DMC4: The-Devil's Arm

Birds of a Feather

The cathedral's lights slowly turned back on. The vast worship hall came into vision. It was circular, built from solid stone. Pews formed a semi-circle around the center raised stage. At the far side of the circle stood a massive statue of Sparda, his hands resting on the hilt of a giant sword stuck into the ground. The statue nearly graced the ceiling, had it not curved into a magnificent stained glass dome. Candelabras hung from the perimeter of the dome, lit with candles to set the mood of worship.

Nero ran the back of his hand across his forehead, clearing the remainder of sweat from his brow. Where the hell those demons had come from was anyone's guess. If it weren't for them, he wouldn't have been late, at least as late as he was. True, it was his fault he fell asleep on his couch, but it wasn't his fault that he ran into a pack of demons on the way to the cathedral.

As a Holy Knight, it was his duty to protect the civilians of Fortuna and exterminate demons. Had he ran, the demons would have simply attacked someone else, or worse, followed him to the cathedral. Besides, it wasn't like Nero to tuck tail and run in the face of a little danger. Even with his right arm bandaged and in a sling, the group of blade wielding scarecrow-like demons fell easily.

The incident several weeks ago was the reason why Nero's arm was incapacitated. There was a demon attack on the edge of Mitis Forest, just on the outskirts of the town. Nero was lucky enough to be there when it happened, but unfortunately, he was with Kyrie. The human casualties were low, but Nero had been inches from loosing Kyrie. The demon that almost took her life instead took Nero's arm at the shoulder.

He still wasn't clear on what happened. He just woke up in the forest after blacking out from blood loss. Quickly, he bandaged his "arm" to keep it hidden from the others. He told countless excuses about what happened. Anything to hide the truth.

At any rate, he had more pressing problems. His secret was safe so far, and he could keep it that way. Now he had to deal with Kyrie.

I wonder if she'll buy it. She didn't seemed pissed that I missed most of her singing, but then again, I don't think she'd throw a tantrum while a hundred people were staring at her.

The applause for Kyrie began to cease, and she walked off the stage and out of sight. Old man Sanctus, the leader of the Order of the Sword, took his place in the pulpit raised behind the stage at the feet of Sparda. He began his sermon, leading the congregation in worship. Today was the Festival of the Blade, which meant that the sermon was going to be even longer than usual.

"Two thousand years ago," he began in a wheezy old voice, "the Dark Knight, Sparda, turned against his demon brethren and took up his sword for the sake of mankind. Though despite his brave efforts, I fear that some have forgotten the truth of that great sacrifice. If the events of that terrible time were to reoccur, the fusing of the demonic and human worlds, we weak humans would have no means by which to oppose our submission."

Nero was glad that he left his music player on full volume. The screaming heavy metal from the headphones around his neck were just enough to keep him interested and awake. Listening to the old man bored the hell out of him. In fact, Nero thought that the whole concept of their "religion" was dick.

The people worshiped a demon, plain and simple. It didn't matter what it did for humanity, it was still a demon, no different from the countless ones he'd slain in his life. What made the oh-so-great Dark Knight Sparda so special? The Order was committed to exterminating demon's from the face of the earth. It was the most hypocritical thing he had ever heard of.

Nero scoffed and crossed his legs, then uncrossed and crossed them again irritably. His aimless shifting and audible music caught the attention of two men. The first was the man sitting next to Nero. The other was standing two rows down and one across: Credo, Nero's foster brother. Credo and Kyrie were actually siblings, which made her his foster sister.