PROLOGUE
2079 AD
As he approached the ground, Dante sighed. His wings were sore from the flight and the sight before him was truly depressing. He looked around at the flaming pits that had once been his hometown. The thick and distinct smell of smoke permeated the night air. Glancing around, he could recognize a few of the blazing pillars as places that he had frequently regarded as a child. The once-prosperous facilities were now rushing away like the rugged, black clouds that drifted overhead. Above all, Dante noticed the burning steel frame of the house that he had grown up in. He winced as the memories circled around in his aching head. Dashing through the decorated halls, enjoying actual home-cooked meals, relaxing on the warm living room couch. These vague but familiar images that flooded his thoughts were too much to bear.
Falling to his knees, he wondered why all of this had happened. Why would he destroy all of this that had once been his memories too? A tear fell down Dante’s blood-stained face as he asked, almost silently, “...Why?”
“It was always meant to be,” remarked someone behind him, “You knew this as well as I did.”
Dante was waiting for this voice to break the silence; he was expecting it. Even so, the words filled him with terror and disgust.
“How was this meant to be?” asked Dante, “Where was it ever prophesized that you were supposed to destroy all that you could?!”
The figure sighed and shook his head, “Apparently you still fail to see the point. Our world was corrupt and morally polluted. Our race was on a path of undeniable self-destruction. I just sped up the process.”
Dante’s body quivered at this thought. No matter how he ran it through his head, it was true. “But why would you speed it up? It’s so… inhumane.”
“There are two reasons, Dante. First of all, this wretched planet needed to be put out of its misery. And secondly,” he said as a smirk appeared on his face, “It was simply fun.”
This was much more that Dante could take. He quickly turned around and shot a beam of ice at the sick freak, but before Dante’s attack could get halfway to him, the other person launched a destructive fire blast, melting the ice in midair.
“So, you think that you can even pose a challenge to me?” the antagonist questioned.
“No,” Dante said as he began focusing his power, “I think that I can beat you, Zanfa.”