But Aiden couldn't care less about the scrapes elsewhere on his body; he only felt an unprecedented sharp pain in his right hand, as if the bones of his entire palm and forearm were cracking open, and Durandal slowly slipped from his grip, forcing him to switch to wielding the sword with his left hand.
In the official novelization of Devil May Cry 4, the game's protagonist, Nero, awakens his Devil Bringer in a demon attack to protect his childhood friend and girlfriend, Kyrie, and the children of the Fortuna Orphanage. Similarly, Aiden, who also possesses the third-generation Sparda bloodline, now finds his right hand severely injured. Although not to protect anyone but due to his own carelessness.
But the injury to his right hand... it was as if it were the destiny of the Nero of the Sparda lineage.
"Is he... is he okay?" Although Aiden made a bet with Loki, her familia goddess, Lefiya couldn't help but worry about his condition.
"Don't worry, it's just an injury to his right hand." Tiona's tone remained unchanged. For Tiona, who also fought with a daring style, such an injury hardly qualified as serious; it was just part of the job.
"Stupid Tiona, that's his sword-wielding hand, how could it be okay?" Tione retorted with a touch of annoyance. She couldn't help but feel speechless about her somewhat absent-minded sister.
Ais remained silent, lips pressed tightly together, her right hand already resting on the sword hilt, ready to assist Aiden should he falter.
Riveria, too, stood ready to employ healing magic.
At this moment, Aiden, experiencing this degree of injury for the first time, felt the excruciating pain in his right hand spreading throughout his body, as if something inside him were shattering. Blood surged through his entire body like a torrent, and a voice deep within his soul kept whispering, though somewhat indistinct, it was still understandable... "Power! I need more power!"
The intense pain, never before experienced, contorted Aiden's handsome face; he gritted his teeth, veins popping out on his sweat-drenched forehead.
Then Aiden reached out his right hand, stopping the old man and the youth who were about to come to his aid.
"I need more power!"
With Aiden's roar from the depths of his soul, the Sparda bloodline within him seemed to respond; his intense battle spirit and blazing fury inherited from the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda, slowly awakened. The blood in his entire body surged within him.
At this moment, the demonic power belonging to the Demon Sparda awakened within Aiden, and the whisper deep within his soul grew louder, transforming into roars and howls: "I need more power!"
If Aiden could see himself from a third-person perspective right now, he would be astonished to find both his injured right hand and his sword-wielding left hand enveloped in swirling ice-blue energy. The ice-blue energy rippled out like waves, stirring the air around him.
All the ice-blue energy began to gather under Aiden's will, converging like streams into a river, ultimately transforming into a surging torrent.
"Disappear!"
Aiden's roar thundered like a sudden clap of thunder, dispersing the grayish-white mist around him.
Durandal's golden blade faintly shimmered with icy-blue light, the harbinger of the impending deluge of ice-blue energy.
Aiden raised Durandal high above his head, stepping forward with his left leg, sinking his right leg into the ground, slightly lowering his body, arching his upper body as far back as possible, every muscle in his body tensed, like a human crossbow, slowly tightening the bowstring.
Finally, Aiden leaped into the air, power coursing through his body from the ground up, from the soles of his feet to the greatsword gripped tightly in his hand, the long-accumulated power erupting like a long-awaited storm. Aiden executed the perfect throwing posture.
"Jackpot!"
All the ice-blue energy from his entire body converged and intertwined at this moment. Accompanied by Aiden's roar, Durandal's golden blade shimmered with a crimson-blue magical light as it roared out. The wind roared, the blade howled, the air trembled, and the thunderous strike vowed to slay the infant dragon.
The golden blade, infused with tremendous force and howling wind, fiercely plunged into the chest of the infant dragon, crimson blood gushing out, a scent of blood slowly permeating the air.
The strike, gathering all his strength and magic, left Aiden, accustomed to always having boundless energy, momentarily weakened.
"You're not dead from that? Are you a cockroach or something?" Seeing the infant dragon still intact after his full-powered strike, Aiden sighed helplessly, realizing that his accuracy was indeed too low, failing to deliver a one-hit kill.
"That was amazing!" Lefiya's delicate face was filled with astonishment as she witnessed Aiden's astonishing strike.
"Hey, hey, Riveria, was that magic just now?" Tiona, who also followed the strength path, looked somewhat excited seeing Aiden's attack.
"I'm not sure if it was a speed-casting spell or possibly the effect of a skill," Riveria pondered with a slight furrow in her brow.
"Which familia does this white-haired youth belong to? Captain, have you heard of him?" The sword-wielding young man who returned for support looked at his captain in amazement, asking about the mysterious figure nearby with dazzling swordplay.
"I haven't heard of him either, and recently, none of the adventurers who received titles at the Denatus were white-haired youths. He must have just leveled up to Level 2 recently and hasn't had the chance to acquire a title yet. But judging from the strike he just executed, he's likely a genius like the Sword Princess over there, possessing rare skills or magic." The old man Dunn, a Level 2 adventurer, speculated, his gaze shifting past Aiden towards the nearby Sword Princess.
In Orario, adventurers were distinctly divided into two categories.
One type was Level 1 adventurers, known as lower-level adventurers. Half of Orario's adventurers fell into this category.
Lower-level adventurers also constituted the highest number of casualties, with countless adventurers perishing in the dungeons each year, while an equal number of hopefuls came to replace them.
Orario's prosperity was built upon the blood of many adventurers willing to sacrifice themselves in pursuit of adventure.
The other type achieved great feats, becoming Level 2 or higher-level adventurers, known as upper-level adventurers. Upper-level adventurers formed the backbone of Orario's adventurer community, with a stark contrast in strength compared to lower-level adventurers.
Becoming an upper-level adventurer also meant officially entering the gods' sight. At the Denatus held every three months where the gods discuss, each upper-level adventurer was bestowed a title by the gods.
In the original work, Bell received the title of Little Rookie upon reaching Level 2, while Ais was dubbed Sword Princess, and Riveria's title was Nine Hell.
Of course, these were titles bestowed by the gods, and with each level-up, adventurers could receive a new title more fitting to their strength. Additionally, many adventurers had their own nicknames.
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