Beta Read by: KobeNiku

Laying there on the blood-stained hard stone road, Dyal Nori felt God was judging him for some cardinal sin he didn't know he'd committed. The Slayer simply stood, glaring daggers at the hapless hakuko man.

'Goddamn cats…'

Dyal couldn't help but feel that the being before him had been scorned in some way, that they were a few seconds away from taking that scorn out on him, powering through his fears, Dyal spoke to the Doom Slayer.

"Good knight, I may not know you, but you have saved both my life and the lives of the people seeking shelter in that tavern over there," Dyal pointed towards the tavern, the Slayer only gave them a passing glance, "for that, we owe you our gratitude."

Dyal swallowed as the Slayer turned his glare back on him. "M-might I know the identity of our savior?" he asked nervously.

A tense moment passed then the Slayer dropped something onto Dyal's stomach, the hakuko man momentarily reeling from the soft impact, his hands grasping at the object. Looking down he saw a bulbous giraffe-necked bottle full of lightly glowing blue liquid.

"That healing potion should repair any injuries you've sustained. If you desire tactical advice, a brief scan of the tavern revealed a significant space below the building. Locate access to the tavern's subterranean level and use it to hide those people. The demons are everywhere, if any of you leave this area… they will find you."

When Dr. Hayden finished talking, the Doom Slayer turned away and continued his mission, not in the mood to deal with more hakukoes. Dyal was stunned and silent as his brain slowly processed what had just happened. When it finally clicked that he'd just been largely ignored, he shot to his feet, hobbling forward as the adrenaline wore off.

"Hey, wait!" he called after the Slayer, "please don't just leave us here! The demons will slaughter us! I beseech thee…"

The Slayer didn't stop, but Dr. Hayden cut him off, "The demons will find you if you leave this area, just hide in the establishment's basement, and you will be fine… for now."

Dyal stopped and stood still, his mind trying to form a response from the haze and the Slayer kept walking. A loud growl from the side caught Dyal's attention. He looked over as an Imp lunged at his face from the above ledge. Dyal shrieked and threw his hands over his face to guard.

'Airstrike Shield.'

The Imp faceplanted into the ethereal green shield that bore the blood-red mark of the Doom Slayer. The lowly scavenger turned to the side in time for the Slayer's fist to smash its head. Dyal lowered his arms, he too beheld the magic shield the Doom Slayer had cast, his glowing red mark burning its way into his permanent memory. The Airstrike Shield vanished, and the Slayer again left, leaving Dyal alone.

Dyal returned to reality and put his hands to his face, only to realize that he was still gripping the healing potion the Slayer had given him. Recalling the former instructions, he popped the bottle's cork and drank it ravenously, guided by thirst. The bland and bitter flavor did not kick in until the last gulp. Dyal shuddered as his body repaired the damage the demons had caused. His ribs rebuilt themselves and the stab wound from the Possessed healed before turning back to the tavern, the image of the airstrike shield stuck in the forefront of his thoughts.

'Why did that magic shield feel familiar?' he thought to himself as he picked up the hilt of his familial heirloom sword, putting it back into its sheath. He arrived inside the tavern and was accosted by questions from the commoners.

"Sir Nori, what happened?"

"Who was that?"

"Sir Nori, was that warrior an apostle of the gods?"

"What happened out there, sir Nori?"

It dawned on Dyal that his interaction with the green knight was outside the peripheral vision of the commoners. He took a deep breath.

"I don't know. But he told me there's a basement here and that our best chance at survival is to hide in it."

There was visible discomfort amongst the commoners.

"Stay here? But why? The demons will find us!"

Dyal frowned, "The way he spoke, it seems the demon's presence in the capital is so absolute that nowhere is safe. That we're better off just hiding where we are."

Dyal paused before continuing, anticipating the next question, "Besides, without more knights, I cannot protect you all if we leave this tavern."

The commoners all shifted amongst themselves before a mouse demi-human asked, "So he said there is a basement to this place? How does he know?"

"He said he 'scanned' the building, whatever that means." Dyal explained, putting the word 'scanned' in air quotes, "everybody look around here, see if you can find a hatch or a staircase or something."

Several people stood up and aided Dyal in his search. It was unlikely a hatch to a basement would be in the main room, so the investigation moved into the adjacent backroom, Dyal and his few helpers began shifting boxes and pushing aside shelves. When nothing turned up, one of the commoners started to get agitated, "Underground chamber? There's nothing here!"

Dyal ran his fingers through his short trimmed hair, "I don't know. But I don't think that knight was lying."

The commoner, a bull Demi-human, scowled at Dyal, "And you honestly trust that knight, I didn't see any demi-human traits about him. He could be a human!"

Dyal's eye twitched, "Yes, and?"

The commoner growled storming over to Dyal, "And? They're a human! You can't trust humans!"

Another commoner suddenly stepped between Dyal and the other commoner, aggressively pushing him back. "And that human went toe to toe with the demons of Hell and won on his own. A feat no other can claim! So shove it, Taurus!"

The shoved commoner, Taurus, merely growled. Dyal cleared his throat, "Thank you."

The second commoner sighed, "As much as I disagree with him, he raises a point, we have found nothing to suggest that there is a basement for us to hide in here. What are we going to do if there really isn't?"

Dyal paused, as he had no answer for that. Instead, he turned to the one shelf they hadn't yet moved. He pointed to the last shelf, "We haven't yet checked this shelf. Come, give me a hand moving it."

Dyal moved to one side of the shelf and began to push it harshly. On the other side, the second commoner began to pull on the shelf with all his weakened might. Yet despite the valiant effort, the shelf refused to budge.

"Ok, s-stop," the second commoner begged, prompting Dyal to stop pushing, and the commoner to prevent pulling, "Is this thing part of the wall or something?"

"No," Dyal responded, "there is a visible seam between the shelf and the wall." Dyal proceeded to trace his finger down the seam against the wall.

He then paused, then put his hand up against the seam.

"Sir Nori?" Taurus asked.

"Do you feel that?" Dyal asked back.

Taurus and the second commoner tilted their heads before coming to Dyal and similarly placing their hands along the seam. After a moment they too made the same observation Dyal had made.

"Breeze," the second commoner commented, "there is a breeze behind this shelf!"

"Which means there's a passage." Dyal concluded.

"Wha… why?" Taurus asked, confused that the door to the basement was secret.

"I dunno." the second commoner replied blankly.

"Moonshiners, most likely," Dyal commented, "or an illegal drug lab."

"Huh…" Taurus nodded in silent acceptance.

Dyal grumbled, "Either way, this basement shall be well hidden and well fortified, if the demons do find it, they shall have to work to get in."

"But first, we have to find a way in." the second commoner stated.

"Indeed, look for a switch."

Their search was renewed, now looking for a switch to the hidden door. The control was a bottle on the shelf in question in a cliche turn. The frame slid to the side, revealing a descending passage to the tavern's basement.

Dyal and his commoner companions went below, they passed through a metal door into a large room, containing what Dyal knew to be a copper-built distillery. Moonshiners, as he predicted.

Dyal ran back up into the tavern's barroom. He called to the commoners still hiding, guiding them to the hidden door.

"Come here, come here!" he cried, "Come here! There is room for everyone below!"

The commoners filed into the moonshiner's lab, possibly the last holdout for them in the demon-infested capital city. Dyal was the previous, standing by the door and ready to join his people in the underground space, until…

Dyal's head snapped back out to the barroom, the screeches of demons could be heard, numerous, and approaching. Despair once again began to squirm into the hearts of the commoners. If the demons were to find them here, then it well and truly was the end of the line, the green knight wasn't here to save them now.

Dyal clenched his fist. 'Then they shall not find this place.' he thought ferociously.

Dyal moved towards the switch that closed the secret way, a plan rapidly finding shape in his brain.

"Sir Nori! What are you doing?"

Dyal grimaced, "I am going to close the door and draw the demons away. When I do, remain silent, and the demons shan't even realize you are all here."

"But if you do that, they'll surely tear you apart!"

"This may be the last time you all see me," Dyal stated calmly as he flicked the switch, the bookshelf door beginning to close, "Stay safe, and live long past this nightmare."

"Sir Nori!" one last commoner called out when the door shut.

Dyal sighed and made peace with what was to come. He ran towards the front of the tavern, ducking behind the rubble. He did his best to scan the area without being seen. So far, it seemed the new batch of demons were distracted by the next building over, using the distraction, Dyal hurried across the open street to the adjacent building, once he was in a favorable position, Dyal steeled himself, knowing that he might not survive the choice he was about to make.

"HEY!" Dyal called out to the gathering horde of demons, "Over here, you godless hellion beasts!"

The enormous demon roared, and Dyal ran away from the tavern, the horde hot on his heels.

"Oh great God beyond, please give me strength to yet outrun the unholy wretches, and watch over the defenseless who hide in prayer for salvation from Hell."

And Dyal continued to run, faster than he thought he could.

DOOM: Waves of Armageddon

-The Vigilant V: Rakshasa-

The Doom Slayer pulped another Imp as he continued forward in his quest. The chaos had slowed to a crawl, likely because the demons had fallen back to plan a new ambush.

"If there is any sense to the city's design structure," Hayden spoke, "then there should be a path to the third ring up ahead."

The Slayer grunted in acknowledgment, mopping up the last demons in the area with the Chaingun. Sure enough, there was public access stairwell to the next level of the city, Standing off to the sides stood two Mancubi Ogres, their guns dripping molten bile

They weren't the only demons to be holding down the position. At elevated positions were several Hell Razers, patrolling the wall was a Carcass. Amongst the heavy demon units were a mess of Imps, Gargoyles, and Hell Caina. The demons were embroiled in a battle with a Goblin tribe, heralded by a platoon of Orcs, at least that's what the Shield's HUD called them. The Mancubi burned the Goblins by the dozens while the Orcs did battle with the various lesser demons with tempered steel.

In the sky overhead, there was a ground-to-air between the Hell Razers, Carcasses, and Wasps. Wasps attempted to kamikaze the demons, only to be blocked by the Carcass hard-light shields. Hell Razers charged their beams and carved up the sky, the Wasps that weren't burned to the ground weaved in tight pack formations.

The Slayer assessed the situation, the Cyber-Mancubi were undoubtedly the most dangerous demon on the field. However, the Hell Razers and Carcasses could likely do more damage over time, boxing in opponents and sharpshooting them with the Hell Razers' beams.

'They both came from the wave, right? Goblins aren't demons, though…'

The Slayer raised his Super Shotgun in anticipation, the demons hadn't noticed him yet.

"I am detecting a sizable horde approaching from where you just came from. As well as one… demi-human signature."

'Demi-human? Who'd be stupid enough to…? Nori…'

So the feline reaper was rounding back, and she was bringing another horde with her, he'd suspected that Mina wasn't one to drop an objective very quickly. In a remarkable show of reprioritization, the Slayer turned back around and readied himself for another and hopefully final scuffle with the psychotic hakuko.

Instead, the Hellwalker was met with the other hakuko. The robin-hood-looking fool who tried to fight a one-eyed Fireborne Baron of Hell. He was running as if the Dark Lord himself was chasing him. Fittingly, three seconds later the horde Dr. Hayden detected tumbled forward, hot on his heels.

'I… what?'

There would be time for answers later. First, there was another demon horde to deal with.

Dyal didn't have a significant lead on the demons and he knew it, but perhaps the gods favored him since he'd run into the green knight again soon after. He stumbled up to the green knight.

"Hello again. Found the basement. Hid my people. Drew demons away. Please help me." he said in between ragged breaths.

Dyal said that last part with a hint of desperation.

"..." Hayden took a second to process that, "You are either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish… I cannot tell which."

The warring demons and monsters by the access way finally took notice of the Slayer, their attention pulled by the sudden arrival of Dyal and the other demons. The other horde meanwhile began charging what ranged attacks they had. The Slayer picked up a discarded claymore and shoved it into Dyal's hands.

"Be ready," Hayden warned, "you've entered the hornet's nest."

Dyal didn't doubt that for one second.

-DOOM-

(The Third Ring)

Mina had patched herself up with a medium healing potion she'd kept offhand as part of her standard adventurer equipment. She'd retreated through a shortcut to the third ring and was ducking in and out of the many crevices the demons had overlooked. Her mind returned to the green knight, the Slayer, as he was called.

Mina went to that market to find any escaping slaves that were willing to fight for their freedom, killing what she thought was the weakest to draw them out. Instead, she antagonized a warrior of impossible speed and strength. At first, she thought she'd found the perfect foe. Now she thought she'd have an easier time battling a Baron of Hell.

A pack of Imps crawled by and Mina swiftly glided past behind them, moving towards where she suspected her father Rakshas and his slaves were. She debated whether or not to tell her father about the Slayer, Rakshas wasn't one to take such a devastating loss laying face down. Her father's ability to inflict suffering on others knew no boundaries. He would likely lay blame on her for the destruction of the slave market and the liberation of the humans within.

She approached her father and his surviving slaves.

"Ah, Mina, returned so soon?" Rakshas asked jovially.

Mina walked up to her father in an almost timid way. Her nerves were as plain as day and her father spotted them in less than a second.

"Is something the matter Mina? Did something happen?"

It would probably be worse if she didn't tell him, however…

"Well," she started, "I made it to the market, and there were some escaped slaves…"

Time to rip off the band-aid.

"Because someone had arrived a bit before me."

Mina curled a tad bit as her father's look turned stern. "Who?" Rakshas asked in barely a whisper.

Mina swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "A warrior of great agility and strength that goes by the title the Slayer. I saw him liberating all the slaves in the market and sought to engage him in battle. At first, I thought him weak because he didn't offer much of a fight. It turned out that he was simply holding back to avoid hitting the slaves, but when he met me on equal grounds, he proved to be a greater fighter than me."

Now came the confession Mina didn't want to make.

"I was forced to abandon the fight when the demons started to overwhelm us, but before I left, I witnessed the Slayer eradicate most of the demons that had intruded. So… there is a good chance most enslaved people have been removed from the market."

Rakshas narrowed her eyes, "Am I to assume that you once again spent more time toying with your prey than battling them.?"

"Uh, only a little…"

A growl escaped Rakshas' throat, causing Mina to take a small step back. Rakshas took a breath to quell his anger. "Mark my words, Mina, this is a grave failure, and there will be consequences for it."

Mina bowed her head fretfully. Rakshas however decided that now wasn't the time to punish his daughter for her colossal failure, instead, he took an interest in this Slayer she spoke of, wanting to know who was foolish enough to interfere with his business.

"You spoke of this warrior the Slayer, what of him?"

Mina stood up a little straighter, perhaps she could deflect the blame. "The Slayer is a warrior clad in the strangest plate armor I've seen in a long time. His strikes were hard enough that even demons recoiled. He wields weapons that spit fire and metal like the Faubrey muskets. And his rage is so intense that it felt palpable."

Rakshas narrowed his eyes. "Is the Slayer human?"

Oh boy, the one question guaranteed to send her father down the warpath. In the middle of a wave, no less.

"...yes." Mina squeaked.

Rakshas stroked his beard. So a human had come to sabotage his glorious work? Was he a dog sent by Melromarc? He had to be, who else could it be?

This would not do.

"If this Slayer has come to undo Siltvelt's noble work, there is a genuine possibility he will come this way. We must prepare to meet him!"

Mina simply smiled and nodded, for the first time in a long time, she was trepidatious about fighting someone.

Rakshas looked around and saw that the building behind them had a second-story balcony. He had an idea, a downright sinister idea.

"Slaves, follow me. Mina, does your blade still demand blood?"

Mina nodded, and followed her father closely, curious and slightly hopeful about what plan he was scheming.

-DOOM-

Dyal sidestepped the fierce strike of an Orc while simultaneously kicking a Goblin aside. He swung his claymore in an arc toward the Orc's exposed side. The blade connected and dug deep into the monster's flesh. The creature keeled and Dyal pulled it out and immediately swung it again at a second oncoming Orc, the blade digging into its neck but not decapitating it. He checked the ground for any more Goblins and saw two running mindlessly at him with crude spears.

With an eye roll, Dyal leaned back, using the Orc his claymore was stuck in and picked up a medium stone. He almost casually thrust the rock forward to meet the head of the Goblin to his left. As the Goblin recoiled from the strike, Dyal pried the spear from its hand. He twisted his claymore from the Orc's neck and allowed himself to roll backward. As he did, the second Goblin thrust his spear, missing Dyal. In the moment of confusion, Dyal threw the spear he had at the other Goblin's chest. As the second Goblin bled out, Dyal rounded back and landed a curb stomp on the fist Goblin.

After extinguishing a few more Goblins, Dyal looked around and took a moment to catch his breath. He sharply drew in air through his bloodied nose and expelled the air through his dried mouth.

Dyal had felt like the horrible events of the last few hours had added more years to his soul than anything else he'd experienced or anything his father had ever done. He had taken to heart five lessons when it came to battling the demons.

Firstly, all demons, from lowly Zombies to mighty Barons of Hell, were incredibly sturdy. To the point that most weapons that knights and soldiers were equipped with simply didn't pierce their skin.

Secondly, demons had no sense of self-preservation, hell, maybe some demons didn't even have a sense of self period. Demons would always do what they felt would result in death and chaos, even at the expense of their un-lives. Many would even sacrifice other demons for a chance to harm more mortals.

Thirdly, the demon's numbers were seemingly endless. That wasn't a surprise to him, as he knew from the various religious scriptures that Hell was an abyss where only the vilest things could thrive. That fact, however, didn't sink in until today, if Dyal successfully killed a single demon, seven more immediately replaced them. More to the point, the longer the wave went on, the more it felt that it was less the demons merely coming to their world, and more Hell itself slowly sinking its claws into Siltvelt.

Fourth, a fight with demons was an exercise in vigilance. Demons were a tireless bunch, lurking in the dark recesses of the world, emerging from the links between the mortal realm and Hell. Endlessly crafty, the demons lay waiting for any opportunity to claim the soul of any mortal that dared to cross their path. Only those who kept a keen eye open, and ceaselessly remained on guard lived through the fight.

Fifth and most importantly, it was damn near impossible to fight demons and protect people simultaneously. Demons ate up too many resources, and cost too many lives to fight. Two separate tasks were to fight demons and save people from them.

As Dyal hunkered down and defended his spot in the dirt with his medium-quality claymore against any monster that attempted to assault him. Luckily for him, the demons were focused on the Doom Slayer, leaving him only to deal with the Goblins and their Orc leaders. After everything, he couldn't help but feel relieved to be fighting the little green parasites and Orcs.

Dyal couldn't help but be transfixed by the enigmatic green knight, all he knew of the man was that he possessed power beyond what he'd believed. He had studied magic for a decade and had read all the scrolls regarding the leveling functions, and this was still outside what he knew. It was like the green knight was power incarnate.

Power. As Dyal was starting to realize, one word was the one commonality between all of those lessons and the green knight. The green knight possessed the power to defy the demons, on a level that forced the unholy creatures to fear him.

The power to fly in the face of the very lessons Dyal had come to learn.

Dyal couldn't fully understand the concept of power that was manifested before him, his gut instinct told him it wasn't something man was meant to know. Yet he couldn't prevent himself from trying to rationalize it.

He shook his head and focused again on battling the remaining Goblins and Orcs. Off and rushing around the battleground was the green knight himself, the Doom Slayer. In the brief period since Dyal ran up to him, the Slayer had whittled the demon mob down to the gate guards. The Slayer performed a last-minute jump over a Carcass hard-light shield as he dodged three total Hell Razer beams aimed at him with an uncomfortable amount of accuracy.

One Mancubus Ogre had its weapons neutralized, its arm cannons destroyed in the fighting, and the other Mancubus Ogre still had one functioning weapon, however. The Slayer threw up the Chaingun's energy shield in time to block a fully charged blast of flaming bile from the Mancubus Ogre's cannon and returned fire.

The Slayer often glanced back at the other hakuko, who so far seemed to be opposite in temperament to Mina Nori. The Slayer refrained from passing judgment for the time being, but he couldn't deny that he was hesitant to trust the hakuko simply because of the fresh wound the hellish slave market left.

Quite frankly, the Slayer didn't want to deal with another hakuko, once this fight was over, he figured he should try to distance himself from them. Hopefully, Hayden had the same idea.

A Dread Knight was rushing towards the hakuko's back, for a split second, the Hellwalker considered letting it pulp the hakuko, but either because of his moral compass or gut instinct, he drew the Legendary Shield and aimed it between the hakuko and the demon.

'Airstrike Shield'

The green ephemeral shield materialized between the two in time to block a strike from the Dread Knight. Dyal turned to see the augmented demon recoil from the sudden deflect. Three locked-on rockets staggered the Dread Knight as the airstrike shield disappeared. Seeing the opening, Dyal plunged his temporary blade into the demon's exposed through.

The Dread Knight cried a wet gurgle as it drowned in its blood, clutching its throat. Dyal aggressively pulled the sword out and nodded to the Doom Slayer in thanks.

The Slayer drew his Super Shotgun and ran towards the disarmed Mancubus Ogre. Ducking below the Hell Razer beam the Slayer lurched upward, shoving the barrels of the Super Shotgun into the obese demon's mouth before pulling the trigger. The Mancubus' skull and grey matter flared out the back of its head alongside the twin buckshot fired through.

One Muncubus down, one more to go.

The Slayer drew his Plasma Rifle, using the gun's high-energy projectiles to overload Carcass hard-light shields in his immediate vicinity. The resulting explosions vaporized Imps, Gargoyles, and Empusa which stood too close. The remaining Mancubus raised its sole functioning weapon and aimed at the Slayer.

In a moment of experimentation, the Slayer slung out the Legendary Shield and aimed its tip toward the gluttonous demon.

'Airstrike Shield!'

The green spectral shield appeared directly in front of the Mancubus, the burst from the demon's cannon detonating in its face. The Slayer ran towards the obese creature.

'Actually, I wonder if that new Shield ability from the Orthrus could…'

Instead of letting the Legendary Shield fall back into the warp pack, the Slayer kept it out. The airstrike ability disappeared and the Mancubus reared its arm back and swung at the Slayer. The Slayer slid below the swinging arm cannon, the metal of the weapon missing his helmet by an inch.

The Legendary Shield changed into a new unused form, on the Slayer attained by feeding the weapon flesh of the Orthrus hound. The defining trait of this new form was the two black dog heads snarling off the front of the Shield. As for the special skill…

'Dog Bite!'

The two Orthrus heads came to life, their necks stretching and contorting until the pair of maws clamped down on the Mancubi's arm, one bite firmly into the demon's bicep and the other into its tricep. The Slayer vaulted to his feet and then performed a combative roll in quick succession. The Mancubus felt its arm twist until there was an agonizing pop.

The Mancubus snarled as it felt its rotund body move to adjust to its predicament. On the sidelines, three Hell Razers took notice and all had the idea to capitalize on the fact the Bane of Hell was preoccupied. The Slayer, ever vigilant on the battlefield spotted the first one at the edge of his peripheral vision and heard the other two charge up their beams. A hidden Carcass cheekily placed a hard-light shield behind the Doom Slayer. The Slayer spared it a glance, and a strategy formed immediately.

The Slayer pushed against the Mancubus, forcing it to dig its heels into the dirt road. Once the demon was firmly rooted, the Slayer jumped, and using the hard-light shield as a backboard, jumped off of it, and over the Mancubus, the Orthrus Shield forced the Mancubui's arm to twist with it. The Hell Razers adjusted their aim to compensate.

At the same time, the Orthrus Shield's dog bite skill ran out of power and relinquished its hold on the Mancubus. The Slayer the Praetor Suit's dash thrusters and propelled himself out of harm's way. The second he did, the three Hell Razer beams connected with the Mancubi's remaining cannon. The Mancubus stumbled as its remaining weapon exploded.

The Slayer landed on his feet to the sound of metal ripping apart. The Legendary Shield fell back into the Hellwalker's warp pack as he extended the Doomblade. The Slayer spun on his heels and immediately jumped back at the bulky demon. He aimed the Doomblade at the Mancubi's head, the blade piercing through the roof of the demon's mouth and exiting at the top of its skull. The Slayer's momentum was great enough that it threw the demon backward.

Retracting the Doomblade, the Slayer wasted no time and redirected his weapons to the Hell Razers. He drew the Super Shotgun, meathooking to the closest one, firing the weapon point blank at the first Hell Razer's chest. The first one was vaporized instantly. The Slayer swapped for the Plasma Rifle, checking to make sure the microwave beam was equipped, He aimed at the Hell Razer that was on the same platform as him.

As the Slayer expected, the Carcass hidden below placed a hard-light shield between him and the Hell Razer. He grinned.

'Gotcha.'

He dashed back and fired the microwave beam into the shield, it became red hot, then combusted violently, throwing the Hell Razer back. The Slayer dodged a shot from the last Hell Razer as he shoved the second Hell Razer to the ground. He grabbed the demon's left leg and twisted it until it was backward. The Slayer finished the demon by stomping it with its own foot.

Drawing the Heavy Cannon with the attached precision bolt, the Doom Slayer quick-scoped the last Hell Razer. The high-powered round ripped clean through the previous Hell Razer's skull, terminating it.

The Slayer jumped down to the road and began to scout out the last remaining Carcass demon. Up above on the wall, the Carcass saw that the fight had ended in the Doom Slayer's favor, and decided to exit behind the wall before the Scourge of Hell could see it. The Carcass turned away and bent its tripod knees to jump.

Until a green spectral Shield appeared directly in front of it, the demon terrified by the sigil of the Doom Slayer emblazoned in blood red on the center. The Carcass jumped back, pushed by terror and the shield's proximity, and fell off the wall. It plummeted towards the ground, towards the Slayer.

'Yes! That's how that feels!'

The Carcass hit the ground, its bones snapping and a dozen stitches burst open. The demon looked up at the Slayer, who had a smug look behind his helmet. The Slayer snatched the Carcass by the arm and tore a painful mess of cybernetics off of it. And then proceeded to skewer the demon through its head with the cybernetic's jagged end.

With the big demons eliminated and the ones with unique abilities out of commission, the Slayer reared his attention back to his unwanted guest, who'd just wrapped up a ruthless battle with Orcs, Goblins, and a few Hell Caina.

Dyal's breathing was heavy and greedy, his muscles ached and the tiredness seeped back into his bones. But now wasn't the time for rest, as Dyal spotted the green knight moving towards him, armed with that steel-barreled sword that decimated whatever stood in front of it. He couldn't shake the dreadful feeling that the green knight was furious at him for reasons only they knew. Still, Dyal presented himself with the air of nobility he'd taught himself to carry when confronted with oppressively overwhelming opposition.

The Slayer stood over him, staring him down, Super Shotgun equipped and loaded his finger exercising extreme trigger discipline. Dyal stood tall but still came up short next to the Doom Slayer. The two stated each other down. The Slayer with suspicion and Dyal with nervous grace.

"It would seem, great knight, that I owe you my life twofold. Once for giving refuge to my people, then again when I found myself chased by vile beasts."

The Slayer arched an eyebrow.

'Okay, already this fool's different than the damn cat.'

"Yet like last time, I find myself asking who you are. Who can enter combat with a hundred demons and be victorious with nary a scratch to be seen."

The Slayer narrowed his glare further, still unsure of the cat boy's moral alignment. Dr. Hayden then decided to gain control of the conversation.

"Who are you, exactly." Dr. Hayden asked.

Dyal bowed curtly, "I am sir Dyal Roshani Nori…"

'OH FUCK NO!'

Dyal felt himself getting choke-slammed into the wall behind them, the force of impact making his body shudder. In any other circumstance, he'd likely be panicking or wondering why this person was choking him. Except Dyal had a good feeling about what this was about.

"I t-take it that… that you have already… met my family." Dyal choked out.

"We met your sibling, and have destroyed your father's slave market." Dr. Hayden clarified.

"D-destroyed? Heh… Then you have accomplished the one thing I could only h-hope to ever accomplish m-myself." Dyal chuckled with a smile.

'Wait, what?'

The Doom Slayer dropped Dyal to the ground. Dyal fell to the ground and gulped fresh air aggressively enough that he found himself in a coughing fit.

"Explain, quickly." Dr. Hayden commanded.

Dyal finished coughing and began talking as he regained his breath yet again.

"My father was a key supporter of the Mad King during the war. He was an architect of some of the kingdom's greatest and most vile campaigns against the human-held nations. After the war, the council put him in charge of Siltvelt's slave economy and arranged a marriage with a noblewoman of a disgraced house as a reward for his services in the military."

"I fail to see how this is relevant to your current predicament." Dr. Hayden stated.

"If you would give me but a minute…!"

The Slayer picked Dyal off the ground and slammed him into the wall yet again. The hakuko looked into the Hellwalker's visor and met a stare of annoyance that conveyed a single message:

'Shorten the story.'

Dyal gulped, "Well, I suppose now wouldn't be the most appropriate time to explain my family's history."

"No, it isn't." Dr. Hayden deadpanned.

Dyal nodded, "Well, I suppose all you need to know is that my mother was as opposite my father as she could've been. She raised me to her worldview, to be a charitable gentleman, in opposition to the enslavement of an entire race. She was in favor of building favorable and peaceful relationships with humans based on trust and equality, and so am I."

"I find myself skeptical of your claims." Dr. Hayden said dryly.

"If you have truly met my sister and lay witness to my father's most atrocious work, then I cannot blame thee." Dyal exclaimed sadly, "But I assure thee, I am not aligned with my father's barbaric ways."

Hayden was silent, and the Doom Slayer continued to eye Dyal skeptically.

Dyal seemed to realize words alone wouldn't sway the strange knight with the steel-barreled sword. He pondered for a moment what he could do to convince the demon killer of his true colors. At that moment, Dyal had what he'd normally consider a crazy idea, but it felt downright sane after today.

Dyal smiled slightly, "If I cannot convince you with words, then I offer you this proposition: allow me to help you in your quest. If you have any suspicion of treachery to your cause, then strike me down where I stand."

The Slayer raised an eyebrow.

'Bold move, cat boy.'

"That is quite the gamble you are willing to take," Hayden exclaimed, his stoic tone showing hints of being impressed, "I am… almost tempted to believe you are telling the truth after all."

"I swear on my god that should it come to it, I shall stand still and accept it." Dyal added.

The Slayer paused and thought about it.

'Either cat boy here is telling the truth, in which case he's a potential ally and may have some use to my mission, or he's lying and trying to get close for the kill. Either way, I get a potentially useful eye inside this atrocious kingdom or I pulverize another asshole. I call that a win-win!'

The Slayer turned towards the door and gestured for Dyal to follow. Dyal couldn't help but feel relieved, he'd successfully dodged death again. The trick was to keep it up. He wasn't super worried, as he wholly intended to keep his word and had no treacherous intentions. Although, the Slayer's paranoid nature wasn't lost on him. He knew he'd still have to tread carefully.

"So, since you and I are fighting through the city together for the foreseeable future, could you perhaps answer my earlier inquiry?" Dyal asked, not sure if he was pushing his luck.

The Slayer didn't stop walking, but Dr. Hayden answered without skipping a beat. "The individual in the power assault armor you have been addressing is the Doom Slayer, and he does not speak," he explained, "the voice you've been communicating with belongs to me, I am Doctor Samuel Hayden. I am a different individual, and I lack a body."

Dyal paused, "So all this time, I have been speaking to two different people, a man without a voice, and a voice without a form?"

"Correct," Dr. Hayden affirmed, "for future reference, If you have a question specific to one of us, call us by our titles. Either Dr. Hayden, or Slayer."

Dyal nodded curtly, "Very well, I shall remember to do so."

The Slayer and Dyal proceed through the gate and up the passageway to the third ring. It occurred to Dyal he didn't know what the Slayer was hoping to achieve in Siltvelt. As they exited into the third ring Dyal finally decided to ask his newfound associate, "Sir Hayden, pardon my rudeness, but I've realized that I do not know of your objective. Could you perhaps…"

Hayden cut him off, "We are attempting to reach the central ring of Siltvelt to engage the wave boss in combat. We are planning to end the wave. And it is Doctor Hayden, not sir Hayden." he corrected.

Dyal bowed sharply at his mistake, "My apologies, Dr. Hayden," he stood back up and ran up to the Slayer, "You said the Doom Slayer will engage the wave boss in combat? How do you know 'tis at Castle Peak?"

"There is a signal originating from the castle synonymous with an Angelo-class demon. As it is the only demon of its kind present, and the fact it has remained stationary for the duration of the wave, the logical deduction is that this is the wave boss." Dr. Hayden explained.

'Angelo-class? Heh, that'll be fun.'

"So it 'tis an educated guess?" Dyal asked.

"Functionally, yes. However, my 'educated guess' is the only option available at the current juncture." Dr. Hayden answered.

"I see. Well, if it is Castle Peak you need to head to, I may be able to help you with that. I have navigated this city many times. I know it well." Dyal confidently claimed.

"Is there a way to… expedite the journey to the central ring?"

"Yes," Dyal began to explain, "up ahead there's a secret way into the fourth ring of Siltvelt utilized by the kingdom's secret police."

'Secret police? Of course, why wouldn't there be.'

"And from there?" Hayden asked.

"From there, several manors belonging to the nobility possess direct access ways to the central ring," Dyal paused, "one of which belongs to my father," he added, the wind suddenly being taken out of his sails.

"Am I to assume this is the passage you plan to take?" Dr. Hayden inquired.

"I am aware other nobles possess such passages," Dyal said somberly, "but I only know of the one my father possesses in his mansion. I know it exists because many supporters of the Mad King used it both during and after the war, even now it has frequent use."

'For purposes that were less than ethical, I'll bet.'

"For our purposes, we can use this tunnel to get into the fourth ring." Dr. Hayden summarized.

"Indeed," Dyal confirmed, "but I must confess, I have not been within my father's mansion in some time. There is plenty there I'd rather not have to face again."

"Is there any other short passage to Castle Peak that you know of?" Dr. Hayden asked.

"You could try your luck with the great stairwell. But it is further from our current position, and I recall some knights had reported a collapse between rings four and five."

The Slayer groaned slightly. Of course, why wouldn't the main staircase break the one day it was needed?

Not that he was using it anyway, shortcuts worked better.

Dyal shook himself off, and turned back to the Slayer, "The first secret passage is a ways ahead, but still close. This way!"

The Slayer took note of the way Dyal had deflated at the mention of his father's home. It left him with the distinct impression that the slave market might have been the least of Rakshas' misdeeds. Yet in Dyal's drive to prove himself, the young hakuko knight felt using a route that took them through his family's crimes was the most efficient.

The Slayer didn't care to convince him to find a different route. The present circumstances required a quick route to Castle Peak, and if it meant a trip through his family's twisted crimes, then that was that. If worse came to pass, or if the Slayer was still feeling petty when they got there, he'd simply burn down Rakshas' mansion to deny him further resources.

He'd be sure to let Dyal strike the first match.

Yet that was neither here nor there, and the Slayer had a mission to return to, so he followed his self-proclaimed ally with carefully measured optimism.

-DOOM-

The duo continued through the fallen city, the Slayer continuing to carve a bloody path through the demonic scourge. Dyal hung just behind the slaughter, not desiring another bout with the hell beasts. Internally, Dyal felt his stomach churn in anxiety that he couldn't force down, his mind burned with the memories of the things he knew his father had done, and what his sister had done in her endless quest to earn his approval. The churning anxiety roiled around, made stronger by the world around him. Amongst the myriad of abandoned and burned structures and the smell of blood and fire, Dyal watched as the enigmatic Doom Slayer dueled tirelessly with the hordes of Hell. His anxiety reached a crescendo, then crashed into dread as he thought about the fact that he was about to bring this unstoppable force of nature to the source of the crimes.

Deep down, Dyal hoped his sister Mina made an effort to drive their insane parent away. But he knew that wouldn't be the case, it was only a matter of time before the Slayer and Rakshas met, and Mina would be on the wrong side of the fight when it happened.

"Nori, where is this secret passage you spoke of?" Dr. Hayden broke Dyal from his thoughts.

Dyal blinked several times, his gaze scanning over the mercantile village and the recently slain demons, he realized that they were close to their desired destination.

"The passage is just up ahead. Behind a two-story building with a balcony." Dyal confirmed.

He led the Slayer to the familiar two-story structure. It had fared better than Dyal had thought it had. An unassuming structure, Dyal peeked through the ground floor window to see the merchant wares within, neatly lined up. The worst damage the building had taken was a broken window on the second-story east-facing wall. The structure was flanked to its immediate sides with smaller booths that normally displayed lesser merchandise. On a normal day, none would suspect this place to be hiding a secret passage used by the Siltvelt council's personal enforcers.

Dyal pointed, "This building, t'was used by the secret police to root out traitors to the kingdom," he looked to the Slayer, "the passage is hidden in the masonry that makes up the layer wall behind the building."

"Throwing your lot in with a Melromarc dog Dyal?" came a disappointed voice, "I had expected better of you," Rakshas said with unrestrained venom.

Dyal seized up. 'No!' He thought, 'Not now!'

The Hellwalker scowled deeply, leveling his glare at the tacky older hakuko who had appeared on the balcony of the building flanked by human slaves garbed in moldy rags, all of which showed signs of Rakshas' intense abuse.

'So you're the bastard that needs to die.'

Dyal slowly forced his body to turn and face his villainous father. Every fiber of his being held itself in firm terror, holding him to the spot. His expression twisted with intense negative emotions. He felt as if things had come to a crashing halt. "Father…" Dyal said with barely a whisper.

Rakshas adjusted his hateful gaze to the Doom Slayer, the Slayer responding by putting fresh shells in the Super Shotgun, snapping the weapon's breech shut.

"And you must be the Melromarc dog my dear Mina informs me has razed my glorious house of human sorrow. Well know this, contemptuous cretin, you have not stopped Siltvelt's noble work! You have not even scratched the surface of it!" Rakshas declared with zealous fervor.

"Father, legions of the Inferno walk the lands and instead you fixate on what for you is a minor setback. Do you see the folly?" Dyal asked tiredly, as he was largely unsurprised by Rakshas' usual behavior.

"Folly?" Rakshas sneered, "No, my wayward son, this is the will of the great Shield God, as it was written in the oldest texts. And none in Siltvelt are as devoted to the ways of the Shield God as me!" he exclaimed with his arms spread.

The Slayer had not felt as much unrivaled hatred for any single person as he did at this exact moment since Valen's betrayal.

'Don't say it, robot.'

"Evidently… he does not know his god very well." Dr. Hayden observed through the Slayer's personal comm link.

"Insanity, father." Dyal pointed out, "judgment is upon Siltvelt, and you still yet think your archaic ways are worthy of the gods!"

"Observe," Rakshas smiled sadistically, he tossed a young slave to the ground in a sickening thud, "vermin, attack the Melromarc dog."

The young slave picked himself up painfully, a knife in hand and the slave crest on their chest glowing bright purple. The young slave lunged at the Doom Slayer a teary-eyed mess, and on instinct, the Slayer swatted the knife away. The young slave curled their fists and threw himself at the Slayer.

The Slayer moved with unmatched agility, and before the slave knew what had happened, he found himself on the floor, the Slayer and Dyal stood over him, and stared pitifully at him. But a second later, the slave's maltreated body was wracked with incandescent pain.

The Slayer and Dyal flinched from the scream, bolts of purple magic electricity jumped around. Dyal spun around to face the vile man Rakshas, "Father! Cease this madness!"

"Madness?" Rakshas laughed, "No, this isn't madness, this is the will of the Shield God! That success or failure, humanity will suffer and demi-humans will reign supreme! And none are more devoted to his will than I!"

BOOM!

A Super Shotgun blast ricocheted off the strong mana field that enveloped Rakshas, a spell cast and maintained by his remaining slaves.

"The target is covered in a protective barrier. Readings indicate barrier is made from Sentinel energy. You will have to get close to the target." Hayden informed bluntly.

'Come fire or brimstone, you will die, cockroach.'

The Slayer jumped forward, the Delta V jump pack built into the Praetor suit propelling him upward, with a swift hurdle the Slayer was on the balcony, causing Rakshas to visibly backpedal. "You are quite spry, for an inferior Melromarc dog."

The Slayer swung his fist forward, his arm crackling with golden divine energies. The mana barrier and the Blood Punch met, the backlash flung the overtaxed slaves who were maintaining the spell across the wooden floor. Keeping his momentum, the Slayer bull tackled the lanky man and smashed through the side wall. Rakshas found himself rolling across the ground, looking to the side he saw the Slayer hit the ground in a three-point landing, standing up for another attack. Rakshas rolled to his feet, he quickly assessed the damage to his fine purple velvet coat, becoming infuriated by the dirt and grime coated into it from the fall.

"This suit was expensive, dog!" Rakshas roared at the Slayer, "I will take that pay out on your hide!"

The Slayer drew his Rocket Launcher from his warp pack and hip-fired a rocket at the scraggly hakuko.

Rakshas sneered, crossed his arms over his chest, and closed his eyes. "Drifa Flame Step!" he chanted.

Rakshas vanished into a column of fire that rushed towards the Slayer. The Slayer side-dashed the spell, thinking it was an attack, the rocket he'd fired missed and struck the building's wall. The Slayer turned and saw Rakshas had vanished, he quickly put two and two together and realized what had happened.

"You cannot stop Siltvelts glorious ascension, Melromarc scum." Rakshas snarled from the roof behind him.

The slaves still on the second story of the building had gotten back up and had restarted the spell. The protective mana barrier reformed around Rakshas as the man himself cackled. "As I've stated," he boisterously boasted, "it's the will of the great Shield god!"

"The force field has been restored, you will have to disable it a second time." Dr. Hayden updated the Slayer.

The Slayer drew his Super Shotgun, it seemed Rakshas Nori was going to be a more cunning foe than Mina was.

'Let's dance, cockroach.'

-DOOM-

As soon as the Slayer had juped to confront Rakshas, Dyal turned his attention to the slave being electrocuted on the ground, he rummaged through his off-hand emergency kit hoping to find a surviving vial of holy water. Swift yet careful, Dyal sorted through the shards of crushed colored glass and soggy bandages for anything that could save the slave, his search emboldened by the tortured cries of the dying slave. Shortly, his scratched fingers wrapped around a still intact vial, he pulled it out of the sack and read the label.

Medium Holy Water. Use for Curses.

Yes! Dyal thought to himself. He moved to the slave, the holy water in hand.

"Brother!"

Dyal's senses warned him of Mina's impending attack, with his free hand he drew the claymore and clumsily parried Mina's short sword strike. The hakuko siblings jumped back from one another, Dyal quietly shoving the holy water into the folds of his cloak and readjusting his grip on the claymore. "Don't impede me, Mina," Dyal warned, "I intend to spare this slave."

"But that would go against father's wishes," Mina pouted, "and I don't wish to make him angry."

Dyal grit his teeth, "You only follow father for validation, committing great crimes in the name of a familial love father isn't capable of!"

"Lies!" Mina snarled, "Father is capable of love," Mina then smiled, "as long as I make humans suffer, he loves me."

Dyal grimaced, "That is not love. Father doesn't love us. He doesn't love you, or me, and he especially didn't love mother."

Mina's face reddened through her makeup in anger, "Enough!" she yelled.

Dyal and Mina clashed blades to the tune of a screaming slave. Mina was more agile, but Dyal's claymore granted him greater range, denying Mina the chance to strike.

"It is evil father loves," Dyal said grimly, "he is far more demon than man."

Mina flipped over a claymore strike and swung her fist at Dyal's face, "Father's not evil, he tells the servants to grant me greater comforts and finer meals if I serve the Shield God faithfully!"

Dyal locked blades with his sister again, horrific memories leading up to him leaving his family's home surfacing and boiling the motivational rage in his soul once more.

"MINA THAT IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF EVIL!" Dyal practically roared.

He threw his head forward, landing a headbutt on the bridge of Mina's nose. He followed the strike up with a roundhouse kick that knocked the short sword out of Mina's hand spinning once more, Dyal curled his fists and landed a dual strike against Mina's abdomen, the force sending the reaper hakuko to the ground.

Wasting no time, Dyal rounded back to the critical slave, pulling the holy water from his cloak. Quickstepping towards the slave, Dyal unexpectantly felt a hand grip his boot, already moving forward Dyal wound up falling over. On the ground, Dyal looked to his feet to see Mina clutching his ankle, a feral expression baked into their face.

Dammit! Dyal thought. Without thinking he repeatedly kicked Mina's hand with his free leg until he landed one good strike against her elbow. Mina screeched and let go, she curled up and clutched her bruised arm, concentrating on trying to mitigate the pain.

With the precious few seconds, Dyal had bought himself he scrambled to the slave, twisting the cork out of the holy water vial. The sibling's scuffle had only been a minute, yet it was enough for the slave to go from screaming to bloodily clawing away at the slave crest on their chest. Dyal fumbled to restrain the slaves flailing arms with his free hand and poured the vial of holy water atop the slave crest. The Wraith energy-infused water splashed over the cursed seal, finally dispelling it and releasing the slave from torturous servitude.

Dyal took a deep breath and stood up. He turned towards where the Slayer had engaged Rakshas in battle and prepared to go help. Until Mina wrapped her arm around Dyal's throat and squeezed tight. Dyal's eyes widened, he'd forgotten about his murderous sibling for a moment.

"Mina… this… is… unbelievably… petty!" he choked out.

Mina offered no response other than to tighten her death grip. Dyal could feel the edges of his vision once again edge toward oblivion, he needed to escape the chokehold fast. He swung his fists backward into Mina's side, but Mina didn't acknowledge the strike. Dyal looked around for anything he could use, he spotted the two-story building in his peripheral vision and had an idea.

Acting quickly, Dyal began pushing, twisting, and shoving until he estimated that Mina's back was around a half-meter from the building's wall. With one last silent prayer to the Shield God, Dyal put his all into one final jump and slammed his psychotic sibling into the wall. Mina was immediately shaken from her mindless fury by the jolt of pain and relinquished her grip on Dyal. Dyal stumbled forward and inhaled loudly. Not wasting a second she turned back to Mina, who was lost in confusion, he snatched his sister's shoulder and quickly pulled, he had one shot to end the fight quickly. Turning 450 degrees, Dyal grabbed the scruff of Mina's cloak with his other hand and aimed for the display booth to the immediate side.

"Dyal…" Mina said in a remorseful whisper.

"Sorry sister," Dyal apologized.

Dyal threw Mina at the booth. Mina shielded her face with her arms and tumbled forward. Mina landed with a crash, the booth giving out and collapsing below Mina's body.

Mina rolled off the broken booth but didn't get up, she held her arms up and angled her palms to her chest, "First heal," she muttered, a green glow encased her body and slightly healed her injuries.

Dyal leaned on his thighs, breathing heavily. "I once again see myself reiterating, Mina," Dyal groused, "that you do not have to follow that vile fiend."

Mina stared blankly at the sky, "But… father is all I have."

"No…" Dyal snapped, "he's not, Mina, but the longer you follow his bidding, he will be."

Mina stared star-ward.

"Dyal?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes, dear sister?"

"I'm sorry for strangling you."

Dyal scoffed, "Despite all the vile things father has you do, Mina, I appreciate that he hasn't completely turned us against one another."

Mina looked at her older sibling but remained silent. Dyal knew Mina wouldn't remain in her passive state for very long, soon enough she'd return to being the childish psycho their snake-of-a-father wanted.

KA-BOOM!

The twins turned to the sound of a cluster bomb tearing up the road and witnessed the Doom Slayer slashing at a Baron of Hell with the Doomblade.

The Nori twins got to their feet, the demons had caught back up. Dyal found his claymore and Mina's shortsword laying in the dirt next to one another. He snatched the steel blades up, tossing the short sword back to Mina in time for all manner of lesser demons and wave monsters to surround them.

"Um, hey brother," Mina asked slightly embarrassed, "could we maybe put father's grudge match with the Slayer aside long enough to fight off these monsters?"

Dyal kicked a Goblin into an Imp. "Indeed, Mina. But once this ends, please, leave here and leave father, you have already made one too many powerful foes by following him. And they are not likely to forgive you as I would."

Dyal did not see the crestfallen look that graced Mina's face as the twins began to hack away at the demonic scourge once more.

-DOOM-

Rakshas drew the metaphorical first blood with a summoned lake of fire, cast with hands raised overhead.

"Drifa Fire Lake!"

The Doom Slayer side dashed as flames burst from the road, engulfing the small area in a blazing inferno. The retaliation came in the form of a Super Shotgun blast against the mana shield.

"Against your pathetic weapons, my slave's mana shield is invincible!" Rakshas gloated.

"I estimate there are around twelve slaves in varying states of distress that Rakshas has forced to contribute to the shield spell," Dr. Hayden theorized, "I suspect they cannot maintain this for long."

The Slayer glared toward Rakshas.

'Bastard.'

The Slayer changed the Super Shotgun for the plasma rifle, that shield might not have been the low-grade hard light shields he was used to demons using, but maybe he could still burn it out with sustained fire from his primary energy weapon.

"Zweite Fireball!"

Another dash and a concentrated burst of plasma fire. The mana shield began to glow, its passive blue hues heating up into burning crimson. Rakshas took notice and realized his shield was going to combust. Rakshas crossed his arms across his chest.

"Drifa Flame Step!"

Again Rakshas vanished into a pillar of fire and rushed away. The mana shield combusted, tearing chunks out of the roof he was standing on. Inside the two-story building, Rakshas slaves once again were knocked aside by the theurgic backlash of their spell being disabled a second time. They craved nothing more than a moment to rest but the ripping pain their slave crests inflicted forced them back up.

"Target has evacuated the blast area." Dr. Hayden advised.

The Slayer listened for the subtle distinct sound of the mana shield powering up.

"Zweite Fire Lake!"

With the little window Rakshas had created for himself he cast another lake of fire below the Hellwalker. The Slayer didn't dodge this time, choosing to tank the attack. A little warning light appeared in the Slayer's HUD, warning him that the Praetor Suit's external plating was beginning to heat up.

'Damn, that attack's potent.'

"Be advised," Dr. Hayden warned, "sensors are detected multiple demonic contacts nearby."

The Slayer grit his teeth. The prospect that another bastard would evade him due to demon intervention fueled the Slayer further, motivation coursed through his veins as he made a beeline for the glow of Rakshas' mana shield.

"Zweite Hellfire Waves!"

Rakshas launched a trio of pillars of flame that rocketed straight toward the Slayer. The Slayer couldn't recall offhand which mod was equipped to the Chaingun, so he took a risky gambit and drew the Legendary Shield from his warp pack.

The Slayer held it up and dashed straight into the flame wave attack, sparing no second past the attack the Slayer traded the Shield for the Chainsaw and bolted for the mana shield.

Rakshas' eyes widened as the Doom Slayer smashed the mana shield again with Blood Punch, the backlash sending the vile hakuko back. Rakshas rolled across the ground, his mind racing for any last move he could make. When he saw the Slayer rev the Chainsaw, and got a good look at the swirling, gnashing teeth of the weapon, Rakshas rolled to a kneeling position and cast one last desperate spell.

"DRIFA WALL OF FIRE!"

A blazing barrier of flames suddenly met the Doom Slayer's infamous close-quarters tool and a duel of strength vs magic power began. Sparks and molten substances flew as the two attacks clashed. Rakshas could feel his barrier slipping, it seemed in the great duel of strategy vs skill, the Doom Slayer's skill would win out unless Rakshas could concoct one last strategy.

The monstrous hakuko then had one last idea. "Slaves!" he yelled, "cast summon rune!"

Although the slaves couldn't hear the command, through their slave crests they knew full well what had just been demanded of them. One slave among them pulled from their rags a small stone with an intricate pentagram carved into it. Vile, arcane magic of the demon realm, and their master had just demanded it to be used. The other slaves turned to the one with the rune and began to chant. Below the slave with the rune a burning orange pentagram took shape. Mana was drained from the casters and into the rune. The spell heated the life energy, and corrupted it, the slaves felt as if the air around them was turning to a blaze.

Then finally the rune burned into the center slave's hand and the dark spell was cast. Mana channeled to summon the dark powers and a soul was traded to bring a demon from the pit. Hellfire covered the body of the branded slave, their last act being to jump from the second story and into the ally below. They ran towards their master and the transformation finished. In the place of the slave was now a Baron of Hell.

-DOOM-

The Slayer had narrowed his eyes at this last command, summon rune.

"There is a buildup of demonic energy nearby!" Hayden said, "The fool has likely deployed a demon rune!"

The Slayer's eyes widened shocked fury. The Slayer stepped back from the flame shield before retaliating with a second Blood Punch. Rakshas stumbled to his back and the Slayer raised his Chainsaw overhead, the tool's engine roared like a hungry beast. Rakshas looked up, then rolled to the side as the blade of the Chainsaw dug into the ground next to him. The Doom Slayer wrenched the Chainsaw ninety degrees and pulled the weapon forth. Rakshas anticipated the attack and preemptively backrolled, the teeth of the saw tearing the fabric of his coat.

Rakshas jumped to his feet and backpedaled enough to dodge another swipe for the Chainsaw. The Slayer was starting to feel the frustration, Rakshas wasn't only a more cunning foe, but one that was more agile than his age would suggest, with abilities comparable to a certain bastard of a demon.

'There is no way this guy is a normal man.'

The Slayer deduced that he needed to throw Rakshas off if he wanted to land the killing blow. The Hellwalker pulled the Chainsaw back and twisted his body in a motion that openly conveyed a forward thrust, expecting Rakshas to read the attack. Rakshas' lips curled upward.

'Gotcha.'

The Slayer threw the Chainsaw forward and watched as Rakshas dodged in the direction he expected. The Slayer craftily turned forward momentum into rotational momentum and shot his leg outward. Rakshas did not anticipate the kick and smashed into an adjacent wall.

The Doom Slayer revved the Chainsaw one more time to shake the dirt from the blade as Rakshas slid up the wall and to his feet. The Slayer desired to not waste any time, he could savor the victory later.

But alas, Rakshas' strategy pulled through and the Slayer felt himself get slammed by a Baron of Hell and thrown away from the vile hakuko. The Slayer slide to a stop and glared at the wicked creature.

"First Flame Step."

Rakshas vanished again into the pillar of flame that escaped the Hellwalker's wrath, leaving the Slayer to deal with the summoned demon.

"Well played." Dr. Hayden admitted contemptuously.

'DAMN COCKROACH!'

The Slayer didn't bother putting the Chainsaw away as he charged furiously at the hulking demon. The Slayer slashed away at the beast but its hide was too tough for even the Chainsaw. The Slayer snarled and uppercut the Baron, the sound of bones breaking threw the massive demon off.

The Slayer let the Chainsaw fall back into the warp pack as he pushed forward with CQC against the Baron of Hell. He knocked the demon back with a strike to the knee followed by a flying drop kick. The Baron of Hell stumbled backward while the Slayer got back to his feet. He extended the Doomblade as his Equipment Launcher leveled over his shoulder.

-DOOM-

The siblings found themselves in a rare moment where they could fight alongside one another, and not against each other. It helped Dyal that he knew Mina better than even their evil father Rakshas. It wasn't hard for him to angle Mina's bloodlust to unintentionally protect the unconscious slave on the ground from the demons. Granted that if Rakshas were to demand Mina kill the slave, they would comply. If for no other reason than because Rakshas claimed it was the shield god's will.

Dyal knew a desire for combat drove Mina, deep down it was her sole motivation. A dark coping mechanism for the horrors Rakshas had her frequently perform over her childhood. A coping mechanism covered by the mask of a twisted religious dogma and a need for praise Rakshas had instilled in her.

Which left Dyal with a problem. He was the only one who believed she could be better than this. To the rest of the world, Mina was a ruthless zealot of the Church of the Shield God. He doubted the Doom Slayer would spare them based on a belief he held that he wasn't foolish enough to acknowledge might be wrong. He knew Mina would likely keep following Rakshas, even if Rakshas had her do something suicidal.

As much as he wanted a solution that didn't end in his sibling's death, he had more pressing issues to deal with. The horde of mixed demons and monsters was beginning to become a problem, and Mina was slipping back into the crazed personality that caused this problem.

"Come at me beasts!" Mina declared, "I shall take you all on! Come and see the wrath of a shadow!"

It didn't go unnoticed by Dyal that Mina was allowing near-hits and close scraps, giving in to her more personal tendencies. A surefire sign of her coping strategies kicking back in. For the time being, however, Mina was more focused on the demons and was hacking them away like a machete through dense bush.

Dyal tried to play off of his sister's movements to mixed results. Together the siblings looked to only have a tiny fraction of what could be called coordination, but they were making due, their lives depended on it.

For the briefest of moments, Dyal and Mina felt like proper siblings, then out of the corner of Dyal's eye, he saw the swift and distinct profile of Rakshas' Flame Step. Dyal was left with no time to react as the fiery transport spell collided with Mina, the hakuko disappearing into the flames with a brief screech as the spell lifelessly carried both Dyal's sibling and his wicked father around the balconied building and disappeared unseen into the tunnel to the next ring.

"Father! you vile godless reptile!" Dyal yelled as he dodged a Hell Caina's swing. He continued to swing his claymore around, but without Mina to cover him, the demons quickly became overwhelming.

Mercifully, seconds after Rakshas absconded the battle with Mina in tow, the Doom Slayer came crashing into the fight, toppling the Baron of Hell he was battling and then impaling it through the skull with the Doomblade. The Slayer wasted no time gunning through the remaining demons, giving Dyal room to breathe, and to think.

The true weight of what he was in was finally clear to Dyal. He was aiding a warrior of untold power in the quest to stop the Siltvelt wave, except said warrior had an axe to grind with his father Rakshas, and Rakshas was hellbent on dragging his sister Mina down with him. Now he had the goal of separating his sibling from the deadweight before the Slayer terminated them both. Most importantly, he needed to pull this off swiftly, and without violating the oath he made to the Slayer. The fight they were in currently was going to last a few minutes, giving Dyal at least a little time to think.

-DOOM-

Codex Entry - Personnel: Rakshas Nori 1

Rakshas Nori is a nobleman of infamously high rank within Siltvelt's caste system. During the Siltvelt-Melromarc war, Rakshas served as a strategist and key supporter of the Mad King, according to multiple historical documents acquired by the VEGA drones, Rakshas was the engineer of Siltvelt's more notorious victories and its worst atrocities, earning himself the title: "the Devil of Siltvelt".

In the post-war period, the newly established Siltvelt council appointed him to be the director of Siltvelt's kingdom-wide slave-trading economy. From there, Rakshas masterminded the slave network to provide an estimated 68% of the income utilized by the Siltvelt council for its endeavors, effectively making him indispensable to the kingdom.

Prior to the Doom Slayer's arrival in Siltvelt, Rakshas Nori had disappeared from the public eye and had been taking private commissions from noble houses that share ties to the Mad King to locate and trade specialized slaves and arcane information.

-DOOM-

Holy shit, and I thought the last chapter was chunky. The last chapter's story content was around 28 pages, with the (A/N) lasting 2.5 pages, and the omake lasting 4.5 pages, totaling 36 pages. This chapter's story content is 35 pages, making it the longest chapter so far!

I am aware people were hoping for Rakshas to die, but he's an arc villain. Arc villains cannot die until the end of the arc. To anyone who wants to argue that, I would like to point out that canonically the Slayer could've smashed through the bullet-proof glass between him and Olivia Pierce with his bare hands, but didn't because there was still half a game to go. Story and gameplay (or in this case, dramatics) segregation, folks.

Addressing ProfesserZooms and Matrixmachine's comments specifically, the notifications that appear are the results of grammar errors I noticed too late or edits to continuity snarls I became annoyed by. I seriously apologize to anyone inconvenienced by notifications appearing in their feeds for that. Hopefully, I'll get better about it.

Speaking of which, CODEX ENTRY ADDED.

Anyways, October 2022, Happy Halloween. Have a Spoopy Omake / One-shot:

Trick or Treat!:

Knock knock.

Halloween. The spooky-scary season. A holiday where everyone can unironically embrace the aesthetic of the supernatural without the more religious-minded folk losing their collective minds.

It was also very popular among children, getting to play dress up, explore past where they were allowed normally, and get free candy. Everything that children could ever want in a holiday, or in general for that matter.

"Trick or treat!"

A fact that made Halloween the ideal holiday for the Doom Slayer to bring still-ten-year-old Raphtalia to celebrate in a sound attempt to allow them to be a kid again. Before the inevitable need to teach her how to survive the demon-infested wasteland her homeworld was rapidly changing into finally sank in.

It was partially Dr. Hayden's suggestion, that the Slayer look for venues that would help Raphtalia's psychological well-being. He checked the Earth's calendar and saw the month, then the week, then it clicked. Granted he couldn't just bring Raphtalia to his Earth, not since most of humanity was underground and demons still roved the surface. But what was the point of having an inter-universal teleportation system if he couldn't find a parallel Earth that was in sync with his earth?

"Oh, a little witchling, how adorable!"

The Slayer brought the idea to Raphtalia, and with a little supplementary explanation from Dr. Hayden, she almost immediately wanted to try to experience the holiday for herself. All that was left was the need for a costume, it was a calculated risk, but the Slayer figured that the quickest way to get Raphtalia a costume before Halloween, was to visit the seamstress in Castle Town.

They went in, Raphtalia requested the costume she wanted, and…

Yeah, Erhard's warning was accurate. After the ordeal of not only keeping the seamstress on track but also constantly reminding them to respect boundaries, Raphtalia left the building with a witch's dress and matching hat.

Designed, per Erhard's warning, to be absolutely adorable.

Raphtalia felt her tail wag as another piece of fun-size candy was deposited into the potato sack she had in her hands.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed excitedly.

The door closed as Raphtalia turned and skipped back to the sidewalk where the Doom Slayer was leaning against a tree. She reached into the sack and retrieved her newest prize. "Slayer, look what I got from here!"

'Snickers, a classic.'

As a side note, the Slayer thought to himself, the fact that just about everyone was wearing a costume tonight made the need to hide Raphtalia's ears and tail virtually non-existent. It also helped the Doom Slayer choose to wear a costume that could only be described as tactically lazy. That being, he removed the Doomblade and Equipment Launcher from the Preator Suit, with the cherry on top being the paper mask of a pixelated grinning face strapped loosely over the helmet. It was enough to make people not ask about Raphtalia's tail.

So far, upon arrival in the parallel Earth, in the neighborhood of Maddenfield, everything had gone swimmingly. And while the Doom Slayer wasn't expecting trouble, he was also used to things going terribly, horrifically wrong. So while Raphtalia was trick-r-treating and interacting with other kids, he was keeping his head on swivel.

His instinct did eventually pay off when Raphtalia went up to a door, and it was opened by a man with a knife in their gut. The Doom Slayer wasted no time and rushed up, simultaneously shielding Raphtalia and catching the stabbed man. He set the stabbed man down and Raphtalia backed up a few steps.

"Maddenfield… Halloween… Slasher. Upstairs, help."

The Slayer grimaced. There was the wrong thing he was expecting. Oh well, he'd always wanted to fight a slasher villain anyway.

"Raphtalia, why don't you trick or treat a few more houses, or converse with those other children I observed you interacting with? The Slayer has this handled."

Raphtalia nodded, "Ok, Dr. Hayden." she turned and went to meet with her new acquaintance.

"Are you crazy?" the stabbed man asked, "there's a serial killer in the neighborhood, and you send your daughter away unsupervised?"

"Correction, there is a murderer in your house, and I would not have sent Raphtalia away if I wasn't confident in the ability to resolve this crisis ourselves." the Slayer handed the man one of his minor healing potions, "Drink this, it will help with the pain."

The man took the bottle and the Slayer entered the house, pursuing the Halloween Slasher. Entering a room on the second floor the Slayer began to search for any sign of the killer, he then detected two life signs in the closet.

Opening the closet, the Doom Slayer found a little boy and a little girl, both trembling in terror, hiding from the monster that just stabbed their dad.

"Where is the man that hurt your father?" Dr. Hayden asked briskly.

The girl pointed behind the Slayer.

'Slasher rule one! The killer will always evade detection!'

The Slayer spun, blocking the oncoming stab and retaliating with a jab, being careful not to vaporize the killer. He did hope to bring Raphtalia back here, after all. Better not make a mess.

The Slayer studied the killer head to toe. A six-foot tall man, clad in an orange jumpsuit and a greyed, decaying Captain Picard mask, and armed with a carving knife.

"Children, run." Dr. Hayden ordered.

The children wasted no time escaping while the Doom Slayer cracked his knuckles.

'Slasher rule two, the killer will be supernaturally hard to put down, human or otherwise.'

-DOOM-

Raphtalia had reconvened with a kid she'd befriended earlier and their parents. At first, she'd been nervous, there was a serial killer nearby, but then she remembered the killer was about to square up with the Doom Slayer, there was nothing to worry about.

"Hey, Raphtalia!" a kid excitedly asked.

Raphtalia smiled at them and their friends, "Hi Allyson!"

Allyson's mom took notice of the fact that Raphtalia's guardian was nowhere in sight. "Where's your dad?" they asked.

Raphtalia shifted slightly, "He stopped a moment to help someone who got hurt, he told me to keep trick-r-treating while he dealt with it."

Allyson's mom nodded, "Why don't you come with us for a few minutes, then we'll get you back to your dad?"

"Sure!" said Raphtalia.

After walking down the warmly decorated street for a few seconds Allyson's mom began to ask Raphtalia questions.

"So, are you new to Maddenfield? I haven't seen you or your dad around before."

"We're just passing through," Raphtalia responded, "we stopped by because I wanted to experience Halloween."

Allyson and her mother both tilted their heads, "Has your dad not taken you trick or treating before?" Allyson asked.

"Where I grew up, we didn't have many holidays. My guardian thought that I should at least get the opportunity to try out some holidays."

"Guardian?" Allyson asked, "Is Mr. armor guy not your dad?"

"No," Raphtalia admitted, "he's been caring for me for a few weeks now, my parents died months ago." she tensed up.

"Oh," Allyson deflated, "I'm sorry."

"It's… fine," Raphtalia said unconvincingly.

"Wait," Allyson's mom interjected, "If your guardian has only been caring for you for a few weeks, where were you in the interim?"

Raphtalia hugged their chest, unintentionally rolling her sleeves up and revealing the whiplash scars on her arms, "Bad things happened before I met my guardian."

"Oh my god." Allyson's mom muttered, a look of horror crossing their face.

Allyson hugged Raphtalia. God only knew the girl needed it. "Are you… okay?" Allyson's mom asked tentatively.

"I've been doing better," Raphtalia said weakly.

Allyson's mom bit her lip. "Raphtalia," Allyson's mom started, "I'm sorry if I dredged up any unpleasant memories," she gave a small smile, "how about we trick or treat a few more houses, then meet up with your guardian?"

"Sure." Raphtalia agreed.

Allyson's mom nodded, "Allyson, why don't we take Raphtalia to the more pretty houses on the way back, I think they might like that."

"Ok, mom," Allyson said, they let go and tugged on Raphtalia's arm, "come on Raphtalia! This way!"

The trio went on to trick-r-treat more than a few houses. Raphtalia regained her chipper mood after she witnessed several of the more gimmicky homes, Allyson also cheering up a bit, but after a few minutes, the trio returned to the house Raphtalia left the Doom Slayer at. The sight they came to was unexpected.

The man that had been stabbed was out on the porch hugging his kids, a small crowd surrounded them. The trio pushed to the front of the mob. "What's going on?" Allyson's mom asked.

"I dunno," someone replied, "Steve and his kids have been on the porch for a few minutes, and there's some loud rattling coming from inside."

Before anyone could continue the conversation the infamous Maddenfield Halloween Slasher tumbled through the front door and down the porch.

"It's the Maddenfield Slasher! Someone call the police!"

"Look!" Allyson pointed to the doorway.

Emerging from the dark room beyond the door came the Doom Slayer, the pixilated mask destroyed by the fight, allowing all to gaze through the visor at the man beneath. He menacingly stalked toward the killer. He twirled the blade of a carving knife between his fingers

The Slasher stood up and attempted to stab with what was left of their knife, but the Slayer simply dropped the blade, snatched his hand, then jabbed him in the center of his mask.

The Slasher made one last attempt to harm the Slayer but was counter-maneuvered, getting spun around and kicked hard enough in the spine. The Slayer simply picked the blade back up and used it to pin the Slasher to a tree.

Raphtalia ran up to the Slayer, holding open the sack of candy she'd collected. "Look at all the candy I got!" Raphtalia exclaimed, her tail wagging.

The Slayer gave her loot a cursory glance, then gave Raphtalia a head pat. Raphtalia practically sparkled with delight.

So cute. All observers thought.

Dr. Hayden checked the relative time to where the pair were before speaking through both the Slayer's and Raphtalia's private communicators. "It is 11:48 PM. I would recommend you two return to the Fortress before too long."

The Slayer grunted in acknowledgment and nodded at Raphtalia. Raphtalia's shoulders sagged slightly, but she didn't complain. "Okay," she said, hints of disappointment in her voice.

Raphtalia turned to her new friend, "Hey Allyson, I have to go home now," the tanuki smiled softly, "it was nice to meet you."

Allyson hugged Raphtalia again, "It was nice to meet you too, Raphtalia."

Allyson's mom's eyes widened and she approached the Slayer, "Wait! You shouldn't leave just yet, the police will have questions!"

Raphtalia came to the Doom Slayer's side and a blue slipgate portal opened up behind them, the Slayer and Hayden no longer caring for cloak-and-dagger tonight.

"And there will mainly be questions we cannot afford to answer, lest we run afoul of complications with no solutions. Trust us on this."

The swirling blue slipgate had drawn attention to it, with many people who'd been recording the Slayer's beatdown of the Maddenfield Slaher now turning the cameras to the portal. Raphtalia waved at Allyson while she in turn waved back. The Slayer observed this little interaction.

'Raphtalia made a friend, good, she needs that.'

The Slayer looked back at Allyson's mom. "Perhaps once the dust has settled, Raphtalia can see you child again?" Dr. Hayden suggested.

"Uh, sure," Allyson's mom blankly responded.

The Slayer nodded and turned to the slipgate, Raphtalia gave one last wave goodbye before following after.

The next day it was all over the news, that the infamous Maddenfield Halloween Slasher was subdued and crippled by what appeared to be an actual space marine. Followed by the video of not only the battle but also the Slayer and Raphtalia leaving through the slipgate. Many scientists would analyze the videos for years to come, not once finding evidence of altercations.

Over time many would come to believe that an angel had descended from the heavens that night, sent with the divine purpose of bringing a murderer to justice.

No one would ever figure out the events of that night happened because a space god decided to take his kid trick-or-treating.