Chapter 29: THE DOOM SLAYER

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

Hayden looked to where Adams was pointing, in the distance. He spotted the monstrously large Icon of Sin, who had adopted a body for himself. He brought one, colossal arm up, intending to bring it down on the landscape.

"EVERYONE, BRACE FOR AN EARTHQUAKE!" He shouted, seeing the giant arm come down with a fury.

CRRAAAAACKK!

The shockwave was sent in every direction, knocking demons off their feet and killing a few in close proximity. The land itself quaked as the arm had ruptured the plates below, sending everything into chaos as the landscape broke apart and shifted around, crashing and grinding into one another.

Countless demons were swept in between the huge mounds of land crashing into each other, crushing them like insects. Soldiers on both sides of the conflict were being thrown around and killed by the constantly-moving landscape.

At this point, Hayden realized there was no other option except to retreat and leave the Doom Slayer to defeat the Icon of Sin. He raised one arm up, emitting a bright light from the tip of his index finger, while activating the megaphone function. The last thing he wanted to do was alert the Icon and the hordes of his plans, but it was far better than losing almost all of his forces to these events and not be prepared to attack once more.

"SOLDIERS, RETREAT!" He attempted to shout above the cacophonous noises of the ensuing earthquake. "GET BACK HERE AND RECUPERATE IMMEDIATELY!"

Everyone within earshot didn't bother to hesitate, scrambling back to the artillery placements while trying to keep steady footing on the moving landscape.

Meanwhile, the Slayer was having difficulties in staying on even ground even with his capabilities. He had been the closest to the blast, and he was entirely sure that if the Icon decided to slam the landscape another time, there would be no more landscape to stand on.

His mind raced as he tried to find a way to put an end to the Icon, once and for all. He had already tried blasting him this entire time with all of his arsenal, even employing the use of the BFG once more. While the BFG had knocked the Icon back for a moment, it did little to his strength and life.

"Hayden still has the Crucible…" VEGA reminded him.

The Slayer's mind clicked. It was the last thing he could think of for this scenario. He looked over towards Hayden, who was standing atop the hill.

"I'll send him a message through my telecoms." VEGA chirped.

As he was doing this, the Slayer waited for the Icon to throw another punch towards him, as he had been dodging and weaving the slow yet powerful shots the Icon was delivering. However, he noticed that the further up the arm was, the more spiked and dangerous the path was. In fact, there was a giant, spiked collar around the entirety of the Icon's goat skull, serving as a protection device.

The Slayer would have to break off the defensive measures before he went for the skull.

"Hayden, the Slayer needs the Crucible."

Hayden heard the message coming in from his bionic earpieces.

"Oh? Is it absolutely necessary?"

"You dumb bionic bitch, I could not imagine a more necessary scenario than now."

Hayden was almost taken aback by VEGA's crude response. He had not expected this of the neutral voice he had programmed so many years ago.

"Very well. I shall toss it to the Slayer. Ensure to relay this to him."

"You're going to TOSS it? Do you have the throwing capability for such a distance?"

"I know my own limits."

"Then he shall be informed. Ensure to do it when he has reached the Icon's goat skull."

The telecoms came to a close, and Hayden enhanced his vision to watch the Slayer begin his trek up the Icon's body as soldiers were fleeing around him, towards the artillery placements, which were quickly being re-converted into mobile carriers once more.

"To your right."

WHOOOOOSH!

"Now your left."

WHOOOOSH!

"Right again."

WHOOOSH!

The Slayer continued narrowly dodging the massive punches the Icon was throwing at him as the Slayer blew off portions of his left arm, attempting to make a path out of the spikes and other obstacles littering the Icon's body.

He was beginning to run out of ammo, and had no way of gaining more. Every shot had to count at this point.

Dodge left. Blast off an opening. Dodge right. Kill a Revenant harassing him in the air.

He saw an opportunity to conserve his ammo as he noticed a mess of Revenants begin to circle around him in the air. He waited for them to begin blasting rockets at him.

PEW! PEW! PEW!

A second before they hit their target, the Slayer dove out of the way, leaving the rockets to blow up more of the obstacles in the Slayer's path. He continued doing this until he managed to get up to the collar itself.

"F-O-O-L-S!" The Icon of Sin shouted in anger, swatting the Revenants out of the air like flies. "Y-O-U A-R-E H-E-L-P-I-N-G T-H-E S-L-A-Y-E-R! K-I-L-L H-I-M B-Y O-T-H-E-R M-E-A-N-S!"

The Slayer began relentlessly beating against the giant collar before him, sending cracks spindling all over the area. He noticed the shadow black out, and just barely managed to scoot by as the Icon attempted to crush him with one hand, as if he were a pesky mosquito.

"T-H-I-S I-S S-U-C-H A-N I-N-A-N-E E-N-D T-O Y-O-U, S-L-A-Y-E-R." The Icon hissed. "D-E-L-A-Y-I-N-G Y-O-U-R I-N-E-V-I-T-A-B-L-E D-E-M-I-S-E I-N S-U-C-H A P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C W-A-Y."

"Hayden is ready to throw the Crucible to you when you're on the Icon's skull, Slayer." VEGA told him. "Be ready."

The Slayer gritted his teeth, unsheathing the BFG-9000 as he prepped it to fire at the collar. And yet, as he was about to fire it, the monstrous hand came down once more on the spot, and the Slayer had to narrowly dodge it once more.

"It seems we can't prepare the BFG within time before the Icon will try and crush you." VEGA noticed. "We need something to distract or keep him at bay until we're able to-"

| MY LEGIONS. |

The Slayer's hordes of raised fallen turned back from their retreat, looking to the Slayer.

| CLAMBER ONTO THIS FILTHY BODY OF THE ICON OF SIN, AND TEAR IT APART. |

The eyes of his hordes shone brightly in an aggressive and dogmatic fashion.

"RIP AND TEAR!" "RIP AND TEAR!"

"RIP AND TEAR!" "RIP AND TEAR!"

"RIP AND TEAR!" "RIP AND TEAR!"

They ran back towards the Icon of Sin, hopping over the misshapen landscape, and began climbing onto the Icon's body, beating at the skeletal structure fanatically. The Icon tried shaking them off and crushing them with his limbs.

"F-U-C-K-I-N-G P-E-S-T-S!" He shouted in anger.

"Now's your-"

The Slayer didn't need to wait for VEGA to finish as he pulled out the BFG once more, preparing it to fire. The green orb in the middle began to rotate rapidly and grow in power.

VvvvvvvvvvVVVVVRRRRRRRR-

The Icon of Sin noticed what the Slayer was doing, but before he could raise his hand to try and crush the Slayer-

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

The BFG's laser tore through the entirety of the collar, breaking it off completely and seating the bottom part of the Icon' skull.

He hesitated no further, seeing the collar begin to rapidly regenerate. He dove past it, climbing up the base of the skull and onto the head.

"Throw him the Crucible, Hayden!" VEGA instructed.

In the distance, Hayden cocked his hand back, Crucible in hand, as he calculated the exact trajectory, acceleration, velocity, and other components to ensure this throw would reach the Doom Slayer.

"And here. We. Go." Hayden said.

WHOOOOOSH!

He threw the Crucible with such force the the surrounding air was temporarily sucked into the throw.

The Crucible rocketed towards the Doom Slayer, who was standing atop the skull, waiting to catch it.

Wheeee-

But before he could catch the Crucible, the Icon's hand came down upon the skull, and the Doom Slayer, with no way to move safely, instead chose to grab the oncoming hand just before it crushed him. He struggled to hold it back as the force behind the hand slowly pushed the Slayer into the skull, causing it to crack more and more as he was being forced into submission.

The Crucible continued to rocket towards the Slayer, only seconds away from reaching him.

And in a moment of both desperation and an undying rage to finish the mission, with no other option left-

He shouted, as loud and as hard as he could.

||RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH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The scream shook the very air, and trembled the hand of which the Slayer held. It was only a mere moment of hesitation and shock, but that moment was enough, as the force was released from the Slayer. He jumped through the gap between the Icon's fingers, catching the Crucible in the air, before double-jumping backwards, unsheathing the Crucible-

SHHHHVVVVOOOOOWWWWWW!

-and aiming the point downwards, towards the forehead of the Icon's goat skull.

CRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

The skull was opened up as if it were made of paper as the Argent Energy sword plunged through it, sending ripples of pure, raw Argent Energy in every direction. The Slayer twisted the Crucible, causing the opening in the skull to widen, causing bursts of demonic energy to spew out like a noxious gas.

The blade broke off in the skull, leaving only the handle of the blade in the Slayer's hand. And yet, he knew it was no longer needed, throwing it off the side of the skull and hopping off, running away as the Icon began beating at the landscape, sending the already-misshapen ground into a complete shuffle.

"YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!" The Icon cursed at the running Slayer, attempting to crawl after him. "YOU RUINED EVERY ONE OF MY FUCKING PLANS! YOU RATSHIT DOGFUCKER SON OF A CUNT-"

The Icon continued cursing at him with every known insult it had, as the Slayer made his escape, noticing the carriers were beginning to take off as the landscape was coming undone.

"I'LL KILL EVERYONE YOU LOVE! I'LL HAVE MY HORDES OF DEMONS RAPE THAT LITTLE BITCH OF A PRINCESS YOU CARE FOR SO MUCH! I'LL-"

He stopped in his tracks as he noticed an Imp standing on his forehead, one holding a most mischievous grin. In his hand was the dimensional book the Icon had used to keep the last remnants of the portal open.

"Such a pottymouth." He cackled, hopping off the Icon's skull and onto a nearby cliffside.

"GIVE THAT BACK YOU FUCKER!" The Icon screeched.

"No, I don't think I will." Blitzo surmised, running towards the same mobile carriers that were taking off, followed quickly by Loona. "Sayonara, goat fucker!"

And so the battle came to an end, as did the land, as the Icon of Sin began to fall apart as the Argent energy blade stuck in its skull continued pouring energy into its core. The Icon screamed, shouted, cursed, pleaded and screeched while it came undone.

Just as the Slayer, Blitzo and Loona hopped on the last mobile carrier and were flying away, they got their last glimpse of the Icon of Sin as its crumbling remnants were buried under the sinkhole of a landscape it created.