The first room was an interesting one: a fog covered area decorated with rows upon rows of tombstones built from cracked stone. The lettered engravings were almost faded, which made it an impossible task for the young hunter to get a full reading on some of the perished souls that have lived the duration of their mortality.
Thankfully, he did not have to wait long for his first challenge to appear.
Corpses buried six feet under have suddenly received a small portion of their life back as they broke from their dirt prison with stiff, uncoordinated movements.
Their legs and knees bent at awkward angles as the skinny lower limbs tried to at least handle the negative effects of an undead body. The combination of upper body weight and lack of energy for every limb did not help the case for the rising dead.
Despite the obvious sense of logic, the undead began closing in on the full course meal that has walked right into their resting area.
The eyes of the young hunter trailed across the horde of zombies that were slowly approaching him: their only prey.
All of them had their eye sockets removed thanks to the passing of time. Nothing occupied those hollow holes except for darkness.
Heads were absent of any gray hair. Some didn't even have any hair or skin left, exposing the surface of the skull to the chill temperature of the cemetery.
And to top it off, the rags the zombies had for clothing exposed their skeletal frames to the eyes of Aiden.
None of it fazed him.
It wasn't an unnerving or sickening sight for him. He was a demon hunter for the past five years of his life, witnessing far more disturbing, gut wrenching sights than an army of living corpses.
"It's been some time since I have fought against the undead." He muttered to himself, neck tilting from side to side to prepare for the incoming slaughter.
"Not that it requires too many past experiences to destroy all of them."
Pairs of skinny legs were injected with a sudden surge of energy as they began moving towards the one and only target at a faster pace.
It was as if the horde of animated crpses stopped letting their slow movements hold them back from ripping and feasting on human flesh.
Howls that further added to their age boomed from their mouths, filling the room with a symphony of echoes that did not belong to an array of animated corpses.
Any person that wasn't exposed to the supernatural would have instantly been horrified by the army of zombies. Either they would be frozen by fear to the abnormality of the situation, or humanity's survival instinct would control them to try and find an escape.
Yet none of that human instinct applied to Aiden. Instead, he stood his ground and unsheathed Black Ghost to help him send these corpses to the afterlife.
His bladed whip lashed and snapped at the horde in a uncontrolled flurry of swings, decimating their size at astronomical numbers.
The devil hunter's coat flowed with the movement of his body twirling to evade a zombie that lunged at him, who received a instant death thanks to the whip that moved with the momentum of the wielder.
It did not even take a few minutes, only one minute, to eliminate the horde of the undead.
Quite a disappointing and mundane trail for an experienced warrior like Aiden to take on.
But he couldn't automatically get careless after passing the first. There were four more trails to overcome, and this one was the easiest to pass.
Suddenly, a throb erupted inside his head, making him grunt and press his left hand against the source of pain.
That's when his eyes noticed a small white glow forming on the top surface of said left hand. Confused as to why his limb was glowing, he positioned it where his eyes could inspect the same pentagram from before, though of a more compact size to perfectly fit on his hand, illuminating the white across it's lines.
Things took a even more unbelievable trun when the top triangle began getting filled by a black ink, courtesy of an unknown force. The link instantly clicked in Aiden's brain when he realized that the ink was supposed to resemble the black smoke that he saw flowing across the surface of the marble pillar.
("So this is little thing is like a checklist: it fills out as you complete these rooms.")
Aiden nodded to the successful deduction of his foster mother.
("Then it is time to move on to the next trial.")
...
The second trail was, as predicted, a more challenging task.
And there were a couple of factors that added to the difficulty tweak.
One: the room had no source of lighting, making it near impossible for anyone to see through the thick ocean of darkness.
Two: the enemy group that was residing in the pitch-black room had better reflexes compared to the lower ranking demons and had a hard-to-hit weakness.
And the final topping to the 2nd challenge: said enemy group having a infamous knack for swinging a human sized pair of scissors.
Bashing and plowing his way like a mad bull would not help Aiden.
A high-pitched giggle, one that did not carry any human qualities, was making it's approach to the young hunter at unnatural speeds.
The blade of Black Ghost deflected the incoming set of human sized metal scissors, the defensive technique resulting in a swift disarm of the enemy's weapon, leaving the white masked creature cloaked in black vulnerable.
And Aiden took advantage of that vulnerability via slicing the mask in two pieces, canceling the Sin Scissors existence and making it's black cloak disappear into the air.
He did not waste his following breath to digest some oxygen as he turned to where his backside was facing, bringing up his sword to deflect another pair of human sized scissors.
Sparks flew from the precise contact of two flesh tearing pieces of metal, resulting in the sliver of light quickly getting consumed by the pitch-black essence that surrounded all life forms.
The ghost like demon was sent back by the clash of metal, letting out an inhuman giggle. But that single giglge would get extended both in length and volume as more soon joined in.
A sigh left Aiden's mouth with his gaze slightly lowering. ("I sense a headache coming my way... how lucky of me.")
("It's one of the various prices one must have to endure in this life, my dear boy.") Sparda added in, which amplified the already high frustration of the young man.
Alas, he wasn't dissuaded to keep on fighting.
His fingers tightened around the handle of Black Ghost, keeping the blade still so it could be used more effectively for defense.
For this trail, he was going to rely on a simple strategy: stun the enemy with a sword parry to end their existence with a quick swing to the mask. He wouldn't dare and try to move from where he stood since that would leave him open for an attack.
A pattern of sharp metal dueling one another, followed by fierce sparks that briefly illuminated the pitch-black atmosphere, were the only sounds of life the room had.
Or would formerly have once the young hunter ended the lives of those that tried to spill his blood in the span of a few minutes.
The compact pentagram that laid on his left hand radiated it's white glow.
He rose it to meet his eyes, seeing the top-left triangle getting filled by black ink.
("Two done, three more to complete.")
...
When Aiden arrived to the next room, he was surprised to see that it wasn't a traditional room, but a long and large corridor. And on the very end, laid a short stone pillar engraved with ornate patterns.
The place was completely barren of any inanimate objects or life. The only exception being the extremely hot pool of lava resting below, functioning as the only source of lighting.
It was obvious that reaching the end was the main goal. But getting there was a different matter.
As mentioned earlier, there was not a single thing around that would guarantee a clear path to reach the finish line. There were only two walls, which also acted as murals, that would instead guarantee a warm welcome to the depths of the lava pool.
Not that Aiden expected another easy victory.
("This will certainly be a more difficult task to overcome. And may possibly be the most difficult one compared to the others.") He assumed as he began a stretching session, warming up his muscles.
("Assuming that's a fact, you have shown to triumph over the most life threatening trails that would make anyone accept their demise.") Sparda commented as Aiden struck out his right leg high into the hot air, his foot turning into a blur as he began to perform a series of high kicks.
("On multiple occasions, no less.") Eva added in as her foster son gently placed down his left leg so he could have the balance to do the same exercise for the other one.
("What would I ever do if I didn't have you two by my side?") He rhetorically asked with a small smile.
("That is something I forbid myself to think about.") Eva responded in a humored tone, sending her foster son a light laugh.
The laugh that brought him warmth had to, sadly, be shoved for another time.
His reddish-brown eyes peered on the absurdly ling murals, muscles prepared to sustain the following movements.
His body leaped towards the left. But he did not make harsh contact with the engraved stone as his entire body broke into a burst of supernatural speed, legs successfully carrying his entire weight across the uneven surface.
He leaped with the accuracy of a acrobat to the right mural, evading the trio of jet fire that propped out of the engraved stone.
As soon as his supernatural speed returned the momentum of his wall sprint, another obstacle emerged.
A bundle of spikes punctured their way through the stone, forming a intimidating wall of spikes. Though it wasn't enough to guarantee Aiden's demise.
He leaped to the left mural in another acrobatic flip, supernatural speed closing in on the goal.
As more and more obstacles appeared, the more Aiden evaded their maws of death by performing acrobatic flips.
It only took under half a minute for Aiden to land on the platform where his goal was waiting.
He began his approach of the small stone pillar, his eyes catching the rune that rested on the surface.
But problems would arise when his foot sunk into the stone blocks that composed the floor.
His reflexes and survival instincts kicked in, prompting his body to step back, successfully avoiding the incoming spears shooting out of the walls.
("If I had gotten a little more careless, I would've sent myself to the grave.")
("That is a vision far too gruesome for me to handle.") Sparda admitted as he released the barely audible sigh that his foster son heard.
("That we can agree on dear.") Eva added in as she too relased a relieved sigh.
...
Meanwhile, back at the heart of the underground labyrinth, Millia and her squadron of Illyria's knights were strolling down a bridge that was at a more lower level.
Her longtime partner walked beside her.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to let Aiden go ahead of us?"
"No. But since we needed to reach that Hellgate, it was better if one of us would get farther ahead." Zato responded at his most sincere.
The well-trimmed eyebrows of Millia lowered dangerously, darkening her stern gaze. "You better pray that you've made the right choice, Zato."
"That is what I'm hoping to achieve nowadays." The unfazed man responded to the threat of his former lover.
The glyphs of Millia's magicomm appeared next to her ears, emitting it's ring.
She pressed a finger on the device to answer whomever was calling.
"Hello, this is Millia speak-"
A monstrous roar was the first response of the call before it got interrupted by a disgusting squelch that was no doubt caused by a sharp object stabbing into the jugular area.
Silence fell for a few seconds until a human voice took over.
["Forgive me for forcing you to hear that, Ms.Rage."]
A smirk decorated her lips. "It's not a unfamiliar sound to me, Aiden. Still, it gives me comfort that you're still alive."
["That is sweet to hear from you."] The young man responded with more inhumane sounds invading the call.
"It sounds like you're going to get quite busy."
["That much is true. I'll reunite with all of you in a bit."] Metal slicing through thin air told Millia that their young ally was more than ready to tear through another horde of monstrosities. ["I'll be occupied in the extermination of these vermin. Take care now!"]
A beep ended the call.
The silence that followed was quickly destroyed by the rumbling and cracking of stone, falling and destroying the structure of the gothic labyrinth.
"Consider yourself forgiven, Zato. Your choice seemed to be in the correct."
Zato felt his heart receive a light pinch to the subtle sarcasm that was hidden underneath the professional tone of Millia Rage.
He knew far too well that he would a not so light punishment from his former lover.