Though accustomed to the sound of canine growls, Braylon never heard such a drastic change in tone before, as if the responsible throat had a severe case of inflammation and soreness. For a moment he doubted it was an animal and instead he thought it was a bad actor, so he fired a bullet. The bullet zipped into the bushes, into the darkness beyond, momentarily putting a stop to the demented noise.
Then the growls became louder.
A pair of glowing eyes stared at him with almost identical hatred to that of a demon. Something furry jumped out, something with a fur as that of a fox's. Any further detail had to give space to the fight or flight instincts of the Vault Hunter, who got tackled by the animal that began biting and scratching as if rabid. The animal flew off him with a swift kick to its stomach. It smacked against the ground with a yelp.
"What... what the fuck?"
He got a better look at the being. Though bearing resemblance to a fox, it barely had any connection to such a gracious member of the forest. Several patches of fur were replaced with large lumps of glowing orange flesh, strongly resembling tumors, spread all over the body. It had three tails and one extra jaw sticking out from the original. The eyes were glowing in a shade of orange that could easily be confused for red.*
It leaped at him again, adding more ferocity to its attack. Braylon impaled it through the body with his Holo Sabre, effectively stopping it mid-attack but not killing it. The creature was relentless, though, as it still kept going, still tried to bite him as if its life depended on it. Not even several shots with his revolver seemed to incapacitate the monster he had in front of itself. It died only after getting shot in the head. Aside from occasional pieces of skull and brain matter raining everywhere, the wound also released an orangish cloud of gas which quickly scattered in the air above him.
"Gah!" He yelped while tossing the lifeless corpse aside. "That was a close one." He stood up and examined the mutated fox. "What the hell happened to this poor thing? These mutations aren't normal."
That encounter, he thought, was a sign that he was an unwelcome guest. . He switched to the energy pistol before running down the road. Howls could be heard echoing through the forest from both his right and his left. One mutated wolf ambushed him during his marathon. It was halved in mid-air with a precise application of the Holo Sabre. The same orange gas flew out of this animal as well.
Outlines of several buildings could be seen in the distance. More animals were killed on his way towards the settlement he thought of as a safe haven. Reality came crashing down on him as soon as he began to notice the dim lights bursting around the town.
"Fire! No, no, no, no!"
Many buildings were beyond salvation. Those untouched by fire were in a worse state than those that were consumed by it. He stopped in front of a burning house, where he saw a figure walking towards him. It was not until he heard moaning that he noticed the figure's odd movement, similar to the shambling of someone with an injured leg. At the distance of two meters, the figure's moans turned into growls as the arms were extended forward. It was also the distance from which he saw what walked towards him and reacted accordingly, by jumping backwards and shooting with the pistol until it died. The horror and disgust he felt at seeing the rotten pile of flesh that lay in front of him made him wish to puke his intestines out. It behaved as if it were alive, despite being in an advanced state of decomposition. **
"Since when corpses behave like the living?!"
More undead appeared, effectively surrounding him on all sides and blocking every means of escape. Everywhere he looked he would see at least one walking corpse shambling towards him.
(Protricity – Light 'Em Up)
"I'm surrounded!" He clenched his teeth. "Fuck it. If they want war-"
A pair of hands grabbed his shoulders. He instinctively elbowed the undead, crushing its nose, then materialized Holo Ripper and spun around, slicing it diagonally.
"At least they are weak..."
The second closest threat received the Ripper into its stomach. After it bent in pain, Braylon pistol-whipped its head. The enhanced strenght crushed the already damaged skull with ease.
At least there was little to no blood...
"Engaging them in a battle is pointless." He heard the voice while he shot a group of undead with the pistol. "These possessed carcasses have a source. Find it."
"Possessed?! By whom?"
"By the likes of him."
Braylon turned his head in the opposite direction only to see a burning skull with red eyes and long horns approaching towards him like a speeding rocket. ***
He quickly jumped to the ground, cursing loudly as he heard the unbearable shriek flying past him and somewhere down the road. Raising his eyes from the dirt, he spotted a corpse awkwardly crawling towards him. Two shots with the energy pistol stopped any further movement.
"Fuck ammo, my life is at stake here!"
The Vault Hunter decided to swap his Holo Ripper for Unforgiven, concluding that he should make some distance between himself and the monsters. With the help of both firearms, he opened a temporary hole in a wall of zombies that blocked his path and swiftly squeezed through. Turning around the corner, he saw a large pile of unburied remains blocking the road. There was no way around it, but there was a window to his right, which he used to jump inside a house so that he could evade the horde.
Safety had to wait, however, as a mutated hound crashed through another window and wasted no time in attacking him. Even if the room was poorly lit by a lightbulb dangling on a wire from the ceiling, he was able to see the attacker because of its eyes and glowing lumps of flesh. His guns illuminated the room with brief flashes, revealing scattered books and overturned furniture.
After the hound has been dealt with, he went towards the door which was located in the second, and last, room this house provided. An axe chopped through the wooden object just as he grabbed the handle, taking him by surprise. The door was destroyed after the third hit, revealing a man in overalls. All it took was a brief glance for the man to go berserk and start barking with that distorted voice of his.
"Aagh! Mortal!"
Now that he took a better look, Braylon could see that the man was possessed, just like the corpses outside. His orange eyes and the faint, orange mist that emanated from him was a dead giveaway that the person had been under the control of the forces of Hell.****
"What are you waiting for? Kill him." The voice scolded Braylon who ran back to the other room.
"I can't kill someone who is probably unaware of his actions! He is possessed!" He mentally yelled as he dodged the attack.
"You have neither time or knowledge to fix the issue. So don't think twice. He definitely won't."
Braylon was cornered. Despite having the means to solve his situation in his own hands, he was reluctant to use them. He grinded his teeth together in both rage and panic. The palms became drenched in sweat as the possessed man growled as he slowly approached the teenager.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
The possessed reacted at his cry of despair by raising his axe, ready to split the boy's skull in two with a merciless attack. Braylon had no choice but to fire repeatedly into the man's stomach, who let out a twisted, yet still recognizable as human, cry of pain. He only stopped firing when the man in overalls fell to his knees, the orange mist that Braylon assumed to be a demon quickly evaporated from its host and spread into the air above, disappearing as if it never existed. The body fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"Shit..." Braylon muttered as he stared wide-eyed at the corpse. "This was creepy as fuck..."
One of the undead from outside fell from a window on the wood that made the floor. It slowly pulled itself up and moved forward. Its companions tried their best to replicate the same actions, with poor results. Braylon killed as many of them as he could before rushing out of the building through the door.
The road on the left was blocked by a pile of burning furniture. What remained was the road on the right, where Braylon could see the town square in the distance. The only obstacle he had to face was another possessed man, this time one with a pair of wolf ears and a tail. However, the sharp claws and fangs gave him the appearance of a monster, rather than a human.*****
"Hell awaits you!"
Several burning skulls flew around him as well. They attacked Braylon as soon as they spotted him. He was able to destroy one with a carefully placed shot. It shattered into tiny pieces as its high-pitched shriek echoed through the street. His revolver was empty, so he had to use the energy pistol to destroy the second one. The last one was dangerously close to him, so he had to crouch, thus missing his chance. It was then when the possessed man with wolf ears attacked, growling almost like a real wolf, only several times more disturbing.
"Mrrgh! Your flesh is weak!"
He tackled Braylon to the ground, scratching everywhere he could. The Vault hunter suffered no damage due to his Shield, but it was clear that, should the man keep attacking, he would soon feel lots of pain. Braylon fired a shot into the man's chest. It failed to do as much damage as he expected, and it seemed that the flaming skull from before decided to attack once more.
"Sorry!" Braylon apologized as he materialized the Holo Sabre right into the man's skull only to dematerialize it seconds later. Blood and brain matter shot out of the fractured head like water from a broken hydrant. But Braylon had no time to show his disgust, as he was busy dealing with the second threat.
After destroying the third, and last, flaming skull, the young Vault Hunter ran towards the town square, hoping to find the source of this nightmare. Lots of human bodies were piled up in various places. Some were burning while some, he swore, were wriggling as if something that was hidden beneath them wanted to be free.
The town square was perhaps the most tragic site this ruined town had to offer. At the far left stood a wooden cart filled with both human and animal corpses. Almost every house was damaged beyond repair and the stench of sulphur mixed with dead meat was enough to turn upside-down even the strongest of stomachs.
What Braylon didn't expect was someone else standing there as well. Indeed, it was a very tall and emaciated humanoid with peach-colored skin and stigmatized hands. The frame of this abnormally thin being looked so frail and weak, that Braylon thought that it must have been either a trap or an optical illusion. It slowly cracked its head towards him, flashing a twisted evil grin and black beady eyes. ******
"Agh... a mortal." The creature never moved its jaw, it just kept humming and chanting incoherently.
Braylon frowned. "Are you the one who destroyed this town?"
"Ehe... hehehehe..." It straightened itself as it cackled. "Perhaps... perhaps not..."
"No, he didn't."
The monster tilted its head.
"He is a serf. And a poor one at that. Nothing relevant enough to waste our time on."
All humming stopped. Braylon felt like he should be very cautious.
"How... how did you call me, brother?"
"A serf. Or better, a serf of serfs."
Its fingers popped and cracked as they began twitching.
"You... you will pay for this insult!"
The monster suddenly raised its hands in the air, unleashing columns of fire at the Vault Hunter.
"Dear God!" Cried out Braylon as he was barely able to jump out of the way. "That was really close!"
He quickly got up, swapped his pistols for the Striker and went behind the cart. Meanwhile, the demon slightly raised its hands. Two orange columns of light, one for each hand, striked the earth below. Then, two burning skulls replaced the columns in a brief, but bright, flash accompanied with thunder.
"Did he just fucking summon two of those things?!" Braylon's eyes threatened to fall out of their sockets at the sight. "He can spit fire and summon more demons?!"
"I told you he is a serf, didn't I?"
"How do I kill him?" He peeked out of his cover and saw the two skulls going towards the corpses in the cart.
"A powerful physical blow should be enough. He is aware of his weakness, so he will try to make some distance between you and him with cheap sorcery and even cheaper lackeys. Be ready to attack when the time is right."
The early-mentioned skulls disappeared inside two corpses, giving them new lives. Lives that had been quickly removed with few swings of the Holo Sabre. He then had to jump away as the cart suddenly lit on fire.
"You can't escape me, mortal!"
"Who ever said anything about escape?" He taunted and fired a shot at the demon's chest. It groaned loudly before clutching the bloody wound.
"A mortal can hurt me? No... you must be..."
Distraction was all Braylon needed to "kill" it. He dashed towards the demon, pointed the gun at its spine and fired a shot from very close range. Dozens of pellets tore through the ill-looking skin and dug into said spine.
"Mgraaargh!"
Not satisfied, he pointed the steaming barrel at the left ankle and fired again. The leg was torn away with huge amounts of red blood as the demon fell to its side, uttering an anguished laugh. A final blast at the chest split its body in two, turning it into a bloody heap.
"Good riddance, but it still isn't enough. As I said earlier, find the source and destroy it."
"Where should I look for?"
Lots of walking corpses and mutated animals swiftly approached the square from the road in front of him. He swapped the shotgun for a pistol and Holo Ripper combination.
"You can follow a trail, can't you?"
Fighting his way through hordes nightmare turned flesh, Braylon followed the trail of cadavers and twisted monstrosities. He eventually reached the outskirts of the town again. The night was still as bright as it had been hours ago, when he was near that lake. As for Braylon himself, restlessly killing everything that moved made him a bit tired. He promised to himself that, should he survive, he would find a nice place lay down and sleep until the afternoon of the second day.
The wave-like road passed through a tiny swamp and ended somewhere on a hill, not far from the town. Aside from hearing the typical sounds of the night, he also heard echoing screams, roars and other abominable things unpleasant to the human ear.
(Doom Metal Volume 4 – The Demons from Adrian's Pen)
Deciding to solve the situation as fast as he could, the young Vault Hunter sprinted across the road and towards the swamp. There was a large rock that stood on the left of the road at some point. A possessed human ambushed him as soon as he passed. Braylon dodged an incoming fist and jammed the Holo Ripper in his stomach through his right hip. The vibrations made by the holographic chainsaw shook the man as he roared in pain. Braylon pointed the barrel of the energy pistol at the man's jaw and fired. Both the head and the jaw fell off the body, melting into a disgusting pile of goo.
Down the road, when he already set foot in the swamp, he was attacked by another demon, identical to the tall one he found in the town square. We can safely say that they looked like twins.
It raised its hands rather than attacking directly. Said hands began glowing as four undead rose from the ground and surrounded the one who called them. While they were trying to attack Braylon with bites and scratches, the demon tried to set him on fire. Dispatching the former humans was easy, but when he killed them all, their "master" would just raise another group. So Braylon came to the conclusion that he had to eliminate the root of the problem.
When it summoned a group of undead for the third time, Braylon sliced them in two with his Holo Sabre and went straight for the demon. Stabbing the sabre into its chest, Braylon moved the sword upwards until the head and torso were cut open in two. The remains splashed to the ground with a meaty squish.
The path was now danger-free for most of the time. A small group of undead would sometimes appear, but they all went back to their eternal rest. Everything changed when he encountered the Grimm. More precisely, a new type of Grimm. A boar-like creature with four eyes, large tusks and bone-like plates all over the legs and back. It was a small group with only four specimens. *******
One of them squealed loudly, alerting others. Even if he stood approximately five meters away from them. The same Grimm that spotted him rushed recklessly at the Vault Hunter, squealing all the way. Even if the eyes were just yellowish spheres, he was able to see madness behind them, as if the creature lost all common sense when it spotted him. Same thing happened with the humanoid wolves the locals called Beowolves.
Braylon simply pointed the gun at the Grimm and pulled the trigger. Its head exploded into a refined pinkish mist as the body stumbled and fell in front of his legs.
"Boars? Seriously?"
"Don't blame me. I didn't design those."
"What idiot did thi-"
Being attacked while lowering your guard is the only logical thing that can happen. Even the Grimm knew that rule, as one of them tackled him from behind. The other two tried to stampede him to death. Braylon, since he suffered no direct damage, was able to roll away at the right time.
He was also angry.
"You were saying?"
His eyes locked with the Grimm responsible for the humiliation. He motioned with his hand for it to try again. The Grimm complied and sprinted forward like a bullet shot from a gun. Braylon was prepared, for instead of dodging the attack, he decided to take a stance.
"You chose the wrong human to fuck with! I am no normie!"
The two collided. Normally in a fight between a human and a boar, the latter would probably win. But Braylon was no normal human. He had far superior strength that surpassed even those of the best bodybuilders, so it is no surprise that he grabbed the boar by the tusks and completely stopped the attack.
"I'm gonna turn you into a damn salami!"
He released the grip on one of the tusks and uppercutted the boar Grimm. It backflipped to the other side, allowing Braylon to grab it by the leg and lift it up. He then materialized his Holo Ripper and split its belly open, releasing its insides as if they fell from a piñata. Two remained.
Their next move completely caught him off-guard.
The two remaining Grimm simultaneously bent over and spun forward with incredible speed following the eight-shaped pattern. No matter the strategy, he would always be attacked by one of the two. Better receiving the blow of one than of both of them, he thought.
He decided to jump to the right, thus evading the spin attack of the right Grimm. It was as he predicted; the left one was successful where the right one failed. Braylon was sent flying into a tree, the Shield's battery depleted by two thirds.
"So they are not completely brainless..."
The young Vault Hunter stood up and smiled.
"But now it's my turn."
Swapping Striker for the pistol he fired at the successful Grimm. The energy bullets stunned his target, giving him the opportunity to reach it safely. When he came closer, he used the Holo Ripper to slice through the neck. Large amounts of blood sprayed out of the wound as the holographic utensil cut through meat and bones. The boar Grimm was sturdy enough to squeal in pain, but not enough to actually do something to defend itself. It was shaking as if someone hit it with a taser. The whole scene strongly resembled the butchering of a pig, only few times more violent and without mercy for the animal. In the end, Braylon chopped its head off, letting the dead body to fall to the side.
Only one remained. Braylon wasn't sure if it was rage or utter madness, but the beast decided to stop spinning, its only best defensive maneuver against him, and thought it would be a good idea to impale him with the tusks. Braylon swapped his current weapons with the Striker once more and jumped sideways as the Grimm went past him. He pointed the shotgun at its side while being mid-jump and fired. While the hole was small and neat, the internal organs blew out from the other side in a shower of gore. There was no need for the second shot.
Seeing that there was no other threat nearby, he decided to take a full sprint down the road and out of the swamp.
Out of every possible scenario Braylon had imagined, being in a cemetery was not one of them. The large iron gates were bent and rusty when he was at the entrance. The place itself was a disaster. Many graves were open, likely from the risen dead, the smell of sulphur poisoned the air and there was some strange red stuff scattered like a web all over the cemetery. Apart from the mentioned details, and the air being hotter than before, everything seemed normal. Everything, except a large black sphere in the distance.
Aware that there might be danger around every corner, Braylon took a careful step forward. When he moved his head to see if anything was out of place, and found out that it wasn't, he let a sigh of relief.
"Welcome to my realm, little mortal."
This voice was much different than the one that talked to him. It was deep, calm and smooth, yet hoarse, guttural and filled with millennia of sealed hatred. It sent chills down his spine.
"I will be your living nightmare for this night." It breathed out as if its throat was crushed. He was sure he even heard it coughing.
It was only now that he noticed the black sphere in the distance getting bigger and bigger. As if it were... moving towards him.
"So tell me..."
Braylon realized that the spherical shadow was de facto a living being. How did he found out? He saw the shadow split vertically, revealing a large, red-colored eyeball with a reptillian black pupil staring him as if it tried to kill him with its gaze.
Finally, the shadow revealed itself.
"What are you afraid of?"
PDA Biopedia:
*Entry #5: Tainted
Type: Demonic Corruption – Beast
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Whenever we, or the enemy, enter into the mortal plane of existence, we tend to... confuse the natural balance. The enemy has no problem with this, as their presence bears more benevolent effects to their surroundings. We, however, are a whole another story. My brothers are so filled with negative emotions and other unpleasantries, that they unwillingly corrupt everything near them, turning even the most harmless of beings into doomsday monstrosities. Some are so powerful that their mere presence can seriously twist the reality itself. This is why most of them have special binding seals that solve the problem... most of the time."
**Entry #6: Possessed – Corpse
Type: Demonic Corruption
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "In my years-long career of Vault Hunting, I've encountered many things. Xeno beasts, bloodthirsty bandits and large battalions. But real, legit zombies? Hell no. I mean, seeing them in the movies is one thing, real life is another. Damn, does anybody stay dead anymore? Good thing they are so weak that a gust of wind can make them dead again."
***Entry #7: Lost Soul
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Don't think even for a second that just because we share a common enemy that there is brotherly love between us. Truth to be told, anyone can't stand anyone else. The only glue that keeps the rest of those fools together is you-know-who. You really don't want to go against someone who is the most powerful being in the whole creation, right after Anathema himself. The rule down here is simple; might makes right, meaning that the stronger will despise the weaker. One of the weakest tribes down here are these fools. See, they are the type of brother that hates learning only to regret it later, complaining your ears off. They never learned how to form a proper body, so they decide to take someone else's, even if it's dead. Animal, human, plant... it doesn't matter. Thing is, they have the means to do it. And they are really good at their job."
****Entry #8: Possessed – Former Human
Type: Demonic Corruption – Human
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Before I talk about possession, you need to learn something. Humans, and mortals in general, are made of two things: the physical body, which is the puppet, and the aetherial soul, given by Anathema, which is the puppeteer. Possession is, simply put, forceful removal of the original puppeteer, who was replaced with a new one. The original is aware of the puppet's actions, but can't do anything on their own to stop it. Now, why do we need this when we can form bodies of our own? Simple, really. As it turns out, mortals are, at least the gifted ones, capable of sensing our presence through things like goosebumps, horrible feelings etc. Possession partially removes that problem, because mortals are more likely to describe it as a multiple personality disorder or something like that. It also covers our presence. But what you saw here is a rather radical method. Since my brothers gained freedom, nevermind that they will be punished for their actions, they simply decided to possess mortals with a technique that removes the mortal's soul completely from the body, making it unable to ever return to its favorite meat shell. I guess you can see where this is going..."
*****Entry #9: Possessed – Faunus
Type: Demonic Corruption – Faunus
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "It appears that possession of these submortals causes severe side effects on their physical bodies, turning them into feral animals. Oh, you are wondering why I called them submortals? How else can I call something that has been created by mortals?"
******Entry #10: Arch-vile – Reanimator
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "I am not ashamed to admit that I outright hate them. Their fanatic obsession with resurrecting dead bodies is something beyond my abilities to comprehend. Not to mention their lack of physical strenght replaced with weak offensive tactics. What? You didn't know that sorcery comes from us, down here?"
*******Entry #11: Boarbatusk
Type: Grimm – Beast
Faction: Creatures of Grimm
Description: "First a bear, then a werewolf and now a boar. Am I seriously missing something? Like a theme? What's with the stupid fascination for animals? More importantly, how many variants of these monsters am I going to see in the future?"