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The air inside Fortuna castle was already somewhat damp and heavy, but it was even worse once you reached the underground lab facility. There was a feeling of impending doom, as if the machinery that adorned the walls was about to blow up and the ceiling was about to collapse. "Gloria" - as Trish named herself while she worked as an undercover member of the Order of the Sword - made her way with confidence, her high heels emitting a loud clacking sound on the steel beneath her feet at every step. She had to fight the occasional demon, rampant as they were in the area, but they hardly posed a threat. She was perhaps a bit more wary of encountering the head scientist of the Order, the infamous Agnus. There was something about the man that she found oddly repulsive - compared to his demonic form, a moth-like so-called "angel", with buzzing wings, faceted eyes and fur and claws. Well, she was a demon herself after all, and she had a keen affection for monstrous beings.
She frowned as she thought about the hunched, cunning, grinning scientist who spent most of his time inside this dreary, gloomy facility, coming up with horrific experiments of an unknown nature, and conducting them in a manner she would most likely find even more disgusting. But that was the point - she was not sure what Agnus was actually doing down in the underground lab. She had only lightly heard about his work, and had not yet been informed of all the darkest activities that the Order delved into.
"Oh, yes," those insufferable generals would start to explain, "Agnus has found a way to harverst Sparda's power and now he can create the Bianco Angelo, our very own army of angels!"
But they'd never really go into the details, and Gloria suspected that it was either because they had barely any idea how the whole thing worked, or because they did not yet trust her enough to tell. She did understand that by the looks she'd receive - she was not really welcome among the Order.
Gloria kicked another demon and sent it crashing into a wall, eliminating the last obstacle between her and the door that lead to the next room. She was close now, and as she passed through, she heard the heavy machinery working, steam fissing and cogs grinding behind the walls. She scanned her surroundings, making sure she couldn't be seen or heard, and glid like a snake amidst the corridors. She actually managed to sneak in the tunnels once she confirmed that neither Agnus or his subordinates were running any experiments, and thus was fairly certain she wouldn't encounter any tiresome, suspecting Holy Knight that could oppose her investigation in any way. She was aware of her status as a stranger to the Order and thus, took every precaution in order to gather the precious intel she and Dante so needed.
Eventually she reached a large room, one that seemed to be the heart of the facility. She froze, immediately feeling the daunting vibe the place gave off. Trish was a Hell-spawn devil - but this room felt like a different kind of horrible. The first thing she noticed was the dim, yellowish light that glowed from several devices and contraptions she couldn't identify yet. Her eyes darted around the machinery-filled laboratory and she noticed what appeared to be cages of varying sizes, containing some other strange luminous shapes of an unkown nature. A staggering number of pipes ran through the room, even moreso than in the other nearby corridors, and steam came out of some of them in bursts. And then she heard a moan.
She furrowed her fringe-covered brow and looked around, searching for the source of the cries, which she was sure came from a human and certainly not another one of the demons she had keep running into so far. Without a sound, she drew near one of the corners of the room, walking towards a trio of cages which were connected by some tubes to a circular contraption hovering omninously above them, like some sort of chandelier, highly reminiscent of a torture device. On the floor was a rusty platform, about the same size as the iron ring connected to the cages. It slowly vibrated, emitting a deep, inaudible low sound as it did. Trish frowned as she felt the strength of the mysterious power that flowed inside the tubes, yellow flames rising from the cages and to the metallic ring above, and she noticed that this energy was actually being harvested from the beings inside the sturdy cages - three knights. Three human knights, wearing the same uniform as the soldiers she met on her rounds as an executive of the Order. The characteristic Fortunian hood, and white robes. Their bodies contorted slowly as their life energy was sucked out.
What exactly was the meaning of this?
High heels clicked against the cold metal floor as the spy paced staring at them, confused, mouth slightly agape.
To think the Order was using their own knights as mere guinea pigs, as livestock to harvest souls felt preposterous - but it was to be expected after all, Gloria thought with a cynical smirk. Of course, how else could they obtain that much power in order to make those armored super-soldiers come to life? So it turned out Agnus and his subordinates thought well to throw their underlings - other human beings - inside iron cages, and absorbed their essence with a nightmarish machine, without batting an eyelash. She couldn't repress an amused chuckle, shaking her head at the thought of that revered scientist sacrificing his colleagues to create demons in their stead.
What a joke!
She shot a detached glance at the poor sods, the victims of the Order they so revered, withering away and floating eerily behind the bars, already resembling lifeless ghosts. She guessed they were as good as dead and walked away, focusing on the tubes and pipes that connected the extraction device to the other machines in the room. As she progressed, she felt the demonic power of lesser demons running through the pipes as well, and she deduced that both human and demon souls had to be gathered and united together.
The blonde demon found herself drawn towards another cage which contained pieces of an armor floating about, turning in the air like they were part of a sinister magic trick. The souls apparently provided fuel for these armor parts, and aimed to give life to the fake angelic demon soldiers that Agnus and the others were so proud of. She understood the gist of the process, but there was another step, it seemed, that involved yet another cage, standing in the middle of a huge circular elevated platform, emitting an ominous greenish light. Another set of bars enclosed the cage, which seemed to be restraining one of the completed demonic knights at the moment - its motionless armor floating in the light, as if there indeed was a body underneath the parts, invisible. That was not the case of course, and Gloria gathered that the human souls were fused as one entity that held that ghost knight together. It felt almost like watching a puppet, or an automaton, waiting to come to life.
As she approached it, she winced and understood. Of course, one of the Angeli had to be involved in all this absurd creation process. The sheer demonic energy she felt emanating from one of the nearby pipes gave it away. It was the same aura as Nelo Angelo - the dark angel that Mundus had sent out to fight Dante on Mallet Island so many years ago. No doubt about it. She was very familiar with that force, the dark, rumbling energy that the Angelo demons emitted, coupled with the particular scent of one of the sons of Sparda.
It seemed like the last ingredient for this wicked recipe was the actual strength of a higher class demon - but just then she felt another twinge, yet another power at work. Something she did not recognize. A purer aura, brighter than Nelo's. Like an itch she could not scratch, some energy that made her skin crawl.
Trish tilted her head, dubious. She, who had come from the depths of the demon world, couldn't identify the signature of another Hell-dweller. Although, what if that creature did not come from that world she knew so well? She placed a finger upon her lower lip, deep in thought as she stared blankly at the machines around her. If it was not a Hell-spawn demon like she was, maybe it was an angel? Could the Order have pulled it out, though? Had they been able to successfully summon and secure an angel's strength, despite their power being much harder to harness than that of any demon? She shook her head, no, no ; she had to doubt it. That could not be... Right? Angels were unfathomable creatures, whose power could barely be comprehended by a bunch of fanatics in a Spardan cult.
Then who was this?
The spy had to investigate further. A hiss of steam made her jump out of her reveries, and she looked around once more, trying to make sense of this newfound aura she sensed. She tried to look for a console, or logs, some source of written information that could enlighten her on the matter. Agnus had the habit of jostling down notes on everything he noticed or needed to report, so perhaps she could find some of those in there - otherwise, she would have to search in his office and that would probably be another tricky matter.
After inspecting every nook and cranny of the vast room, she found a door leading to the outside, and she shivered as she got out of the sinister lab. She climbed down a set of stairs and found the entrance to a separate room. That one was only slightly better than the other - just a tad less scary iron cages - but the biggest point of interested was the enormous pillar of electric blue light in the center of it. Glowing softly and sending small sparks, a sword floated inside there, as if being lifted by the light, or... constrained, perhaps. Gloria gasped and drew nearer, amazed, and then gave a small nod. Yes, this was where Nelo Angelo's force came from. That katana was completely imbued with his demonic power. It wasn't incredibly strong, but it was still a force to be reckoned with. Well, that was one thing she had been able to confirm.
But what about the other aura back there?
With a slight sashay of her hips, Gloria began to pace around the room, eyes darting around in search of hints. She noticed the incredibly large window pane in the back, behind which laid another circular chamber resembling a centrifuge designed for astronaut training. This was probably linked in some way to the experiments that allowed the creation of armored demons, although in which way exactly Trish was not certain of. She guessed that the demons whose souls had to be harvested could have been thrown in there and spun around like salads in a tosser to turn them into some kind of malleable soul-paste. With a frown and a gulp, she decided to investigate her side of the lab further, and turned around to notice a desk with a few computers bolted on it. She scoffed, finding this place even more bizarre and jarring as time went on and she found more strange machines lying around. These Victorian-style computers took the cake, though.
Trish stared at what seemed to be a control unit - a sturdy block of steel with a few buttons on it - and tried to turn it on, pushing down a few of said buttons to see if they worked. Jackpot. She bit her lip as she heard a loud whirr followed by chaotic beeping, and celebrated silently when the screen lit up, an array of greenish letters displaying one after one.
ANGEL CREATION PROGRAM BOOT UP
PROGRESS LOGS
The blonde spy smiled. Oh, interesting, verrrry interesting. She shifted her weight from one slender leg to another and tapped away on the keyboard, accessing one of those logs. The ancient computer buzzed and whirred louder, and Trish was almost afraid it would crash and turn into dust on the spot. She sighed as she stared at the words slowly appearing on the screen, skimming through the log.
====
LOG NUMBER: 287-B
DAY 28 OF ANGEL CREATION EXPERIMENTS LOG (ARTIFICIAL DEMONIC BEINGS FABRICATION) - SUB CATEGORY 4: REACTIONS FROM ORDER SOLDIERS TO THE DEMONIC SWORD - REPORT ON SUBJECT 3: CREDO
Report redacted by: Bersagliere Donati as ordered by Head Scientist Agnus
Date: xx/xx/xx
...
Subject Credo was inoculated with demon blood daily for 14 days until placement in the Soul Injector on xx/xx, along with 24 souls (10 'Basilisks' - 13 'Cutlasses' - 1 'Assault'). See list below for precise inventory of used souls. Subject has endured treatment perfectly. No injuries were noted during the process. On the xx of xx, Subject was exposed for a full week to the Demonic Sword piece. No food or water was administrated to the subject during the whole duration of the exposure procedure. Credo reported intense pain as soon as the containment barrier for the sword was lifted. High resonance with the Demonic Sword was noted, as can the graphs below show. It is believed that the subject has the highest potential so far and the Angel Creation process is guaranteed to give excellent results. See appendix for details on recorded neuronal activity during exposure to the demonic energy.
(P.S, since Agnus will not read this report anyway: we strongly believe Credo's angelic form shall yield better results as far as power levels and battle performances go than Agnus' angelic form might.)
====
Trish scratched her cheek pensively, reading on and absorbing as much information as she could. She was fast - despite the dense amount of numbers, graphs and charts and sometimes precise vocabulary contained within the log. It seemed that this Donati scientist, most likely an underling of Agnus', did not really appreciate his boss, which made for fun additions to the already fascinating report.
====
ADDENDUM TO LOG 287-B: 287-B.a
Addendum redacted by: as ordered by Head Scientist Agnus
On the xx/xx/xx at 19:30, the death of scientist Bersagliere Donati was declared. Circumstance of death: collateral damage after Demon Extraction process went wrong and a Cutlass was set free from the Main Chamber and immediately pierced Donati's abdomen. The wound was too great for him to recover and he died approximately 10 minutes after the attack. No other casualties were declared and only Donati was in the Cutlass' sights as it stopped showing signs of hostility after the incident...
====
The spy cocked an eyebrow, surprised by the sudden turn of events accounted for in the report - but right then she heard voices in the corridor leading to the room she was in. Shouts, angry yells. Two men were approaching, and she quickly guessed who they were. There really was only one man who could drive the Head Scientist so mad. And he was barely answering, it seemed.
Gloria looked around the lab to find a decent hiding spot, and gracefully jumped in the shadows that lurked behind one of the desks, concealed behind big metal panels in a dark corner. She cringed and held her breath, noticing just how close the Holy servants were as she listened to their heavy footsteps.
Agnus fussed when he kicked the door open.
"H-h-how dare you accuse me, C-C-Credo!" His lisp was frequent. A clear giveaway of his anger.
"You must admit your... scientific methods aren't the safest. All I am saying is that we cannot afford to lose any more units to your reckless experiments."
The other man gasped, and Trish heard him bump into something.
"R-r-reckless...! How dare you! Well, a thick-skulled, pea-brained p-p-p-police officer such as you could never understand why His Holiness l-l-likes me best, and it simply makes you j-j-jealous! So childish, so fickle!... B-But fighting off thugs is not what'll bring His Holiness any c-closer to his sacred goal, you know?! He n-n-needs my work, and I shall bestow upon him Sparda's-"
"Enough, Agnus," the captain of the Order raised his voice firmly. "As saddening it could be for you, I am still the Captain of the close guard of His Holiness, and thus allows me to actually give you orders. So I am ordering you right now to refrain from making any other careless sacrifices of our own men. And since you insist so much on showing me proof of your good will, well, here we are, are we not? Your experiment logs are all here, I believe. Show me you're not guilty."
The big-bodied scientist dragged his feet with an annoyed grunt. There was a short pause.
"Is there a problem, Agnus?" He asked, each word dryly enunciated.
And he only got a hiss in response.
Trish shifted in the cramped spot, trying to find a better posture. She heard Agnus mutter something along the lines of "show you some proof", heard Credo take a few steps, and then a loud bang - something heavy being lifted, electric cables snatched off - and an object being thrown with a roar. If she had to guess, she would have said that the short-tempered scientist had lobbed one of the machines on Credo in a fury. He shouted "Come forth", and she saw a flash of white light. Agnus probably summoned some Bianco Angeli, the armored demons that he could invoke with a snap of his fingers. She heard the metallic clang of their armor, and the Captain's Caliburn being drawn and revved. They raised their voices and started to fight - so she took the opportunity to take a step just right out of the panel, leaning out, peeking.
Three Angeli surrounded the Head Scientist, floating around ominously, and Credo was about to hit the one closest to him with his blade. But another one flew around and flanked him, thrusting its spear towards his hip and made him fall, rolling away towards the wall.
He groaned and quickly stood up before shouting Agnus' name.
And then she felt it. The same aura, the same force. The same incredible, unfathomable power signature that she found back in the other lab room. Credo, the revered Captain of the Holy Knights of Sparda, actually possessed in himself a devil's strength, an actual demonic force that had been awakened once he had been in contact with the Yamato as well as the souls of other demons.
Or... maybe an angel's strength. Since Trish was certain now - that this energy felt more like an angel's power rather than a Hellish demon's.
His eyes shone a bright yellow. And so did the Bianco Angeli. The three of them shook and swayed, and slowly, slowly, they adopted the same stance as Credo. With erratic gestures, they mimicked his every move. The four of them in unison glowed with a deep, pulsating aura. Trish stared at the scene with disbelief. Though Agnus was the one who called those Bianco Angeli, Credo had suddenly taken utter control of them and, like a puppeteer, he pulled the armor's strings as if controlling ancient automatons.
"Congratulations, Agnus," Credo growled, expression unchanging. "Look at this. You truly did a magnificent work, with that Angel Creation process of yours."
"I-I-I-Impossible," the scientist snapped back as he stumbled and fell, "This cannot possibly be! B-but how... You can c-control the Bianco Angeli? Even I can't make them follow my movements as you d-do!"
He was too mesmerized to even think of fighting back, or turning into his own angelic form. The captain slowly held his left hand high, empty, and wiggled his fingers before balling his fist with a squeak of his glove. The three ghostly knights followed suit and reciprocated each subtle movement. Agnus giggled and clapped his hands, conveniently forgetting about the previous fight.
"Let us forget about this stupid... kerfuffle," the scientist continued meekly, smoothing things over with a bow and a grin. "I ap-p-p-pologize for upsetting you so, o strong Captain of the Order of the Sword. I will obey, and try not to k-k-kill off more of your units."
Credo let out an exasperated sigh.
"Alright, this shall be enough. I don't want to hear another word from you. And neither do they, I believe. Let us get out of this place."
He shot a glance at the three flying armors which imitated him on the spot. He inhaled and exhaled a sharp breath, and just like that, in the blink of an eye, he retracted his aura. The three Bianco Angeli disappeared in a bright white flash, and they were no more. The lab was messy, but Credo could not care less, and he confidently made his way to the door, shortly followed by a grumpy Agnus attempting to question him further on his ability to maneuver his own creations.
Gloria waited.
And then she left.
--
In the loud pub, years later, she and Nero sat together at a table. The kid chuckled and shook his head.
"Yeah, you're messing with me, Trish."
"No," she answered, somewhat unconcerned. "I'm really not. I'm not making any of this stuff up."
The kid slouched over the table, pushing his half-empty glass of scotch further away with a labored sigh.
"I dunno... You probably just want to make fun of me. Or you're tying to make me feel better. About him."
She stared at him as he hung his head.
"Well, if that helps you, then I'm glad," she replied before taking another sip of her own drink (a weird purple-colored cocktail - she forgot the name). "To be fair, I didn't realize just how close you were to him. I barely knew the guy after all. He didn't trust me either. Mm, 'guess he was a clever man."
Nero smirked at her. It was gentle, playful. The Bull's Eye was bustling that night, but nothing too annoying. They had been there for a few hours, after Dante had told them to meet him there to discuss a new gig. He had left to talk with a potential client, and they were too drunk to care. As unusual as that encounter was, she was enjoying her drink, her time with that kid. She wasn't too familiar with him either.
"What I just want you to get, Nero," she continued after setting down the glass on the wooden table, "is that he... Credo, he was closer to you than you thought, sometimes. Even after he died." She paused. The boy didn't blink.
"I think that even after that, he left a piece of him in every one of the Bianco Angeli. He was always there, in a way."
"Tch, gimme a break, Trish. That sounds like a frickin' kids' movie. I'm not exactly ten anymore."
He muttered something about her being worse than Nico, then scoffed and grabbed his glass, taking a few gulps. Ouch, that was too bold - he coughed a few times. Probably burnt his throat or something.
"Well," she declared, leaning back in her seat, "That's the gospel truth to me. I'm good at discerning supernatural presences, so I know what I saw."
She leaned in.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You're right, thanks. I mean, thank you. For trying to reassure me, I guess. It's, uh, weirdly kind of you."
He bore into her eyes with glimmering blue ones. Hey, what do you know. Devils may cry after all.
She replied to his sad smile with a gentle one of her own.
"Don't mention it. ...Now, how about another round?"