Security and Containment Center.
A researcher glued to the monitors suddenly jerked his head up, face pale with panic.
"Sir! Asset #59's signal has gone dark too!"
"What happened? Equipment failure?"
Westen strode straight to the console.
He'd actually been in a decent mood. They had just completed the annual sacrifice to that ancient evil god a few days ago, and the higher-ups had approved a fresh batch of funding and resources.
"No… it doesn't look like a malfunction," the researcher reported carefully. "It appears… intentional."
"Pull up the footage."
Westen's face darkened.
The West Virginia outpost hadn't had active personnel stationed there in over a decade.
Officially, the two researchers had been sent to monitor the Black Forest demon.
In reality, they were disposable test subjects the organization had written off.
Watching how humans slowly mutated and broke down under demonic influence was a key part of the entire containment program.
Thanks to their "sacrifice," the tech department had gathered enough data to develop the aura-suppression field generators now protecting this massive underground facility.
Without them, the staff working here every day would've mutated long ago, surrounded as they were by captured demons and monsters from Hell.
The researcher brought up the security feed.
The moment Westen saw the familiar figure on screen, his eye twitched violently.
Last time it was that insane man-eater that went on a rampage and slaughtered an entire police station.
This time the demon had been tucked deep in the mountains. They'd even let online rumors run wild without interference to avoid drawing attention.
Westen ground his teeth and forced the words out:
"Find out if he was just passing through… or if he came specifically for it."
"I already cross-referenced his recent movements," the researcher said, fingers flying across the keyboard. A red line traced across the map. "Straight shot from Los Santos. A few short stops—probably for rest. No detours."
"Looks like he went straight for the demon."
"We've been exposed? How is that possible…"
Cold sweat broke out on Westen's forehead.
The thought of everything hidden in their base—the secret experiments, the caged monsters, the inhumane sacrificial rituals—made his stomach turn. If any of it leaked, he was a dead man.
His eyes gradually turned cold and vicious.
The Center had sacrificed countless lives and resources to develop their countermeasures. They finally had the tools to stand against these demon hunters.
The problem was, most of the technology was still in unstable testing phases. It wasn't ready.
Premature exposure would ruin years of careful planning.
Westen took a deep breath, forced himself to stay calm, and gave the order:
"Lock down all data."
Then he grabbed his coat and hurried out. He needed to report this incident to the higher-ups immediately.
…
Inside the Otherworld.
Alessa sat on the ground completely ungracefully and let out a satisfied burp.
She had absorbed every last bit of Yutun's corpse.
She patted her stomach and tilted her head at the now-empty spot where the demon had been.
This was something Soren had worked hard to hunt, and she'd eaten the entire thing without leaving him even a scrap.
That didn't seem very fair.
Feeling a little guilty, Alessa decided to give Soren some real compensation.
She raised her small hand and split off half of Silent Hill's control authority, transferring it directly to Soren.
After that, she looked at the bones and antlers Soren had specifically told her to save.
With a thought, hellfire rose from the ground and engulfed the remains.
Ash from all over the domain swirled toward the bones. As the flames burned, the ash fused into them.
Under the dual refinement of Silent Hill's laws and hellfire, the originally black bones slowly purified, turning a pale, ghostly gray-white.
Once finished, Alessa yawned. Through their mental link she sent Soren a message saying she needed to enter a short sleep to properly digest Yutun's energy.
On the highway.
Soren was driving when Alessa's message came through.
He could feel her consciousness had already sunk into deep slumber.
But his own connection to the Otherworld had never felt clearer.
Previously, he could only manifest a small domain a few meters around himself.
Now, if he wanted, he could instantly drag thousands of meters around him straight into Silent Hill's territory.
With a thought, a pair of antlers and several heavy leg bones appeared on the passenger seat.
The antlers hadn't changed much, but the pale gray bones were now covered in crisscrossing cracks. Glowing fire flowed deep within the fissures like underground magma.
Soren looked at the noticeably upgraded demon materials with anticipation.
He wondered what kind of crazy weapon Nico would be able to create with these.
He pulled his gaze away, stepped on the gas, and sped toward Los Santos.
…
Los Santos.
When Soren returned to the office, Lady had already left.
Nico was sitting in her van outside, flipping through a magazine with a bored expression.
The second she saw him, she kicked the door open and jumped out.
"Well, well! Look who finally decided to show up!"
Nico pushed up her glasses, cigarette hanging from her lips, and gave Soren an excited once-over.
"Damn, I can already smell the demon stench on you. It's beautiful!"
"So? Did you bring me the materials I asked for?"
Soren watched her practically vibrating with the urge to frisk him and shook his head.
"You science types are more obsessed than actual demons."
"Of course we are!" Nico took a drag, grinning. "If I wasn't waiting for you, this genius would've been halfway to the next job already!"
"I didn't bring back the full corpse, but I've got the most important parts—the core bones and the antlers."
Soren walked to the back of his car and popped the trunk. "And they've been through a little special processing."
Inside the trunk lay the pile of bones he'd prepared earlier. The pale remains gave off a dangerous aura.
Nico took one look and the cigarette dropped from her mouth.
She lunged at the trunk, breathing fast.
"Oh my God…"
She ran her hands over the bones in rapture.
"This is incredible… What the hell did you do to them? The fusion rate is perfect. These don't even need post-processing!"
After her brief moment of ecstasy, Nico's scientific mind kicked back in.
She sighed regretfully. "Soren, I'd suggest you store these bones safely for now."
"I don't have enough high-quality demon materials on hand. If I forge something using only these, the final product's attributes would be too narrow and the power wouldn't meet expectations."
"That would be a criminal waste of top-tier material."
"Once we get better components later—like the heart of a demon lord or something equally insane—I promise I'll craft you a masterpiece that'll make every demon in existence piss themselves."
Then her tone shifted as she looked at the massive antlers beside the bones.
"But for now… we can have some fun with these big boys."