Now that Braylon acquired the second key, he was free to return to the main gate, where they would complete their purpose. It was as quiet as he remembered, with the present corpses refusing to decay. His biggest concern was the amount of stress he put on his body because of the quests he imposed on himself. Physical fatigue was a risk he wasn't willing to take by any means. The only way to prevent a worst-case scenario, was to create a cocktail of drugs with the PDA that would keep his body in check. He knew of the potential dangers it could cause, but he didn't mind. Some things were more important than others.
"So." The new voice came back after he finished. "You really don't want to save your life, do you?" It asked as Braylon went towards the gate. "I'm giving you a chance, mortal. Go back where you came from and I will forget your intrusion. If you open that gate, you will learn what it means to be my enemy."
"I'm not going anywhere until I stop this invasion." He replied as he inserted the first skull. "It's my fault for all of this. And it is my duty to stop it. Whatever the cost!" He inserted the second key and waited for the result. To his dissapointment, nothing happened, not even a click of some hidden mechanism or anything similar.
"Have it your way."
The gate suddenly exploded outwards, sending Braylon flying to the other end of the room. Splinters crashed against walls and floor, emitting dozens of faint echoes. A veil of smoke spread from the gate's position. Braylon cursed silently, staring at the now-gone obstacle, recognizable fear grasping firmly his being.. A tall silhouette appeared, walking towards him. It didn't took long before the figure revealed itself. It was a red-skinned giant with black wild hair, wearing a loincloth made of the pelts of some unrecognizable beast and holding a spiked war club that ancient samurai used in battle. Reptillian yellow eyes, a mouth stuck in a snarl adorned with fang-like tusks and a pair of horns growing out of its forehead; Such unique features belonged to a specific type of demon known as Oni.*
"That's a huge one." He thought as the Oni blew fire at him like a dragon. Luckily, he managed to crawl away just in time to avoid being hit. "Another fire user. How do I defeat that gorilla? I doubt my guns can hurt it." The Oni growled in rage as it walked forward and swung with its club, missing the rolling target and hitting the wall, causing an earthquake. "What strenght! Better be extremely careful with this one." Gripping the club tightly, it striked the floor, cracking it and prolonging the earthquake, before breathing fire once more. Again, Braylon evaded most of the damage but the fire reached his legs before he could jump at a safe distance.
He couldn't feel his legs.
"It got me." He thought between surges of pain, with the Oni coming closer. "Wait, maybe..."
The Excalibastard, a laser weapon he acquired after he defeated Moloch, materialized in his hands, aimed at the forehead and fired. Because it is a laser weapon, the Excalibastard is extremely precise, more than some sniper rifles can ever hope to be. When combined with the speed of a shot and its elemental ability to freeze targets rather than setting them on fire, as it is typical of a laser, you get a weapon that many wish to have. Is it a wonder, that the beam landed perfectly where he aimed? It didn't instantly freeze the Oni or anything like that, it isn't a Maliwan after all, but it was a perfect repellent against an immediate attack, because it walked backwards, moaning while holding its face.
"Ouch, brain freeze." He joked as his legs stopped hurting. "I just found your weak spot." Removing its hand, the Oni gripped tightly its club as it ran towards Braylon, who kept firing with his weapon. It took more than five headshots with Excalibastard to banish it completely. "About fucking time. For a second I thought he would kill me."
With the threat now gone, the Vault Hunter was able to explore that area beyond the gate. Whatever it was, it became a ruin with piles of rubble. It was definitely a change of ambience from before. Nothing extravagant or magnificent. Just plain, old ruins. But even that paled to one single detail that helped Braylon understanding why exactly was there a need for such a complex gate.
Among the piles of dust and wasted construction materials lay an obsidian-black pillar, two to three heads taller than a human. It had a pile of sculpted skulls as a base, with two tiny Gargoyles on left and right, sitting on said pile. The surface of the shaft was covered with engraved symbols, except for one horned skull held by a pair of skeletal hands sticking out of it. As for the capital, it consisted of four horn-like tusks, each placed at one corner, with the tip pointing at a floating crimson-orange orb of light. It was a construct that the voice called "the Dark Totem".**
"What does it do?"
"Think of it as an improved version of the Gore Nest but thrice as powerful. Now I understand how this place came to be. It is because of this instrument."
"Really?"
"Yes. A normal Gore Nest is unable do such a thing."
"I... see." Braylon commented as he stared at the Totem. There was something unusual about it, that made Braylon shiver. Even the temperature in the room seemed to lower itself without an explanation. "So... I guess this thing will bring me to where I need to go or...?"
"A Dark Totem is always connected to a core, called Dark Obelisk. Using it, you will access to the reality where the Dark Obelisk is located."
"And what can I expect there?"
"What you saw here was nothing compared to what you will encounter there. Do not act foolish. You will be outpowered, outnumbered and outsmarted. Fighting is pointless, because you will die. You are useless to me if you die. Your only concern is finding the Dark obelisk. Destroy it and everything will return as it was."
"Huh. Okay." Braylon gulped. "What now?"
"Now, place your marked hand on the skull and wait."
The mark on his hand started bleeding seconds after he grabbed the skull. He felt intense pain in his arm as the world around him started to spin, ending with a bright orange flash that blinded him completely. All of his senses simultaneously shut down. He couldn't see, smell or hear. If he was somehow wounded, he wouldn't know. It was an unique experience, not to mention a frightening one, for such a young mortal.
(Doom: Requiem – Map 12/Militant Reprisal)
His senses returned back to him. It felt like a sudden slap to the face. Unprepared, he gasped loudly as eyes readjusted to normality, able to see the unchanged Totem in front of him, blocking his view. The first response was to let go of the skull and turn around. His skin tickled, his ears buzzed and his nose felt itchy. "God, that was worse than that stupid teleportation. Thought I was gonna loose it for a second." He thought, panting like a dog, eyes darting from one spot to another. "Where am I, exactly?"
Ambience was, without a doubt, subject to change. Sky above was painted in bright orange as was the rocky-sand terrain that connected the black platform, on which he stood, with a set of stairs that led to a large, metallic door of a facility painted in lime green, just like the walls that surrounded him. A sign was painted on the door, an acronym, to be precise; UAC. The same acronym that can be found on his Energy Pistol.
Because the place was under invasion by unholy forces, grotesque additions weren't lacking. Corpses were torn apart, laying on the floor and stairs, all wearing strange green uniforms. Those more unfortunate ended up on a stake, with some still being alive, placed either on the roof or on the walls. One even ended up crucified near the previously-mentioned wall, with everything below the hips missing. An overwhelming number of flying creatures and demons infested the sky, crushing all of Braylon's nonexsistent hopes of survival below zero, a testimony that the infernal invaders left behind.
Fearing that a group of nearby Caconoids might have sensed him, Braylon began running towards the stairs, stopping when he saw one Lost Soul accompanied by two lookalikes; pitch black skulls with green, glowing cracks, eyes and fire, each sporting dark brown mouflon horns and each slightly bigger than the Lost Soul. *** He feared that they would bring their rage upon him, but was surprised to see the two lookalikes circling around the Lost Soul until all of them vanished in orange fire-light, spawning a creature that strongly resembled a Baron of Hell. It had two different pairs of horns, black like the rest of its body. It also had orange, pulsating cracks all over its frame, starting from the orange-glowing eyes, almost resembling trails of tears. He couldn't see its hands or hooves, because they were constantly burning with orange fire.****
Another reason why Braylon stopped was because of the metallic door that opened by itself. Someone clad in green armor and helmet ran out near the stairs, turned around and began firing at something with their rifle. A large hand suddenly grabbed their head and squeezed, crushing it. A moment later, the perpetrator showed themself to him. Braylon couldn't describe what he was looking at without sounding ridiculous. It was a demon, because of the fear effect, but it made no normal sense to him. It had five limbs, all with different types of hands, two heads, each equipped with a long, black tongue and grayish skin.*****
When he materialized Excalibastard to use it again, the demon on the roof fired an orange fireball at him. Even with the speed superior to that of a Baron's, the long distance allowed Braylon to easily evade the attack. The fireball hit the platform, melting a hole in it.
"Fire that turns into lava?"
Braylon started sweating. Just like the voice told him, he was outnumbered and surrounded. His only way was blocked by two threats he never saw before while the air above was filled with things that made any kind of air travel impossible, including the group of Caconoids that did, de facto, sensed him and began flying their way towards him. The five-limbed monster leaped forward. Braylon, who stared at the demon's flying form, immediately took aim and fired, before jumping away from the trajectory of a Caconoid's bile blob. The freezing ray hit it in the chest and, thankfully, froze it completely. It crashed down, breaking into pieces.
The Caconoids kept their bombarding the field with their bile as Braylon ran upstairs. He took down one member of that group with Excalibastard while materializing Ajax's Spear. Reaching the top, he noticed two Eurynomus staring at the crucified corpse, which ran away when he heard a loud growl behind himself. He turned around but failed to see anything, only hearing footsteps. Knowing what that meant, Braylon fired in that direction, hoping to hit the desired target and stopping only when the demon returned visible as it dropped on the ground.
He opened the door and was met with a small squad of Former Humans and Corpses, standing in the middle of the reception room typical for such institutions. Before he did anything else, he gunned down the squad then closed the door behind himself. He leaned against the door and sighed in relief but cursed when he noticed a hole in the ceiling on the far left corner of the room, large enough for a Caconoid to pass through.
Not all threats were eliminated. He had three paths, with two of them blocked. Left path was blocked with burning debris and two new threats. The path forward was blocked by a random Ifrit that teleported into the room, summoning a wall of fire behind itself. As for the threat, the best way to describe it is to call it a burning corpse with embers for skin. It reminded Braylon of a Returner due to the ghastly ethereal green light emanating from the eyes and mouth.******
The two burning creatures dug their fingers into their bodies, tore a piece of their flesh and tossed them in his direction as a support for the Ifrit's own fireball. Braylon jumped behind a turned iron table on his right as the burning flesh, combined with the large fireball, exploded in an inferno of gargantuan proportions, completely blocking the way back.
"My only option is to take the right door." He thought while dematerializing Ajax's Spear and reloading Excalibastard. After he jumped out from his cover, his first shot hit one of the burning humanoids, which exploded as well. Second shot killed the second monster. Dodging another of Ifrit's attacks, Braylon opened the door and closed it behind himself. He heard loud banging on the other side. He payed no mind as he went downstairs and turned left.
As it turned out, the F-shaped hallway had many options to choose from. To his right was an area he couldn't see; his closest option. Few meters forward stood a metallic door with bloodstained claw marks. Down the hallway stood another door and then there was the second area to the right. He didn't have a lot of time to make choices, because the door at the end of the hallway opened, revealing a small group of Returners that resembled 18th century soldiers of the British Army, armed with muskets. He had to take the first area on the right. There, near a mutilated corpse, stood two Peons along with a leathery brown Imp, who also had a mouth, spikes growing from its body and two blood red eyes. *******
He disposed of them when he fired the first shot into one of the Peons, banishing it, then ran up to the second while dodging a fireball from the brown Imp, stabbed its head with the bayonet then fired a shot that went through said head and straight into the third Imp, freezing it. Removing the bayonet, he used it again to break the frozen Imp into pieces. Done with that task, Braylon decided to take a look at the outside area through a window. He saw an excavation site near a burning building, infested with all kinds of demons.
"Guess that hole in the ground is where I need to go..."
Turning around, he leaned on the wall and peeked slightly in the direction of the firing squad. However, the wall on the opposite side of the hallway suddenly exploded as a Hell Knight charged through, surprising the Vault Hunter and throwing him on the ground, disarmed. The Hell Knight came forward, grabbed Braylon and smashed him against the wall two times then tossed him in the same hole it came out of.
"Damned, brainless..." He cursed mentally as his face rose from the ground. Braylon frowned when he noticed a large shadow in front of him. Raising his head, his jaw fell as he saw yet another type of demon. Physically, it resembled a Bull Demon but large, bulky and muscular, almost resembling a wild boar with pinkish skin and red, beady eyes. ********
"I hate this day. Whichever it is." The demon immediately opened its mouth, trying to bite his head off. He cursed loudly as he rolled away seconds before its mouth closed. "Not today, pal!" He shouted, materializing Striker. "Now go back to-!" He fired a shot at the thing's head, stunning it but nothing more. "...oh." The demon shook its head as Braylon ran out of the room and back into the hallway. "I'm not dealing with this shit!"
Adrenaline clouded his rational side of the brain, so only after he went back to the hallway did he remember that both the firing squad and the Hell Knight were still present and waiting for him. And now there was that pinkish creature behind him. In order to evade another volley of shots, our Vault Hunter rolled forward, thus coming near the Hell Knight. He didn't want to turn his eyes away from the giant in front of him, but the loud footsteps behind him aroused his curiosity. It was that pink abomination, charging at him like a very angry bull. Braylon jumped sideways, more out of instinct than out of will. The demon, rather than hitting Braylon, smashed against the Hell Knight and both destroyed the wall behind them, falling somewhere outside.
Being free from a big weight, Braylon grabbed Excalibastard and dematerialized it while also switching Striker for Ajax's Spear and one grenade. He used said grenade to blast away the Returners, waited for the Condemned to appear, then banished them all with his assault rifle, clearing the path. Walking forward, the metallic door opened by itself, revealing a Pain Elemental with thick white fur, apparently waiting to ambush its next victim. (*) Braylon immediately retreated back into the area from before as the Pain Elemental spat three ice shards from its mouth, glowing with the same color as the fur. He managed to reach cover before being hit.
"Where did that bastard come from?" He peeked around the corner, seeing how the demon slowly flew its way to him. Grabbing his Energy Pistol, the Vault Hunter jumped out from his cover and fired from both guns. Meanwhile, some Imps and Former Humans tried to walk out from the same room where the Pain Elemental waited. His bullet barrage caused the floating abomination to drop to the ground. Immediately after he ran behind cover once again, the Pain Elemental exploded. Braylon watched in awe as a large portion of the room was suddenly covered in ice and snow. When he turned to deal with the remaining threats, he found out that the rest of the group was completely frozen still.
"Damn..." Not wishing to taste his luck, he broke every ice statue he could find before moving on to the passageway, which lead to a small circular room with an exit door. Two things happened simultaneously as he stepped into the room. One, a wall went down, revealing a tiny room with two of those five-limbed demons he encountered earlier. And two, the exit door exploded, forcing Braylon to retreat. The pitch-black demon from the roof, or at least its lookalike, was responsible for that explosion, proved when it was the only demon that walked in.
"Un-fucking-believable." He cursed mentally as he fired at one the fastly-approaching mismatched demons, blowing away one of its heads. It didn't stop it from trying to kill him though. As he killed it, by destroying the other head, the black demon threw a fireball that may or may not have been inteded for the second one. Whatever its intention was, it managed to burn its own ally into a charred corpse. "Sucks to be him."
The black demon roared as it smashed its fists into the ground, sending a wave of explosions in Braylon's direction. Unable to retreat in time, the explosions threw him into the wall of the passageway. At least he was able to stash his weapons, otherwise they would be damaged beyond repair. Almost loosing consciousness from the sudden trauma he experienced, Braylon tried to crawl away, behind a safe cover, but it was futile. The demon nearly reached him and, should he fail to invent a strategy, he would most likely wish he never exsisted.
Fornax was the only answer his mind came up with. At first, he wasn't willing to use it, because he feared that he wouldn't have enough ammo for it when it would be really useful. But when he heard the unmistakable screams, cries and moans of Imps, Former Humans, Bull Demons and even Furies, emanating from the room, he was more than happy to empty what little ammo he had. So when the black demon extended its arm towards Braylon, who secretly materialized Fornax and hid it under his body, ready to deliver one last strike, the Vault Hunter suddenly turned around, screaming as he fired plasma at his attacker. When it was damaged enough, it let out an echoing cry as its body ruptured into orange fire, turning itself into an inferno that lasted only seconds before extinguishing itself, leaving no trace of the demon's exsistence. Curiously, Braylon thought he saw the fire moving in such a way as to form an angry demonic face just a moment before vanishing into nothingness.
The pain made it hard for him to move, yet he was still able to release plasma into the horde. Some, like the Furies, turned to ash. Others were burnt to a crisp. The flesh of some simply evaported or liquefied. He didn't know the exact number, but it was beyond twenty for sure. Braylon kept his finger on the trigger, never moving his eyes away from the horde. When the ammo ran out, he simply swapped Fornax for Ajax's Spear. He even threw the last grenade he had, removing seven entities and heavily injuring four. It went on for what felt like an eternity, to the point that he thought he would ran out of ammo before his enemy ran out of cannon fodder.
Their number slowly dwindled as he continued gibbing demons with explosive bullets. When the last pair of brown Imps were banished, all that was left was a room filled with corpses and enough gore to paint a whole town in red. During this time, his injuries healed as well, allowing him to proceed. It took caution when he walked towards the exit to avoid slipping on the blood or organs. Filling two nearby Harpies with bullets, Braylon ran towards the nearest cover he could find; a pile of wooden and iron crates neatly stacked near a large excavator.
On his way there, he switched the assault rifle for Striker, killing a Lost Soul that flew towards him. A brown Imp jumped down from a crate and towards him but was gibbed mid-air with a shot. The other two Imps on another crate limited themselves to throwing fireballs at him. One Hell Razer stood on top of the excavator, firing death beams at the mortal.
Braylon thought that the site would be somewhat cleared after he annihilated the horde, but he was very wrong. Pain Elementals, Lost Souls and Caconoids were flying in the sky while the ground was infested with several Abominations, Zombie Pigmen and other demonic filth. Two types in particular caught his interest. One looked like a black Imp, but with monkey-like frame, a tail, a mouth similar to an insect's and small limbs attached to their bellies. (**) The other also looked like an Imp, but was hunched over and had hook-like arms. This one was capable of teleportation. (***)
A high-pitched screech made Braylon point the Striker upwards, where a five-limbed demon was about to leap down on him. Secretly materializing Orphan Maker behind his back, he pointed the Striker at it, but was swatted away as the demon threw him on the ground. "Surprise!" Braylon yelled when he suddenly brought out Orphan Maker and fired, tearing the demon in half.
"I believe I told you how you should focus on finding the Dark Obelisk."
"Easy for you to say. There's a fuckton of them!"
"That is your problem. Not mine."
Braylon growled as he got up, reloading his gun and dematerializing Striker. A pinkish Bull Demon lookalike appeared from around the corner and immediately charged at him just as one of those hook-armed Imps teleported in front of him. Jumping sideways, he let the two entities crash against each other and began running for the large cave-hole in the ground.
As he ran, his eyes briefly moved towards the burning building somewhat far away from him. An Oni walked out from said building, accompanied by several Hell Knights. When the Oni spotted Braylon, it grabbed one of the Knights, bit its head off and tossed the corpse at him like tossing a rock. Thankfully Braylon was faster, so the corpse landed somewhere behind him. However, as he moved closer to the hole, he noticed four metallic barrels standing close to it and one Baron of Hell on the opposite side, trying to hit Braylon with one of its green fireballs. The first fireball missed him completely. The second missed him again, but went straight for the barrels.
"Uh-oh."
The barrels exploded violently, throwing our Vault Hunter into the cave dug out by the people of that reality. Earth itself shook briefly, before closing the way back with a huge pile of rocks.
(Doom 64 – Alpha Quadrant)
"Every fucking time." Grumbling like an old person, our Vault Hunter dusted himself off, unharmed. His eyes became saucers when they caught a glimpse of his current surroundings. The entire man-made cave was dark red in color, similar to blood. Black candles formed a path that led somewhere deeper into the earth, deeper into the darkness where every inch of his body feared to tread, telling him to turn around and walk away. Everything was fine. He could find another way. "D... don't tell me..."
Every now and then he would hear faint, unintelligible whispers that were neither angry or cheerful, often accompanied with a short burst of hot wind, adding to the already unbearable conditions.
"The terraforming process turns worlds into something like what you are seeing right now. This is the first step for devouring a whole reality."
"Devouring a whole reality?" Slow footsteps inside each circle of light increased in speed with each transition. After all, darkness had eyes, ears and mouths.
"Follow the road. You should be close to the Dark Obelisk."
Someone screamed in the darkness, not far away from him. Orphan Maker found itself pointing at the nothingness that surrounded Braylon. The nearby candles flickered.
"Wait, I'm stupid..." Ordering his PDA to activate the night vision, Braylon blinked once, letting his eyes to modify. "What? I can't see through the darkness!" Another scream. This time, it was behind him. "How am I supposed to fight against something if I can't see it?"
Moving to the next island of light, Braylon returned his vision to normal. Something was watching him in the darkness. Could it be demons? He would be under attack if that were the case. And what if it was a clever trap? His enemy was, in all honesty, a force as old as time, that knows how to weaponize a mortal's weakness. A sudden brown Imp that jumped out from its hideout brought his mind back into reality, as Orphan Maker effortlessly banished it. Another one appeared shortly after, only to meet the same end.
The road of candles ended when Braylon reached a small outpost, near a gargantuan platform that led down into the abyss. There was a computer on a metallic table, under a tent, near a bed and few crates. Not that the sight made him calmer, despite the fact that few electric lanterns made the area more visible.
Braylon approached the computer. Perhaps he would find out how exactly a demonic invasion happened that caught them so unprepared. What he found instead was a pentagram on an orange background filled with overlapped symbols, constantly changing between various levels of brightness. He could also hear a strange, low humming noise emanating from the device, almost like a grunting animal.
A frightening scream raised his attention as one demon with hooks for arms teleported just few meters in front of him, near the wall to the opposite side. He couldn't even raise his gun properly and the demon vanished once more, reappearing slightly closer to him. Braylon was prepared, so he pulled the trigger, but it teleported once more. While he began inserting two new shells into the barrels, the demon reappeared even closer and leaped at him with the agility of a feline. However, Braylon grabbed the metallic table with one hand and threw it forward. It slammed into the table, not expecting such an improvised move, allowing Braylon to finish reloading and pull the trigger again, tearing the demon into chunks.
"In general, try to avoid getting surprised by Wraiths."
"Uh-huh. Now where do I go?"
"Down, obviously." Sighing, the Vault Hunter walked to the platform, pushed a button and waited for the descent. Other than machines, nothing else made a sound. He grunted, checking on ammo and the Orphan Maker repeatedly, sometimes even scratching himself swiftly before clutching the weapon even tighter. Despite receiving a brief moment of peace, he still felt as if he was being watched. Whispers became more frequent as he descended further down. He wished to ignore them, yet his heart raced in his chest, expecting something to happen. Then, a demonic laugh echoed through the cave, so loud that he thought it came from somewhere nearby.
"In the end, I knew that one of them would betray me and confess everything. I also knew that you would send someone to deal with the "problem". You were never known as a type who likes competition, after all."
Finding bravery, Braylon responded to the taunts.
"Stop hiding behind others and show yourself!"
Another laugh, even creepier than the last. "And you must be his new pawn, correct? What did he promise this time? Wealth? Power? Fame... Freedom? Why are you so surprised? Do you honestly think we would get this far without necessary knowledge? Truly depressing. Didn't Anathema warned you all to never trust one of us?"
"I don't understand, what did we ever do to you to deserve all of this?!"
"You are in the middle of things you will never be able to comprehend anyways. Why should I bother with explanations then? Even now you serve your puppeteer without even knowing whom he is. Not that it matters now."
Two monkey-like Imps teleported on the platform as a powerful earthquake shook the whole site.
"He thinks that two Vulgars will be enough to stop me. For being a brother, he truly doesn't know me."
The Vulgar on the left stood on two legs as its right hand formed a blue plasmaball, hurling it at Braylon who sidestepped, only to be attacked by the second one with a swipe of its claws. It hurt, but he couldn't reward himself with rest, so he decided to reply back with a shot from Orphan Maker, sending it flying off the platform. Throwing out the empty shells, Braylon was forced to roll sideways as the last Vulgar leaped forward. When it landed, Braylon banished it with a shot.
"I really like this gun."
An orange pentagram appeared on the platform, forming black smoke out of which a new type of demon came out. It was dark pink in color and reminded Braylon of a Pain Elemental but with two mouths instead of arms and a black horse-like mane. It gave off a sinister laugh before taking flight. (****)
Braylon immediately switched Orphan Maker for Omni-Cannon and fired a shot. It tore off a chunk of meat from the body, inflicting some pain that was, unfortunately, not enough to prevent it from spitting out two black Lost Souls like the ones on the roof. Even the new Lost Souls were an unpleasant surprise, as they flew around, trying to hit him with small green orbs, rather than charging at him like "normal" ones. They were harder to hit because they were faster, yet he managed to banish one of them. When he saw that the new Pain Elemental was about to summon two more demons, Braylon quickly aimed for its eye and pulled the trigger. This type exploded too, but the explosion was far more powerful, to the point that it destroyed the last black Lost Soul that, accidentally, was nearby.
"I need to watch out for these fucking guys."
The platfrom stopped its journey when it reached the bottom. Braylon was standing in front of some strange ruins where another site was abandoned. This one had three corpses scattered randomly around the area. Going past the ruins, our Vault Hunter found a wall shaped like a horned skull with multiple eye-sockets, where the teeth acted as a gate of sorts. Before he could come closer, another threat teleported in front of the teeth-gate. A large Bull Demon with orange skin, multiple mouths and four hands. (*****)
"Ew. From which hole did you crawl out from?"
A roar came from every mouth of the horrifying demon, each with different vocal range, forming a cacophony where each voice had no relation or harmony with each other. It was so unbearable, that Braylon had to close his ears in pain. He saw the creature charging forward, never ceasing to scream. When he was about to dodge, he found out that he couldn't move, so he suffered a full-force blow of the demon. Before he knew, he was facing the ground with unending pain. The demon pulled him up with one of his mouths and tossed him into a wall. After that, it continued to scream.
"Stop! I can't take this anymore!" Braylon screamed mentally as he lay down, unable to move a finger to defend himself. The demon ran up to him and picked him up again with one of its mouths. It also stopped screaming as it thrashed with Braylon left and right like a dog with a piece of meat.
Braylon wanted to end it all, to end the pain. It felt like its teeth tried to crush his soul. With the Shield's battery depleted, its teeth sank into his body, making him scream and curse through clenched teeth. In a fit of anger, Braylon shoved the Omni-Cannon into one of the mouths and pulled the trigger. The demon suddenly dropped him down and took few steps back, stunned by the sudden attack. He wished nothing more than to take revenge on the demon that caused him pain, so he stood up as fast as he could, reloaded and fired again, blowing several holes into the demon's body. Now all bloody, the demon swung left and right, its mouths twitching soundlessly. Braylon came up to it, shoved the barrel into its head and fired for a thrid time. The resulting shot tore its head apart with brutal efficience. When that nightmare was over, the teeth-gate opened.
"This is your chance, mortal."
"Yes... just... just give me a minute... to... catch my breath."
"I don't have a minute. Move it."
One step, then another. The Vault Hunter's wounds slowly healed themselves as he stepped through the final line of defense, the final obstacle that divided him from the goal. Somehow, he ended up in a large dome-shaped arena. The ground below was made of sandstone while the walls were dark red, some parts adorned with hanging bodies or alcoves filled with skulls. Moreover, the ceiling was alive, featuring blackish-purple clouds, with red and green thunder, shaping demonic faces that expressed hatred, anger, bloodlust. It was all so horrifying that Braylon barely controlled himself from passing out, reminding him of the place where he would never dare to return.
What he was looking for, the Dark Obelisk, was in front of him, on the other side of the room, inaccessible due to a lava river dividing it from the rest of the area. It was a tall structure, above three meters, made of some obsidian-black stone just like the Totem, with a cluster of orange crystals on top. Features were many, either carved out from the shaft or sticking out of it like an addition, including: demonic monsters, figures in dramatic poses, a giant snake-like dragon, stylized fire, skulls, skeletons, tentacles, spikes. If entropy could have a body, it would be the Dark Obelisk, for it was pure, eldritch chaos and madness compressed into abnormally perfect order, where each detail was both crucial and minor, where sanity met insanity. (******)
The Obelisk wasn't the only thing present. There was also a demon with its back turned, as if it failed to notice him. It too, was tall, for a head taller than a Baron of Hell. It even looked like one. Where the fur would be, it had only tanned skin while the red-skinned upper body had silver trails painted all over it, like some tribal marks. It raised its head as it turned around, revealing a snoutless face and a silver pendant worn around its neck. Unlike a Baron, its eyes were gold yellow in color.(*******)
"And so, a puppet ventures into the heart of the lair, intending to ruin everything because its master said so. Is it a wonder, then, that mortals are so despised?"
Braylon took Unforgiven and aimed it at the demon. "I can't let this insanity continue any longer. Even if it is my fault, I refuse to take responsibility. I will find a way to stop all of this!"
"You speak as if you actually have even a modicum of chance to succeed. What makes you think you can defeat even one of us?"
"And yet here I am after I blew a hole in your army." Saying that, the Vault Hunter fired a shot. The demon raised its right hand, forming a green orb. "My bullet didn't hit you?" As a response, the orb detached from its palm, creating space for another orb. After the fourth has been created, all of them began circling around its body, like some protective shield.
"Simple." Braylon blinked and, in half a second, the demon was inches away from him, with its fist aimed straight at his stomach. Braylon's eyes widened, blood shooting out from his mouth like water from a hydrant as the punch pushed his stomach into his body, sending him flying across the room.
(Dark Souls 3 – Yhorm the Giant)
"I refuse to act."
Braylon slowly raised his head, bleeding heavily. "What the hell? He went through my Shield? He can do that?"
"Give up, mortal."
It slammed its right leg on the ground, forming a web of glowing green cracks that spread all over the floor, with one heading straight for Braylon, who barely managed to roll to the right as the cracks erupted into green fire, vanishing after several minutes. He was staring at the floor, so he was unable to see the demon, who turned him around and grabbed him by the neck, lifted up and threw him at a wall. Our Vault Hunter crashed into said wall, a worsened situation when the demon, with a simple push of a hand, shoved him deeper into it. He felt something snapping into his body.
"Scream all you want. Nobody will come to your rescue. You aren't worth it."
Seeing a creature's fingers wrap around a skull is always a frightening sight. We can only speculate how must the victim feel at that moment, especially when said creature lifts them up and slams them into the ground with enough force to make a small crater. Braylon raised a shaky hand that was brought down instantly as it stomped his chest with a hoof.
He couldn't scream even if he wanted to. The blood was almost choking him and the hoof didn't help at all. Strenght began slowly leaving his body, his soul burning with indescribable pain. For a moment, he thought about giving up.
"I am shocked, brother. Do you think I am such a weakling that I would be defeated by the first fool you send to me? A mortal one, at that."
Braylon, without reason and by pure coincidence, turned his head to the left. His vision, while blurry, gave him a faint spark of hope. He couldn't see it earlier, because the demon was in the way. It was a staff with an object on top, red and shining like a lightbulb. How could he reach it was his concern. The demon would probably do everything it can to stop him. No plan he could, hardly, come up with was guaranteed to work. Those green orbs, he thought, would attract any bullet he fired, making guns useless. His only solution was to surprise it with a hand-to-hand attack.
"Goodbye."
The demon lifted its arm towards him, creating a fireball in its hand, tiny as a speck of dust but slowly growing in size. Braylon, thinking it was distracted, mentally ordered his PDA to start pumping drugs that would ease the pain and give him an energy boost, because his eyes were nearly closed and would most likely never open again should he loose his consciousness. When the fireball reached the size of a human skull, Braylon felt a surge of strenght in his body, quickly materializing Holo Sabre and stabbing the demon's leg, slightly above the hoof. It didn't express pain, but it did take several awkward steps backwards, allowing Braylon to stand up and run as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast as pain was still present, towards the staff. A green pentagram appeared before him, erupting into a pillar of green fire and forcing him to bypass it, loosing precious time he acquired. The instant he passed the first pillar, another one appeared. Again and again. Nevertheless, he was stubborn, refusing to surrender. Especially when he was close.
He could see it better now. The red object was something akin to a crystal sphere, with a glowing red pentagram and strange red mist closed inside it, shining brightly enough for Braylon to stare curiously. He raised his right hand, wishing to touch its surface, as it would somehow solve his problems if he did that. But something happened. Something Braylon was too distracted to realize by himself. The demon threw a fireball, striking him in the back.
Braylon was stuck. He couldn't move. His hand began shaking as his head shot upwards. It felt ten times worse than anything that demons inflicted on him in the past. He didn't know if it was possible or not, but he felt his own soul crying out in pain, not just his body. It was a whole new level of emotions that a mortal should never be able to feel, yet he did. His legs gave up and he found himself on his knees. Without even realizing, he found himself laying on the ground, hearing thumping noises as the demon reached him.
"For all this time, you thought you could challenge one of us and come out victorious. You failed to understand the truth. You failed, because we wanted you too." The demon grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. "How could you possibly think that a mortal like you can compete with beings that can shape reality as they see fit? Every technique, every strategy, every method of warfare you mortals came up with was our creation. Accept the reality, before your soul falls into the cursed abyss, where it shall suffer, like all others already do."
His body reached its limits. He could barely move a muscle. Not even the drugs could help. As the demon slowly crushed his windpipe, Braylon, in a last act of defiance, swung weakly with his legs. Ubeknownst to him, one of his legs scratched the sphere's surface. His eyes widened as his body temperature rose, his heart started beating uncontrollably and his mind was ravaged with thousands of images, all depicting demons commiting atrocities on both human and xeno. All pain gone, his anger, now free of any inhibitors, exploded in the form of uncontrollable screaming that promised vengeance, suffering and murder to the one who wronged him.
"This farce ends now, mortal."
(God of War: Ascension – Warrior's Truth)
Grabbing the demon's arm with his own, Braylon used his free hand to grab a nearby orb, squeeze it to fit into his fist and deliver a punch straight to the demon's face. The green-colored explosion made it loose its grip on the mortal, taking two steps back. Braylon, now free, stared at his scorched hand, unable to feel anything other than rage.
The demon leaped forward with a straight punch. Braylon moved sideways, wrapped his left hand around its arm and pulled it down with surprising ease. Then, he began punching its head and hammering the arm, continuously switching between the two. When he was about to punch its head once more, the demon grabbed his hand with the other, free hand. Braylon headbutted it three times before freeing his hand and using it to grab its jaw. With a barbaric, bloodthirsty roar, he dislocated the jaw before tear it away, along with all of the skin from face and neck, down to the chest. It finally freed itself when it punched Braylon away, who landed on his feet. It showed no signs of pain whatsoever, instead proceeding to form the same fiery cracks as it did before.
But Braylon couldn't care less, for he crossed his arms in front of himself and charged forward, through the fire, until he reached the demon. Crouching to avoid a swipe of the hand, the Vault Hunter jumped, uppercuting his enemy. He then materialized Holo Sabre and shoved both the Sabre and his left hand into its chest, slicing bone and flesh until he reached the heart, tearing out. It was twice as large as human's, so he had to hold it with two hands.
"Hmph. No matter. I may return to that cursed prison. Waiting a century more or less is irrelevant to me. I will get out again. As for you... you... will never be free."
He replied by crushing the heart with his bare hands.
"Mnnnnoooorrrgh!..."
Its frame was completely enveloped in green light as its flesh burned away, leaving behind a clean skeleton that crumbled on the ground into a pile of useless bones. Braylon noticed how the demon left behind its necklace, so he picked it up. It consisted of a tear-shaped, dark red gem placed in a silver disc. He stashed it into his pocket before turning around to face the Obelisk. Two tiny platforms rose out from the lava river, granting access to the demonic device.
"Shatter the crystal cluster and you will be done." Braylon growled in response, climbing his way to the top. Several hits with his bare fists broke the cluster to pieces.
(God of War 2 – Main Titles)
The orange crystals fell from the giant Obelisk, shaking the earth below as they did so. Soon, the whole place became more unstable than a castle made of cards. The lava river grew exponentially, devouring anything that was too close. Thunder raged in the clouds above as the sky itself began moving in a spiral, sucking everything into the giant rift it created, even Braylon. In a blink of an eye, he lay on the floor of the familiar-looking forest, staring at the rift that hid the branches. Before it closed, it spat out a long metallic tube that fell on top of him. It was a rocket launcher of sorts.
It didn't matter now. What was important was his victory. Even if futile, it granted him big satisfaction, knowing that he managed to do the impossible, or at least that's what he thought. Funnily enough, his mind only now told him that he was on a field trip and that others were probably searching him for hours, if not days.
"Guess I... kinda forgot about that... heh..."
With the last remaining ounce of strenght, Braylon gave his device the order to send out a distress signal that the locals should be able to find with their technology. He could finally close his eyes for good. A nap was what he needed. His final thoughts were about them discovering him in that state. He concluded it was something future Braylon needs to deal with.
"Good night... everyone..."
I am proud to present to you my biggest chapter I ever created; 8,044 words! (without counting the AN) It was a bitch to write, to be honest. Took me days of writing and planning. Now I am happy to share it with you all. So worth it. As always, feedback is appreciated. Before you ask, no. I have no idea when the next chapter will come out. It seems that I need to think this through very carefully, choose a direction where I want this story to go. Probably it will be a filler chapter, just to shake off this pressure from the arc.
In this chapter I decided to introduce more monsters than in the previous one, for reasons stated in the story. The brown Imp is your "standard" Imp from classic games, although I have to admit that the one shown in Doom Eternal also fits well, so take that as you want. Pinky makes an appearance, though named differently. Three of them are straight out of Doom 3 and the new Elemental is from Doom 64, although deadlier.Also, the "boss" of this arc is actually a somewhat modified version of Baron of Hell from Doom (2016). The army is becoming stronger and stronger...
PDA Biopedia:
*Entry #55: Oni – Burning Mouth
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "A particular tribe of brothers that serve you-know-who. They are rather fond of torturing mortals, either alive or the ones down here, with cruel methods only they know. Should a mortal prove to be an annoyance, or if they just have a bad day, they will most likely crush them to bits. Oni are divided in four subtribes. The one you encountered belongs to the "Burning Mouths". This subtribe is known for setting things on fire and using that war club of theirs. Should you ever encounter one again, use the strongest weapons you have against it. It can be rather... tough, to defeat." (Bonus Incendiary damage, Immunity to Incendiary damage, weak against Cryo damage)
**Entry #56: Dark Totem
Type: Device
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "As I told you earlier, a Dark Totem is a device that is necessary for creating a link between two realities, where one must have a Dark Obelisk. This tool is much better than a simple Gore Nest, because one can create a complex web by connecting a large number of Totems to one Obelisk, but it is also... "expensive". Once a connection to the Obelisk is made, one can send through pretty much anything they want without troubles. The Dark Totem also comes with side effects and limits. Unlike a Gore Nest, a Totem, or an Obelisk for that matter, cannot connect this prison with other realities, which may or may not be a disadvantage. Second, the Dark Obelisk tends to distort reality as you saw with your own eyes. That effect can also be found in the Totems. In short, they also act as terraformers, even though we have much, much better ones than that."
***Entry #57: Dark Soul
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "A Dark Soul is a Lost Soul that willingly brought upon itself some of the worst curses our powers could create. By immersing themselves in the wells of our power, these individuals destroyed their identities to become unspeakable horrors that roam in the deepest pits of Hell, unable to recognize their former borthers. A Dark Soul has an ability that other members of its tribe do not possess. Should two Dark Souls find a third member of their tribe, they can combine their strenght to create a vessel for some of the most powerful individuals in our armies. In return, they must forfeit their own physical bodies, thus banishing themselves from the battlefield. A small price to pay for being able to destroy what Anathema tries to save." (Two Dark Souls can combine with other "Soul" demons to summon a stronger demon.)
****Entry #58: Agent of Apocalypse
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "The Agents of Apocalypse are manifestations of savagery and destruction that will be unleashed in the end times. Once they are on the battlefield, they will attack everything in their sight indiscriminately, even their own brothers. And when there is not a single soul nearby, they will even mutilate themselves, just to spread chaos. Rumor is, they once challenged Anathema, mocking him about the end times and how he will loose the final battle. He showed them prophetic visions of what needs to happen and the inevitable result. The visions were so destructive and chaotic, that they went insane, expressing their destructive tendencies on other tribes. Every now and then they wage war on all of us, curisng us all for our own demise." (Increased damage resistance against all types of damage, increased damage output. Two Dark Souls and one Lost Soul are required for its summoning.)
*****Entry #59: Maggot
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Not much can be said about Maggots. They lack meaningful strenght, so they mostly come in groups, though it is not unheard of that some want to test their luck by going solo. If you want to banish one, you must either destroy both heads or mutilate their bodies. Everything else is less effective."
******Entry #60: Scorched One
Type: Demonic Corruption – Aetherial
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Mortals always strive for unreachable things, as in life so in death. For some Condemned, possessing a body isn't enough. They want something better, so they strike a deal with Reanimators or other demons. For a favor they most likely will never be able to pay back, they receive additional power through sorcery, depending on the predominant emotions they had in life. If they were angry, brutal or full of hate, they become Scorched Ones, Returners that can use their own body as ammunition to set things on fire. Not that they are stronger, mind you. Why would we ever want to give them power beyond necessary?" (Extremely weak to Cryo damage, physical contact deals Incendiary + Aetherial damge. Explodes after death.)
*******Entry #61: Imp – Grunt
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Imps that aren't Peons, are Grunts. What's the difference? Aside from one being free and other not, Grunts can also throw fireballs at you. Just as agile as a Peon, Grunts are yet another thing you have to watch out for."
********Entry #62: Ravager Demon
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "So you might remember, if you paid attention, how I talked about those who are hungry, those who are insane and thosw who ar insanely hungry. If memory serves you well, the first thing that would come to mind is a Bull Demon. Well, what if I tell you that, among the tribe of demented, insane hunger-fetishists are some who are even more insane? Meet the Ravagers or, what humans would call, otherkin. Even so, they still remember a thing or two about warfare, so their bodies come equipped with cortical bone plates that basically makes them living battery rams. Once they start running at you, your only salvation is to dodge, since they don't have control of their bodies while charging. Don't bother attacking their heads unless you have something that can pierce armors. Rather, focus on hitting rhe expsed sides... or just let someone else banish them for you."
(*)Entry #63: Glaciel
Type: Demon - Hero
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Trained in elemental sorcery, this brother is able to manipulate winds and water to his advantage, creating snow storms even during summer. Too bad he chose a rather particular planet to manifest himself on."
(**)Entry #64: Vulgar
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "No. They are not named that way because of what you think. In any case, these brothers are very skilled in hand-to-hand combat, able to dodge even the fastest of strikes. That is nice and all, until you remember that they aren't the greatest choice when it comes to ranged warfare, despite being able to fire plasma."
(***)Entry #65: Wraith
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Ever heard of time travel? It is the ability to travel trough time, be it past or future. Now have you ever heard of space travel? Of course, when I say it like that, you immediately create the assumption that I am talking about travelling through that void between the planets or just plain walking. But no. Space travel, in this context, is the ability to travel trough material worlds without the need to walk. What makes it different from teleportation? The fact that this technique is purely fueled witht he power of the mind. No device needed. I am sure you understand what it means, the possibilities of various infiltrations or sneak attacks are spectacular. Now guess who has that ability."
(****)Entry #66: War Elemental
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Every battle ever fought, every life ever taken, it can all be attributed to the War Elementals. They are the living embodiments of war and its darkest, most cruel realities. In fact, every war that ever happened between mortals was caused by them and their endless manipulations, schemes and desire to see these lesser beings spill blood. The only place you can see a War Elemental is the battlefield, for it is a place where they can satiate their sadistic desires. For reasons unknown to everyone else, they are the only tribe that can communicate with Dark Souls and even use them as their minions. Why is that, nobody knows. It is a well-guarded secret." (Explodes upon death, dealing explosive damage to nearby individuals.)
(*****)Entry #67: Gle'Raak, the Eternal Hungerer
Type: Demon – Hero
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Here you have an example of the capacity for destruction with just one individual. I remember how he used to brag about creating a special kind of sound that prevents nearby mortals from moving, allowing him to tear them apart like a rabid dog. Now that I think about it, we used his technique to create Sirens, although they had somewhat different functions. It might look like an unfair strategy, but then again, we aren't known as saints."
(******)Entry #68: Yarim-Nasir, Warmaster of Hell
Type: Demon
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "Few are the mortals that survived an encounter with him and live to tell the tale. Mortals from all realities created lavish rituals in his name, only to regret it once he appeared and began slaughtering everyone and everything. He would often lead legions of brothers against entire mortal races, his only rule being 'leave none alive'. The mortals I talked about earlier are the ones who managed to banish him back into this prison. Even then, great sacrifices had to be accepted, which for some was more than they could bear."
(*******) The Dark Obelisk
Type: Device
Faction: Legions of Hell
Description: "I once heard a human saying: "All roads lead to Rome." The same thing can be said for the Dark Totems connected to the Obelisk. You might wonder how such a device can be created. It is simple. We only need mortal souls and some crystals born out of energies that roam this place. The Dark Obelisk is used when one wants to perform an unholy crusade and then start colonizing other realities like a sickness. However, one must be sure to have a plan for its construction, because it requires time and it is much harder to build than a Gore Nest. Of course, its only problem is its blatant weak spot, the crystal cluster that gives it power. But that is hardly a problem once you realize you have an army of higher beings at your side."