Last chapter was certainly good. The only problem I forgot is the Easter Egg last chapter. The Hunter dressed up as a certain particular horror character from a 1970s movie. C'mon, the clothes of choice were certainly a dead giveaway.

And to someone who wants the Hunter to have some romantic relationships, that ain't happening. Sure, he can have a healthy relationship but not to the point of romance. Trying to shoehorn a romance into the most hamfisted attempt at therapy you'll ever see would feel gross.

Now then, let's resume the story.

A Hunter's Guide for Running a Hotel

XIII

Training Continuation

Ninety Days until the Next Extermination Day

Stolas groaned as he opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling. Last night was fun once more. He sat up and turned to his left to see his dear imp sleeping while snoring loudly. It was an unusual sight for him, during their 'exchange' under the full moon. He'd normally still be fairly energetic, and often they would continue where last night had ended. But, this time he actually seemed… tired.

This made him suspicious. Blitzø was never tired. He was the most energetic Imp Stolas had ever met. But this time was different. He had shown up tired. While no less enthusiastic, he still remembered the Imps energy draining out a lot faster than it ever had. From the looks of it, he was exhausted from a strenuous activity. It was as if (Stolas' mind started connecting dots that didn't exist) he had recently had incredibly active sex. Now, while Stolas wasn't a pinnacle of matrimonial loyalty, he was particular about his chosen lovers. The difference between Stella and Blitzø was simple. He trusted Blitzø. Stella he wouldn't let anywhere near his heart, and was quite frankly disgusted to have swapped genes with, even if it gave him Octavia. Blitzø was a choice both of them made willingly. But it seemed that wasn't good enough. Blitzø was cheating on him. But with who? He knew of I.M.P, but none of them were potential suspects. The Hellhound was his own daughter, and the other Imps were (surprisingly happily, given how most Imp marriages turned out) married. That left his ex, but they'd recently made (very messy and very public) attempts on each other's lives. Was it someone he hadn't met before? He had to know.

"Blitzy?" The Goetia poked the imp, which made him blearily open his eyes.

"Uggggh…Not noooooooow, Stolas!" Blitzø closed his eyes, turning his body away while tucking himself further underneath the covers.

Stolas wasn't having any of this. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it off the Imp, causing him to spin in the air for a moment before landing in a disjointed heap. "You seemed to be more tired than usual. Almost as if you've had some more physical activities without me. Have you been seeing someone else as of late?"

Hearing this caused the Imp to be wide awake. He froze in place. What was he meant to tell him? The Hunter wanted him and the rest of I.M.P to keep his existence away from this rich asshole, and Blitzø promised to do so. He had to fly by the seat of his pants here. Guessing the best course of action, he lifted his head to look at the bird demon. "W-well, my group and I got ourselves into more workload as of late. Some asswipe has an interest in the business."

"Oh…" The Goetia blinked a few times. "And is this 'someone' started to make advances towards you, my dear?" His tone was now ice cold, dripping with venom.

"I….It's not like that Stolas! It's…uh…." Now Blitzø was feeling the pressure the Goetia displayed. For fuck's sake, Stolas was impossible to hide shit from! He didn't expect to have this kind of conversation with him this early in th- wait what time was it. Grabbing his phone nearby, he saw that it was exactly Eight O'Clock in the morning. "Oh hey would you look at the time! Igottagobye!" 'Shitshitshit!' He could imagine the Hunter getting impatient to wait for him to arrive to continue training him and the rest of his group. Considering what he thought 'light training' was, he did not want to taste any 'punishment'. Without waiting for the Prince to respond back to him, he grabbed his clothes off the floor and rushed to get dressed. Stumble-hopping towards the balcony as he yanked his pants back on, he looked at the Goetia. "Sorry, but I can't explain right now. I have work to do!" With that, he jumped off the balcony, landing on a car and bouncing off into a roll, then sprinting down the street.

Stolas narrowed his eyes upon that weird response his dear imp had clearly shown. He was hiding something from him. But what could it be? Who could it be? This 'asswipe' he mentioned? Another client? Fucking Lucifer?

Stolas would have to dig deep into what Blitzø was hiding from him. Fortunately, he had his ways. Magic was the greatest tool he had ever given himself. Shadow travel was the second.

-Scene Change-

A single gunshot echoed across an empty field as Moxxie fired at a target (a row of empty glass bottles on top of Millie's rusted car frame), twenty meters away while using the Evelyn Pistol. He had found that gun to be more reliable than the ones I.M.P has in store. Well, aside from his Boss's Flintlock Pistol. "This flintlock gun could be an antique. But it's too well-maintained to be anything but. And it's way more accurate than a regular smoothbore gun. No wonder he's able to hit those shots."

"Not bad." The Hunter complimented as he was sitting beside Millie and Loona (who was trying to stay up from the hangover she had from drinking a lot of whisky. Having to do quick side steps for 15 minutes definitely didn't help). He was keeping time for the quickdraw training Moxxie was going through, while Millie gave the signal to draw. "That's better than the shots you've made earlier. However, you took longer to aim than necessary at close range. If you take the normal amount of time to gauge a shot, then your target will close the distance. Speed is key to winning a close encounter, so don't give them a chance to react."

"Right." Moxxie nodded in acknowledgement before he straightened his stance and focused on aiming at his next target, which was twenty-five meters away. The wind, whistling past his ears, quieted to nothing. The sounds of Loona retching behind a tree faded away. All that was left was him, the dry grass under his feet, and the bottle twenty-five meters away. His heart thumped in his ears as the tension grew, and grew, and-

"Now!"

His arm snapped like a whip, yanking the gun into position, and pulled the trigger. The bullet broke the bottle. Broke, not shattered, because while he had taken a chunk out of the neck, the glass was still intact. He let out a frown. "Oh crumbs! I missed it again!"

Despite this sudden upset, his Wife cheered him on. "Don't worry, Mox! You'll be able to get it. Just keep practicing!" Loona cheered in her own way, as she had stopped retching for a moment, weakly let out a 'yaaay', then went back to retching. Moxxie was proud though. Less than a day, and already his quickdraw was faster and more accurate.

The Hunter just watched the couple in silence, .724 seconds. An average draw in Yharnam, but it would be respectable here. Respectable would not be enough, but that's what training was for. Speaking of, their training was going well. 'Although', he thought, watching the Imps celebrate this minor achievement. 'Training isn't everything for them. A simpler life is a better life, after all.' A small smile appeared behind his mouth cloth. As he discovered during his three years voyage in Hell, there are times where there is a small sense of normalcy.

"You okay?" He turned to look at Loona, who had almost recovered from her personal Hell, and was now combing her hair despite its tips roughly shaved off.

"I was caught in my own thoughts." He responded. Just then, he heard footsteps approaching them at a rapid pace. The missing member had arrived. Along with…oh no. What had he told him about not letting the Prince discover his existence?!

Blitzø stopped running before stopping. He put his hands on his knees while wheezing. "Sorry, huff, if I took too long. I, huff, had to run from Stolas's place."

He wasn't aware that the Hunter had disappeared into mist, and another was watching from his shadow. So this was where Blitzy was going in such a hurry? An empty field with… bottles lined up on a burnt car? A Hellhound in a severe stage of exhaustion? And what looked to be weights? What was going on here? Then it hit him. 'Sharpshooting, running great distances, lifting heavy weights. They're training themselves. Makes sense, mercenary skills don't just appear out of thin air after all. But he's never done this before. Someone had to have started this. Maybe this 'asswipe' had the answers. But where were they? Time to intervene and get some answers from Blitzy.'

Loona looked to her adoptive father. "And why the Hell did you do that, Blitz? You know how suspicious that makes you look."

The imp was about to open his mouth… "Indeed it does. So this is where you went, Blitzy?" A familiar voice called to him, making him freeze in place.

Blitzø turned around and saw the Demon Prince, who was glaring at him. It seems he wasn't impressed by this place being more important than some fun times with him. "Oh, heeey there…" He spoke with a nervous tone.

Stolas leaned in near the imp with the expression of doubtfulness. "I knew you were hiding something from me, Blitzy. But this…" He looked at what they were doing (Millie was running laps around a marked path while carrying her axe, while Loona had recovered slightly, and had started tossing bottles in the air for Moxxie to shoot with his rifle) before looking back at him. "This is not what I was expecting."

"Yeah. Sorry if I didn't tell you beforehand." Blitzø spoke, feeling the pressure at the Hunter's immense glare and Stolas's…Well, it seemed more to the latter as the former was nowhere to be seen.

Speaking of, "So, where is this "asswipe" you mentioned to me?"

Blitzø tried to find a way out from here. Luckily enough, Moxxie was his saving grace. "We killed him, he cost too much and was an asshole, your highness. Here's what we got off of him." He showed off his new pistol, Evelyn, the Hunter called it, to the Prince. It wasn't a lie considering what had just happened yesterday. (And that would haunt him for a long time. Sweet shit he was still hanging when they woke up!) "Don't worry, he's not going to bother us anymore. Dumbass gave me Angelic Steel bullets, so there's not even a body left."

"Oh." Well then, it seems Blitzø wasn't cheating on him after all. And he overreacted again. Oops. He'll apologize later. Maybe while wearing leather. But he had other things to think about in the meantime. Like the pistol he was presented.

While he was certainly impressed by the age and surprising quality of the pistol, he can't help but to sense a rather large tinge of malice from it. This weapon had seen a lot of violence and had been held by at least two very violent owners. Where exactly did they get it from? This asswipe must have been one of Wrath's more cunning demons, he concluded. He was at least. He was glad it was over, however. "Well, that wasn't what I expected. I'll just let you, Imps, do your thing." Turning around, he stepped towards the nearest shadow. "And Blitzy?"

Blitzø stood ramrod, hoping that Stolas wouldn't pull a bit of evidence out of thin air to accuse him with. "Y-Yeah?"

"I will be wearing brown next time, as an apology." Then, he sank into the shadow of a tree, and disappeared.

"Hey boss, what d-"

"FUCK YEAH HE'S GONNA LET ME USE THE SADDLE!" Blitzø belted this out to the world, uncaring of the stressful times he had just gone through, or the energy he had lacked. Fuck the Hunter! Fuck Training! Nothing beats riding the Prince, then having the Prince ride him!

When the Goetia Prince left, the Hunter reappeared from behind the same tree. A neat trick, hiding in mist. It meant he could escape the prying eyes of certain people. People that happened to follow the person he explicitly told to be careful of. He couldn't rightfully blame him however. It seems the Prince was worried about his exhausted state last night. The Imp couldn't have known of the Prince's scheme, so the Hunter would be merciful with him. In the very least, Moxxie was quick with his clever response, and gave the Prince a very reasonable outcome as to why he wouldn't be around. He was getting better at these sorts of things. Maybe he'd gift him with some sort of reward later. But for now…

Blitzø turned to the guy he was pretty sure was pissed. Or wasn't. The face mask and his damn near monotone voice made it hard to tell. He was staring directly at Blitzo. Intently. His eyes were narrowed. It seems he was pissed then. "Oh…shit…uh, Hunter. I can explain…"

"Fifteen laps."

"...damn."

"And none of that junk you call food after. I brought oatmeal."

"THIS IS TORTURE!"

-Scene Change-

I.M.P were breathing lightly for once, since they were allowed to go as slow as a jog to their next destination (plus Blitzø doing fifteen laps and fifteen straight minutes of quick side steps) after finishing their meals. This time, they were (forced into) eating bowls of Oatmeal with a mix of blueberries and nuts the Hunter had brought along. It wasn't too bad to eat given how Millie and Moxxie had (somewhat) alright diets (even if Loona's diet was trash and how Blitzø practically had to be force fed), it was just such an old person meal that they were, once again, wondering just when the Hunter died.

"Ah, you're back from your run. Are you feeling warmed up now?" All turned to look at the Hunter, who was waiting for them by a tree. (And had finished 3 bowls of that goop with nothing else. Who the fuck was this guy!?)

"It was fine, but now I'm ready to crush whatever you got!" Millie responded, finally catching her breath, and letting her bravado take over.

Moxxie had an urge to hurl yet held it in. "How the fuck do you eat this stuff *Hurk* daily."

Despite consuming more than her Imp Colleagues (and deciding that it would be alright with a lot of sugar), Loona can't help but make a comment. "Yeah, because you need it, fatty."

He didn't take that comment too kindly. "Hey!"

Blitzø, ignoring his colleagues' daily argument, peered to the side to look behind the Hunter. There, he saw what was basically seen in those Earth Game Shows, perhaps from Ninja Warriors. Except it was ten times worse. "The fuck is this!?"

The rest of I.M.P, hearing their boss, also looked and came to the same conclusion. "This is what I spent the night building, and I finished it shortly before you arrived." The Hunter spoke, turning to face his creation.

"He built this all in one night!? Does he even sleep?!" Most of I.M.P thought.

Moxxie thought differently. "I'm too scared to ask!" he let out a gulp.

"That's what you may call an obstacle course. The purpose of this exercise is simple. To test your reflexes. Either by jumping over it, ducking, climbing, rolling, or swiftly dodging. There will be some easy ones like climbing over a wall and jumping on platforms." They couldn't help but notice he didn't mention what any of the 'not-easy' stuff would be. That didn't give them the encouragement they wanted, but the Hunter didn't seem to notice (or care given his brutal method of "training" them). "So, who wishes to go first?"

In an instant, all eyes immediately turned their attention to Moxxie. Said person knew what this meant yet can't help to keep his mouth shut. "Wha–WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME?!" He can't believe his wife was on board.

"You have keen eyes, Mox." Blitzø reminded him.

"And also it can help lose a few pounds, fatty." Loona commented.

"Oh, I was merely jesting on who's going first. Everyone's going to join in as well." The Hunter added, earning groans from the two.

The Sniper wanted to make a comment. But he knew he was only wasting time. Letting out a sigh, he walked to the starting point of this course, including the rest. "Hope it isn't too extreme."

…

"WHY IS THIS EXTREME!?" Moxxie cried out, clinging to a pole while ducking under the fucking flaming sawblades screaming an inch over his head. Dropping from the pole, he instantly had to dive out of the way of a log pulverizing the ground he just landed on. He didn't have time to recover, as he had to jump over another log (this one also on fucking fire) barreling towards him. That part done, and on a platform that wasn't immediately about to attempt to kill him, he looked a bit ahead, and saw the Hell equivalent of a jungle gym, but instead of pentagram styled bars and spiked corners there were oil-soaked ropes and a flaming pit of death below. The pit of death was normal, the flaming part and the ropes soaked in oil were not. If he lost his grip, he'd… have a mild tan after this was done. Hunter didn't really think this one through did- nevermind there were spikes down there! What the fuck!

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

His thoughts exactly! At the bellow he recognized as his wife's, he turned to her voice, hoping he wouldn't see her impaled on one of the many metal spikes that festooned the deathtrap the Hunter had cobbled together.

Fortunately, his wife wasn't harmed from the obstacle course. However, that didn't mean she was having a fun time (if anyone in any state of mind could call this fun), having sustained some bruises and cuts all over her body. At the moment, she had narrowly dodged out of the way of the same fucking car as yesterday attempting to flatten her. "I THOUGHT THIS WAS EASY!"

"IT'S NEVER EASY WITH HIM AND HIS FUCKING 'TRAINING'!" Loona shouted as she ducked on time to avoid three Axes swinging in different directions. Thinking ahead this time, she had her hair tied to a bun to prevent it from getting cut or burned again. What kind of bullshit was this that could help them train their reflexes!?

"Just focus on the finishing line, Loonie!" Blitzø told his daughter, having some time to breathe after climbing a wall that periodically had spikes pop out of it while random (sharp and heavy) objects fell down at him. "That includes the both of you, Mox and Mills!"

The couple, who was able to get together on a steady platform, nodded at their boss before they dove in different directions, narrowly avoiding the same car that nearly plastered Millie again as it swung back with a vengeance. This time, instead of just rolling into more oncoming traffic, they sprang up and over a pipe that swung just at the right height to give an Imp a concussion (Or a hellhound a very bad pain in the stomach). Once they hit the ground, Millie grabbed Moxxie by the back of his coat to just barely pull him out of the way of another fucking sawblade, while Moxxie had pulled her head down to avoid a flying boot (with a lot of knives strapped to it).

Moxxie could see the finish line. He could also see the Hunter, the smug prick, wildly pulling the various ropes and cables that operated this pain factory like a demented maestro, with sheer unrestrained glee in his eyes. He was enjoying this way too much, they had to hurry before he decided they weren't moving fast enough and started shooting at them. Moxxie saw the distance between them (The aforementioned death pit), and that the Hunter had something evil prepared for them, if the rope he hadn't touched yet was any indicator. He had a plan though. Stupid? Yes. Would it work? Not a chance. Did he have a choice? Nope. This shit sucked. Plans sucked.

"Milie! Throw me! We just have to get one across the line!"

"Ok!"

"Wait I wasn't re- OHSHIT!"

Moxxie flew. Time slowed. And he could see.

For the first time in his life, Moxie could see the world from the top of the playground. His whole life in school, he'd never made it to the top of the jungle gym. He had always fallen, like Icarus, too close to the sun. But now? This was… awe inspiring. Also like Icarus, he was very rapidly approaching the sea. In this case, the sea being, huge fuck-off spikes. Unlike Icarus, the spikes were not stationary, and were in fact approaching him veryfuckingrapidly!

The Hunter had pulled the rope. The spikes in the pit had been blasted upwards via explosive powder, propelling them upwards with enough force to spear buildings. Or a very unlucky Imp.

This unlucky Imp, was lucky enough to have twisted his body enough and had been in just the right spot to not only avoid the bulk of the spikes (one snagged on his shirt's shoulder, giving him some spin), but also get propelled by the blast, straight into the finish line; which was a sturdy piece of rope, so instead of breaking it he was tangled up in the whole length. The Hunter, seeing as the race was over, turned to Moxxie to congratulate him on his (average, in his eyes) performance. Then he got hit by a car.

This car was special. It had seen extensive use by them over the past couple of days in fact. Firstly, it was used as a training weight and a subsequent grinding block during the first day. Then, it was used to keep bottles up, and had taken many potshots in the meantime. Then, it was a main piece in his obstacle course, being a constant threat that could hound the competitors at every move. Lastly, it was used as an impromptu weapon as Millie, scared shitless about her husband being caught in an explosion, grabbed the nearest heavy object she could rip out of its bindings and threw it at the cause of her problems as hard as she could. During this final flight, the abused body broke into shards, a few of which ended up impaling the Hunter. In the time between seconds, when the car began its journey carrying the Hunter to the mess of ropes and wires he set up, he idly thought that this felt ironic, in a sense. Then he had bigger problems.

His entire body got tangled up within the ropes. He didn't have time to notice that a wire was thickly wrapped around his neck, or the spike he was rapidly approaching. Once it came to a stop…

*SNAP*

*RIP*

*TEAR*

*THUD*

*SHINK*

In the finishing line, Millie went by her husband's side and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Moxxie…" She apologized to him while closing her eyes while tears were forming in the corner.

Moxxie coughed a few times and looked back at her. "I'm…alright, Millie… " He assured her before hugging her as well. "And besides." With this, he looked at her with tears in his eyes. Tears of joy. "I finally did it!"

Somehow, even without being present, Loona felt the need to chime in from a distance. "What, finally did something useful for once? Congratulations, welcome to the real-world fatty!"

"No, I mean I made it to the top of the playground! It took me years, but I finally did it!" Moxxie couldn't be happier right now. Millie could kind of get where he was coming from, due to this being something he's personally struggled with for a long time. Blitzø wondered if he was gonna need a new Sniper, cause his current one obviously got brain damaged.

"Whatever, we're finally done!" Both of them broke away and turned to see their Boss and Hellhound reaching the finishing line before collapsing onto the ground on all fours. "I never would have thought I'd get out of that mess!"

Loona was breathing heavily while feeling the cuts and bruises all around her body. At least her hair survived this time. "I…huff…never want….huff…to do that…SHIT EVER AGAIN!" She finally caught her breath. No vomit today. She turned to where the Hunter was and saw a rather disturbing sight. Never fucking mind then. "Oh great, another trauma to bury under alcohol." Then, she vomited her guts up off to the side.

The Imps looked where Loona's eyes were. There, within the mess of ropes and wires was the Hunter's body, hopelessly tangled within the mess. Broken and twisted, it would be a miracle if he survived. It was surprising it was all in one piece. Not his head however, which was pierced on spike from the explosion, that had impacted the ground in a starburst of metal. Blood was slowly pooling out from the neck, and dripping off the end of his obscured nose. Even knowing he'd survive, it's safe to say that it unnerved everyone. Especially Moxxie, who looked back at his wife. "Uh, Millie…"

The female Imp looked at her husband and saw the look on her face. "What is it, Mox?"

The Sniper looked at the Hunter, whose decapitated head was pierced completely through in several spots while having his dark red eyes staring directly at them. Looking away, he turned to face his wife. "I think you went a bit too far?"

She looked back at him with her eyes narrowed. "I think he's got what was coming. Bastard had put us through so much. From yesterday to today, he's done nothing but toying with us." She let out a smile of relief. "Still, at least we were able to finish the course. And now he'll have a little more humility when he wakes up." She looked back at the Hunter's Hat that is still on his decapitated head. "By the way, I'm calling his hat before he wakes up."

"How many times must I say that you're not getting my hat?"

For the second time, I.M.P all screamed in one. They all turned to the Hunter, who was looking down at them despite being decapitated for fuck's sake! "I must admit that you caught me off guard there, Mrs Millie." His eyes twitched to his body, which began to untangle itself from the mess, and in less than a minute, stood up on its own (which freaked the fuck out of I.M.P) and took his patented 'lecture pose'. "Although, I must admit I went too far there and overestimated my expectations from all of your reflexes. For that, I must apologize to all of you."

Here, his body seemed to perform a bow to them, which gave all of them a very close up look to his neck, which was— yup still pulsing. (Loona barfed again, not of disgust, but of sheer fucking exhaustion of what she knew was coming next.)

"Hey uh… Hunter, can I ask something?" Moxxie asked, with his hand raised. It seemed a lot of school memories were being brought up today.

"Yes." The Hunter "nodded".

He put his hand down before responding. "How the fuck are you still alive!? I mean, you're a Sinner or some sort of demon despite having a human form, correct?! First, you manage to survive an Angelic Steel Bullet on your skull, then…" He thought of mentioning the second part, but the results were obvious. "Nevermind. The question I want to ask is how did you survive all of that!?"

All he heard was the Hunter laughing. "Ah, I forgot to mention. I don't waste Angelic Steel in bullets. Too costly to make, too difficult to store. No, instead I use Quicksilver Bullets." With this, the body of the Hunter (and that was still fucking creepy) reached towards his belt, where he kept the various consumables he used in his hunts. Reaching into the correct pouch, he pulled out what Moxxie had incorrectly deduced to be Angelic Steel. Upon a closer inspection, there were several differences. Angelic Steel was a polished silver and glowed faintly in small amounts. This… 'Quicksilver' was a silver that seemed to shimmer in the light, as if it were not a solid substance at all but a liquid being held in the form it appeared in. "Quicksilver bullets are easy to make, easy to load, and easy to fire. They are made of my own blood, so they are most effective when I am the one using them."

His own blood. How the fuck!? Why the fuck?! Hoooooo. Deep breath. Deeeep breath. Sanity would return at some point. Maybe. Hopefully.

"And as for my multiple miraculous survivals," Here he walked over to where his head was (Dontthrowupdontthrowup) and slowly lifted it from the spikes it was embedded on, causing another rush of blood to spill out from his neck, painting the body in his own blood. (This time, it was Moxxie who lost the battle against his gag reflex.) As he freed his head, he continued his explanation.

"I have been cut, bruised, pierced, burned, shot, impaled, crushed, melted, and suffered many other painful afflictions. I have been cut apart so many times I could tell you which limbs come off easiest on which joints. I have been gutted enough that I could draw a perfect anatomical diagram using only the view I have seen from the outside. I have been through the jaws and claws of a Hell far worse than this one and have adapted accordingly." With this, his head was freed, and he raised it to where his neck ended. As they watched, ropey tendrils seemed to shoot out and attach to both sides, and soon the Hunter was whole again. "It took all of that to damage me, and it will take much more than this to kill the likes of me." He wasn't lying, to say the least. But he didn't want this to seem like a boast. He had really been through Hell. All of the horrific ways he had died had slowly changed him into the paranoid, broken mess of a man he now was today. This… incident was nothing compared to being eaten alive.

I.M.P saw differently. Where had stood the strange asshole that had been a menace in the past days, was someone entirely new. The clouds that had covered the skies let a single, burning red beam of light engulf the Hunter, further obscuring his features, but drawing attention to the blood-soaked clothes he wore, clothes that had been torn apart and stitched back together countless times, clothes that had been covered in the blood of countless other beings. How many of Hell's rings had he seen? He must have been terrorizing the lower rings for decades, no wonder they never heard anything about him! This was the best killer in Hell, full stop. He was a veteran. A survivor. A badass. This, this was what Blitzø had been promised. This was what a True Professional was meant to be. This was who they would be someday. The Imps had stars in their eyes. It was like the King of Hell himself had agreed to sponsor them, and then shook each of their hands while smiling. Loona, on the other hand, was terrified. How could anyone say that shit with a straight tone, while pulling their own disembodied head off of spikes!? Something was fucked up with this guy, and it wasn't his training or brutality. It was his mind.

"Now then, who's ready to begin the review?" The tension dropping into the negatives caused them to pass out again. He really needed to stop doing that.

After making sure he had put his head on the correct direction this time (he had done that trick once before, and the Doll had collapsed from hysteria when he had put his head on backwards), the Hunter rolled his neck a few times, before he picked up the various members of I.M.P and brought them to their resting spot. It was during this time he looked at Millie's Modified Axe leaning against a tree and thought of something.

"Perhaps it is time to make good on my promise with the one who was the first to land a hit on me." He thought. "It is only right that she be rewarded for her hard work and diligence."

-The Hunter's Dream-

"Good Hunter," The Doll greeted him as he entered the workshop, carrying Millie's Axe. "How does training the Imps fare?"

"It is going marvelously," He responded, setting the axe on the Workshop's Bench, where a few disassembled weapons were placed around the edges, to give him more ideas for modifications. "Though, I went too far with my methods." He let out a sigh. "I did apologize to them, and they are currently being tended by the Messengers in the Waking World." He stretched his neck a few more times before turning to face her. "I must say they got me three times. Mainly Mrs Millie. Which is why I am modifying her axe as a reward."

The Doll pondered on what he said and she gave her comment, "Ah. I see you are making amends with this group who have tried to kill you for the past three years?"

"Yes." He answered with certainty. "I think I need to stop using my pettiness against them while training. While effective, it is a tad too effective." He let out a remorseful sigh. And it was so fun to make them dodge as he had. All fun must end, he supposed.

His close friend chuckled at his words. The Hunter from the later days of Yharnam would have put fun under 'not being flayed alive' in terms of importance. Slowly but surely, he is starting to recover from his time back in Yharnam. Speaking of which, she told him what had happened before." Ah, I forgot to say. Miss Charlie Morningstar recently visited the Dream."

The Hunter caught onto this with interest. He truthfully hadn't thought the journal would do that much, but had prepared for it nonetheless. Who knows what could happen given the many Eldritch scribbles he had drawn in his free time. "Is that so?"

She nodded in confirmation. "Yes. I did what you requested by telling her about your past. She seemed to be saddened by this revelation. However, she seemed to be determined to help you achieve redemption."

The Hunter softly chuckled by what he heard. "Really?"

"Yes," She plainly answered. "After all, she has the childlike innocence of one only wanting to save others."

He thought about this for a short while, then looked at her. "Do you still believe she would still help those who deserve to stay in Hell?"

"That depends. After all, it is their choice to do as they please." The Doll responded. She looked at the bench and saw the Messengers carrying the deconstructed weapons the Hunter needed but didn't have at the moment. "The Little Ones have brought the parts you requested."

He turned around to look at the bench and saw what they had brought him. He had Angelic steel. The handle and head of Millie's axe, and a dozen odd bits from weapons he wanted to add. The Messengers had brought him the chain of a Beast Cutter, the mechanism of a Stake Driver and a Boom Hammer, and parts of a Whirligig Saw. Now that he had all the pieces, he could get to work.

Losing himself in his work was second nature, and he had theorized it was one of the few things that had kept him sane during his transitional period of human and not-human and back. Sooner than later, the work was done. And as the Hunter looked upon his improvements to the base model, he felt that this would be suitable for Millie in the future.

Its head was edged with Angelic Steel, while the old mechanism had been trashed. The new mechanism was made with parts of the hammer and the stake, utilizing explosive force in both directions to cause a swifter transformation, and a more dangerous recovery if she decided to switch back to close range. The trigger was the same, but having to twist in different directions for each length. The wrought iron chain was replaced with the Beast Cutter chain, to allow for more accurate strikes when transformed. All these parts together meant that Millie could chain together many strikes at multiple distances, while losing none of the same power that had cut into the hide of a Great One. This weapon would require no small amount of Strength but favored Skill with a rank of B. With the weapon completed, he decided that its name would be Millie's Guillotine, after the one that made it.

Picking the Axe up, he slung it onto his back before heading outside. Naturally, the Doll assumed he was going to leave. "Are you going back to the Waking World, Good Hunter? It is too early."

He shook his head. "No, I am not, my old friend. I shall go to the Merchant Fountain to purchase a few things." He felt like he had a lot of Blood Echos within him. While thinking of what to buy for them before modifying it with Angelic Steel, an idea came to him. "They're gonna love what I have for them." And so, another long night begins.

We're coming close to the end of I.M.P's training Trilogy. Don't worry, they won't be going away. After all, they are part of the story.

Crimson Soldat: Indeed. Although the Hunter is the center focus of the story, everyone needs to have their time to shine. Even the side characters!

HalfWitHillbilly: And shine they will. I.M.P is already pretty tough in canon, but when their skulls have been bashed together so hard they can read each other's thoughts? It's gonna be a fucking massacre.

CS: We're planning to bring more Villains in this story. Don't worry, we're going to have one where it makes it challenging for the Hunter. Oh, and expect them (I.M.P) and the Hazbin Hotel to get weapons AND outfits from the Hunter. You may or may not like it.

HH: Considering how particular people are about fashion, who knows what they'll think of this. Who knows what we think of this. Maybe they're all the worst outfits on the worst people, and we're taking the piss out of you. You'll never know. (Niffty gets the Doll outfit fuck any other expectation you had)

We got a lot to unpack in this story. Sure, the timeline is messed up considering it is an Alternative Universe Scenario. Don't worry, we know where it is going.

Comment down below what you want to see in future chapters? Honestly, we got something in stock for both I.M.P and the Hazbin Hotel. What is it? You'll have to find out.

With that said, we'll see you in the next update!