DMC4: The-Devil's Arm

Trisagion

After a few minutes, Nero gave up on trying to wipe off the toad's disgusting gunk. It began to solidify, like drying mucus. He would give it some time, then see if he could pick it off like a scab. Since he'd killed it, the snow had stopped, and the moon peeked out from the parting clouds.

The toad's body still lay in front of the gate. There wasn't anything Nero could do about it, so he just left it there. The Order would have a hell of a time cleaning it up, but the hell if he cared. The gates just became a higher priority on his list. This was twice that he'd seen one open, and the first one ended up destroying a small village. Nero had managed to keep the damage to a minimum in the courtyard; the only sign of battle were some cracked walls where the toad had been smashed into. If the battle had gotten out of hand, they probably could have leveled a quarter of the castle.

Should've told Gloria about the gate in Ferrum Hills right away. Too busy staring at her damn ass to even think about it. But then again, maybe she already knew. It's out of my hands now. I just have to hope that I'll get lucky and bump into someone from the Order again.

Nero trudged through the snow to the other door in the courtyard. It led to another one, but this one had been converted into a graveyard long ago. In a small section of the second courtyard, encircled by tall wrought iron fences, stood several rows of tombstones, about two dozen in all. This particular graveyard served as a burial site for Holy Knights long ago, back when the Order HQ was in the castle.

A faint rustle from behind caught Nero's attention as he took a few steps into the graveyard. There had been no wind. He whirled around, but saw nothing, only his footsteps left in the snow. The sound didn't repeat itself. In fact, the graveyard was totally silent.

Must be my head or something.

Nero shrugged off the sound and took a step forward, his entire body suddenly turning cold. It wasn't the air that chilled him, rather, it was something from inside of him, like he just swallowed a jug of ice. He looked down, shocked to see a red beak with glowing blue eyes protruding from his stomach. The thing pulled out, black material trailing from it, then curled to stare Nero down with its hollow, skull-like eyes.

Nero swiped for the tiny bird-looking skull with his hand, anything to get rid of it. The demon pulled back, a long shimmery black cloak pulling out of Nero's gut after it. The cold he felt vanished, leaving no trace of a wound. It just seemed to phase through him. The demon hovered in the air, then darted back when Nero approached closer. Instead of floating over one of the fences, it simply melted through.

Another one joined it, simply materializing out of the ground between two tombstones. They were both identical; a red skull with a hooked beak, blazing blue eyes, and what looked like spiny feathers atop their skulls. The cloaks that draped low beneath the skulls wavered and fluttered in the air. The material seemed to be more liquid than solid. Every so often, Nero would catch a glimpse of the body beneath it: red, scaly bones segmented like a crab or a bug.

The ominous black cloak struck a chord in Nero's head, rather it was something that he'd heard from Kyrie in one of her songs. The demon that wore all black, Mephistopheles, that stole the souls of man. The it was supposed to look human, Nero thought that the two hovering demons suited the description a lot better, especially the bizarre cloaks they wore.

Mephisto it is then. Good enough for me. If it's got a name then it's easier to kill!

Nero revved Red Queen, then sprinted at the fence, cutting a hole through the bars in a single swipe. He jumped at the first mephisto, which was hovering near the branches of the single scraggly tree that served as decor. Red Queen sliced easily through the fabric, too easily. The bottom of the black cloak severed, then melted away. The demon hissed, then raised a talon from underneath its cloak. The claw extended, almost as fast as a bullet.