Prologue

The night was cold, even with the approach of winter just around the corner. Breath rose as steam in the air, ghostly mists that dissipated seconds after it left the mouths of those roaming down the streets. Not a single soul went untouched by its grasp. Nero shivered.

"Damnit! What the hell is with this weather?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

Reaching up with his left hand, he pulled his hood over his head, shielding his face and the blasting headphones from the bitter gusts of wind. Music pulsed into his ears. For a second, he thought he saw something glimmer in the air before him, shining silver before it vanished, only to reappear on the surface of the cast covering his right arm – the Devil Bringer.

Snow…just great.

The humans around him made a series of multi-emotional, but unheard sounds as many of them stopped to look up at the snow slowly falling from the grayed night sky. Navigating around the gawping individuals who apparently led very sheltered lives and thus stared like children, he gave a haggard sigh as he reached the street corner. Looking down the intersection from under his hood, he barely noticed a shadow whip across the street before disappearing.

What the hell was that?

The peaceful air of the night was suddenly pierced and ended by the screams that erupted from just behind him. He even heard it over the guitar solo playing from his headphones. Ripping them and his hood off of his head to see and hear better, Nero stared up…

Just what was it?

A white mist had materialized in the center of the street. He watched as a car passed through its cloudy mass, its steel frame and passenger passing through it. Well, mostly….

He gritted his teeth as the fog burst and rolled, like liquid, the stretching forms of faces reaching out from its white haze, as though they were trying to free themselves, but were constantly being sucked back in. As his eyes passed over the car, its hood and frame now pocketed with thousands of dripping, jagged holes, slowly growing bigger, he almost vomited, turning his head away from the sight of those who had been inside it.

Clenching his right hand in a fist, the cast around it abruptly exploded, freeing the Devil Bringer from its hiding place.

Note to self….don't think about the dead, decomposing people! Especially about how thoroughly they seemed to be practically spilling apart.

Cursing himself for not thinking ahead enough to bring the Red Queen with him, Nero went for the nearest weapons he could find; the Blue Rose inside of his coat, and a stop sign.

Yes, a stop sign.

The Devil Bringer's ethereal fingers wrapped around the metal pole holding it to the cement. It came free with barely a heave. Raising his double-barreled magnum with his left hand and firing off two quick shots, he hefted the stop sign, and threw it like a javelin.

The bullets only served to create a pair of dips in the forehead of one of the screaming, torn faces. Like two really, really bad zits popping. As for the stop sign…

Well, it didn't do all that much stopping.

Rolling his eyes and groaning with frustration, Nero quickly stepped into the street as the people around him ran about in a panic, trying to escape.

"I hate enemies like this!" he fumed, firing another pair of useless shots from the Blue Rose.

Okay, time for plan B.

He lunged forward, running headlong at the misty thing before stretching out his hand. The Devil Bringer's demonic aura appeared again, like a replica about five times the size of his normal arm. Its glowing blue claws tore through the mist as Nero prayed that he could find something to dispel the growing mass of fog. He felt something and went for it.

"Get….outta there!" he roared, yanking his fist back.

The mist all but dispersed within the blink of an eye. One second, it was there. The next, it wasn't. And coming right at him was the naked, white figure of a woman.

Oh, Dante would love this!

The Blue Rose met the forehead of the unearthly gorgeous woman before she could even make contact with him.

"Take this!" he shouted, firing off the last two bullets from his gun.

He didn't even wait to see what would happen. Having learned enough from the incident with his 'Holiness' on Fortuna Island, he had learned one thing from the fellow demon hunter, Dante.

Overkill it. Every. Single. Time.

The Devil Bringer arrived at his target only a second after the bullets shattered the skull of the woman, breaking what might have been the nose and any other bones within the vicinity of her face. In other words, it all but blew up under his fist. The figure jerked back suddenly as the force of his pull amplified the blows. She fell to the ground, limbs aquiver, twitching. He quickly stomped down on the form with his boot until all movement had ceased as it slowly vanished.

Like he said. Overkill it.

A wisp of something blew by his cheek. He didn't even have time to realize it had burned to the touch. The next thing he knew, excruciating pain was running through his face as the right side went ablaze, blood dripping from the wound.

Another one?

"Crap," he mouthed as he saw the dozen or so other figures coming straight at him.

Every person who had lingered too long on the streets…they were all dead. More than dead. Hell, they were turning into puddles of goop right in front of him, bloody stains and nothing more. The nearest thing smiled at him, flashing pearly white teeth as its white skin flowed as it went into a run, green glowing eyes aimed right at him.

"Oh, fu-"

A bright flash…no, more like a whirlwind of blue light tore right through the womanly forms pouncing at him. Confused, he watched as the shape of a sword went right by him, ripping its way through the mist things as they came, giant gashes cleaved open in their bodies. Every single one of them dematerialized into nothingness before he could breath.

"What the-"

Turning around to the echo of footsteps, whipping his head left to right to try and see just who had saved him, Nero only saw a flap of blue disappear behind the corner of a building and then silence fell.