The night air tasted like blood and ash.

Dante leaned against the shattered wall of a church, one pistol smoking, the other jammed somewhere in a demon’s skull two floors up. He lit a cigarette with a flick of his thumb, the flame casting shadows across his bruised cheek.

A low growl echoed through the ruined nave. Another one. Big. Crawling through the pews like a centipede made of bones and sin.

“Can’t a guy get five minutes without some hellspawn monologuing about the end of the world?”he muttered.

The demon lunged.

Dante didn’t move. Not at first. He dropped the cigarette, stomped it out, and grinned.

Then came the flash of Rebellion.
Steel clashed against bone. Sparks danced in the dark. The demon screamedDante spun with a dancer’s grace and a killer’s aim, blade flashing like lightning.

Within seconds, it was over. The thing collapsed in chunks of burning meat and gore.

Dante exhaled slowly.

Behind him, the stained glass window was cracked half a face of a painted angel shattered.

He stared at it for a moment, jaw tight. Eva had told him once, long ago, that angels watch over lost souls.

“Hope you’re still watching, Mom,” he whispered.

He picked up his coat, bloodied and torn, threw it over his shoulder, and walked into the street, where the firelight turned the red leather into a streak of defiance against the cold night.

The night air tasted like blood and ash.

Dante leaned against the shattered wall of a church, one pistol smoking, the other jammed somewhere in a demon’s skull two floors up. He lit a cigarette with a flick of his thumb, the flame casting shadows across his bruised cheek.

A low growl echoed through the ruined nave. Another one. Big. Crawling through the pews like a centipede made of bones and sin.

“Can’t a guy get five minutes without some hellspawn monologuing about the end of the world?”he muttered.

The demon lunged.

Dante didn’t move. Not at first. He dropped the cigarette, stomped it out, and grinned.

Then came the flash of Rebellion. Steel clashed against bone. Sparks danced in the dark. The demon screamedDante spun with a dancer’s grace and a killer’s aim, blade flashing like lightning.

Within seconds, it was over. The thing collapsed in chunks of burning meat and gore.

Dante exhaled slowly.

Behind him, the stained glass window was cracked half a face of a painted angel shattered.

He stared at it for a moment, jaw tight. Eva had told him once, long ago, that angels watch over lost souls.

“Hope you’re still watching, Mom,” he whispered.

He picked up his coat, bloodied and torn, threw it over his shoulder, and walked into the street, where the firelight turned the red leather into a streak of defiance against the cold night.