A vast array of hisses, snarls, and screeches filled the air of Lucifer's circle as the demons roamed freely, continuing in their work to salvage anything useful while finding and killing any wildlife they should discover. For the most part this work was carried out by the lower demons such as Imps, or in the case of Revenants and Hell Knights who were quite strong they handled the heavy lifting. Now unlike the other circles Lucifer's being included, Doom's work functioned in a far more efficient and different way. See for the others it was sort of like a factory, where the devils were the foreman and all the natural Hellspawn were the workers, while the souls that came from the mortal realm were like the products.
But for the demons and lords of Doom there was one simple rule that made everything run smoothly, where there was never a need for any kind of bureaucratic like system or something else of that nature. In short, you either did what you were told to do by those higher up than you, or the Dark One would take your flesh and mold it into something new like clay. So while there were a few instances of infighting between them they all understood the order, just do what you were made for and you won't be tortured, killed, or used for any kind of experiments by the arcanists or otherwise. Yet despite this there was one time in their history that a single demon tried to oppose the Dark One, it happened back when the Slayer's legend began to grow right after the defeat of the Icon, this is when a few demons started to worship him instead.
For the most part this insurgency was snuffed out immediately as those demons were sentenced to slave labor, but that one defiant soul persisted in his heresy against the very being who created him. This all came to head when he and the Slayer crossed paths, as this was the only moment he had not killed one of their kind. In exchange for showing him mercy and allowing him to live, this creature dubbed by Doom in its entirety as "The Wretch" gave him aid only surpassed by the Maykrs. He gifted him complete maps and charts of the realm as a whole, taught him how to harness their energies and powers to serve him, and he had even made for him the first prototype of what would become the praetor suit.
However that is where all knowledge of The Wretch ends, the demons, the Maykrs, and even the Slayer have no idea what became of him after this, as part of the Slayer's mercy besides not killing him was allowing him to escape. And not just to another part of Doom to give him a little bit longer, escape as in he opened a portal, walked through it, and was never seen again. This is admittedly a massive part of the reason why they were so quick to invade Hell, for it was the general assumption of all parties he had gone to another circle, perhaps one of the more barbaric and unruly kind so he'd never be found. Even with the Slayer being Doom and the Dark One's main focus, all of their souls yearned to find the traitor and make him pay for aiding their greatest enemy, for maybe just maybe if he hadn't they might've been able to kill him.
Although even without The Wretch's aid it was always a guarantee he was going to do everything in his power to kill them all. But none of that mattered right now, what was important was continuing the assimilation of Lucifer's circle to increase the Dark One's power, alongside the demolition of buildings and general structures. Such as a building that a group of Imps accompanied by two Hell Knights just now discovered. It was impressively big and clearly had an abundance of materials that they could use, especially the massive sign that was attached to it though none of them cared what it said.
One of the brutes huffed much like a bull to say this was their next target, which was all that the imps needed to be sent into action. Running at full speed they would begin tearing it apart once they reached it, with a few of them climbing up to get to work on the roof and that sign. But just as
the first was a few feet from the doors that led inside a portal opened in front of them, and before they could react a bullet much like a sniper round was shot from it. Watching in surprise as the Imp's head exploded quite literally when it made contact, the rest stumbled back as they knew who had done that.
Yet when he stepped out of the rift and they saw his visage, a new form of fear filled their bodies and buckled their knees. The familiar intimidating rage of the Slayer was felt immediately, but combined with his new suit that they could also feel due to its holy origins, it managed to make him even more threatening than he already was. Thankfully the two Hell Knights had also noticed him, as they let out roars in his direction before charging forward to assault him. Or at least they tried to do that, for just like before another portal appeared without warning and from within an attack came, this one being the high powered blast of a gauss cannon.
Watching in shock as the two giants fell to the ground in a mess of body parts and other viscera, the Imps who remained wouldn't be able to run away as every possible option was cutoff. One after the other more portals kept appearing until they were entirely surrounded, and from them came Sentinels and Exterminators in mass. Doing their best to think of a way out of this perilous situation, they all looked to the ground as they heard something heavy hit it, finding a ticking fragmentation grenade at their feet. In a single instant four imps were all turned to mush, what remained being splattered all around just like their superiors.
With this small group quickly dealt with the Slayer looked to his allies to see if they all had made it through the portal yet, finding that while the ground troops were all present those that would be arriving in vehicles such as mobile artillery guns hadn't arrived yet, which was expected given their weight. But they didn't need to stand around and wait for these armaments to join them to begin the assault, taking the lead the Slayer ran towards the city as that needed to be cleansed first.
Following behind him though not shouting or cheering to avoid making too much noise, with the Exterminators all using their wings to fly a small distance above the ground to lessen the footsteps. To their benefit they didn't encounter too many demons as they headed for the city's center, a few lone Imps scurrying about and one curious Cacodemon were all that greeted them as they went.
But just as before they were dealt with quickly and efficiently, fast acting sniper shots for all the Imps from the Slayer, while the same Sentinel who had blasted the Hell Knights did the same for the floating red sphere. Soon they were nearing the former noble and commercial part of the area, which is where they would no longer be able to remain unnoticed. For in this sector besides the abundance of fleshy growths and other disturbed things, there were far more demons in a greater variety. For the most part from what they could see, besides the expected Imps it was mainly Arachnotrons and Revenants who lingered, Hell Knights and possible Mancubi lending their size and strength to the work.
Through specific hand gestures the Slayer would coordinate his soldiers to take up optimal positions. Some went behind large vehicles or slabs of rubble for cover and safety, while the rest got to vantage points for long range supremacy and to deal with any flyers that may show up.
Waiting to receive a thumbs up from each specific group to be absolutely sure they were reading, he put away his LMG and brought forth his rocket launcher, locking three rockets onto just one Arachnotron to secure the kill. With one pull of the trigger the triple volley of concentrated energy flew out of the weapon, reaching its target in seconds causing its body to be sent flying in all directions.
The first demon to react to this was a Revenant who easily tracked their origin, but before it could try to lock its shoulder mounted launchers onto him it was obliterated by gauss blast. After that the environment became an immediate warzone, the Imps all screeched and began throwing fireballs and dodging, as did the remaining Arachnotrons and Revenants who were surprisingly mobile. In
response his soldiers all began firing with their focus mainly on the Imps, as they were not only the most prominent demons at the moment but were the far greater danger, as the other two breeds only looked towards the Slayer. Speaking of, after popping that Arachnotron like a water balloon he once again switched his weapons, bringing out the plasma rifle this time around as it was particularly excellent at dealing these demons.
Spheres of energy were traded between him and the brain spiders' turrets, while the Revenants tried to restrict the space he could move in by surrounding him with a volley of missiles. Of course this never worked when they tried it as the Slayer only ever moved in one direction, which was straight towards them like a speeding locomotive with a jet engine strapped to the caboose.
Reaching the first of the skeletal demons he rammed it with his shoulder to send it to the ground, unleashing a torrent of blasts directly to its face quickly burning it to a crisp. After this the weapon's current modular attachment, the Heat Blast, had build up a decent enough charge to where he could make proper use of it.
Moving from the corpse he ran right up to the Arachnotrons present and unleashed it in their faces, which besides burning them severely and near completely destroying their eyes, also overwhelmed the turrets on their backsides causing them to explode violently. Letting out howls of agony from the pain they all tried to swipe at him with their small arms in the hopes of doing something, in response he jumped atop of one and began shooting its body with the riffle quickly cooking it alive. There was however another reason he was doing this, in addition to their turrets these demons were armed with mines they could launch and detonate from their sides. So as he built up another Heat Blast he jumped away and released it, this time due to how close he had been it seeped through the mechanism the mines were stored in, rupturing them which resulted in a violent detonation.
Managing to kill all of them with that explosion as he had hoped, only a few of the Arachnotrons remained thus allowing him to switch to the Revenants to begin clearing them out as well.
However to his surprise his troops were proving to be very effective, having made quick work of the Imps they moved onto the cyborg skeletons, thus bringing the total number of present demons down significantly. Of course though if it were this easy to win against the demons, then the Slayer would have defeated them far sooner than he did initially. Much like a wrecking ball being sent into a building more demons burst from the nearby structures, and while one of them was expected it being Hell Knights, the second was greatly concerning.
Pinkies, though often regarded by the demons of Doom as cattle or livestock, were by FAR one of if not the single most durable demons their realm had to offer. From the front they were truly nigh invulnerable, even the Slayer's own weapons would take most of his ammunition to begin wearing them down if he assaulted them that way. There were some exceptions though, such as using his chainsaw to get at the space between the plating on their heads and backs to sever it, or shooting them from behind where most of their flesh was exposed. Unfortunately by the time they would get these shots these living bulldozers would be on top of them, but it needed to be done if they wanted to kill them as fast as possible.
Just as the others they began by letting out roars before joining the fray, with the Pinkies covering the distance between them scarily fast while the Hell Knights followed behind. Knowing well there cover meant jack shit to them the Sentinels and Exterminators on the ground began falling back, with the latter taking to the sky to try and get an angel on their backsides. As for the Slayer he decided it was time to get messy, sending away his Plasma Rifle he brought forth his mechanical sword, revving it to full power before charging towards the Hell Knights to start cutting them down. With the first he went into a slide across the ground as to cut one of its legs at the knee, doing so successfully which crippled the demon and sent it to the ground.
After that he got back to his feet and in a upward motion much like a uppercut sent the saw into the next, the creature unable to do anything besides scream and shake as the tool cut it vertically in half. All the while he did this his soldiers' efforts to clear the Pinkies was going well, as after their initial charge they were basically surrounded, which allowed many of them to fire at once killing them quickly. Sadly they could barely make even half as much progress this time before more reinforcements showed up, this time in the form of a horde of Cacodemons floating in from the horizon. Announcing their arrival by unleashing a volley of bile from the gaping maws, many of the elevated units had to move immediately to avoid getting hit or having what they stood on be dissolved.
This managed to give the demons a bit of ground as a result, for the snipers and gauss cannon wielders had to focus their attentions now on this new enemy, meaning the Pinkies and Hell Knights would take longer to clear out. The Slayer did try his best to keep their attention on him, having put away his chainsaw to it could refuel and bringing forth his Super Shotgun. But even with both Hell Knights and Pinkies being obliterated with just a single blast, he had to leave the Cacodemons to the others if he wanted to protect them from the ground assault. That is when things would worsen even further, as a plethora of Imps began crawling out of building windows or appearing on nearby rooftops, and so in addition to the acidic bile they now had fireballs also coming from the sky.
In response to this quite a few Sentinels were forced to stop shooting so they could erect plasma shields and barriers to protect their comrades, which while necessary allowed the demons to advance further. Realizing this the Slayer for a moment debated if he should bring out the BFG, though he hesitated as they were so close and he worried that a tendril could be sent towards them. Thankfully it wouldn't come to that just yet, as suddenly a loud boom was heard from their backside followed by a group of Cacodemons exploding, both indicators that their artillery had finally come through. In the span of but a few seconds this battle was quickly won, as more shells and packets of plasma were sent towards the demons, clearing both the skies and the ground with no issues at all.
Realizing they were outmatched the Imps who had just arrived retreated, falling back to inform their allies so they could prepare. As this happened many of his soldiers couldn't keep from cheering and welcoming their comrades, though he didn't mind it as that had been perfect timing on their part. But they could only spare a moment or two for this celebration, if they let their guards down for even a second it could be all the difference between victory and defeat. So after making sure they were all well stocked, their weapons and gear ready for the next encounter, and that no issues had arisen during the artillery's attack, they proceeded through the city to continue the cleansing.
As expected though they found next to no demons as they went, knowing well they were all gathering at the hotel ready to defend their connection. This in turn made the final stretch of this mission the most tense by far, none of them not even the Slayer knew how many demons they would see. They knew their numbers had been doubled but how many of them were actually here, how many were in Doom, and how many were still in his world that hadn't be called up yet? The answer to all of these questions came as the hotel came into sight, or rather what it used to be.
For now the entire building had ever been swallowed or replaced by a massive Gore Nest, going high into the sky like a tower with the portal at the top. While at the bottom on the ground were the waiting hordes, everything from Imps and Prowlers to Arachnotrons and Revenants, Hell Knights and Barons to Cacodemons and Pain Elementals were all gathered. Even some specific demon breeds like the Hell Razer and Whiplash were there ready to provide aid from the back line. But the demons that everyone looked to the most were the Archviles and Summoners who were the farthest back, as well as their leader who stood at the front.
As predicted the moment word reached them that the Slayer had returned with reinforcements the Cyber Demon was sent, it looked down at its rival and although lacking normal eyes displayed more hostility than any of the others. Over the next several minutes both armies just stood there staring at each other, both waiting for the powers that commanded them to lead the way for the fight to begin. And whether it was due to him wanting this to be over as quickly as possible, or perhaps he just wanted so badly to beat this bastard to the dirt, the Slayer sent away all of his weapons and activated Berserk before then running towards the Cyber Demon. Roaring in response then doing the same the battle was underway, all the demons followed after behind while the Sentinels and Exterminators held their ground and began firing.
The artillery focused solely on the masses before their it could be moved to the arcanists, which greatly helped to deal with the general fodder that made up their numbers. And just like before everyone had their specific role that needed to be served, the frontline had shields and barriers erected to protect them while brandishing melee weaponry. So if say a Prowler tried to be a sneaky asshole and appear right on top of them, he'd be immediately skewered and killed. Those behind them wielded a balanced diversity of rifles and shotguns, serving a similar role to the artillery though with a greater focus on the brutes and brawlers of the horde.
This left the back line to focus on specific targets and ensure their approach was as funneled as possible, with a few them of serving primarily as anti air units for the flyers. Yet for both sides it was rather difficult to focus on each other, as at the center of it all their titans were duking it out with nothing but their fists, no guns, no lasers, no rockets or BFG, just a good old fashion bare knuckle brawl. With the aid of Berserk the Slayer could not be as easily moved or sent flying as he was before, in fact when they first collided a massive shockwave was sent out, significant enough to break apart the ground around them. After that the fight was a slow progression of punches being thrown, but each one sounded like thunder while the aforementioned ground continued to be damaged.
The Cyber Demon's fists were halted by the Slayer's own any time they connected, allowing him to get a firm grip on its arm and pull it towards him to deliver a devastating headbutt. Letting out a roar of pain it stumbled backwards in response, but before its opponent could close the distance to try and severely wound its leg it threw another punch this time to the ground. Forced to evade as car sized chunks of rubble flew out in all directions, this gave the demon an opportunity to land a blow by clasping its hands together and smashing them onto the Slayer. Driven downward much like a railroad spike, before he could free himself the Cyber Demon raised its blade high into the air and sent it towards him, hoping to stab right through his suit and body in one go.
Instead the Slayer reached up to stop it by grabbing onto the blade, and by refusing to let go it forced his foe to pull back his arm in the hope of flinging him off. But as the motion reached the end of its arc the Slayer intentionally let go, and from the gained momentum he flew straight towards the demon's face. With as clear of an opening as he could hope he punched it on the right side of its head, causing it to roar in agony as that entire portion of its skull was blown apart.
Watching the Cyber demon fall to one knee from the pain as he landed, he wouldn't allow the creature's healing factor to intervene.
Running up to the leg it use to keep itself up right he punched it on the side, eliciting another roar from the beast as the limb broke away at the joint. Falling to the ground on as it no longer had the means to support its full weight, the Slayer climbed onto its chest and approached the head. What followed managed to bring the fighting to a stop for the next minute, as both sides watched in shock at what unfolded. Blow after blow he delivers his fists to the giant, smashing its skull like a pumpkin until there was nothing left.
But he didn't stop there, while Berserk was still active he raised a foot to stomp its chest, in doing
so he exposed the heart of the creature that he then ripped violently from the cavity. Grabbing onto it with both hands he easily tore it in two, assuring that less the Archviles and Summoners did something, the Cyber Demon would not be getting up. And with that the last of the power was used and he returned to his normal state, though he quickly used another while summoning his rocket launcher to start the assault on the arcanists. The power in question was Onslaught, which in combination with his launcher basically meant he would be firing nuke levels of destruction directly at them.
Yet none of them seemed concerned about this, they didn't even bother to erect their flame barriers for protection, which while not immediately rousing suspicion for most did for the Slayer.
Unfortunately he and his soldiers would discover the reason for this behavior, as it was revealed to them first in the form of a massive spear being sent towards him from the sky. Dodging it though just barely as he hadn't expected something like that, he and the others looked above to see what had sent it, only to be horrified by what they found. Though his appearance was vastly different from before they all had a sickly feeling that this new demon, who bore the resemblance of a gargoyle was none other than Gabriel.
This would be confirmed as the spear suddenly disappeared then reappeared in his hand, and as they gave it a closer look they recognized the ornate design of the heavenly weapon, though it was now tainted black as a result of their corruption. Letting out a shriek that was somehow even louder than the Cyber Demon's roars it dived towards the Slayer, doing so with such blinding speed he barely was able to summon his chainsaw in time to block the attack. Staying in the air Gabriel pressed his spear's shaft against the teeth of his saw, both holding firm as they pushed against each other. In response to this the battle as a whole then resumed, initiated by the artillery resuming their attack on the horde.
Just as before they would focus on themselves allowing them to duel with each other, though unlike before this fight didn't start off with unbridled rage. Both the Slayer and Gabriel stared at each other for a few moments, the former feeling genuine guilt for what became of the angel, while the later seemed to show some signs of restraint indicating he was still in there. But his masters would not allow this to go on any longer, the augments attached to his skeleton came to life and sent a surge of electricity through his body, causing him to return to a savage state. Finally breaking their standoff Gabriel backed away from his opponent, only to follow up by flying at him just as fast as before in to hope of sending his spear through his torso.
But now that his attention was on nothing but the angel that wasn't going to work, he dodged to the side and revved up his chainsaw to try and counterattack. This is how their fight would proceed, their speed and power near equal to each other neither could land a single strike, even with Onslaught still active Gabriel's strength was able to match it. Even as he tried to cut through the spear with his saw it was met with no success, not so much as a scratch or scuff being created on its surface.
"S-Slayer..." Gabriel managed to speak from within though it was weak and pained, "P- Please...kill me...it hurts so much...it hurts...it hurts..." He began repeating over and over again as for a moment he stood still.
Sadly this earn him another deliverance of electrocution from the augments, this time so intense it slightly burned the skin that surrounded them, though it quickly healed revealing he too had a healing factor. Letting out a scream as this happened he resumed the fight, forgoing in kind of self preservation as he began to stab wildly at his opponent. This proved to be a poor action on the angel's part, as it gave the Slayer a perfect opening to rev his chainsaw and in one swift motion cut off his hands. Letting out a pained wail as they fell to the ground still clutching the spear, the Slayer made followed it up immediately with another swing of his saw, this time decapitating him.
Sadly for the fallen angel his soul would not be allowed peace so easily, for the moment his body hit the ground it began to glow with a vibrant orange, as did the remains of the Cyber Demon. The Archviles were already quick to work resurrecting their champions, while the Summoners began to do the same only for their legion. Unfortunately the demons that were still alive were plentiful, so the artillery could not change their aim to the arcanists. However he still could not use the BFG with them being so close, which meant the only way he could stop this battle from beginning anew was to use his most powerful weapon, and he hoped the Sentinels would recognize it as he brought it out.
"TAKE COVER!" One of the commanders shouted out as they saw the Unmaykr appear in his hands.
Though the Exterminators like when they witnessed the BFG had no idea what to expect, they listened to their command and with the Sentinels fell back to be safe. Once he saw they were out of harm's way, the Slayer aimed it at the demonic forces and fired. Like a vicious downpour that threatened to drown the world did pure holy energy come from the weapon, in five separate beams they shot at and brought with them desolation. No demon even the mighty Barons had any hope of surviving, for the moment it touched their sinful bodies and souls it ate at them like a cancer, breaking them down until nothing was left and their spirits returned to their infernal home.
Now one may wonder why the Slayer hadn't used this from the beginning, or even back when they first invade the circle? The reason why is because the Unmaykr was a weapon of true divinity, to ensure no demons could escape it actually sought out every single presence of corruption and erased it, so if he had used it before it would have attacked and killed the others. And even though the Exterminators and the Sentinels were beings as pure as one could be, the energy itself was dangerous even without the presence of corruption, and it would have the exact same destructive effect if even for a second any of them were hit by it. So he needed to wait until it was the only option, when even the BFG could not help them that would be the only time it should be used.
Of course this meant that the artillery were not needed for the arcanists now, as after a few brief seconds all of the demons were dead and he was able to turn to them, the Unmaykr easily piercing their barriers and striking them down. Thankfully his soldiers saw this happen, as he heard the commanders all shout at the artillery to begin assaulting the tower. Putting away the Unmaykr he watched the structure's base be slowly chipped away by shells and plasma, a smart decision as if they took away the foundation the rest would follow suit. In response to this an assortment of Imps, Cacodemons, Prowlers, and a few Pain Elementals all came through the portal at the top, which sent a rush of excitement through all of them.
For seeing as how this was all they were sending as their connection grew closer and closer to being severed, this meant that these forces had to have come from the Slayer's world. In fact he would actually receive confirmation of this, as he received a transmission from the battalion assigned to the task.
"Your highness, the bombardment is underway, from our scans it appears the only demonic presence still on world is the growths, a few Gore Nests, and some of the lesser demons, we will have them all wiped out in a matter of seconds." One of the attending commanders informed him, earning a nod of understanding in response.
Returning his attention to the tower and the arriving demons, for a moment he felt a small amused smirk appear on his features at how quickly they were being killed, as all of the ground units that could focused their fire to keep them up there. Eventually though it came down a spectacular crash, as one final volley from the artillery hit just the right spot the building could stand no more. Yet even as countless pieces of debris, Hell growth, and demon body parts all flew passed him as it hit
the ground, the Slayer to no surprise just stood there unfazed by any of it. However, even with the demons all killed and the tower delivered to ruin, the portal persisted as forces on the other side, no doubt one being the Dark One himself did their best to keep it open.
"Your highness." One of the commanders spoke up as they and the others present came forward, the same kind of strange apparatus in each of their hands, "We need to act quickly before anything else happens, we'll wait till we're certain on the other side but you must go now." They told him.
Nodding to show he understood the Slayer immediately broke out into a run, reaching the portal and going through it within seconds. Giving him just a bit longer to be absolutely certain, the commanders then primed the devices and with all their might threw them towards the rift. For you see these objects were essentially explosives, the major difference that made them special was what was stored in them. Concentrated energy from the Wraiths which was capable of affecting reality itself, and in such a terrifying amount the resulting blast would be catastrophic.
Hence why they threw them into the portal, for they knew their king would survive and they cared not what it did to Doom, so once they went off they would disrupt the connection without flaw, and that's exactly what they did.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Dark One's voice bellowed out from the portal, only to be replaced by the sound of the detonation.
Watching the realm of Doom on the other side be filled with the Wraiths' energy to such a degree it even came out towards them, they didn't need to worry about being harmed as the portal closed right after. Watching the arcane energy mixed with the Wraiths' fall all around them after, though they were triumphant none of them wanted to cheer or celebrate, for this truly was a bitter sweet victory. As for the Sentinels attending to Will's world they continued their assault, for another detail Vega and the Slayer kept from the others, was that to be certain Doom held not even a single bit of power on the planet most of it would be destroyed. This was how it came to an end as all that remained of the world now were a few massive chunks that floated in space, and just like their comrades in Lucifer's circle they too did not cheer or yell, allowing silence to have its place.
And as for Vega who watched this all unfold from his place in Urdak, still standing in the garden alone to grieve, he looked to the cosmos that surrounded him and said only to himself the following words:
"They are rage...brutal...without mercy...but you...you will be worse...for your fight then...now...and forevermore...is eternal."