Here we are, the first chapter of the second book in what could likely be a really good series if everyone keeps following my stories that is.

I want to apologize for taking such a long time to post this story, I've just been under a lot of stress recently what with moving to college and being on my own for the first time. Because of that stress and anxiety, I wasn't able to get anything done. Sorry about that.

Anyway, been getting some mixed responses about the OC I have in mind for Nero. I've taken some time to think about it and well, my OC is less a parody of a character and more like I'm integrating that exact character into this story. So, the OC is not an OC any longer, she is her original character with all her traits and characteristics intact, just put into this story with minor changes to her background for plot convenience, as well as some minor changes to her equipment and weapons. So the trial pairing with Nero is Saeko Busujima and it might seem a bit random, but just hear me out for a second. I explained my reasoning to some very adamant fans of Nero X Artemis and they found my reasoning pretty good.

She's a lot of ways like Kyrie: caring, calm, genuine, understanding. However, there is the downside she is a little sadistic in a fight but for the most part, she is like Kyrie. The reason I'm even considering pairing them together is due to their views on love. Saeko, in the anime, believes she is unworthy of love due to her sadistic nature and that something that pure shouldn't be hers. As for Nero, I've shown that he is capable of falling of love, but he is scared of losing someone else again and so shut himself off from everyone, hence his withdrawn and rude personality thus far.

I believe that Saeko and Nero can help each other through their struggles. Nero being a demon was able to find love, so if someone like him can find love then so can Saeko. And Saeko's caring nature can help Nero no longer be afraid of losing someone he holds dear to himself. It's a give-and-receive relationship I'm going for between them if that happens.

Is that good enough?

Either way, Saeko will be coming to this story in about two to three chapters.

Anyway, moving on.

I'd like to apologize again for taking so long but I've been under a lot of stress with moving to college. So I haven't been able to write this story because of that stress. Anyway, I just want you all to know that updates may not happen very often or promptly. I'll try to get them to you as much as I can, but don't expect a chapter once a week. Also, this first chapter might be kinda shaky, as in it might not be my best work, but it's the best I can do with my current state of mind. While it might seem half baked, I don't want to keep you guys waiting any longer than I have to.

Also, I'm in the market for a new editor. My old one, while she helped me immensely through the first book has gone M.I.A. Haven't heard anything from her in months. So if you're reading this Mayday Maria, what happened? Where did you go? I'm not mad or upset or anything, I'm just confused, you suddenly just vanished after a while without any explanation. I'd gladly welcome you back Mayday, but I just want to know what happened.

Okay, that's all I have to say right now.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Rick Riordan owns Percy Jackson and Capcom owns Devil may Cry

Devil May Cry: Slayer's Return

Chapter 1: Visions and Visits

Montauk, Long Island, New York

1 week prior…

The plan had gone off without so much as a hitch.

Not only had they escaped the prison of the Demon World, but they had also displayed just how outclassed the Greek Pantheon and its precious heroes are to the power and savagery of Demonkind. If he was like his father, he might have taken the time to rub salt into the wounds of the gods, but he was not like him. No, he knew better than to allow his pride to get in the way of his plans, despite how much his demonic urges demanded him to do so. His resolve to succeed where his father and his brother failed. Berial was certainly powerful, conquering the Fire Hell was no small feat, but in his haste, he didn't form the necessary plan to deal with the likes of Dante or his nephew.

"Master, is there any reason we are leaving so soon?" asked one of his sins.

Excelsus looked back at the one who asked. The demon had taken a somewhat human form. The demon bore silver armor that had scale-like patterns all across the plating.

"There is, Valfalk," replied the Demon King, "But we must not allow our pride to blind us to our one true goal."

"You're the boss," conceded the demon as it folded its arms. It strangely had a South American accent, "But still, why run? They are defenseless."

Excelsus didn't even need to answer as a piercing shriek echoed from Camp Half-Blood in the distance. The King turned around to see an orb of pure demonic energy shoot into the sky before detonating in a blinding flash. Valfalk shielded his red eyes while Excelsus didn't even so much as squint from the intensity of the light. From the orb, came a massive shockwave of energy, one that was visible. It swept across the ground, causing trees to sway and wind to blow past them.

Excelsus narrowed his yellow eyes as he felt the power wash over him, however, a sadistic smirk formed behind his mask. It appears the boy had saved him some time. The Demon King began to chuckle lowly.

"Master?" asked Valfalk, "What was that?"

"That, my loyal follower, is the sounding of the horns of doom," replied the heir of Mundus.

"I'm not sure I understand."

"As you know, there are other pantheons in this world; not just the pagans or followers of God and other religions," elaborated Excelsus as he turned fully to face his minion, "but African, Armenian, Aztec, Buddhist, Berber, Canaanite, Chinese, Germanic, Guanche, Hindu, Incan, Jain, Japanese, Japanese Buddhist, Maya, Native American, Rigvedic, Slavic, Sumerian, and Yoruba. These are all pantheons that exist in this world. Each filled with their gods, goddesses, monsters, and demigods."

"What of them, Master?" asked Valfalk, not quite understanding his master's vision.

"We had escaped the Demon World to make the Human world our home, my dear Valfalk. To take what was promised by Kronos to my father; but the gods of each of these pantheons would no doubt try to resist, as he once did. I had intended to send a warning to each pantheon to not interfere with my plans," continued Excelsus as he looked to the sky and saw the energy wave was still going, "But it appears the boy's interference has saved us time. Soon all pantheons across this world shall know that the beasts which once attacked this world have returned, and Sparda is not there to save them this time."

"You seek to do battle with all the pantheons?" breathed Valfalk in shock at his master's ambition.

"Rest assured, I am not so foolish as to attack so soon with so few resources," finalized Excelsus as he held his hand out in front of him. In his palm, a miniature globe of the Earth appeared, "We shall go regroup and bide our time for the right moment; consolidate our power, build our forces, and when the time comes."

Excelsus's eyes flashed as the globe he was holding sudden burst into flames, "We shall begin our war. The War of Gods and Demons."

"What about Dante?" spoke up the Devil, causing Excelsus to glance back at his servant, "And the boy?"

"Yes," nodded the King, recalling those 'minor' individuals, "Dante and the boy will prove to be a challenge. But fret not, they will not impede our plans for some time."

"How do you know this, master?"

"I know this because I know how a god thinks," replied Excelsus, "I know how Zeus thinks and behaves. I have studied the history of this world and its legends. If the tales throughout history are of any proof to the arrogance and pride of the youngest son of Kronos, then Zeus will want justice for the wounding of his pride."

Excelsus looked down at the miniature burning Earth in his hands, "And if they by some miracle they reach a truce, even less an alliance, it won't matter then."

"The dawning of a new age is beginning in this world."

The Demon King brought the glove closer to his face, watching as the land burned and the oceans turned to blood.

"The reign of demonkind."

Sure enough, across the entire planet, the energy wave passed over everything; every town, city, state, and kept going. The wave could not be seen by mortal eyes, but deities and magical entities could instantly feel it.

The same Lamias, the one that Nero spared a few days ago felt the massive disturbance. She was currently in her human form at the edge of New York City. Her human form was extremely beautiful, with lightly tanned skin, a long snake tattoo went down her back and to her right leg, the head of the snake on her left shoulder. She had black hair that was tied into a bun with pins stuck in. She also wore some designer glasses that were missing the arms and just rested on her nose. Along with eyewear, she also had a pair of silver earrings. A red dress hugged her entire body and had a large hole cut into the chest, exposing a portion of her bust. She was currently sitting at a table in a coffee shop, not exactly a good place to hide from the gods but it served its purpose.

Not many demigods knew that this was the Lamia, one of Hectate's daughters and Queen of Libya, and the one that was cursed by Hera for her unknowing affair with Zeus. In response to the courtship, Hera killed her children, Altheia and Demetrius, and then Lamia was turned into a monster. While she was cursed, that didn't mean she could assume a human form, but only temporarily. Angered at the goddess, she used an incantation to allow all the monsters in the world to sense the taint of half-bloods so that they could always be found. Lamia did it out of spite so that Hera would finally understand her pain of losing her children after so many demigods have been killed. Over the years, she and a few other of her kind appeared and had run into the children of the gods, all with similar responses to her and her history.

Contempt.

Malice.

Mockery.

Scorn.

And ridicule.

That is until she met one.

The boy with the silver hair and red sword.

Ever since she ran into the demon hunter, she could stop thinking about him. Out of all the demigods she's faced, why was it that this one made her think more than the others? She couldn't understand it. Especially what he said to her before allowing her to flee.

'I've only seen two other demons cry and you're not like anything I've come across,' Nero's words echoed in her mind as she looked down and pondered.

"Why did you spare me?" spoke Lamia to herself. While the boy cut down her sisters(not by blood but suffered a similar fate from Hera) with ease, he only stopped when he saw she was crying: why? Why did her tears stop him from slicing her to pieces?

She looked at her hands for a moment before a distant boom caught her attention. Looking out the window, the mythical being stood up in surprise when she saw the wave of energy heading right towards her. The second the wave hit her, a feeling of dread exploded inside her body. Lamia gasped as she stumbled back and fell, starting some human customers.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" asked a waitress, taken by surprise when she collapsed.

"No, no I'm not," her words quivered as the feeling grew inside her. Along with dread came anguish, sorrow, panic, and terror.

Something was very wrong.

Lux Nightclub, Los Angeles, California

Nowhere in the world was safe as the wave swept across everything.

A small nightclub in LA was particularly affected. As soon as the wave passed over, a handful of people were affected, collapsing to the ground from the power that flowed through. The reason behind why multiple people fell to the ground was that this wasn't a normal nightclub, and its manager was far from normal himself.

Pulling himself up after nearly collapsing was a tall man, rough 6' 4". On top of being very tall, he was dashingly-handsome, a distinct charm seem to radiate from him, and he was last a dark-haired man with a model-like face and a muscular body.

"Now, there's something you don't expect to feel every day," quipped the man with a sophisticated RP English accent, which people usually find "charming."

"What just happened, Lucifer?" asked a waitress that came over to him, "Why did some people fall and the others didn't?"

"You mean to tell me that you didn't notice which of our guests were affected and which weren't?" asked the man now identified as Lucifer, almost condescendingly. The waitress gave him a confused look, prompting him to roll his eyes, "All the guests that were affected have mystical abilities."

Sure enough, the patrons that were affected did have distinct appearances. Ones that weren't suited to average humans.

"But what happened?" asked the waitress once more.

"'What happened?'" repeated Lucifer carefully as he adjusted his jacket, his expression turning somewhat darker.

"What happened was that the barrier between our worlds was broken," explained the man, reaching up to his neck with his right hand and ran his fingers down his skin. For a second, hideous scars appeared, going up from his jaw down, passed the collar of his shirt, "And some pests escaped."

Lucifer's eyes flashed red for a second, "Ones I'm all too familiar with."

Kiso Mountains, Japan

Even places like Japan were not spared.

High in the mountain range was a secret Japanese Shinto temple, however, it was far from a normal place of worship. There was a massive courtyard where dozens of people were gathered, all wearing similar clothing. They were all practicing sword swings with Bokkens, Japanese wooden swords that were made specifically for training.

Watching the warriors train were two people; one, a fully-grown man wearing predominately white robes and a blue vest, his face shadowed by a straw hat. However, these clothing had very special Japanese characters crafted sewn into the fabric, the fabric itself was made extremely well and more than likely cost a fortune. Due to the straw hat he wore, the man's eyes glowed bright blue. His arms were folded across his chest as he observed the progress of the next generation.

With him was a tall woman, about 5' 8.5", with long, straight and shiny purple hair, along with a triangular fringe at the front that barely touches the ridge of her nose. She had deep blue eyes, a rather large bust, and a light skin tone. She wore an untucked white blouse, a green untied tie hung loosely around the collar. The collar was flipped up with the top two buttons were undone, exposing her cleavage. The cuffs were rolled up to her elbows. She also wore black pants that were tucked into knee-high lace leather heeled boots. A green belt was strapped around her waist and was connected to a special harness that wrapped around her left thigh.

All was well when the wave of energy passed over the temple and the man suddenly groaned and collapsed to one knee.

"Lord Raiden!" gasped the girl as she rushed to the man's side, "What is wrong?"

"I... I have felt a terrible disturbance," replied the man as he stood up, but gladly accepted the aid of the girl. His hand still pressed to his temple, "Something sinister has just crossed into our world."

"What do you mean?" pressed the girl.

"An entity that was long thought vanquished, has made a return," replied Raiden, lowering his hand, his expression turning grim, "And I'm afraid we cannot face this threat alone."

Steeling his nerves he steadied himself, "I must speak with the other gods about this development. Saeko; but be prepared to depart at a moment's notice."

Saeko nodded, understanding that she must be ready. Raiden then raised his right hand into the air. From the sky, a bolt of lightning crashed down right into the palm of his hand. In a bright flash of electric blue, he vanished. When he was gone, the girl, looked out into the distance, noting that the sky seemed darker, and the shadows cast by the surrounding structures seemed longer.

She might not be a deity, but she didn't need to be to know that something was most seriously wrong.

Lowell Manor, Wisconsin

Three weeks later (Two weeks after the end of Godly Demon)...

Three weeks had passed since they escaped from Camp Half-Blood, but it was a hollow victory in the eyes of the ones who escaped.

Dante, Trish, Lady, and Nero all knew this was far from over; not with a devil, perhaps even more, and dozens of demons on the loss. The three veteran demon hunters had retreated to the Lowell Manor, figuring that they could lay low for a short period, agreeing that given what happened with the Greek Gods, they weren't done with them yet. Especially with Zeus's personality and history, he would hold them responsible.

"So, we heard anything yet about this, 'Excelsus' character?" asked Dante, arms folded as he leaned against the wall of an office where he, Trish, and Lady were speaking to Morrison who just got back after doing some research. In the office was a couch, an armchair where Lady was currently seated, Trish was on the opposite side of the room from Dante, her arms folded. At the center was a large, wooden, Victorian desk with a very comfortable looking chair behind it. Morrison was seated in said chair, a tired expression marring his face.

"Not so much as a peep, I'm afraid," sighed Morrison as he flipped his fedora in his hands, "You'd think that after the big display at the kid's family camp, he would've made a move by now."

"Not necessarily," interjected Trish as she walked across the room, "While most Devils are very proud, even arrogant, there are some that are more methodical in their approach."

"So, you're saying that this guy might be taking his time?" suggested Lady as she sat in a chair within the office.

"Normally, yes," nodded the blonde demon lady, however, she frowned touched her chin, her eyes narrowed slightly, "but based on what Nero has described him, I believe he is from a very small minority of devils from the Demon World."

"And that would be?" queried Dante, his own eyes narrowing slightly when he noticed Trish's expression change.

"The very few Devils that know exactly how powerful they are and do not let their pride blind them," answered the demoness as she sat down on the desk in the office, "They are possibly the most dangerous Devils in the Demon World."

"A demon minus the arrogance and the superiority complex," snorted Dante, "Still sounds like any old target we take on."

"Except this devil isn't like the others," stated Trish, her eyes hardening, "Excelsus is fully aware he isn't able to take you on by himself; which is why he gave us an ultimatum instead of fighting us. He plans and thinks, making him even more dangerous than any other devil."

"Even the big guy?" asked Lady, sitting back in the armchair.

"Mundus was calculating, but his ego could still affect his decisions," replied Trish, spitting out the name like a bad taste in her mouth, "Excelsus, he knows exactly where he stands in the world and he plans to move up through it carefully."

"Okay, so he's a smart demon," conceded Dante, holding his hands up in a placating gesture, "But do we know anything about this guy's history?"

"I've never heard of any demon named Excelsus," sighed Trish as she got off the desk and folded her arms, "If he is from the Demon World, he must've risen recently."

Dante let out a tired sigh as he closed his eyes while Lady looked off to the side. This wasn't very helpful. It was pretty clear that Excelsus posed a threat to the world and had plans to do a lot of harm in the future. While in the past Dante and the others had taken on demons with even less information, this was a devil that had all the power, maybe even more than most devils, but none of the arrogance.

This made him possibly even more dangerous than even the likes of Mundus, the Demon King of the Demon World.

If they were going to take on Excelsus, they needed more information, but right now, they needed to lay low. Hiding from Nero's newfound family.

"How's the kid doing by the way?" asked Morrison, fanning himself with his hat.

Trish looked down for a moment while Dante let out a tired sigh.

"Still mopping around," answered the Devil Hunter. While it sounded harsh, Dante was being sarcastic; ever since getting to the Manor, Nero had been withdrawn from everyone, well, more withdrawn than usual. Ever since finding out that Hestia was his mother and then blowing her off. They didn't need a degree in psychology to know that the kid regretted what he said to his mother that day, but they figured he'd be back to his old self at least by now.

"He hasn't come out of that room other than to eat or when nature calls," explained Lady as she leaned forward.

"He's also been sleeping more than usual," added Trish.

"Based on what you told me what happened, seems to me, the kid is trying to come to terms that he has a family outside Dante and his old man," noted Morrison.

"No," countered Dante as he glanced towards the door leading out of the room, "Something tells me it's more than just that."

They all knew what Nero was like; short-tempered, brash, emotional, but loyal to a fault for the ones he loved. He would move Heaven and Earth for someone he loved with all his heart. It's too bad that the one he loved was no longer with them.

"You think it has something to do with Kyrie?" asked Trish.

"I think it has something to do with who his mother is," replied the veteran Devil Hunter, "Plus all that happened afterward."

Nero's Room

He couldn't sleep.

Not with everything that happened, and what was happening.

The young demon hunter had a strained expression adorning his face as he laid on his back. Beads of sweat rolled down his face while images flashed through his mind rapidly. Nero gritted his teeth as a new batch of visions flowed through his mind.

*Dreamscape*

Within Nero's mind, the hunter stood in a fast misty area. The sky looked like the Milky Way Galaxy, hundreds of thousands of stars dotting the sky, however, it didn't matter to him as the demonic demigod fell to his hands and knees. His breath shallow and his skin extremely pale. Suddenly, the mist began to swirl around.

"Not again," groaned Nero as the images began once more.

The mist formed into shapes, almost like windows to different places on Earth. Around him, windows opened ways to major cities like Los Angeles in California to Miami, Florida. Other windows revealed places which Nero had never seen; like an isolated island in the middle of the ocean and based on the foliage, it was close to the Americas. The image closed in on a certain area of the island, a small village that appeared to be inhabited. The mist near the window began to swirl up and form two figures, one slightly taller than the other. The first figure was a short, frail old woman, with tan skin and deep, green eyes. She wears a white-colored knit cap on her head with bronze bells on each side, a dark green robe with white patterns encircling the wrists and base, and brown, open-toed sandals. Numerous bracelets are worn on her wrists, and a red, beaded sash is wrapped over her right shoulder. In her right hand is a unique staff, something that Hermes would carry.

The figure next to the first began to take shape as well, for a tall and lithe woman who was fairly attractive with tan skin. Her bright red hair was tied into a braid over her left shoulder. The most notable pieces of her wardrobe are her short, white cape and her exposed midriff. She also has deep emerald green eyes, which help accent both her tanned skin and bright red hair. She wears brown leather gloves that have a white lining, and various brown leather gear on her outfit: the holsters for her blades, the pouches for her throwing knives, as well as a series of leather clasps to help keep her cape in place. Her red hair, white cape, and grey top/pants are meant to mirror the color scheme of Dante. Her Red hair to go with his red cloak and her white cape/grey clothing meant to go with his silver hair.

'Well, what are you doing here, Son of Sparda,' spoke the elderly woman, pointing her staff at seemingly nothing.

'Dante, it's been a while,' greeted the redheaded woman with a small smile.

Nero gritted his teeth as he turned away.

"You're not real!" he snapped, getting to his feet, but to just fall right back down.

'Seems like we're all in quite the pinch with dark, wouldn't you agree hunter?' said an English voice, prompting Nero to look and see a new figure and new location. A small bar was shown in the window while its owner stood beside it, 'And I should know about dark forces.'

"Stop it!" groaned Nero as he held his head, feeling like it was going to burst.

'My orders take priority,' stated an almost emotionless voice. Before Nero was a sort of knight that didn't appear too far off from the Angelos that Agnus created. The main difference was the armor's color; being a bright ruby with armored plating hugging it's body while a silk cape wafted behind it. In its right hand was a sword, or at least the handle of one as a jet of fire shot out from the top of the handle. A window appeared behind the knight and revealed Fortuna to Nero. The former Holy Knight's eyes went wide when he saw his home and the home of Credo and Kyrie. The window then flashed forward, heading towards the far north end of the island and focused onto a single location. It was close to the Headquarters of the Order, but still out of the way that no one knew it existed. The window zoomed in further, passing through the hallways of the abandoned building, hallways Nero didn't even know existed and into a massive open chamber. It was easily the size of an Olympic swimming pool. In the middle of the chamber was a massive device, easily 50 feet tall, designed similarly to a rosebud. Three large arms rose up while unique patterns crossed the metal plating. A platform was placed in front of the device and in line with an arch that was built into the machine. The machine suddenly activated, the patterns lighting up while the three prongs started spinning rapidly and the archway burst into light. A silhouette appeared in the glowing arch as the machine spun faster. A cloaked figure that was about as tall as Dante, a silver cane in the owner's right hand.

'I cannot disobey my orders,' stated the knight as it entered a combat stance, 'Should I disobey, my consciousness shall be terminated.'

'I am sorry. You must die.'

The knight lunged at Nero, the Devil Hunter raised Devil Bringer to block the attack, but the knight burst into mist the second it struck his arm. The hunter a few times before he held his head again as another migraine erupted. He collapsed onto his back, curling up in a fetal position.

"Make it stop," he pleaded.

'This situation is direr than just the fate of one pantheon,' another voice spoke up. Behind Nero appeared Raiden, the hunter dragging himself to his knees.

Suddenly hundreds of images appeared in windows, Nero on his knees as he watched demons run rampant. He recognized Camp Half-Blood being attacked all over again, campers getting slaughtered left and right, and it wasn't just at the camp but across the world. Demons flooded the streets as innocent people were killed, torn apart in a gory mess. The next image displayed Excelsus, kicking down a set of golden doors. The demon at his full size entered the room where Nero saw the Greek gods taken completely off guard. The Devil held up Hades' helm before crushing and tossing it aside.

"Enough!" begged Nero as he couldn't take any more visions, "No more!"

Suddenly, all the windows vanished as did the figures until but one remained directly in front of him. It was a woman with purple hair and blue eyes.

'Do you believe in destiny, Nero?' she asked sincerely.

*End Dreamscape*

Nero shot up, panting rapidly as his body trembled in a cold sweat. He looked down at his hands, noticing that Devil Bringer's glow was slightly dimmer than what it used to be. It was then he noticed he was trembling, his breathing was shallow and he felt cold all over.

"What the hell's wrong with me?" he muttered to himself.

"Nero?" came a soft voice.

The hunter's attention snapped to the door where he saw Patty standing in the doorway, a tray in her hands. On it was a glass of orange juice and some food, however, it wasn't the food that had Nero's attention but the worried expression on the sixteen-year old's face.

"Hey Patty," greeted Nero tiredly as he rubbed his face with his left hand.

"I heard you groaning," said Patty as she approached the bed and set the tray down on the bedside table, "Are you okay?"

"Honestly, no," groaned the hunter, "Just found out who my mother is."

"Isn't that a good thing?" she asked. The hunter glanced at the young blonde for a second, thinking about it for a moment before letting out a tired sigh.

"Considering who the rest of her family is, maybe not," he replied with a downcast expression. He pissed off a lot of people in his life and he might have done the same with Zeus and the other Greek Gods.

Patty didn't know what to say for a few moments before she perked up slightly.

"Well, at least you know you have family outside of Dante," she pointed out, trying to be optimistic.

"That might not be a good thing," countered Nero as he removed the covers and got out of bed. He had discarded his jacket and stitched sweater but kept his pants and muscle shirt on. Quickly getting dressed, he picked up the tray and headed to the door, "Come on. Let's go say hi to the others."

Following him, Patty trailed after Nero around the large manor. It took a few minutes to find where Dante, Trish, Lady, and Morrison were, but they eventually found them.

"Look who's back from the dead," teased Dante, trying to lighten the mood.

"Piss off, Dante," snapped Nero sharply as he made his way to the desk.

"Are you okay, Nero?" asked Trish, noticing that Dante's nephew seemed very pale, "You don't look well."

"I'm fine," he replied briskly as Morrison relieved himself from the chair to let Nero sit down. The hunter sat the tray down and started to have his breakfast, "What'd I miss?"

"Not much," replied Lady as she stood up from her chair and headed to the side of the room, "As far as we know, Excelsus has all the power of a high tier devil but none of the ego."

"I could've told you that," muttered the hunter dryly, "In fact I did."

"Yeah, which is a problem," added Trish, "with such little info, we are at a serious disadvantage."

"Aren't we normally like that?" countered the youngish hunter, glancing at the lightning demoness.

"Not like this, Nero," elaborated Dante, "In the past, the intentions of a devil or demon were pretty straight forward: kill as many humans as possible and just generally do whatever the hell they want."

"How's that any different from this guy?" demanded the youngest heir of Sparda.

"This time, this demon is being careful," continued Morrison, fanning himself with his hat, "treating the situation like a chess game. Planning his next move, coming up with strategies to take us out. Heck, maybe even the Greek Gods now that he's got a taste for their kids."

Nero glanced down for a moment, recalling one of the visions he had in his mind. The slaughter of everyone and not just the Greek gods, but of every god. While not his main focus, he did catch some images out of the corner of his eyes of other possible deities, getting torn to shreds by Excelsus's forces. Nero didn't even notice the lightning flash outside the manor but he did notice the massive boom of thunder that echoed seemingly through the entire room. The youngest hunter shot to his feet while Dante, Trish, and Lady all snapped to focus.

From the light bulbs throughout the entire room, a bolt of electricity shot out and collected in the center. A sudden bright blue flash momentarily blinded everyone in the room. When the sudden brightness began to fade, Nero locked his attention onto whoever it was. So far, the only person he knew of that could control electricity, excluding Trish, was Zeus.

How did he find them?!

Did they make a mistake when they left New York and leave a trail for them to follow?

Any more questions halted when Nero saw that it wasn't at all Zeus, but rather two individuals. The hunter's eyes then went wide in shock as he got a clear look at who they were.

It was the man and woman from his vision!

"This goes beyond the fate of the Greek Pantheon," spoke up the being as his eyes glowed electric blue.

"Who the heck is this guy?" asked Dante incredulously.

"Allow me to introduce myself, Son of Sparda," began the man as he closed his right hand into a fist and brought to his open palm. Once both hands met, he bowed respectfully, "I am Raiden, Shinto God of Thunder."

Nero clenched Devil Bringer tightly at the sound of another god, given his experience with the Greeks, but a part of him said to hear the guy out.

"Okay, Raiden," spoke up Nero, saying the god's name harshly, "The hell are you doing here? Don't gods have other responsibilities?"

"Under normal circumstances, that would be true," replied the deity evenly, not even a tad bit offended when the hunter addressed him, "but I am here on behalf of the Shinto Pantheon."

"Didn't answer my question," retorted Nero sharply, "What are you doing here?"

The deity looked at the young man with a neutral expression before speaking.

"To help you save the world from the Demon King."

To Be Continued...