Thunder illuminated the dark and stormy sky.
It had been less than a minute since my arrival.
In that brief moment, I could tell that everything was wrong.
The view was familiar, although I was certain I had never seen this place before.
It was a cruel doubt. I knew something was wrong with the environment around me.
As if I were forgetting something of utmost importance.
But it was not only the environment that was out of place.
My clothes were too.
My casual outfit had been replaced by more refined garments.
Fingerless gloves on my hands.
My shirt had become a sleeveless black vest.
A long blue coat covered the black vest.
Black pants with tall leather boots.
This was not my outfit before coming to this place.
Yet I knew these clothes like the back of my hand.
They belonged to the same man whose abilities I had copied.
The same outfit he wore when he was young.
When he faced Dante.
His twin brother.
It had been an epic battle.
Torrential rain.
Thunder all around.
A fight atop a tower, overlooking the city.
A duel in a... similar setting.
— Temen-ni-gru!
The murmur escaped my thoughts.
I was in the damned Temen-ni-gru!
The profane tower that holds the portal to the world of demons!
That was why I had found the place so familiar.
At that moment of realization, a translucent screen appeared before me.
[Extreme Challenge]
● Challenge Name: Blood Ties
● Description: Face a destined battle.
● Main Requirement: Collect the other half of the "Perfect Amulet."
● Secondary Requirement: Assume the role of Vergil Sparda and defeat Dante.
● Failure Condition: Death.
● Location: Temen-ni-gru
● Difficulty: Vergil must die.
● Completion Reward: Awakening of the Demonic Trigger.
There was no way to complete this challenge.
Not with my current power.
Dante was simply a monster in combat.
Despite taking the place of the dark twin, nothing had changed except my outfit.
My body contained the same strength as before.
Truly an extreme challenge, where the chance of victory was null.
*Pitter-patter*
The sound of boots stepping on puddles approached.
Someone was coming from behind me.
I turned toward the entrance of the Temen-ni-gru.
A few meters ahead, someone like a mirror image stared back at me.
The same hair color and style.
The same features and eye color.
The same height.
Our differences?
Only our clothes.
A red coat over a bare chest.
On his shoulder, the black hilt of a sword was visible.
Black fingerless gloves.
Jeans and closed shoes.
The twin I had never met.
Dante Sparda.
— Where is the reception, brother? Not even a hug?
Dante opened his arms, as if he truly expected one.
But that was not true.
His voice overflowed with sarcasm.
The last thing he would ever want was a hug.
— Dante.
It was the only thing I could utter.
I did not know what to say.
I knew this man.
I had followed his journey.
I had witnessed his pain and battles through the years.
Yet, to me, in those days, it had been only a game.
Could I truly say that I knew him?
Probably not.
Just as Dante did not know me.
In his pupils, I could see a man with white hair and a blue coat.
He saw only the brother he had lost.
There was no "me" in the man he saw.
— Huh, so you still remember my name?
— I thought you had forgotten, Vergil. You do not send messages, you never show up at birthday parties...
A mocking smile filled Dante's face.
Mockery and sarcasm.
It was one of the few ways the young man before me knew how to express pain.
There was another way he used as well.
Dante reached behind his back and drew a pair of pistols.
One black, the other silver.
Both aimed in my direction.
Violence.
That was the third method Dante used to vent his emotions.
— Forgive me, Dante. I do not usually remember irrelevant matters.
A faint smile appeared on his mocking expression.
Sarcasm was a game we both could play.
— I am offended, brother. Is this also irrelevant?
Dante lifted the necklace around his neck with the barrel of his pistol.
The red jewel on the amulet gleamed, even without light.
The goal of my mission.
The only thing that separated us was distance.
No.
That was not right.
There was also the half-demon before me, the one who guarded the jewel.
The true challenge of this place.
Yet I only needed to obtain half of the Perfect Amulet.
Facing him could still be avoided. Possibly.
Was there still hope for negotiation?
— If I ask nicely, will you give me the amulet?
His eyes widened in surprise.
However, he scratched his chin with the pistol, as if he were considering it.
Hope rose in my heart.
Negotiation was not impossible!
— Hmm... if you do five somersaults and then kneel, the necklace is yours.
A mischievous smile spread across the silver-haired demon's face after such an outrage.
...
Negotiation would not be possible.
— That will not happen, Dante.
— I figured as much, Vergil!
His fingers rested on the triggers after his retort.
Combat would be inevitable.
However, if fighting was my only option...
I wanted to do it my way.
Not as Vergil Sparda.
In this fight, I wanted to be *myself*.
Even if it was something small.
I could not change my hair back to black.
But I could make a small — yet significant — change.
I raised my hand to my shoulder and grabbed the blue coat.
Dante raised an eyebrow in doubt.
I ignored him.
With force, I tore off the coat and threw it upward.
It spun through the air, carried gently by the wind.
Straight to the back of the tower.
Raindrops ran down my now bare arms.
This time, I was not like Vergil Sparda.
It was a minimal change, but not an insignificant one.
For I felt as if a weight had left along with the coat.
I was ready to fight.
I dragged my right foot back.
Both legs slightly bent.
I raised both arms.
My right fist close to my chin.
My left fist near my waist.
I focused my demonic energy, and my call was answered.
Waves of power filled my body as the form of Beowulf adorned my fists and legs.
For a brief moment, only the sound of the storm echoed.
Dante and I stared at each other, ready for the inevitable duel.
My twin's smile widened with wild joy.
— Lets dance!
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
The first shots shattered the stormy night.