Dance with the Devil [Chapter IV]

[Maya]

"Useless."

Lighting struck the metal scythe out of Sazan's hands as Maya now made her advance. A great earthquake split the ground and strong walls rose up to divide Miracle and Sparda while great winds threatened to blow the Night Angel from out of the sky and into the path of the now in-coming lighting bolts shooting from every which direction to any foolish enough to go airborne now. The clawed hand grabbed Sazan's right arm and then brought the barrels of Cerberus against her ribs, threatening to pierce her lungs, the sharp talons digging into Sazan's skin to lock her in place as she recalled another incident from the past.

"If memory serves me correctly I believe he aimed right about...."

Cerberus moved even lower.

"Here."

The Joy squeezed the trigger.

[Sazan]

Cerberus jammed and shattered before it could even fire. Sazan only smiled and said, “You’re an even bigger piece of shit than he was.” Past tense. Ranka was dead to her. She powered out of the bronzed claw and then grabbed Maya’s throat, her hand changing into a real monstrous razor sharp claw threatening to slice open her throat. Sazan’s hair has grown down pass her shoulders and a faint blue aura now covered her body as she stared into the black as coal eyes of her enemy.

“And you’re not the only one with The Witch Within.”

Sazan reared back the arm that held her and threw The Joy fifteen feet away through the air as the walls meant to divide and conquer them were also shattered allowing the others to move freely about the ground. The Night Angel could handle her own in the air. Sazan lifted up the scythe and changed the materials to something that wouldn’t attract lighting as she stepped forward.

“Do you have no identity of your own? They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery…. But if imitation is all you are then it’s only a pity.”

[Silver Eyes]

Ranka's abilities, The Witch Within--it all made sense to her when it probably didn't to the others and she hated the sudden realization that slapped her across the face. Whatever took hold of her was something she wasn't familiar with and it added onto the rage she felt in her dreams.

The vampire removed one of her more, rarely used explosives, threw it towards the horde, aimed, fired and closed her eyes. A large flaming circle blasted from the object and took out another group size but it still didn't seem to do much against them. This was growing more and more infuriating by the minute.

Then the winds picked up and sent her towards the lightning bolts that shot from the sky. Amoura had never been struck by lightning and didn't plan on letting that happen. The blade she had strapped to her back was drawn, held out before her and it absorbed the oncoming bolts. Rather than releasing it towards someone who could bend nature to her will, she threw it back at the familiars and destroyed more of them.

They still kept coming.

Amoura pointed her guns at the army. It was time to stop relying on explosives and bullets alone to do the job. Her familiars began to fuse to her guns, transforming them, making them larger and composed of a structure that couldn't possibly be crafted by hand. The Night Angel didn't stop there. Shadowed portals opened around her, ushering out her familiars but they weren't as weak as the earlier ones--they were composed of hell-hounds, demons and other beings she had managed to consume over her life.

They poured out in a swarm and collided with Maya's; both sides were taking quite a few hits. Amoura was never aware she had so much but her mother did--she had consumed her decades ago without realizing she had quite the army at her disposal.

I guess it comes with the territory of being dad's play toy.

"D'aw! You called him 'dad'!"

Do shut up.

As a final touch, to further ensure protection against anything the freak will throw at her, more of her familiars joined with her armor. Spikes jutted from her shoulder blades and forearms. Her purple locks faded to black, and they tumbled free from the braid to billow around her. Finally, her silver eyes were blotted out by red.

"If memory serves, this'll do some damage."

Light poured from the barrels and collided with the opposing familiars, vaporizing them. A large chunk had been taken out and there was more where that came from.

[Clash]

Clash watched. Witch Within, he'd only heard about it, read about it in secret books in the old office. He was surprised anyone who worked there could read, but that's another story. He shivered within the ground, the presence Witches... Such a scary thought. Clash's flashlight eyes swept around, no one was noticing all that much about seven feet away from the battle. Clash moved that distance away, behind Maya. His body turned to one side and ever so slightly breached the surface, some dirt on the top shifting as he felt the Remoraz detach and sit on the ground. A figure 8 motion through the earth and he shaved the others off as well. The six little attack drones sat inactive as Clash dove back down, resuming his vigil on Maya.

The Remoraz moved low, spreading out as Clash saw through their red eyes as well as his own. His mind processed the data, positioning the players on the field in a depth that even the best trained warrior could not fathom. He waited, the Remoraz remaining low and hidden as the action around him came to a head. He'd be ready to strike soon enough.

[Miracle]

Miracle found herself being boxed in by the walls but showed no fear in the wake of the Witch Within.

"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper."

Right then the walls shattered, Sazan was beginning to build up a new offense and the High Priestess moved up to her right.

"Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

The High Priestess rushed, being led by the tip of her blade as the presence of Yahweh was still very much alive all around her, now closing the gap between herself and the witch while the blade's tip aimed for the woman's heart.

[Maya]

Maya only smiled in the aftermath of Sazan's anger. Even after being thrown by a great force she managed to land and stay on her feet. The Cerberus would not be lost forever, with a single thought it appeared back in her hand as good as new. The vampiress' eyes narrowed over Miracle, the odd one out. A smile crept up on Maya's lips as she began to hum some new lyrics for the approaching priestess.

"A cross upon her bedroom wall
From grace she will fall...."

As Miracle appeared closer she would notice that the skin of the vampire was starting to peal away. It was so subtle at first that if one didn't know any better they would assume the energy around the High Priestess was ripping her apart as she drew closer, but that was not the case. With the tip of the blade coming very close to her heart a horrible image of a corpse now stood before Miracle's field of vision, hollow black eyes staring back at her. The blade would never touch the heart.

"An image burning in her mind."

Hands burst up from the ground beneath Miracle, grabbing onto her legs and looking to drag her down into a river of blood as a horrible curse has fallen upon her. The same curse that befallen Amoura, Ranka, Maricul and Maya. Walking right through the child in her struggle did the vampire continue her advance on the others.

"The strong do what they have to do and the weak accept what they have to accept."

Maya inserted the other hand into her robes and drew out a "white as snow" pistol, the spitting image of the 11mm Blessing wielded by Maricul and handed down to her daughter Sazan.

"This show, this riot, it is all here for their ignorance."

She merged the two weapons together, new familiars coursing from her body flooded into the guns until they grew in length and soon a double edged blade with a black hilt and a red devil face insignia on the top of the handle was now in her hands.

"And the most violent element in society is ignorance."

Maya raised the blade.

"Your eviction notice."

And brought it down to smite the enemy.

[Silver Eyes]

""A cross upon her bedroom wall
From grace she will fall...."

That instantly got her attention and she knew exactly of whom Maya was singing about. The transformed vampire looked down and kept vaporizing the familiars that got too close--this was almost pointless and she was worried for Miracle's safety. Then, she saw symptoms that she was all too familiar with. Immediately, her heart sank and panic gripped her. There was no time; she had to get to her and fast!

SPARDA! GET THE FAMILIARS! I'LL GET MIRACLE! NOW! GO!

Amoura dove down from the sky and much like the encounter with the Arashi, got the human out of harm's way before the blade could strike her down. Miracle was still trapped within the Nightmare and she had to get her out. Amoura pressed her forehead against her's...

---

The blood and hands disappeared and Miracle was safely in the arms of Amoura who, for the first time in this fight, was allowing her anger to seep into her porcelain visage. There was something that had to be done. This cheap imitation dared to use the Nightmare against one who didn't deserve to see these horrible images and she was going to pay. Amoura's crimson lips parted:

"I can feel you pulling me down."

"Saving me."

"Raping me."

"Wanting me."

"Watching me."

The hands that had turned onto Miracle reappeared only to grab onto Maya, grasping her limbs firmly. Blood rose higher, more bodies poured out to attack the one who dared to toy with them. Weakness will grip the vampiress, wasting away her power and at her will.

"I won't let you pull me down."

Amoura's body ebbed away and was rebuilt in the likeness of the one who had haunted her for so long: Veran. A ear-splitting, blood-curdling screech burst out and his form rushed at her...

---

Amoura stood behind Maya, back to back, put Miracle down, raised an arm and let a pin hang loosely from her forefinger.

"This place about to blow."

From within Maya's body, molten silver erupted in an explosion. The vampire had used the Nightmare to distract her long enough to phase the bomb into her.

Strike now! Give her all you've got!

That was to everyone and she hoped they got the message.

[Sazan]

“Imitate them to your heart’s content.”

Sazan rushed and jumped over the incoming slashes of the double edged sword in what appeared to be the Wrath of Tiamat, but instead of using the scythe to strike underneath in midair as was accustomed with the move, when Sazan came overhead with Maya she grabbed a fist full of her hair.

“You….”

In the aftermath of Amoura’s distraction and explosive The Hybrid aura grew even brighter as she picked up the vampiress by the hair, feet now on the ground, and stabbed her with the butt of her scythe.

“Are not….”

Sazan then ripped it out, following up with a quick, powerful, slash to the face that would send her flying up directly into the air and at the mercy of the young High Priestess.

“THEM!”

[Miracle]

Miracle thought nothing of the vampire's skin rotting away at first until she saw it.

The black, hollow, eyes of the First Aspect burning into her vision. She felt the hands of the undead grab her after rising from the ground, tugging and tearing off a piece of her holy robes but even in their wake, and the wake of the anti-theist Miracle showed no fear.

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him."

The Lord heard her and prepared a reward for her faith. From the heavens something was coming down so fast it appeared as nothing more than a great white ball of energy. A ball of energy that only the child could see. When it reached Miracle's position it took the form of a humanoid and entered her body. Violet eyes shined a brighter shade as she could feel the power that has descended upon her. The essence of Yahweh strongest angel in heaven.

The archangel Michael.

They felt the hands of Amoura grab a hold of them and carry them off into the air before they were released and as they free fall through the skies their enemy was delivered into their hands perfectly. In union they repositioned their blade, and in union they spoke.

"Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us."

Miracle's blade grew into that of a Claymore and became white. The hilt of the heavenly blade transformed into materials out of solid gold with purple trims found on the handle. It was the blade of the archangel Michael, the same sword that has struck down so many of Yahweh's foes in the past.

"The righteous shall fall upon the wicked!"

The great blade came down towards the head of the vampire, moving to cut the monster in two starting from the middle of the head and all the way down as Maya would be devoured by the light of Michael's aura.

[Clash]

Clash watched, the remoraz rising slowly, still moving cautiously and fulfilling their role as watchers more than anything else. The information they took in showed him the positioning of everything, from the lowliest of familiars to where Sparda and Miracle and Maya themselves stood. He felt his cybernetic brain drawing out the whole field in a map, watching their every move from 3D as the remoraz continued to rise, their accuracy triangulated by each other and Clash beneath, flawlessly and perfectly accurate.

"We've won this one..." Clash's voice was hushed by the dirt as he spoke to himself, his body shifting through the ground and leaving no trace, a ghost, a predator on the hunt. It seemed like he wasn't needed, yet he could still help. He knew Amoura could get into his head, she had that crazy psychic stuff. And he had knowledge of the entire battlefield in details even she couldn't comprehend. Hopefully she'd know he was still down there, and that she can tap in whenever she wanted. He waited though, Clash was good at that, he watched and waited for a chance to move against Maya, though she'd need the luck of Houdini to get out of this.

[Sparda]

With each new power demonstrated by the nosferatu, each counter made by her opponents, the battle descended into deeper levels of chaos; but it seemed a chance to drop the curtain was upon them. Amoura's sudden interest and desperate counterattack, not to mention the anger in her voice as it echoed in the Dark Knight's mind, were taken as his sign that the battle was about to be brought to an end.

Almost in the same instant in time, he both vanished from the ground and reappeared above the battle, right in the middle of the colossal black cloud that was Maya's army of familiars. Immediately he could feel them turn upon him and surge forth into the attack, seeking to tear their mistress' foe apart...

A black smirk spread across the Dark Knight's face as he answered Amoura.

"My pleasure."

In the skies above the battlefield, an apocalypse given demon form unleashed itself. The very earth trembled for miles around beneath the force of the explosion of demonic energy that ripped the heavens asunder, obliterating tens of thousands of Maya's familiars. The nosferatu would feel her very soul being crushed and prostrated by the aura of power in the sky above her as it grew what felt like a dozen times denser and stronger. The very air seemed to ignite as an inferno of demonic energy roared into life amidst the familiars, spreading from body to body and incinerating them utterly.

At the heart of this massacre, six wings beating, angular red eyes staring balefully at the nosferatu, the Legendary Dark Knight soared overhead in his true demon form. Clutched in his tridactyl hand was a black sword with a pair of single-sided blades arranged back to back around a central, serrated edge and a number of narrow spikes protruding from the centre of the handguard and its skull engraving. Twisted by the dark heights of Sparda's fully unbridled power, Revelation had transformed.

"Enough restraint," the demon growled, raising his sword. Amethyst flames engulfed the blade, seeming to cast their deadly light across the whole battlefield. "Let it be finished."

Once more, the hordes of familiars advanced upon him, still numbering in the hundreds of thousands... With but a single swing of his blade, into which the demon channeled the deepest reserves of his almost mythical power, all of them would be consumed by the violet firestorm that erupted from the depths of the Dark Knight's soul and set the very sky alight for miles around. The fury of his unleashed might burned like a third sun above Hallowton, a gargantuan disc of fire that raged with the power of a nuclear bomb. Against the soul-incinerating wrath of these unhallowed flames, nothing could or would survive.

Over a battlefield such as this, where the only path to victory was a show of overwhelming force... Sparda would proclaim himself king.

[Maya]

Maya's black robes opened up unveiling the black armor that now lied underneath it. The charge from Veran did very little to intimidate the woman as she prepared the double edged sword for battle but it wasn't Veran that would do the damage in the end. It would be that singing harlet. She felt the explosion go off right from her insides, blood starting to spill out every which way while the familiars within her bloodstreams began to go to work on repairing the damage the Night Angel made to her insides. That was when Sazan came to take advantage of the situation by sending her hurling through the air and right into the hands of the High Priestess.

The same kind of teamwork that bested Amon.

The setup to Miracle was so perfect yet at the same time extremely flawed for Maya still wielded her sword and the laws of gravity had no say over the vampiress. As righteousness came crashing down with it's blade Maya held up her own sword and heard the words of both priestess and angel.

"The righteous shall fall upon the wicked!"

"I disagree."

Maya's sword clashed with that of Miracle's and pushed it off to the side. She pulled back on her blade, arms like a blur, and thrust it into the very chest of the free-falling High Priestess before kicking her away and drifting through the air. She bent her head back and saw her familiars being destroyed by the might of the "Legendary Dark Knight" their souls forever lost as they vanished from the field. Maya clenched her chest and felt the strain on her soul as she came back down to the ground, feet firmly planted there as she looked up.

"Rest in peace, my friends."

With that said the field around them began to darken through her power. Dread and terror filled up the surrounding area and found their ways into the besting hearts of her adversaries. Spikes rose out of the ground all around them as the field, and this very dimension, continued to bend and tear to the vampire's will. The realization would be a harsh one.

The Vlad Effect has been summoned alongside the Witch Within.

[Silver Eyes]

The luck of Houdini was indeed with Maya when she, again, defied all odds and came out taking minimal damage. That is, until she took note of a giveaway: the destruction of her familiars did brief damage. If Sparda kept this up they may stand a chance against this vermin. Speaking of the familiars, Amoura looked to the sky after hearing something that stood out from the music of the battlefield.

Numerous threads shot over the sky, freezing familiars in place, trapping them in a web-like substance. A black aura pulsated from the strands and no matter how much Maya's army struggled, they couldn't break free. Then, a black rush of energy ripped them apart, sending them scattering all over the sky and leaving a huge gap in the sky--the attack was in the form of a crow. Black feathers rained down and a large wingspan spread out to full length from Michael's back.

The Crow had joined the battle.

The vampire bared his canines to the legion and took his side by Sparda. He couldn't stand to let his fiance and sister face Maya alone--mostly his fiance. In both hands were sickles attached to long chains; he missed the thrill of a battle and it was time to use these again.

Michael quickly spun them, his wings shrank into pockets in his back and he began the merciless attack.

"I'll take right! You get left!" He shouted to Sparda just as he disappeared into the fray. Familiars went flying as they were torn asunder.

About damned time Michael showed up. With him and Sparda working together it was time for the ground force to keep going after Maya. It was time to see what Clash had. If he was keeping quiet and just watching, he may have something useful to spare.

Amoura opened her mind to Clash's. The shark will feel a gentle touch, like a faint whisper, brush over his thoughts for the information that he had to offer about the battlefield. What she saw was mind blowing: the ground was so perfectly marked in her mind and from numerous points of view.

Unfortunately, she got a look up Maya's skirt. Damn that shark and his perverted nature. But from the other angles, she saw the earth move and begin rising towards the surface as Maya went Vlad and Witch.

Enough was enough.

Amoura began to approach the vampire, only having to take a big step at most to avoid the angered earth. She wasn't impressed--she had done feats like this when she didn't even have full access of her vampiric abilities. It's a shame seeing such potential go to waste but she had to be eradicated from having such a vile heritage. That frustration, oh it was there, and she had every intention of letting it all out in anyway possible without losing control Perhaps a method of Maya's will assist.

"You stopped singing. Shame. Would have been interesting to do what Arix often did while he fought. I suppose I'll continue in his honor."

The Third Eye opened and unveiled her aura. Fighting her will be an easier task on her part now coupled with the valuable information Clash had given her.

"Now I know how the angel fell." Amoura fused more familiars to her guns, enlarging them further and the nozzles were now shaped in the likeness of a cross. "I know the tale and I know it too well." A white glow permeated out and her movements were becoming sporaddic--it looked like she was lagging but the pattern was impossible to tell. "I'll make you wish you had a soul to sell." The vampire disappeared but The Joy will hear:

"When I strike you down and send you straight to hell."

In less than a blink of an eye, Amoura was above her and fired silver, cross shaped bullets at her.

[Sazan]

“MIRACLE!”

Sazan ran after her, reaching directly underneath the falling High Priestess in order to catch amidst her fall and plant her down on her feet. The ground shook and The Hybrid indeed felt dread and terror enter her heart as she watched the spikes rise from the ground. The Vlad Effect. It was like facing Alucard, Maricul and Ranka all in one, if they were smaller in both size and power. Sparda had managed to inflict large quantity of damage by destroying the familiars and now Michael has entered the fray to help on that front. Confident that Miracle would be able to bounce back from that last failed strike Sazan charged to help Amoura on her assault. But first, while Maya would be busy against Amoura, there was something she needed to give to the silver haired man up above.

It was time to show this copycat what the real thing could do. With a simple thought Sazan raised a blade that once upon a time struck fear to all that was unfortunate enough to be on the opposing end of it. Once upon a time this very blade inflicted a permanent scar on the body of the Prince of Darkness from her world known as Mundus and now once again it was about to strike down upon its enemy with great fury that no mere replica could ever hope to accomplish. There it stood within the spare hand of The Hybrid.

Neither illusion nor replica. It was as real and powerful as the original Sparda blade now in the possession of The Demon Slayer Dante. All from a single thought fueled by the power of the “true” Witch Within. Sazan looked up to The Dark Knight and transported the blade to him.

“Catch!”

There was still time to assist Amoura. Sazan flicked her wrist and branches came up wrapping around Maya's legs holding her in place for the incoming bullets. Another flicked of the wrist and one of the spikes on the field broke from the ground and drifted through the air as it was now thrown full force into the chest of Maya aimed to pierce the heart and impale her all at the same time while bullets struck Maya’s skull.

[Miracle]

I disagree?

In the face of Yahweh's strongest angel all this enemy had to say was "I disagree?"

That came as spit in the face of heaven's strongest General as Miracle's felt the blade rip into her chest, barely missing her heart before being pulled out and kicked through the air. The High Priestess was a fool. For a brief moment she had allowed false hopes to take over her mind and believed that this really was the end of the battle. She expected to hit the ground any minute now but by the saving grace of Sazan she would not. Miracle looked up to the hybrid while she set her down and smiled.

"Thank you."

Powerful white magic overcame the child's body as the stab wound and the damage it inflicted was healed over in a matter of seconds before she gripped the Claymore and both she and the archangel continued their advancement towards Maya from behind Sazan. Wishing to decrease the possibility of forced friendly fire by a more direct approach, Miracle outstretched her hand and placed a holy enchantment on the spike approaching Maya's chest. Now she would feel the strength of Yahweh through that simple spike from the ground.