DMC4: The-Devil's Arm

Profession of Faith

"Shoot," Nero muttered. Something felt wrong again.

He hopped up on a rock and scanned the tree line. Nothing was out of the ordinary. He didn't sense any demonic presence, nor did anything attack him. Still, something just seemed off. He made his way to higher ground, then made a surprising discovery.

He was heading east towards headquarters for the last 15 minutes. So why, off in the distance, did it seem further away? Nero thought hard, then just shrugged it off as getting turned around. He oriented himself east, then began to walk again.

Half an hour later, he checked his bearings.

"What...the hell?"

He was even further away now than he was before. That settled it: something was wrong.

This had never happened before. He walked the forest to headquarters dozens of times, each time uneventful. Today was no different, albeit he had slain several dozen demons on the way. That was the only explanation. It had to be some kind of demonic illusion, maybe even brought on by the gate itself. Was this what Dante had sensed on the cliff?

Around him, the thick forest was ripped apart as something lunged through the air, slashing and whirling through the greenery. Another one flew out of a bush behind him. A third dropped from the canopy above. In a second, he was surrounded by three lizard-like creatures.

They hulked low to the ground, like a prowling tiger on all fours. Their gray pebbly flesh seemed to fit right in with the surroundings. All three wore bizarre helmets, adorned with feathers, as well as a buckler strapped to their right forearm. All four of their appendages were tipped with serrated claws.

One of them tipped its head back, a lean, muscular tale arching over its body, then let out a roar. It darted at Nero, claws outstretched, and swiped. He shuffled back and swung Red Queen in retaliation. Already, the second and third were descending upon him. One dove like a missile, the other darting forward like the first.

His blade caught only air. The demons were fast. He jumped aside as one tried to rend him, then swung back. One of the lizards blocked his strike clumsily with its buckler, then attacked. The claws wisped near his ear, almost brushing him lightly. Nero spun and raked his sword up. The demon jumped to avoid it, but Nero followed, booting it in the head, then unleashed an aerial combo; three strikes in mid-air.

The third strike slammed it to the forest floor, belly up. Nero flipped in the air, then brought Red Queen down, slicing the demon lengthwise. Its blood shot up, appearing as liquid briefly before it crystallized on the greenery.

He was steamrolled by another one before he could reposition. He felt the claws rip into the skin of his left arm. The pain was there, but only briefly as Yamato's power regenerated him. He spun as another lunged. He grabbed hold of its tail with Devil Bringer, then yanked it off its feet, swinging it around into the other one. It fell back against a tree trunk, screeching in pain from the blow, no doubt a few bones broken.

Still holding the tail of the lizard, Nero began to whip his arm around, bludgeoning it into the dirt again and again. With one mighty throw, he hurled the demon into the other.

"Get lost!" he yelled as he pulled Blue Rose and emptied the cylinders into them.

With all three dispatched, Nero was once again free to think about his problem. He had no idea what was causing the illusion, so he couldn't just take it out at the source. No, he had to beat it. There had to be something that would give away what was causing it. He scanned the forest around him; nothing out of the ordinary, the bodies of the assault lizards had already disintegrated. Just flora and fauna.