BOOM—!
A deafening explosion rocked the air.
The massive, three-hundred-foot-tall "Savior" statue was knocked back by a spectral blue claw manifesting from Nero's arm. Then, with a brutal "head-pat" maneuver, the claw crushed the statue's skull, causing the entire construct to crumble into ruin.
Floating nearby, Luca retracted his mechanical wings and touched down slowly, the corner of his mouth twitching.
'The kid might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but damn, he's got some serious torque.'
In reality, nearly two hours had passed since the Savior first appeared.
Although Luca had shown up in his bio-armor—technically an "evil" demonic form—he had already established his identity earlier. Plus, since his suit was fueled purely by demon remains and not human souls, Dante hadn't immediately put a bullet in his head.
The rest was history: Dante bulldozed the opposition while Luca coasted in the back, destroying Hell Gates and recovering the Yamato. They saved Nero, and the white-haired kid went "super saiyan," destroying the Savior and saving Fortuna.
It all played out exactly as scripted.
Once Nero finished wrecking the Savior and dropped from the sky, the kid completely ignored everyone else. He walked straight toward Kyrie, whose eyes were practically heart-shaped.
Seeing this, Luca nudged the man standing next to him—Credo—and teased:
"Hey~ Looks like it won't be long before you get a promotion from 'Big Brother' to 'Uncle,' huh?"
Credo—Kyrie's biological brother—immediately darkened. His face looked like thunder.
However, considering Luca had literally just saved his life, Credo swallowed his retort. He settled for a grumpy harrumph, his bloodshot eyes still glaring daggers at Nero, who was currently embracing his sister in the distance.
---
One Year Later.
With the Order dismantled, Fortuna gradually returned to its peaceful daily rhythm.
Although the people were initially lost without their religion, life had to go on. The previously isolationist island city began opening up to the outside world, and everything was trending in a positive direction.
As for Luca? Aside from occasionally dragging Nero out to hunt stray demons to restock his material inventory, he spent most of his time buried in weapon research.
There was a small interlude during this time.
Nico—Luca's adoptive sister and the biological daughter of Agnus (Luca's adoptive father)—heard about the Order's destruction and showed up on their doorstep solo.
At first, Nero thought she was there for some melodramatic "avenge my father" plot and kept his guard up. But since she was Luca's sister, he brought her to the lab.
To everyone's surprise, Nico didn't give a damn about her old man kicking the bucket. Instead, her eyes lit up the moment she saw Luca's research projects. She joined the team immediately, practically drooling over the tech.
The two mad scientists, sharing a freakishly compatible wavelength, left Nero in the dust. They buried themselves in the lab day and night, tackling all sorts of bizarre research topics.
Nero was perfectly happy with this arrangement, continuing his blissful domestic life with Kyrie.
Until that day.
A hooded man, stumbling and weak, broke into the workshop. Without a word of dialogue, he performed his signature move.
He ripped the Devil Bringer right off Nero's body to reclaim the Yamato stored inside. Using the blade to slice open space, he vanished right in front of them.
"AAAAHHH—MY HAND!"
Seeing Nero on the ground, clutching his stump and howling in agony, Luca rushed out of the lab. He froze for a second, then immediately yelled for Nico and Kyrie to handle first aid.
Luca himself sprinted back into the lab, grabbed a dusty, oversized crate, dragged it out, and tossed the contents in front of Nero.
"Quit howling! Put this on. Good thing I was prepared."
CLANG.
A pure white mechanical arm hit the floor.
Forget Kyrie and Nico, who were frantically bandaging the wound—even Nero, face twisted in pain, stopped screaming and stared blankly at the metal limb.
"Cough. Well, I always figured I should literally 'lend you a hand' eventually."
"No... wait... This model is called [Sweet Surrender]. It has medical regenerative properties. Just put it on."
After the incident, Nero was desperate to find the hooded freak who stole his arm, but with zero leads, he was forced to recover in frustration. To make matters worse, Luca and Nico—their mad scientist instincts kicking in—forced him to test drive various new mechanical arms every day.
It wasn't until a mysterious young man named "V" showed up that they learned the truth.
The thief was the Demon King Urizen. He planned to open a massive Hell Gate, slaughter humanity to feed a Qliphoth (Demon Tree), and consume its fruit to gain world-ending power.
V emphasized that he had already hired Dante to handle the Demon Tree, but fearing Dante might not be enough, he came to hire Nero as an insurance policy.
And so, the squad set off to chop down a tree.
However, just before leaving, Luca mysteriously doubled back to the lab to grab one last item.
---
The Qliphoth Roots.
On a throne woven from the roots of the Demon Tree, a massive Demon Monarch sat. He didn't even need to stand; with just a wave of his hand, he was effortlessly ragdolling Dante.
By the time Nero and the crew arrived, Dante had just been smacked into the dirt.
Seeing this, Nero didn't hesitate. He revved up his Red Queen sword and charged, not even giving Luca a chance to speak.
"Sigh... forget it."
Luca looked at Nero, who got swatted back like a fly, and then at Dante, who was struggling to stand up at his feet.
He shook his head helplessly and whispered to the two legendary hunters.
"Gentlemen, try to buy me a little time."
Dante and Nero both looked at Luca with confusion.
We, two guys with Sparda blood, can't even dent this guy. You, a human with some tech, think you can do something if we stall?
Honestly, Dante was already preparing to activate his Devil Trigger and sacrifice himself to let the others escape. He didn't expect the kid—who was terrified of conflict the last time they met—to talk such a big game.
Luca didn't explain. He simply reached into his jacket and pulled out an exquisite, stylized cowboy hat.
He slammed it onto his head.
The moment the hat settled, light flared. A scarf made entirely of golden-red energy materialized, wrapping rapidly around his neck.
Luca ignored the others, keeping one hand pressed on the brim of the hat.
[Dr. Faust — Activate]
In an instant, Luca's aura skyrocketed.
The energy scarf whipped around him despite the lack of wind. Countless red particles—crystallized demon blood—surged and boiled around him.
Massive amounts of Red Orbs materialized from thin air, floating upwards. High in the sky, they began to congregate, fusing together into a massive, crimson meteor.
As Luca's energy output climbed without an upper limit, the crystallized meteor above grew exponentially larger.
Seeing this, Dante and Nero didn't hesitate. They exchanged a look and charged toward the Demon King on the throne.
Until...
"That's the limit..."
Luca looked up at the colossal red meteor hovering in the atmosphere. He stopped charging.
He swept his hand downward.
Meteor Drop.
Vibration. Deafening noise. Crimson light. Shockwave.
Everything was swallowed whole.