A Hunt Like No Other

by Crazyscientist85

So it turns out that Vaults are scattered all over the galaxy. But what about Pandora? Had the planet run out of Vaults to open? Of course not. But have you ever wondered why the Eridians tried so hard to hide them? Well, the general idea is that some Vaults... should have never seen the light of day. And for good reason. Triple crossover (RWBY, Borderlands and Doom).

52. Mount Babylon

In the bottom of a cave lay a human in fetal position, trembling like a newborn and staring at the damp walls. That human was impassive at the songs of damnation that rang throughout the complex system of caverns nor did it care about the state of its body, restored enough to avoid death but not enough to be healthy. Dirtied with dried blood and urine, the human lost itself in the abyss of despair, thrown there by the Dark Lord himself. No matter how much rationalization he had put into the issue, no matter how he tried to explain too himself that it wasn't his fault, Braylon always came to the same horrifying conclusion; his own sister, herself corrupted by demonic influence, would bear his child, one of many that would become a member of the demon army.

He couldn't live with himself anymore. As soon as the Dark Lord gave back his body and threw him into the depths of Mount Babylon, he tried to put a bullet in his head and be done with it all. Twice he tried and twice he failed, ending in an even deeper state of misery. No one heard or cared for his cries of help, for his wish to be comforted.

In that state, he wondered about his father and mother. The first thought was about them being just like his brother and sister. He felt relieved when he didn't meet them. It was far better to be into the unknown than to know the truth.

When the last tears dried up, when he emptied his whole soul of all the emotional baggage, when he became a husk of a human being, when he exhausted all the mental faculties to try and deflect the blame for something he was powerless to stop, he decided that he wanted to reach the Peak of the Three Calvaries and get out of Hell. Nothing would stop him from achieving that. All demons that would try to stop him in any way, shape or form would feel all of his unleashed wrath. Ordering his PDA to enhance his physical and mental prowess at the highest rate possible, consequences be damned, Braylon journeyed into the depths of Mount Babylon, his face the epitome of stoicism.

(Doom: Alien Vendetta – Demonic Hordes)

His Striker made quick work of two Bull Demons. Jumping on some rocks and reloading, he reached two entrances that led to the same area. In front of them stood a massive chunk of netherite. Two Vulgars, two Phantoms, a Prowler and a Behemoth teleported around him. Equipping his Plasma Rifle, he killed the Vulgars with ease, while the Prowler climbed a wall and the Phantoms flew around. Braylon strafed left and right when the Behemoth fired a storm of gyrojet rockets from its shotgun cannons. Said rockets flew through the Phantoms and dug tiny holes into the wall behind them with their explosions.

Braylon moved sideways and fired a short burst of plasma at the attacking Phantom. Its screams went unheard by everyone present. He jumped away from the second Phantom's fireball, strafed from another volley of gyrojets and got tackled by the Prowler. It growled, one of its hands grabbing his forehead while the other scratched his chest. His materialized Holo Ripper went into its ribs, digging into and through the lung, heart and spine. Kicking it into the bottom of the cave with his legs, he rolled backwards to avoid a second fireball, then disabled one of the shotgun cannons with the Plasma Rifle. The melted slurry ventured fused with the mechanisms, rendering the weapon useless. He then circle-strafed behind the injured Phantom so that it could get a second plasma treatment. It dropped with a spectral splash into a half-solid puddle. With enough heat stored, Braylon reach the other ghost demon and unleashed it all, its cries were even more bone-chilling as whole limbs detached themselves and turned into vapor.

The Behemoth was frozen with Cryophobia before it could use its functioning cannon. Its arm was shattered with Striker before it freed itself from the ice. In such impaired state, there was nothing it could do to stop Braylon from mincing its exposed heart with Holo Ripper. The organ's destruction led to the explosion that painted everything into green.

Two Revenants showed up to compensate for the failure of the first group, along with three Unwilling, one of whom carried a Vladof Shock sniper rifle. Braylon dual wielded Unforgiven and Pocket Rocket. He killed two Unwilling shotgunners with headshots, before jumping back into the bottom of the cave, making sure to use his Oz Kit to slam the Prowler corpse into paste. The moment that the last Unwilling took a peek it lost its head. When the body fell down, he picked up the sniper rifle and began shooting the descending Revenant. One of the bullets zapped its jetpack and disabled it. The Revenant fell, breaking its legs. He jumped on its chest and crushed its head with the turrets.

The other Revenant was smarter, deciding that it would be better to rain some rockets on him from above. Braylon retreated further, looking like he tried to melt himself into the walls, just to avoid the explosions. When the rain ended, he used the remaining bullets in the magazine to rip the Revenant a new asshole. The sniper was reloaded and stored into the PDA.

He returned to the entrances. Now a Sorcerer awaited him, wrapped entirely in bandages. It touched the surface of the netherite and infused it with magic. The rock trembled until it reshaped into a mockery of a humanoid form, called Netherite Golem.* Unfortunately for it, Braylon's Staff of Wicked Sins received fuel through the Dark Lord's slaughter. He used it all to cast the strongest spell it could offer, sealing the Golem in a circle. It was reduced to the size of a finger. The Sorcerer, panicking, turned his staff into a whip with living snakes for thongs. He let them coil around his left arm so that he could rip them out from the Sorcerer's grasp. He reached the Sorcerer and smashed his head in with the Staff and kept hitting it more aggressively each time, until it snapped. After taking a deep breath, he went on.

The area was a huge complex of stalagmites, stalactites, elevations and shiny crystals. On a rock formation resembling a bridge, to his left, two Hell Razers howled when they spotted him, alerting a Bruiser that stood on top of a cylindrical monolith in the middle of a roundabout of gravel and sand. Braylon jumped down on what he thought was a tor. The weird angles he noticed during the fall made him wary of his surroundings. A Hierophant appeared, along with two Dread Knights. The former waved its hand, blocking off a stone arch with an orange barrier. It was the only way up that didn't include climbing.

"Surrender or be destroyed."

Braylon materialized Striker.

"As you wish. Break his bones."

The two cyborg demons leaped from behind the Hierophant and charged towards the tor with impressive speed. They split from each other. He shot the one on the right, who was a jump away from reaching his legs. A second shot punched it off the rock. The one on the left climbed its way up with its blades where its hands proved useless. He kept shooting its head until it got a concussion that made it loosen the grip and fall down. A hand grabbed him by the ankle and threw him off the tor. His head hurt from the fall, though it didn't stop him from rolling sideways when the Dread Knight tried to jump on him. Its blades were stuck in the ground. He reached its elbow and cut the arm with Holo Ripper, making sure to be as slow, yet effective, as possible in order to inflict a lot of pain on the demon. He saw a shadow looming over him, so he spun around and defended himself with the Ripper from the Hierophant's mace. Sparks flew from their clash, one unable to overwhelm the other.

"Look at you, growling like a dog that begs to be put down."

The second Dread Knight appeared from behind the tor, half of its helmet gone and its head caked with blood. Braylon took the Pocket Rocket and blasted the Hierophant away in time to escape from the Knight's deadly ground slam. The injured one pulled its blade out from the ground, being pissed off more than its brother. He switched to the sniper rifle and unleashed bullets into the bloodied one until it got zapped, then fired three more bullets into its head, killing it.

"You will not get rid of us that easily, hominid."

The Hierophant waved with its mace, summoned a Duke of Hell and sicced it on him. Braylon reloaded while strafing. He shot the remaining Dread Knight in the back thrice, but the sniper rifle had barely any effect on the Duke and the Hierophant, who hid behind the bigger demon. With the Plasma Rifle he inflicted further damage at the Knight, enough to keep it knocked out, then passed to the Duke, shooting after it performed a ground shock-slam. As bits of its exterior popped away, the blue fires within the body raged like solar flares. In response, it threw a thuderball, something Braylon dodged. It hit the Dread Knight, frying its cybernetic implants and cooking its organs. Braylon kept inducing more pressure on the demon with more plasma. The Duke exploded with rage and went for a mad charge. He equipped Cryophobia, shot a rocket at its legs, freezing them, then strafed away before it could fall. The legs, in contact with the ground, crumbled. The demon tumbled like a ragdoll. He jumped on the Duke's back, sliced a horn with Holo Sabre and poked a hole in the back of its head. He shoved the barrel of the rocket launcher in the hole and pulled the trigger. The Duke was out of the fight.

"Cursed be you and your name. May you rot in this place."

The Hierophant flew backwards, away from Braylon, when a green pentagram appeared next to them. Spiraling into flames, the pentagram acted as a teleporter that would throw out a demon from the darkest caves of Hell. Although its appearance matched that of an Arch-vile, as tall as the Infernalist, its hue was ashen grey with a tinge of green shadows instead of usual black. Instead of a head, the thing from the neck up was a translucent circle with a symbol that Braylon avoided thinking about. It had far more arms than a body like that should be allowed to have.**

They regarded each other in silence, waiting for the first move. The Arch-vile unfolded its arms and wriggled its fingers in such a manner that they appeared to fuse with themselves. Its gestures made much more sense when a portal was woven into existence, out of which came yet another obstacle in Braylon's way.

Out of all demonic forms he had seen, that one was the closest to a human being. Slightly taller and with a far better physique than his, evidenced by his bare chest, pale as the rest of his exposed skin, this new threat wore remnants of a rust red armor, a bandolier and a horned animal's skull for a shoulder pad. In one hand, it carried a double-barreled shotgun with so many engraved details that it would better off in an art museum. The other held a massive stick which produced a holographic blade of an axe. Braylon also noticed his Hive Bomb that dangled from its hip, as well as pinkish Shield device on the opposite side. There was no need to call it out for being a thief. He would loot it all from its corpse.***

"My proficiency is wasted on you." It growled. "I should have been out there, hunting for the Slayer. Quit wasting my time and die."

He said nothing, his face an expressionless mask ever since he walked out from that cave. The demon's red dots deep within the skull were hard to read. Its voice seemed to betray anger, yet the body failed to show any signs of aggressiveness or mindless hatred. If there was anything he had learned in Hell, it was the fact that those demons that were capable of coherent speech were usually the most dangerous.

The Arch-vile held the Hierophant and vanished behind a wall of fire.

Braylon and the demon circled around each other.

"What is your name and your profession, whelp?"

"Braylon Monocriffe, Vault Hunter."

It tilted its head.

"Vault Hunter? I used to be a Vault Hunter, once. Since when are they allowing kids to play with guns?"

Braylon, thinking he had an opening, shot the demon in the head. The Shield absorbed the damage. The second time he tried to shoot, it was already strafing left and right.

"Tch. Not only you steal what is mine, you also copy my moves as well. Some Vault Hunter you are."

It threw its axe at Braylon, who also strafed. As he did, the demon dashed forwards and pointed its shotgun at him while the axe teleported back in its other hand. His stoicism crumbled within seconds, changed with a look of absolute fear. His greatest saving grace was his left hands proximity to the gun. He pushed it away with his PDA, only to get kicked in the hip and thrown away.

He waited for the demon to come closer. When it did, he spun around and revealed his Unforgiven. It stomped on his hand.

"Tricks like that won't work on me."

His Holo Sabre darted upwards, but that was blocked by the demon's axe, which sliced his own blade in half without struggle. Not letting himself freeze in panic and shock, the young Vault Hunter materialized Pocket Rocket and immediately fired two gyrojets at the demon's head. The first explosion was absorbed by the Shield. The second shattered the energy barrier and blew up in its face. It staggered backwards, howling and covering its head.

"Haaauugh! Why you little-"

Braylon picked up his revolver and dematerialized both weapons as he strafed backwards thrice. The demon took his Shield and threw it like a disc. He ducked, making the Shield explode behind him. The demon closed the distance within seconds and swung with the axe. Braylon rolled to the right side so that it couldn't get him with the shotgun. He stabbed the thigh with Holo Sabre and jumped away. The Shield was up again.

"Okay. The gloves are off, child. I'll end this quickly."

It spun in mid-strafe, trying to swing that axe with enough power to cut him in half. Braylon circle-strafed around the demon and blasted its protection away with the Plasma Rifle. He thought it would pick up the Shield, so he shot a burst of plasma. It received fist-sized black spot on its chest as, to his chagrin, threw the Hive Bomb instead.

The "bees" had laser stingers. Each shot felt like being punctured by a hot needle. He tried to swat them away with no success, so he tried the next best thing, which was to strafe them off. However, the demon waited for him to move to the spot it wanted. When he did, it threw the Shield. Braylon saw the incoming pink device and strafed, but not before having his right arm blown away by the explosion.

He observed the mutilated limb, its dangling flesh, its broken bones. With the same calmness he moved his gaze to the demon, who seemed to expect something else.

"Hmph. You don't have to act in front of me. It makes you look more pathetic than you actually are."

Braylon lowered his head.

"Not long ago I was forced to watch as my own body was used against my will to inflict a horrifying crime on my own flesh and blood, itself corrupted by demons. It felt like my own soul died then and there. What possible pain could you inflict that would make me feel something worse than what I'm currently feeling? You think I need both arms for my revenge? No." he chopped it off, "This one is good enough."

"Don't you dare mock me, shitty brat." It began stripping itself of its equipment. "I refuse to tarnish my name for a nobody that thinks so highly of himself. I'll claim your life with my own bare hands."

Braylon materialized Unfrogiven as the demon strafed forward. The bullets he shot had little to no effect on the approaching brute. He dodged the jab and the uppercut, but took the kick to the stomach. He spat the acid that rose inside his mouth on the demon's leg, before it kicked him away. He strafed and it strafed too. It grabbed his arm to move the revolver away.

"I've beaten you already. This is just plain amusement."

"You can't beat someone who hates himself more than you do."

It grabbed his leg. He jumped and kicked its head with the other. The moment its grip on his arm loosened, he punched its palm and materialized Holo Sabre through the arm, splinting it through the bones. A heavy swipe to the right grazed its chest. He saw its other fist going for his chest, so he grit his teeth and headbutted it, stopping the limb in a position that allowed him to chop it off. He strafed away while slightly concussed and materialized the Plasma Rifle.

"Should've killed me when you had the chance."

The Rifle was set for microwave emission. Holding the gun to his hip, he pulled the trigger. All he heard was a mechanical hum as the air around the barrel began twisting from heat. The demon wobbled on its legs, its brain dazed by the exposure. After two minutes, the demon, without warning, exploded into a thick cloud of red mist. Molten, hot gore splashed his chest, causing minor burns on the skin. A Soulsphere rose out of the semi-solid puddle. The face inside hurled silent curses at him. He punched it and let it restore his body. The energy barrier that blocked the arch was shut down.

First thing he did after defeating the demon was to slurp some of the goop to satiate his hunger. Later he went over to the equipment. The reason why it threw the Shield after it shut down was because that Shield was none other than the Tediore's Cradle, a Shield that acted like a Tediore weapon when depleted. The Hive Bomb grenade mod was stashed and equipped for future use. He took his time analyzing the shotgun.

The barrels were coated in silver and engraved with runes and patterns that seemed to shift every so often. The stock was made of high-quality wood. A little demon head served as a lever for opening the barrels. He heard whispers coming from the weapon, something he decided to ignore. Somewhat heavier than the Orphan Maker, this would be his newest addition for confronting any threat.

What looked like a curved staircase beyond the arch was a tunnel when he went through, with a Cyberdemon waiting at the end. He let it charge towards him, taking all the energy bullets shot from the gun-turret. When the Shield was depleted, he ducked and threw it forwards. The explosion shredded a portion of its head, stunning it. He ran up to it and unloaded a heat blast down its throat. The Cyberdemon fell on its side. He sawed off its head for good measure. Near the end, a Maggot dropped from the ceiling. He swung his Holo Ripper diagonally, cutting through the left head and down to the base of the neck of the second head.

He came to the roundabout where the Bruiser was standing. Braylon used the remaining sniper rifle ammo to destroy the bruiser's screen and inflict some pain through electricity. Flopper came in handy for climbing the monolith. Braylon materialized the new shotgun and fired at the Bruiser's chest. Unlike the Orphan Maker, this weapon was capable of tearing massive chunks of flesh, leaving a gaping, bloody wound. A second shot blasted through its head. Third shot pushed it off.

The monolith trembled before descending. A red sphere teleported in the middle of it, one that would make him go berserk. He touched its surface and was immediately assaulted with the images of the unspeakable orgy. He dropped on his knees, berserker tears dropping down his face as he bellowed with all his might. It was a trap. A Druj, a Soul Cage and a Blood Maykr had him surrounded.

Braylon leaped to the Soul Cage, ripped off its arm and smashed the skull, the strafed to avoid both the Maykr's spear and the Druj's barrage. He strafed to the latter's stomach and punched it. Due to all the fat, he only managed to cause a ripple, like when throwing a rock in a body of water. Braylon dodged the spear, which lodged itself into the Druj's chest. He used it to jump on top of the corpulent demon's head. He gave it few punches and two headbutts, but it achieved little. The spear that was once again meant for him missed and impaled the Druj's forehead. Braylon, before the spear could teleport back, reached the Blood Maykr. It dodged his punch just as the spear came back in its hand. The Maykr pushed its spear. Braylon caught it before it could be flung and shoved it into the Maykr's mouth.

He focused his rage on the revived Soul Cage. Sliding under its projectiles, he grabbed the rib cage and forced it open, releasing the trapped soul in a storm of agonizing shrieks. A Minister of Death and a Malwrath replaced the two fallen demons.

"I'll fucking murder you all! I'll have my fucking revenge for what you did to me!"

Circle-strafing around the Druj helped him escape from the Malwrath's eye laser and the Minister's one-turned-eight fireballs. Braylon materialized Holo Ripper and cut a line in the demon's back, letting blood and innards slip out. It was far from being dead, trying to turn around with a bit of difficulty. He made another line in the body before strafing away. The Malwrath took flight and the Minister was preparing an attack.

The Druj groaned and activated its gatlings. He made sure to stand in front of the Minister before moving away, so that most of the rockets would damage it. The latter stopped powering its attack and created a green energy barrier to defend itself. Meanwhile, Braylon bounced off a wall and landed on the Malwrath. The Ripper turned its eye into mush as it dug in the brain. Moving it downwards, the holographic chainsaw sliced meat and bone until it reached the jaw. From that height he jumped back to the Druj and cleaved its skull and a portion of its massive chest. The Minister unleashed some pillars of green energy, setting all the corpses on green fire. He jumped down.

The Minister threw his fireballs. Braylon avoided seven of them, the eight being absorbed by the Shield. He reached its chest and grabbed a small part that stuck out from the chest. Ripping it off, he found a green core which he stabbed with Holo Sabre. Green light and vapor rushed from the black husk as the Minister hollered in a high-pitched voice. All that remained was a pile of pebbles and ash.

"It's good to be angry. But anger won't let you see the bigger picture." The Dark Lord whispered into his mind, "We need to exist. This place gives Creation meaning. We give Creation meaning. What will happen when Hell becomes sealed forever? Ever thought about that? Of course not. You can't comprehend an existence where there is only one moral extreme, thanks to me. Evil exists to shape children into men and women. You all need evil as much as you need water."

Braylon clenched his head, suffering from the side-effects due to consumption of the Berserk power. Nevertheless, he moved on, now more determined than before to get out of Hell.

He arrived at a hidden lake by pulling a switch, which opened an alcove with a teleporter. The water in the lake was crystal clear. He could see a hole at the bottom, indicating the presence of an underwater tunnel. The ground shook as the ceiling exploded violently. Braylon hid behind a wall, away from the falling debris. A black, worm-like creature with a red beak and a lizard head slithered out, glaring at the scenery with its red dots for eyes. It was a Dragonworm Rockeater.****

Its beak perforated wall after wall in search for the human, who waited for it to turn somewhere where it wouldn't see him. When it did, he ran out, jumped from a rock and grabbed its squishy skin with Holo Claw. The dragon had no idea he was climbing on its body, being too focused on melting rocks inside its beak. Braylon materialized Holo Ripper, cut the skin and decided to slide all the way down. The Dragonworm screeched as a thin-yet-long line appeared on its body. When it turned its head and realized that he was a human, it roared with such strength that it caused an earthquake. It took a dive into the earth, disappearing with all its length.

Everything was quiet for a while, until the ground beneath Braylon's feet began shaking. He jumped into the lake moments before the Dragonworm rose where he stood. Once again it lost sight of him, so he sneaked to near its body and cut a horizontal line with his holographic chainsaw. The Dragonworm shook its head with a yelp and quickly retreated into the hole. He waited for a few minutes to see if it would reappear again. It didn't. He went back into the lake…

---

(Buckethead – Soothsayer)

Braylon jumped out of a well that was connected to the underground lake. It was situated on the surface, near some walls and surrounded by hills. Above him, beyond those walls, Mount Babylon kept growing up and high, along with the Peak of the Three Calvaries, eye-catching like a star on a Christmas tree. The gates were open. There was a city behind the walls, a city carved in stone. The roads were paved with burning coffins, though he felt nothing when stepping on them.

Some Caconoids emerged from a nearby building. He hid in a pyramid-like structure, which was stuffed with skulls. His double-barreled shotgun peeked from a window, waiting for one of the flying demons to waltz in front of it. One of them did and got a load of cursed pellets to the side of its head. It spun just as he loaded new shells. Blast number two made a mess of its face.

The remaining Caconoids refused to move closer to the pyramid. Because he had nowhere to go, Braylon had to come out. He fired once at random and rushed below a bridge, where he found an eye switch behind a small hole in a wall. It was shot with the Unforgiven, activating a mechanism and lowering something nearby. A Caconoid descended close enough to be shot. It crashed down, wailing and spitting blood. He gouged out the eye with the shotgun before finishing the demon off.

Running up some stairs, he reached a small square where skeletons hanged from a tree. The Gargoyles that were nested there screeched to alert everyone of his presence. A Thalamus Arachnotron teleported near a wooden stage. He ran behind some barrels stuffed with corpses. A Gargoyle landed on the barrels. He put the shotgun up and fired. The Gargoyle's corpse was thrown into the air before crashing down.

The Arachnotron's plasma melted the barrels and depleted a portion of his Shield before he managed to escape inside a building. He was attacked by two Peons, one of whom he blasted away before it could do anything. Its brother grabbed him by the arms and tackled him into a wall, waiting for a Gargoyle to crawl into the building. He gave a headbutt to the Peon, then again and again until it let go. Stabbing its head with Holo Sabre, he kicked it at the Gargoyle in the doorway, who escaped outside. One of the walls slid down, revealing an alcove with a Sawcubus. He ducked and circle-strafed behind it, loaded the last two shells he had and painted the opposite wall with its innards.

With Cryophobia equipped, he froze a Revenant that waited upstairs at the end of the hallway, only to break it with Pocket Rocket. He gave the same treatment to the Arachnotron from a window that looked down on the square. To the right of the hallway was an alcove filled with dismembered human soldiers and a Bull Demon who ate them. It spun its head straight into the Holo Sabre, which was turned into Holo Ripper so that the skull could be cracked open and split from the body. Braylon found some shells on the bodies, but only few of them could fit into the double-barrel shotgun, his newest weapon of choice.

On the third floor he found a teleporter guarded by two Furies. After dispatching them, he used the teleporter to transport himself into some ashen wastes filled with skeletons of various sizes, from human to giant. He was quickly greeted by a party consisting of two Barons of Hell, three Maggots and a swarm of Lost Souls.

Rather than fighting them, Braylon strafed towards a hill of bones and jumped over it to escape from the group, shooting some of the Lost Souls with Striker. He stumbled upon a group of Imp Grunts who were thrashing what seemed to be the remains of a house that was burned down. They chased him like the other group. Braylon cringed, shot himself to deplete the Shield, then threw Cradle at the Imps. Two out of three exploded like a piñata.

There was a temple on an island made of skulls after crossing bridge. It was made of mossy cobblestone. Inside he had found a lidless sarcophagus, where some skeletal remains hugged a cannon-like weapon, itself somewhat rust and covered in vines. Hoping it would be of use to him, he picked it up and flipped a small switch on its side. The cannon hummed as a small bar lit up, displaying two orange lines. Solar panels were laying on top, near the black barrel, making him think that it was solar powered. Hearing footsteps crashing skulls outside made him yelp in surprise. He spun around, pointing the cannon at the entrance, where a Baron of Hell glared at him.

His finger furiously mashed the trigger as the Baron began its rush. The cannon hummed louder as the demon came closer. When it was about to punch him, the cannon let out a loud boom, as if something was thrown from it. The Baron's chest and legs were bombarded with beams of orange light, which erupted into a line of gore that extended all the way to the entrance of the temple.

The other Baron crashed through the wall as he went out. He stashed the gun and materialized both Pocket Rocket and Holo Sabre. One of the Lost Souls was destroyed before he strafed away from a Maggot, reaching it again to cut it in a Z-shaped pattern. Two Lost Souls crashed into him, depleting his Shield again. This time he threw it at the remaining Maggot, then spun around and ran away.

Near a buried clock tower he had found a floating android that carried a metallic box. He grabbed the box and punched the android.

"Error. Human signatures detected. Incompatible with Slayer signatures."

The box was stuffed with ammunition, most of which he could use for his entire arsenal. After reloading every gun, Braylon ran behind the clock tower, where he found a teleporter between five pillars made from bones. It brought him back into the city, on the roof of a building.

"How ruthless you've become. How efficient. I can't help but wonder if you are even the same Braylon. Could that glorified bracelet hide more secrets than you know? Or is your wrath giving your power?"

The earth shook as the Dragonworm reappeared for round two, destroying five buildings in the process. It was a perfect way to get an idea of its size, since it was able to dwarf any construction in the city. When it caught a glimpse of the human responsible for the two scars on its body, it straightened its body and let itself fall like a tree. Braylon jumped from the roof, landing on a smaller tower. The building he left was flattened along with everything behind it.

Braylon materialized the Devastator, now loaded with rockets through the PDA's systems. Three of them slammed into the soft flesh, prying it open. Ichor and gunk spewed from the hole. The same flesh wobbled, trapping the wound shut, although not without leaving a scar. It maddened the beast so much that it tried to turn the entire city upside down. For Braylon that meant laying flat on his ass and covering his head as the world around him was swept away. Debris and dust fell on his back as the Dragonworm raged throughout the entire city. And then silence reigned supreme. It dug back into the earth.

Braylon waited another three minutes. When he was able to confirm that the monster sunk back into the dirt, he swum out of the ruins and on the street. He could see something large, black and metallic to the east. He jogged towards it, only to be stopped by a pair of Archdukes of Hell. One of them tossed fireballs while the other charged for a close quarters combat. Braylon shot the latter with the Plasma Rifle, who defended itself with its cybernetic arm, itself somewhat resistant to plasma. When the Archduke was close, and when its brother prepared another fireball, the Vault Hunter circle-strafed behind the former demon and burnt its back with more plasma, down to the tech-reinforced spine and muscles. The Archduke spun around, failing to land a hit with its chainsaw-sword. Switching for the sniper rifle, Braylon fired two bullets at the brain jar of the second Archduke, causing a brief malfunction that shut down its motoric functions. He then turned to the other cyborg and released a storm of sniper bullets, a gimmick of Vladof guns.

Seeing an opportunity, Braylon strafed to the knocked-out Archduke and impaled its heart, then its brain, with the Holo Sabre, later pushing it down. Materializing Devastator, he fired a rocket at the other Archduke, blowing up more of its flesh. Not even that was enough to bring it down, despite losing so much body mass that it shouldn't be able to move at all. However, the next three rockets gibbed it entirely.

What he saw earlier in the ruins of a city was a gigantic platform made of metal, meant to transport people up the mountain. He stepped on it and punched a skull switch in one of the corners. The switch retreated into the platform as metallic fences clinked on the borders. The platform shook, signaling the beginning of the journey.

---

The view would have been breathtaking if it were in any other dimension or reality. Below the mountain lay a world of fire and brimstone with something that could be considered landmarks if they were real. There were fortresses, eldritch seas, wastelands, wandering horrors, dark forests, fossils as big as continents and much more. Braylon watched it all with the wonder of a rock. If there were better ways to pass the time, he would cling to those.

No demon appeared for a while. If time had meaning in Hell, he would have said that the last half an hour was as peaceful as it could get. It wasn't an excuse to lower the guard and Braylon knew that well. It was only a matter of time when they would try again.

The platform trembled even if it kept going up the mountain. A bright flash of green sprung out of nowhere. It announced the arrival of the man-armed Arch-Vile.

"↨₪҉ϫɎ…"

Braylon materialized the double-barreled shotgun.

"҉ⱷ◊∆⌂↔ ? ₪↨ᴥԈѭ… ҈҂ѦХ…"

It weaved a portal to summon what looked like a Baron of Hell clad in bluish armor, with a morning star gauntlet for right hand.*****

(DoomPowerMetal – Reborn: Metal For Slayers)

The Baron roared as it cocked its gauntlet, which sone with green aura. Braylon fired, only for the pellets to bounce off the armor. He strafed sideways until he reached the fence, moments before the Baron blasted a wave of demonic energy. It spun and headed straight for him. Braylon dodged a fist and fired again, getting the same effect. It was the confirmation he needed to have; that armor was impervious to damage.

It attempted the same gimmick again.

Braylon frowned and shot the gauntlet. The resulting explosion shattered the armor, undressing the coal-skinned Baron underneath. With only one arm functional, it attempted to grab Braylon by the leg. He blasted the biceps off. Liquid lava streamed from the wound. He then shot one of the legs, circle-strafed and shot the thigh, wanting to slow down the brute, if crippling it wasn't possible. Braylon swapped for Devastator and fired two rockets. He was confused as to why reality bent around the demon's body. The armor returned in a brilliant flash.

So it was indestructible and it could repair itself.

It appeared to be smart enough to avoid doing the same mistake twice. Braylon had no clue how to get rid of the armor, so he attempted freezing it with Cryophobia and zapping it with the sniper rifle. Neither worked. He came to the idea of using the Plasma Rifle. The stream of plasma bolts chipped off bits of it on the Baron's left arm and leg. Having the heat blast available, he waited for the Baron to approach him, shot off the helmet and imbued the head with it. The Baron staggered backwards, its face a molten mess that got fucked up further with a Devastator rocket. Another one bit the dust.

He didn't even have time to breathe and the Arch-vile had already summoned someone else; the Cyberstein. It was hard not to sigh in irritation.

The Cyberstein shot a beam with its cannon. Braylon dodged it and fired two three-rocket-bursts, a thirty-second barrage with the Minishark, a long stream of plasma and what remained of sniper rifle bullets. The Cyberstein lost its Arch-vile hands, half of its head, its left hip and the cannon. With three Cryophobia rockets he turned it into a popsicle, which he pushed off the platform.

He really had enough of him.

"ᴥ◊ɎѦ҂."

The next demon that was brought from the ass-end of Hell was the most unique; a heavily modified paraplegic entity that was more machine than flesh. It held a cannon and a two-bladed chainsaw, while the device it was strapped on was a tank-like object with machine guns and rocket launchers. Obviously it was meant for someone far stronger than him, hence why it was called the Doom Hunter.******

"Target identified."

It activated a barrier that protected its upper body. Its thrusters gave it a formidable speed of movement, being able to zip from one end of the platform to the other in seconds. Braylon decided that he had to cripple that vehicle if he wished to take it down.

The Doom Hunter launched a swarm of rockets at Braylon. He strafed from some, although three of them hit him, nearly depleting the Shield. Braylon used the Minishark to damage one of the machine guns. It zipped sideways and fired with the cannon. After the third shot, it released more rockets then hovered closer to him. Braylon strafed away from it all, shot with the Minishark, then swapped it for Plasma Rifle. He tried to hit the barrier of the upper body with it, finding out that it could be disrupted like that Baron's armor. He didn't miss the chance to pepper the demonic flesh with the Minishark, tearing off the arm that held the cannon.

Its barrier went up faster than he expected. The Doom Hunter suddenly spun around and swung with the chainsaw. His Shield went down in two seconds, unable to absorb all the damage. The blades made two small cuts on his right arm as they passed. Just as it was about to back off, he grabbed the Cradle and threw it with the left hand. The Shield exploded near a pair of rocket launchers, disabling them. Grimacing, he ran up to the hover tank and stabbed it with the Holo Sabre.

"Critical damage!" the Doom Hunter blared, trying to free itself from the sparking wreckage. With its barrier down, there was nothing that could stop the Vault Hunter from latching onto the demon by impaling it with the Holo Sabre. By activating a thruster situated below the pelvis, the Doom Hunter left behind the tank and launched them into the air. Braylon grabbed the stump, glaring at the visor grafted on the demonic face. The Doom Hunter raised its chainsaw while he materialized Holo Ripper. Three blades clashed, the former soon overwhelming the latter. Braylon let go of the stump, materialized the double-barrel and fired at its shoulder as he was falling on the platform.

He shot it again as it descended towards him. Rolling away from the chainsaw, Braylon cut the thruster with Holo Sabre. The Doom Hunter fell helplessly on the platform, thrashing wildly as the Sabre went through the back of its head.

The Arch-vile was gone the moment the Doom Hunter lost. Peace was once again restored.

"That boldness. That desire to overwhelm your opponent no matter who they are. You are not the kid I know. No, you are the beast he let free from its bondage when his family was tortured and murdered in front of him. The same beast that slaughtered fifty men without batting an eye. How could you even think I'll let you go that easily now?"

---

The platform almost reached the rocky path that lead to the Peak of the Three Calvaries. Black snow poured from gray clouds, covering the land in a sheet of ice and soot. The dead trees and bushes along the way were just for decorative purposes.

"Do you have any idea of what you're going to find beyond those gates? Do you know why it's called the "Peak of the Three Calvaries"? No? Let me tell you why."

Once the platform came to a stop, Braylon walked on the path, searching for threats.

"Should you dare to open the gates, you will find three Judges. Their judgement is on par with His, but with none of his disgusting benevolence. If they deem you worthy, you get out. If not… well, it would be far better for you to be tortured in some damp cave for all eternity then to find out what happens if you don't pass the trial. Neither option is preferable."

(Doom Metal Volume 5 – Death's Bells)

Three Bull Demons and a Hell Knight teleported near some rocks. Braylon froze one of the Bull Demons with Cryophobia and blew up the other with the Devastator. He slid under the Hell Knight and to the frozen demon, whom he destroyed with the double barrel shotgun, changing it for Striker soon after. The Hell Knight failed to grab him, just as the last Bull Demon missed to bite his arm off. He shot the former through the latter. A second pull of the trigger killed the Bull Demon and left a fist-sized hole in the Knight.

More demons appeared after he killed the Hell Knight with the double-barrel; two Mancubi and a Harvester. Braylon took a fireball to the chest as he dashed behind a rock, away from the Harvester's gaze. With Devastator in hands he broke a Mancubus' armor and opened its stomach. The third rocket pushed it off the cliff.

The Harvester came out of nowhere and began draining Braylon's life out of his body. He knelt, bearing the pain internally, for the last thing he wanted was to embolden the demon's sadism. He dropped the rocket launcher and tried to stab the Harvester with Holo Sabre, but the latter flew away in time. It hid behind the second Mancubus, who stomped the snow with its stubby legs. It didn't stop even after getting a rocket to the face. He spent two more rockets on the sack of lard. It jiggled in place as its intestines dangled from the stomach. Braylon jumped out from the rock and ran towards the Mancubus. The Harvester flew in front of its comrade and discharged three spheres of pure plasma. Braylon slid under them, jumped on the Harvester and plunged the Holo Ripper on its right trapezius, cutting all the way to the left hip. He then strafed backwards and shot yet another rocket at the Mancubus.

Not even five meters later and a Hypothalamus Arachnotron teleported to stop his progress. Braylon stunned it with Plasma Rifle enough for him to reach its face, materialize his pistols and shove a barrel in each eye. Its gray matter exploded from its back by a single pull of the triggers.

He arrived at two sets of stairs. The one on the left went upwards, following a steep cliff. The one on the right led downwards. He went to the latter, where he had found a clearing with a small altar containing a blue skull. A barrier suddenly blocked both the stairs and the altar. The Dragonworm rose from the side of the mountain, pissed off beyond measure. It wasted no time and attacked with its beak. He wounded its "cheek" with the double-barrel after strafing sideways, shooting once more before it removed itself. It observed two pentagrams that brought two white-clad figures with golden heads and no visible arms; the Maykr Drones.*******

They immediately slid in opposite directions and fired some fast-moving golden energy projectiles, depleting the Shield before he could blink. He caught one off guard by throwing it at him, despite the explosion having little to no effect on its body armor. Because they reminded him of the other two types of Maykrs he had seen before, Braylon tried to shoot one of them in the head with Striker. One hit was all it took for it to die. Tiny red and orange spheres flew from its corpse and were absorbed by Braylon, who felt much better.

Mykr Drone number two didn't seem to care for the death of its brother. It turned its head to the corpse with a blank look on its face. That turned out to be a mistake, because it got wide open for a painful shotgun surgery. Its death woke the Dragonworm from its passive state.

It tilted its head away from the plasma that melted its skin. The Dragonworm launched itself with the fierceness of a cornered animal. Being the larger life form, it thought it could crush the puny human with its stronger-than-steel beak. However, it ended up punching a hole through the mountain, as Braylon was able to dodge away, being smaller, faster and harder to hit. As the Dragownorm fought desperately to free itself, the Vault Hunter materialized his newly-acquired cannon, pressed it against the dragon's skin and used the last bits of stored energy to unleash a force that ripped through the gooey entrails, splashing them against the side of the mountain. The size of the hole made it impossible to shut it with excess skin. More blood gushed out the more the body kept wriggling, flooding the whole area in shades of brown and red. Each pull was weaker than the last, until it stopped entirely.

The barriers didn't go down with the Dragonworm's death, meaning that someone else would come to finish the job. That someone was the many-armed Arch-vile who, as soon as he appeared, summoned two enforcers rather than one. The first was a Caconoid-looking whose facial features swum all over the body's surface, which itself changed colors from minute to minute. Fitting for the name; Surreal One.******** The other creature was more humanoid in appearance, with tanned skin and an orange orb for a head. Said orb produced fire that shaped itself into strands that tried to imitate hair. Once worshiped as a deity, Hinokagutsuchi(*) would prove his superiority in combat. The Arch-vile unfolded all his hands like a blooming flower. With that gesture it gifted the duo with a white energy field that clung to their bodies. An Unforgiven's bullet served as a proof about the impenetrability of said field. So long as they would have it, they would be immune.

The Surreal One spat a perfect cube of burning ice while Hinokagutsuchi threw fire shaped into a spear. Though he was able to avoid being hit by them, he couldn't return fire due to them being invincible. He focused on the Arch-vile, who so far did nothing but stand aside and limit itself to simple observation. Realizing his intention, the Surreal One approached Braylon and breathed fire that froze anything it touched. The Vault Hunter had to strafe away from the Arch-vile.

Hinokagutsuchi threw few kicks and punches, each movement setting the air around the limb on fire. With a "hiyah!" it stomped the ground, creating an expanding ring of fire. Because Shields had in-built protection against fire, Braylon was safe from the attack, though it did make a small dent in the Shield's charge. Unlike him, the Surreal One and the Arch-vile suffered no negative side effects whatsoever.

There was an opening shortly before the ring of fire died out. Braylon made a beeline for the Arch-vile, grabbed one of its arms and snapped it. The latter's scream manifested itself in the form of a white dome that expanded outwards, like a bomb that just went off. Its henchmen's energy fields were nullified the moment they made contact with the dome. Braylon saw them swaying and moaning, dazed from the shock of having all their senses bombarded with their summoner's manifested pain. While in that state, he shot two Devastator rockets at the Surreal One and cut off the Hinokagutsuchi's left arm with Holo Ripper. The former leaked electrified acid from the wounds. The area was infested with tiny traps that could take a toll on his Shield.

The Hinokagutsuchi turned its feet into two fiery globes, liquefying the rock underneath them. Its speed suddenly increased, becoming even faster than the Surreal One, who seemed to teleport rather than move. Even then, Braylon kept his expressionless mask, leaning left and right every time a foot would be meant for his face or chest. He paid no mind to the electrified acid, which drained the Shield. Braylon strafed under a burning ice cube and headed for the Arch-vile, who now had its arms folded. Before its servants could reach him, he twisted the fingers of another arm, achieving the same effect as before.

Braylon decided to quit fooling around and kill them while he had the chance. He used the speed of his strafing technique to deliver a punch that could shatter Hinokagutsuchi's orb-head. The flames erupted into a thirty-second conflagration before dying along with their master. As for the Surreal One, Braylon jumped and fired at his feet with the Devastator, propelling himself towards the demon while also depleting his Shield. When he latched on the Surreal One, he took the cradle and threw it in the mouth that happened to pass by him. A muffled explosion could be heard as his Holo Ripper began cutting through the hard-and-soft flesh. After sustaining enough damage, the Surreal One turned to stone and evaporated, its gore becoming fields of monstrous flowers whose entire lifespan lasted several seconds.

With them out of the way, he wanted to deal with the Arch-vile, but it was gone yet again. The barriers that blocked the altar and the stairs were gone along with the demon.

"You're not the kid, are you? No. That composure, that willingness to throw yourself into a fight, that way you inflict pain on others that comes to you as naturally as breathing… you must be the beast whom he let go from its chains on the day his family was executed in front of him. That same beast that killed everything that moved in that camp without batting an eye. What is the reason for you to lash out, after years of being silenced? Is it because I dared to lay your hand on your own sister?"

"..."

He went and picked up the skull.

"You're giving me silent treatment? Me? When I can snuff out the life in that body whenever I want?"

"..."

Braylon went upstairs, going back to the previous area. A block of netherite crashed in front of the stairs that went up the mountain, turning into a Netherite Golem shortly after.

"Don't get cocky, you little shit. You're stupid if you think I'm just gonna let you waltz out of Hell like that."

The Netherite Golem swung its right arm at Braylon, who slid under its legs and tried to stab it in the back with Holo Sabre. The tool that could cut through hardest materials known to man with ease now had trouble penetrating the netherite that made the Golem, managing to stick only the tip of the weapon before needing to jump on the stairs as the Golem tried to blow his head off with a slap. But while the Vault Hunter was smaller and nimble, the Golem wasn't, having trouble to step on the stairs with as much delicacy. Braylon used the Devastator on the mountain to bury the monster in an avalanche of rocks. The Netherite Golem tumbled all the way down and into the red mist.

"Don't you fucking think even for a second that I'll let you off like that! You get shit done and, in here, there's plenty of shit that needs to be done. You will get to the Peak when I say so!"

"..."

He arrived at a ledge where he was ambushed by an Exalted eagle who tried to bite him with its snake-shaped tongue. One pull of the double-barrel shotgun's trigger kicked it off. The mass of gore and feathers kept falling as he climbed another flight of stairs carved inside a short tunnel. The exit was blocked off by two Exalted wolves with human hands for front paws and humanoid figure with grey skin and faintly purple eyes. The latter wore some purple robes and a black pointy hat with a green gem strapped to it. That, as Braylon would soon find out, was a Witch.(**)

One of the wolves, immediately upon noticing him, leaped like a frog and latched itself onto his arm, biting down with all the strength it could muster. As his Shield kept beeping due to damage absorption, Braylon shoved the barrel into the wolf's stomach and fired, severing its body. He then felt a bump as a bottle broke upon making contact with his body, spraying him with a blackish liquid. It was one of the Witch's concoctions.

Braylon felt tired, unable to hold his weapon properly, much less to run or even strafe. He could still walk, though it wasn't effective, as the Exalted wolf was faster. It rammed into his stomach, throwing him on the ground. It bit and scratched, weakening the Shield. He lacked the strength to kick the wolf off him. The Cradle then beeped twice, indicating that it had to be thrown. Braylon took it and tossed it aside, not far away from him and the wolf. The thundering explosion echoed through the tunnel, destroying both the wolf's and the Witch's eardrums. They howled and wailed as his strength returned to him bit-by-bit. When the effect of the black liquid wore off, he materialized Holo Ripper and placed it to the right side of the wolf's neck, chopping off the head within few seconds. The Witch noticed this and pulled out another bottle from its robes, this time with something green in it. Braylon shielded himself with the corpse that kept spilling blood all over the place. Throwing said corpse aside after the bottle broke on its back, he turned the Witch into Swiss cheese with the Minishark. It wasn't much tougher than a regular human.

Some Zombie Pigmen outside the tunnel heard the Minishark going off and went to investigate. They shared the same fate.

Once outside, Braylon found himself standing in front of a massive black door covered in blue runes that kept it locked. He put the skull he picked up earlier inside a circle. It was absorbed into the patterns, activating some mechanism that in turn activated a horn in the distance. Everything was quiet after that.

"You little piece of shit. Thinkin' we're tough, aren't we? There's plenty more things I have in store for you and we both know you won't be able to kill them all."

An energy barrier with a stylized pentagram blocked off the door as the flapping of wings could be heard in the distance. Too big to not be a problem.

Something landed behind him with enough force to shake the earth beneath his feet. He spun around. A bipedal dragon had landed on a peak, roaring aetherial fire from its mouth and into a wide and long stream, in which tortured souls screamed and flailed about. The dragon was not alive, like all the others he had seen. It was the undead body of one; a skeleton with half-rotten, half-atrophied muscles present on the thighs, tail, neck, wings and chest. The lack of necessary musculature should prevent it from acting as a living being if it weren't for the fact that the dragon ran on aetherial energy, evidenced by the ethereal green specks deep inside the skull and the green miasma comprised of damned souls. Whenever it produced a sound, the souls would accompany it; a chorus of collective suffering.

"You like it? Straight from the labs of the mentally deranged necrophiliacs. They call it Aetherion (***) Good luck getting rid of this one." The Dark Lord laughed.

(Blasphemous – Lagrimas de Grana y Oro)

Ethereal green lights fell silently from Aetherion's stream, turning into Haunted animals. Braylon materialized the Plasma Rifle and banished the spectral entities. Aetherion gurgled, spitting four aetherial fireballs into the air. Those floated in a circle above the area before dropping one by one in an explosion of ghastly moans. When that failed to kill him, as he would always strafe away from the impact, Aetherion soared in the sky above. It let itself drop from the air, stomping the ground with its feet. As soon as it did so, a meters-tall wall of aetherial energy erupted around the dragon and slowly spread outwards. Braylon was lucky enough to stand near a small rock he used to crouch and shield himself from the attack, making sure that no part of his body stuck out as the wall passed over.

Braylon ran and jumped away from a stream of aetherial fire. Materializing Striker, he shot Aetherion twice in the head, with no effect. The foul vapors emanating from the body prevented any kind of melee attack. He tried shooting once again. Though the skull cracked in few places, it didn't stop the corpse from moving around. Aetherion raised its head and channeled aetherial fire into a sphere, gradually increasing its size and brightness. Braylon frowned, materializing the cannon he picked up and pointed its solar panels at the sphere. The cannon registered the brightness as a source of light, storing it for usage. It collected only a third of the needed energy for one use before the dragon took flight and the sphere with it.

Hiding into the tunnel was the only way of avoiding it was to hide in the tunnel. The sphere unfolded itself into thousands of fleeing souls. If being in the middle of it didn't kill, it would have almost certainly drove one to insanity.

Aetherion returned to the peak it had previously been standing on while Braylon ran out from the tunnel. The newest attack consisted of spewing a viscous, aethereal green substance into the air, then dividing it into four parts and turning them into pillars of spectral light that bombarded the area. Although it failed to harm him, he would use one of the pillars to store more energy into the cannon, filling it enough for one shot. Once the dragon descended using the same strategy, Braylon struck its chest with a particle blast. The raw power behind the devastating force threw a whole swarm of Condemned souls out from their host, who itself crumbled back into its deceased state. He would gun half of them down with the Minishark before they possessed Aetherion again. Now alive, the undead monster lacked both the miasma and the lights deep within the skull.

It lost the ability to fly too. Constrained to movement with feet, the dragon belched a quick stream of aethereal green fire, asking for intervention some Haunted cattle to deal with the enemy. They were exorcised with the same method that was used on those that came before them. Aetherion reached a boiling point. Huddling itself into a corner, it opened its mouth as wide as possible. It soon became a miniature green star built upon the suffering of the damned. Indeed, Aetherion had invested every bit of its strength into one final attack, imbuing its power with more potency by the minute. Being a light source, one so shiny that the whole area became green, Braylon saw the opportunity to recharge his cannon. He understood how much power stood behind that sphere when his weapon acquired one shot within seconds. If that hit anywhere near him, he would be dead in an instant.

Even in his current state he had to muster some courage to run at the very thing that could erase any trace of him from existence. Once his cannon unloaded a storm of particles, it dispersed the energies collected within the sphere back down into Aetherion's throat and body, blowing outwards both the Condemned and the rotten remains. Aetherion fell along with the last Condemned.

"You!... You!" the voice seethed, "Even after gawking at my superiority you keep defying me?! Don't you know what I am? By His hand, all things were made. By My hand, all things will end. Do you see? You and the rest of Creation belong under my heel. You were made to be toyed with! No matter how much you rebel against me, I will strike you down as I see fit. If this waste of existence can't kill you, I'll find something that will."

---

(Doom PSX – Track 14)

During his ascension of a miles-long staircase, strewn over the narrow edges of Mount Babylon, some metallic claws swopped at him from an alcove in a half-assed manner. He grabbed the arm that held the claws and rammed them into the attacker's face, whose body toppled over on the stairs. Turning the body over, he had found out that the thing he had just killed was a corpse empowered, and possibly revived, with cybernetic augmentations, including a small cannon as an arm replacement. Even after being dead yet again, the Mecha Zombie's red eyes kept glaring at him. (****)

Two more would teleport on the stairs, one above and one below him. He pushed through the cannon's flames and tackled the Mecha Zombie, cutting its head with the Holo Sabre then throwing the body at its undead comrade with Holo Claw. After taking care of them, a couple of Gargoyles flew from nowhere and decided to throw themselves at him. He killed one with the Minishark and the other with Striker.

A small, rocky plateau held the biggest monument known to Man. Held by three statues of equal size, two humanoid and one avian, representing the three Judges, the Gates of Eternity, along with a seven-layered wall, where each layer was decorated with exotic games found throughout Creation, were the only obstacle that divided Hell from the Peak of the Three Calvaries, where it is said that those who suffer in eternal damnation can be forgiven and released, provided they prove their worth to the entities who reside there.

Of course, the demons wouldn't let him go without one final confrontation. For that reason they built an outpost consisting of three Gore Nests connected via umbilical cords to a tower made of flesh and teeth-like protrusions, carrying a large golden rift on its top; the Greater Gore Nest, as it is known. (*****)

Along with three Mecha zombies stationed there, more monsters would soon be brought into the plateau: three Dark Elf archers from the first Gore nest, two Tainted wolves from the second and two Barons of Hell from the third.

Braylon materialized Cryophobia and used it to freeze the Mecha Zombies, the Dark Elves and one of the incoming Tainted. He then let the other Tainted come and bite his arm. Its teeth and paws diminished the Cradle's battery to zero, allowing Braylon to throw it at the Dark Elves. With them out of the way, he was free to gut the Tainted wolf with Holo Sabre. After killing the first wolf, he shattered the second with the double-barrel, along with one of the frozen Mecha Zombies. One of the Barons smashed through the other two, delivering a punch to the ground that transformed into a fiery shockwave. Braylon took the hit with his still-recharging Shield, shot once with the shotgun, strafed backwards and liquefied some of the Baron's skin and meat with Plasma Rifle.

He would shoot twice with the Devastator to offer a distraction as he was strafing towards the closest Gore Nest. He shot once more then tore the heart-like organ from its pod with Holo Claw. The Gore Nest exploded, painting its surroundings in red, but also channeling the remains of the forces that kept the rift open to throw a Tainted bull into the fray. Something shrieked inside the Greater Gore Nest after the contact was lost. The other two Gore Nests teleported a Druj, a Gorgon, two Redcaps and a Tigerman.

A teeth-filled mouth split open on the Greater Gore Nest's sides, unfolding a giant tongue that held a person with a black mantle and tuxedo, a cylindrical hat, a monocle and a stick. Something akin to scales grew cancerously on his left cheek and right arm. (******)

"Fine!" he shouted, "I'll kill him and then our deal ends, like it or not!"

As the Tainted bull charged at Braylon, the man took something out of its pocket and threw it in his direction. Braylon, who noticed something small flying towards him, strafed until he felt he was out of range of whatever that thing was. He later learned that the object that the man threw was a device that formed a bluish bubble in that spot, no bigger than ten meters, itself capable of slowing down time, as the Tainted moved in slow motion. Braylon tried to shoot the tainted only to find out that the bubble could stop bullets the moment they touched its surface.

Ignoring the mutated animal, the Vault Hunter bolted for the injured Baron. The Druj behind them all, uncaring for any casualties that had no connection to the human, began blasting through his comrades with its rockets. It managed to kill a Redcap, but it also directed the other Baron's wrath at it, seeing how one of the stray rockets blew up its left hip.

Meanwhile, Braylon kept using the Plasma Rifle until the Baron of Hell was knocked out. Redirecting the stream of plasma, he killed the Gorgon and the Redcap, the proceeded to cut off the Tainted's head with Holo Ripper. The human kept himself at a distance, limiting himself to deployment of pocket bombs when he felt it was necessary. With methods unknown to the Vault Hunter, the other human kept moving with such speed that it could be considered on par with instant teleportation. Whenever he did so, a small symbol resembling a yellow clock would shine under his feet. One similar symbol appeared in front of Braylon when the madman approached him. The latter put his arm through the thing and hit the Vault Hunter with the cane at supernatural speed, depleting the Shield in a span of seconds.

Braylon threw the Cradle on the ground and strafed backwards. The other human got away faster than he did, so nobody got hurt. He was even faster than his bullets, as nothing in his arsenal could land a hit. The mocking grin made the fact even more irritating for Braylon, whose face betrayed his rage with a barely perceptive frown. Things changed when a white clock placed itself under Braylon, giving him a transparent force field that slowed down his movement through time. The man stood in front of him with a big smile on his face.

He conjured two symbols; one for his feet and one for attack. However, as he propelled himself forward, his arcane signs disappeared, freeing them both from their effects. The look of horror caused by a gradual realization washed away the man's bravado. Braylon grabbed the tip of the cane once it came close to him. The last thing he had seen in the man's eyes before snapping his neck was hatred directed at someone else, far beyond his reach.

The Druj won the fight between it and the Baron, who became a green heap of semi-solid meat due to all the rockets that were pumped into its body. The former wasn't in good shape either. Its intestines dangled from the left hip and bits of brain matter trickled down its head and face from an open wound. Some of the skin was charred and crispy and most of it was bruised and bulging or covered in scratches. Even if one of its cannons became molten slag, the other one worked perfectly well. Being a demon of slow speed, the Druj couldn't stop Braylon from destroying the second Gore Nest, no matter how many rockets it kept firing all over the place.

The Greater Gore Nest spat something larger this time. It was an abominable fusion between a horse, an eagle and a Skag, with a pair of black-feathered wings and a Sand Worm for a tail. This was a Chimera that only the most deranged of minds could have invented (*******). The last Gore Nest brought a Summoner, then a Hypothalamus Arachnotron.

Braylon targeted the Summoner, who called forth a Ravager Demon, with the Chimera following closely behind. He strafed away from a trajectory of the Chimera's bile spat from the Skag head, fired a Devastator rocket that failed to hit the Summoner because it teleported before it could suffer any damage, then strafed twice while turning to the nightmare of every biologist in existence.

A rocket between the Skag and horse head gave the Chimera a concussion and blew a hole in the body. The Skag had being a Skag head decided to open its head and scream, earning three rockets down the throat which destroyed it. The horse and eagle head ripped off the dangling remains and let them burn away.

"…You know what?" the Dark Lord spoke out of the blue, "I finally accepted the fact that throwing stuff at you with mindless violence ain't gonna do the trick. No, I need a more subtle approach. So off they go! Chop chop!"

The demons, the hellspawn and the Gore Nests were engulfed in a crimson light and vanished without a trace, as if they never were there.

"Phew. Made me lose my cool for a second back there. It's just that I'm doing Creation a favor by keeping you here, you know? Now that I've seen how brutal you are, my sense of duty towards Father begs me to stop you at all costs. So, please, please! Try to not get angry for what I'm about to do to you."

Two smaller pillars of light appeared in front of the Gates of Eternity. From them came none other than Braylon's siblings.

The moment he laid his eyes on them was the same moment the ice-cold persona had melted away and when he awoke from a dream-like state. He didn't question the situation he was in. All his mind was preoccupied with was the presence of his own blood sharing the same space as he.

Silent tears streamed from his eyes. Not even he himself could tell whether they were from shock or shame.

They were facing him, same as they were back when he confronted Jack. He stood with arms folded while she levitated above ground and behind him. Each party observed the other in silence, for different reasons. They relished in the moment. He had no idea what to say.

"It's…" he gulped, "It's been long."

"Sure has." She replied.

He opened his mouth to speak again, only to close it immediately after.

"What, you have nothing to say? To your own blood whom you've seen die? Some brother you are."

"It's… not a normal occurrence to see your dead relatives alive again..."

She rolled her eyes and said: "Quit pulling my leg here. What has been normal in our lives, exactly? Certainly nothing in yours ever since we all died."

He lowered his head, sighing.

"You can stop pretending you care about us now. It's not even funny anymore."

He gasped, raising his gaze at her.

"W-what are you saying? Of course I care about you."

"Is that why you left our corpses to rot under the sun back in that camp?"

"I… when I saw you all… shot in the back of the head, I… I felt lost, like in a dream. I have no idea what happened next, but I awoke again while wandering in the desert. I think that's the moment when everything in my life went downhill."

"Hmph. You certainly had your time hacking through all those bandits. If only you bothered burying us while you were at it."

"I have only fragments of that year of my life. Not even sure if they are stored in this thingy or not. There's not a day in my life when the past doesn't come back to me. Could I've done something then? Could I stop it all from happening?"

"You? Don't make me laugh, you pampered little brat."

"T-there's no need to-"

"Sure there is!" she exploded, pointing a finger at him, "Have you forgotten who you were before you got that damn thing? You were the poor little sick brother who needed to be taken care of. We had to handle you like a hot potato, for goodness sake! Braylon needs his medicine. Braylon needs his walk outside. Braylon needs more food than the rest of us. Braylon this, Braylon that. Do you have any idea how stressful it was for us? For all of us? For me? I had to help mom take care of you when other girls had the time of their lives! And what did I get in return? A slap just for raising my tone, because I couldn't handle the idea that I would have to live like that until I end up six feet under!"

Braylon held a hand on his chest. His heartbeats became easier to hear.

"And then, thank fucking God, dad brings home that thing. Guess who needed it the most? Not him," she pointed at his brother, "even though he was older than you and in better health. Not him, even if he could've found a job and help the whole family had he gotten it. Not him, even if he was the best of his class. No, you were the one who needed a future. You were the one who had to get a gift from his beloved papa on his tenth birthday. And who cared about our birthdays? When I asked for a gift, all I got was a "We'll see." or, even better, a "act your age, dear.", as if I had asked a fucking vacation."

Braylon fell on his knees, crying and sobbing.

"I didn't know I gave you that much pain. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

"You never saw mother cry or father empty a whole bottle of scotch like we did. What would they say and do when they would have a chance to see you again? A cripple who miraculously survived birth now turned into a ruthless mercenary and a serial killer? Even better, what would they think when they learn the real reason why you were born?"

"Why are you crying, dipshit?" even the Dark Lord had joined forces with them, "I simply told them the truth the way I saw it. Look how happy they are now, finally being able to take their lives into their own hands. You should be happy too, if you love them so much."

"Please…"

"Hm?"

"Please stop this. Stop torturing them. My memories are not yours to play with. Why are they even here?"

"Poor son of a whore. I would pity you if my dark heart didn't have decency. What could possibly be worse than a mortal who has no idea of their own purpose? They understood theirs and embraced them. What would you do when you learn the truth?"

The armored figure raised its left hand, surprising his sister.

"Hm? What's that, brother?"

"…"

A large red chest teleported in front of Braylon. It opened by itself. Inside lay the Omni-cannon, the Excalibastard and the Ajax's Spear, along with large packs of ammo for all kinds of weapons.

"What's the meaning of this, brother?"

"…"

Braylon stared at the weapons, unwilling to consider the implications.

"What is he saying?"

"He wants a trial by combat, with you in your best."

"But… why? Why should we fight? I don't understand…" Braylon was distraught, confused and frightened. His brain tried to find an explanation for his current situation.

He took a good look at the armor. It was silver and shiny, covering every inch of the wearer's skin. The helmet was shaped in a way that would hide every facial detail while looking as threatening as possible. Braylon's brother brought out an energy shield and sword. (********) His sister's fury subsided, returning to that mischievous, alluring smirk. Licking her lips, she spread her wings and formed six palm-sized pinkish rifts around her frame. No matter how much he tried to deny it, they were there for a battle. (*********)

(Blasphemous – Su Beso De Plata)

The Succubus fired six thin, golden-black lines that zigzagged their way to Braylon, who managed to avoid them by strafing several times.

"Listen to me! Why are you attacking?"

His brother summoned two Skags made of some orange energy, soon to be dispelled with the Excalibastard. The former thrust his sword forward, projecting a wave of energy that missed Braylon by inches and yet struck his Shield.

"I don't wanna fight you!"

"Then stand still and die."

"Please! Fuck, they must be under control… maybe if I give them a smack or two they will come to their senses…"

Braylon materialized Plasma Rifle as his sister threw another wave of thin lines, one of which pierced his shoulder and took a third of his Shield battery with it. Nevertheless, he blasted his brother's energy shield with plasma until it overloaded and exploded. He then materialized Omni-cannon and fired into the armored man's hip, chipping off bits of metal and drawing blood.

"Oh, shit! I – I didn't mean to -!"

His sister screamed in fury upon the sight of her injured brother. All of her rifts fused into one that shot a powerful energy beam at Braylon. He attempted to protect himself with his arms but ended up blasted across the field, burning some of his skin after the Shield's collapse. She, meanwhile, put a hand on the injury and healed it by projecting a golden light. She then took flight again, although her wings sagged a bit.

"Do you see Braylon?" she boasted, "This is true sibling love! Together we're strong enough to beat you. Stop holding back and fight like a man, at least now when you're capable to do so!"

"This isn't you!" he shouted back, "This isn't the sister I knew! The sister that lives in my memories and heart! Why do you hate me now, all of a sudden? And for something that was out of my control!"

"We finally got the freedom to express ourselves the way we wanted. Our lives are in our hands."

"By being locked up in Hell?"

"Fool! I was already living in hell from the moment you showed up!"

"I never asked to be born!"

"Then stop resisting and die!"

Braylon's sister performed an incantation that gave the armored figure a yellow aura. Gripping his sword with both hands, the older brother took position and sprinted forward, reaching the Vault Hunter within moments thanks to the magical speed given to him. Braylon barely kept up with each swing and thrust, being so swift that they almost looked like a blur in reality. Braylon materialized the Plasma Rifle and burn-shocked the attacker with a short burst of plasma bolts. The older brother staggered back before lunging with an overhead swing. Braylon materialized Holo Ripper and placed it horizontally to block the energy blade.

If only he could take a peek at the might of a man behind that gruesome helmet. Hard metal bore down on Braylon, who frowned back up in return.

"You're not gonna say anything?"

"…"

"I heard her side of the story. What's yours? Was I extra luggage for you too?"

"You're getting too emotional over a mute doll, you know?"

"What?"

"…" he put a bit more strength into the sword.

"You mean you haven't figured it out? Really, child. If that were your actual brother he would have quite a lot to say to you too. Oh, and what stories would he be willing to share…"

"What did you do to him, damn you?"

"…?..."

"How cute of her to think that she has her brother on her side. But then, your whole family is comprised of dumbfucks."

With newfound rage, the Vault Hunter roared and kicked the armor back with his foot, blasting it further with the double-barreled shotgun. His sister reached them and summoned a swarm of energy lines that circled around the armored figure before stabbing Braylon in the chest. The Cradle beeped, so he threw it at the former. By protecting itself with the arms, the man lost both arms in the explosion, his blood splashing all over his chest and legs. His siter lost her fury and gasped in horror.

"No, wait! He isn't-"

She shrieked, wide-eyed, summoning a protective barrier that kept Braylon out. She landed and performed her healing spell again. Braylon felt that something was wrong with his siter. Her skin turned pale and her hair lost its luster. Her wings became lighter and wrinkled. Once she restored both the hands and the armor, she sighed and fell, with the armored entity holding her before she could drop. Despite the barrier going down, Braylon was too frightened to approach them, still not understanding what was going on. He heard her whispers.

"Don't you worry about your sis. I'm not important in this story." she caressed the helmet before putting one of the metal hands on her stomach, "Do you feel that? He's still alive."

"…"

"Don't you cry. It had to be like this… I want you to swear on our mom that you will protect the child from him. At all costs. He's our only hope…"

She smiled, closed her eyes and exhaled.

"Hah!" the Dark Lord cackled, "Someone forgot to tell her that using magic would drain her life. Oh well, she can-"

"UUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHH!"

"Oh shit."

A quickly expanding imitation of a mouth split open the helmet as a noise of deepest, darkest despair shook the foundations of Hell. In the cry that signaled unthinkable loss Braylon recognized his brother and understood the consequences of his naive belief in demonic lies. What felt worse than his heart breaking in two was the mounting dread that came when his eyes saw streams of text and calculations as the PDA beeped loudly.

Warning! Existential threat detected! Probability of survival… thirty-seven percent. Probability deemed unacceptable. Initiating take over of motoric functions. Recalibrating tactical artificial intelligence.

In the time it took his brother to stand up, Braylon's body strafed three times backwards on its own. He wasn't in control of his body anymore. To increase his terror, the armored man dropped the shield and held the sword, increasing its size and turning it black. Dark vapors seeped through the slit in the helmet as the whole body emanated a thin layer of green plasma.

(Mili – Gone Angels)

"Stop this madness! I beg you!" Braylon pleaded as his grip tightened on the materialized Ajax's Spear. He fired at the strafing figure. It stopped moving and swung once with the sword, creating a gust of wind so powerful it broke nearby rocks. Braylon's body didn't give in, however, swapping guns, moving and shooting until the PDA concluded that the plasma coating made him invincible.

As the PDA materialized the Plasma Rifle and kept shooting, the older brother slammed the ground with his sword. A stream of black flames threw itself at Braylon, who strafed two times left before resuming with the strategy.

"Please calm down! We can solve everything without violence!"

The layer of plasma vanished, replaced with a purple aura that extended to the sword. Braylon watched as his brother jumped from spot to spot until he reached him, swinging with the empowered sword in a circle that raised clouds of detritus simply by passing above the ground. Braylon ducked and fired with the double-barreled shotgun, yet neither its power nor the fact that the pellets ripped through the chest plate stopped the rampaging beast, who threw him away with a kick that depleted the Shield.

Braylon's PDA attempted to use Cryophobia but the man blocked the rocket with his palm, then strafed forward and impaled Braylon with the sword, throwing the younger sibling over his head and on the ground.

Warning! Critical injury detected!

His body rolled sideways to avoid getting the head stomped in by a foot as he kept howling in pain. The PDA decided that his owner and the threat had to have some distance between them, so it strafed backwards three times, allowing it to close the wound enough to avoid further blood loss.

"There's no way she is dead." he coughed, "You can't die here…"

But the older brother didn't listen, impaling a nearby rock with the sword so he could free his hands. A dark red aura replaced the purple one.

"Why are we doing this?" he materialized Omni-cannon and looked through the scope, fired twice in the chest then swapped the sniper rifle for Excalibastard. The older brother jumped high in the sky and threw himself towards the Vault Hunter's direction. The latter strafe-ran away in time, escaping from an impact that caused an earthquake. Braylon materialized Minishark and stuffed his brother's back with lead. Whole chunks of armor fell off along with the flesh underneath, but the titanic man refused to fall. The metal was more red than gray.

"Fuck! Computer, shut down the program, now!"

Negative. Survival of the owner is of utmost importance. All other objectives are secondary.

"That's an order from your goddamn owner!"

His brother closed the distance between he could escape. The fist that caved in his stomach sent a stream of gastric acid into his throat and mouth. The uppercut that broke the jaw would take weeks to heal. The jab to the chest almost stopped the heart from pumping blood. And yet his body was able to blast the helmet with the double-barrel shotgun.

The older brother stood back and stopped moving. With few movements he tore off both the helmet and the remnants of his armor, revealing all his misery to the rest of Hell. Braylon noticed pinkish slits on the throat and mouth, gasping in horror.

"That's why he has been silent the whole time?!"

Bruised, wounded and bloodied, the man that could once be called Braylon's brother raised his fists and snarled. Crouching, he jumped, propelling himself at the younger sibling, who materialized the Minishark and begged him to get out of the way. The barrels spun, pumping lead into the body, tearing chunks of flesh with each impact. Still, he refused to die without delivering at least one more punch to the man who caused the death of their sister. One punch was all he asked for.

But that punch never happened, because Braylon dropped the Minishark as soon as they were in an optimal distance for the PDA to materialize the Holo Sabre through his heart.

Braylon would later stamp that memory, that image, into his memory and contemplate deeply about it whenever his mind was free of daily duties. That look of pain his brother gave him had laid the foundations for the Braylon of tomorrow, that same Braylon that would later step through the Gates of Eternity, one that would let the beast that boiled under the surface free and embrace it wholeheartedly, fuse with it into something unrecognizable.

Threat eliminated successfully. Initiating protocols for safe shut down of running programs. Please wait.

Two bodies slid together to their knees in silence. One mourned the passing of the other. Braylon was once again the last living member of his family.

"By His hand, all things were made. By my hand, all things will end. Never forget that."

---

We have reached the end, everyone! This chapter marks the end of the arc. True, there is one more chapter left, but that one is more like an epilogue, to the arc and this volume.

Some of the weapons made a comeback, except for the Nukem, as another weapon became the new WMD. Will they remain? Depends. If I was willing to give Braylon a new super shotgun, a decision I thought I would never make, then no weapon is safe I guess.

Another thing I can't wait for is to start the next Volume. I already made a few plans and ideas, none of which necessarily positive for the wellbeing of the setting.

I'm sorry for another long chapter. Hopefully it won't get out of control in the future.

Next/last chapter: Peak of the Three Calvaries

---

New Item acquired!

a) Marauder's Soulflayer

- "You feel a presence radiating from the shotgun." (deals bonus aetherial damage against living targets)

- Cursed Eldritch shotgun

- uses 2 ammo per shot

- fast reload

- accuracy and damage decreases with range

---

b) Portable Particle Accelerator (PPA)

- "That's a big fucking gun." (shoots high-damage energy blast in a shotgun-like pattern, gun requires sunlight to recharge ammo)

- Blue/Unique Energy Weapon

- three shots only

- very high damage output (damage increases with proximity to the blast)

- ammo recharge speed depends on the power of the lightsource under which the gun is exposed (light from a natural sun increases ammo recharge speed at maximum, synthetic light sources can be more or less effective, depending on factors like brightness, distance etc.)

- supernatural light sources double recharge speed and damage of each acquired shot

- slow rate of fire.

---

Arsenal:

a) Pistol: Pocket Rocket, Unforgiven

b) HWM: Holo Ripper, Holo Claw, Holo Sabre

c) Shotgun: Striker, Marauder's Soulflayer

e) Sniper rifle: Omni-cannon, Vladof Shock sniper rifle

f) Heavy weapon: Minishark

g) Rocket Launcher: Devastator, Cryophobia

h) Energy Weapons: Plasma Rifle, Portable Particle Accelerator/PPA

i) Oz kit: Flopper

j) Shield: The Cradle

k) Grenade mod: Hive Bomb

l) Artifacts: Kalibak's Heartslayer, Seraphim's Seal

---

PDA Biopedia:

*Entry #182: Netherite Golem

Type: Construct

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "Toys made of nonexistent mineral you can find in this shithole. Mindless, sure, but damn do they follow orders, unlike some people around here…" (very high Damage Resistance and Damage output at the cost of speed of movement)

---

**Entry #183: Karmok

Type: Demon - Hero

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "Look at our saint here. Bastard outright refuses to fight but is more than happy to call others to fight for him. I think you pissed him off when you broke his hands. Expect to see more of him in the future."

---

***Entry #184: Enery, the Headhunter

Type: Demonic Corruption

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "A member of an ancient tribe of people, very fond to the Doom Slayer. I was actually surprised when you managed to not-get buttfucked by him, considering that he and his pals can go toe to toe with the man in green. Should I send more of them at once, I wonder?"

---

****Entry #185: Dragonworm Rockeater

Type: Hellspawn

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "This one's a weird thing, a spawn that never left Hell. It dug for ages into the mountain, chewing on rocks and occasionally flesh. Whoever wants to reach the Peak will undoubtedly encounter this disgusting thing."

---

*****Entry #186: Borgnar the Relentless

Type: Demon - Hero

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "I am proud of that armor. I designed it myself if you can believe it. It's entirely impenetrable and when you put it on a tough motherfucker who doesn't know the meaning of "giving up", you get a super soldier! That metal was folded ten times and forged in the fires of Hell. But I'm not satisfied with just one. I want more of them. I want a whole army of them! You can get your dick out and start masturbating now, thank you." (probability of spawning multiple times in multiple encounters)

---

****** Entry #187: Doom Hunter

Type: Demon - Hero

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "Yay. It's the attack of paraplegics revived with dark magic and technology! Who the fuck thought this was a good idea? I'll tell you who; those three goddamn stooges roleplaying as priests! If you can afford advanced technology to build war machines and yet you decide to fuck around with corpses, you're officially the dumbest fucking person in the Creation."

---

*******Entry #188: Maykr Drone

Type: Maykr - Construct

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "The Maykrs often create artificial fetuses that are biologically different among themselves, yet they obey the Khan Maykr, the leader that gets changed every few thousands of years. These Drones think and feel just like you, so you should feel bad for killing them, m'kay? Nah, just joking. We fucking use them as punching bags when there is no one else to kill. They can't even fight back because the current Khan is allied with us." (critical hits to the head deplete all Health, Drones that die via headshot drop ammo and Health, high Damage Resistance and high Damage output)

---

******** Entry #189: The Surreal One

Type: Demon - Hero

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "Sometimes my brothers make me feel like a degenerate pile of dog shit. The best example is this sex offender, right here. You can't believe how cruel this asshole is. The first thing he does when he is dropped on a battlefield is to cause a sensory overload to everyone, and I do mean everyone. This negative-talent when it comes to not fucking up often becomes the first target because of that. On the other hand, it's fucking hilarious seeing a disco ball zipping left and right as it stones people to death with water and such."

---

(*) Entry #190: Hinokagutsuchi

Type: Hellspawn - Hero

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "A god of fire or whatever, now dead."

---

(**)Entry #191: Witch

Type: Demonic corruption

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "Social outcasts are always the most vulnerable. The crazy cat people, the old, the ugly. All of them fit the bill to become a Witch, someone dabbling in potions and whatnot. Like the Sorcerers, when they die, their souls go straight to Hell, because they accepted to form a pact with us in exchange for forbidden knowledge. On the other hand, can you imagine being on a battlefield where the world is exploding and this one ugly bitch starts throwing fucking bottles around? That shit's hilarious!" (ability to buff/debuff/give status effects to itself and others)

---

(***)Entry #192: Aetherion

Type: Hellspawn - Aetherial

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "Developed by scat fetishists and social outcasts, this ass-baby that looks like it could have only been conceived by Picasso if he was into cartoon porn is the newest product straight outta the dumpster where we keep the rotten meat of the dead. I'm sure one of those degenerates fucked one of the corpses before using them to create this piece of shit. In any case, it's dead and you don't have to worry about it. Hooray."

---

(****)Entry #193: Mecha Zombie

Type: Demonic Corruption - Construct

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "This one's funny; a reanimated cyborg corpse with an AI implanted into the head specifically designed to go insane from the sheer frustration caused by the braindead host, making it murderous. Sure, these guys might be wet paper for you, but for an average mortal they might be a living nightmare. Can you imagine a zombie that doesn't go down with a headshot or two? I can't but I bet it's terrifying." (hand cannon deals Incendiary damage)

---

(*****)Entry #194: Greater Gore Nest

Type: Construct

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "Whenever you need more than a dumb muscle, the Greater Gore Nest is the perfect thing for the job. Twice as harder to build, this thingy is designed to summon only the strongest, smartest, deadliest beings Hell can offer. You can't destroy it like an ordinary Gore Nest. A little bit more effort is needed for that. I'm not gonna tell you how to do it, dumbfuck." (spawns Hero-type monsters only)

---

(******)Entry #195: Time Thief von Höllerbach

Type: Human - Hero

Faction: None

Description: "Thanks for killing him. Funny story, actually. This guy used to make contracts with people through which he would steal their time and use it for himself. Ironically, he ended up in a similar scam when he signed a contract with me. Now excuse me, I need to go torture a piece of shit."

---

(*******)Entry #196: Experimental Chimera

Type: Hellspawn - Chimera

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "Damn it. Here I thought I would get some kind of reaction out of you when you saw this deformed mutant. It even had animals from your own home world! It was an attempt to make something similar to the one that got killed long ago. Kinda fun making these things, though, like playing with clay. As an artist myself, I have the duty to show the world just what kind of ideas I can come up with in the future."

---

(********)Entry #197: Brother Jeremy, Family's Pride

Type: Demonic Corruption

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "Did you like the surprise I prepared for you, motherfucker? This is what happens when you try to piss me off. You keep provoking me, poking me, and I just have to explode and show you your place. This could have all been avoided if you just kept being the good obedient dog that you were. That whoreson might have wiped off our pact, but you are still my bitch. You will ALWAYS be my bitch. If I say dance, you WILL dance, got that?"

---

(*********)Entry #198: Sister Melone, Mother's Jewel

Type: Demonic Corruption

Faction: Legions of Hell

Description: "Tell me, how does it feel killing your own sister right after fucking her silly, hm? Would you like me to revive her corpse and do it all over again? Don't make that face, sweetheart, she wanted it too. What, you're telling me you didn't see her undressing you with those bright red eyes (had to pluck out the old ones 'cause they didn't mesh too well with her look)? I did you a favor, man! But… should I fish out for mommy too? Maybe make you watch as her liver gets pecked out by some giant fucking bird or some shit like that? Never make me loose my cool again or I can assure you that you will see things that will make you commit suicide in both body and soul."

---

1) Imp: Peon, Grunt, Subjugator

2) Demon: Bull, Ravager, Noise

3) Possessed: Corpse, Former Human, Faunus, Huntsman, Unwilling

4) Invisible: Spectre, Phantom

5) Corrupted Animal: Tainted, Haunted, Exalted

6) One-of-a-kind: Sawcubus, Vulgar, Wraith, Hell Razer, Maggot, Ifrit, Returner, Scorched One, Frozen One, Eurynomus, Prowler, Bruiser, Gargoyle, Hell Defiler, Commando, Mecha Zombie,

7) Souls: Condemned, Lost Soul, Dark Soul, Forgotten One

8) Revenant: Fury, Revenant, Soul Cage

9) Cult: Harvester, Hierophant, Sorcerer, Witch

10) Elemental: Pain, War, Sin

11) Arch-Vile: Reanimator, Void-Caller, Infernalist

12) Cacodemon: Caconoid, Rahovart, Malwrath

13) Flesh: Flesh Artist, Fleshmender

14) Mancubus: Mancubus, Behemoth, Druj

15) Nobility: Hell Knight, Hell Paladin, Baron of Hell, Duke of Hell

16) Oni: Burning Mouth, Thunder Fist

17) Fusion: Agent of Apocalypse, Minister of Death

18) Arachnotron: Thalamus, Hypothalamus

19) Hellspawn: Zombie Pigman, Mourning Wood, Succubus, Lamia, Kumiho, Harpy, Basilisk, Gorgon, Dragon, Demong, Tigerman, Redcap, Dark Elf, Mormo

20) Cyborgs: Cyber-Mancubus, Cyberdemon, Archduke of Hell, Dread Knight

21) Cyberdemons: Desolator

22) Others: Blood Maykr, Dark Maykr, Maykr Drone