Chapter Seven: The Fierce Battle Between Nero and Dante

Chapter Seven: Nero and Dante’s Fierce Battle

“Ding-dong, main quest initiated. Defeat the mysterious man in red. Reward upon completion: 1000 Soul Crystals, 1 Blade of Carnage.”

At the same moment, Shuster and Nero both looked up toward the skylight. With a crash of shattering glass, a silver-haired man in a crimson trench coat descended from above, landing on one knee atop the Pope’s desk. The Pope looked up in bewilderment at the man before him. In the next instant, the man drew a silver-white pistol and pressed it to the Pope’s head.

Bang—the Pope fell lifelessly. The man slowly straightened, his solitary figure beneath the statue of Sparda exuding an air of profound desolation.

“Your Holiness!” Captain Credo of the First Squad shouted. “Seize him!” Swords rang out as the paladins of the First Squad drew their blades and charged. Credo rushed forward, seizing the Pope’s body, shaking him desperately. “Your Holiness, Your Holiness?”

Panic erupted among the faithful. “Run! Quickly!”

In the chaos that followed, the man in red gave a deadly performance upon the altar—a true display of slaughter as art. He leapt, unsheathing his sword, kicking one opponent away, countering blows from every direction, spinning, delivering a roundhouse, pinning his first victim underfoot, then driving his greatsword downward—blood spraying in all directions, mingling with his movements. He knocked aside a demon knight’s sword, kicked another foe down, seized the next, impaled him through the chest, and hurled him into a fallen knight behind. Wielding the impaled knight as a weapon, he struck down another, spun his sword in a sweeping arc, sending two more attackers flying. Three consecutive counters, a horizontal slash—three unguarded knights toppled beneath his blade. None could withstand him.

Oblivious to the massacre, Credo clung to the Pope’s corpse. As the man in red approached, step by relentless step, death itself stalked closer.

“Shuster, organize the evacuation! Leave this to me,” Nero shouted.

“Understood!” Shuster replied.

Stepping over a fallen knight, the man in red closed in behind Credo. Kyrie, witnessing the scene, called out, “Credo!” She dashed recklessly toward him despite the peril. Sword raised—clang! One of the presumed dead knights behind suddenly sprang up. The man in red spun, cutting him down, but the knight’s body crashed into Kyrie, whose priestess robes caught the assailant’s eye.

“Look out!” Shuster cried.

That shout drew Nero’s attention. With a burst of speed, he launched a powerful flying kick straight into the handsome face of the red-clad man. “Hrah!” Using the momentum to rebound, Nero landed, drew his pistol, and fired twice in seamless succession. The man deflected the bullets with his sword, leapt to perch atop the Sparda statue’s head. Nero pursued instantly, kicking the greatsword from his adversary’s grasp—it embedded itself in the statue’s forehead. The two now stood on Sparda’s outstretched arms, aiming their guns at each other.

“Nero!” Kyrie, having just regained her footing, cried out.

“Kyrie! Take your brother and leave. Shuster and I will handle this,” Nero commanded.

“I’ll be back soon—you must hold on!” Credo said, pulling Kyrie away as they retreated.

“Why am I always the one left behind?” Shuster muttered under his breath.

Upon the statue, the two combatants locked eyes. “I won’t fall,” Nero declared, tossing his head so that the headset at his neck clattered to the floor.

Bang—Nero opened fire. His opponent leapt; Nero followed, legs clamping around his adversary’s waist—a rather awkward position, he thought. Both pressed their guns to each other’s head, firing and dodging in a deadly dance.

“Hm, looks like that’s the Devil Hunter Dante—this must be their first clash in the story,” Shuster observed, regretting he hadn’t brought popcorn.

Dante flipped, kicking Nero from the statue. But Nero reacted faster, grabbing Dante’s right hand—rendering it useless—then flung him toward the statue. Dante tried to retrieve his sword, but Nero was on him, kicking it away. Dante, ever agile, snatched the sword mid-air and brought it down in a heavy chop. Nero, forced to block with his Blue Rose, was knocked downward, sliding between the statue and the embedded greatsword. Bracing himself with outstretched legs, he fired upward—missing again, but blowing Sparda’s stony head apart.

Taunting, Dante jumped atop the sword’s hilt once more.

With a shout, Nero mustered his strength to tip the massive ten-meter sword, then sprinted up its length, firing as he ran. Dante dodged, swinging his gun in retaliation. They exchanged kicks midair, landing on the ground simultaneously.

Nero leveled his pistol at Dante, who now hefted the legendary sword “Rebellion.” Their eyes met.

“Hey, friend, seems you like a fair fight,” Dante quipped with a roguish grin.

“I’m starting to lose my patience,” Nero snapped.

Click—reloading, Nero flipped a bullet from beneath his coat, spun, and loaded it with a flourish—only his left hand functional for now. By the time he finished, Dante had vanished.

Once again, Dante appeared behind him, sword resting on his shoulder.

“I doubt that’ll do much against you,” Nero remarked, back-kicking a fallen knight’s sword into the air. He caught it on the rebound, spun, and drove it into the ground. “You brought such a sword—surely you intend to use it?”

With a smirk, Dante mimicked his gesture, planting his own sword in the ground and giving the hilt a twist—much to Nero’s irritation.

Their duel resumed—each name a new assault, each strike a flurry, every move a blur. Nero lunged, dodged, landed, thrust, countered, leapt, pressed the attack with a heavy blow, blocked, left himself open, chased, and parried in desperation—swords clashing, the steel flying from his grasp.

In a moment of peril, Nero blocked his foe’s attack with his bound right hand. A surge of demonic power erupted, overturning nearby benches.

“So, you were holding back?” Dante said in surprise.

“I thought you were mute,” Nero retorted, raising his head from behind his arm. “But if that was just an act…” He gripped the blade. “Then try this!”

With a forceful swing, Nero sent Dante flying.

“Looks like you’re quite something yourself…” Dante began, but before he could finish, Nero’s spectral right hand hefted the giant sword from the Sparda statue and hurled it at him.

Dante dodged in a flash, leaving another gaping hole in poor Sparda.

“Sorry to cut you off, but I’d like to settle this before the knights arrive!” Nero brushed dust from his hands, and the second round commenced.

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Author’s Note: I’ve realized that in Devil May Cry 4, only a few bosses are truly formidable—the rest are just big brutes. Only the humanoid bosses make for a thrilling fight, so I’m dispatching the giant ones quickly.