The two began to travel away from the mall from the parking lot that they had fought in before. The tower was easily visible in the distance and though it would take some time to get there on foot, the sounds of battle still echoed throughout the ruined copy of the city.

Giant roots slithered through the side alleys and broke the buildings, forming an intricate layer that seemed to go towards their target, in a sort of curved shape. Almost like it was forming a circle around it.

Also, there were the demons' ambushes. Several of them, in fact. Nothing more than the bottom of the barrels, but, after the tenth or so ambush from a group of Empusa, both of them were starting to get a bit irritated.

"Is it me…" Alex was sheathing the blade back, while grabbing the Red Orbs that the Empusa had just dropped. "Or are they getting more and more frequent? The attacks, I mean."

Sol retracted Gevaudan and responded. "No, you're right, before we could at least travel for several rooms or a good distance without encountering demons. But now? We're definitely seeing more of them."

"Also, those roots." Alex waved his hand towards the giant roots that blocked several alleys. "They… I dunno, it almost feels like they are circling something. They look more like a wall than a root system, I mean." He turned back towards the way they had come from and pointed to his right.

"Look. The roots only are on this side of the street."

The roots were situated oddly Sol realized. Looking at the two sides of the road, he asked Alex. "Should we just climb over, or at least to the top and see what's on the other side?"

"Honestly, I would like to say yes, but I don't think it's a good idea, somehow. Mostly because we don't have a good way to deal with flying enemies and something's telling me that there would definitely be some if we tried to climb them." Alex confessed, looking towards the roots, following them with his eyes.

"We could try and find an opening. Otherwise, we're going to climb. Fair?"

"Fair," Sol said before trying to find a potential exit. The road began to wind around the roots before the roots themselves wound over the road like a series of archways. Eventually, the two found the tunneling path turning into a large open area which could have been the one they believed was present.

"Nothing here. Guess it was all just a red herring." Sol stated before there was a noise coming from the roots. Something bulged and moved within them. Twisting and churning, the shape began to increase in size before something gnawed its way free of the Qliphoth's embrace. With a resounding clatter and the sound of metal grinding on stone, the shape shook off the Qliphoth flesh that clung and spread its wing.

The demonic bird flapped its wings experimentally before lunging at Sol and Alex.

Hraesvelgr: The Stymphalian Tree-Eater

It was on them in a matter of moments. The two, being still keyed on by the fights they had to deal with during their journey, threw themselves to the side, rolling on the ground. Once they reached a stop, the bird had already turned and flown away, the concrete where Alex and Sol were covered in long gashes, broken and cracking away.

"What the…" Alex muttered, looking at the vanishing form of the giant bird. "Did we find the nest of that bird?"

"Maybe, or maybe we found its hunting ground," Sol said as he tried to see where it went. The bird's shape was obscured for a few moments before careening down towards the duo.

"Here it comes!" Sol shouted as he prepared to dodge once again.

"Wait." Alex's hand on his shoulder stopped Sol from moving away. "Look. It's not coming this way. It's going… There." He pointed down the street.

At that moment, a plume of smoke exploded from a building to the left, down the street, instantly followed by a wall of sound that was a definite explosion. The bird was also influenced by the sound, it seemed, as it stopped its descent with a metallic squawk, before rising back up and vanishing somewhere in the sky.

"Something's telling me that we have found either more demons or a new group of people." Alex's remark was rather dry.

"Should we go and see if we can say hello?" Sol asked warily

"Do we have another choice? Realistically, I mean. We were already going towards the Tower to see what was happening. I was already banking on needing to meet someone for that." Alex shrugged, before turning slightly towards Sol. "Up to you, though. If you want to try and sneak in, I'm game."

"Why not both? We'll sneak along and see what they're like, and how they act. If we don't like it, we quietly and calmly retrace our steps and stay clear of them until they eventually pass."

"Ah, the cautious approach. I like it. After you." Alex mock-bowed to him, grinning all the time, before starting to walk behind Sol, down the street.

Sol walked through the winding roots of the Qliphoth in a cautious manner, making sure his steps were as soft as he could. He was not all too thrilled at the idea of alerting people who may or not be bloodthirsty psychopaths. The noises from the Stymphalian seemed to increase and decrease as if it were flying to and from the area.

Was it searching for something? Trying to somehow force its way back into the root system. Sol couldn't be sure. However, he began to notice that the canopy of roots was thinning, with some even showing signs of damage. As he continued forward, a wall of roots had been severely damaged, possibly big enough to fit through and definitely big enough to look through. He motioned Alex towards his position to overlook the potential site of the bird's impact.

Alex slowly reached Sol in his hiding spot, walking on the balls of his feet to avoid the heel of his boots making any loud sound. "So." His whisper was barely enough to be heard from his friend. "What do you see?"

The question, while it sounded a bit absurd, wasn't. Considering that Sol was near the corner of the building at the end of the street, while Alex was behind Sol, thus unable to see what was happening without exposing himself too much.

The destroyed area was populated by a good number of people recovering from the crash landing of a particular metal bird. Sol could see that they were easily distinguished by clothing and appearance. One group was dressed in a lot of black leather jackets, carefully made to look with various brighter designs and images across the backs and sleeves. Some of these people sported mo-hawks and faux-hawks, while others had more normally styled hair that was either bleached, dyed, or left to its natural color hair. All in all, their image gave Sol the vibe of demonically charged punk rockers.

The other group… the other group concerned him. They were, and the key emphasis here was the word were, extremely clean-cut. Wearing almost white, their too-clean-cut appearance made them stand out against the punks and the desolated city. Like a lot of white. Upon further observation, Sol realized that their clothing was almost like a uniform, and that gave Sol pause. Something about that bothered Sol more than the punks.

He turned back to Alex before whispering. "It's the two groups we saw from the mall. Seems to be a religious group vs punk rockers. Got a bad vibe from the religious group. Take a look." Sol said as he moved around Alex.

Alex blinked, before exchanging places with Sol and peeking out from the corner. The way the punks were groaning, but getting up and helping one another was kinda nice to see. On the other hand, the white-clad people… Yeah, Alex was feeling a bit strange watching them.

There was something… He blinked and went back behind the building.

"Is it me…" He started, looking at Sol. "Or are they all white? Er, caucasian, I mean."

Sol looked at Alex, and then snuck back to look again. "No, no your right. They're all white. The punks aren't but the religious are… I really don't like where this is going."

"I mean, it doesn't really mean anything. It's just a detail that… stuck out to me. Along with…" Alex checked quickly once more, before hiding again. "Well, they have a bird with open wings on the back of the jackets, they are not touching each other, they seem to glare at the punks, especially those helping each other out..."

Sol stopped, "Open bird effigy, all white, and possibly open racism… We got nazis don't we?"

Alex stopped as well, before, slowly, removing his glasses and facepalming. "Of course, there would be nazis. Why wouldn't a demon summon nazis?" He sighed, long and tired.

"History of occult leanings, general lack of human decency and morals to begin with, take your pick… Well… silver linings… I guess we won't have to worry about morals getting in the way, if we have to deal with them. Hell, they might do use the favor and off themselves 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' style." Sol said with a shaky laugh. He was not a fan of the notion of taking human lives, but at least he could safely say that he'd be removing a legitimate threat to the world.

"As is my personal opinion that nazis aren't human beings and that they forfeit any and all protection from the law, morality and my own sense of justice when they started being nazis, I'm plenty in agreement with you." Alex nodded, replacing the glasses on his face. "The main problem is to see how strong they are against us. If they are using the demon's power, they are probably more advanced than us. Probably."

"I've watched and read enough about their odd obsession with the occult to know that they've probably been juicing, thinking they could outsmart the chess master. What do you think we should do? Intervene and fight alongside the punks or stay back?" Sol asked.

"Well, at least you aren't going to say something like trying to listen to them. Or, heaven forbid, helping them. I know you aren't like that, don't worry, I'm just… despairing." Alex tried to placate Sol before he could say anything. "But yeah, I'm firmly on the punks' side. Maybe we can introduce ourselves once the nazis aren't around anymore?"

"Yeah." Sol said in agreement before noticing that the sudden intrusion of the metal bird must have caused the two groups to decide that enough was enough for the day. They were splitting, shooting dirty looks at each other with the punks looking comparatively better than their foes. Said punks were also heading in a rightward direction which Sol hoped was going in their direction as well.

"Let's say hi to some hopefully new friends."

"Yeah, that sounds fun and not at all dangerous." Alex snarked, but he was smiling slightly.

"Let's follow them from the back until we are sure that the nazis aren't around, then say hi? So that we don't risk meeting the enemy while we're trying to greet them."

Sol led on ahead, moving quietly to not attract the groups' combined attention. The twisting roots of the Qliphoth created winding paths across the broken and twisted road. Every now and then, the cry of the Stymphalian could be heard in the distance followed by a crash of something. A not so quiet reminder of one of the two present threats that existed in the area.

"Well, this isn't creepy at all." Alex muttered, his voice barely loud enough to be heard by Sol before he turned the corner where the Punks had disappeared. It led into a small plaza - something that gave both of them a quick flashback of another plaza - with several barricades made of both stone and wood put all around it, even as the roots worked as a natural deterrent for a good part of the borders.

"No, just a nice quaint plaza." Sol replied just as quietly as he made his way to the borders. He began to feel around the barricades, looking for any area that might give way to prying hands. Eventually, his fingers found a small section of metal that gave a little. He attempted it, found he could pull it up, and motioned for Alex to head through.

The long-haired guy followed him, trying to keep as silent as possible until both of them were behind the barricades. The area they were in was a converted building's ground floor, having it been turned into a long hallway without exit, barring a couple of small openings that looked more usable as a way to shoot at the people inside the galleries.

After a few steps, a voice stopped them cold. "Well. We have intruders, we have."

Sol turned in the direction of the voice, raised both hands above his head, and simply stated, "Hi there, how are you doing?"

The guard was a punk, thankfully. Maybe in his mid-twenties, the punk's weary appearance was matched by a slight limp and tired and dumbfounded expression. He stared at Sol for a few quiet moments before asking, "The hell you on about?"

Alex rolled his eyes but didn't say anything for a long moment, just studying the Punk. Mohican, black t-shirt with ripped sleeves, a denim jacket covered in patches, and leather pants. It looked like the left leg had been removed at the knee, but, before he could go on with his scrutinizing, the guy snapped his fingers twice.

"Oi, you two are here? You have some problems?" Now, he looked a little worried, but still pretty wary.

"Well… outside the problem of being in hell and being hounded by demons? The nazis are a more immediate problem. We saw Metal Feather face earlier and tried to track it down before its last crash landing." Sol explained.

Sol paused briefly, and looked at Alex, before addressing the guard again. "We're also addressing a uh… bit of information we just found. We were part of separate groups weren't we?" Sol began to lead on before the guard cut him off.

"And what says you're not a fuckin' nazi, eh!?"

"Not much, except for the fact that we're not lily white like them, we're not wearing a bizarre blend of school and military uniforms, and the fact my first action was to try to touch the sky and talk like a normal and sane human being instead of a deluded fascist psychopath?" Sol finished with a question.

The Punk looked at them with a gimlet stare, before sighing. "One faux pas and I'm gonna play bowling with your heads. Follow me, I'm going to bring you to the boss." And, showing a rather extreme lack of fear, he strode forward, passing near both Alex and Sol.

"As long as you aren't nazi, we can at least hear you out." The sentence was tossed behind his shoulder, with a rather lackadaisical attitude.

"Well, that went much better than expected." Sol said, slightly bemused. "What do you think it'll be like in there." He asked as he walked up the steps.

"A trap." Alex deadpanned. And he was proved correct a moment later, after they had gotten out of the tunnel, with seven different people surrounding them. The place was an added balcony, made with stone and wood, clearly taken from the buildings that the Qliphoth had smashed. In the middle of it, there was a bigger guy than the others, with his arms crossed, dressed as a biker, with gray streaks in his hair and a chain around his right arm.

"So, you enter here, spying around, and ask an audience with the boss. What makes you think that you'll be able to just waltz up to him?"

"Honestly, nothing." Sol said with a shrug. "We just wanted to see if you guys were a part of a separate group. We saw you guys fighting with the nazis from a mall a few miles off and figured we'd investigate. You'd be group 3 slash 4 respectively."

"So we're not the only ones that we got summoned in this hellscape?" The biker's eyebrow rose in incredulity before Alex nodded.

"I have a theory about it. Anyway, no, you aren't the only one. We have met personally with another one, beyond the one where me and my friend came with, along with certain knowledge of another one. Feel free to believe me or not, it's not really a problem for me." And Alex crossed his arms, a fairly neutral look on his face.

Before anything could be said or done, a shrill cry began to make itself known, and it began to grow louder and louder until…. The cry became a deafening howl, one that drove every occupant in the room to their knees, as the windows shattered and the building began to experience violent tremors from the assault.

The howl faded but the people inside still clutched at their heads in an attempt to alleviate the ringing in their ears.

"It's that bird!
"What!?"
"The bird!"
"What the hell happened!?"
"I think the building is coming down!"

The voices began to make themselves more clear as the building shook more and more.

"Alex!" Sol shouted not realizing just how high his voice was. "What the hell was that!?"

Alex was on the ground, in a fetal position, his hands covering his ears, an expression of pain on his face. Slowly, he uncurled when he heard Sol's voice, tears collecting at the edges of his eyes.

"The bird we saw before." His voice was barely audible, Be it because he was talking with barely more than a thread of air or because Sol's ears were still ringing. "It was a shriek. Sonic attack of some kind."

"What!? Gah!" Sol shouted aloud, his ears still ringing from the attack before getting Alex on his feet. His hearing might be coming back slowly, but he could clearly see the punks escaping out the back.

"That way!" The group of leather-clad guys and gals ran towards the nearest apartment complex, entering from a fire door that was propped open.

"Stop shouting! I can hear you!" Alex answered, before starting to run behind the Punks, Calcabrina already in his hand, his head turning around like a ball on ice. The cracks on the walls and the floor didn't fill him with confidence in the structural integrity of the building. And considering that both he and Sol were INSIDE the building…

"I'm shouting!?" Sol asked with shock. Then it seemed to click with him as ran to catch up with Alex and the remaining Punks.

Sol could feel more than hear the building shaking as he began to follow along. Something was slamming into the building and he really didn't have to guess as to what it was.

From behind them, one of the windows exploded into shards of glass and wooden splinters, as the giant head of what looked like an eagle mixed with a crow appeared inside. The feathers, the beak, and even the eyes had a rather distinct metallic shine to them. And, if the way the demon's beak had just cratered the stone floor, it was more than just a trick of the light.

Seeing this, Alex ran faster.

Sol took one look and ran like a maniac all the while shouting, "That's a huge ass bitch!"

As if understanding the partially deafened man's shout, Hraesvelgr retreated briefly before slamming itself back into the breach, attempting to get at the humans inside. Each time it did so, the building began to shake that much more.

"Oh, fuck me running." Alex didn't even shout, he just muttered his curses, before putting up one last push of speed, quickly turning right when the Punks did the same and finding the stairwell going up.

Luckily, only until the second floor, where their unwitting guides running out of a window, on precariously positioned wood beams, connected the complex to another one a short distance away. It wasn't high enough to cause problems and there was a pond under it, so it was better than the other choice.

Sol catching up took one look at the beams, flinched as the building shook another time, and roared, "Fuck you feather face!" as he ran out onto the beams. The beams held his weight, but not his balance as he stumbled his way into the other building.

"Insults later!" Alex was already most of the way through the improvised catwalk, but he could feel how much it was shaking under his feet. And a fall from that height, especially with the pond underneath, wouldn't kill either of them, but it would hurt, that was for sure. "Running now!"

Sol didn't argue the point, quickly following behind him as another tremor rocked the area. Hraesvelgr dragged itself away from the front entrance and round its way to the beam structure, slamming head first into the connected building. Sol could practically hear the audible sharpness as its beak repeatedly opened and snapped shut trying to get at them.

The wooden beam snapped under the giant bird's bulk. Luckily, it was stupid enough to look inside the building they were just coming from, not where they were now, sitting still and silent, waiting for the demon to go away.

The Punks were doing the same thing. Sitting against the walls and behind corners, some with their hands on their mouths, to stop any and all kinds of sounds from escaping.

The bird stomped around in the lower area, crying out every now and then, but thankfully not letting out another of those sonic blasts. While they were fortunate to not attract its attention, the weight and strength of the demonic bird were still being felt by both buildings. This led to the understandable circumstance of the first building's rear edifice, the location that they had just escaped from to collapse. The falling brick and mortar fell upon Hraesvelgr, who in response began to thrash around in anger.

The explosive movements resulted in damages to the second building making themselves known and the punks began to flee the soon-to-come destruction. Alex and Sol followed right after, the brick and concrete coming down behind them, almost like a block construction that someone had kicked. Except substantially more dangerous.

Their unwitting guides brought them down, past the first and ground floor, before taking a door to the basement. Once they all were behind it, they calmed down a bit. So did the other two.

"You think… you think, feather face got the hint and flocked off?" Sol asked slowly and deliberately, trying his best to keep his voice as level and low as possible.

"Ouch." Alex answered, deadpanning. "That pun. That was horrible. But I hope so, yeah." Then, he turned towards the Punks, who were now realizing that the duo was still with them. "So, your boss. We were told something about meeting him to prove that we aren't nazi? Which, by the way, I'm insulted. It's not like they would even accept me, even in the impossible case I wanted to join them."

"Yeah? Why?" The same guy that had ambushed them asked, swaggering forward, trying to intimidate the duo. Not that it was working.

"I'm gay, you walking stereotype. Want me to prove it to you?" Alex's answer was accompanied by a sensual smile and a slow bending forward, eyes half-lidded.

Sol couldn't help but chuckle at Alex's challenge to the punks, which drew their attention to him. Realizing this, he stated easily, "I'm not, but I am mixed. Boricua Irish, so I get to enjoy St. Pat's and the NPRDP that much more."

One of the other punks shrugged her shoulders, before nodding. "Eh, fine by me. If you are lying, we'll catch you and kill you later. Either way, you're not going to give any secrets to the Pricks in White." And, after having said that, she moved to the other side of the room, where a perfectly normal closet stood. Opening it, it was also a normal closet inside.

At least, until she pushed something near the bottom and the back panel swung open, showing a metal door. The plaque on it said 'Sewers'.

"Well? Are you coming?"

Sol looked at Alex before saying, "I think we found our entrance further down." Sol took off his, rubbed his ears a bit, and followed after the female punk. She opened the marked door easily and the sound of running water began to make itself known. As he looked through the entrance, he could only remark. "It doesn't smell as bad as I thought it would."

"Because these are empty, as far as sewers go." The same female punk that was now opening the way answered, walking calmly on the sidewalk, the running water in the center. "From what we understood, the place is basically new. Never been used before. And large enough to allow us to walk through it without too many problems." She took the first turn left, before opening a grate that was straight in the middle of the road. "Still, it's not exactly pleasant. Gets a bit stuffy after a while."

"I can imagine." Sol said before looking at Alex. "Maybe this isn't so much like a scene from a memory, but I'm pretty sure sewers are supposed to, you know, smell? Maybe I'm reading too much into this."

Alex elbowed him lightly. "Remember the apartment." And he just walked forward, ignoring the looks of curiosity in the eyes of their momentary companions.

Sol's eyes widened slightly before he clarified. "We spent a few hours, I think, in an apartment a ways back. There was running water, fresh food, the works. Strange thing was, it didn't make sense for it to be there. I've been calling it like scenes from memories, but I'm not sure that works anymore."

"The whole place is a bit like a terrarium or a diorama. Everything looks like it's real and, for the most part, it is. But only on the surface." Alex continued the group of Punks now paying attention to what the duo was saying. "For example, look there."

On the other side of the sewer tunnel, on the concrete sidewalk, there was a crack. A small one, one of those that you see anywhere. It looked old, with edges vaguely rounded down, completely unremarkable.

"It's… a crack in the floor?" The guard punk asked, his eyes swiveling from the crack to Alex and back, like he was watching a tennis match.

Alex nodded. "Yes. But how come there's a crack in the ground when the sewer is basically empty? It makes no sense, realistically, for it to be damaged in that way and that precisely. It's more like… someone had put it there because sewers are places that aren't well maintained and, so, the floor must be cracked."

"And if we look at the apartment," Sol began, catching on. "Apartments are stocked with food and running water, running power. So it stands to reason that they'd be there also. The real question is where these notions are coming from. My best guess is the demon that dragged us all here has to make everything seem as realistic as possible so as to keep everyone alive for as long as possible."

The group fell into an uneasy silence, now looking around like everything they were saying was something new and impossible to believe. Still, they walked.

After a few more minutes, they exited from a rather large pipe, on what looked like a small garden between some buildings. The place was near the edge of the town, right near one of the giant roots that encircled this area, with several people milling around. The most eye-catching thing was the white tent with the red cross on one side and the old man sitting against the wall with a semi-circle of people around him like he was holding court.

"Hello Sir, I'd greet with a time of day but I don't think that's how this place works," Sol said easily enough. "My friend and I saw you all from a ways away and figured we'd investigate and verify some things. Then feather face showed up…" Sol trailed off before repeating, "Then feather face showed up."

The older biker blinked at Sol, before looking at the others. "Who are they? And why are they here?" While his voice wasn't exactly accusing, there was a rather prominent note of distrust in it.

The female guard from before responded. "They claim they're survivors from another group. Not anyone tied with ours. They approached us at the Hyatt Hotel before what he," She gestured to Sol, "called 'the feather face' attacked."

While the group was discussing the situation, Alex was focused on another thing entirely. Specifically, the way some of the group held themselves. Some leaned left or right, others seemed to stand on the ball of their feet or almost like they were leaning back. Also, all of them that were doing this, had a body part completely covered. Even more than just long sleeves and gloves, they had multiple layers on, not showing even an inch of skin.

Sol continued, "Well I have a hard time pronouncing Norse stuff. I think it's actually called Hralgr or something like that. We saw it burrow its way out of the root system and then it attacked your group and the nazis. We both hate them so, figured we'd help you guys take them on until we could find a way down to a lower level of this place."

"Hraesvelgr. Like the eagle that sits on top of Yggdrasil. Considering we have met Nidhogg, I'm sensing a theme." Alex commented all of a sudden, attracting the attention of everyone around.

"Word of caution: if we meet a giant squirrel called Ratatoskr, I'm not gonna be responsible for what I'm going to do." He looked far too serious for someone that seemed to be joking.

Assuming he was joking.

Sol just quipped, "Squirrels are the demons of lawns and gutters everywhere. Whatever you do to it, I'll grab the popcorn."

"Yes, yes. All of this still doesn't explain why you're here. What haven't you started with the nazis?" The Old Biker - Alex and Sol should really learn their names soon - asked, both appearing vaguely annoyed and vaguely amused at the same time. He also reached near his leg to scratch it, bringing to Alex's attention that it was one of the full-covered limbs.

"Well, because we'd rather meet with some sane human beings first, before having to deal with those bastards." Sol said, dropping his smile. "There's something else too. We didn't see you in our group, nor the nazis, and there was a group we encountered at a mall a ways back. See, our group split four ways. There was Alex and I, a group of high school and college sports teams, and rival business teams. The jock group got wiped out by another group we didn't see. Six people with red eyes."

Sol paused and began to sit on the ground before continuing. "Figure there's us, you and our mutual enemies, the mall group, and the red eyes. That's four groups of people brought here."

"I have a theory that there are at least two groups more, but it's just speculation on my part. It doesn't matter right now." Alex added his own two cents, before focusing back on the Punks. There were more people around, now, and even some that got out from the tent at the side of the small garden.

"How's the fighting against the nazis going?" Alex asked, trying to keep the conversation moving.

The Biker Boss looked at Alex for a long moment before speaking. "Better than we thought in some ways, worse in others." He began, hand slightly rubbed at something underneath the fabric of his covered leg.

"They're tenacious and have a taste for blood, but I bet half of them were never in a real fight before any of this went down. They like to gang up on people, get 'em away from their fellows for isolation, and go in for the kill. But match 'em with enough men and women and they'll run off with only a few licks given."

"The biggest bullies around the block are cowards, who would have guessed," Alex muttered, before twisting his head a bit, watching towards the tent, and then back at the boss. "Also, having demonic power lent to them must have emboldened them. I'm assuming that you're using it, too? Well, before you lost access to the statue, anyway?"

The Biker Boss was quiet for a minute before grinning and lifting his pant leg a little. Instead of skin matching his other leg, the skin was blackened with slight flashes of red lines dancing across the surface. The other punks began to lift parts of their clothes all revealing similar, but varying body parts that were decidedly not human.

"The demonic power is a help, sure. But outside of a med-tech or a nurse or two, we don't really have doctors, and sometimes those green stars aren't enough to give you back a limb. So, they take a limb or two from us, and we take something back as payback."

The biker boss gave a venomous laugh before continuing. "That nazi pricks believe themselves to be 'too pure' to even dare taint their precious bodies with better parts. A lot of them aren't around anymore. So we're evened out for now. Now, I'm guessing that looking at you, you've taken a little back yourself." He said looking at Alex.

Alex didn't laugh.

The sound that came out of his throat couldn't be called laughter, really.

"A little?" His voice had gone… high. Almost shrill. Pitched in a way that was a horrible mix between lilting harmonically and grating on the ears of whoever was listening.

He leaned forward a bit, his smile unhinged. "No, I took more than a little. We fought a Geryon, me and Sol. And the demon, when he was dying, decided to break me, as a final fuck you." He was smiling, maniacally, eyes open wide unnaturally. There was a faint aura of power and magic all around him, lighting him up. "Something like a few hundred kilos of demon horse fell on me. All of my bones - or nearly all, the same shit - broke. Broken ribs. Perforated lungs. I got paralyzed. Not that it mattered, I would have died."

Then, as if nothing had happened, he straightened back up and started redoing his ponytail. "Sol saved me. You can use the Statue to hybridize yourself with a demon, if you have the material with you, turns out. Speaking of." He finished with his hair and nodded sharply towards the leg. "How's that demonic flesh treating you? Because mine was poisoning me. It still is, I'm just searching for the right… replacement parts. So to speak." His smile, now, was a thin, sharp thing, only the barest hint of perfectly white teeth shining through his closed lips.

The Biker breathed through his teeth for a moment, his eyes flicking to Sol and seeing the other man grimace. "It's not perfect if that's what you're asking. I get drop foot sometimes, Otto sometimes develops a pretty shitty limp." He said gesturing to guard that Alex and Sol first met.

"Max gets lockjaw, something fierce, and you can imagine the rest… We know we're on borrowed time. We figured there was out and we could get real medical help on the outside. Then those nazi pricks kept jumping us. Yeah, we'd take a few of them out, but they take some of ours."

The Biker Boss leaned back in his chair, "Name's Richie, you said something about helping us earlier?"

"Yeah. We can deal with the Hraesvelgr for you. With the stipulation that we get the rewards. After that, if you have found a red circle, glowing ominously as if it leads to Hell itself?" Alex smiled, this time way more shrewdly. "Well, we can show you something pretty interesting." And, with a lazy, almost casual movement, he twirled Calcabrina in his hand.

Without a word, Sol drew Gevaudan, showed it briefly to the crows, and then let it extend out. "The red portals lead to a bar called 'Gates of Hell'. It's run by a literal fallen angel named Rodin. Good guy, he makes some killer drinks and more importantly, some real quality weapons. I mean really good shit. That's where Gevaudan, this armor, and Calcabrina come from."

Alex nodded, smirking, before the umbrella vanished into his inventory. "Cost quite a bit. But it's definitely top notch. Best demon blacksmith short of Machiavelli himself."

*******************************************************************

"So, we know that Hraesvelgr usually only attacks if someone is passing under the area where the main street is while he is feeding. Beyond that, he remains in his nest. Which is on the top of that building." Alex pointed at the widest building around, nearest to the roots that circled this area of the building, before pointing at the door. "This area is also a sort of dead zone between the two factions, considering that the bird is vicious and none of them, not even the nazis, are strong enough to defeat him. Which is kinda strange, assuming it has more or less the same strength as Nidhogg."

"I'm guessing it's metal feathers." Sol said, looking at the map. "If we could pierce them, we could probably kill the bastard, far more easily." He traced his fingers along the map, stopped, traced it again, and gave a long-suffering sigh. "I… may have a plan, but it's both risky and very stupid."

Alex turned to look at Sol fully. "I mean… considering that Nidhogg basically killed himself, if this one is the same on the intelligence level, I'm pretty sure it can't be that stupid."

Sol leveled a flat look at Alex before saying, "No, it is that stupid. I'm thinking of pulling a Kevin Bacon at the end of Tremors. Piss off Hraesvelgr enough that he chases me to the nazi base. It causes merry havoc there… then we drop a building on its bitch ass."

"Yeah, I stand corrected. Nope, vetoed." Alex crossed his arms in an X shape. "We don't have a way to collapse a building reliably - as in, making it fall where we want it to fall - and we don't know the way from here to the nazi base well enough to not make a mistake in trying to lead him there. Finally, it's a bird. We have already seen that he can fly. Think of something else."

Sol paused, and looked at the map again before saying. "Then we watch it, wait for it to sleep, and collapse its nest building. If we do it fast enough we could prevent feather face from flying away and catch him in the collapse. That'll do some damage… Now how to do it."

Sol paused a bit and snapped his fingers with a look of eureka. "Okay so, same vein of stupidity here, but while we, and by we I mean everyone in this collective room, don't have the capabilities of bringing down the building, they, as in every demon we could attract, might. And Rodin is our man of the hours with discs to do it."

"I hate to be the voice of reason here, but." Alex took a deep breath. "The Punks are still searching for the entrance to the Gates of Hell. We still don't have a way to control when and where the building would fall. AND we don't know if the sounds of fighting will wake the demon up before we are done."

Alex then looked at Sol more carefully. "Is everything ok? You seem to be… distracted."

"... No, no it isn't." Sol sighed. He stared at, but not really looked at the map. "Time's against us, hell we're practically drowning in it, we have a giant metal bird raining sonic death down on whatever it feels like, and fucking nazis have access to a shop and can keep themselves going as long as they can kill demons. By all that's good and righteous, what'd I kill to get my hands on a tank or something and shoot the bird out of the sky."

"Sadly, I'm out of tanks. And I'm pretty sure that Rodin doesn't have one, either. However, there's always the option of going up there and killing that bird personally. As we have seen - and heard - it would prefer to dive bomb us instead of using the sonic scream to kill us from afar."

Sol's eyes widened, "You can float with Calcabrina right? Maybe we could do something with that… maybe we can get it to dive bomb into the building, break its metal shell, and then…" Sol trailed off but made a smacking noise with his fist and palm.

"Floating is not flying. And no, I haven't managed to buy that option yet. Sadly." Alex grimaced, thinking about what techniques he could use once he had the required Red Orbs. "So, that doesn't work. On the other hand, we could just try a simple sneak attack?" He didn't seem too sure, but he didn't have any other ideas.

"That works…" Sol said with a nod, he took a deep breath "Then I guess we hit the nazis after that."

"Yeah." Alex nodded, pointing at the top of the building. "If Richie is right and there's a statue within the nest, we can upgrade ourselves and then deal with the nazis." Then Alex winked at Sol. "Also, how much do you bet that there's a secret mission here? I mean…" He waved his hand towards the empty building. "It only makes sense, no?"

"That's a sucker's bet, let's take a look," Sol said, his mood improving.

"After you." Alex did a theatrical bow, before following Sol toward the building.

*********************************

The place must have been some sort of office building if the way the various floors were exactly the same all the time. Cubicles, break rooms, lots of small spaces, tight hallways that opened on desks in front of bigger offices.

The only thing that they found in their very thorough exploration was one of those Red Orbs deposits on the first floor, hidden in a stall in the bathroom. The second floor didn't reveal anything. Neither did the third.

The fourth, on the other hand…

"Bingo." Alex breathed, his smile enough to stretch his face, the spidery runes on the wall shining dimly in the low light of the corner office that was currently looking on the giant roots outside the windows.

"What challenge do you think it is?"

"Could be a battle room, could be a platforming segment. You ready?" Sol asked.

Alex shrugged. "Eh. I'm as ready as I can be. Hit it."

Sol reached out and touched the runes. The world warped for an instant and the two found themselves in a decently large room. On what appeared to be a track covered in demonic runes lay a complete Purple Orb. There were also two doors on either side of the track and an obvious pressure plate in front of the track.

"I think I know who gets the prize this time… I feel like I've seen this before." He didn't step on the pad but looked at both doors.

"I'm guessing this starts the track and that we have to reach the end before the orb does, or beat each other getting to it." Sol finished.

Alex blinked. "I wonder… What would happen if someone triggered this while being alone? Would this place create a competitor to play against or would it just be a run against time?" He tried to look around and beyond the holes in the walls to catch a glimpse of what he had to run through but with no luck.

"Maybe, but we won't know until we try. Okay, here goes." Sol said, before stepping on the pressure pad. The track started up, and both doors opened. "I'll take the left side and you the right?" Sol asked quickly.

"Sure. Maybe, next time alert me before you start the potentially deadly track!" Alex managed to yell before he started running down the right hallway. "I hate running!" He managed to grumble in between breaths.

The hallway wasn't particularly problematic, beyond the fact that it had several obstacles placed randomly and haphazardly in front of him. He had either to jump them or to swerve around them, which consumed more time than just jumping. Or double jumping, in certain cases.

Sol went into the left door entrance but took the obstacles inside at a slower pace.

Alex, to be fair, didn't really know that. So he just… kept running. Jumping, sometimes just moving slightly to the side, keeping up a steady pace, until he reached the end of the hallway, where the door to the final room was. And a switch.

A few moments after this, Sol reached his side and saw a switch of his own. "Press your switch, see if it opens your door." He called out.

Alex shrugged and stepped on the switch. With a simple click, the door in front of him swung open, showing the point of arrival of the Purple Orb, with another switch in front of it. Considering that the other switch had opened the door, Alex just stepped on that one, too.

A section of the track began to rise and offered the purple orb up. With another noise, Sol entered the room and gave Alex a thumbs-up.

"You know, if you want to use some of the more esoteric techniques and spells, you'll have to use these, too." Alex pointed out, before grabbing the purple orb. Instantly, it melted into his hand, before the air around him shimmered with energy and his presence felt… more.

"True, but you need that more than I do right now, and maybe that extra magical strength can punch through Hraesvelgr's wings," Sol said as the world returned to what it once was.

Sol looked back briefly before tapping his fingers together. "Considering it though, that was pretty anti-climactic. You were probably right, It was probably meant for a single person to deal with." Sol stated with a shrug.

Alex looked at Sol, before nodding slowly. "Or enemies. Kind of like a trap, I guess. I would say that I'm wondering what would happen if one failed one of these, but we have seen what, haven't we?" He was, of course, speaking about the first corpse they had found and where to be more specific.

"Anyway, upward we go. We have a giant eagle to render endangered." This time, Alex's smile could have brought someone to their knees.

Several minutes and quiet sneaking later, Sol and Alex had made their way to the building where they saw Hraesvelgr make its nest. It looked to be a high rise office building, with a heavy emphasis on glass and steel beams. A more 'Industrial' look than what one would normally expect.

Sol checked his handgun and blade before going to open the front door. "So, we get him to dive bomb the building, and then stab at the exposed parts? Sorry about asking this again, it's one thing with fighting demons on the ground. It's another to fight a big demon X amount of flights up." Sol said nervously.

"Yeah, no, I completely understand," Alex answered, pushing himself forward and peeking inside the place. "We need to bring Hraesvelgr down here, otherwise we're going to die just like this." And he snapped his fingers. "So, yeah. dive-bomb and attack. Here's to hoping he's just as stupid as Nidhogg… assuming it's possible, anyway." And he strode inside the lobby, making a beeline for the elevators.

The elevator's doors dinged open a moment later. Alex turned towards Sol. "So, do we take this or the stairs?"

"Might as well enjoy the elevator ride while we can… plus I'd rather not take the DMC equivalent of going up the Shinra Electric Power Company outer staircase. It's always faster heading than up." Sol said before entering the elevator and asking. "You think they'll have elevator music?"

Alex shrugged, before pushing the button for the top floor. "I honestly have no idea. I guess we'll discover in a moment." The door slid closed.

The metal box started going up, and cheery, happy music started playing. It was so opposite to the situation's atmosphere that it made Alex blink and look up with a strange expression on his face.

Sol let out a short laugh before clapping Alex on the shoulder.

"Oh man… hahaha… oh that's… actually kinda catchy." He said between laughs.

Alex looked at Sol with a surprised expression, before he shook his head. "The pressure must have gotten to him." He smirked and patted his head. "There, there. Don't worry too much, I'm sure you'll get better in no time"

"Ah… no man, it's just that it's a funny coincidence that's all." Sol said as his laughing began to calm.

The elevator ride was pleasant for several more minutes until a pinging noise indicated that they had reached the floor just below the roof. The roof access floor was sparse and seemed to have been in the process of either renovation or base construction. There were various building supplies and materials scattered about.

"Okay, well now this wasn't a complete job. Hmmm, not too sure about how well this particular floor looks… maybe more stuff for feather face to crash into?" Sol asked.

"Good question. I'm just hoping neither of us will slam against something exposed. I'm not sure we can get a tetanus shot anywhere." Alex commented, before moving up the short flight of stairs to the door to the roof proper. It was closed, of course, but it was the simple matter of cutting the lock open with Calcabrina to gain access to the outside.

"Ready? I'm pretty sure it's going to attack as soon as we are out there." Alex asked.

"About as much as I can be." Sol said with Gevaudan and his gun drawn.

The roof could have been bare once, but now it was covered in a mess of flattened metal and dried Qliphoth roots. Sitting inside the makeshift nest was Hraesvelgr itself. It looked at the two before standing upright and letting out a challenging cry.

"Uh, change of program. The chicken is already in the hen house." Calcabrina was already in Alex's hands, the tip aimed at the demon. "Now we just need to cook it." A feral grin graced his lips, before he shot a beam of energy straight at the Hraesvelgr, making him shriek in surprise and a little bit of pain.

With an equal grin, Sol began to run along the side of the demon and fired with his gun. He knew that the rounds wouldn't do much of anything but he was hoping beyond hope that one shot would hit an eye, blinding or really pissing it off.

"Come on feather face! Over here! One annoying bug of a human ready to kick your ass!" Sol shouted to get its attention.

He didn't manage to hit an eye, but it pissed him off… Well, that was another matter. It may be for the irritating pinpricks of pain that he was feeling, the sounds, or the shouting, but the giant bird demon turned towards Sol and shrieked, before taking flight in a flap of enormous wings. The winds caused by the aftereffects were enough to send both of them down to the ground.

"I'm seriously regretting this idea right now." Sol thought before trying to right himself and aiming at the sky where Hraesvelgr ascended. The flapping of its wings was drowning out a lot of the noise he could hear.

Still, he called out to Alex, "Alex! I can't see him, how about you!?"

Alex didn't answer for a moment, before pointing at a small spot in the air. "It's coming back. Fast. Looks like he doesn't like people in his nest." He readied his umbrella, energy shining on top of the metal tip, before pointing to the other side of the roof across from Sol. "Run that way! As fast as you can."

His aim was to make the Hraesvelgr miss. A stationary target was easy to hit. A moving one, especially with the relative size between the two, would be much harder.

Sol began to run in the direction Alex pointed out, trusting the other man implicitly.

"Okay, come on feather face, we're right here." Sol thought as he got into position.

Alex kept his umbrella steady, aiming at something that was, for a couple of seconds more, not visible to Sol. Until it was visible. And it was Hraesvelgr, coming back down with all the strength of the hammer of the gods, shining in the sun like gleaming metal.

And his eyes open.

"A bit more… A biiiit more…" Alex murmured, slightly adjusting his aim, the glowing sphere at the tip making it a bit hard to aim properly. Then, once the demon was in range, he shot, the beam piercing through the air and slamming against the beak and eyes of Hraesvelgr.

Now, the spell was a simple beam of energy, so the damage wasn't all that big. But it was bright and irritating and aimed right into the eyes. So, the giant bird lost its trajectory and slammed against the top of the building in an earthshaking impact. The whole roof trembled and several cracks spread from the point of impact.

"Go!" Alex shouted, still keeping his beam on the demon.

"Stinger!" Sol roared out in response. He flew forward and struck Hraesvelgr with Gevaudan. The bone sword didn't do much against its metal skin and Sol was forced to retreat.

"We're going to have to get him to break his skin even more!" Sol shouted out.

"Good idea! But pay-" Before Alex could finish his alert, Hraesvelgr shook his entire body, rising from the concrete of the floor, and flapped his wings forcefully, a wave of pressure and wind sending Alex down on his back and Sol flying away. Luckily, not out of the building, but almost.

Then, the demon rose in the air, wings gleaming, and shot a series of feathers sharp as knives towards the two of them.

Sol managed to right himself as the heavy gusts pushed him back, before seeing the descending feathers. Letting Gevaudan loose, he tried to swat out as many of the feathers as he could. He was successful with some, but several flew too close for him to bat away.

"Gah!" Sol cried out as several feathers managed to create small slashes along his armor. He instinctively grasped at some of the spots, feeling thin streams of blood underneath his fingers. "If I didn't have my armor…" he trailed off before firing at the demon in anger.

"Oh fuck meee!" Alex, on his back, didn't have the time to get up and avoid the feathers. So, he copied Steve Rogers and closed himself in a fetal position, before opening Calcabrina and casting Barrier as a good measure.

The sound of metal hitting glass echoed around him for a moment or two, before the barrier shattered. But the cloth of the Devil Arm didn't break and the attack concluded a moment later.

"Fuck you, you overgrown chicken!" A barrage of bullets slammed against Hraesvelgr, while Alex got up once more, a dark expression on his face.

Hreasvelgr screamed once more and began to circle the rooftop. Angry, the demonic bird began to build up speed with each pass and made its next attempt to dive-bomb the roof.

The continuous circling of the roof made the winds start to twist in his wake, the currents becoming stronger and stronger until it was almost a tornado. Alex had to rapidly remove the blade from the sheath and slam it in the concrete under his feet before he got flown away from the incredibly strong winds.

The windows of the building weren't so lucky or resistant and, with a shatter of glass, sharp shards started flying around.

Sol barely managed to hang onto several pieces of steel and debris, using the weight to hold himself in place.

"Fuck this bird! Fuck this bird!" Sol thought furiously while waiting for the winds to die down.

Before the winds had stopped, the demon rose steeply upwards, wings beating furiously, before turning and falling into a dive, straight towards Alex. It was just by a stroke of luck that Alex saw him.

To be more specific, it was a flash of light coming from the metal body of the demon momentarily shining into his eyes and making him raise his gaze. His eyes widened and, in a panic, he accidentally opened the canopy of the umbrella. The remaining winds were still strong enough that they filled the cloth and, almost as if it was a sail or a parachute, brought Alex away from where he was trying to stay, his blade sliding out of the concrete like a hot knife through butter.

Sol managed to just barely see this, and impaling Gevaudan into the concrete, he let the chain unlink and began to try and quickly make his way to a position where he could reach for Alex to grab his hand.

The screech of the blade against the concrete was ripped away by the weakening winds, but Alex managed to slow down enough to grab Sol's hand. Then, the links on Gevaudan went taut and they stopped moving all of a sudden.

And that was the moment when Hraesvelgr slammed against the roof once more, spreading the cracks that the first impact had caused. He had missed Alex by a lot. It was stunned, but quickly recovering.

They had to act fast if they wanted to capitalize on the situation.

"Come on!" Sol roared as Gevaudan retracted and he charged at the demon. While stunned, Hraesvelgr did manage to turn to the noise in time to see Sol. More specifically, to see the oncoming point of a stinger.

The bird shrieked in pain, throwing its head while blood poured from a deep wound in its face.

At the same time, Alex shot another beam straight at the legs of the demonic bird, making him screech. And then…

Both of them landed on the ground, their hands on their ears, the sound waves reverberating inside their skulls like giant bells, making them cry out in pain.

Hraesvelgr slowly got up, wings flapping violently and sending them flying backward, against the concrete that held the door to the inside of the building, before rising in the air, luckily stopping the sonic attack. Still, both of them were stunned, at least for the next few moments.

Sol's vision swam and the ringing in his ears only served to further disorient him. He tried to stand briefly before falling to his knees.

He didn't know if he was actually speaking or not, but as if on reflex he thought he was. "Come on, just a little more. We can kill you if you just dive a little more."

Alex was swaying like a sailor on his first sea journey, but he was using his own weapon as a crutch to remain standing. Which was more than what Sol was managing. "Come down here and face us properly!"

Then he stopped and the hand that wasn't clutching Calcabrina with a death grip went to his mouth, his face briefly looking very green from the nausea.

Sol managed to finally stand before shakily scanning the horizon. There was a brief moment of lull before he saw the Hraesvelgr and began to fire upon it. "Come on, come on! We're right here!"

"Yeah! Come- OH fuck!" Alex instantly turned and started to run towards Sol. They didn't know if Hraesvelgr had heard them or not, but the demon was coming back down. Faster than the other two times, as the tail made of dust and winds behind him attested. Straight at them.

"Inside! Hide inside the stairs!" Alex shouted, aiming for the door to the inside of the building.

Sol didn't need to be told twice as he quickly ran behind Alex. Perhaps it was the damage from previous dive bombs or damage from the combined attacks of the two humans, but Hraesvelgr's aim was terribly off. It had struck the center of the rooftop, the center of its nest. The structural damages already accrued finally showed their worth, as the rooftop crumbled underneath its weight. The demon bird collapsed through several floors of the building, howling and screaming as it fell.

The metallic feathers that were its armor, began to twist and warp under the rain of falling steel, glass, and concrete. Sections of its feathers began to tear away, revealing pulpy, pulsating flesh. When Hraesvelgr's descent finally ceased it screamed in a newfound agony, its voice rising in pitch and power.

Sol and Alex were not spared from this miniature cataclysm either. When the roof collapsed, the stairwell kept them relatively safe for several moments before the supports holding the stairwell gave way and a section of the floor fell away and created an impromptu slide that they fell down upon. When they finally reached the floor, just shy of Hraesvelgr's new resting place, a section of ruined ceilings collapsed further, striking the demonic bird and causing it to let loose another howl.

"Holy shit, I thought I would die." Alex said, eyes wide and sclerae in full view. Then, he noticed in what situation the demon was and he, almost by instinct, snapped his weapon towards him. "This may be our last chance! Go and hit with all you have!"

A moment later, a beam of energy slammed against the exposed parts of the bird and Alex started trying to pass it side to side.

Sol didn't verbally answer, only lashing Gevaudan's whip at the demon's eyes. The bone blade managed to score a deep cut just above one of the demon's eyes. Blood pouring down, the demon's sight became obscured and it thrashed in a rage.

"Hurts doesn't it!?" Sol shouted before moving along the newly created blindside and slashing at the exposed sections of its body.

This state of things lasted for a few more moments before the Hraesvelgr shrieked, the sound wave sending everyone and everything around him flying away. Rubble on him included. It was now that the human and hybrid could see what had happened to the demonic bird.

One wing had broken, dragging on the ground, while the other was only in a slightly better shape, with most of the feathers bent and covered in dust. All across its body were several deep cuts that sluggishly wept blood.

One thing was sure: they had a good chance of killing Hraesvelgr, as long as the raging demon didn't kill them first.

The demon screamed once more as Sol drove his sword into an exposed portion along its side. In response, the bird attempted to throw its weight around and scrape Sol off its side. Unfortunately for both the wall that it had attempted this on didn't exist anymore.

"Oh fuck! Oh fuck!" Sol screamed as his legs dangled over the edge. As Hreaveslgr pulled back into the building, Sol regained his footing and fired into the demon's head.

"Just die already so we can get on good solid ground!" Sol screamed.

"Hey!" Alex's voice echoed in the cave-like room, attracting the demon's attention. Well, that and the charged bullet that slammed against the side of the head. "Come and get me!"

And another bullet hit the demon in the face, which turned all of sudden and tried to peck Alex to death, every strike faster than the one before, with the hybrid only staying alive thanks to a frantic series of jumps to the side and, on one occasion, a quick barrier.

As the bird attempted another peck, Sol came around and stabbed at a small section of exposed flesh of its throat. Hraesvelgr's resulting scream twisted into a gurgling rasp. It turned to peck at Sol who ducked underneath the bird and tried to attack its underside.

Another charged bullet exploded against another open part of his throat, making the bird turn again towards Alex. Only to show his weakened side back to Sol, who didn't miss the opening.

That song and dance continued for a couple of seconds more, before the now rather bloodier bird decided that enough was enough and rose upwards and backwards, before screeching, long enough that even the remaining stone and steel around the place started to vibrate from the sound wave.

"Alex, to the edges, quickly!" Sol shouted over the rising, and warbling pitch.

The remaining steel and stone fell upon Hraesvelgr like a rain of shattered arrows and hammers. Each strike seemed to bring the bird further and further to its knees with weeping wounds and dents marring its once majestic features. Hraesvelgr attempted to stand once more only to collapse under the weight of the last of the debris.

It let out a gurgling noise before falling silent, still trying to move out from under the remains of the roof.

The head was peeking out of the rubble and Alex decided to take the chance, perfectly aware that, if Hraesvelgr was in better condition than what it looked like, he would get hurt. Very hurt.

With a dash forward, the canopy of Calcabrina left behind, he plunged his blade into the eye of the demon, to the hilt.

"DIEEEE!" The shout was pretty uncharacteristic of him, too, but he was panting for breath, red in the face, and with sweat covering his body, along with several scratches and concrete dust.

The head of Hraesvelgr detonated in a shower of gore and steel. With its body finally falling limp, it began to pour a mass of red orbs that filled the room.

"Bout time feather face… Alex! You okay?" Sol asked.

"Never… Better…" He was panting and, a moment later, he winced and put his hand on his side, around the area of his kidneys. "Grab anything you can from the corpse. I'm going to make a weapon out of him if it kills someone. Possibly more demons."

Still, it was telling that he was unwrapping one of those green lollipops that Rodin had given him. Mostly, it was telling that he wasn't as good as he said he was.