Having acquired the first key and killed the first guardian, nothing stopped the Vault Hunter from moving on to his second target, Moloch and his key. The teleporter, rather than bringing him to the gate, it brought him in a claustrophobically small hexagonal room made of large grey bricks. Dirt crunched below his feet as he leaned on one of the walls, staring at a small wooden gate on his right, sick due to teleporting himself.
"I have to be careful with my ammo." He thought as he checked his PDA. "Hey, can you give me some."
"As soon as you step out of that rat hole."
"...You are awfully helpful with someone who is shooting your brothers."
"It's not like you can actually harm them in any way. No need to question my reasons, slave. Do as I order."
Another voice jumped in, ending their conversation. It was low-pitched, yet it felt like listening to a human man.
"And who you might be, oh mortal, that seeks to challenge Moloch in his domain?"
"Who am I is of no concern to you. I came for the key."
"So you seek to open the gate? I can't have you do that, mortal."
"Doesn't matter. I will take it anyways."
"Then so be it. My faithful allies will dispatch you to where you belong."
(Brutal Doom v19 – The Soundtrack – The Dave D. Taylor Blues (MAP08))
Ending their conversation was loud banging against the wooden gate, accompanied with beastly groans. Braylon took his Energy Pistol and Unforgiven, waiting for the inevitable. An axe broke through the wood, followed by sharp claws belonging to a humanoid hand.
"I will feast on your corpse, mortal!"
"Kill! Kill!"
"Here they come." He gritted his teeth, readying his weapons. The same axe that broke through the barrier appeared once more, tearing through the remains. Former Humans and a Possessed Faunus pushed against each other, trying to be the first ones to reach Braylon, who had all time in the world to kill everything that moved. Bloody corpses cluttered the small hallway that lead to a room with another, much larger wooden gate, decorated with unholy imagery. The very moment he reached the gate and opened it, the walls on his left and right slid away, revealing two alcoves with two tall, dark red skeletons, both humanoid and both verbally expressing their rage in the form of never-ending screeches.*
A red fist approached Braylon's face before he could react, sending him flying against a wall. Something grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him on the floor, his attackers never ceasing to express their rage.
"Not... good. Ah!" A hand grabbed him by the leg. "Too much... pain." It lifted him up and slammed against the ground. His Shield kept beeping furiously at the physical abuse, yet his soul was the one that received the worse end of the deal. He cried in pain as a pair of skeletal hands grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. The other pair punched him in the chest and back repeatedly.
"No! I'm gonna... pass out..." Knowing that if he failed to find a way out of that situation he would suffer a fate worse than death, Braylon decided to stop struggling and to respond with an attack of his own by materializing Orphan Maker, pointing at the skeleton that held him by the throat and fire, shattering its frame, breaking several bones and scattering the rest. Braylon fell as the grip on his throat loosened. Immediately reloading his gun, he fired a second shot at the other skeletal demon. It only succeeded in splitting the upper body from the legs, which fell and quickly crawled towards him.
"Get! Off! Me!" Braylon shouted as he kicked the screaming demon away from him with his right leg. He fired once more and the skeleton crumbled. "Oh boy... now that was something." A black chest filled with ammo appeared just as he regained enough strength to stand up. It was filled with a variety of ammunition, including a small pack of sniper rifle bullets. With the room clear of enemies, Braylon was able to take the elevator platform hidden behind the gate that triggered the ambush. Once down, however, he fell victim to yet another ambush.
Walking forward with Orphan Maker in hand, Braylon was busy observing the hallway-resembling room filled with two rows of pillars, one for each side. The room itself was made of some jade-colored bricks while the pillars were stone grey in color, each adorned with sculpted human skulls or skeletons bent in unnatural positions. The walls themselves were giant mosaics depicting humans offering children to a bull-headed statue sitting on a throne, surrounded either with flames or with more humans.
He felt the earth below his feet tremble slightly. Concerned, he thought it was an earthquake. It was not after five small pillars made of some black rock shot out from the ground and formed a cage around him that he discovered the truth.
Standing approximately twenty meters away from him was an Arch-Vile. But unlike the Arch-Vile subtype he encountered in his earlier travels, this one's skin was tanned as was that pair of mouflon horns on its head. The hands were clasped together and pointed at his direction while also emitting a strange red light.**
"He must be the reason why this damn thing appeared!" He tried to shake the makeshift cage, but stopped when two Reanimator Arch-Viles appeared from behind the pillars, ready to set him on fire.
"Attack the Void Caller to break its concentration."
"Right!" Braylon immediately swapped his gun for the newly-acquired Omni-Cannon, reloaded and took aim right as the Reanimators sent forward their columns of fire. A silenced bullet sailed trough the air at high speed and landed on the face of his jailor. The injured demon let out a deep, guttural cry of pain as it covered its face with both hands, red blood spilling in tiny rivers. The cage crumbled into dust and Braylon was able to jump forward as the two attacks fused together and formed an explosion that sent him flying forward, close to the new Arch-Vile.
Its palms were brought closer to the face, glowing red like before. All blood evaporated and the wound returned to the state before being shot. Now its disturbing gaze fixated itself on Braylon.
"I think I made it angry."
The Arch-Vile brought its palms in front of itself, one hovering above the other. A tiny red dot formed between them, quickly expanding into a vortex that hid the demon from Braylon's view. Suddenly, the vortex began pulling Braylon towards itself like a vacuum cleaner.
"I was wrong! It was already angry!" Braylon thought as he stabbed the Holo Sabre into the ground to block further advancement. However, the holographic weapon only managed to slow down his potential doom, certainly not the desired effect. "I need to stop him somehow!" He looked forward and noticed the two Reanimators approaching him without any difficulty. It was obvious that it only affected him and not the environment or other demons. "That gave me an idea."
As Braylon kept advancing closer and closer towards the vortex, he materialized the last grenade he had. Just like before, he activated it and waited before tossing it towards the new Arch-Vile. The grenade was pulled closer by the vortex and exploded rather than being sucked in. The Arch-Vile used its hands to defend itself, bringing an end to its attack.
"Perfect!" Braylon picked up Omni-Cannon and fired at the demon's left shoulder, the explosive shot tearing its arm away. And before it could react, a second shot formed a large hole where the forehead used to be, banishing it back to Hell.
Braylon jumped back on his feet and moved his focus to the two Reanimators. While one sent fire columns at him, the other summoned four Possessed Corpses to its aid.
"Not this again." He mentally groaned and jumped behind a pillar to avoid being set on fire, swapping Omni-Cannon for Orphan Maker as he did so. When he turned to check on the demons, he found only one Reanimator, the one with its small army of Corpses. "Where is the other one?" He received his answer sooner than desired when the second Arch-Vile popped up from behind a pillar on the opposite side of the room, ready to deliver another attack. Braylon swore as he was forced to jump sideways, barely able to avoid the attack. Just when he thought it couldn't get worse, the Corpses came too close for his comfort.
Rather than wasting precious shotgun shells on weak targets, Braylon decided to use the Energy Pistol, a gun that would achieve equal results with less costs, one headshot for one Corpse. Getting up, our Vault Hunter noticed the Arch-Vile's shadow creeping near his position. Having decided to catch the demon by surprise, he jumped sideways and pointed his shogun to the direction of the shadow only to see fire columns rushing towards him.
"Shit!" Fear was stronger than his instincts, being caught by surprise, so rather than jump away, he simply positioned his arms in front of his face. It was useless as defense, for the fire swallowed his body. The pain he felt at that moment was beyond a human's ability to describe. Not even the best techniques he knew about how to avoid thinking of pain couldn't help. Even screaming was impossible.
And yet, despite the soul-crushing attack, Braylon was standing, although barely. As his body and surroundings fumed, the Arch-Vile chuckled and came closer, ready to deliver one final strike.
"B... boo... yah.." Was all what Braylon muttered before clenching his teeth and focusing all his strenght on lifting the arm with the Orphan Maker and pulling the trigger. His senses were failing him and he began feeling dizzy, yet he could somehow feel something warm splashing on his face, followed by a wet slap of something falling. He hoped it was the demon that turned him into that state.
He leaned on the closest pillar and tried to regain his composure. The second Arch-Vile was still somewhere in the room and in a state like that, he simply wasn't able to banish it. The pain was still present, never diminishing in its acuteness. It felt weird though. His body was completely fine but he felt like every bone was broken multiple times and every muscle torn to tiniest of shreds. He was actually sweating.
Braylon heard a sinister laugh faintly echoing throguh the room. Not good, he thought as he turned around and slowly made his way towards another pillar. Knowing that he stood no chance against the second Arch-Vile, his tactic was simply to go forward and out of the cursed place. He came to his fourth pillar when he noticed something glowing on one of the pillars from the opposite row. Squinting, he noticed that something was, indeed, glowing in red color. That something were the eye cavities of a skull. For some reason, it attracted him, so after breathing in and out a couple of times, he decided to make his way towards the skull, shambling like a zombie.
Almost reaching it, Braylon wondered what was the Arch-Vile doing. Seconds after thinking that, his eyes caught something glowing to his left. It was the demon he was looking for, ready to cast its signature attack.
"I really had to jinx it, didn't I?"
He was panicking, not knowing what would come sooner; his goal or his death. Braylon extended his left arm forward towards the skull, as if the thing would run away and he had to stop it from happening. The columns of fire were halfway through the distance, but he still refused to give up. If he had to die and go back to Hell, he wanted to see what was that skull's secret. Why it had two glowing eyes. And when his fingers touched its surface, the skull retracted into the pillar and the pillar itself swiftly lifted upwards and into the ceiling. What was that skull's secret? The very last thing he thought he would see.
One of those blue spheres.
"Wow. My fucking luck... right when I was about to... die..."
Energies were leaving his body. Further advancement was impossible, for his body started protesting. Also because he would die soon. Closing his eyes, he hoped for the best.
"No... I have to... live..."
He was about to execute his last act of defiance. Hoping, despite knowing better, to survive just a little longer and prolong his miserable exsistence, he allowed himself to fall forward with his arm extended towards the sphere. Miraculously, his fingers barely brushed against the sphere's surface. Before he knew, his body received a surge of energy that helped him jump forward just in time to avoid being burned once again.
"My God, that was a fucking miracle!"
A furious roar brought him back to reality.
"Right. I will pray later."
His eyes found the Arch-Vile, angrier than ever. It was trembling with anger as its hands caught fire. Braylon swapped his Omni-Cannon for Ajax's Spear while it sent another attack in his direction. The Vault Hunter jumped sideways and fired a volley of explosive bullets into its chest, turning it into a bloody colander. "Into Hell you go!" He shouted as he fired once again. The Arch-Vile's body shook with each bullet, before falling on its back, with a pool of blood soaking the dead. Braylon stared at the corpse before stashing away his weapon and proceeding forward.
At the end of the hallway-like room stood a large black door, similar to those found on cathedrals. It required some of his strenght to push it open, since it was heavy. What stood in front of him was a stone boat dock with a lever at the end. In the middle of a lava river. In what was perhaps the largest cave unknown to mankind. His jaw dropped at the sight.
"What... the fuck." He walked forward, moving his head left and right. The cave had several clusters of weirdly-shaped stalactites and a shore on the other side filled with dead trees and stalagmites. Suddenly, something grabbed his leg, he looked down and it was a red skeletal hand that rose out from the lava. Jumping slightly at the sight, he watched as the red skull rose from the molten rock and immediately began screaming.
"Aah! Get off! Get off! Get off!" He whimpered as he slammed the demon's face with his free foot. Despite receiving such a harsh treatment, it never stopped screaming, the grip being still too strong. He then took Unforgiven and drilled a hole into its head. For a brief moment, it stopped screaming and just shook its head, only to return to its previous behavior. It took two more bullets for the skull to crumble and the body to fall where it came from.
Huffing and puffing, our teenager rushed towards the lever, investing his hope into it being a way out of the death trap. He grabbed the lever and pulled as the unending cacophony of screams invaded his ears. Braylon looked back and saw three more skeletons attempting to swim out of the lava. Something rumbled on the opposite side.
"What now?!" He turned his head again only to see a large disc-shaped platform rise out of the lava. Not waiting a minute longer than necessary, he jumped on the platform, which detached from the dock and followed the current. One skeletal demon ran foward and jumped, trying to reach him. To make sure that became nothing but unfounded optimism, Braylon materialized Striker and fired while it was in mid-air. The skeleton shattered and the bones fell below. Other two limited themselves to stare and scream in rage.
"At least that problem's gone." He sighed and turned around. "I wonder where will this thing take me to...?" Further down the river, Braylon noticed how the walls seemed to have large holes drilled in them. In normal circumstances, it would be yet another object of little to no interest. But those were no normal circumstanced and those holes could as well be disguised weapons. It made him uneasy as soon as the number of holes quickly grew. Then, immediately and without any warning, something flew out from one of the holes. Something that barely resembled a sphere, with red skin and a green eye. Something with a large maw stuck into an eternal frown. Something that roared as soon as it spotted him.***
"Ugh, besides being creeped the fuck out, I also feel the urge to vomit just by looking it."
"If you loose focus, he will vomit on you."
"Har-dee-har, I-never-took-a-shower joke. Like I haven't- " Braylon yelped at the sight of bile being shot in his direction. Luckily, he crouched, and the bile flew into lava. "Was that what I think it was?"
"Expect to see more of it."
"Thanks for encouragement. You have no idea how much it means to me... asshole."
"Now you are repeating yourself."
The only way he could hit that demon from such a large distance was to use the Omni-Cannon. But after he materialized said weapon in his hands, he noticed how more of them began flying out from their hideouts, like bees from a hive.
"Honestly now. Fuck my life."
(God of War – Cliffs of Madness)
More individuals present meant more bile bullets to dodge, which not only annoyed him, but aiming was also much harder than necessary. The demons came closer with each moment and he was currently unable to stop them. He tried to find a rythm, a blind spot of sorts. No such luck.
"Shit, I have to think fast. Otherwise I will be food for those maws."
Even if he knew how risky was his next move, he had no choice but to do it. Instead of moving around to avoid being hit, our Vault Hunter stood still and took aim as quickly as possible, pulled the trigger and jumped away. His bullet pierced the eye of one demon, which began screaming and firing its bile in random directions, before exploding into a bluish mist. Two remained.
Next one was far to close for Omni-Cannon, so three shots with the Energy pistol melted open the bulge located below the fleshy underside. Blood and organs fell into lava as the moaning demon slowly descended. It was finally banished with a no-scoped sniper shot.
A warm breeze sent chills down his spine. When he turned around, he stared directly into the cavernous mouth of a demon who managed to sneak behind him.
"No!" He shouted, firing more then five shots into its mouth, forcing it shut. Energy Pistol made way for Orphan Maker. A deafening blast shredded the beast's upper body into chunks, leaving behind a bloody mess of a mouth that collapsed on the platform.
When Braylon was about to engage the last demon in a fight, he noticed how an energy beam hit it from behind, causing it to rock back and forth. It turned around and screamed at whatever tried to hurt it. A second beam drilled a huge hole into its body, killing it. Braylon turned his eyes towards the source, only to see a bridge containing a Hell Knight and two humanoid demons with black growths for a hand.
"Razers.**** Make them your first priority if you don't wish to end up like that eyesore."
All Braylon had to do when one Razer fired, was to move his upper body slightly to the left. But as he did, the second one fired, forcing Braylon to willingly fall dow to avoid being hit.
"Damn. These ones are smart." He rolled away to dodge another laser and replied with a shot from Omni-Cannon. His target dropped down from the bridge. The Hell Knight, enraged, roared loudly before grabbing the second Razer, ripping its head off and throwing it at Braylon, who crouched. Since the head failed to do its job, it just threw the body at him. "I need to fight smarter, not harder. That said..." With the help of his explosive sniper rifle, Braylon broke the bridge and the Hell Knight fell. "Woo! Take that, fucker!"
His cheering came to a halt when the Hell Knight's hand shot out from the lava and grabbed the platform. He watched as the monster went on top of the platform, skin and flesh badly burnt. When he was about to prepare for the inevitable aggression, the Hell Knight suddenly caught fire. Unnatural, green fire. The ear-splitting scream made Braylon cover his ears as the demon turned from a hulking brute into a charred skeleton that crumbled into dust. It was soon replaced with a wall of green fire followed by another demon. One strongly resembling a Baron of Hell. The fur on its legs was black as were the big horns and spikes that grew out from the shoulders, elbows and spine. It had a large mouth for a face that split the head in two. Its fists were constantly burning with green fire.*****
"I'm so screwed." He muttered quietly, before the demon smashed its fist on the surface of the platform, forming a wave of green fire that he had to jump over in order to avoid pain. Switching his current weapons for Ajax's Spear, Braylon fired at the demon, who chuckled despite receiving small wounds in its chest. "...Show off." Both of them moved their heads upwards when they heard demonic screams. More of those red things came out. Braylon was slightly blinded by the green flash as the Baron lookalike teleported from the platform and on the next bridge not-so-far ahead.
Surviving horde after horde of those red monstrosities proved to be more and more difficult. Whenever he would get rid of a group, another, bigger, would show up. Ajax's Spear, while powerful and precise, proved to be moderately effective against them, for their red armor-like skin, while not hard to pierce, reduced the inglicted damage. He fired at either the eyes or the underside whenever he could, making his life easier only to become harder when the demon from before started firing green fireballs at him. They had the bad habit of flying faster along with splitting into smaller ones. When the platform reached the second bridge, the demon vanished once again.
After passing the second, and last bridge, everything became deafeningly quiet. The platform continued to move where the current would take it. Strange when considering the fact that lava isn't like water. But then again, who knows where our Vault Hunter ended?
Some time later, Braylon spotted a large hole in the ceiling of the cave. Coincidentally, the platform stopped moving right below the hole and began ascending like an elevator. Right then, the demon reappeared along with two Lamias.
(God of War – Mind the Cyclops)
"Nothing can stop me from finding that key!" Braylon shouted. "You hear me?! Nothing!"
The demon threw a fireball. Braylon jump-rolled to the left and got hit with the snake tail with enough force to throw him at the edge of the platform, courtesy of the Lamia. While he was busy holding the edge to prevent his fall, the second Lamia came and raised its tail, intending to pierce him with it. Braylon waited for the moment when the tail went down. He moved his body to the right, materialized Holo Claw and stabbed it into the body of the monster. It screeched while bringing the tail back upwards. Braylon jumped on top of it, brought his foot down on its face until the upper body fell and decapitated it with Holo Sabre. Seemingly not caring for the death of its "sister", the second Lamia took the opportunity and coiled around him. The demon raised his hands, definitely preparing an attack.
"She is trying to hold me down for the demon!" Braylon began squirming when he realized Lamia's attention. She even chuckled as if to confirm his suspicion. "He wants to roast us alive!"
Like the last time it happened, Braylon had to resort to brutal lashing in order to escape. With the help of Holo Ripper, he caused several wounds at Lamia's snake body, forcing her to loosen the grip. He managed to climb out and jump away just as the demon clapped its hands together, forming a stream of green fire. Hearing Lamia's uncontrollable screaming as it caught fire and began rolling on the floor was something that would be ingrained in his memories for several days later, he thought. It eventually shared the same fate as that Hell Knight.
The demon roared furiously as it slammed its fist once again on the floor, repeating the attack and dodge from their first encounter. Braylon replied with a combined attack from Unforgiven and Energy Pistol. It growled in frustration before firing several fireballs in a row, each dodged with simple sidesteps. He swapped his pistols for Striker and fired a shot, which slightly stunned the demon in front of him. It was time to end the fight.
Braylon ran up to the demon while firing one more shot. It brought down its right fist, trying to squish him like a bug. He rolled under its legs, materialized Holo Ripper and cut its leg slightly above hoof. And while such a small wound seemed ineffective in inflicting pain, it did force the demon to kneel. He used the opportunity to climb on its back, swing around its shoulder by grabbing one of the spikes and buried the holographic chainsaw near its neck. It roared, suddenly standing up, trying to shake him off. The end result was him slightly loosing control, sliding down with Ripper still activated, which split the chest open and made him fall on the platform. The demon screamed so loudly as green blood kept falling from the wound. It held its hands close to the chest, made two steps back and dissapeared in a wall of green fire, as if it never exsisted in the first place.
Just as the battle ended, the platform reached its destination. It took our Vault Hunter into a circular room where the floor and walls were made of stone. There were four pillars where the surface was completely covered with sharp spikes, four demonic-looking faces sculpted in the walls and one giant bulge on the ceiling which resembled a tumor with teeth.
"It's... quiet." Braylon turned around. "Too quiet." He did it again. "Where is everybody?" Something crashed behind him, causing an earth-shaking impact. He turned around for the last time and saw a figure barely hidden behind the veil of dust. When said dust settled, he saw the figure in all of its abominable glory. A red-skinned human with the head of a black-furred bull, wearing only a white skirt-like loincloth that reached the knees. The most disturbing feature were its incredibly human-looking eyes which definitely didn't belong on that type of head.******
"Moloch, I presume."
Moloch said nothing. Instead, he cracked his neck before talking.
"Surrender, mortal. My master demands it."
"How about no?"
"Good."
(God of War 2 – Glory of Sparta)
Moloch clapped twice and the demonic faces opened their mouths. Each released exactly one fireball which stood still as soon as it came out. Every fireball expanded until it burst into even bigger flames. Said flames died down, revealing four red-skinned humanoids with muscled physiques, glowing orange eyes and fire instead of a lower body. *******
"Come on. Not you too."
Moloch assumed a fighting stance. "If rebellion is what you seek, then I must reply with an iron fist."
"Sure. Whatever."
"Ifrits! Attack!"
The four humanoids chuckled, casting a larger, comet-like fireball in his direction which left a trail of fire on the floor behind it. Braylon jumped away and the fireballs crashed into Moloch, exploding. He came out unscathed. However, the trail of fire refused to dissapear, splitting the room in four parts.
One Ifrit approached Braylon, leaving behind burning floor, just like its attack. With a simple swing of a hand, it fired three fireballs at once and at fast speed. Haven't his instincts been that developed, he would have suffered third degree burns at that moment. The Vault Hunter materialized Ajax's Spear and fired. After he dealt enough damage, the Ifrit let out a sharp cry of pain as its own fire consumed it completely. Interestingly, all fire that belonged to it extinguished itself.
"You are just a mortal."
Braylon turned around when he heard the obvious provocation only to see Moloch delivering a fist straight to his face, sending him flying on the other side of the arena, near a pillar.
"D...damn. Good thing he doesn't hurt like demons do..." Braylon thought as he stood up but he had to crouch in order to avoid getting hit by an Ifrit. "Need to remove these bastards first if I want to deal with head honcho." He was about to focus on the demon when he saw Moloch lifting his hands up, setting them on fire then waving them forward as if throwing something. It was a technique to summon a giant wall of fire that headed for his direction. Knowing that Moloch's attacks were relatively weaker compared to a demon's, he decided to focus his attention on the Ifrit, letting the Shield to take care of it, since fire is innefective on such technology. Braylon materialized Holo Sabre, stabbed the Ifrit in its chest while being set on fire by Moloch's attack and fired from point blank range in its head with the Striker, banishing it.
"You are not worthy of challenging a god."
He felt something grabbing him by the back of the throat, lifting him up, punching his back, thus depleting his Shield and throwing him on the other side, next to two Ifrits. This time, though, he managed to land on his feet.
"Wait untill I get my hands around your throat."
One Ifrit stood on each side, simultaneously throwing a fireball. Braylon rolled towards the nearest demon, switched his weapons for Holo Ripper, quickly stood up and pierced its chest. He then pulled it out and quickly went for the head through the jaw, ending its physical exsistence. Braylon turned around and charged straight at the last Ifrit in the room, dodging the demon's swipe and slicing one of its arms. While it held the open wound, Braylon materialized Orphan Maker and fired. The Ifrit was no more and all of the fire was gone.
"And now for our friend."
Moloch ran up to Braylon and delivered a jab and an uppercut, which Braylon dodged with ease since they were slow. He never expected for Moloch to punch the ground, causing an explosion that sent him backflipping several meters away.
"This is so fucking tiresome." Braylon complained mentally as he materialized Holo Sabre. "Maybe I should wait for him to attack first..." He fired with his Unforgiven but Moloch sidestepped with abnormal speed, each time getting closer and closer to the Vault Hunter. After repeating the triple punch attack, one that Braylon now recognized, acting accordingly by jumping away at the third punch, Moloch's frame caught fire as he jumped into air. As soon as he landed, a massive ring of fire formed around him and spread all over the room. Since Braylon didn't know what would happen, he was forced to take the attack. It removed half of the battery, but Moloch seemed exhausted.
Braylon breathed in and out before rushing at his enemy. He grabbed Moloch mid rush and charged against the spikes of the nearest pillar, impaling him. There were no painful cries or moans that would satiate Braylon's rage, so he continued his rampage by stabbing Moloch's chest multiple times until one of his hands punched the Vault Hunter away, giving him time to free himself, even if now sporting multiple injuries.
"This is not enough to stop the me!" The monster shouted as he tore off a piece of the pillar and hurled it at Braylon. Enraged, he clapped once again. Braylon thought he would summon Ifrits again but that wasn't the case. Instead, the demonic faces would now open their mouths, spit a fireball at random and close them again, proving to be an environmental hazard.
"Just what I needed." Braylon thought as he readied himself as Moloch formed a flaming longsword out of thin air.
"You will perish. Like every other mortal."
With each swing of his longsword, moloch was able to cast a wave of fire that inexplicably sailed trough the air. Braylon had to double his alertness, for now he had to care for yet another threat. Moloch swung his weapon four times before stabbing it into the earth, creating a pillar of fire wherever Braylon stepped. This would go on until he came closer and fired a shot with Striker.
Moloch instantly pulled the sword out and roared with all his might as his frame caught fire once again. He pulled back his sword then forcefully pointed its tip at Braylon. The flames on his weapon grew brighter before forming a fiery tornado that went towards the desired location. Our Vault Hunter had to thank the nearest pillar for saving his life, for it proved to be an excellent wall against such a devastating attack. Not everything was bad for him, because Moloch was once again exhausted.
"Now or never!"
Braylon ran up to his target, jump-rolling forward to evade a swipe with the sword. He materialized Orphan Maker and fired. Moloch, stunned, loosened slightly his grip on the sword, allowing Braylon to grab it. Both parties struggled for dominance over the weapon, but it turned to Braylon's favor when he reloaded the gun and fired again.
Now that Moloch let go of the sword, Braylon turned it around, sprinted towards Moloch and impaled him. He ran as fast as he could towards one of the demonic faces that was about to throw a fireball and rammed both Moloch and the sword into the mouth. The fireball, which in normal circumstances would simply fly out, crashed into the monster's back as the mouth began closing. It wasn't enough, because Moloch held the mouth open with his hands, so Braylon had to replace Orphan Maker with Holo Sabre and stab him repeatedly until he gave up. Once that happened, the mouth, now malfunctioning, began chewing and burning the screaming beast. It came to a point where the mouth snapped Moloch in two, finally closing shut and defeating him once and for all
"Damn... that was a bit too brutal for my liking." Braylon sighed. "At least the nightmare's over. I only have to find the key and I can return to that gate."
With Moloch's defeat the tumorous growth on the ceiling opened its mouth and spat out a black and red chest shaped like a coffin. Inside, he found a ruby red skull, ammunition including two grenades and a laser weapon from his reality. A unique tool of destruction that people dubbed Excalibastard, a twisted reference to its sharp bayonet.
"I might start liking this whole fighting-bad-guys stuff... just not today."
A piece of the wall retreated into the ground, revealing a hidden teleporter that would take him back to the main gate.
Two words. Doom. Eternal. I know. Basically modern version of Hell on Earth. Not that it will be any less awesome, mind you. Anyone noticed the Pain Elemental, Arch-Vile and the Arachnotrons? Seems like Barons also got an upgrade. Boy, I tell you. It's going to be even better than the 2016 version.
So here is the second chapter of the arc. If anyone asks, Caconoids are basically the newer version of Cacodemons while a Fury is just a Revenant on steroids minus rocket launchers. At this point I feel like I can safely say it; I will include enemies from all games in the series. Well, not all of them because I have some of my own, but you get the point. But these special versions, like Hell Razer, probably won't get subtypes of their own, like classical ones will.
PDA Biopedia:
*Entry #48: Fury
Type: Demonic Corruption
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Hatred is the greatest weapon ever created. Love moves mountains. Hatred flattens them. Hatred also gives birth to rage, an even more devastating emotion. When combined, these two can turn even the biggest of cowards into death incarnate. And believe it or not, some individuals are too angry to die. Take my brothers as an example. Some absolutely refuse to admit defeat at the hands of a mortal, to the point that, when they eventually return, their bodies reanimate themselves. Using the raw, brutal emotions of their ex-owners as an energy source, these bloodthirsty vessels go on relentless crusades against anything that is mortal in nature, slaughtering lesser beings with gusto that rivals that of our strongest brothers, feeding but never quenching their thirst for blood and death. All the while screaming to the heavens above, their twisted songs acting as reminders to mortals that even in death we still stand victorious."
**Entry #49: Arch-Vile – Void Caller
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Arch-Viles with a higher rank than Reanimators. Void Callers received that name because they learned to bend the void between worlds at their will, usually in the form of techniques you experienced yourself. Because of the nature of their sorcery, Void Callers don't have attacks of their own, at least not direct ones, so they limit themselves to being support units, either to massive groups of cannon fodder or few strong individuals. Another ability of theirs, which makes them primary targets whenever spotted, is complete revival of the nearest brothers. Yes. They are that annoying."
***Entry #50: Caconoid
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "So you might remember how I talked about some brothers eating mortals for fun and their fate afterwards. Allow me to tell you that these ones are far from that. Caconoids and their ilk eat because they are eternally, mindlessly hungry beasts. Before they became living balloons, they used to starve mortals, often to death. How the tables have turned. Grotesquely, I might add. But even they pale in comparison to another, more disgusting tribe..."
****Entry #51: Hell Razer
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Perhaps some of the smartest brothers I ever had. Unlike an Imp, a Hell Razer likes to turn one of his hands into a cannon capable of firing concentrated Hell energy. Rarely you will find them jumping into fray with others. They prefer high and hidden places, where they can snipe off any unsuspecting victim."
*****Entry #52: Dark Tyrant
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell - Hero
Description: "Sorvek, called "Dark Tyrant", was a brother that received his title of Baron thanks to destructive crusades he led against mortal races back then. Sometimes he would convince mortals that he is a god and, when entire planets ended up worshipping him, he would order mass sacrifices in his name, killing millions without raising a single finger. After banishment, he used deception and trickery to drag down as many mortals souls he could."
******Entry #53: Moloch
Type: Hellspawn
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "I never found out who programmed him to ask for human sacrifice. Not much is known about him, mostly because he was made in secrecy by others. Next."
*******Entry #54: Ifrit
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "One can never say that we lack dedication and Ifrits are the proof. Ifrits, also known as Afrits or Efreets, are the greatest fire manipulators among our ranks. Their arsonistic tendencies help especially in crowd control situations or when we simply need to destroy everything. Just don't put them near trees. Remember, only you can prevent forest fire." (Increased Incendiary damage, immunity to Incendiary damage, extreme weakness against Cryo damage.)
Arsenal:
- Newest Addition: Excalibastard
Pistol: Energy Pistol, Unforgiven
Shotgun: Striker, Orphan Maker
Assault Rifle: Ajax's Spear
Sniper Rifle: Omni-Cannon
Energy Weapon: Excalibastard, Fornax
Shield: The Bee
HWM: Holo Sabre, Holo Ripper, Holo Claw