Walter was exhausted from the ritual, but was pleased to see the two figures standing in front of him. Paul had long ago fled to the corner of a room in panic, and Walter was more than willing to allow him his fear.
To his left stood Asmodean, the demon that had supposedly had his hand in the building of Solomon's temple. While the demon took the guise of a young man in his prime of life, the Lord of Lust was in essence millennia old. Thousands had fallen to his charms, and it was rumored that he'd even brought down the great King David of biblical times.
The other was a prankster, well known as a lesser demon that had risen exponentially through the ranks to reach the pinnacle of what his blood would allow. Belial was, simply put, an outsider that would do anything for a price. If he found the mission to his liking, he'd do it even without being summoned. He, for the demon had also assumed a male form, was one of the most unpredictable entities that Walter had ever dealt with. One could never be sure whose hands the demon would play into.
Which was why Walter had made sure to put extra protection from the creatures on himself. Asmodean would try to seduce him, since it was possible for the ancient demon to change sexes as easily as some would change clothes.
Yet Belial was able to change into any form he knew of. Several times Walter had been startled to see himself staring at his own face across the room. Each time Belial had quickly changed to a different person's body, sometimes a demon writhing on the floor with tentacles and claws, and other times a beautiful succubus capable of taking one's breath away. Once even Asmodean's brows had raised at the form Belial had taken, that particular succubus well known to him, and even created by his own hand.
"The city has been changed by your presence, can you not feel it?" Walter asked ecstatically. "Soon I'll have the power to reform Silent Hill, and once I do this city shall again know true power."
Belial stepped forward, looking exactly like Alessa. "Even now the chase has begun against those two that would seek to destroy what we've wrought. It will just be a matter of minutes until they're dead."
"NO!" Walter said fiercely from where he stood. "They cannot be killed yet. Order your creatures to let them escape. There's still something that I need from them."
The twin looks of surprise on the demon's faces matched perfectly..as it should since Belial was in the form of Asmodean. "And what would The Master of The Order require from the two miscreants?" Asmodean, the true Asmodean, asked in a tone that left no doubt he disapproved of how Walter was handling the situation.
"Only one deity can stop me at this moment." Walter said, watching as anger entered both the demon lords' eyes. They knew of whom he spoke, and one also now knew what his plan was.
"And you think that Richard will bring you the untouchable relic?" Belial scoffed while eyeing the Ronin Blade that Walter carried in his left hand. During his previous incarnation he'd been killed by that very weapon and had no intention of repeating the experience. "He's already turned down your offers of alliance. He'll not bring you the icon without explicit reason."
Asmodean walked to Walter and knelt, signifying that, while summoned against his will, he would still follow his newest master. "Richard will know of it and will bring it, of that there is no doubt. Yet what are we to do?"
Walter acknowledged the pledge of loyalty and then walked to the throne, using all of his discipline to keep from falling due to exhaustion. Once there, he sat and looked back out over the two demon lords. From behind them, hundreds of eyes stared out at them, the eyes of demons loyal to both Walter and Asmodean. Belial had brought nothing of the host at his disposal. A curious move to all that though of it, and one that actually worried Walter.
Putting those thoughts out of his mind, Walter turned his attention back to the situation at hand. "On the outskirts of the city you've brought your tower, correct?" He asked Asmodean.
"One of writhing flesh and living bone." The demon agreed. "You seek to split them apart again, turn them against each other?"
Walter nodded. As if fate itself had woven their paths together, Asmodean would again face Sarah in life. The thought thrilled him, and gave him an added measure of comfort. He was still in favor with the ideals of Sammael. "Belial will use his powers of illusion to drive a wedge between the two, and then to lead Richard to the icon. Only then are you allowed to bring them back together."
"And if I refuse?" Belial asked suddenly from where he still stood. "What will happen to your precious plan then?"
"An interesting option, but one I doubt you'd care to experience." Walter said honestly. "The Ronin Blade has tasted your flesh once, and will not hesitate to do so again." When Belial nodded, Walter told him what to do.
Richard and Sarah leaned against the wall in the gunshop, both breathing heavily from their escape from the creatures. For a short while it had seemed as if their run would end in a hopeless death for either of them, but then Richard had managed to fire a single shot that had struck one in the eye, killing it and sending the others into a panic.
"What are those things?" Sarah asked between gulps of air. "It can't be the same creatures we fought earlier."
Through the boarded up window, Richard looked resignedly at the dozens of creatures now roaming the streets. Once he'd had the task of summoning a single one, and it had nearly destroyed the Dark Wing by its strength. It was a creature that fed on the pain and suffering of those around it, one that derived physical pleasure from pain. It was the personal servant of Asmodean, created for the purpose of pleasure from pain. It was the Unnamed.
Few people knew how to kill them, and Richard had only discovered how to by the fluke shot in the street. Only a shot that would provide instant death killed the Unnamed, and anything else merely made them stronger and more excited for pain.
"They're called the Unnamed." He said while still looking out the window. "Asmodean created them out of a twisted ideal of sadism. There isn't much you can do to kill them."
Sarah grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. "You know about them, so you know how to get rid of them, right?" She asked uncertainly.
A few seconds went by, Richard searching his memories for anything that might possibly protect them…and then he knew.
"The necklace of Metatron." He said reverently. "It causes any creature in the city to act as if you don't exist. The necklace will protect you from anything that wishes to do you harm."
"Then we need to go get it." Sarah said resignedly. "Of course it won't just be simply going to a well lit part of town and having an old mystic handing to you."
A curious look from Richard caused her to chuckle. "It's easier than saying we'll need to sneak our way past dozens of flesh-eating creatures, sneak into wherever we need to go, and then enter into a life-or-death struggle with whatever demon controls the area."
"Asmodean." Richard said simply. "It will be Asmodean. Belial is far too unpredictable to be trusted with such an icon."
Sarah nodded before turning and rummaging through several of the shelves. "We'll need ammo." Was all the said, and true to her word she pulled two boxes of shotgun shells out from the rubble. "Are you just going to stand there, or are you planning on helping me keep us both alive?" She asked sarcastically.
Richard felt a small smile creep across his face. "I thought I'd been doing a good job until now."
"Sure you have." She said shortly. "You managed to get caught by Walter, nearly killed by something in the school, and are only standing here because I managed to drag your sorry hide out of the danger. You've done a fine job."
"Just for that I'll look for the bullets on my own, thank you." Richard quipped before grunting as a box of 9mm hit him in the chest. It was closely followed by two more.
"I won't use this many bullets in just my pistol."
It wasn't a question, but any doubts he may have had were answered when Sarah stood and began slamming things down on a broken counter. "It's time we took the initiative." She said, strapping a side holster on in order to fire the shotgun from the hip.
Another pistol and two hip holsters sat on the counter, along with several empty clips. If they would have been buying the equipment their bill would easily have run over a thousand dollars, and at some point that might have worried Richard. Now, however, he simply reached for them and strapped them across his waist.
Ten minutes later, they crept out of the gunshop, each holding their weapons and willing to use them. They saw few of the Unnamed, but those they did sent the two scrambling for whatever cover they could find in the ruined city. The last thing they wanted was another chase that this time they might not survive.
"Do you even know where we're going?" Sarah asked softly as they emerged from one set of cover. The heat of the fires burning beneath the city were beginning to get to both of them, and each had begun wishing for something to drink that didn't involve blood or other bodily juices.
"There's only one place Asmodean would be." Richard said just as softly, holding both pistols tightly to his chest. A flash of red lightning suddenly illuminated the area, showering them both with crimson light from above and below. In the distance a tower could be seen that shook them to the core. "His own personal palace." He finished.
Jutting out of the land over two hundred feet in the air, Asmodean's tower was truly a sight to behold. The walls were made of pearly bone, sparkling in the light of the several torches that branched only slightly from the walls. The entire tower pulsed, causing it to look as if it were made of flesh and blood and sometimes the walls were even made of a material very much like skin.
Richard and Sarah stood on the bottom floor, staring upwards at the twin staircases. On opposite sides of the room two spiral staircases twirled their way upwards, going hundreds to what the two guessed was the top of the structure.
Above them, from the low hanging clouds, the red lightning again flashed and a light drizzle began to fall. The ground sizzled and popped wherever the drops fell, most landing in the ever burning flames underneath them. In just a few minutes the drizzle turned to a downpour, soaking both Richard and Sarah.
"Well, this is pleasant." Sarah said sarcastically. "How do we want to do this? Both on one staircase or one on each?"
Richard looked around, noticing that there were several gates that hadn't been opened yet. "I think it would be safer to each take one. One of us HAS to get to Asmodean. If one of the staircases is a trap...well then the other will kill the demon."
Neither wanted to admit that it was a very distinct possibility, but Richard finally had. It helped to have finally said what they had both been thinking and some of the tension seemed to have drained out of the air around them.
"I'll go left, you go right." He said finally, watching as she nodded. Then there was no more talking, just the slapping of footsteps on wet ground.
Richard reached his staircase first, noticing that the bannister was made of a polished skull with vertebrae lining it all along the stairway. Each step was carefully carved rib bones that reflected the light back in glittering colors that sent cascades of colors all along the next few steps.
He'd climbed to a quarter of the way up the stairs when he heard a loud click from the opposite side of the room. He turned to see Sarah looking at the step she stood on, and instantly Richard could see why. One of the ribs was now depressed deeply into the staircase, and several of the gates on the bottom floor were slowly swinging open to reveal dozens of the Unnamed.
"Sarah run!" Richard shouted as several of the Unnamed jumped from the ground up to the rip bone, catching it in its claws and beginning to swing up towards Richard. Nearly a dozen began to climb after Sarah. Without stopping to think about what would happen to himself, Richard began running up the stairs, firing as he did so. Within seconds, two of the creatures had fallen from the staircase, and Sarah, guided by Richard's shots, had begun firing several shells into the ribs behind her.
Richard had very nearly cleared five more of them from under Sarah's staircase when two jumped over his railing, one in front and one behind him, and came at him with their hands extended. Grinning slightly to himself, Richard took aim at the eye of the one in front of him and squeezed the trigger.
The pistol clicked dry.
With a barely muffled curse, he holstered that pistol and drew the second one. Without the time to re-aim at its face, Richard merely jammed the weapon into the scales on its chest and pulled the trigger repeatedly. Bullets ripped through the scales and the fleshy organs in the Unnamed, and as he heard the shotgun roar across the room, his hearing was nearly destroyed by the screech of unholy pain that erupted from the Unnamed's mouth. For a creature the was given pleasure from pain, Richard had hit something vital to cause it to screech in that way.
While that one slumped to the ground, he wheeled around to find the other in midswing. He had just enough time to slightly raise an arm before the Unnamed hit him. The swing caught him just under his raised arm, ripping the bony claws along his jacket. If he hadn't been fully healed, the blow would have hit in exactly the same spot as Pyramid Head's spear. Yet the wound had healed, and now all the claws did was rip shallow furrows along his skin. His pistol, meanwhile, tore holes in the Unnamed's eyes.
With those two dead, Richard risked a quick glance over and saw Sarah easily holding the Unnamed off. The shotgun was a vicious weapon in close, and after a handful of the creatures had been killed, few others had wanted to risk the buckshot.
Knowing that she would be safe, Richard began sprinting up the stairs, trying hard not to slip in the still pouring rain. The bones were horribly slick, but somehow he managed to make it all the way to the top of the tower without falling. Oddly, the Unnamed ceased their chase after following him nearly to the top.
He emerged onto the top of the tower, and crept forward. The torches and flames from underneath the city that had lit the tower now did little to provide any source of light, and Richard was forced to turn on the penlight underneath his pistol. When he thought about it, he withdrew the other pistol and reloaded both.
"Sarah?" He called through the darkness, walking to where she would have emerged from the staircase. "Where are you?"
A flurry of motion behind him drew his gaze around, followed closely by both pistols. When the light hit the figure standing, Richard knew he was in terrible trouble.
Standing a few inches below Richard's frame, the man was dressed regally. Silk lined his clothing, and the rain that had so throughly soaked Richard didn't seem to bother him at all, merely sliding off onto the ground.
Yet it was what he held in his hand that frightened Richard so much. It was a sword of unsurpassed quality that had the word OBEDIENCE scripted down the side in golden script. It was one of the legendary five Swords of Obedience, weapons forged for the specific purpose of trapping souls in a hellish purgatory for eternity. Richard could only guess where Walter had found one of them, and if he'd known the truth of how Henry had at some point possessed all five, he would have nearly collapsed from shock.
"I am Asmodean." The man said in a smooth voice. "Lord of Lust and the owner of this tower. Who are you and what business do you claim to have?"
"My name is Richard, and I'm here for the necklace of Metatron." He replied carefully, hoping to bluff his way into getting what he wanted. It was only when he heard the shotgun fire twice more from underneath his feet that he knew time was running out.
"The necklace you seek isn't here. Walter has given it to Belial for whatever reason he has chosen. I was merely bait to lure you to your deaths." The ancient demon held the longsword in his hand up above his head, and a dull glow began to emanate from the surrounding walls. Once it was light enough for Richard to see, he noticed that the sword was covered in some kind of a black ichor along the top half of the blade.
"This was the blade that held Cynthia Velasquez in eternal torment. She was Walter's sixteenth victim in the Holy Mother Ritual." Asmodean saw Richard's eyes widen and laughed, a sound so smooth that it was much like two sheets of fine satin rubbing together. "Do not worry yourself, the ritual failed. However, Cynthia shall no longer torment him, instead your soul shall be the one pinned to the ground in eternal distress."
"I don't think so." Came the sudden reply from the right of Asmodean as a torn and bloodied Sarah fired at him. As Richard dove out of the way, the buckshot tore into the Lord of Lust and knocked him to the floor.
Richard was moving then, climbing back to his feet and sprinting to where the demon lay. He arrived to find soaked crimson clothing, the Sword of Obedience, and little else. Then he was on his back, ears ringing and brilliant lights playing through his head.
He vaguely saw Asmodean holding Sarah by the neck with one hand, digging his fingers in so hard that blood was slowly trickling down her throat onto her shoulders and chest. His other hand was placed on her chest, trying to smash his fingers in and rip her heart out.
That didn't happen, instead she kicked out hard pushing Asmodean off balance and directly into Richard's line of fire. Five bullets ripped into the demon's flesh, made mortal by Walter's insecurities and never told to Asmodean.
"I bleed." He said simply before slumping to his knees on the floor. Richard raised his pistol and fired one last shot, this time sending him back to the banished hells he'd been summoned from. Then, with shaking hands he pulled himself upright and ran to Sarah.