The Cause

XX year, XX month, XX day, the demon world

Two demonic figures, one red and one blue, plunged from the sky like comets. Their target was a rift that was gradually collapsing. But not everything went as hoped.

Bang! The red demonic figure slammed into the ground, making the whole area cave in. Even with such tremendous power, he still hadn't managed to get through the rift. "My back! My waist! Damn it!" The red demonic form faded, and a white-haired man in red slowly climbed out of the deep crater. "Missed it again. This damn rift was so small and short-lived. Why wasn't it this well-behaved when I was in the human world?"

"Hahaha, you useless Dante! You missed it again and landed face-first in the dirt!" An eagle-like demonic beast circled above Dante, letting out a shrill laugh as it mocked his failure. As it cackled, the blue demonic figure landed as well.

"Shut up, you damn bird." Dante snatched a stone off the ground and hurled it straight at the beast's throat. With a "caw," it fell out of the sky and was caught by a hand. "Griffon, keep looking. There must be more naturally occurring rifts." The hand's owner then released the beast again. "Dante, you're getting a little too impatient. Calm down. Nero will take care of everything in the human world."

"Vergil, you saw the letter that came through the rift too. Kyrie's about to give birth, and our Sparda family is getting another new member. Nero wants us there. We can't miss that child's growing up. Given that we missed Nero's childhood, I think it's important for us to be there." Dante climbed out of the crater, but his eyes turned once more to the spot where the rift had vanished. "I know. That's why I sent Griffon to keep looking for a new rift." Vergil, dressed in a blue long coat, walked over to Dante's side.

"Seriously, can't you use the Yamato to open a passage?"

"Ever since we cut down that tree, the passages from the demon world to the human world have collapsed one after another. I can feel the strength of the space recovering. Now, even naturally formed rifts are gradually becoming fewer, and it's getting harder and harder for demons to break into the human world. Dante, if I use the Yamato to force open a passage between the demon world and the human world again, not only will it take more power than it used to, but it might also leave the human world exposed to frequent demon attacks again." As Vergil spoke, the corner of his mouth suddenly lifted a little. "Just like you said before, my days of opening portals with the Yamato whenever I pleased are over."

"Ha, my brother finally understands humor. All right, though I miss the days when I made extra cash killing demons, it really was time for those days to end. Then we'd better figure out how to make up for being late before that stupid bird brings back news. After all, it's been almost a month since that letter reached us."

"Don't worry. You took good care of Nero when I was lost. I'll be a good uncle." Vergil spoke with great solemnity, but Dante suddenly seemed to short-circuit. He could hardly believe what he'd heard.

"Uncle?"

"What? You don't believe I can be a good uncle?"

"Uncle?"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Have you met Kyrie?"

"No. In my memories from when I was V, Nero often called her from phone booths. He was always much more energetic after each call. You could tell he liked her a lot."

"Yeah, Nero likes her a lot, so they got married. If you hadn't suddenly shown up, ripped his arm off for no good reason, and stirred up a whole bunch of trouble, your grandchild might have been here already."

"Grandchild?" Vergil froze. "You mean the child's my grandchild?" Vergil's power began surging within him, and his left hand, which held the Yamato, trembled slightly. "Why didn't you say so sooner?" Vergil's expression darkened a little. "I thought you knew. V and Nero got along pretty well, after all... Wait, what are you doing?" Dante suddenly noticed the space around them warping, and blue energy was gradually boiling up. "I'm making up for your mistake." Vergil kept compressing his energy, his Sin Devil Trigger form appearing as the energy formed a colossal storm, with the brilliant blue demonic figure at its center. "Vergil, you said it yourself just now. If you use the Yamato again, the human world's going to be in trouble!" Dante also transformed into his Sin Devil Trigger form, trying to restrain his brother and keep him from making that slash.

At that moment, Vergil was looking back on his life: the everyday days of his childhood with Dante and their parents; the tragedy that befell his family; his mother dying for him, while he mistakenly believed he had been abandoned and began pursuing power; his defeat at Dante's hands, after which he ventured into the demon world, was remade by the Demon Emperor, and became a puppet tormented by nightmares; and, after being saved, nearing death and splitting himself with the Yamato, surviving only because his brother and son risked their lives to help him. A life spent wandering in pursuit of power had finally found some reward in the look that longed for family when he faced his son. The emptiness of his childhood hadn't been filled by endless power. Instead, it was the humanity he had once rejected, the part he had considered weak, that filled it. "Dante, I have to go. My family is waiting for me. If the human world is attacked again, I'll deal with it!"

Dante looked at his brother and knew he couldn't stop the slash by force. He sighed. "Looks like the old days are coming back. Hunting demons in the human world isn't like doing it in the demon world. This is going to keep us busy for years. When the time comes, you'll have to listen to me." With that, he released his hold. Vergil said nothing more. The Yamato came out of its sheath, and a fierce slash containing Vergil's entire life cut a straight line through space. The rift opened, but the slash did not stop. It cut another rift in the human world and continued flying toward the infinite worlds, still carrying the understanding Vergil had gained throughout his life. After Dante and Vergil entered the human world, they raced nonstop toward Nero's location and paid no attention to the two rifts that were healing.

Parallel world, the Demon City

A young man was frantically pressing the buttons on a controller in front of his computer, trying to reproduce the Devil May Cry 5 Vergil Subject Three dance from a video on his phone. Behind him, the slash had crossed countless spaces and dimensions and appeared once more, cutting open space. The young man stood up at that moment, raised both hands high, and shouted, "Yes, I finally got it!" He was then struck by the slash and swept along with it into the last rift it had cut.