The Calm Before The Storm

Sitting on a wooden bench at the core of Seoul, Dante was there drinking tea from a plastic cup and eating on an aluminum plate.

Getting my money was refreshing. Refreshing because I could now buy what I wanted without having to ask Soohyun. I had transferred all my money to my new bank account.

The people whom I had caught yesterday were all dead. Well that is after I had them make everything I wanted. Though I did keep one of them alive since I wanted information whenever I wanted to.

The man unfortunately tried to snitch on me and Shadow who was hiding in his... well shadow killed him.

But that all happened yesterday. With everything in my hands now, I can just relax drink my tea and eat my uuhhh...

I looked up and saw a guy pass by. "Hello sir. May I know the name of this food." I asked him.

He turned around. "Oh it's called tteokbokki."

"Duck... boki? Is there like duck skin on it or what?"

"It's actually made of sticky rice."

"Huh. The more you know. Well thank you for the info."

"You're very welcome." He bowed and then left.

Koreans are surprisingly nice. And their street food is off the charts. Still like Japanese food but this is good. The Korean culture is much more exciting to learn than that of Japan. Well it's maybe because I'm originally japanese and I like foreign countries.

But I wasn't here to mess around. I finished my food and left going towards a rural area. Opening my system, I looked at one particular item.

[Name: Dante

Race: Half Human/Demon Compatibility 17.9% (Disguised Human)

Gender: Male

Items: Ebony & Ivory, Dante's Outfit, Red Queen, Nero's Headphones, Kyrie's Angelic Necklace, V's Book, Jester's Mask, Devil Arm Nevan, Devil Sword Sparda

Skill: Vergil's Motivation, Dante's Flamboyance, Trish' Lightning, Angelo]

The Devil Sword Sparda. I looked around and saw no one in my line of view. I smirked as I brought out the sword.

A demonic sword that looked like it had flesh on it appeared in front of me. It's blade was curved like that of a katana but it's size and length were more like a great sword. On its back, it had bones popping out of it that looked like a spine and in its flesh it had gems ranging from red to green. The handle looked like bones wrapped around a cloth.

"Let's see how much I can awaken this time." I said and grabbed the handle.

The moment I made contact with it, I felt power flowing through me. It was like all my senses multiplied and my muscles contracted. The sword felt as if it was trying to open my skin as my blood felt like molten lava.

[Contact with 'Devil Sword Sparda' has been confirmed.]

[Awakening process has begun. Human/Demon Compatibility will rise.]

[Pain receptors has been enhanced by 2000%.]

[Warning: Prepare yourself.]

When I had awakened with the necklace, I was hit with pain as well but the system never said anything about making my pain receptors higher. And this was the first time that it had warned me.

[Human/Demon Compatibility 19.2%]

It hurts a lot.

[Human/Demon Compatibility 23.4%]

Around me, flames began appearing around me.

[Human/Demon Compatibility 25.7%]

I can feel it...

[Human/Demon Compatibility 28.5%]

I'm losing control-

[Human/Demon Compatibility 31.6%]

I grabbed Sparda with both my hands and lifted it while gritting my teeth. This was far worse than I expected. The sword was resonating with me. I could feel its power.

[Human/Demon Compatibility 36.1%]

This was it. My skin was slowly being cut as blood began seeping out of my body. My entire being was beginning to glow in an orange light. My eyes reddened like a monster.

[Human/Demon Compatibility has stopped rising at 43.5%]

I couldn't hold it in and let go of it. Power burst everywhere. The buildings around me were blown by the wind and the people near there ran away in fear. A loud roar flew out of my mouth as everyone in the area cowered or drop down because of how much mana I was releasing.

[Congratulations host. You can get stronger.]

Oh, I know. And you'll be helping me. I looked at myself ignoring the screams and cries outside. I didn't turn into a demon like I expected it to. I have no Devil Trigger even when I gained this weapon.

Which was very disappointing.

So I did what every DMC fan would do in this situation.

I grabbed the sword's handle and turned the weapon to face me.

With that, I stabbed myself in my chest. After so much pain, this was the most bearable part.

"C'mon! Work!" I rammed it in deeper in my stomach but nothing worked. Was it because the compatibility wasn't enough? That was the only reason. I could feel the sword calling for me but I wasn't good enough. Not Strong enough.

"I was going to disguise this event as a monster attack but I can't even transform with Devil Trigger." I pulled out a Jester mask and put it on.

"Oh well, necessity is the mother of creation."

My appearance slowly changed into a demon. My original demon form that I had when entering this world. It resembled the form of Sparda. It was a shame I could not tap into that power because of the compatibility but for now it was enough.

I had become an insectoid monster with clawed hand, scaly hide, a pair of downward-facing ram horns and hooves for feet. Parts of my body appeared to be made of greyscales with accents of red and purple.

Gold veins on my hands over my body and a red diamond eye shaped gem in the center of his forehead with a pair of small horns. I wore a coat pair of curled up semi-chiropteran wings with each divided into three segments.

When I breathed in, smoke would come out of my mouth as fire was in my body. I smirked when sensing people coming to my direction.

"Let the show begin."

["^_(9^ 1§{€2£¥7$}8%->4@*#'6~'...\!?04@*#'6~'...\!?0]

At the other side of the city, there was a meeting between all active S-rank hunters at the Korean Hunter Association. Go Gunhee had brought them here to talk about the Jeju Island ants that they had studied.

"Right now, we need to start making plans." Go Gunhee said as he sat down. Looking up, he could see the five S-rank hunters of Korea.

Baek Yoonho of the White Tiger Guild.

Choi Jong-In of the Hunters Guild.

Chae Hae-In of the Hunters Guild.

Lim Tae-Gyu of the Fiend Guild. Lim is a young man with shaggy black hair and a small goatee while wearing a black tux.

Lastly was Ma Dongwook of the Fame Guild. Ma is a burly middle-aged man with bushy black hair, thick eyebrows, and sloppy facial hair. He had a giant build dwarfing all Hunters present.

Gunhee continued on with his presentation as a screen was brought up showing all of the ants that they have witnessed. "After our analyst looked into the ant corpses that the Hunters, White Tiger and Knights Guild brought us. We have compared those with the ones we had in the past. From our failed raids of Jeju Island."

Everyone had a grim expression when they heard the word 'failed'. This island had brought so many deaths to their Guilds and the Korean population that just hearing about it felt uncomfortable.

"The ants have been growing in a speed unprecedented. And worst, they have begun developing wings. Although their wings aren't used for long distance travel, it is only a matter of time that it develops into one."

"Should we evacuate the population at the cost of the Island? Doing so may save dozens if not hundreds of lives." Baek suggested.

"I agree. These ants are unpredictable. We should be as careful as possible and take that risk." Choi Jong-In said. "But that still doesn't solve the main issue. We need to take care of these ants. Fast. We, Koreans, don't have enough power to deal with them though. I don't want another failed raid on that island."

Ma Dongwook sighed. "The problem is that we have asked other countries for assistance before but none have come. Even the Americans abandoned us as they didn't want to take the risk. No other country will follow us."

Lim Tae-Gyu had a proposition. "Maybe we should ask Japan? They're near us and having ants take us over will have them at risk."

Hearing this, Go Gunhee frowned. "Japan... their government has been eyeing us for a long time. They've been lightly harassing us but not in public. Should we really place our trust and lives to them?"

He shook his head. "It was just a suggestion, Chairman. But we may have to ask them for help in the future."

They continued with suggestions and ideas but none had a great one which solved all of the problems. The only one who wasn't speaking was Cha Hae-In. She was the least experienced in these type of things and she trusted Choi Jong-In more than herself in politics.

Cha Hae-In who was in her thoughts. 'I've never been to Jeju Island before but I say the raids before being an awakened. So many people died and I heard one of the S-rank hunters named Eunseok died as well. This will be horrible for everyone.'

That was when everyone in the room stood up. They felt something in the distance. The presence of a powerful monster.

Choi Jong-In lifted up his glasses as he opened his suitcase with his armor inside. "A monster? Was there a dungeon break?"

"Doesn't matter, let's go now before casualties appear." Ma Dongwook said as he slammed his fist together.

Baek who was fully transformed widened his eyes. "It's a monster but that's not it. That's the same monster we fought near the island of Jeju Island!"

"What?" Choi stood up in surprise. "Are you sure? Didn't we kill that damn thing."

Chae Hae-In took out her armor and sword and wore them. "It doesn't matter! We have to go now. Before it's too late."