Tiamat's Babel [Non-Canon]

[Kaykay]

A simple soundwave was far too slow of an attack at this level of combat. That they could move beyond the speed of sound was no longer a consideration, but a given.

"What the hell is this? Are you trying to kill a snail or something, huh?!"

A voice sent directly into the Phantom's head surpassed the speed of sound as Uriel appeared right behind him. "Such insolence is unforgivable, unforgivable! Everything will burn, everything must burn! God will settle for nothing less!" With a clenched fist, he struck Winslow in the stomach, sending him plummeting back down towards the earth.

"Winslow!" Samael called after him, soaring downwards to catch him before he struck the ground.

Setsuna maintained his spot in the air, brandishing the Sword of Pecatti against the master angel. Compared to Gethel, Miyako, and Oshiba, Uriel was on an altogether different level. He wasn't sure if he could get past this battle without using his raison d'etre, or even with it. But surrender was not an option here.

"Here I come."

Sword clashed against coffin as the two began their battle, fighting like two angels flying in the air.

@Chewy Rabbits​

 

[Chewy Rabbits]

A voice sent directly into the Phantom's head surpassed the speed of sound as Uriel appeared right behind him. "Such insolence is unforgivable, unforgivable! Everything will burn, everything must burn! God will settle for nothing less!" With a clenched fist, he struck Winslow in the stomach, sending him plummeting back down towards the earth.

Winslow was taken aback by the speed at which Uriel moved! Even with his last opponent, at least he'd been able to hit her! This one moved quicker than his soundwave hit the air! The blow crashed into the Phantom's stomach and spittle came flying forward. It seemed the crazier you were in this world, the stronger you were. Well, if that didn't prove that Winslow was sane, he didn't know what would.

But at the moment he had more important matters to deal with. Like the fact that he was falling very, very fast. He may have been able to create soundwaves and had different varieties of forms for Savior-his chosen weapon-to take. But even he couldn't fly! He wasn't actually a birdman after all!

Before he hit the ground however, Winslow blinked as he glanced over and saw that Samael had caught him. Well, from going to being used to as a living shield by Samael back in Rapture, her saving him from danger was a welcome reprieve. "..Thank you, Samael." Leaning in to give the angel of death a small peck on the forehead, Winslow turned his attention back to the sword fight that was happening before his very eyes.

He had only just gained Savior in his last battle and while he had tried to use it to the best of his abilities, this was a level of sword-play that someone like him could never hope to achieve! He hadn't even held a blade beyond his measly little knife and with Savior, he was fighting by the seat of his pants. He'd likely get massacred if he tried engaging Uriel in that manner! Which meant he had to try something else..

"Right now, our friend is fighting for all of us and I'm down here catching my second wind. I said that when I came along, I wouldn't be useless..." Summoning Savior to his side, it shifted into Long-Range mode upon Winslow's willing of it. "So, I'll fight...To the bitter end!"

*bang!*

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

"You've gotta learn how to fly sometime, okay?" Samael teased him, knowing full well he didn't have that capability, and they wouldn't have the time to teach him. Barring some miracle, he'd be ground based for the entire pilgrimage. Still, in her current state, there was little she could do to help fight the master angel.

In a battle of physicality, at least.

Against Uriel's insane mind, Samael's illusion magic was simple to cast and maintain. She changed her and Winslow's appearances to match that of Setsuna's from Uriel's perspective. It'd be difficult for him to figure out who was who like this, and he'd have to defend all incoming attacks regardless of how dangerous to him they actually were. With an impish smirk on her face, she gripped her scythe and flew forth as Winslow took a shot at the master angel.

"You bitch, you think...you think you can trick me like this?! Me?! The Flame of God?! I'll show you my power! His power! Uoooohhhh!!!"

As if it even infinity itself wasn't a barrier, the heat continued to soar to ever greater heights. Setsuna melted into pieces...only for two more Setsunas to come striking at him from the front and the back! But that wasn't enough, that wasn't nearly enough to stop Uriel. He whirled around and smashed the one behind him directly out of the air, sending him plummeting into the earth.

And then he felt the impact of a sword against his back.

The real Setsuna was the one who had made it to the target, but even that strike wasn't enough to even scratch the angel. It was as if a child had slammed his play sword down on an adult's head. Annoying at best, rage inducing at worst.

Against the flame of god, the latter was of course the result.

"What the hell was that, huh?!"

A simple kick from him knocked the wind out of Setsuna, sending him flying back hundreds of meters through the air. He was like a ragdoll with no control, only by luck managing to keep his grip on his sword and his body airborne. As he thought, fighting without his raison d'etre against Uriel was barely anything more than suicide. Even Samael's illusions and Winslow's ranged distraction attacks wouldn't allow him to get in any meaningful damage.

The boy created to be god closed his eyes. His reason for existence...he already knew it.

"There is no God. I shall not revere Him. I shall not pray to Him. I shall not believe in Him. I shall not crave His blessing."

Yes, for there was no longer any God to move the universe along like clockwork. If humans, angels, and demons still wanted to keep on living, they'd have to do it themselves. By their own power. Not by relying on some other being to order their lives around. For he, Tendou Setsuna, was created to fill that role. That void in man's life.

Every man needed something to turn to in times of desperation. No matter how irrational or foolish, even a boy the world's scientists claimed to be God would do. But he had failed them back then. The sins of billions had weighed upon his soul.

But now, upon his shoulders, rested a weight infinitely heavier. The lives of his companions. Sorami, Raziel, Lilith, Samael, and even their newfound partner Winslow. He absolutely could not allow them to be taken down by an angel of that insane God!

"My name is Tendou Setsuna, the one known as Yaldaboath, the false God."

"I summon you, Universal Machine, Guardian Spirit of Time!"

His personal fortress. This was the full potential of Tendou Setsuna. A colossal, steel fortress that would create any weapon he desired, at any time, with any form of specifications. For his raison d'etre was to overcome impossible odds, to become the God that was no longer in existence. And what was built out of his fortress this time...

Was a great hammer. One powerful enough to combat Uriel's weapon, and break the angel's body.

"Come, Uriel!"

"You damn human scum!"

The scene was like two brutes simply crashing into each other over and over again, Setsuna's hammer smashing against Uriel's coffin incessantly. As if the two knew no other way to fight, they darted about the air like fighter jets, only to smash into each other like sinking ships. Every strike destroyed the area in which they stood, outdoing even the destruction that the unimaginably hot flames did to this stratum of Tokyo Babel.

@Chewy Rabbits​

 

[Chewy Rabbits]

Was a great hammer. One powerful enough to combat Uriel's weapon, and break the angel's body.

"Come, Uriel!"

"You damn human scum!"

The scene was like two brutes simply crashing into each other over and over again, Setsuna's hammer smashing against Uriel's coffin incessantly. As if the two knew no other way to fight, they darted about the air like fighter jets, only to smash into each other like sinking ships. Every strike destroyed the area in which they stood, outdoing even the destruction that the unimaginably hot flames did to this stratum of Tokyo Babel.

"I can't believe it.."

Winslow had been grateful for the save from Samael but he realized that he was simply out of his depth here. Even Savior with all the power it had afforded Winslow in his last battle ended up being worth very little against this new foe. Yet, Winslow watched on in awe as Setsuna and Uriel engaged in a battle that Winslow couldn't even dream of! The speed at which they moved, the strength behind their blows, it was unbelievable how much power these two could put out there!

Yet, despite all the progress he'd made. From his soundwaves to being able to summon Savior, Winslow still fell short of the goal line. He'd never be an asset to the others with just the measly amount of power he had managed to scrap up! Smashing his fist into the ground, Winslow glanced upwards and bared his metallic teeth. Damn it! Was this the real Hell? To have his own weakness rubbed in his face like this?!

He had to get stronger! He had to be able to protect those who had allied themselves with him, the Phantom of the Paradise!

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

As Winslow mentally bemoaned his own ineptitude, Samael couldn't help but feel the same way. In her prime, she was a high-class angel capable of fighting Uriel by herself on even ground. He specialized in raw destruction, and she in poison, corruption, and trickery. But even the one who had corrupted all of humanity, the one who'd introduced them to the toxin of alcohol, the one who'd reaped an uncountable large number of souls, was now nothing but a trickster.

But she couldn't help it after all. After dying so many times, even being alive was something special really. So the angel of death just wore the same mischievous expression as always.

The battle between Setsuna and Uriel waged on, powerful hammer blows rebounding off Uriel's strange coffin-like weapon.

"Sheol of Tartarus!"

Suddenly, iron bolts began to fly out of the coffin, each one moving as though it had a mind of its own as they each sought to pierce through Setsuna! But the false god wouldn't have any of that. The enormous gates that defied the laws of this world opened once more, granting Setsuna a new weapon.

"Bunker Buster!"

Enormous missiles appeared in Setsuna's hands, replacing the hammer he was wielding before. Bombs greater than any mankind had to offer were launched one after the other, defying the Sheol of Tartarus that Uriel wielded. The iron bolts were blown away, but even the bombs' incredible destructive power wasn't sufficient to destroy them. Turning right back around, they came back for Setsuna as if nothing had even happened.

But that didn't matter. Setsuna had used the instant the bolts were blown away to close the distance between him and Uriel. Wielding his powerful bombs, he slammed one directly into the master angel's face!

The explosion was localized, engulfing only Setsuna and Uriel in its wake, but its power was no less. Faced with such destructive power, even Uriel was forced to cry out in pain. Setsuna gritted his teeth, ignoring the damage being done to his own body. With nanomachines and magic, he repaired his body at an incredible rate, but it still wasn't enough to keep up with his own destructive output.

The flash of an explosion brighter than a star. Heat greater than the center of the sun itself. Destructive power the Tsar bomba could only dream of. The pained shrieks of an angel whose mind had been long lost to the throes of insanity.

"You...you...you damned bastard!!!"

From the center of the grand explosion came an enormous flame in the shape of a single angel's wing. It overtook Setsuna, separating the two as they both suffered through infernal flames that made hell itself seem cold.

And like dying stars, the two combatants began to plummet from the sky. The flames of the floor began to fizzle away as the battle came to its conclusion. The burnt remains of the city could hardly even be called that, the stratum looking more like a flat plain than the ruins of a city.

"Setsuna!" Raziel flew forth to catch the falling Setsuna in her arms, only to drop him as soon as she touched him. "Hot..."

"Raziel, what the hell are you doing?!"

Glowing with a blue light, Raziel darted down to catch the falling boy once more, this time managing to keep her grasp on him. The heat of the flames had been enough that even an angel couldn't touch him without first enchanting herself with water magic, as Lilith and Samael quickly realized.

"Haha, you're really clumsy sometimes, huh?" Sorami joked in a somewhat forced tone, as though she felt it was up to her to lighten the mood after such an intense battle. Though still, she didn't really know the reason she'd dropped Setsuna, but she knew it couldn't have been on purpose.

Her eyes had simply told her that it was something magical in nature.

"Well with that over, let's move on~"

Samael began walking off after saying that in a sing-songy voice. What would await them next was the next Stratum...which was her layer. So with her here, they could simply bypass it altogether and find their way to the next, final level of Tokyo Babel. Opening a portal, she walked through.

"Geez, that angel doesn't know the meaning of rest or something?" Lilith complained. But she couldn't blame the angel for that. They truly were in a hurry after all. Even though Setsuna was currently unconscious, they had to continue forward and emerge victorious, with or without the false god's incredible power.

...She didn't feel too good about their chances if he didn't recover soon, though. She and Raziel would probably have to tend to him, since she doubted his natural regeneration was going to wake him up anytime soon.

And thus, they all began to move on to the final floor.

@Chewy Rabbits​

 

[Chewy Rabbits]

"Geez, that angel doesn't know the meaning of rest or something?" Lilith complained. But she couldn't blame the angel for that. They truly were in a hurry after all. Even though Setsuna was currently unconscious, they had to continue forward and emerge victorious, with or without the false god's incredible power.

...She didn't feel too good about their chances if he didn't recover soon, though. She and Raziel would probably have to tend to him, since she doubted his natural regeneration was going to wake him up anytime soon.

And thus, they all began to move on to the final floor.

As the battle raged on before him, Winslow knew in that exact moment what it felt like to be caught up in a storm. If these two had fought with such intensity back where Winslow had called home, there would have been nothing left but craters and destruction to signify it. No, it seemed fitting that Hell itself was the only place capable containing such destructive powers. But every battle must come to an end. Which is why as the battle between Setsuna and Uriel reached it's conclusion, Winslow rushed over as Raziel caught him.

To look upon him now in such a vulnerable state puzzled Winslow. This man had been capable of things that Winslow could have only dreamed of! Yet he slept to regain his energy after an exhausting battle just like anyone else. Winslow supposed that at the very least the two of them had that in common at least. "...Right, let's keep going. The sooner we reach our goal the better." Winslow muttered as he quickly followed after Samael.

But as they reached what was supposed to be their final destination, Winslow held a hand out to stop Samael from going any further. He might not have had super hearing but he could see the trail of blood clearly enough. "...It seems we're a bit late to the proceedings." Summoning Savior, Winslow cautiously continued and the place seemed to darken and moonlight could have been seen glistening down upon Winslow and the others as the moon loomed over what appeared to be a series of castles and the like.

Apparently, the group had ended up in what seemed to be the courtyard of said castle and just as Winslow had predicted, they weren't the only ones here. What appeared to be the body of a boy, no older then twelve was slumped up against the wall with his head drooping down and a pool of blood forming around him. That wasn't all however, a man who was at least in his late 20s-early 30s and seemed like your typical doctor was facing off against some unknown assailant.

Then again almost everyone here apart from his allies was unknown to Winslow. However, even if this was a stranger that one with the sword had attacked a child! "Stop!" Winslow screeched out and the swordsman slowly turned and focused his icy blue eyes on Winslow with his hand still near the hilt of his katana. Winslow could feel his body freezing up as the man seemed completely uninjured. His opponents didn't exactly look threatening but he didn't seem like he belonged here. Almost like he was an outsider like him...

But then the man spoke and just like his eyes, his words were cold but straight to the point.

"I refuse."

"Don't forget I'm here! No matter how many of us you kill, you'll never stop our justified cause! DEVIL!!!"

The doctor leaped at the white-haired swordsman and Winslow finally snapped free of his fright. Holding a hand outwards he yelled to the doctor. "No! Stop, get away!" Was that man absolutely insane!? But no matter what Winslow said or did, it was too late. In a flash of movement faster than either Winslow or the Doctor could process, multiple cuts appeared on the doctor's chest, arms, legs, and back.

Walking forward with the hilt of his blade still not fully within his scabbard, the man looked away from the Doctor and spoke once more. With the same stoic brutality that he had before.

"I don't bother remembering deluded fools. You are no exception."

Resting his thumb on the hilt of his sword, the man slipped it fully into his scabbard. At that exact moment, the Doctor's wounds tore open and Winslow was stunned at the amount of blood the human body could expel as the floor was practically coated in the crimson liquid before the Doctor toppled over and the man finally turned his attention towards Winslow and co once again.

"I presume you were set to come up here and defeat these fools. It seems luck's on your side. They were an eyesore and I had them removed when I arrived. I wouldn't suggest following in their foot-steps." The swordsman warned as he turned his back to the group and started to move forward. Still afraid by how fast the swordplay had been by this guy, Winslow had to tend to one thing. Rushing over to the child's prone body, Winslow pressed his fingers to the boy's wrist. To get any sign of a pulse..

But there was nothing.

"Hold it.."

The swordsman had no intention of stopping his stride but this strange looking masked man seemed to have some kind of vested interest in stopping him from proceeding to hurt others. Given where they were he found this quite amusing. Turning sharply on his heel, the swordsman looked down at Winslow. "I've decided to spare you and your group here a portion of my time, I suggest you make it last."

"Why...Why did you kill the boy?"

"He was in the way. Why else would I have done it? Him and that other human stood in my path, denying me my right to obtain the power that I deserve. The boy tried to get me to play a 'game' with him. I had no such interest and so I slew him. You don't agree with my methods?"

Winslow balled his hand up into a fist and rose to his feet. No, the swordsman hadn't lied. The boy was stone-cold dead. Given how thorough he'd been when dealing with that Doctor, Winslow supposed it shouldn't have come as a surprise. But even while Winslow had no desire to return to live among humanity for how he'd been treated, murdering a child was as vile as you could go. Pointing Savior in the man's direction, Winslow hissed out through gritted teeth.

"Who are you?"

Acknowledging the gesture Winslow had shown off with Savior, the swordsman wasted no time in re-drawing his own sword as he stared Winslow down.

"You raise your weapon at me and demand my name? For a stranger, you're quite bold Masked Man. Be that as it may, you've interested me enough. You may refer to me as Vergil, the eldest son of the demon knight Sparda. Soon to be inheritor of Tiamat's power. Only while you and your comrades here had to fight your way up, I took...a more pragmatic approach." Glancing down at his blade, Vergil smirked.

Yamato was a blade powerful enough to pierce the heavens! It's edge could cut through space itself and thus was how Vergil got as far as he did. All while Winslow and his fellows had to suffer...

"Now, I believe I've said enough. I'll be going. For your continued good health, I suggest you do not follow me." Vergil quipped as he turned with his back to the group as Winslow took aim with Savior. Although he had just met Vergil, he knew well enough what his deal was. He wanted power above all else. Just like another figure who had made Winslow's life on Earth worse than any torture in Hell. He wouldn't let Vergil do the same here!

Shifting Savior to long range mode a beam of white hot energy soared from the guitar. Catching it coming out of the corner of his eye, Vergil steadied himself and frowned.

"Ashes to ashes.."

The blast seemed to colide with Vergil and the explosion engulfed the swordsman. However, Winslow knew for a fact that blast hadn't been enough to even hit Vergil let alone kill him.

"Dust to dust.."

"Agh!" Winslow cried out as he quickly turned to swing Savior at Vergil who had moved behind him. All without Winslow even noticing it. But it was simply too late. Vergil had swung first and in the process both halves of Savior fell to the ground and disspiated into dust as a gash was torn across Winslow's chest as he fell onto his back. Without missing a beat, Vergil swung Yamato to the side to knock off some of Winslow's blood as he turned towards the others.

"I can only pray you'll be less foolhardy than your friend here. But if not..."

Vergil spread his feet apart and raised Yamato as he prepared for another fight. Nothing would keep him from the power he desired.

"Then go ahead and come. I'll end this quickly enough."

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

Samael's usual playful expression disappeared as she saw the body of the child. It wasn't that she cared about the loss of a life. Something like that was the natural order of things, something she was far too used to to even bat an eye at.

It was the strangeness of someone she didn't know being in Tokyo Babel. Or rather, multiple people she didn't know. Sorami, Lilith, and Raziel shared in her surprise, not really knowing what was going on here. How had these people even gotten to Tokyo Babel? It had to be Astaroth, right? Who else could have brought these people here? But then, why were they fighting each other? Perhaps they'd already gone insane.

But as Winslow was felled, Samael stepped up, wielding her scythe against the swordsman.

"Huh? Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you~" With an innocent voice and a smile on her face, Samael stepped forward lightly. Then without any change in expression at all, she swung her scythe right for Vergil's neck. Despite her staying expression, though, the tone of her voice darkened.

"You're going to regret doing that, you know."

@Chewy Rabbits​

 

[Chewy Rabbits]

"Huh? Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you~" With an innocent voice and a smile on her face, Samael stepped forward lightly. Then without any change in expression at all, she swung her scythe right for Vergil's neck. Despite her staying expression, though, the tone of her voice darkened.

"You're going to regret doing that, you know."

"Fast.."

Vergil quipped as he quickly raised Yamato to meet Samael's scythe. Sparks flew as his sword met her blade blow-for-blow but much to Vergil's surprise, her weapon didn't budge. But how could this be? Yamato could sheer through dimensions, what stopped it from tearing through this child's pathetic scythe?

As it dawned on him that he wasn't going to be able to win this merely by slicing Samael's weapon in twain, Vergil had to break the deadlock one way or another. Using his supernatural strength, Vergil sought to push the scythe back and knock Samael off balance. Which he quickly followed up with a kick meant to catch Samael in the ribs and send her flying off to the side.

Turning to face Samael once she recovered,Vergil looked upon her with his icy blue eyes.

"I admit I underestimated you. You have my sincerest apologies for that. It's not often I encounter a weapon that Yamato can not cut through."

"But whether it's your friend or you that stands against me, I will get the power I seek!"

His intentions to defeat Samael still as clear as day, Vergil took a step forward and vanished. Nothing was left to mark Vergil's presence apart from the slight trail of dust he had kicked up with his initial step. Though as seconds clicked by, Samael would have felt the immense amount of energy emitting from Vergil coming from a few feet behind her. With his hand firmly gripping onto Yamato's hilt, the half-demon/half-human took his swing!

As Yamato was swung, Winslow pushed himself up into a sitting position despite his wounds. He hadn't even been able to see where Vergil's sword had gone until blood spurted from his new wounds. Looking at Vergil wielding Yamato now was no different, Winslow couldn't follow a damn thing. Cupping a hand around his wound, the Phantom looked in Samael's direction. He could only hope that she could follow Vergil's movements.

Given the distance between Vergil and Samael, Yamato's slashes sent a slicing cyclone in her direction. Said cyclone tore up the ground in it's wake as Vergil awaited Samael's next move. He had cut his way into Tokyo Babel and he would not be brought down by anybody!

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

"As its former master, allow me to tell you something about Tokyo Babel."

Samael showed no concern on her face or even her posture, simply crossing her arms with her scythe in hand, closing her eyes as if relaxing. After all, why would she be concerned by something like this?

"Silly abilities like 'cutting through anything' or 'teleporting' are just..." Her poison-coated scythe swung at the cyclone, dismantling it into thin air. The edges of her lips curled upwards as she smirked his way. "...child's play. You're gonna have to think twice about staying here if that's all you have!"

Following suit, Samael moved at a speed high enough to disappear from any normal man's sight, far surpassing the speed of sound. Yet still her voice could be heard on this barren stratum of Tokyo Babel.

"Their howl gave the air its midnight chill, the hounds cursed the sacred fruit, they cursed the Lord on his eternal throne; their path forever paved by blasphemy and sin. My name hence be known as venom. I poisoned both the days of the creation and the days of the end. And so, I shall bestow agonizing death onto all that lives."

Appearing above Vergil, Samael swung down her scythe. But that weapon was nowhere in reach. Instead, an enormous serpent large enough to blot out a building came crashing from the sky like lightning, seeking to envelop Vergil in its jaws!

"I am Samael, the angel of death!"

@Chewy Rabbits​

 

[Chewy Rabbits]

"Their howl gave the air its midnight chill, the hounds cursed the sacred fruit, they cursed the Lord on his eternal throne; their path forever paved by blasphemy and sin. My name hence be known as venom. I poisoned both the days of the creation and the days of the end. And so, I shall bestow agonizing death onto all that lives."

Appearing above Vergil, Samael swung down her scythe. But that weapon was nowhere in reach. Instead, an enormous serpent large enough to blot out a building came crashing from the sky like lightning, seeking to envelop Vergil in its jaws!

"I am Samael, the angel of death!"

"An angel of death? Heh..."

Vergil simply held Yamato at his side as Samael vanished from his line of sight. He certainly hadn't doubted her claims of being able to rule over this place at one point. But it seemed that time had since passed. Which could only mean one thing..

"It's as you said, you ruled over this place once. But that time has passed and you will follow suit!"

As the snake soared downwards, Vergil stood his ground. He had tangled with demons on the same scale and this one would be no different. Tokyo Babel and the power hidden within it would be his! The rightful son of Sparda would not have such a gift denied to him, no matter who stood in his way! Energy circled around Vergil's person as he leaped towards the snake.

Winslow who had recovered enough by this point to sit up watched the display. His vision, blurred as it may have been due to his body being weak from Vergil's assault, he could make out the image clearly enough. That snake had devoured Vergil! No ifs ands or butts about it! Although this stranger may have been quite the powerful foe, he was nothing before a true fighter!

"Child's play.."

...It couldn't be! How could he have survived even that!? Winslow watched in disbelief as Vergil appeared atop the serpant's head, none the worse for wear. Had Winslow's eyes been playing tricks on him or did Yamato possess yet another ability they weren't privvy too?! Whatever the case may have been, Vergil was going to waste no time going back on the counter-offensive. Digging Yamato into the flesh of the snake, Vergil sprinted along it's body, dragging the blade behind him as he went.

"Samael, look out!" Winslow cried out but he was too late! Vergil leaped from the serpent and vanished once more. So, that's how he'd done it! Just what else could this blade let him do? Appearing right in Samael's face, Vergil lashed out with Yamato.

"It's over!"

@Kaykay

​

 

[Kaykay]

"Hoh? Now now, be a good boy. Don't torture animals like that, okay?"

"Oi, weren't you the one who killed your pet Basilisk without a second thought?"

Ignoring the comment from a certain demon, Samael brought her scythe in front of her, the sound of steel against steel ringing out inside the dead city. The sword that cut anything, and the scythe with the venom to dissolve anything. When put against each other, both operated as nothing more than normal weapons, with one significant difference.

A mere scratch from her scythe spelled death for any creature, immortal or not. While a scratch from a sword that cut anything was no different than any other cut. In other words, so long as she could keep pace with him, the odds were overwhelmingly in her favor.

"You sure are cocky. But I guess I'm just a young maiden, so it can't be helped, right?"

Talking sweetly as if she was just talking with a friend after school, Samael pushed forward with both hands, forcing Vergil away from her. Though she was skilled with the scythe from lifetimes upon lifetimes of wielding the bizarre weapon, its specialty was certainly not in such close quarters.

"But maybe I should rethink my policy. Maybe looks aren't everything. I mean, you look so old, but you're nothing but a naive little boy~"

And as if it'd come out of nowhere, a snake composed entirely of flames appeared from behind Vergil, the temperature of simply being within this city great enough to completely scorch away a normal man. Buildings began to collapse, and the asphalt on the street began to heat up to almost unbearable temperatures. The snake made its way towards Vergil, rushing him down like an oversized bullet.

"A little kid can't take over if his parents die while he's still young. Sorry, stranger, but I'm not handing over my post that easily. But you'll forgive me, right?"

@Chewy Rabbits​