Devil May Cry - Volume 2 - Chapter 4.2

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Phase 4
Part 2

Te entire building shook violently.

The rest of the city remained still, but the labs were vibrating wildly.

The arrhythmic pulses toppled over beakers and researchers alike.

But mysteriously, the internal seismographs registered nothing at all.

"It's a tremor!"

"Big, isn't it?" Dante struggled to his feet.

"It doesn't feel like an ordinary earthquake."
The two soldiers gripped the wall to avoid falling again.

The room bucked and shook, and Dante and Beryl often found their feet knocked into the air.

The rattling didn't shatter Beryl's concentration.

She found herself able to remain calm by focusing on her burning scar.

If it's burning, that means the Beastheads is still around.

Great.

Beryl assumed the statue would be at the epicenter of the tremors.

That would mean this is a magical quake.

It's part of a pattern.

Beryl tried to make sense out of the shaking rhythm, but it was too complicated.

But it's definitely vibrating according to some kind of rule.

Beryl stroked her scar.

She couldn't afford to lose another chance at the Beastheads.

"What is all this nonsense?" Chen cried.

"Has it begun?"

The staff ran around like confused chickens, hiding under desks and rushing for the exits.

Chen simply tottered around with an expression of ecstasy.

He could feel it-pure energy bursting forth from the demon world.

The eruption gave him glimpses of shared memories.

Grudges, mainly.

Chen didn't have the ability to manipulate magic or even perceive it clearly.

He lacked the direct links enjoyed by Beryl and even Dante.

But he had read more occult manuscripts than anyone alive and was able to intuitively sense what was happening.

"Is this your resurrection? The return of the Beastheads to its original form?"
Chen broke into a run, his fat cheeks flushed like a schoolboy's.

He pushed past panicked staff and leapt over crawling scientists.

"Ho ho! I am here! I will answer your call!"
A sepulchral voice boomed in the pit of his mind.

Dost thou crave my power?
It was a simple enough question, but Chen couldn't immediately answer.

He was overwhelmed with an emotion he'd been chasing after his whole life.

It was a high he'd achieved only thrice, an intoxicating feeling that nearly resembled love.

The first time he had felt it was upon securing control of the Family at his father's untimely death.

He had felt it again the first time he saw a demon with his own eyes, and again when he synthesized his first Ghost Knight.

All of his efforts over the years had been dedicated to recapturing this feeling.

And here it was.

"Yes! I want it! I do want that power!"
Chen flung open a door and slid into the lab where he had placed Ducas' stone form.

"Ho ho!" He gaped in amazement, unable to form words.

Whatever was going to happen, it would happen right in front of him.

Poor, petrified Ducas was gone, replaced in the glass case by a wavering flame.

The cold fire licked at the sides of the vat.

It changed shape and color at random.

The heatless flame of the demon world.

A myriad of faces flickered and folded on top of each other beyond the fire.

Ducas briefly appeared, and Chen realized they were the faces of everyone who had become linked to the Beastheads over the centuries.

Each wore an expression of pain and sorrow, of resentment and rage.

The silent display was like a black celebration of suffering.

It boasted of demonic dominion over all living souls.

Chen found it delightful.

"Wonderful! It's truly wonderful!" He beamed with excitement.

The cold flame danced in front of him.

Lesser men would have succumbed to its unearthly sight.

But Chen was too ambitious to be spellbound.

The display inspired him, pushing his curiosity to new heights.

His intellectual greed knew no bounds.

He stepped forward, puncturing the magical pressure that would have repelled anyone else.

Wrong.

Thou art wrong.

I am...

The voice was sorrowful.

Flustered, even.

But Chen could no longer hear it.

His soul was completely dominated by insatiable curiosity.

It boiled away madly, pushing his body ever closer to the cold flame: As he drew nearer, the flickering sparked died out.

The faces coalesced into a dark clump, which spun regretfully.

Chen reached the case and put his hands on the glass.

The reinforced case shattered.

Bulletproof glass exploded into sparkling teardrops, which disappeared before hitting the ground.

"I've longed for this for a long time now," Chen whispered feverishly.

He gently reached his hand inside the remains of the case.

The dark matter had resolved itself into the shape of the tiny Beastheads statue.

Chen tenderly grasped the object.

The tremors immediately subsided.

"I see," Chen whispered soothingly.

"You devoured so many humans in this form.

I understand now." The statue didn't respond.

Chen peered into its small eyes.

"Why don't we start with the future? Tell me what fate has in store for me." He had seen Ducas operate the Beastheads before the unfortunate incident on the yacht.

Now he gripped the statue.

Vivid images flooded his mind.

Even though he knew it was going to happen, he hadn't expected it to be so powerful and immediate.

Chen had no concept of time or space.

Image after image assaulted his mind, but he was unable to contextualize them.

He stood alone as two shadows converged on him.

One carried a huge rifle while another wielded two massive pistols and a remarkable red jacket.

Dante and Beryl.

They're alive.

Chen snapped back into reality when he heard two sets of approaching footsteps.

Already? Chen giggled to himself.

If the footsteps heralded Dante and Beryl, it would merely show the Beastheads had correctly predicted the future.

That meant its other powers were ripe for use.

"Ho ho! I suppose I should announce my presence like the big bad boss that I am!"
"You sound like a pervert with that giggle." Dante strode into the lab.

"Oh, no.

I just thought I'd give you an appropriate reception.

Aren't we supposed to trade banter before fighting? I think that's how it's always done."
"I guess this is our welcome back party."
Dante stopped short in front of Chen and narrowed his eyes in what he hoped was a dramatic expression.

A moment later, Beryl joined him.

The three figures faced off in the near darkness.

Beryl finally broke the silence.

Her scar was ablaze.

"You revived the Beastheads, didn't you?" She stroked the wound.

"You didn't just revive it.

What happened to Ducas?"
Chen put a hand to his mouth.

"Eaten, of course.

Speaking of which, I understand a similar fate befell your father.

Ho ho!"
"You'll have to do better than that to rile me," Beryl hissed.

"I almost feel sorry for you, you fat bastard.

If you ate Ducas, you're sure to get heartburn any minute now."
A pair of clicks cut Beryl off.

Dante pointed Ebony and Ivory directly at Chen's enormous chest.

"That thing won't do what you want it to do.

It was brought into this world by demons."
"Oh yes," Chen agreed jovially.

"Demons have so many uses, don't you find?"
He snapped his fingers, and dozens of shadows appeared between him and Dante.

"Ghost Knights?" Dante was genuinely dumbfounded.

"I thought I killed them all.

The rest are in your little test tubes."
"I've got enough to keep you busy for a few years."
"Can we stop talking now?" Beryl snapped irritably.

She swung her rifle into position and squeezed the trigger.

A number of Ghost Knights materialized in front of Chen to serve as a shield, each one unconcerned about dying.

The others spread out through the lab and returned fire.

Beryl simply smiled.

"The secret is already out, boys!" She aimed at the nearest Knight's forehead plate and fired.

He dropped lifelessly to the floor.

Astonishingly, so did the rest.

"My word, is that irritating," Chen clucked.

"I used to boast so much about my Ghost Knights.

How did you do that, young lady?"
"I saw the King of the Underworld die.

We know a little something about demonic possession." Beryl didn't see why Chen had to know the whole truth.

She plucked a series of shiny blue bullets from her pocket.

"These have been specially forged to absorb and destroy magic.

I had some made for me in the demon world.

It looks like your toys don't like them very much."
"What?" Dante turned on Beryl angrily.

"You had those? Thanks for telling me!"
"They're specially designed for the caliber of my rifle.

When you explained the deal with that creepy specimen back there, I figured they'd come in handy."
Beryl popped the ammunition into her rifle and turned back to face Chen.

"Oh yeah.

You should probably know that we've destroyed all your lab rats back there."
"Well that certainly leaves me in a pickle," Chen said.

"I assume that means it's just the three of us now.

The three of us and the Beastheads, of course."
Beryl said nothing.

She casually pointed her rifle at Chen and fired off five rounds.

Dante could feel the effect of the enchanted bullets.

He was imbued with a degree of magical energy from his links to the demon world.

Although he wouldn't die if it vanished, he'd certainly find it difficult to display the superhuman fighting abilities for which he was famous for if he ever lost that connection.

Chen simply smiled.

"I suppose I'd better run away." He vanished.

The bullets tore through the air and demolished the far wall with a thunderous explosion.

"Where did you run to, you coward?!" Beryl screamed.

"Calm down.

Look." Dante pointed at a gaping hole in the ground before them.

Realizing that magic would prove of little use, Chen had resorted to a mechanical escape.