Fear.
Fear, is an interesting experience. One of the most powerful emotions a being could comprehend, also one of the most important ones.
Fear is what drives a creature to survive. There is no motivation quite as powerful as the fear of death. Fear can push people to do things they never would have thought possible, under normal circumstances. Too much of it, and our lives no longer become our own. Too little of it, and our lives may end sooner than we'd expect.
Ironic, to think that we cannot live with fear, yet at the same time, we cannot live without it.
Fear is also the very thing that a certain Cultural Exchange Coordinator who may have made some questionable life choices in the past, named Kuroko Smith, was experiencing at this very moment.
And right now, she had begun to contemplate her most recent choice, and whether it was worth it to begin with.
Her fear was not because there was a life-threatening danger in front of her. Far from it.
Rather, that very danger had been interacting with her for weeks, and she severely underestimated the threat of the danger she had been handling as merely another troublesome new "guest" to deal with.
However, her initial expectations have been ripped and torn to shreds for the last 6 or so hours she had spent uncovering the footage that recorded events so dreadful, so traumatizing, that she had to empty 3 entire bottles of beer just to be drunk enough to sit through it.
The amount of carnage displayed through the entire footage of the Doomslayer's actions from the moment VEGA introduced itself to the Slayer, until the moment the latter was betrayed by the enigmatic figure known as Samuel Hayden and sent away from Mars, was more than enough to last a lifetime of nightmares. Even after skipping most of the clips, there was too much that she might as well stop the footage altogether. The experience was akin to watching a full marathon of snuff films with no breaks.
These demons, their name told everything that was needed to know of them. They looked absolutely demonic, some looking more humanoid in appearance, others almost outright alien in form.
But it was their actions that set them apart from regular liminals. They aren't like the so called "demonic" liminals like the Devil races. Not mere imitations. They are true demons. Soulless creatures who only crave for violence and death. Full of rage. Unquestionably brutal. And without mercy.
But he was worse.
The Doomslayer truly lived up to his name. They loathed him. Feared him. But he didn't fear them. He hated them. And with terrifying power and speed, he tore through them like a sickle through a field. He never speaks, but his actions spoke loud enough. With each demon he slain, he became stronger. And the stronger he becomes, the more he slays. An endless cycle.
There was no denying it. She had bitten off more than she could chew this time.
And above all, she had proven herself wrong. Even though she had a chance to talk with the AI in the Slayer's helmet, VEGA during their first encounter, she simply couldn't believe what was said about the Slayer's story. It was too far-fetched and at times strangely vague. Like a ludicrous but well-crafted lie. It was hard, and quite frankly foolish for one to believe the words of an otherworldly AI who had no reason to obey to the authority of this world, as truth.
She used to simply take it with a grain of salt, But if she had a hard time believing it before, she definitely had no qualms about it now.
As brutal as the action in the footage was, Kuroko Smith's mind was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information fed to her, and this time, she had no reason to doubt its authenticity.
An alternate version of Earth, set far in the future. A powerful space corporation with a research facility built on Mars. The existence of Hell and demons. Ancient civilizations from other realities. It's all real. Not a single second in the full footage seemed tampered with or even made up, so there was no question of its validity. Even if the footage was somehow actually tampered with, whoever did it must've been a genius for making it so perfectly hidden.
It was like something ripped straight out of one of those violent western video games she kept hearing all the time in the news. Not like she ever paid that much attention to them anyway.
As the series of gruesome events finally ended, Smith ended up like a ghost. Her face paler than the moon. Despite the amount of beer she practically inhaled earlier, the constant blood and gore kept sobering her mind back again. In the end, she was too weak to even utter a word. Many times, she felt urges to expunge her stomach contents, but she wasn't keen on staining one of her favorite shirts.
Now she fully understood why her higher ups had tried so hard to keep so much of their green friend's information classified. Even in a world where monsters exist in society, no one would believe that an immortal humanlike being with godlike strength who fashions an indestructible armor and fights the forces of Hell itself with futuristic weaponry, is not a figment of one's imagination.
And to think that the very same being, had been under her surveillance this whole time. And she hasn't exactly been nice to the guy. Honestly, she was extremely lucky the Doomslayer had some tolerance towards humans, or any innocent beings in general. Why the Cultural Exchange Program even allowed this beast of a man to be a part of it in the first place, was anyone's guess.
So how in God's name, could this living instrument of destruction, somehow be transported into here, of all the infinite number of universes in the entire multiverse this person could've landed in?
Wait, if Hell supposedly exists, does that mean there's a Heaven too? So that would mean angels and even God would also be real?
That would actually be quite concerning were it to be the case. Smith herself hasn't actually been a religious person at heart, and she couldn't remember the last time she visited a church, or shrine, or temple, or any places of worship in general.
Wait, what was she thinking? This isn't important now. What's important is how to deal with her newfound knowledge of the situation. Obviously her plan to have the Doomslayer himself be part of Kimihito-kun's household isn't going to last very long. It's only a matter of how much patience the Slayer has. Poor Kimihito, she might've pushed him too far with this one.
Now that she was fully aware of just what the Slayer's truly capable of, she might have to start taking the this much more seriously. Which means more work to be done. Damn, she hated this idea already.
She was no longer dealing with a superhuman bodybuilder in a green metal suit. She was now dealing with a physical, immortal manifestation of the Grim Reaper with severe anger issues, who is also the bane of Hell itself.
Obviously, she would have to increase the amount of surveillance on the Slayer, perhaps have the MON squad visit the household more often? But that would interrupt their work in case another liminal-related crime pops up.
Some of the scientists have proposed planting bugs in the Slayer's suit before in order to monitor his every movement. But the AI inside his suit somehow always knew if they were to try such a thing. That thing is like a cyber-antibody for his space armor, and it's far too advanced for even the government's brightest programmers and engineers to figure out or outsmart.
Maybe she could have CESS agents secretly monitoring the Slayer, perhaps even set up drones to follow him whenever he gets out of the household. That would require alot of manpower unfortunately, and alas, she wasn't sure if she actually had the authority to ask for that much resources. She was just your friendly neighborhood Cultural Exchange Coordinator after all.
In addition, there was one serious problem. This footage was considered beyond classified. The only reason Smith even had access to it in the first place was because of her pulling some strings with some of the higher ranked members within the science committee.
And such a plan only worked because one of them just happened to be her close friend and acquaintance. And said friend was also fairly easy to convince.
She couldn't speak of this to any of her supervisors or even the science committee and the CESS. What she just did is illegal, and she could be charged for stealing top secret government information. Not just herself, but anyone else who she was acquainted with as well.
In the end, there wasn't much she could do without compromising herself. Like the old saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. And right now, she is the unlucky feline who've digged a little too deep.
Smith loudly groaned to herself. She wasn't used to this much thinking. She wasn't paid enough for it anyway.
Rinnggg~~
Her phone on her desk rang loudly, disturbing her momentary peace and quiet. She forgot to customize the ringtone again. Looking at the screen, she realized it was her friend Dr. Nasui. Sighing, she answered the call.
"Hey~ what's up, Doc?"
"Listen Smith-san...I know you're probably busy or something, but uhh...we have a problem."
"Gaaah!! It's like 9 pm already!! Where the hell is he!?"
Zombina was now getting impatient. She had been walking for literally hours, and her dead leg muscles had somehow begun to feel pain again.
"Patience is a virtue, Bina-chan."
"...what? Stop spouting nonsense, Doppel!"
"You know, I begin to wonder: how does someone like Doomguy-san even managed to hide in plain sight like that? It's like he's a ghost. Gasp...what if he is one?"
"He's not some kind of supernatural being or some shit like that, Tio-chan. He's a 6 or 7 foot tall something guy, in a green, full body space armor. Which is already ridiculous by itself but that's beside the point! He shouldn't be this hard to find!!" Zombina angrily responded.
"Uhmm...why am I here again?" Kimihito obliviously asked, after being dragged out by all the girls rather unwillingly.
"Master, you're with us because I wanted to come with the rest of the MON squad, and I needed you to accompany me since I'm your homestay, remember?" Centorea answered.
"Oh...right. Are you sure you're fine going outside like this?"
"I'm fine, Master." That was mostly a lie. Centorea was struggling not to break apart with the constant glares the numerous humans around are giving her.
But she didn't want to just sit at home and feel useless. She was too prideful to be lazy. It also had something to do with the matter of their "mutual friend".
Her instincts have been off the charts ever since the Doomslayer started living at their household. God knows what was in Smith's mind when she thought of that idea. The first time they met, Centorea knew nothing about him, and yet, his aura, his appearance, his seething rage, all hidden beneath that weird visor, somehow they told her enough.
That he was not an benevolent being, nor innocent in the slightest.
And this time, there was the very plausible chance that she could confirm her own suspicions. If their "secondary host" was truly not someone with good intentions, she could do something about it, and Master would definitely agree with it as well.
Meanwhile, Kimihito was doubting himself, as usual. He wasn't sure leaving Rachnera, of all people, to look after everyone in the household for him was the sensible choice. Although he didn't have that many choices to begin with. Despite her somewhat sadistic nature, Rachnera was the most mature out of all his homestays, aside from Centorea. He could trust her, right?
Besides, she did seemed pretty ecstatic when given the responsibility of watching over the household for the time being, which was the worrying part. Almost like she had something sinister in mind...
"I'm starting to think that we're just wasting our time here." Doppel suddenly voiced out loud.
Zombina sarcastically replied, "Oh? And what in the world could possibly lead you to believe that?"
Doppel just gave her an irritated look. "Point I'm making is, there's no way he would be out here in public with so many people. What's there to do?"
"Hmm... let's think. If I was a tall, very muscular, super strong guy in a green metal suit who is socially awkward and also super badass, where would I be and what would I be doing?" Zombina playfully spoke to herself.
"Se no
Demo sonnan ja dame
Mou sonnan ja hora
Kokoro wa shinka-"
"Ahem! Hello there, Smith-san. What's up?" Zombina, actively blushing, hastily answered her ringing phone as fast as she could, a vain attempt to avoid her teammates' judging looks.
Doppel smiled mockingly. "Gee Bina-chan, I didn't know you had such an interesting taste in music."
"Shut up."
'Damnit why the hell didn't I mute this thing earlier!?' Zombina thought to herself in embarrassment.
"Huh, I think I've heard that song before..." Tionishia spoke to herself before spacing out.
"Zombina, where are you? Are you with your team?"
Smith asked from the other side.
"Yeah, we're looking for our green friend, he disappeared again apparently. What's up?" Zombina answered.
"Ahh crap...listen here-"
"Wait what?...are you serious? Uh-uh...Uh-hm...Oh come on...ugh, fine...Yeah sure no worries...Uh-uh... Alright, we'll get right on it, ma'am."
After a full minute, Zombina ended the call to turn to her curious teammates.
"Welp, seems I got my answer. We gotta get our stuff first, though."
Centorea butted in after being silent for a while. "You know where the Doomslayer is?"
Zombina stared at the former for a while, and then stared at Kimihito, before eventually realising something.
"Oh shit...I forgot to mention to Smith you two were here."
Huge guts. Really huge guts.
Cybernetic leg. Arm cannon. Bright red wires running through the abdomen. Plenty of augmentations. A presence that dwarfed any other demon he's encountered here. Like a tyrant.
Not like it's gonna make much of a difference anyway.
It looked a bit different than he remembered, it has been a long time after all, but he knew what it is. And what it wants.
He never expected Hell to send the big guns this early, but he's not complaining. After all, the bigger they come, the harder they fall.
It was here for one reason. And for that, it had made a grave mistake.
ROOOAAAARRRRGH
The Tyrant, in all its glory, roars at the Doomslayer, almost like it was challenging him.
The Slayer answered, with a pump from his shotgun.
VEGA, being the smart AI that he was, immediately knew what to do for the Slayer.
["Now playing, Cyberdemon by Mick Gordon."]
CRACK
Before the Tyrant could perceive it, a hypersonic steel projectile broke into its skin and cracked its skull, staggering it for a moment.
Doomslayer gave no time to lose, and immediately switched to his Mobile Turret Chaingun. Dozens of hot tungsten rounds impacted the Tyrant, slowly pulverising its skin.
The Tyrant paid no attention to the pain, and began firing a hail of rockets towards the Slayer, laying waste to the surroundings. The Slayer dodged every shot, while landing all of his shots.
The Tyrant roared in rage, and began firing his arm cannon to the sky. Dozens of missiles started raining down on the earth, courtesy of the Tyrant. The Slayer preemptively avoided every missile, but now he's smiling.
Switching to his Rocket Launcher, he decided to give the Tyrant a taste of its own medicine. 3 Lock-On Bursts met the Tyrant's face, the force of 9 consecutive rockets slowly melting its face away. But the Tyrant wasn't even bothered. If anything, now it's even angrier.
Its arm cannon glowed intensely, aimed towards the Slayer. The latter knew what was coming, and began strafing sideways as fast as he could.
An extremely hot blast of laser erupted from the Tyrant's cannon, whizzing past the Slayer and nearly melting his left shoulder. Despite the fact his armor was still unscathed, he could feel the searing blaze of the energy beam on his skin even from within his suit.
The Tyrant, as if not giving the Slayer any breaks, fired more missiles into this sky, planning on bombarding the place the latter was standing on. Was, being the keyword here.
The Slayer had already began moving again, swiftly avoiding the rain of missiles. Switching to his Gauss Cannon once more, he took aim and landed a shot at the Tyrant's right horn, cracking it.
As he was prepared to land another shot, a stray fireball landed on his back, staggering him for a while.
The Slayer was slightly surprised, but he wasn't going to get foiled that easily. So the big bad demon called reinforcements while he wasn't looking? Bad move.
Turning 180 degrees, he immediately fired his Gauss Cannon, the extremely fast fired projectile hitting a big target in its path. The creature roared in pain, clutching its right eyeball.
It was a Baron. Two Barons. But something seemed different about them. Instead of the usual pink coloration of their skin, these Barons have grey bodies with red cracks forming on them, like lava that's about to burst out of a volcanic crater. They also have blades seemingly made out of pure flames extending above their forearms.
He hadn't seen that type of Baron before. They must be a different breed of Barons altogether, or ones that have evolved to become stronger, deadlier. Like warriors born from fire itself.
Said Barons began sprinting towards the Slayer with unrivalled fury, unafraid of the Unchained Predator. Fools. They've dug their own graves.
Switching to his Plasma Rifle, the Slayer fired a Stun Bomb to temporarily halt the Fireborne Barons in their tracks, before bombarding them with a salvo of homing missiles from his Rocket Launcher.
But those Barons weren't the only threats he'd be dealing with. The big bad demon still wasn't finished with the Slayer.
SLAM
Protruding an energy blade from its right forearm, the Tyrant smashed the ground hard, sending a deadly shockwave towards the Slayer.
The Slayer's eyes widened, but he was prepared to dodge it. What he failed to anticipate however, was the other two Fireborne Barons hurling their fireballs at the same time.
Two more hits slightly melted the exterior of his Praetor chest plate. The scorching heat was painful, but he's endured far worse. Now they've made him very pissed.
Pulling out his Heavy Assault Rifle, he fired a volley of micro missiles at the two Barons. He sidestepped to avoid another barrage of rockets from the Tyrant, and then responded in kind with his own rockets.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
While the Tyrant was still recovering from another burst of homing missiles by the Slayer, the latter continued his explosive-filled assault.
He threw two frag grenades at the Tyrant's face, before switching to his Combat Shotgun and firing an extra explosive round as a finishing touch. To prevent it from interfering again, he switched back to his Plasma Rifle and fired a Stun Bomb to halt its movements.
Turning around, he dodged another fireball and began sprinting towards the Barons, Super Shotgun in hand. The Barons widened their eyes, realizing what the Slayer is planning to do.
One of the Barons threw more fireballs hoping to keep the Slayer at bay, while the other dashed towards the Slayer brandishing its fire blades.
The Slayer simply dodged the fireballs, and he was expecting the Baron's next move. As it swung its blade across, the Slayer slid across the ground and delivered two powerful shots from his Super Shotgun, stunning the Baron.
BLAM
BLAM
BLAM
But he didn't stop there. He strafed around the Baron, delivering more uranium-coated pellets penetrating the Baron's hard skin. The latter swung its arm blades around to no avail, as it found itself getting torn apart by the Slayer's dreaded weapon of mass suffering.
The other Baron dashed forward to save its ally, its claws burning with demonic flames, but was stopped dead in its tracks by another salvo of homing missiles from the Slayer.
Thinking it wasn't enough, he fired another charged shot from his Siege Gauss Cannon directly to its chest, completely halting the charging Baron.
The other Baron stood back up, trying to swing its blades at the Slayer, but the latter caught its arm, and with his other hand, fired two more shells into the Baron's jaw.
The Baron clutched its destroyed jaw in pain, and the Slayer immediately reloaded a fresh couple of shells and fired. And then fired again. And again. Each shot piercing its skin and turning bones and lungs to mush.
As he was ready to put an end to the barely alive Baron's lifespan, the Slayer noticed faint red outlines aimed towards him, and hastily dodged a laser beam from the Tyrant's arm cannon.
Deciding that the big cyborg demon was getting very annoying, he immediately switched to his Siege Gauss Cannon once more, charging a shot, and firing directly to the Tyrant's arm cannon, before it had a chance to line up another laser shot.
BOOOM
The Gauss Cannon shot blew off part of the Tyrant's arm cannon, as it roars in pain. The Slayer wasn't done. Another charged shot, and the Tyrant's cannon was no more than molten, broken pieces.
Turning to the Baron whom he had paralyzed with his Super Shotgun, the Slayer effectively caught a fist coming at him. The Baron was surprised, but his expression didn't last a second, as the Slayer dealt the final blow by sticking a grenade straight into its throat. Backing away, the Slayer watched as the Baron desperately tried to vomit the grenade out, but his head then exploded into a thousand bloody pieces.
The other Baron angrily leaped towards the Slayer, ready to avenge its comrade and bury the Bane of Hell into the earth, but the Slayer had already seen it coming.
SLAM
As the Baron brought its fists down onto the ground, it was greeted not by the sight of a dead Slayer, but a fake hologram mimicking him.
The Baron didn't even have time to be shocked at the revelation, as the real Slayer unleashed a storm of tungsten from his Chaingun onto the Baron's back. Its muscles and organs are slowly torn apart by the onslaught of a hundred bullets riddling through them.
As the remaining Baron was struggling to remain conscious, the Slayer grabbed its horns, and twisted its head with such a force that its neck shattered in two, leaving it nothing more than a lifeless sack of demonic flesh.
Now all that was left, was the big bad motherfucker who started this.
SMASH
The Slayer was thrown ten metres away from where he stood, but then he stopped himself with his own feet. The Praetor suit absorbed mostly the impact, but he could see a visible horizontal burn mark on the exterior of his abdomen plate. The heat was immense, but it didn't bother him anymore. Above all, he knew the one that caused it.
He saw the looming visage of what was left of the Tyrant, all bloody, its arm cannon destroyed, and its face now revealing its fractured skull.
The Tyrant was extremely pissed now, as it roared towards him with unfiltered fury nearly that of himself, its flame blade glowing in intensity. It was ready to give the Slayer another taste of its blade.
The testaments seemed to be true. It wasn't a surprise, of course. The written tales on the testaments were, if anything, watered down. The Slayer was truly a being worthy of legends. Never in its life has there been such an inferior creature, a human, of all things, to be capable of hurting it this much. A very admirable foe indeed. This was truly a grand fight worth dying for.
BANG
Thud
A stray shot hit the Tyrant at the back of its head, causing it to be slightly stunned. The shot didn't even hurt at all, but it was enough to divert its attention. It turned its eyes to the source of the shot, only to be met with the gazes of...
...a bunch of weird looking humanoid monsters in primitive-looking armor, one of them holding a smoking sniper rifle. Said humanoid, a redhead with unnatural pale skin, was now giving it the middle finger.
The Tyrant's initial confusion was then replaced with a new surge of fury. How dare these puny, inferior creatures interrupt its final fight with the Slayer?
Unfortunately for the Tyrant, the few seconds of interruption was enough tine for the Slayer to end the fight once and for all.
A fully charged Siege shot from his Gauss Cannon, was all it took to break apart one of the Baron's horn. The latter cried out in pain, now kneeling onto the ground, clutching its skull.
Meanwhile, the Slayer proceeded to grab the Tyrant's broken horn, and leaped towards its head, and stabbed it through its cranium and into its brain.
ROOOAAARRGGHH
The proud demon lord of Babel let out its final roar as it finally laid onto the earth, its last memory being that of the Slayer ending its life with its own body part.
The Doomslayer took a deep breath. That was the most dangerous enemy he had fought in this world. He was sure it wouldn't be the last one he'd fight.
Now all that was left is taking care of the Gore Nest. And then maybe look for more.
["Combat encounter complete. Praetor Suit condition restoring to 100%. Your combat ratings are exceptional, however you seem to be performing slightly worse than usual. Perhaps you are getting a little rusty? "]
Very funny. He never imagined that VEGA could actually make jokes, but maybe there was a point to it. Maybe the time he spent in this world not killing demons have started to make him soft. This new batch of demons certainly posed a greater challenge than he was used to.
Then again, he had always been used to facing increasingly impossible odds during his one man war against Hell, before he was put to sleep inside a stone coffin, and before the UAC found him.
But this time would be different though. He wasn't alone. This Earth is still alive and kicking. If he couldn't fight all the demons at once when they start throwing in their full might, then what chance would this world have?
"Ho. Ly. Shit. That was fucking AWESOME!!!"
There was someone else there. And that voice sounded eerily familiar.
He turned his head around to see a bunch of liminals and a human, some of them in their combat uniforms, most of them staring at him with looks of awe and fear, yet one of them staring at him with a rather disturbing level of admiration.
He forgot what their names were, but from what he remembered, they were supposed to be part of the..MON squad? And that human, looked like the guy whose house is also where he's living right now. Oh, right Kimihito.. something. There's also that horse girl beside him, Centorea was the name, probably.
He didn't know how they got here in the first place. He didn't even notice their presence before. How long have they been here?
_
10 minutes earlier
"What part of my sentence don't you understand? I said no one can enter this area right now! It's completely unsafe!!"
"Ughh...you guys are just a bunch of pussies." Zombina mocked the police officer in front of her.
The MON squad had already geared up, wearing their combat uniforms and even carrying their usual weapons, all under the order of Smith. There had been reports of another attack on the law enforcement officers guarding the now quarantined area of Asaka, the ground zero of the initial "terrorist" attack.
Also included in those reports, was the sighting of a certain armored being, who had been claimed to get past two officers on patrol and tore a man-sized hole in the fence simply by running through it.
There's certainly no other person that could fit that description. The MON squad was confident that their friend was inside the quarantine area.
Which was why they, especially Zombina, were trying hard to convince the patrols to let them pass. Not to mention Centorea and Kimihito was also swept along the ride.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Policeman, but we have orders to find our friend who had entered this place. We promise it won't take long, could you at least give us a minute or two to find him?" Tionishia begged the officer, as well as expressing the dreaded "puppy eyes", which seemed to be working quite well.
"Uhh, well...look, even if I want to let you through, it's still too dangerous in there. We just lost contact with some of our guys in there, and we weren't given orders to come in until more help arrives. At least you should wait for reinforcements to come." The latter explained.
"Oh come on! If something's really going on in there and our green buddy's involved, I don't wanna miss it!!" Zombina exclaimed. She was really itching to see the Doomslayer in action once more, much to the dismay of her team.
"Cerea-san, I don't think following them is a good idea. Maybe we should just go back home." Kimihito whispered to Centorea.
"I apologise Master, but I cannot let this chance pass. I want to know more about our new guest and what kind of threat he may pose to our household, and if it means risking my life to find out, then so be it. Do not worry, I will protect you when necessary, Master." Centorea responded.
"That's not what I'm worried about..." Kimihito muttered.
Running out of patience, Centorea confronted the officer instead, surprising the others.
"Excuse me, officer, I must humbly ask you to give us permission to pass. I understand that you have great concern for our wellbeing, but we are more than capable of taking care of ourselves. Please do not let your fears control your judgements. Aren't you, as a man of the law, entitled to the responsibilities that is befitting of a protector, one who must have courage and dare to stand in the face of danger. Must you hesitate before taking action? If you truly value your own honor, than I ask of you, as a protector to another, please grant us passage so we may find and bring our dearest friend back home." Centorea gave an honorable speech in an effort to sway the officer's mind.
Kimihito, along with the MON squad, simply jawdropped at the sudden monologue.
"Where the hell did that come from..." Doppel muttered to herself.
"Let her do her thing, I think it's working." Zombina whispered in response.
The aforementioned officer was perplexed by the speech given to him by the Centaur liminal, but before he could come up with a response, his walkie-talkie flared up in aloud buzz.
"Bzzhtt- is Officer Sato here, do you copy? -bzzht"
He immediately excused himself from the others and answered. "Bzzht- Yeah, this is Officer Nakamura here, I copy...What? What happened?..."
During the exchange, Zombina immediately thought of a fairly bad idea.
"Psst, guys... the guy's not looking, now's the time. Let's get moving!" Zombina whispered to her team, as she immediately ran past the gate, which was actually open the whole time.
"What the-Bina-chan! Ughh, fine, what the hell." Doppel decided to give in and joined the former.
"Oh well..." Tionishia also followed suit.
"Wait, you guys are actually just going in!? Wait for me~!" Manako ran towards them, not wanting to be left behind.
Centorea, seeing them leave just like that, decided to follow them as welll, bringing Kimihito along, much to his displeasure.
"They're all going into the area. Master, let's go!!"
"Huh? Wait! The policeman's gonna be mad at us~!"
"-alright, copy that. Nakamura out. -bzzht-
Listen, new development, I can't let you guys in coz-"
Officer Nakamura stopped in the middle of his sentence, realizing that no one else was there.
They had entered the quarantine area without any permission. And he was going to be the one at fault.
So much for following safety regulations.
"...sigh... I'm definitely gonna get fired for this..."
"It appears the Beast has proven to be...much more troublesome than we initially expected..."
"It seems like even after millenia of slumber..his power remains mostly intact... though I could say the Slayer was not quite as strong as he used to..."
"I believe we must act quickly, before the Beast regains his lost strength and becomes a thorn on our side, too deep to be removed..."
"Do not worry, brother...for our subjugation of this Earth shall not take long, and we will not let the Slayer find his way back...after all, we have the loyal souls of the UAC on our side...and they have been of great service to us thus far..."
"But what of this stray world, tainted by what remained of the Wraiths? With the Slayer still residing, our plans would prove much more difficult to accomplish...and you know that the Khan Maykr would not allow such a world ripe with natural Argent, to be left untouched..."
"The creatures who live in this world are... truly fascinating...pure Argent flowing within their blood, albeit at miniscule amounts...but that is nothing Hell cannot fix..."
"Yes, brother...this is merely the first step...and the unholy Beast seems to be unaware of his own blunder.. exactly as we planned...and with the unbroken servitude of those under our doctrine...the day of their reckoning will not be far from now..."
"Then, shall we conclude that the future of this world is in our grasps, with no hesitation...?"
"It is still too early to rejoice...but with our guidance, the slaves would continue our work without question...and every creature on this Earth will find their place among the pits of Nekravol..."
"Then this meeting, is adjourned... may the glory of the Khan Maykr be upon us..."
CODEX ENTRY 3
CATEGORY: Monsters
ENTRY: Hell Razer
UAC REPORT FILE: L26RSEYP
The Hell Razer is an astute and tactical foe that will engage enemies from a distance with a powerful beam of unrefined Hell energy. The beam emanates from an arm-like protrusion composed of cartilage and other osseous tissue. Articulation of the cartilage allows the Hell Razer to focus its energy beam into a single charged shot that will obiterate anything that stands in its path.
UAC REPORT FILE: ITDPXXWV
Recent dissection of a captured Hell Razer has revealed a remarkable embryogenesis. Between the third and eight week of development, aparasitic Hell Razer will seek out a suitable host to cremate from whithin. As the Hell Razer matures, the host's arm ossifies into a beam weapon. Simultaneously, the pyrolized host becomes capable of withstanding the extreme temperatures generated during the repeated accumulation of Hell energy. The Hell Razer has not yet been observed outside of Hell and further investigation is planned for the next Tethering Operation.
Author's Note
Holy crap, how long has it been? I didn't intend for the updates to take this long. But after finishing Doom Eternal, and with the new upcoming DLCs expanding the lore of the game, I found it hard to pay attention to this fic and trying to tie it into the canon.
It also didn't help that I suffered another case of writer's block, but that's for another time.
Anyway, I initially tried making this chapter as long as possible to make up for the long hiatus, but then I realized it felt too bloated, so I ended up having to strip it down to the usual length. The next chapter might not take as long(hopefully), but that depends on how much free time I'll have.
Oh dear, there's still some other story I haven't updated in ages, I think I'm gonna get on that next. I wanted to update all my stories at the same time, but with different fics come different motivations, so I guess I'll just update them one by one.
Sorry, but sometimes it's kinda hard juggling between multiple different fanfics at once. That's really a fault on me, since I'm the one who decided to write for three different fandoms, and now everything's taking longer to write.
But enough about my rant. This is finally the first chapter to include the new enemies from Eternal. And yes, I will include more of them. Especially that one guy that people either love or hate. Not too early, but maybe in the later future.
You think it's time Doomguy get some new weapons, other than his original arsenal? He is fighting stronger enemies than in 2016 after all. Ehh, maybe. I'd probably figure out a way to get the original Unmaker into the story(coz it's more fun than the Plasma Rifle), or something, if we just twist the lore a bit.
I also apologize in advance for any grammar/spelling mistakes that I probably missed. It's not like I have a beta reader anyway.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for reading. Until next time.