Chernabog vs Demon Lord Dante

The last light of the day slowly leaves the surface of the mountainous area around the village of Bald Mountain. For precisely a year, the village was built underneath the Christain times and exist through peace and progress. At the end of this day, though, is when things contrast with the village life. From the first light of the day, there was no sense of happiness. No relief that comes from their slumber and waking into the morning. No friendly welcomes or prospering businesses within the village crowds. Nothing but silent dread before the final light of the sunset fell. For tonight was the night of Bald Mountain's most feared moment of the year. Walpurgis Night, the night of evil.

At the moment the sunset disappears on the horizon, the sky is instantly filled with darkness. No such blackness in the sky that would normally be greeted by the shine of stars. One that has been summoned by the mountain, itself. The towering peak of it, sharp and reaching to the sky, begins to shift and move the longer the shadows cover the land. The peak begins to crack and split into two from the very tip. The two parts of the peak open up into large, bat-like wings that spread for yards. A pair of muscular arms stretch high above the giant's head, which bears a pair of horns that curl upward. The horns being the clear symbol of a gargantuan demon. The demon flexes its shoulders and tilts its head left and right, letting out loud cracks as echoing like thunder. A pair of yellow eyes open to look up at the blackened clouds and its lips curl into a vile grin.

Ah. The Witches' Sabbath, the night of the demon, has finally come once again. The night when the grand embodiment of pure evil, Chernabog, awakens to look down at the village below. He crosses his arms and raises his chin, amused. Not much seems to have changed, as always. No matter. All the more for him to come up with new ways to toy with tonight. His eyes narrow and his lips crack into a grimace when he raises a hand. Towards the direction of the cemetery, where the shadows of his arms stretch out all across the area and the rest of the village. The structures of the homes, marketplaces, and even the church bend and merge by his will alone, turning into forms that resemble the mountain above. The tombstones and mausoleums remain intact, but the souls of the dead burst from underneath the ground. They have been summoned by the silent call of their master and tormentor. Including those who were hanged prior to this event, whose spirits slip through their nooses and soar with their fellows.

Chernabog watches as the apparations form together into a huge, swirling mass and come towards him. Despite being the God of the Night, Chernabog is no typical villain as many would assume him to be. No motivation for his deeds or the games he plays. He is evil just for the fun of it. In the end, that is what makes him far more dangerous than the likes of the God of Death Hades or the Dark Sorceress Maleficent. To him, the world is just some sandbox and the unfortunate souls that he has in his hands are the sand. He begins his work by creating a massive gap of cracks within the stone of the mountain in front of him, opening a realm of molten lava. A burst of flames rivals the dreadful height of the demon, illuminating his face from the shadows. Along with the swirling spirits, Chernabog's actions unleash a spawn of demons and fire-made creatures into the night. From evil minotaurs to skeletal bird-creatures to cackling witches in rags. The demons below writhe, cheer, and dance in their worship of Chernabog.

They are only rewarded when the demon lowers his hands, scoops up as much as he could, and raises them above the fire. Even as he watches them dance for him, his smile remains. But then, as if his interest has changed on a dime, he glares at them and lets them drop back into the lava. He reaches out and wraps his fingers around a ribbon of fire, taking a fistful of it and looking down at his open hand. His displeased frown slowly forms into a smirk when the flames start to form into the luscious curves of three beautiful women. They start to elegantly dance and sway for him. It would be a sight fused with beautiful and evil all at once. With his other hand hover above them, he has the idea to do something else to these dancers...

His idea was abruptly put on hold when a loud sound causes him to turn his attention towards the village. The ground shakes as red-lit cracks form down the streets of the village. The cracks splinter and open wide before a bright light explodes from within the planet. Buildings around the gap of the earth quickly vanish within the blast. All that takes their place is a glowing silhouette of a massive figure. A sound of a hellish roar that rivals the screams of millions of his own demon horde. A huge burst of mist and darkness set aside for a massive figure to rise to his full hundred-meter height. A hairy, humanoid creature that seems just as dark as Chernabog is. A crown of jagged red horns protrudes above his eyebrows with two longer horns pointing from the sides of his skull. A pair of bright yellow eyes, shaped like edged diamonds, narrow with a gleeful, toothy grimace of his own. As this new demon stands tall over the deformed buildings, he spreads his bat wings.

The demon lowers his head, his yellow eyes unreadable as of what he is glaring at. Within his head, however, a small opening was made into. An opening that shows the upper face of a mortal man, whose eyes glare up at the sight of Chernabog. The hateful red eyes that were once those of a high school boy named Ryo Utsugi. A boy who was tormented by the nightmares about the demons from the prehistoric times. He was manipulated by a demon to release him from its prison sealed by God. He paid for it by being devoured by the demon who used him. Ryo's life, however, did not end. As he turned out to be the human avatar of the demon, he was able to overcome its influence. By making such an impossible feat, he was granted the powers of the Demon Lord Dante! In time, Ryo accepted being Dante and found the resolve to charge into the final war against God, himself.

On this night, though, Dante has awakened in Walpurgis Night. In the presence of another demon who claims himself as a lord of the night. Not knowing too much of this "Chernabog", Dante had heard dark tales of him being one of the most powerful of all demons. If these tales are true, then Dante will need Chernabog and his power in order to fight God and his forces. It would seem that persuasion would be required. Chernabog, whose smile of enjoyment has faded into an annoyed scowl, obviously has a different opinion. He can't recall summoning a demon like this one; nevermind one who is in the same size as him. That wouldn't be something of his interest. So, to his knowledge, this one is not created by his hand, but a demon who is interrupted his big night! Chernabog sneers down at Dante clenches the fist that holds the dancing flames. Creating a massive fireball, he throws it at Dante with the ferocity of a professional baseball pitcher.

Taken back, Dante jumps aside to avoid the projectile. After taking a moment to see the damage made, he turns to share a glare with his new foe. Well, there goes that idea. This was not the first demon who had defied him nor was he the first to challenge him with the threat of termination. It would seem that he would have to put this so-called in his place. With a mighty flap of his wings, he takes off to the sky and jets straight at Chernabog. Chernabog's eyes narrow at this rather stubborn tactic and raise a hand. The molten pit answers his gesture as a road of fire is constructed and makes its way towards Dante. Flexing his clawed hands, Dante meets the screaming flames by merely flying around it. Chernabog moves his raised hand in a circular motion, commanding the flames to mold and ensnare around Dante. Dante is too quick to be caught, however, before he reaches the Demon of Bald Mountain.

Dante and Chernabog collide with the sound of a thunderclap, forcing the swirling mass of spirits to scatter in a panicked frenzy. Dante has one hand swung, intending to meet Chernabog's face, but in the nick of time, Chernabog was able to catch it. The sheer force behind Dante's charge was astounding, able to shake the mountain itself, but it is by this natural structure that keeps Chernabog from collapsing backward. The two demons push against each other, their muscles clench and their eyes met in a furious staredown. Dante roars right at Chernabog's face, and Chernabog's teeth grit in distaste. Course, as soon as he felt this, his lips form into a malicious grin. He is getting the upper hand in pushing Dante back. In a blood-lusting attempt, Dante swings his other hand, lashing out at Chernabog with his claws. They succeed in leaving marks across his chest, but Chernabog immediately retaliates with a left hook.

As Dante is forced at bay, the Bald Mountain villain raises his arms dramatically. The command is soon answered by his monstrous demons, who take to the sky and descend upon Dante like a swarm of hornets. The demons strike on the demon lord with all of the weapons they have. Claws, hooves, spears, swords...they seem to do little but anger Dante. His claws clenching, he spreads his wings in a snap and lets out a booming bellow. The puny demons panic like flies the moment the great Dante starts thrashing with his claws. Slashing left and right, taking hundreds of Chernabog's "minions" and tearing them into pieces. The miserable demons scatter when he bursts through the swarm and soars back at Chernabog. This does little but get the dark demon into a sense of interest. He raises his right arm confidently, his open palm casting a large ring of glowing orbs. The orbs, turning out to be spirits, each shoot out at Dante like cannon shots. Dante uses his wings to shield himself from the spirits exploding against him. He opens his protective wings just enough to fire a beam of pure electricity at Chernabog.

Chernabog braces himself, crossing his arms before the lightning beam strikes him. He snarls by the pain of the thousand volts slicing into his vile flesh. As the beam continues to strike him, Dante advances closer towards him. And being able to close the gap between them, the Demon Lord makes a spin. He sends his heel to smash into his foe's gut, forcing him to cough out. Dante raises a clenched fist over his head and slams it against the side of Chernabog's head, which is quickly responded in kind. A raise of a hand is enough to unleash hellfire from the mouth of the mountain, burning Dante's body within the inferno. This makes Dante do little more than grunting in pain, but Chernabog is not done. He turns to face his scorching enemy, rears his head back, and opens his mouth as wide as his jaws could allow. A stream of fire roars into the night and incinerate onto the Demon Lord's hairy skin. Dante shields himself as he backs away from Chernabog, but this is more of a minor setback than anything devastating. After all, it is only another demon's fire breath.

That is when Dante turns to ear-piercing shrieks. He turns to look over his shoulder, only to catch a glimpse of open talons of huge birds. Of course, there are no birds that would dare strike the Demon Lord, but ferocious harpies that serve their master. Their green feather wings flap frantically and their blood-red hair whip around as they try to attack his face and neck. Dante curls his upper lip, revealing his teeth in anger, as he grabs onto one of the harpies. He crushes the screaming beast with hardly a moment of hesitation and he unleashes his own fire breath upon his attacker. As its comrades burn into ash, the only survivor of the retaliation flees, leaving Dante to set his eyes on Chernabog. His maw opens wide to allow a blast of his fire breath, only for it to be met in a collision by Chernabog's own. The dancing of ghosts and demons grow wilder and more energetic around the clash of hellfire between the titans. Chernabog's sense of confidence slowly fades when the core of the collision moves closer towards him. Dante proves more powerful compared to the Lord of the Night, and the demon himself becomes consumed by the combined hellish heat.

Chernabog is left leaning forward onto his own mountain, taking only a second to recover as the flames vanish into the cool night. He pushes himself to straighten himself, but he is soon met with Dante shooting at him like a missile. The Demon Lord tackles Chernabog, with enough force and power to pry him out of his own mountain peak, and they both fall to the earth below. Chernabog is almost baffled by this demon's audacity to yank him from his throne, but he is quick to fight back. His massive wings spread and he uses his humanoid legs to slam his heels into Dante's chest. As they are both turned over in midair, Chernabog grabs onto Dante's arms and slams him into the side of the mountain. The mountain itself rattles and boulders roll and smash against Dante's body, but he quickly recovers. Upon seeing this, Chernabog leers, already thinking of a malicious idea. He extends his arms and the shadows spread out onto the face of the mountain. Before Dante could make his move, the shadows suddenly transform into sharp spears, which plunge into his body with close to no effort.

Pain surges into Ryo's mind the moment these shadowy protrusions impaled the body of Dante. A blinding and sizzling pain that he never had to endure in a long time. He tries to break the spikes, but his efforts are proven fruitless. Some cracks form into the spikes, but not enough to break himself free. Smiling at his apparent victory, Chernabog moves his arms to cross over his chest. The spikes push forward and practically push and pull Dante's body into pieces. One spike even stabs into the Demon Lord's skull and tears his head clean from his body. By then, Dante falls silent, giving Chernabog a moment of gleeful satisfaction. He throws his arms down and the spikes obey, allowing the bits of his foe to fall from the sky. As he crosses his arms triumphantly, he watches his flying demons drop from the air, moving in to feast on the remains. His wings flap slowly and proudly, lifting him closer to the peak that he was so rudely removed. Before he could continue his beloved night of terror, a loud cry causes him to raise an eyebrow.

"You think it's over!?" The voice of a mortal man calls, having the gull to demand him.

Chernabog turns to the man who dared to challenge him, but no mortal man would greet his glare. He falls in shock when the three-pointed tail of Dante grabs onto his torso like a third hand. Dante lives and wishes to continue the battle, much to Chernabog's confusion. Even as his omniscience could tear him limb from limb, nothing that he could do could ever overtax the superb regeneration of Dante. Now fully grown to his prime, the Demon Lord sends a surge of electricity through his tail. An aura of the energy covers Chernabog from head to toe, forcing him to roar in pain. Smoke slither from the cooked flesh and his eyes boil by the brutal volts. He could not be easily undone by mere electricity, though, as he raises a hand to summon more darkness against Dante. Before anything could be made, Dante uses his tail to pull his enemy toward him. He thrusts a clawed hand forward, giving a clean slash into Chernabog's abdomen. His horns become coated by golden bolts of energy the faster and harder he swings his claws at his adversary. Chernabog joins his fists together, sending them to smash against Dante in retaliation, only for Dante to slash at his face with his talons.

Chernabog is forced back against the peak of Bald Mountain. He sneers at Dante hovering in front of him. Dante simply glares at him, preparing to strike him once more, when he sees his enemy smash a fist into the earth. An orb-like aura of gathering darkness forms around Chernabog, creating tremors across the land before the aura bursts in all directions. Dante snarls as a wave of the darkness push him back, giving Chernabog some space from the ruthless chimera. The Slavic demon pushes himself off of the peak and makes a backflip over the lava pit. His sneer forms into a smirk when the lava explodes from a massive form that rises from deep within. A massive, black dragon takes to the sky with its huge wings. Glowing green eyes sneer at the attacker of its master and green flames slither from the corners of its jaws. It lashes at Dante with its claws, forcing him further away from the mountain. Dante grits his teeth when the dragon smacks him in the side with its tail. The dragon wastes no time in pressing the attack, and Dante braces himself. The dragon thrusts its jaws at him, but he is able to grab onto its throat. Before it could use its own fire breath, Dante grabs tightly around its jaws with his other. With a furious snarl from the dragon, both it and Dante struggle in a contest of strength. Yet it is Dante who forces the dragon down to Earth.

As the landscape shakes by the thrown dragon, Dante turns to refocus on Chernabog. To his surprise, a pair of fireballs the size of buses is thrown from the Bald Mountain demon. Dante crosses his wings to shield himself, but that was not the only thing Chernabog has sent at him. Three giant demons throw themselves at him. Demons that possess the physicality of pterosaur-headed goblins but made of pure darkness. The demons shriek and lash out at their enemy with their thick claws. Dante keeps himself protected with his own winged arms before he decided to take them out one by one. A mighty slash of his claws is enough to cleave into the closest to him. More than enough, it seems, as his claws easily take its entire upper body. The two remaining demons move in to avenge their fallen comrade, striking him in unison. Dante raises an arm to shield his eyes when one of them aimed for his face. He grits his teeth in annoyance by how quickly Chernabog could create new minions. As he flexes his claws, he finds an opening to slice them both into nothingness.

He pulls his claws back to deliver the blow, but he roars when a sharp pain surges from his ankle. He looks down to see that his leg has been caught between the dragon's jaws. Using its wings with a hurricane-creating flap, the reptilian titan pushes itself higher and its neck muscles allow it to pull Dante down. All the while, the shadow demons drop themselves upon Dante and strike him with all of the ferocity they have. One of the demons is slashed right through the torso by Dante's tail, which gives the Demon Lord at least some room to retaliate. However, the dragon is quick to rejoin the fight. It drives both of its front paws into his chest, in a form similar to CPR, and drills him into the ground. It crushes the last of the shadow demons by mistake, but all the worth to get Dante pinned. The dragon crouches over and uses its back legs to stomp its feet, pushing him further into his supposed grave. Dante is finally given time to recuperate once the scaly fiend takes off once more. He rises to his feet before he turns towards the dragon returning to him. A stream of green fire is unleashed upon him, but Dante is quick to the draw. The green fire consumes him almost instantly, but a stream of high volts pierces through the dragon fire, striking the dragon square in the chest.

An explosion and a shrill cry from the reptilian demon are evident to its apparent demise. Layers of flesh and dragon scales explode from within and it falls lifelessly onto the ground. The green fire, illuminating the world around it, shows the shadow of Dante standing, undeterred. He spreads his wings and launches himself into the night sky to meet Chernabog once again. Upon seeing this, Chernabog's face has an expression of disdain plastered on. He will have no more of this nuisance. Standing tall over the peak of the mountain, he clenches his open hands and raises them to his chest. The swirling flames from the lava pit slowly turn blue as they travel around the massive demon. The dancing around him grow even more frantic; skeletons rattling in the tune of wind chimes, demons practically thrashing their claws, and naked women swaying their bodies transforming into wild animals. The blue flames that consume the sinful crowd soon turn to yellow and green, eating away the souls that follow Chernabog's will. Massive forms burst from the flames, revealing themselves to be either flying skulls, gargantuan harpies, or raging wraiths with a taste for destruction.

As Dante stays hovering in the air, the eyes of Ryo remain widened. A part of him almost feels appalled, impressed by how much Chernabog could turn the souls of the dead and the damned into his own orchestra. Every year in this night, that is what it always seemed to be in Chernabog's eyes. Just a night of splendid and satisfying orchestra. To him, the souls are merely strings of violins and musical tunes of flutes. Now, though, he is given a chance to use such powers against another demon. Dante. Manipulating millions of souls is a testament of Chernabog's will...but Dante will not abide by it. Behind the raging fire, Chernabog's evil smile returns and he thrusts his arms upward. About a hundred of the twisted abominations shriek and cry out when they throw themselves at Dante. To this, Dante spreads his wings, paying no heed to the potential danger. Ryo's eyes narrow as his demon maw lets out a booming roar.

"ENOUGH!" He roars.

The demons that advance upon him suddenly stop, catching Chernabog in surprise. The dark giant raises an eyebrow, confused to the point of disbelief. Despite his command for them to overwhelm his enemy, they have stopped by a bright glow that shines from the body of the Demon Lord. Ryo's human eyes, at this point, glow blood red as massive amounts of unholy power grows inside of him.

"I'm not just some soul-playing demon!" He exclaims. "Not some musical villain. I. Am. THE KING!"

Dante lets out a mighty bellow as he spreads his wings wide. His glowing body quickly darkens before a massive wave of blinding light is cast in all directions. The demons that surround him scream and panic, but their efforts to escape are futile. They are soon consumed by a shadow before they dissolve into the light. Chernabog is taken back, glaring at the light in outrage. He gives out a snarl of defiance against this so-called "King" and casts an aura of darkness. The darkness spreads in a massive radius in order to clash with this golden light, but in a short struggle, the light wins. Chernabog's eyes widen, his mouth hanging open in shock before he too is swallowed by the bright energy. His mind races for a solution to stopping this attack, but nothing seems to recall. The sheer force of the blast forces him to lean back. His wings pushed back, away from his body, before they slowly crack and tear into small bits. Slowly and painfully, Chernabog finds himself melting away before the light becomes too much. By then, the demon could no longer be seen.

The light dissipates back into the darkness of the night. Dante stands alone, gracefully lowered to the earth. He looks up at what has become of Chernabog, who no longer lingers at the peak of the mountain. Spirits of the dead ascend from the mountain and travel back towards the village. They return to their graves, back into their rightful resting place. The structures that were once those of the village slowly transform back to normal. No longer the twisted and corrupted versions by the demon's design. All that is left behind is the demon itself. The first light of the moon shines over a black skeleton. A skeleton left posed from the blast of Dante's ultimate blast. Ryo watches as the mountain peak lets out a geyser of mystical energies. Blue, purple, and green wisps twirl around Chernabog, closing in on the skeleton and reforming him into stone. Chernabog, the vilest demon, the lord of darkness and king of Bald Mountain, has been vanquished. At least, for the moment. To Dante's understanding, Chernabog is immortal. Even to demons' standards. However, this victory is his.

Turning his back to the sudden chiming of bells, the Demon Lord Dante takes to the sky. The bells and the choir of holy men in the village signal the coming of dawn and the end of Walpurgis Night. These are not the kind of men that worship the god that he solely hates, but one who is the more charitable version of her. He cannot hate them for their belief. It is perhaps better for them to worship a more benevolent god than one who had destroyed worlds for her conquest. After all, with a demon-like Chernabog that exists right above their own homes, these people pretty much know the worst of the demons and angels, anyway.

Winner: Demon Lord Dante

Ah. You know, Blue, I hope that someday I would play Guitar Hero as violently and as malicious as Chernabog plays with souls.

I apologize for this taking so long, but...there was a lot more going on here than I previously thought. At first glance, it almost seemed that a fight between these two would go either way. However, when I looked through all of Chernabog and Demon Lord Dante's source material, our point of view changed dramatically. Admittedly, Chernabog with his omniscience and manipulation of darkness would score him a few victories. Respectable abilities, to be sure. However, considering that the Demon Lord Dante has "The Hundred Demon Superpowers", he is in possession of a lot more ways to defeat Chernabog. Including his absurd regeneration and unleashing a blast that could pretty much delete other demons. Also, while Chernabog fought a keyblade-wielding boy and lost, Dante fought against an avatar of God and won. However, while Chernabog wouldn't be able to kill Dante, in some cases, Dante wouldn't be able to kill Chernabog, either. If not for the holy bells and the rising of dawn, both Chernabog and Dante would have an endless fight.