The entrance was frozen shut, but thankfully there was an artificial entrance for me to enter. Inside the entrance chamber there were signs of battle, with icicles and massive paw prints on the ground. I entered through the massive door at the back, idly noting the big hole near the ceiling leading to the second floor.

The main room was quite imposing, all things considered. At the opposite side of the entrance was a large statue of angelic figures, with many pillars with torches on top of them decorating the hall. Two staircases went on both sides of the room, going up and up into the tower, a door shrouded in flames near the entrance.

Fortunately for me there was already a Divinity Statue at the entrance allowing me to check the new wares. I didn't had many orbs but I still got enough to buy basic proficiency with handguns, alongside tying the handgun to myself turning it into a secondary manifestation of my demonic power, allowing to further upgrade it's capabilities in the future and granting it infinite ammo by using demonic energy to create bullets. To finish it off, once I buy enough upgrades or my gun I will be able to buy another Style for general ranged weaponry.

Now with that out of the way I had to get back to becoming stronger. I could climb the tower the normal way, but that have the danger of running into the Son of Sparda and I doubt he will be so generous twice in a row. It was a good thing then that I could switch back to Limbo and skip all of this.

With a bit of concentration a demonic glyph appeared behind my feet and for a moment I felt a sensation of weightlessness, before dropping on the ground in the Limbo version of the tower.

I didn't need to walk much before I found several Prides and Lusts going up, no doubt following the Son of Sparda steps either wanting to challenge him for glory or due to their superiors ordering them to try and soften up the man. We can't have that now, can we?

I hit the floor with the butt of my weapon loudly, drawing their attention. As every face turned to me I opened my arms leaving my chest open while casually taking a few steps forwards.

Come at me bro!

At the back of the group I saw two Prides nodding to each other, before straightening themselves. Before any other demon could realize, they cut down the ones nearest themselves. Taking that as the invitation that it was, I charged at the nearest Pride and cut through him with my special attack.

The second and third enemies fell down quickly to a fast combination attack, while the next one fell to quick dash and a hook to his neck before using the power of my special attack to finish the decapitation maneuver. While I didn't had the necessary mastery for really complicated techniques I had used previous opportunity on the preview room to train potential combos with the skills I already possessed, turning mere technique into true skills.

As I went through the enemies the two Prides on the front where also quickly dispatching their own opponents, their attacks being somewhat similar though still different enough to differentiate each of our styles. Soon, all hostile demons fell, leaving only me and the two other Prides.

Are you two from the Escape faction?

No, we are both from the Rebel faction. I thought the likes of you would run away instead of entering the tower.

I still don't have enough power to go further away from the local breach.

Hmm, yes I almost forgot that as the vanguard we are still bound to Limbo. The left one said before pointing his scythe to me. Come with us! The Twin Sons of Sparda will weaken themselves fighting each other, giving us the chance to strike back and usurp their power!

I couldn't believe what I just saw. There are TWO of them?

Indeed. One of them was responsible for resurrecting the tower. Now come, with one more to our side we will be able to quickly gain power.

Just one question then, I said before looking at those two, how many humans did you kill to get this strong?

They simply stared at me before shaking their heads and shoulders in amusement. Ah, I see we have one human sympathizer here. That's a lot of nerve coming from you, don't you also have greater powers now? Or did you really try to fight off our kind as you were before?

Broken furniture can hardly come close to human lives. Did you enjoy killing humans, like you were killed so long ago?

I did what I had to do.

I shook my head. No, no you didn't. You killed humans because you wanted to, don't make any excuses!

I don't need to listen to a traitor (escape faction). Your mistake was announcing yourself in our presence!

The two Prides came after me, one with a frontal charge and the other tried to flank me. With a quick dash I avoided the first attack, quickly flipping the mental switch towards Soul Reaper Style and retaliating. Three quick strikes before thrusting my scythe forwards and making it spin like a propeller and following by smashing my weapon on his chest pinning him to the ground.

I jumped back just in time to avoid the second Pride attack, using my gun to fire at them and gain some more distance. While I missed some shots it still piled up the damage from a safe distance while they could only endure my attacks and try to get close to me. Their team work also left much to be desired and for a moment I thought it would be a simple fight.

One of them threw his weapon towards me, the scythe spinning horizontally almost following my movements. I jumped up to avoid the attack and the second Pride soon followed in the air, and much to my surprise he performed the Reaper Cleave in mid air, closing the large distance between us instantly and hitting me square on the chest, sending me flying backwards towards the wall. I endured the pain and took my gun to shoot at them and gain some more distance.

I switched tactics and stayed at range, shooting and evading their attacks slowly taking out their health, until I saw an opening and with a quick sprint the Pride was cleaved with a powerful attack imbued with demonic energy. The enemy burst into smoke and sand as his accumulated red orbs flew towards me, and I was ready to grab his soul before it was intercepted by my second opponent, who managed to grab it and jam on his chest.

There was a brief flash of light, and the second pride was almost as tall as as Hell Vanguard, demonic energy shrouding his body with an aura of malevolence. He must have brought the ability to self-evolve from the God of Time and Space, marking him officially as a greater demon upon his recent evolution.

And I just needed a new Proud Soul, how convenient.

He quickly charged, the attack coming much faster than before and I almost couldn't dodge it in time. I kept my distance trying to find an opening, until he came in a frenzy, cutting and slashing in my direction with wild abandon, and no matter where I dodged and ran he came after me, ignoring the wounds from my gun until I found myself cornered.

He stabbed his scythe backwards, when something bit into my back making me stagger for a moment allowing the Pride to smash in my chest with his special attack sending me crashing towards the wall, bouncing once from it just to be hit by a second follow up attack of the same nature.

If I still had blood I would had lost most of it from the attacks, the pain almost making me lose consciousness once I hit the ground. I managed to roll and avoid the finisher at the last moment, dashing forwards to avoid the strange attack from hitting me once more. Fortunately for me once I knew what to expect for the attack was easy to avoid, as the set up was easy to identify and took some time to prepare.

Sadly I was already on my last legs and I needed something to turn the tides. I had to try something Crazy, something Brave.

Something Awesome.

My opponent came after me with his own version of my special attack, and I matched him with mine. As we were about to clash I jumped before the two weapons connected with each other, shooting him in the back and using my double jump ability to position myself just right to bring down my weapon to impale him on the chest. He couldn't quite fully dodge, getting a gash on his chest from the attack, but I didn't stepped there.

One, two, three attacks followed as I stepped forwards before shooting him in the face, using my speed to circle him while he staggered before repeating it once more, using the propeler attack to shred his flesh. My demonic energy enhanced scythe cut through him, and as he was sent several meters back I finished it off with a bullet to to his head.

The demon convulsed for a moment, twitching on the ground as I approached him while dark miasma leaked through his body until he stopped.

I took another step forwards and suddenly the Pride leaped towards me ready to impale me on his scythe.

I answered with a bullet to the head, making it explode like bloody confetti and it's body crashing on the ground right in front of me. It's soul floated above the corpse for a moment, and before it disappeared I grabbed hold of it.

The soul struggled in my grip but I held it tightly. I slightly opened my hand and the soul took that opportunity to try and escape, but it's flight was stopped when it meet with my fist as I started to pound it into submission. Several blows later the soul stopped struggling and it's light dimmed from it's previous bright hue to a subdued tone.

More red orbs came from him alongside with a green orb to regenerate my health back to full.

I was now several red orbs and one Proud Soul richer than before, but I held back my urge to return to the Divinity Statue right away. If I keep going back and forth from the Divinity Statue too often I will end up wasting too much time, time I might not have.

The twin Sons of Sparda would inevitably clash with each other, and I had to make it clear which side I would pick, though I held no illusions that I could make a difference in the grand scheme of things.