11 - Some Strong Water

DMC-11

"Urgh…" Dante groaned as he felt his energy leave his body and flow towards the object he was clutching. There was fortunately no pain that came with such matter which had made it bearable with the current predicament to the feeling of his energy. He could have definitely simply dropped it and stop the flow of energy from leaving. However, it was as if it was stuck to his hand. Even if he attempted to let go, the sphere never dropped and stayed attached like a leech.

There was also the matter that if he somehow did remove it way from him, it looked to be fragile enough to crack upon a single impact. Such situation wasn't something he desired since the object was placed on the pedestal as if it was something useful in this dinky overpopulated demon tower.

Regardless, it was consuming too much of his energy, and he couldn't have that. Before he could at least try to minimise the amount of energy being absorbed, a familiar laugh that caused his ire arrived at his current situation.

"This is amazing! Even the devil boy is no match for it!" As the Jester like demon came closer, he pulled at the scruff of his neck before pushing the barrel of his gun at the demon's largely pointy nose. The action caused the demon to backtrack with his laughter, although the large smile was still plastered on his face. "You're not gonna shoot me, are you? If you do, I'll die, you know."

It was amazing itself he could actually hold the demon still with his grip even when he felt himself not actually having the strength to make a proper hold on the demon. "If that's what it takes to shut you up. It bugs the crap out of me when someone talks more than I do."

The demon getting the point of it not being a laughing matter sweated while reassuring the Devil Hunter of the to his arrival. "Don't act so rashly, my boy. I've got a doozy of a story for you, but if you sniff out my voice like that, I won't be able to tell it, now will I?" Dante clicked his teeth before pushing the demon away from him. The Jester sighed in relief before rubbing the slight dirt that touched his clothes. "I thought I was a gonna for sure." He began to laugh while twirling his staff before noticing the teen look at him menacingly, "Oops." The demon decided to not actually test his luck and used the opportunity to explain the object at hand. "You saw it too, didn't you? That huge tower jutting out of the ground? That thick shaft that causes women to shudder—is actually a tunnel - - linking the demonic domain to the human world. And of course, your brother, Vergil is the one who controls it by using your mommy's amulet."

That caused him to raised a tired brow at the demon. "Amulet?" His mother's amulet was related to this whole thing?

"He's headed to the control room in the basement." The demon began hopping while continuing speaking, "If you don't hop down there quick like a bunny, he'll open the gate to hell. Isn't that a scary thought?"

Dante couldn't figure the Jester demon's play at the reason of him giving the information willingly. "And you're telling me this because?"

Without answering his question, he covered his mouth for a second. "Oops, I forgot to mention one teeny wittle item." Pointing towards the object Dante was holding, "That gizmo there is actually the KEY to move forward. But the tricky thing is, it sucks the souls of those who hold it." Dante took those words at hand while now finding the explanation to why he was feeling tired abnormally than usual. His soul was being absorbed, "so I think you better hurry~" the demon began tiptoeing and start to laugh once more only causing Dante to point his gun at the demon once more only to realise the demon hangin upwards by a chain and metal handles. "But, in return for your soul, it'll give you power! Marvellous isn't it? Just let your young spirit drive you and go for it!" Laughing once again without holding back, the Jester spun around while the metal chains and handles pulled him further upwards.

Placing his gun back to his holster, he stood up slowly while trying to get a stable standing position in order to not fall. "Wish you would have told me that in the first place, ya big mouthed moron!" The feeling of his power activated without his consent before transforming into his demon form as the object began to be absorb in his body. He gave a slight shout as he transformed before wasting no time and dashed outside of the room to the rail cart he had used to arrive at this location in the first place. "No time to waste!"

XXX

"Those who desire to acquire the ancient ways of war shall offer the blood of monsters in exchange."

Hearing those only gave the boy an understanding in being able to go into the void again. Joshua hummed as he wrapped the strap that the rifle had attached on him so that it was easy to simply move it to the side and fire without the worry of actually carrying it with one arm and fire with another. Even then, the gun in general was around the same height as him, if not even taller than him with the barrel touching the ground. He sighed at not having that much of a choice of the matter, especially after knowing the gun itself having more general firepower compared to a regular handgun whether it is customised to handle demons and the likes. He adjusted the position of it, allowing the gun to switch upside down with the handle of the gun to face the ground.

Placing the spectral blade for a second, the familiar sensation of the pull to his body was felt while he closed his eyes and opened it immediately to see the open area that was never changing unless required by the statue.

"To thou who has offered the blood of monsters, I shall provide my knowledge of war with a price of exchange."

Joshua nodded his head before pulling out the red orbs which began to fly towards the statue flying in the air. The pockets he had occupied with red orbs dissolved all at once when nearing the statue before the bright glims of orbs flew around him in a circle. "What's new?" He hummed as he looked through at the skills and techniques that was available.

Looking to the other side which compared to the bright orbs it contained, the orbs flew besides him in a colour of green with the skills and techniques he possessed. "That's different."

"The knowledge of war thou bares is provided in order for easier path of memory of what one already knows or learnt over their endeavour."

"Okay." He looked at his set of skills he currently had and raised a brow at the skill which he knew was not bought or obtained through the usage of the statue. "[Barrier Bullets]…" the ability he created using his own barrier magic as the key in creating it. Another was the current of electricity that was shown with an image of himself producing sparks to run down his arm to his sword. '[Electrokinesis]…' Looking back at the statue, he furrowed his brow at the skill. "What's this, was it related to that demon?"

"Thy skill was obtained through the defeated demon's soul being transferred onto thou. Abilities wielded by powerful demon when defeated perform an action of possessing another being to take hold." The green orb which contained the skill in question flew near his sight. "There are matter of miracles when one's willpower is stronger than the defeated soul as the common result which would only cause the power to be at the hand of the victor's."

Meaning the death of the demon caused it to try and possess him like that little girl he had tried to save. But, "it's still alive though." Joshua clarified about the demon he had beheaded.

"Demonic abilities vary, some may possess many souls that produce a set amount of chances when they near the time they will perish. A common skill used by higher class demonic beings." Sparks was produced unwillingly. He grit his teeth before forcing the sparks to simmer down with his command. "Such ability is not suitable for human usage at the current earlier stage."

"Earlier…stage?"

"The demonic soul which contain such ability is trying is take control of thy body. It is fortunate thou spirit is strong and will crush the soul for thy body to take hold of such pressure. A result which relates to one unlocking their magical abilities, if there is no sufficient result in completely taking over, the soul would simply lose their last spirit in certain terms."

Joshua perked up from the answer. Which meant the soul was trying to fight for control over his body as quickly as possible before it dies down completely. "How do I make it faster?" The answer was simple then, in order to prevent such a thing from constantly happen while he would be in a dire case of fighting off some demons. He asked for a solution to finish the soul completely.

"The process has already begun and thy body is becoming adapted to the soul's power, it is merely thou spirit in question of you can maintain control of thyself until it fully succumb to death. Overcome the pain and wield the ability for a higher chance of survival. The usage of such ability will increase the procedure of the soul dying, but the pain will continue to linger and increase in doing so as well. Although, if thou truly requires to reduce the soul's interruption a more harmless procedure, then…" a sudden price of red orbs was shown which caused the boy to widen his eyes in disbelief.

"That's too much!"

"A soul is spiritually immortal, such matter must be handled with care unless it destroy thy body rather than assist it."

Joshua clicked his teeth as the sparks vibrated across his body before vanishing as if trying to now force some sort of friendliness. He could care less since it was trying to take over his body this whole time. As if noticing that act did not work, the pain was back to normal. '…figures.'

Looking back at the skills that was available to purchase. "If I was to kill a demon with abilities. Will their soul try to possess me as well?"

"…when one's willpower has overcome the temptation of the soul of a powerful demon trying to take their will, the matter of such occurrence will rapidly deplete until only a mere itch will be the most accurate specification..." A slight pause before the statue continued to speak again, "demons gain power from human blood, such abilities also follow the same characteristics. That is why these ability will produce more power than it originally possesses."

An answer that wasn't really direct but was understood nevertheless. "So just because I'm human, the soul has more fight to it than it should, right?"

"…That is correct, however such matter will provide a boon when fully controlled. Do remember that this is an opportunity rather than disadvantages due to having unlocked thy magic core. Without such ability being unlocked, it would have simply led towards thou being possessed without a necessity to fight back."

"Then I should thank you for that then.

The method to enduring the pain and let it all out will be stupid but..." Allowing the sparks of lightning he had kept a slight hold on to not burst out, he let got freely as he noticed the blue shade of lightning began dancing around his body. The burn that he felt shocked his core and body whole and he shut it down immediately. "Yeah…not letting all of…it out…" he gasped as he felt the pain heal itself. Releasing a tiny amount of restraint, the sparks flickered every few seconds around the body.

It was a good thing he had only attempted it in the void where damage is healed no matter what kind was inflicted. The power didn't seem to use much of his energy than previously and the amount of pain he could endure was bearable with the amount he was allowing to leak out.

"Thou must be more intelligent in the coming future." The boy flushed a little before focusing back at the skill and ignoring the harsh gaze the statue bore onto him. He looked in surprise as he found a skill that looked to be suitable for different sets of movement. "I'll pick this skill."

The skill called [Barrier Platforms].

Consists of creating a barrier in order to have enough set of durability to stand on it for a millisecond. The skill was apparently a prototype of another skill which allowed another to jump further by creating a magical platform under their feet to spring them up further like a trampoline. The only difference is that the skill he was currently buying did not have such specifics but more of just getting a slight foot to step or even grab onto before shattering like glass.

It was a skill that looked to have only exist as a failure compared to the other. Nevertheless, the skill would allow an easier time just getting over the bridge if he thought about it.

"…thou have chosen a suitable skill for survival."

Joshua huffed in some sort of self appreciation for the compliment given by the statue before he started to practice the skill. The base of the technique wasn't that different to how he usually created his barriers but with the action of creating a platform to merely use in proceeding further ahead. In a way, it was more simpler to create than the actual bullets as well as the small spears due to the amount of durability it contained. It was too fragile and the feeing of it barrier cracking after just stepping onto one the size of a brick shattered a second before he made a new one. The skill looked to have an upgrade which increased the durability in general however.

"Thou lacks sufficient currency to upgrade such skill."

"Back to square one with the orbs then."

After practicing and getting the right amount of timing between each platforms, he nodded his head and gave the statue an affirmative to take him away from the void which it did.

"The act of providing power to was not meant for the uses of Human. Take precaution to heed my word for thou may lose yourself even further in the path of revenge…we shall meet again."

XXX

Opening his eyes as he get the shift of dimension over his body finish. He looked at his surroundings and nodded after noticing no sudden change to the scenery.

The boy ignored the waterfall and backtracked to the door he had entered only and entered the spinning disk like trap that was on each side. Before he could careful exit the narrow room, the sound of metal falling caused him to jump back as a gate closed from each side. "A trap?!" He brought out his gun as he saw the slight shift of the flaming hole from the side of wall shift. A demon clothed with a suit of armour to that of the medieval times and a large shield that covered its body. The shield had the design of a Lion's roar with spikes coming around the edges, spinning. The lance was held on its right hand as it began to hover towards him. What was bizarre was that the demon had no head to shoot at.

Joshua fired a bullet and watched as it blocked with its shield before the eyes of the Lion glowed red. His instincts was alert as the sound the shield's blades whirled faster than before. The demon thrusted the spear it healed towards him.

The boy was unable to move to the side unless he cut himself from the sawed disk. He brought out his arm pointed two fingers before a small brick shaped barrier came in between him and the demon as it blocked the lance quick enough to slide under it and aim at its back.

Joshua gritted his teeth as he covered his face while guarding with his arm, he created another layer of his barrier revealing a green tint to reveal around his body as the spear struck true to his body and pushing him to smack onto the closed gate. "Oof…" He groggily stood up while the demon proceeded to fly through the gate nonchalantly. Even though he prevented himself from being impaled, the barrier had slightly cracked showing the amount of force the demon had used even as the barrier repaired itself.

Turning around to face the demon, his eyes widened at the red gem that was behind it. "Definitely a weak spot." He grinned before readying his rifle and fired before the demon could turn around. The single shot caused him to slide back however, he was still able to stand with his legs buckled a little to handle the pressure.

The demon recoiled in pain and groaned as it flew down to crouch. Not taking the chance for the demon to recover, he brought out the spectral blade and thrusted it towards the gem in between the gap of the gate allowing the blade to just reach. It gasped and screamed while it began to dissipate into thin air with the red gem shattering into red crystal orbs.

"Guess even a demon's back is vulnerable like everyone else." He sighed, placing his blade back to the holster. Rubbing his stomach from the hit he took, he felt the throbbing pain still intact. "I have to be better…so this doesn't happen again." The reoccurring sparks danced around his body causing a slight static shock. The slight pain was increasing over time. "Shut up…" he felt as though the soul was trying more than usual. It could only mean that it was reaching the limit in fighting for control. Joshua grinned darkly as he took a sip of a vital star. "Hurt me as much as you want, I won't give up my body."

The gate began to pull itself up allowing him to escape the room and return back to the open area, The sub-ground water vein.

The demons with the blue spears and a single eyes were no where to be found in the open area which was bizarre on itself with how many there was just previously. Taking out his gun, he gave a calming breath before running towards the door. 'I knew it…' the sound of cracks from the area was head with the shriek of the common lesser demons with the scythes was heard from behind as he ran. Looking back and ready to fire to gain a further distance, he raised a brow at one of demons carrying a giant tomb while another carried a large ball which pulsed consistently. "That's new." Firing at the pulling object, he noticed it began to glow and move rapidly causing him to widen his eyes. "…is that a…" he didn't wait to find out as he began running faster.

The shrieks of the demon began to increase. It all immediately silenced with the feeling of heat and force push him face first to the floor. "Definitely a bomb." Luckily the demon blew up along with the other that was besides it.

Exhaling, he opened the door and met up with the Divinity Statue but did not interact with it as he knew there was currently no red orbs that he could use for purchase.

He looked back at the door with the room covered with cobwebs and touched his rifles "That giant spider probably wasn't the only one." Reading the rifle as he pushed the door open, the sound of pattering was heard with more than one giant spiders crawling down its web.

Before it could readjust itself to land on the floor with all of its legs, he fired and watch as the bullet penetrate its hardened legs and produce a hole between the eyes. "Really packs a punch." He jumped back as the last spider struck with its leg. Pulling the hammer of the gun back to restart his shot once more, he created a platform which he jumped at and aimed at its head while it charge at his previous position. The bullet was fatal causing it to shriek in pain as it hit the rear of its body and scurry away back up.

Having dropped down with the barrier breaking from the pressure. He pushed aside the rifle and pulled out his gun and fired to prevent it from running. The spider having ignored the damage it was inflicted continued to climb up before it felt with one leg being shot and break.

It's back was now parallel to the ground and Joshua immediately took the chance to continue firing his gun before the sound of its fry died along with it.

After having dealt the final blow, he picked up the red orbs that came from the dead carcass and left towards the door. He felt as though with sudden arrival of the demons that was more than usual, something was currently happening that was causing them to act up even more than usual. "There was never this much demons in those room the first time I went in those rooms."

Shaking his head, he waved of the weird actions of the demons and returned back to the bridge to see some difference. The path was removed and connects to another side. He peeked at the edge to the other side of the path to pull back as an object flew at a high velocity towards the topside of the wall he was next to. The wall gave a red glow of some sort before the gears under the bridge began to turn. "What just happened?"

"Huh, is that you kid?" Perking up from the familiar voice, he waited for the bridge to turn completely before walking to the middle and find see the Devil Hunter on the other side. "It is you. Well, would you look at that, you got yourself some new gear when after I left ya." He pointed at the rifle at hand with a grin as he held the side of the bar to look closer. He noticed the small flickers of sparks course around the body with the boy ignoring it. 'He seems to be handling the demon's soul better than others. What a kid…' he gave a short glimpse of approval which Joshua didn't notice.

"Were you the one who changed the direction?" Pointing at the bridge turning, Dante shrugged as he pointed to the tablet that was near the entrance of the door on the boy's side of the bridge.

"Trust me, I did a lot of work. I just had to get somethings from the other rooms to power this thing first." Indicating the glowing balls of red and blue from each side of the statue, holding onto it with their mouth, Joshua could only nod as he walked towards the template. He didn't really focus on the tablet previously however, the design was similar to the layout of the bridge being turned. "Just a helpful advice, reaching the top isn't going to stop the tower one bit."

Joshua looked back as he stretched his arms back and groaned. He could head a loud crack even with the distance they had. "And how would you know that?"

"I just got some info that says the tower has something like a control room to open up the demon realm."

?!

"The demon realm?! Wait…if it's a control room then that means you can also shut this whole thing down right?"

Returning back to the tablet, he tuned the panels which caused the bridge to turn as Dante began to walk to the door on his side. The bridge seemed to have a time limit before it can switch sides again using the tablet. Joshua began to walked to the other connected side of the bridge and wait as he watched the teen open the door and turn back to face him.

"Got it on one." He gave a thumbs up, "So you better hurry. I really don't like to wait around."

"Then don't wait for me and go. I'll be on the other side as soon as I can."

Dante gave a small shake of his head before giving a mock salute. "Roger that, Joshua." He picked something from his pocket before chucking it at the boy. "Take this, it'll help collect those red orbs autonomously without picking it up…and a little present to help you out if it gets too much."

Joshua huffed as he watched the guy leave after grabbing the pouch before he closed the door behind him as he waited for the bridge to turn the other side. He brought out a glass containing water and drank it. "It's gonna take a while to catch up." The item he just got was a pouch which felt empty and yet, looking inside showed a mass amount of red orbs that inside. "A magic pouch…should have guessed."

Seeing a small glint inside the pouch, he touched it "What's this…Argh…?!" He felt his chest thumb as if the feeling of his magic core or more importantly his heart was being squeezed in desperation. Was it the soul's doing? He grit his teeth as he pulled out the item that caused the reaction. It was a glass similar to that of a small football with the liquid inside being colourless like water and yet it glowed bright. He could feel the slight vibration and as he he brought it closer towards his chest, the sparks acted viciously in disdain. "…heh."

XXX

Although it was dark, the path was simply a straight walk forward which was blocked with lesser demons. Bringing out his sword from his back, he walked readied himself to strike down before hearing a large sound of hooves coming closer quickly.

The side of the narrow path had large fire pit which produced blue flames to reveal the path to be a large bridge while the being that shown to be a dark steed with blue flames as its mane began coming closer, attached to a large black carriage that had sharp spiked edges on each side along with the wheel.

It continued to charged towards him and collide with the demons with scythe that and stop after a few distance between them.

Dante could only chuckle at the demon not really carrying for its own kind. "Now that's what I call Horse Power." Said Horse neighed before glaring it's blue bright flaming eyes and target it's sight onto him. "A chicken race with a horse, huh? Fair enough…" tapping his boots, he cracked his neck while the demon horse raised his two front legs before charging at him. 'Bring it!'

XXX

Having waited for the bridge to be accessible once more, Joshua turned the tablet once more allowing the gears to turn and change the direction. He felt some sort of relief from the usual works that began to lose its voltage of pain it inflicted towards him when he merely brought it closer to himself. There was no lid to item to open the water that was inside but fortunately, there was an extra one just in case. "He's don't look like it, but he's reliable in things like this, he is a Demon Hunter so it should be expected." He muttered as he open the blue door he saw Dante had went through.

Entering inside, he encountered another Divinity Statue and a pathway besides it which led downwards. It was a stairway that went down far with the lack of light he could see. Returning his sight back to the statue and standing in front of it. "I wonder if I have enough to buy an upgrade for the bullets now…" he mused as he entered the void.