asset. On the other hand, Nevan would be quite an addition to my arsenal. You see, Devil Arms have souls, I am a soul manipulator, I can increase the powers of a Devil Arm, unlocking new power or features of the artifacts that are locked or required complicated methods of liberation. I can feed new souls to the Devil Arms, stole the souls from them and I am able to manipulate the souls; be it artificial or natural; of anything that had a soul, to begin with.
"Yeah, your suck at playing any instrument", chuckled Dante and I almost face fault.
"Of fucking course, that will be the thing that you will get out of everything that I have said", I grumbled and tossed the horn to Dante that caught it without missing the pizza on his other hand and stabbed it in a small tower of empty pizza boxes.
"Dante", the voice of Trish was not her usual playful tone but carried a warning.
"Easy Trish", waved Dante. "The old goat may be senile, but he has never, ever, being nothing but good on his word. If he says that this little shit will help the brat, is because it will help the brat. We can trust the crazy old fucker". There was a curious mixture of respect and disrespect in those words, quite the dichotomy I have to admit.
"Also, getting rid of the crazy vampire chick will be a good thing", added Dante and Trish became pensive. "Since the concert, she has come a bit too strong for my tastes, I do not stick it in crazy, and that lady is totally out of her mind".
Translation, or what I thought it is the real translation: Dante is banging Trish, or Lady, or both, and Nevan wanted a piece of that and the other girls are not all that keen on sharing.
Curiously enough, a lot of Hybrids that I have met, tend to be on the attractive, if not directly sexy, the spectrum of appearance. Of course, there are exceptions like me, that carried out demon heritage on the outside. Anyhow, Hybrids tend to be attractive, and they usually have lots of booty on call, so I was not at all surprised by Dante's possible relationship with the beautiful blonde demon at his side or if he would be knocking boots with Lady regularly. Wait, did he not brought a kunoichi as well from Dumaris Island?. I do have a memory of a lass called Julia that was involved in that mess as well. That disaster was something that should not have happened, not even in a million years, alas, with humanity, one thing that one can be absolutely sure, in the depths of their stupidity and greed.
A lethal combination.
"So, do we have a deal?", I asked and Dante nodded.
"The crazy chick is all yours", he got back to her pizza.
It was a spectacle to see him keeping Trish out of his pizza and Patty out of the horn. Dante was not going to leave Patty with a Devil Arm, much less one with the consciousness of a former monster like Melchizedek with a small girl like Patty. Too many opportunities for corruption, even if I have stomped any rebellious or scheming instincts out of the thing by flaying its soul, slowly and meticulously, whenever it tried any shit with me.
Morrison told me that Lady will be at a bar called "Lincoln's", in an hour, so I should really move. Leaving the rest of my beers with Morrison, something that the man appreciated, I climbed the stairs to the small armory slash storage room that Dante uses to kept whatever Devil Arm he collects before pawning them to pay for the massive debts.
It was the size of a storage closet with a wardrobe and a hanger It was a bit poor, considering what kinds of items are stored inside, but it was kind of poor, I mean, well, Devil Arms should at least be given a nudge of dignity, put them in a comfortable display or something, not shoved into a cabinet, in something that looks like the janitor closet.
Sighing, as I knew that Dante does not give a fuck, except for Rebellion and Sparda, both at his hands and the hands of Trish, I opened the closet. Dante only had Nevan showed into the closet and a briefcase leaning on the sides. The soon I saw both of them, I recognized them as Devil Arms.
Nevan's presence was more than recognizable for me. I have already defeated, devoured, and manipulated dozens of her kin into Devil Arms or just fuel to spells, and several other things that will grant me the hate of modern sensitivities and modern religions a hundred times over. But, quoting the sages, I don't give a fuck. My job requires some nasty and disgusting shit from time to time.
The briefcase was an unexpected surprise, It was powerful, tremendously so, I felt a resonance with it, a sliver of the soul of Machiavelli was on that briefcase. A weapon made by one of the greatest gunsmiths of the Demon world. Now, that was interesting. I had to admit that the briefcase was calling to me. If I remember right, Machiavelli created lots of demon guns, Artemis, Titania, and I suspect that right in front of me, I was seeing Pandora. The title of Pandora was of Calamitous Ordinance, a weapon that can transform into 666 devastating forms that will bring forth destruction.
Dante had this sweet thing dusting in a closet.
Bloody hell, lad.
From the inner pockets of my coat; my wonderful gray coat that was the most comfortable thing ever, aye, I am partial and proud of it; a thread brought out out a credit card. I observed the card, sometimes my Devil Arms knew me better than myself. Taking a notebook and a pen from my pockets, Adramalech wrote a quick note to Dante and nailed it to the door of the closet, along with the credit card. There went my savings of the last three decades, but in exchange for Pandora, is a small price.
Adramalech caught Pandora and hold it on my left side. The coat altered its shape to keep the briefcase stitched to my side. I was quite eager to test the thing. Although, I have my own instantaneous arsenal in the form of my Conjure hex. I am able to conjure constructs of my demon energy, from weapons to tools, to whatever I need. However, Pandora can dish out a shit ton of projectiles at zero demon energy cost, leaving that previous expense of energy free for other uses, like sorcery or imbue energy into whatever I need or to simply continue fighting.
Next, I caught the guitar that Dante had in a bloody closet and the moment I touched the handle of the guitar, electricity surged from it, connecting me and Nevan. Her voice reached my head with a sparking echo and a seductive and lusty voice.
"Oh, someone that is not my last master tries to master me?", giggled the demon lady.
"Greetings Nevan, I am Damnatus Nightborn, I am about to hunt down an entirely new species of unknown demons, will you come with me, Lightning witch?". I replied back, letting her know where is she walking into.
The reaction of the Devil Arm made mentally chuckle. From her lusty tone of voice to a fearful caution. This lady ear of me before she was trapped in Temen-ni-gru. Hardly a surprise, as I have said, I have hunted down thousands of their kin, I have brought damnation to monsters way over her league.
"And what could need such a powerful hunter from me?", Nevan was cautious, and I can not blame her for that.
"A Leanan-sidhe", I answered and I felt the trepidation of the Devil Arm. "Even if you are a Devil Arm, the pride, skill, and power of the Leanan-sidhe that you were, still rests within you. So I offer you, a geas, the sacred vow".
Trepidation, arousal, hope, fear, lightning crept all over the guitar. A human will be electrocuted by now, but for me didn't even tingle. I was notably strong and sturdy, I have wrestled giants into the ground with my bare arms and strangle tauric behemoths of hell as if they were nothing more than whiny toddlers.
"My name is Nevan, the Lightning Witch, I swore in the name of the Leanan-Sidhe, that I will take the geas".
Of course, you will, my little witch, I counted on it. I am possibly one of the few entities in this world that really understood what the Leanan-sidhe pact entails and that is strong enough to survive it. The pact contains an oath of the sort, a vow, and a taboo all in one. All geasa do. Life energy, love, and devotion for artistic inspiration. That is what the human tradition and the occultist lore understood from it.
However, demons like Nevan are not exactly like that, something similar, but not exactly the same. Anyhow, she was know mine and the poor lass didn't even know it.
Twirling the guitar a couple of times, leaving a cracking arc of vivacious lightning on the air, I rested her on my back and Adramalech quickly morphed itself to make it look like as I was carrying a sports bag. Always in gray color and on the same material that the coat that clothed me, but that was part of the Devil Arm. It was a matter of pride for the Devil Arm to always be a stylish gray coat.
Nevan purred in my mind at the influx of demon energy that we share now. As any Devil Arm, they attune to their holders. Sometimes, Devil Arms are nothing but barely semi-emphatic objects, but in Nevan's case, she was fully sentient and the rich demon energy that I was infusing on her would be like the most exquisite wine that she has ever tasted.
Not really wanting to discuss with Dante about Pandora, and after leaving enough money in that credit card to pay for his debts thrice, I used Vulcan and a little sorcery trick that I learned a long time ago and twirling the flaming chains; my first Devil Arm; I opened a portal to the city where Lady was waiting for me.