Inferno
What humanity had referred to as Divine Intervention was not truly so
"[Vorpal Strike!]", the gold and silver sword of legend, Caliburn cleaved through the air and unleashed a wave of force that tore through an army of skele-beasts.
Caliburn hummed with an ancient power, its vibration sending adrenaline through the body of its wielder, Kirito. The number one ranked character in all of Sword Art Online, and the solo player that led the charge from the 59th to 67th floor of Castle Aincrad, stood there in his fabled coat of midnight.
Black hair to match his entire outfit, those who saw the bearer of midnight stood in awe as he was bestowed with Caliburn after defeating the boss of the 67th floor, Eins Marrow, the king of skulls. Caliburn wouldn't usually be his weapon of choice, but it helped put on a show. Here, in this massive cave, full of stalactites and its own bodies of water would mark the graveyard of the entire skeleton army.
Kirito, armed with Caliburn, could make dust of the horde of bones, but he stood back and watched his fellow players fight the forces of evil. He inspired this. For 7 months, the players in Castle Aincrad decided it was best to remain below the 50th floor, and enjoy the life they led. Anything further could lead to death, and that meant permanent character deletion. Kirito was the one, out of sheer boredom, that decided to clear the 51st floor completely on his own. Becoming the first and only Solo Beater.
The army was almost gone, and victory would be theirs. Kirito felt a tug on his left sleeve. His wife, Asuna, stood there, rapier in hand and the most adorable eyes. She asked, "My love, what now? Do we play it steady and obtain a casualty-less victory? Or do we press the charge, and claim a swift reward." Her red and white dress was in stark contrast to her bright orange hair.
A good question. Asuna was always more analytical than he. But a swift victory would be better to inspire those who still held reservations about clearing Castle Aincrad. That would be it then.
Kirito slammed Caliburn into the ground, and declared, "SOLDIERS! FINISH THEM QUICKLY. CASTLE AINCRAD WILL BE OURS! NO-ONE IN ALL OF SWORD ART ONLINE HAS THE POWER TO STOP US! WE CHA-"
[Alarm. Alarm. Alarm. Date is XXXX. One hour to midnight]
Kirito stopped. The army stopped it's charge, worried it's leader was somehow harmed. Or worse yet, killed. With wide eyes, Kirito turned to Asuna, and hurled Caliburn her way. With a shriek she caught it.
"ASUNA! I'll be RIGHT back I SWEAR", he yelled as he publicly and openly accessed his menu.
"KIRITO! What the hell are you doing? You can't log out here! And you can't leave the dungeon until the raid is over!", she exclaimed.
Oh right, he had forgotten to tell her that his thousands of hours in the Full Dive system taught him a few things. Especially when one Dived as long as he did. He knew plenty of workarounds to the system. He focused deep down, and felt his body. His real one, outside of SAO….
And held his breath.
The Nerve Gear registered problems with his respiration rate. Alarms started to sound in Kiritos ears as the system force booted him from the game.
The army of floor clearers saw their leader disappear, and noone, not even Asuna, ever saw him again.
…..
Kazuto Kirigaya walked through the empty streets of Redgrave City, unaware of what lurked in the shadows. It was far past dark, approximately 4AM. Kazuto rarely left the confines of his apartment space, usually tucked away in his room. Tonight was different, a chance to be one of the first to buy the newest installment in the Daemon Trigger series, Daemon Trigger Hyper Giga Ultimax 7. The first in the series to be ported to the fully immersive Nerve Gear. This was a once in a lifetime gameplay. To be fully immersed in the Daemon Trigger universe was something Kazuto always dreamed of.
The Nerve Gear functioned by sending electrical signals into the brain's nerves, essentially creating a shared cognition within a dreamlike state. Within Kazuto's favorite shooter, Gun Gale, Kazuto would be dropped into an arena with one hundred other players. In his shared reality, he could feel the dirt beneath his feet, the hot desert air in his lungs, and the cool metal in his hand. No screen, no controller, just the emulation of real combat.
Of course, Kazuto had turned off the pain receptors to almost zero, essentially feeling any bullet as a soft vibration instead of active pain. He had heard of leagues where they had all been required to turn their receptors to 120%. He shivered at the thought. Although, for DT, he might finally try out a higher setting.
Kazuto, across all systems he owned, had spent over 17,000 hours in the Daemon Trigger franchise. It should've been 25,000, Kazuto mourned. Once the Nerve Gear was released, the only title available at launch was Sword Art Online. Once fully integrating your mind within a video game, living it as if it were real life, regular video games just didn't cut it. Alfheim Online or Gun Gale weren't much better. Just distractions from his true love. Lost in his daze, Kazuto failed to notice something shifting in every alleyway he passed.
He hadn't spared a single thought towards the army he had left. SAO was a distraction, after all.
Tens of "hiring now!" signs popped up on every window. Kazuto simply walked past, purposefully ignoring them. His savings were getting low, and it was all he really lived off of. His jacket had holes and tears in embarrassing places, and his other clothes weren't much better. All he really spent his money on was Instant Ramen, the electric bill, and the internet. He just used the gas station by his house for a bathroom. One could call him pathetic, but he preferred frugal.
Kazuto never perceived Redgrave as a dangerous place to be. Of course, it wasn't like he spent much time in the shady parts of town. The city, to him, was uninspired. Even in the modern era, it sported this strange Victorian look. None of the displays were digital, and the town was starkly lacking charging ports just about anywhere. In fact, Kazuto had just passed a PHONE BOOTH of all things. If he had the money to leave, he would ditch this primitive town.
"Excuse me, young man!" a voice shouted, making Kazuto jump. He suppressed the urge to ignore it, fearing the kinds of shady characters that could pop up from time to time. He turned. It was a cop.
"S-sorry. I'm just on my way to the game store", Kazuto bowed as he apologized. Silence followed. Kazuto looked up and saw a strange look on the man's face.
"Which game store would that be?", he huffed, "Especially one that's open at this hour"
"Toyamark, just down the block sir!". An awkwardly long pause followed. Kazuto left his bow, and locked eyes with the cop. "Sir?"
"Right, where are you coming from?" the policeman asked.
"Aegis Apartments, sir!", Kazutos enthusiasm seemed to physically push the cop back.
"Alright alright, well there's no need to yell. Kid, listen, you should come with me. I have a few more questions." Kazuto's heart dropped. The policeman put his hand on Kazutos back.
Kazuto shuffled and walked out from the mans grasp. "I don't understand, what have I done wrong? If I'm late, I won't be able to get a copy until tomorrow!", he begged. Kazuto couldn't imagine a greater hell: all of his friends online exclaiming how great this entry was. Leveling up, discovering secrets, killing Daemons, all without him. This was a nightmare.
"I'm sorry kid," the cop sighed, as he grabbed onto Kazuto's arm. His heart pounded in his ears. What to do? What option did he have? He can't go with this man. He can't.
With a single powerful step, Kazuto caught the man off guard and slipped from his grasp. What the hell am I doing?, but Kazuto was already in a full sprint away from the cop.
"HEY! Get back here!" Kazuto heard from behind him. What was he thinking? He hadn't gone for a run in years, he barely survives a trip up the stairs. In mere seconds he was beginning to lose his grip on reality, his vision blurred at the corners, a sharp pain entered his chest. He figured his best bet was to turn a sharp corner into an alleyway. He accidentally crashed into a trash can, denting it. Of course, he couldn't have predicted that it was a complete dead end.
Kazuto shamefully staggered to the end of the alley, right into a brick wall. He collapsed into garbage bags. The policeman quickly caught up.
"What the hell kid", he struggled to catch his breath, but he was doing far better than Kazuto, who was completely hyperventilating. "You just made this so much worse for yourself. What the hell were you thinking?"
Kazuto remained in place, shuddering. The policeman stared in fear. Kazutos shaking grew far more intense. "Kid…" the policeman said, "listen, I get it. I used to be the same way, but-".
A glass bottle flew at the officer's head. He narrowly dodged it, hearing it shatter behind him.
Kazuto stared intensely at the man. Mouth hanging open, eyes wider than the sky. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU. DON'T YOU GET IT! IF I MISS THIS OPENING THEN I'LL BE LATE TO THE META. HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO PLAY THIS GAME IF I DON'T KNOW THE META. WHY THE FUCK WOULD I PLAY A GAME I'M GUARENTEED TO NOT BE GOOD AT. THERE'LL BE NO PARTIES TO JOIN, ALL FARMING ZONES WILL BE CLUTTERED, ALL SECRET MAGIC ITEMS WILL BE CLAIMED. EVERYTHING WILL BE SPOILED FOR ME. HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IF THAT HAPPENED TO SOMETHING YOU CARE ABOUT? YOU LIKE BEING A COP? DO YOU ENJOY IT? WELL WHAT IF SOMEONE FILLED ALL THE BEST PLACES TO PATROL WITH CRACK WHORES AND CRIMINALS. OH THAT WOULDN'T BE NICE WOULD IT? WHAT IF I SPOIL THE ENDING FOR YOU? YOU'RE GONNA END UP SAD, ALONE, DEPRESSED AND KILL YOURSELF AT 43! DID THAT RUIN IT? HUH? THEN JUST SKIP TO THE END! KILL YOURSELF KILL YOURSELF KILL YOURSELF!".
Kazuto's mouth foamed.
Indeed, God is not here. It is a hard truth to accept. That divinity does not exist. That we're all alone.
"H-Holy fuck kid." The policeman said in shock. He grabbed the radio on his shoulder. This was it. Kazuto would go to jail. This was officially the worst day ever. He was going to fall so behind in Daemon Trigger. He should just die. Never again would he ever grace that beautiful reality. Killing Daemons, kicking ass. He began to weep, slowly, and pitifully. "Need backup, got a kid here. Real messed up in the he-"
SLASH!
What? Kazuto looked up. The policeman gazed at him. The kind of stare that said a million things. It seemed to say, "I'm sorry for how I treated you. I should've tried harder to understand you. You should take my wallet and all the money inside. Take my card as well, the Pin is 9822. Go ahead and buy that video game. Hell, buy yourself some pizza too".
Then his head hit the ground. Then his upper torso, then his lower one. Blood and puss oozed out of these policeman slices. It took many moments to understand what was fully happening. Kazuto didn't see it until it was right up against his face. The Devil.
So alone. Who will help us?
Kazuto screamed in the devil's face. It was so twisted and putrid, Kazuto had never seen something so inhuman. It looked like someone had their face peeled off, reversed and grafted back on the wrong way. The rest of it's body was like…a red rocket. A really disgusting, pulsing red rocket with a face and spindly arms, ones with knives for the fingers. He screamed once more, "A DAEMON!", he barely held his yell as one of the deamons thin finger knives entered his shoulder. It was too much for Kazuto to bear. He threw up. A lot. He didn't even think he ate or drank that much all day. It just kept coming, like opening a fire hydrant. Right into the monster's mouth. That made it throw up. It wriggled in pain.
This was his chance, he stumbled to his feet and started running again. He wasn't in pain this time. Probably adrenaline. It was a pure survival. Where could he go? Was he safe anywhere? Then, it clicked. The game store. Toyamark. It was just down the street, only a block away. He would be safe there. It was almost the opening hour as well. That thought brought much joy to Kazuto. All his pain from the wound and his body disappeared.
He reached the proper address, and euphorically collapsed inside, not noticing the door was unusual for a game store. Finally, he thought, Daemon Trigger. Sweet and utter salvation. He let go of all his fear and stress. Today wasn't real. It couldn't have been. Kazuto was so overjoyed, he kissed the floor.
Peanuts? Salt? Dirty boots, blood? Kazuto looked up, and saw what looked to be a low-end bar. Or a poor imitation of one. A poor man-cave was really more accurate, with a jukebox that flickered on and off, a bizarrely placed pool table, and odd flags on the walls. A sad man must inhabit this space. Standing up, Kazuto was greeted with the sight of old moldy pizza. What…is this place? He thought.
This was surely the right address. Hadn't he been here before? Maybe it had been rebranded somehow? There were stained leather couches, old second hand subwoofers, and a strange animal rug on the wall. Suddenly, the red rocket monster burst in through the door, slicing it into pieces. Was that a saloon door? How impractical is that?. Kazuto was going to die in a mid-life crisis pit. He fell to his knees, ready to accept his fate. He bowed his head to the red rocket monster.
When mankind was in danger, there was only one who would answer the call for help.
VROOM VROOM!
Kazuto had released everything. His hope, his dreams, his bladder. But that noise sounded so familiar. What was it from? In an instant, a crash resounded through the room. Large pieces of wooden and tile debris rained from the sky. A motorcycle crashed through the roof. As to how a motorcycle could have possibly been up that high escaped Kazuto. The cycle soared and fell directly onto the red rocket, crushing it.
The rider, a majestic figure of perfection. Perfect abs, stark white hair, a loose cannon aura strapped with two beautiful pistols.
The spitting image of Daemon Spade, the protagonist of Daemon Trigger.
Daemon Spade revved the engine multiple times, smearing red rocket all over the floor and the walls. The monster wriggled in pain, trying to slash at Spade with its broken arms. Spade got off his bike, and stared at the monster.
He scoffed as he grabbed one of his pistols, the black one, and put a bullet in its head. Kazuto hadn't ever heard a gunshot, but felt that even this one had been louder than it should be. Spade hadn't noticed Kazuto yet, it seemed.
"I-", Kazuto tried to speak, but he couldn't get the words out. Spade began to sniff the air, probably repulsed by the smell of demon guts. He looked over his shoulder, right at Kazuto.
…
"Did you piss yourself?", he asked.
An eternity of silence
"N-no," Kazuto whimpered. A blatant lie.
"Why are you wet?"
"A puddle."
"A yello-?"
"Yes"
"You answered that really fast."
"I didn't". He lied again. God damnit! He was fucking this up. What better way to meet your idol than to be covered in vomit and piss? Kazuto got up to his feet finally. "Who are you?" The ceiling fan was weak, but Kazuto was standing perfectly under it, adding a dramatic wind to his hair.
Spade looked off into the sky, through the hole in the roof he himself made. He placed his hand in his pockets, admiring his work.
"Dante".
Dante? Right, this man couldn't literally be Daemon Spade. That would be insane. The man turned, looking at Kazuto's wound. He gave him a perplexed look. "So, were you lookin' to hire me or?", the Spade look alike known as Dante walked towards the old pizza, "I'm a pretty busy gu-"
A massive blade protruded from Dante's chest. Kazuto stood in shock. The pair looked at each other as blood dripped from the blade. As they both looked down, they saw that the red rocket demon had survived. Then, multiple shadowy figures fell from the sky, through the hole in the roof. As they landed, they stabbed tens of scythes through Dante's body in an endless assault. The room was flooded with monsters and every single one sank a blade into him. There were blades directly through his chest, his head, his legs, his arms. Kazuto had no idea whether to run or begin crying again. There was no hope anymore. Blood poured in gallons.
Dante took a step forward.
It caught all of the demons by surprise. Some of them were so unaware, they fell as they failed to keep a grip on their weapons. A literal dead man walking. Kazuto looked at him with a deep desiring hope of safety. Dante took a deep breath in…
Then out.
......
Dante took more steps forward, catching everyone in the room unaware. He finally reached an old broken jukebox across the room. With blades riddling his body, he pointed to the sky in a dramatic flair. At many points in the motion, blades began to fall off his body.
"Lets get this party started!", he exclaimed as he used his other hand to press one of the tracks on the box.
Moments passed. Nothing happened. Dante began to press down many more times. Still nothing. The demons finally snapped out of their confusion and began to scream. The ones with scythes still in their hands began to charge at Dante.
"Well, looks like we gotta do this the old fashion way", he rolled his shoulders back, the demons were mere moments away from striking him once again. He struck his hands together, interlocking his fingers directly in front of his face. In the instance right before he was punctured with even more blades, he pushed his arms outward, cracking his fingers.
Simple Domain: Style Amplification!
Crazy!
All of the demons were immediately pushed backwards. The room was filled with the steady beat of intense rock music. A dark energy filled the entirety of Dante's body. Huh? C-rank already? The hell did I do? I'm just standing here, Dante wondered. The blades in his body slowly began to fall out and hit the ground, his wounds slowly healing themselves.
Energized by the raw amount of power in his system, he ignored this irregularity. He would rather enjoy this than waste precious seconds. He could feel the Ranking depleting. It wasn't cool to wonder and plan. It was cool to do. Dante stepped aside and narrowly dodged a scythe aiming for his face. As he stepped, he extended his arm outward. The creature caught on his arm in a clothesline as Dante squeezed the beast with all his might.
The blades that remained in him pierced the body of the monster, draining it of life. As he felt the thing die, he reached down into his holsters, grabbing Ebony and Ivory. He readied the pistols, white and black in luster, and pointed them at the ground.
The creatures stood from their place on the ground, picking up their blades. A closer look from Dante revealed they were boney, hardly flesh-covered amalgams of human corpses that were wreathed in dark cloaks. A dark cloak of Miasma emanated off of his skin, ebbing and flowing to the beat of the rock music. Slowly, with intent, the aura began to move from his skin towards his pistols, latching on and transferring like a sickly parasite.
Gunslinger Style!
The demons readed their weapons and began to charge at Dante once more. Hell Caina, he thought. As multiple of the Cainas reached their scythes back to attack, the pistols, now coated in the dark miasma, hummed with power. Dante pulled the trigger of the darkest one, Ebony, while crossing that same arm down across his body. A beam of power shot out downwards and diagonally from Dante, sending his body flying upwards in a spinning motion, barely dodging the scythes.
Badass!
Dantes body brimmed with even more energy mid-twirl. The beat of the music became even louder. The windows began to shake as the power chords became even more intense. The shot was so powerful it kicked him all the way out of the building, through the hole in the ceiling. He angled his spin in a way that twisted him upside down as well. As he reached the peak of his flight, he extended both pistols downwards towards the ground.
Rainstorm!
A hail of empowered bullets rained down. Thousands of pops and cracks sounded as bullets left the chambers of the pistols and cracked against the skulls and bodies of the demons. The force of each blast made Dante float just a little longer in the air. The closer he fell to the ground, the further outwards he extended his arms until he was fully blossomed, spinning and firing bullets like a whirlwind of death. Finally, moments before he touched the ground, he flipped his stance, landing gracefully on his feet.
.....
Am I dead? Kazuto opened his eyes, slowly. Moments ago, death rained down on him to the beat of hard metal. Finding refuge under a pool table was the best he could do. A thick cloud of dust and debris filled his lungs. Every cough cleared a small amount of air in front of his eyes. The visage of the Daemon Spade look alike, Dante, appeared in the distance atop dozens of mounds of flesh. He stood completely still, holding his pistols in a seemingly unreadied position.
Kazuto scurried out from under the table, desperate for an anchor of safety. His feet shuffled and slid along the already dirty floors from various blood and viscera, at one point falling on his jacket, smearing it in brains. He picked himself up and ran towards Dante. "Wha-. Hell. What was-. Holy shi-". Kazuto stopped mere feet away from Dante. He had drawn his black pistol and aimed it right at Kazuto.
Dantes hair fell in front of his face, his expression unreadable. Kazuto trembled in place, "Please, I-".
Dante fired. Kazuto's heart stopped. In just an instant, he braced for the release of death. The bullet made impact. The sounds of a shredding skull and melting flesh sounded in Kazuto's ear. He turned to see the face of a monster collapsing in on itself.
Something rose on Kazuto's skin. Fear? Adrenaline? His hair stood on end. Dante had already begun firing on other monsters that were beginning to surround the two once more. Kazuto was left standing alone in a crowd of monstrosities. Two of them, rising from the pool table he hid under a moment ago, raised their weapons.
...
Twosome Time!
One of Dantes favored techniques of his Gunslinger style. Using Ebony and Ivory in a separate conjunction to fire in two different directions at once. In exchange for losing the raw power benefit of both pistols firing towards one target, Dante receives a boost in his accuracy. His weapons flew around, guided by an innate sense granted by Simple Domain. From an outsider's perspective, Dante was seemingly firing off each pistol in a random direction. At times he would point Ebony under his crotch while Ivory through his armpit. Yet every shot still landed. Hell Cainas jumped off of furniture, trying to get just a little closer to Dante. Every time another dropped, they attempted a new strategy.
Crazy!
Too long, Dante thought. Performing the same action, no matter how effective, would ultimately reduce his cursed technique output if done for too long. He needed to find the Hell Gate that was flooding such a countless number of demons however. Dante needed something fast with the ability to survey a large area. Dodging a scythe launched at his head, he snapped his finger.
Trickster!
The range of his Simple Domain expanded tenfold. Hell Cainas jumped back as the beat of the music reached them. One of the demons, farthest away from Dante and all the way across the bar, opened its mouth in shock, not realizing the death sentence it had signed. In an uncountable second, the image of Dante disappeared. The rock music continued, and as it hit an accent, Dante reappeared with Ebony loaded into the demon's mouth. Dante pulled the trigger, but by the time the bullet had reached the ceiling, Dante had already Dashed across the room, towards the previously discarded slice of pizza. The Cainas scattered relentlessly across the room, searching for their target.
A burp alerted them to Dantes position, all the way to the roof, through the hole. Sticking out of his mouth was a moldy crust. His feet remained separated, with one in front of the other as he placed his left hand behind his back and used his right to taunt the remaining creatures.
Enraged, two more began to charge. Less than he expected but he could make it work. They leaped up to his position, one ata time. His leather shoe deflected one of the blades from the side and he slammed the weapon into the ground. He charged towards the disarmed demon and grabbed it by the cloth it wore. He maneuvered the thing until it took the entire brunt of a sharp attack from the other charging Scythe.
The armed monster cried for its brother as Dante tore the rest of the black cloak from its body. More Cainas had joined him on the rooftop. He dashed past the beast and right towards the center of the dozen or so attackers. He had the perfect plan. He dove right into the eye of chaos wrapped in the old bloody cloth. Multiple scythes swung down and pierced the small black cloak.
A lifeless lump hit the ground. One of the Cainas continued to ravage the body of Dante until it realized that he wasn't in there. In a confused daze, the creature tore at the cloth until it saw the mass hiding within. Four grenades.
KABOOM!
Dante applauded. Trickster always worked like a charm. He looked up and from this position, he spotted it, a thick pulsing aura from North of the building. The Hell Gate. Things are about to get nasty, holding his hand to his chin, deep in thought. The Cainas had begun to climb on top of each other, hoping to let some of them reach their prey.
Dante focused his power, releasing Trickster Style and condensing his Simple Domain to a much shorter radius. He encanted, "Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."
Nothing happened. Dante snapped his fingers once more. "Damn!" Dante warped away once more as the Cainas finally reached his position. He needed that gate closed. Hell Cainas were some of the weakest demons, dropping with an unimbued shot from Ivory, but their strength was in numbers. Time to finish this, he thought, B-rank should be enough.
OPEN!
….
Mythic pull! Kazuto thought as his pool clue slammed into the head of one of the monsters. It had completely blocked the attack of one of the blades just moments prior. Kazuto had pulled an SSR level item, surely. A pool cue that could pierce the heavens.
A power chord sounded, different from the rock beat that had been there before. The monsters all shimmered, like something had affected them. Kazuto looked up, seeing Dante, standing with an electric guitar, bathed in moonlight. It felt like something should've affected him as well, but somehow he avoided it.
Dante began to shred an intense rock anthem. Monsters began to pool into the bar, is he purposefully attracting them? This was even more than had appeared initially. It seemed like it would never end. Kazuto's pool cue wouldn't help here, he needed to run. Kazuto hadn't noticed Dante having warped away. He gripped his pool cue tighter and ran towards the back of the bar, to a set of stairs.
...
Crazy!
Nevan. A Cursed Tool shaped to the form of an electric guitar. Within the body of the instrument, was another secret. Obtaining the tool required sacrificing a large amount of cursed energy. Luckily, Cursed Tools didn't necessitate having energy to expend.
The Gate pulsed intensely, like an adrenalized heartbeat. It lay in the middle of the street, a dark open tear in space. Cainas began to pour out by the tens, perhaps eventually by the hundreds. He couldn't allow so many to flood the streets, especially without a Veil in place. The attention that would place on his bar would be far too annoying. Dante wasted no more time and jumped off the roof of the building. At the peak of his leap, he hit an intense rockstar pose, using the guitar as an air skateboard.
He hurdled towards the ground, pouring the energy he had left into Nevan. Just because Cursed Tools didn't require cursed energy didn't mean they couldn't utilize it. Moments before he hit the ground, he strummed an intense power chord. The shockwave pushed everything around him backwards, creating a ripple in the horde of Hell Cainas and allowing him to linger in the air for just a moment. The pavement cracked, street signs bent, and hydrants pulled away from their anchor in the ground. Dante landed, and as he did, he spun the guitar so that he held the neck in both hands. Heaving it over his shoulder, the body extended outwards and a massive blade protruded out of the side, a scythe of his own.
….
A massive boom knocked the power out. Kazuto had found a fire escape upstairs and used it to flee to the side of the building. All the lights shut off at once, the loose metal of the fire escape groaned and heaved. Kazuto was going to fall. The grate from under him fell through. As he hurdled to the ground, Kazuto's fear was followed by an additional feeling of strength.
Kazuto landed on one of the demons, and luckily not one of the sharp ends of them. The demon looked at Kazuto, and while having no face, it was extremely pissed off. It raised its scythe immediately and swung right at his head.
Faster than Kazuto has ever moved, he picked his Pool Cue from the ground and blocked the strike by shoving the cue horizontally into the body of the weapon, holding the blade back inches away from his face. Kazuto never imagined himself as strong either, so why was he suddenly able to hold a monster back with force? The beast roared in his face, saliva and blood landing on his cheeks and mouth. In disgust, Kazuto picked his leg up and kicked deep into the creature.
It flew.
Much farther than the monster must have expected. Much farther than Kazuto had expected. Other demons caught onto what was happening. Roughly 3 of them noticed Kazuto and began to charge at him. He could feel his heartbeat in his hands, pulsing against the pool cue. He could feel a sharp jab in his mind, like a literal laser focusing itself on the monsters. His breath steadied. There was something…
All 3 monsters reached Kazuto and swung their scythes back.
The patterns
Kazuto ducked, narrowly dodging the attacks. The monsters on the outside hit each other with their attacks, their long reaching blades working against them. But the one in the middle wasted no time in preparing his next attack.
Up from the center. Kazuto moved to the left, dodging the monster's next attack, a spinning slash from the center, swung upwards. Now a swing into my neck, he was right again, hitting the ground perfectly in time.
These timings, these patterns…Reapers? An enemy from Daemon Trigger. Very similar in appearance now that he had taken the time to think about it. The attack chains were exactly the same as the game as well. Reapers had 3 combos, each relatively simple as they functioned as low-ranking monsters. Which meant the Reaper that just attacked him would have opening frames right…
A spinning combo, one spin slash, Kazuto leaped back, …another, Kazuto ducked, ready. The finisher, different from the last. Finally, he leaped to his left to avoid a final upward slash that utilized the momentum from the previous two spins.
NOW!
Kazuto swung his pool cue right into the Reapers head. The skull exploded into dozens of pieces. The shards scattered so violently, Kazuto's face became scratched from fragments of bone flying towards him. He fell back, stumbling.
He did it. He beat a Reaper…IRL. The remaining two monsters hesitated a moment, their silhouettes becoming a blur. Kazuto's heartbeat pounded, louder than ever, in his ears. What's happening?, he thought as his breath took far longer to catch than it should've. His answer lied in the dripping noise to his left. Blood was leaking onto a puddle. His blood. He remembered when the Red Rocket monster had stabbed him…had he been bleeding that whole time?
He fell back against the building wall. He was in an alleyway again. Hordes of the monsters pooled the streets, as the remaining two Reapers were the only outliers from the crowds movement. They seemed to be focused on something.
R-RRRIINNGG
R-RRIINGGG!
The sound appeared in Kazuto's ears and his lightheadedness increased. He hadn't felt his legs get any weaker, so it was strange to him when he collapsed to the floor. His clothes scuffed against the muddy ground and his hair fell in front of his face, sticking to his forehead with sweat.
He was dying, probably. He rolled onto his back, strength fading. It seemed like new pains popped up every second closer to the end. Cuts and bruises he somehow had ignored despite them feeling prominent now. What I would do for some good ramen right now, he thought. He couldn't feel how wet or cold the ground was anymore. He couldn't feel much of anything. The single light that hung above the alleyway revealed how red the puddles around him had become.
My electric bill. Damn! If the city shut off his power now, his computer wouldn't mine anymore crypto. Worse, he could lose any of the save files he had open at the moment. Especially his….HIS NUZLOCKE! 287 hours spent on a single run! Kazuto stirred until he managed to flip his body over. I'm not losing…it…tonight
The only parts of his drained body that could move were his left arm. He used it to dig his elbow into the ground and drag the rest of himself away from the horde.
R-RRRIINNGG
R-RRIINGGG!
What is that? He searched the rest of the alley. The noise wasn't far.
….
BADASS!!!!
The music that accompanied Dantes Simple Domain carried to a crescendo. Guitars, Bass Guitar and even some Synth had begun to creep in. A direct tell to those around him how close they were to death. A single slash of Dante's scythe proved to wipe innumerable amounts of Cainas. There he stood in the middle of a darkened street, endlessly slashing at a similarly endless horde.
The Hell Cainas were growing restless as their barrage of attacks became more ferocious. It seemed like entire mounds of bones and loose flesh would move at a time to slice him. It wouldn't work. Dante readied his scythe behind him as another wave of Cainas charged.
Swordmaster!
He slammed the blunt end of the Scythe onto the ground and used it to vault himself above the crowd. As he ascended the pillar of flesh roared past, missing and smashing into a nearby building. As he flew, Dante knew he would land in a crowd of Cainas. So he used his instincts to guide him to the next best possible move. Dantes shoes crashed onto the ground as the Cainas around him noticed he hadn't been taken by the previous attack. He responded before they could even think to retaliate. He used his hands to grip onto the higher end of the scythe and began to spin. Empowered by cursed energy, as well as his Swordmaster style which focused his power onto his physical abilities and reflexes, he cleaved through the first surrounding of demons.
Not enough, Dante thought, as he continued to spin. This time he released Nevan from his grip ever so slightly, allowing to slide further and further away from his grasp, amplifying his range. The next circling Cainas was taken down, and Dante had to pick up the pace as the next wave would begin to attack. The more he slid the weapon down his reach, the larger his effective whirlwind of chaos became.
Using his Swordmaster instincts, he maneuvered his spin. Constant spins required a constant shuffling of feet. Dante had no issue with this, but it still had a maximum limit. In order to further amplify his attack, he continued his spin and shifted onto the point of a single foot.
Top Spin!
His momentum, due to his Badass cursed energy, would only continue to grow. Hell Cainas began to charge endlessly. Dozens of Cainas thought they could break Dantes spin, not knowing it was a death wish. Chunks of boney flesh began to rain down from the sheer number of monsters becoming shredded by Dantes technique. A single Caina stopped in its tracks, watching its brethren become nothing more than paste on the brick walls and windows of the street.
For the first time in this entire onslaught, a Caina felt fear. It was powerless against Dante. It was a bigger, worse demon than they could ever be. It turned from Dante and with it's clumsiness, its scythe scrapped against the pavement, causing sparks to fly. Others noticed their comrades retreat, and for just a moment, a large amount of Cainas hesitated.
Now! Dante, mid-spin, released Nevans Scythe form and let it fly from his hands. Nevans weight would carry it in its own spin, independent from Dante. There, the scythe spun around Dante and began to decimate all the surrounding Cainas as they attempted to flee. There wasn't a single moment to waste. The Scythe began to circle back inwards and back to Dantes arms. Many of the demons noticed this and tried to run, tripping and slipping over the pieces of their kin. It was too late.
Nevan spun in a final rapid spin around Dante and right into his hands. As he grabbed its long body, its sheer force spun him around as well. As he slowed, the scythe retracted back into itself as Dante ceased spinning, holding Nevans guitar form once more. Not a single wasted movement. Dante exhaled…
APOCALYPTIC!!!!
Unable to contain his own adrenaline, he shouted.
"Enhance Armament!" And he struck a powerful chord. The farthest deserters bore witness to a massive bolt of lightning that speared from the sky and struck Dante with its full might.
…..
Kazuto had crawled out of the alleyway, covered in dirt and water. His pants had ripped at the knees and the constant dragging had scraped and bloodied his skin.
Was that thunder? It hadn't even been raining.
RRRRINNNG!
There—Kazuto looked over, peering down the empty street that eerily contrasted with the crowded one he had just left. The same phone booth he had passed earlier. It was pristinely kept with no garbage around it and not a single streak staining its glass. Nothing but a pristine red against the bright lamp posts.
He had to answer it. Some strange urge within Kazuto had been yelling at him to do so. Why else would the ringing be so clear from so far away? Enough paranormal nonsense had occurred in this night to come to this conclusion. It was this or die in agony. This odd objective was enough to block out some of the pain he felt.
Every bit of dirt and friction against his wounds added a deep burning sensation that he felt within his skin. He had never been this injured, but knew it should have hurt more. He suspected that Dante figure had done something to him with his mystical abilities. Though, he couldn't figure out what the power to conjure rock music could do for someone.
Almost there. The phone continued to ring seemingly in his head. He would get his answers soon.
A shriek. A piercing scream that overpowered the ringing. Kazuto turned with a gasp.
One of those monsters, although it missed a leg, was chasing after a cloaked woman. Sparks flew as its blade dragged along the pavement, hoping for its next prey. Kazuto shuffled his body but he lacked the strength to get off the ground. What could he do?
What could he ever do?
"HELP!" the woman screamed, "PLEASE! PLEASE!". It hurt Kazutos ears more than anything. He would watch this woman die. She tried to get ahead of the demon, but her leg appeared to be already injured.
With a useless squeal, her leg gave out and she tumbled to the pavement not too far from Kazuto. Why were they ignoring him?
She looked over right then and let out another cry. This one was more sad and defeated. Oh, she assumed he was a corpse. It seemed his face couldn't move anymore. But it's not like he was any more useful if he could stand.
Good for nothing. Useless trash.
A gasp escaped her mouth as the blade entered her flesh. Her blood choked off another scream. If Kazuto was more conscious, he'd have been sick at the sound. Just then, her cloak fell past her face, revealing it.
Beauty stared back at Kazuto. A gorgeous woman with a soft and gentle face. Her jet black hair was the perfect length, barely reaching her chin. Usually hair like that was too masculine for his preference, but it just worked for her.
He gazed at her and longed for a specific dream. I wish, he thought, that I could've saved a babe like that. He let go. It felt like he floated above his body.
Kazuto died.
...
The streets were cleansed of demons with every passing second. The slaughter was accompanied by the electric lead guitar solo of Dante's Devil Arm Nevan. Dante moved fluidly around the fretboard, switching from tonic to dominant pentatonic scales. His own Apocalyptic aura bursting with power as drums, bass, and a heavy power guitar shook the very foundation he stood on.
With each note of his solo a massive swarm of bats surrounded Dante. Nevans enhanced form allowed him to control electrified bats that could fly at the speed of lighting. Every headbang sent a small squadron of death to a newly found herd of Cainas. He had long since cleared out the main streets. The swarm around Dante was blocking the drops of blood that still rained from the first few seconds of his solo.
The last of the horde had been cleared out. Spiraling around Dante was the entirety of his nocturnal forces. They stopped brimming electrical power, letting Dante focus his hearing. With a brilliant power chord, the bats stormed up into the sky. Dark and alive, they formed an artificial cloud.
Dante rested Nevan on the ground and leaned against it. He took note of the viscera he left behind. The pavement was completely painted in the shreds of bones and black fabric. He never minded the smell either.
There.
A slight bubble formed on one of the surfaces. He would have missed it had it not been for the popping. It was still breathing huh?
Dante laughed. It was more to keep his style up than pure enjoyment. The effort it took to hit Apocalyptic paid off in the duration it would last. Still, maintaining it with small doses of coolness didn't hurt.
"Ah! There ya are," he pointed towards the bubble, "was wonderin' where ya went."
The boil popped. Dante grinned. Moments passed and another one didn't appear. Nevan quivered in his hands. His Devil Arms had a much shorter timer than his aura. He had to find where the heart was…fast.
Dante started whistling. He had reduced the size of his domain so only he could hear the music. Slow and steady.
Dante yawned. Almost.
"So, didja catch the game last ni—"
The flesh erupted. A tower of exposed skin began to wrap around the remnants of bones. He was building a body out of his dead allies. Every body left behind was sucked into this amalgamation. You could see a heartbeat pulse throughout its entire makeshift body. Eyes started to form out of white flesh and teeth appeared out of bone. It spoke.
"DAAANTE! Cursed Son of—"
"DISTORTION!"
Dante slammed a feral power chord and lightning sparked from the cloud of bats. A massive bolt of lightning beamed down. It was the culmination of all of Nevans remaining power. The creature, the first one Dante had killed this night, was the Gore Devil.
It screamed in pain, cursing Dante through the rock music and shrieking bats. The lightning ceased and silence fell as Dante dispelled his technique. Nevan crumbled away into the air.
Dante loved dispelling during a peak of energy. It left an incredible adrenaline in his body. His eyes were widened. A horrible grin painted his face. He looked like a maniac, staring at the crisp, charred remains of the Gore Devil.
Its eyes reappeared. Pathetic little orbs with tears that poured off of its grotesque skin. It whimpered with two flaps of skin that resembled a mouth,
"K…Kill me," it pleaded.
Dante sighed. "Sorry pal, no can do." He leaned down and reached into the flesh of the beast. It was the kind of crisp you'd expect from autumn leaves. Burnt flesh eventually led to less damaged tissue. "You've got something…" he felt viscera slide between his fingers, "I sorta need to get paid."
A thump. He found the heart. With a firm grasp, he wrapped his fingers around it. Dante pulled—no—ripped the heart out. Small chords trailed behind as it left its owner's body. The rest of the flesh withered away as the Gore Devils power disappeared. He stared at the heart.
The urge appeared. One that Dante could only blame his father for. A deep and sickening hunger. The desire within him had to be suppressed before he continued. He hadn't noticed he was drooling.
Dante reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a thin white fabric. Special sealing cloth to suppress the Gore Devil. He wrapped it quickly, both for his hunger and convenience.
Another job well done. He started walking down the ruined street. The Hell Gate still had to be dealt with. It would be a piece of cake with the Gore Devils heart.
He stared at it as he walked. He muttered, "Heh, jackpot."