High School DxD: Scattered Cherry Blossoms

"Did you kill him?" Lady asked with a pointed stare at Dante.

"So what if I did?" Dante asked in return.

In response, Lady drew her pistol and aimed it at Dante. With the flames of anger burning in her eyes, she began to speak.

"That man... that man stole everything that I held dear." Lady shouted in agitation. "That man, my father, not only killed his wife, but he's also taken the lives of so many innocent people!"

"So, it's a family issue." Dante thought aloud.

Overhearing Dante's murmurs Lady began shooting. Dante dodged her gunfire effortlessly, increasing her anger with every missed shot.

"What would a devil like you know about family!?" Lady shouted in anger as she stopped firing.

Instead of antagonizing her further, Dante decided to keep quiet. Seeing the pain of loss in her eyes, Dante could relate. While remembering the day he lost his mother he continued to watch her in silence. Eventually, Lady turned away.

"Just go." Lady said dejectedly.

With that, Dante made his way in the same direction as Vergil.

At the same time in the ritual room, Vergil was confronting the guardian with the wings of light. As the guardian kicked off the ground and charged forward, Vergil drew his sword. With one slash, the guardian was slashed from head to crotch.

"That sword... You're not the same one." the guardian said. Damn it! Sparda has two sons."

As his words finished, the guardian began to split in half. AS the two pieces of the corpse fell to the floor, Vergil raised his hand causing a glowing sphere to rise from the slain guardian's body. Once Vergil took it in hand, it transformed into a set of gauntlets and grieves emitting light. Testing their power, Vergil struck the wall causing sizeable cracks in the structure. Satisfied with their strength, Vergil released the [Devil Arm] and waited for Dante's arrival.

"To open the seal, the blood of Sparda or his kin is necessary." Vergil said as he gazed at the entrance. "Well, using Dante's blood should be enough."

Back in the chamber, Arkham, lying on the ground, opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. Once he caught sight of Lady he spoke with labored breaths.

"Mary? Is that you?" Arkham asked with uncertainty. "Where is your mother?"

Once again Lady drew her pistol, this time aiming it at Arkham.

"How dare you!?" Lady roared in anger. "You killed her, and now you ask where she is."

I... Killed her?" Arkham said with confusion, then as if remembering his actions in the past he continued. "That's right, I killed her with my own hands. I was not strong enough to resist his influence."

With her eyes opened wide, Lady responded to her father's murmurs.

"Influence? Are you saying you were possessed?"

"Yes, I fell under that devil's influence. He wants to release hell upon this world." Arkham said weakly. "That devil, Vergil..."

Shortly after his last words, Arkham fell unconscious again, breathing shallowly.

Holstering her pistol, Lady clenched her fists in rage.

"Vergil, I'll kill you for destroying my family."

Meanwhile, Dante was passing through the final corridor leading to the ritual room. Once he entered, he spotted Vergil immediately and began to speak.

"Brother, I believe you have something that belongs to me." Dante said calmly. "I think it's time you gave it back."

"Oh, you mean this?" Vergil said as he pulled Dante's amulet from the inside pocket of his trench coat. "You know Mother gave each of us one half of the whole amulet, right? Do you even know the true use for this amulet?"

"That doesn't matter." Dante said with a bit of irritation after seeing his half of the amulet. "That's all I have left of Mother, and I won't allow anyone to take it from me, especially not you."

"My foolish little brother." Vergil said as he placed the amulet back in the inner pocket of his trench coat. "Come and take it back. If you can that is."

As Vergil's words ended, He manifested his new [Devil Arm]. With the gauntlets and grieves covering his arms and legs, Vergil took a fighting stance.

"We'll see about that." Dante said in response as he drew Agni and Rudra in a reverse grip.

Taking his own fighting stance, Dante eventually rushed towards Vergil. As Dante kicked off, Vergil followed shortly after. Closing the distance quickly, Vergil launched a right straight, which Dante deflected with Rudra in his left hand. He then returned an upward slash with Agni, which Vergil parried with his left arm then launched a kick to Dante's jaw. With the kick landing, Dante was staggered, and a bit of blood trickled out of his mouth. With Dante staggered, Vergil took advantage and threw several punches into Dante's torso, causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood. Following the punches, Vergil landed a kick to Dante's abdomen, which sent him flying.

When Dante landed on the floor after taking that kick, he stood up quickly. Rushing back into close quarters with Vergil, he thrust Agni at Vergil's chest. Side stepping the thrust, Vergil, threw a right hook, which Dante avoided by ducking under it. Crossing Agni and Rudra, Dante left a cross-shaped slash on Vergil's chest. Following up with a kick, Vergil, like Dante before, was sent flying.

Standing slowly after slamming into the ground as a result of Dante's kick, Vergil released his [Devil Arm] then drew his katana. Seeing this, Dante also swapped weapons from Agni and Rudra to Rebellion. Once the two were holding their weapons of choice, they dashed at each other again. Dante began his offensive with a downward slash, which Vergil parried with the side of his blade. Once Dante's blade was cleared, Vergil slid his own down Rebellions blade, attempting to cut one of Dante's wrists. Dante reacted by releasing the hilt and drawing one of his pistols with the hand Vergil was targeting. He then fired several shots, causing Vergil to give up on his attack and deflect the bullets with his blade.

"It would seem you've improved since the last time we fought." Vergil said, once there was some distance between them. "Does that mean you've finally awakened it?"

With that, Vergil began emitting stronger pressure as his eyes began glowing red and cracks appeared on his arms and legs. Dante, seeing Vergil's state, activated his own [Devil Trigger]. Then in a blur, the two dashed at each other and began to exchange sword strikes at a much higher speed than before. Each taking damage and spilling blood. As they both reached the limits their body could handle due to the high intensity combat and damage taken, their [Devil Trigger] states began to fade. As they both returned to normal, Lady entered the room. Seeing the unfamiliar man with the familiar face, she pointed her guns, a pistol and a submachine gun in Vergil's direction.

"For manipulating my father and destroying my family, I'll kill you!" Lady shouted as she opened fire.

"What do you think you're doing?" Dante shouted as Lady opened fire on Vergil.

Dodging the incoming hail of bullets, Vergil closed in on Lady and swung his blade. With Vergil so close, Lady halted her gunfire and crossed the two guns in her hands in front of her to block Vergil's slash.

"Your father? Arkham?" Vergil asked in amusement. "Did he tell you I manipulated him?"

Without waiting for a response, Vergil kicked Lady away. Once she regained her footing, the battle quickly devolved into a three-way free for all. With sword slashes and flying bullets, small cuts and trickles of blood began to appear on the bodies of the three combatants. Eventually they all took their distance to regain some of their stamina. At that moment, a man in a clown mask, Jester, entered the ritual site. Mockingly applauding the three, Jester made his way to the center of the confrontation.

"That was spectacular." Jester said, still clapping his hands. "So very impressive."

"it's you again." Dante said in annoyance.

"Who the hell are you?" Lady asked in confusion.

"So, you're still alive." Vergil said with disdain. "I'll have to fix that."

Vergil then dashed at Jester while slashing his sword. Jester, however, had his attention on Lady and without looking in Vergil's direction, he clapped the blade between his palms. Stopping it in place.

"Oh, Mary, you have forgotten your dear papa so soon? That truly pains me." Jester said in mock sadness. He then turned his attention to Vergil and said. "That battle must have taken a lot out of you. You should be able to split me in half with no problem."

Jester's mask then began to fade. In its place, Arkham's face could be seen.

"I do need to thank you, though." Arkham said with a smile. "Thank you for gathering everything I need to complete my plan."

"Your plan?" Lady asked harshly. "So, you were lying to me about being possessed!?"

With that, Lady charged toward Arkham and Dante followed soon after.

"Ahh hahaha!!!" Jester began laughing uproariously when Dante and Lady approached. "Now everything is perfect."

At that moment, A blast of demonic energy sent Dante, Vergil, and Lady flying. That demonic energy was surprisingly produced by Arkham, a human. Using forbidden rituals, Arkham managed to assimilate a large amount of demonic energy into his system with the sacrifice of many innocent humans.

With the demonic energy shocking their systems, neither Dante nor Vergil could regenerate their injuries quickly. Using this opportunity, Arkham made his way over to Vergil. Then reaching into his trench coat's inner pocket, he retrieved the two halves of the amulet Dante and Vergil kept with them.

"Now, everything is gathered. I will make Sparda's power mine." Arkham said in glee. "You did a great job gathering most of the materials needed to open the seal between the Human world and the land of the dead, Vergil."

With the severity of his injuries, Vergil could only glare at Arkham in fury.

"I told you about the blood of the sons of Sparda and the two halves of the amulet. But there was one thing I neglected to tell you." Arkham said as he made his way to Lady's side. He then pulled the large multipurpose weapon off her back and pointed the bladed end down at her now exposed back. "The last thing necessary to open the seal is the blood of a descendant of the priestess who sacrificed her life to help Sparda seal the pathway."

Once his words ended, Arkham plunged the blade through Lady's back, nailing her to the floor and spilling her blood in copious amounts. In too much pain to even scream, Lady could feel her consciousness fading.

"Now, everything is prepared." Arkham said as he raised the two halves of the amulet and prepared to combine them. "Now, with Sparda's power, I will become a god."

"Sorry, we can't have that." Said a voice from behind Arkham.

As that voice was heard, a thin red line appeared on Arkham's neck. As he tried to turn his head to see who was interrupting him, Arkham's head slipped off his neck and fell to the floor.

"*Sigh* I still had to clean up the mess in the end." James said as he stepped towards Arkham's headless corpse and retrieved the two amulets.

He then held them up in Dante's direction. An action asking which belonged to him. Weakly, Dante pointed to the one in James' left hand. James then tossed it to Dante, who somehow managed to catch it. He then tossed the other one to Vergil and then started speaking.

"That's something your mother gave you. Cherish it." James said solemnly. "Oh, and you can go. I know that sword, Yamato, can cut through dimensions. Use it, and wherever you end up, that's not my problem."

Surprised that James knew about the secret of his sword, Vergil mustered his remaining strength to stand. When he was on his feet, he swung Yamato, tearing a hole in space in the process. Before jumping through, he spoke to Dante.

"This isn't over, Father's power will be mine."

Instead of Dante, James was the one who answered.

"Well, you'd better think of another way." James said nonchalantly. "I'll be reporting this whole incident to the Four Great Satans, so access to the Temen-ni-gru will be heavily restricted."

Grunting in annoyance, Vergil jumped into the tear in space. Once he was gone, the tear slowly closed on its own.

"Now, I need to do something about her, I guess." James said as he turned his attention to Lady, who was dangerously close to bleeding out.

Walking to her side, James removed the blade from Lady's body, then tossed the multipurpose weapon aside. Crouching down next to her, James began to speak.

"If you don't want to die, I can keep you alive." James said, beginning an explanation. "The catch is you'll cease to be human."

James then proceeded to explain the [Evil Piece] system and the pros and cons of becoming a part of his peerage. He then offered her the same terms as he did to Dante, minus her own shop. She would be working out of Dante's soon to be open shop.

With her hazy consciousness, Lady listened to James' explanation and agreed. Although James was unsure if she was conscious of her decision. Either way, as she agreed, James extended his right hand toward her, and two [Pawn Pieces] appeared floating above it.

"Your power and potential are impressive for a normal human." James said as he pressed the two [Pawns into her body.

With that, Lady's injuries began to heal rapidly. Dante also recovered enough to stand and made his way over to James and Lady.

"I would have been able to handle that guy if you gave me a little more time." Dante complained.

"I don't doubt that." James said to Dante's surprise. "But the pathway to the land of the dead would have opened completely. Even if only for a short while, the chaos that would have caused in the Human World would have been disgusting."

Dante nodded in agreement, still sour about the way everything ended.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure we'll see Vergil again. You can settle the score with him then." James said, patting Dante on his shoulder. "Now let's get out of here. I wanna take a shower."

And with that, James created a teleportation circle and brought himself, Dante, and Lady back to the Alaverus estate.

===Three weeks later===

Human World, Japan, Kuoh

In these three weeks, the new addition to James' peerage, Lady, assimilated into the group and would be patrolling with Cu Chulainn as the two of them had the shortest detection ranges amongst James' peerage. Also, everyone passed the entrance exams. With Sona, James, and Tsubaki ranking first second and third respectively among the incoming student group. Rias and Akeno ranked fifth and sixth place, respectively. Overall, the group made a very good showing.

Today is the grand opening for Dante's devil hunter/private investigator shop. Over the three weeks since it was damaged, the shop has been repaired as good as new. At that moment, James, Dante, and Lady were seated in the shop.

"So, have you guys come up with a name for this place?" James asked.

"Well, he did." Lady replied, clearly unhappy with Dante's naming sense.

"Oh, so what is it?" James asked

"Devil May Cry." Dante answered with pride. "The neon sign should be installed later today."

'Yup, I saw that coming...' James thought to himself.