DMC4: The-Devil's Arm

The Devil Returns

Craaaap...what the hell is with my luck?

It was raining. More of a downpour, really. The clear skies clouded up almost as soon as Dante grazed the edge of the forest. That struck him as slightly suspicious; mother nature didn't just decide to let go in a matter of seconds. The weather had been perfectly fair. Plus, the pea soup thick purple fog didn't seem too natural either.

At any rate, it was going to be a pain in the ass getting to the gate. The forest reeked of demons, and Dante could hardly see where the hell he was going. But he had to look on the bright side: leather didn't absorb water, so once the rain was over, he could start drying off.

The devil hunter began to push through the soaked foliage. The whole follow-the-sun trick was neat, but he could see past it now without a problem. He shoved a big fern out of his way-

-and a clawed arm swiped at his head, which he easily dodged by tipping his it back. Rebellion came off his back and cut into the foliage. There was a shriek and a spurt of blood as a corpse fell into view. It was a blade. Well, Dante called them blades, but Trish said the Order called them assaults. Point was, it was a big ass lizard with an attitude; it didn't matter what the hell anyone called it.

Another blade jumped from the tree line. Dante spun and poked it with his blade, flinging it into a tree, then finished it with E&A. About half a dozen then appeared, all bearing down on him. He skated through the mud, slicing and stabbing through the air with Rebellion. Three blades fell. Coyote-A howled, shearing off one's fugly helmet and head. The last two were kabobed on Rebellion as he drove it through both of them, then flung them off into the trees.

I don't remember these guys having that many claws.

Indeed, something had combined with the blades. It was the little seed demons that he'd seen on his way through. Their tendrils were sunk into the reptiles like roots. There was a budded plant on their backs, from which flowed more tentacles, ended in scalpel-like blades. Dante loved surprises.

He left the deteriorating demons in the mud, then continued on his way. Although he believed he had an excellent sense of direction, Dante couldn't help getting a bit lost. He swore he saw the same set of ruins at least twice, and damn near walked off a cliff.

Finally, he found himself on what had to be the right path. The flow of energy was like a magnet to a compass for him. It was the gate, and it had to be open. Dante found himself walking up a ruined set of stairs carved into a hill, then in a small clearing.

Finally!

It was the gate alright, open with pockets of deep green light. He couldn't see the Devil Arm that was powering it, so it must have something to do with the thing that crawled out of the gate...or rather, as he noticed, slithered out.

There was a huge snake floating silently through the trees a ways off from the clearing. It looked like a cross between a dragon and a plant, strangely enough. Every so often, a scale would fall from its body and settle in the woods. It must be what was laying the demons that combined with the blades.

Dante waited for it to notice him and charge...and waited...and waited...

He furrowed his brow, irritated, then rushed forward to where a pack of scales were falling. He booted one, two, three of them back towards their mother with powerful kicks. The fourth, he leaped into the air and bicycle kicked. The seed shot like a rocket into the others, ricocheting off trees, sailing directly at the viper...

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Echidna sensed that something was amiss. Her children were telling her something; they weren't settling properly. She emerged from her gullet, trying to locate the source of her offspring's discomfort.