"So, you've finally come for me," Bolivar Trask said. "Your kind always was predictable." Bolivar was a portly, short man with wide, horn-rimmed glasses and a slightly reddened face. He looked like the type to explode at the smallest imperfection.
"How did you…" Rin started, but Bolivar cut him off.
"Know you were coming?" Zola kept an open communication line. He understood the danger your kind posed and was only too happy to help me perfect my weapon," He grinned. "When the line went dead, I knew you'd come for him, and I was next. Now, bear witness—HCCK!"
I fired Ophion Demon Pull straight at the pontificating man and yanked him close, startling everybody in the room. Rin looked at me like I was crazy, and Clint was biting back an absurd laugh.
Did you really think I was going to let the son of a bitch complete his fucking monologue?
"Unhand me, you—"
I bashed him on the side of the head as his soldiers raised their rifles as one and pointed them at us.
"Somebody so much as move an inch, and I'll put a bullet into his fucking skull," I warned, materializing a gun.
"Clint, call Aaron for an extract," I said. "Kamar-Taj can hold him while we round up here."
Clint did as instructed as both sides stared each other down, frozen by the tentative stalemate. We knew once Bolivar was gone, all hell would break loose. Yet, we waited in pregnant silence until Bolivar chose to be himself and shatter the peace.
"What are you doing? Kill them all."
We heard dozens of clicks as the fifty or so soldiers assembled in the warehouse undid their safeties, and prepped to fire. As if that was not bad enough, the Sentinel hummed to life in the corner. Its rectangular eyes burned golden as it shifted its considerable bulk.
"Seriously," I scoffed. "He chose to 'Kill them all' as his activation phrase?"
"Oh fuck," Rin said, taking a few tentative steps back. The soldiers opened fire, and I flashed forward, generating a Parry Shield with Osiris, batting back the hail of bullets while I took on a wave of chip damage.
Cuts ran down my hand, and I gritted my teeth through, tossing Bolivar to the side.
"Take him," I yelled at a frozen Rin, who snapped out of his reverie with a blink and grabbed hold of Bolivar just before he slipped away. Aaron's portal sputtered to life behind me just as Clint fired a grenade arrow into the enemy line, giving me the chance to chuck a pair of my own.
Momentum stolen, I pulled my M4 and got to culling. The gun went off in a short burst, cutting down soldiers left and right.
As explosions rocked the warehouse and Red Orbs poured in, Aaron peeked through the portal in a goggled surprise.
"I know. No dull moment with this one, is there?" Clint laughed as Rin, suddenly energized by life energy, effortlessly led Bolivar to the portal.
"You can do this!" he said. "Do you think this will be the end of me? Hah. The Trask name has survived worse. If you think for one se—"
Tired of his prattling, Rin threw a startled Bolivar into the portal and watched as it winked behind him.
The Sentinel that had been approaching us slowly suddenly froze, scanning the spot where his master was a second ago before a slit opened up in its gigantic chest. It emitted a wave of energy that sent Rin stumbling to one knee, but he was up a second later, still looking visibly inconvenienced.
He gave an explanation without me needing to ask.
"That energy makes it difficult to take in and hold Life energy."
The monster was already adapting.
"Bolivar was not kidding when he said he was advanced," I mouthed as I slowly watched the metallic beast's eyes swivel to me. The eyes slowly began to glow, and Evasion immediately activated; I used a Burst, shoving Clint and Rin to the side.
A beam of concentrated energy bathed me before I had a chance to dodge myself, and I screamed as I was assaulted with some of the worst pain of my life.
I heard Rin's voice scream in anger somewhere behind me, but I grit my teeth and activate Angel Evade, dimension shifting for a reprieve.
"Dante!' I heard Jean's voice echo through our telepathic channel. 'Don't move, I will—'
'No,' I cut her off. 'Focus on the mission, I'll be fine.'
I spilled on the floor in the in-between, panting and swallowing up air. Repairing my body—some parts of which have been melted to the bone—would've cost me hundreds of Angel Energy, a resource I was not comfortable parting with, given our current circumstances, so I made the executive decision to use my first healing potion.
I quaffed back the odd liquid. It tasted every bit as bad as you'd expect the suspect green liquid to.
Energy suddenly filled my limbs, my skin regrew, my muscles swelled with vital energy, and my strength returned.
While I was immaterial, Clint and Rin had gone above and beyond, ripping through the dozens of soldiers that remained. Rin was just downright malicious, punching people's heads off and tanking bullets like they were mosquito bites. But the damage was slowly stacking. He was noticeably slower, even though the kills were supposed to make him his strongest self.
Clint was a lot more conservative, dodging and striking with precision. He'd created a distraction with several smoke arrows and was letting the soldiers sabotage and kill themselves through friendly fire and panic.
He picked whoever made it through the smoke while simultaneously using it as cover from the Sentinel, but the thing didn't seem that interested in him as it slowly faced Rin, who was breathing hard at this point, glaring at the surviving group of five soldiers who hid behind the approaching Sentinel peppering him with shots.
On Clint's end, he was mopping up what remained of the soldiers.
I came out of Angel Lift with a Burst that threw me into the fray, Osiris drawn and my heart set on violence. The soldiers were bunched so closely together that it took only one hit to kill three of them.
I rapidly switched direction, propelling me back at the other two with explosive footwork. The pair rapidly retreated, scattering in two directions, but Osiris's reach was considerable.
I snapped my scythe at one, holding the weapon at the very end of the handle, and pulled back my blade. Osiris cut through his Kevlar jacket and back.
I socked him in the neck when he came close enough, shattering his neck and killing him instantly.
The Sentinel's leg slammed down on the spot where I stood moments before I appeared in front of the other guy, with Osiris spinning in my outstretched hand.
I had beef with the chrome giant, but I intended to give Rin a reprieve, and that was what I focused on. I couldn't very well let my invest—I mean protégé die like that.
The weapon batted away his rifle and basically filleted him. He was dead before he hit the ground.
I went intangible again just before the Sentinel's hand came down, and I reappeared beside Rin, ferrying him back. Three notifications flashed on my face, and my expression grew complicated.
I didn't even know I'd been that close.
Congratulations: Fire Resistance has reached Adept Tier: Damage reduction upgraded to 30%
Congratulations: Angel Evade has reached Adept Tier
Phase through Limbo, allowing Dante to evade an additional distance and render him invulnerable to attack. Now, you can stay intangible for up to 1 minute at the expense of 2AE per second. Each Evade also pushes you further, faster.
Congratulations: Angel Energy Manipulation has reached Adept Tier.
Improves fine manipulation, damage, and multitasking, and greatly enhances energy projection.
I grinned, looking up at the Sentinel.
"Take a beat off, Rin," I said. "This is personal."
"What?" he said in between gasps. "I can still fight."
"I know you can, but this is not about you," I said, summoning Arbiter. Cloak surrounded me, boosting my damage by 50%. I looked up at the Sentinel, who was approaching us with a meaningful glint in its eyes. I started stacking Bursts. "This is the third time I've nearly died today, believe it or not. And I've always returned the favor. That is not about to change. Now move before the big guy gets any more ideas."
Rin was about to open his mouth to protest when the Sentinel's eyes started to glow, firing a beam again. I flung my Axe and used flush and watched as my Axe head sailed through the air, parting the beam before it impacted the head of the Sentinel.
It stumbled backward, head covered in deep crimson fires and energy. A deep voice rumbled out.
"Mutation—non-existent. Energy signature unfamiliar."
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