Chapter 27: THE BITE OF HIS SWORD…
The mere sight of that ugly fucking skull boiled the Slayer's blood. How DARE he exist here, where he once more renewed the old wounds of the past.
Of the Betrayer.
Of the Sentinels.
Of his homeworld.
He deposited Charlie on the hill, cracking his knuckles as his eyes kept unwaveringly on the Icon of Sin, who seemed to grin hideously as he approached.
"Y-E-S, S-L-A-Y-E-R. C-O-M-E A-N-D S-E-A-L Y-O-U-R F-A-T-E."
The masses of demons before him, snarling and gnashing their teeth, turned their heads towards the Doom Slayer-
U.M.B.R.A.G.E.
THEY WHO HATH DEALT THE OFFENSE MUST PAY TENFOLD FOR THEIR CRIMES
U.M.B.R.A.G.E.
BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
There was no monologue to be had, no waiting in store.
KRAK-AK-AK-AK-AK!
This was not a story where there was tension before the fight.
BRT-T-T-T-T-T-T-T!
This was a story of one being, filled with heavenly wrath and an undying dogma.
BRVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV!
THIS WAS THE STORY OF THE DOOM SLAYER.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRT-T-T-T-T-T!
BANG! BANG-BANG-BANG!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
BRVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV!
KRAK-AK-AK-AK-AK-AK-AK!
The Doom Slayer had moved so quick that even the demons were unaware of their own deaths as he struck them down with the violence of a thousand warmongers, tearing through them as if they had all wronged him in the worst of ways.
Heads were torn off, limbs were dismembered, bodies were caved in and filled with holes.
And in the first wave of his raucous attacks, the demons that survived his onslaught fled for their existence, feeling the terrifying, aggressive aura that radiated from his very PRESENCE.
THE PRESENCE OF SOMEONE WHO WOULD RIP AND TEAR.
Hayden, who had finally gotten to the crest of the hill, had witnessed the beginning of the Slayer's rage-filled warpath, and even in his bionic form, he felt chills run through his mind and body.
"What an ego I must have to have tried and toy with such a celestial being…" He muttered. He turned around, gesturing to those UAC scientists and soldiers that were surfacing on the sandbank.
"THIS IS NO TIME FOR REST! THIS IS THE FINAL BATTLE, MEN! ARM YOURSELVES AND TAKE POSITIONS ON THIS HILL! SUPPORT STAFF, SET UP THOSE ARTILLERY EMPLACEMENTS IMMEDIATELY!"
While the sea of demons were focused on the Doom Slayer, Hayden had to utilize the time he was saving for the rest of the expedition. As the UAC went to work and the soldiers began setting up on their positions, Hayden turned back to see if the Doom Slayer had tired.
And of all the foolish thoughts, it was to believe the Slayer would ever tire. He hacked and slashed away at these demons as if it was his entire existence's meaning, and Hayden could not observe a single microsecond of fatigue within the Slayer. He half-wondered if there was a point to using his own UAC to fight the demons, if the Slayer would take care of them all himself.
Then, he noticed that for every demon the Slayer took out, dozens more flooded from the giant portal a mile away, and they came in such a flurry that demons were quite literally stampeding over each other to fight the Doom Slayer.
What was the point? Why did these demons so fanatically chase after their own violent deaths? It was as if Hayden was observing a constant cycle of violence, carnage, gore and death, as if the demons lived for this display of wrath.
Then again, they were demons.
"Christ...I think my ears are plugged…"
Hayden turned around to see Angel, along with Husk and Niffty, emerging from the sandbank, soaking wet and partially covered in sand.
"This is no time to mess about, Task Force. The Slayer has given us time to utilize our abilities, so move post-haste and ready yourselves for the onslaught."
"Yeah, yeah, save the fancy words for the politicians." Husk said, cracking his neck. "I just wanna kill some fuckin' demons."
"Same here." Angel responded, touting his machine gun. "Let's butcher these fuckers and get our humanity back!"
Hayden nodded, then noticed the rest of the Task Force surfacing on the sandbank.
"Inform them to find the proper positions for attack, and I'll signal when we will begin our assault."
Angel, Husk and Niffty nodded, scurrying back to the shore to assist the others up to the hill. Hayden looked to the UAC and demon soldiers, who were hard at work setting up their own makeshift barricades, then to the Icon of Sin hovering far into the distance. He used his bionic functions to hone in on two small dots he saw on a platform near the Icon, and made it out to be a very tall demon dressed in red and holding some sort of staff, preaching and ranting in some manner, while the other was chained up to the portal. Hayden could visibly see the energy being absorbed by the portal from the chained demon.
"He must be the power source for that portal." Hayden surmised. "We must kill him immediately."
"Wait, what?" Charlie asked, having overheard his muttering. She squinted her eyes, her hawk-like vision allowing her to see past the fields of demons, until she focused on the chained demon. Her eyes widened in horror.
"Oh my god- DAD!"
"Pardon?" Hayden questioned. "Your father is the power source?"
Before he could do anything, Charlie transformed in a fit of rage, her eyes turning red, her wings unfolding, her hands turning to gnarled claws, her teeth turning into gnashing fangs.
"FATHER!" She howled, flying towards him.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Hayden shouted at her, though she ignored him as she flew over the sea of demons and towards him in the distance. "She's fucking up the plan!"
He looked around to see that everyone was mostly set up, including the artillery placements.
"Fuck it."
His right arm transformed into an energy cannon, and he raised it above his head, projecting his voice with a megaphone function.
"SOLDIERS! THE TIME HAS COME! WE MUST LAY WASTE TO THE DEMONIC FORCES BEFORE US IF WE ARE TO PREVAIL FROM THIS DIMENSION ALIVE!"
The soldiers shouted their war cries, raising their weapons above their heads. Hayden aimed his cannon at the hordes of demons.
"THIS IS THE FIGHT FOR HUMANITY! KILL THEM ALL!"
"YEAAAAAAAAHH!"
"KILL THEM ALL!"
"LET'S FUCK THEM UP!"
And so, it began.
Break an Imp's skull on the knee.
Blast a Possessed Soldier in the face with the LMG.
Cut a Hell Knight in half with a chainsaw.
All of it was more than instinct to the Doom Slayer. Every cut, every hack and slash, every burst of energy from the Gauss Cannon- It was ingrained in the Doom Slayer. He had done this countless times, for so long, that he had become the weapon itself. He found himself often throwing aside weaponry to cave in the skull of a Baron with his fists, or to curbstomp a downed Revenant in the face.
Because his task, his mission, was far more important than any other ideal or objective.
He would slay DOOM itself.
In the midst of his ripping and tearing, he caught a glance of that demon princess, in her full demonic form, zipping past him, raking her claws and breathing fire upon any demon unfortunate enough to be in her path. He had half a mind to continue his slaughter, and almost went back to it, until he noticed where she was going.
Straight towards the Icon of Sin.
He had gauged the Icon to be the most powerful foe in this ocean of demonic foes. He was the only force to be reckoned with by far, and he had no doubt that even Charlie would be killed by the goat skull.
He had half a mind to continue his violent slaughter, and yet...
He disengaged very quickly from the Cacodemon he was ripping in half and hopped from demon skull to skull as he followed Charlie, determined to stop her before she would get herself killed.
Whrrrrrrr- BWIIIIIIIIIIP!
Hayden's arm-cannon powered up, then fired a shot at a mass of demons, who immediately incinerated from the blast.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT-T-T-T-T!
BANG! BANG-BANG-BANG! BANG! BANG-BANG! BANG! BANG-BANG-BANG!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
This was shortly followed by a hail of gunfire and explosions as every armed individual unleashed their firepower upon the hordes of demons. Thousands of demons died by the second, and it almost seemed as if they were getting obliterated.
But they began to replenish almost as quickly as they were being shot down as the portal began to gush out even more, and the chained demon screamed in agony as his energy was sapped from even more so.
"We have to kill that demon." Hayden muttered. "Regardless if the Princess wants him alive. He must be destroyed."
He turned his attention to Adams, who was focusing various artillery barrages on different parts of the hordes of demons.
"Aim your barrages at that demon in the far back, on the platform."
Adams tilted his head in confusion.
"Huh? Where?"
Hayden pointed to the platform a mile away, and Adams squinted his eyes, trying to discern the target.
"I...don't see anything, sir."
"Damn it." Hayden cursed. He realized they had to move up closer in order to focus that firepower on him. "Listen here. When we get close enough, as soon as you can map that demon on that platform on your device, do it immediately."
Adams nodded fervently. Hayden turned back to the soldiers, activating his megaphone-like voice once more.
"WARRIORS! IT IS TIME TO PUSH THE ENEMY BACK! THE VANGUARD SHALL KEEP THE DEMONS AT BAY, IT IS YOUR JOBS TO ENSURE THEY STAY THAT WAY!"
"HELL YEAH!"
"LET'S FUCK 'EM UP!"
"RIP AND TEAR!"
The cacophony of shouts rang through the violent and chaotic atmosphere. Hayden looked to Benny and Vaggie, who were slaughtering any demons that tried to engage the soldiers on the hill.
"READY YOUR SPEARS AND FIX BAYONETS! IT'S TIME TO PUSH!"
The soldiers did so, then aimed them down the hill, ready to charge. Hayden had another ace up his sleeve that would ensure the demons would not overrun the soldiers during this charge.
"CHARGE!"
The screams, whoops and shouts of the soldiers temporarily drowned out the gunfire and explosions as they ran down the hill, some of them stumbling over their own feet, though the charge was mostly successful as several lesser demons separated from the horde were impaled by bayonets and spears, screaming in agony before collapsing into dust. Benny and Vaggie slammed their shields into any demons who tried to engage the infantry that had now stopped.
Hayden swiveled his head to Adams, who had waited to fire on Hayden's orders. Hayden pointed his finger at the area in front of the soldiers.
"Create a deep trench in front of those soldiers, so that any demons who try to reach them will have to cross a giant gap before doing so."
Adams nodded, running his finger in a line across the device. The artillery placements fired their mortars, which arced far above the heads of the infantry and came down a few dozen meters in front of them.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The ground was pulverized as the barrage dug itself a hole that spanned several meters between the soldiers and the demonic forces, and was a few meters deep.
Hayden was almost ready to celebrate, when he noticed that the Doom Slayer had disengaged with the main horde of demons and was chasing after Charlie. He felt dread begin to build up as he noticed the attention of many of those demons switch from the Doom Slayer to him and his forces.
"READY YOUR FIREARMS AND BEGIN FIRING NOW!"
A wall of gunfire erupted once more, vaporizing through the demons that were sprinting, crawling and flying towards the soldiers. Revenants that tried to flank the squad were promptly shot down by Annie and her sniper squad, who had to pick up the slack for Charlie's missing spot.
"Fuck, I can't take down every single one!" She muttered. She noticed one particular Revenant dodging her shots and making its way towards her, opening the silos for its rockets as it cackled.
BANG!
Another sniper shot, not from Annie, slammed into the Revenant's head, sending the flying demon spinning all over the place, its rockets shooting out of the silos and blowing up packs of demons. Annie looked to her left to see Niffty, who had a sniper rifle in her hands. She gave Annie a big grin.
"I noticed you needed some help there, so I'm gonna fill Charlie's role until she comes back!" She said, her own squad of UAC and demon snipers coming up behind her.
Meanwhile, Angel and Husk were side by side, firing upon the packs of lesser demons trying to storm through the deep-set trenches. Angel noticed an Imp trying to make itself small and using another demon's body as cover as it tried to make its way towards them.
BRRRRRT-T-T-T-T!
Angel lit up the body, and the Imp, with several bullets as he cackled.
"Holy FUCK, this is the most fun I've ever had!" He shouted in ecstasy. "I could get used to this!"
BRRT-T-T!
Angel flinched as Husk fired off a round of machine gun shots.
"For fuck's sake, Husk, why don't you make me go deaf-"
Thump.
It was only then that he noticed a large Hell Knight had fallen to the ground only a few feet away in the trench, having focused its warpath on Angel, who looked to Husk with newfound respect.
"I mean, I wasn't gonna die from that, but thanks." He said.
"Thank me after we win the fuckin' battle!" Husk shouted, releasing another cascade of bullets towards a gang of Imps crawling through the trenches.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
CRACK!
Demon skulls caved in one after another as the Doom Slayer played hopscotch on their heads, trying to catch Charlie. It was difficult, as she was weaving between both flying demons and giant demons with relative ease, leaving the Doom Slayer to kill them before he continued chasing after her. He was clearly faster, but she outmaneuvered the demons so easily that he was left with the engagements.
He could hear her screaming for her father, and he was rapidly reminded of a time long ago, during the time of the Sentinels, when he had saved a girl from the tide of demonic forces as they descended upon her village. He remembered that same little girl crying out for her father, who had been ripped to shreds by the packs of demons.
In the moment, he felt his deep-seated anger boil up at the unjust thought, and he zoomed forward, moving so quickly that his entire body blasted through a Baron of Hell, leaving a Doom Slayer-shaped hole in the demon.
"SIR, THEY'RE STARTING TO OVERWHELM US!"
Hayden noticed this, too. As the Doom Slayer moved further towards the portal, more and more demons being left behind were starting to focus their attention on the soldiers firing at them, and soon the trenches began to fill with more and more bodies of demons by the second. Hayden was frustrated as he wondered why these bodies were not disintegrating, and he soon came to the conclusion that the Icon of Sin was controlling their ability to reincarnate back in Hell.
Perhaps he was leaving these bodies here as a way to bridge the gap between the demonic forces and the soldiers? If that was the case…
He wasn't entirely sure what to do next. His plan had fully relied on the Doom Slayer taking the focus of the demonic forces as his forces pushed up slowly until they could reach the platform and take out the source of power for the portal. Once that was done, they could focus on the Icon of Sin.
Instead, the Princess had fucked up the entire plan, running off and then causing the Doom Slayer to chase after her, for whatever unknown reason. In all honesty, he couldn't care less if she had died in this attack, but he hadn't expected the Doom Slayer to go after her.
Now, the demonic forces were starting to focus fully on the soldiers.
And the first casualty occurred.
"AAAAUGH!" A soldier screamed as he was set on fire by a Baron's fireball, while another was being ambushed by a Prowler who had snuck past the trenches unseen.
Slowly but surely, Hayden's forces began to dwindle slowly as soldiers were being killed one by one; Set on fire, impaled, eaten, torn to shreds.
They were...losing.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"
Hayden looked to where a soldier was pointing to see a Cyber-Mancubus a few dozen meters away, surrounded by lesser demons, firing its arm lasers at the soldiers. Its precision was deadly as it disintegrated several soldiers at once.
Annie and Niffty, along with their squadron, were too focused on picking off both flying and sneaking demons that tried to flank the soldiers, while Vaggie and Benny were fending off the growing horde of demons descending upon the trenches. Hayden looked to Adams, who was frantically pressing various marks and locations on his device.
"Adams, fire upon that Mancubus!"
"S-Sir, I'm running dangerously low on munitions! It's getting close to the 'Hail Mary' mark!"
If Hayden had teeth, he would have gnashed them in fury. The 'Hail Mary' ammo deposit was only meant to be used as a last resort, either on the portal or on the power source for it. The last thing he wanted to do was dive into that deposit, but…
"Use whatever's left of your regular deposit and fire upon that Mancubus!"
"Are you sure?! If I do that, then I'll have run out-"
"JUST DO IT!"
Adams pressed the pad and focused the artillery on the Mancubus. In only a few moments, bombs barraged the Mancubus, sending clouds of smoke and dust in every direction. After it cleared, the Mancubus was left in pieces. Hayden sighed, though his relief could not last for long. Now that the last of the regular artillery deposit had been used, they could no longer thin out the hordes of demons, and he knew that his soldiers would not be able to hold off the demonic forces for much longer.
If the battle didn't turn in his favor soon, then this would be the beginning of the end.