The cellar was filled with various household sundries and several opened cans, but surprisingly, there was no foul odor. An alloy door stood directly opposite the stairs.
The door was slightly ajar.
Sephirot pushed the door open and stepped into the room; sensor lights flickered on inside as he entered.
His eyes immediately fell upon a wall of monitors at the far end, though many of the screens had gone completely black.
The few remaining displays that still showed an image appeared to be monitoring the perimeter of the abandoned cabin directly above.
On the largest screen in the center, the camera was focused on a different cabin, one surrounded by eight torches emitting a faint, spectral glow.
"This is..."
"A base used for monitoring demons?"
Sephirot felt a flicker of doubt as he stepped forward.
Most of the computer towers had already shut down, but the few active screens were flickering with dense clusters of data and graphs.
Laying on the edge of the console was a dust-covered notebook.
[Month X, Day X]
[Cole and I moved in. The orders from above are truly bizarre. They actually stipulated that before we start work, we have to go to that small cabin deep in the woods and kneel in worship.]
...
[Month X, Day X]
[The job of regularly delivering food to that cabin is honestly sickening.]
[No one has seen what the inside looks like, and no one dares to enter. All we know is that every time we drop off the food, a pair of small hands reaches out to take the meal. What on earth lives in there?]
...
[Month X]
[Something is wrong with Cole... Lately, he always looks like he can't wake up. He's exhausted all day, and I can always smell a scent of blood on him that won't wash off.]
[Is the canned food from the Logistics Department some kind of low-quality counterfeit? It has no taste at all!]
...
[Month X]
[Something's wrong! This is all wrong!]
[Cole's appearance seems to be changing. His facial features... have they shifted?!]
[No wonder he always looks so tired; it turns out he's been sneaking out at night!]
[One time I couldn't help myself and followed him out. Oh God... I actually... I found him eating a deer raw!]
...
[Month X]
[I... don't feel well. It itches, it itches, it itches. Inside my bones... insects are crawling...]
...
[Month X]
[Cole stopped breathing.]
[...I'm looking at him... he smells so good...]
[So hungry.]
[But the meat smells so good.]
[I'm sorry, Cole. I'm just too hungry.]
The diary stopped abruptly there.
Flipping further through the pages revealed only scribbled black lines and illogical gibberish that yielded no useful information.
Sephirot's brow furrowed.
It wasn't hard to see that this place was a base used for observing the demon deep within the forest.
In all likelihood, this belonged to the organization monitoring that Ancient Ogre in Poho County. As time passed, the researcher named Cole mentioned in the diary had not only undergone physical mutations but had also developed a craving for raw food.
He looked at these records and let out a cold laugh.
Unless a demon intentionally suppressed its aura, ordinary humans could not survive for long in an environment inhabited by demons.
Accumulated magical radiation acted like a slow-acting poison, constantly eroding their sanity and their flesh.
Over time, human genes would begin to distort in a demonic direction.
However, the energy inherent to humans was insufficient to support such an evolution; ultimately, they would become like the deformed man outside.
In their twisted minds, they had likely long since come to recognize the demon as their creator or Mother Goddess.
Driven by instinct to make offerings to the demon, they had begun hunting living creatures within the forest.
Sephirot set down the diary and tentatively tapped the Escape key a few times on the keyboard.
The data pages shrank to the corner of the screen, revealing the desktop beneath.
A single document sat on the desktop.
Upon opening it, he found that beneath several data metrics, there was a blurry photograph attached to the bottom of the document.
The demon in the photo was massive, looking overall like a thickset moose.
Sephirot stared at the screen for a moment.
"Jotunn?"
In mythology, legend said this was the fourth bastard son of the god of mischief, Loki, and was exceptionally skilled in mental manipulation and illusions.
Furthermore, it had an extreme fondness for being worshiped.
When Jotunn drove its prey into a corner, if the target knelt, showing cowardice and submission, it would temporarily spare them, leaving five blood-filled finger marks on their chest.
This signified that the prey had been chosen by it to become one of its believers.
After finishing the document, he tried operating the other computers.
Unfortunately, he found no further useful clues regarding the organization behind the scenes.
—--
After destroying the base, Sephirot walked out of the cabin and continued pushing deep into the forest.
The further in he went, the stronger the demonic aura in the air became.
However, now that he knew it was a Jotunn, there was nothing to worry about.
In the original lore, Jotunn's abilities leaned toward the psychic side; its physical body appeared quite weak, even capable of being harmed by humans.
Moreover, the point reward offered by the system was exactly the same as the reward for killing the Ancient Ogre in Poho County last time.
This meant the creature's overall combat strength was roughly on par with an Ogre.
It might even be inferior to an Ogre, differing only in how troublesome it was to deal with.
Just as he was thinking,
An unexpected figure suddenly appeared ahead of Sephirot.
The man had white hair and carried a ferocious skeletal greatswod on his shoulder; his red trench coat was exceptionally striking in the colorless forest.
"Dante?"
Sephirot stopped in his tracks, his eyes filled with surprise.
Dante wore a wild, rebellious smirk as he thrust the greatsword into the dirt with one hand:
"Not bad, kid. You've been working hard lately, handling so many troublesome commissions all by yourself." Sephirot looked at him and let out a helpless sigh. "You have the nerve to say that? You left me with a pile of messes, patted your own ass, and vanished into thin air."
"Yeah, you've really been wronged during this time."
Dante's tone was gentle. He opened his arms and walked slowly toward Sephirot.
"But it's okay. Your uncle is back now. Just leave the rest to me."
"That sounds truly touching..."
Sephirot took a deep breath, a smile on his face as he walked to meet the other man.
At the very moment the two were about to embrace...
The smile on Sephirot's face turned to ice. His arm snapped up, and the barrel of the Holy Flame of Exorcism pressed directly against Dante's jaw.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out abruptly.
"Damn, putting on a show with his face... it gave me goosebumps," Sephirot mocked heartlessly, looking at the shattered face before him. "If you're going to play ghost, you should do some background research first."
"If that old bastard were standing here, his first sentence would definitely be asking if I brought him pizza, and his second would be wanting me to clear the Agency's bills for him."
"Him showing concern for my well-being... that's a bit too much of a fantasy."
As he spoke, Dante's figure shattered violently, dissolving into a cloud of black mist.
A thick, pungent stench hit him full in the face.
A massive dark shadow had already silently lurked its way right in front of Sephirot.
The two small hands on its head were reaching out for him, clearly intending to pluck his head clean off while he was immersed in the illusion.
Sephirot jumped back decisively. The two small hands of the Jotunn elongated along with him, following like shadows.
Bang!
The Holy Flame of Exorcism roared again, forcing the two hands back.
Only after landing and putting some distance between them did Sephirot get a clear look at the Jotunn's appearance.
Its forelimbs were long and its hind limbs thick and short; the vertebrae of its back pierced through the skin, protruding like sharp serrated teeth.
Where the head should have been was replaced by the headless body of a human. This body held its hands high, and antlers grew from the palms.
Beneath that body were two dangling arms that swung back and forth with its movements. Between them, two points of eerie green light were locked dead onto Sephirot.
In the next instant.
The two dangling arms in front of it elongated infinitely like noodles, weaving through the air to snatch at Sephirot.
Faced with this sudden assault, Sephirot didn't dodge. He charged straight toward the two arms.
As he ran, purple magic surged on his forearms, and a pair of magical radiation coalesced into form.
This was a technique derived from the Devil Bringer, something he had discovered by accident when facing the three-fingered monster.
In mid-air, the two magic hands accurately grabbed the Jotunn's incoming arms.
Sephirot pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang!
The enchanted silver bullets roared out, blowing the elongated arms apart.
Hiss...
The Jotunn shrieked in pain, letting out a piercing howl.
A cloud of black mist immediately poured from the stumps, and two brand-new arms rapidly grew back.
Thoroughly enraged, it pawed the ground with its forelimbs and lowered its stance. Aiming the antlers on its head at Sephirot, it charged recklessly toward him, snapping tall trees like matchsticks as it passed.
Sephirot lowered his center of gravity, channeling his magic into his arms without reservation. Four hands reached out in unison in mid-air, firmly grabbing the Jotunn's antlers.
The massive impact pushed Sephirot's body backward, his feet plowing two deep furrows into the earth.
But after sliding back only a few meters, he stabilized his position.
"Pushing yourself this hard? You might as well lie down and rest for a bit."
Sephirot sneered. His arms flexed, and he gave a sudden, violent twist to the side.
All of the Jotunn's power was concentrated in its head; this single maneuver caused its massive frame to lose balance entirely, flipping it onto its side.
Sephirot jumped onto its body in the same motion.
With one hand gripping an antler, he charged violent purple magic in his other hand and smashed it down hard against the antler.
Crack!
The antler was snapped off by sheer force.
The Jotunn struggled desperately to get up, but its head was pinned to the ground by Sephirot, whose entire body was surging with magic, rendering it unable to move.
With four arms at his disposal, Sephirot rained down punch after punch, pummeling its skull.
Thump! Thump!
The dull sounds of the beating echoed through the woods.
Only when the Jotunn beneath him stopped moving did Sephirot stop.
What had once been its head was now beaten beyond recognition.
(Translated by yourtl.app)
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TL NOTES - CROSSOVER GUIDE
Some references in this chapter come from source universes that may be unfamiliar to some readers. The notes below are here to help readers unfamiliar with these universes follow along more easily.
SOURCE UNIVERSES
The Ritual - A horror story centered on an ancient Jötunn dwelling in a remote forest. The creature demands worship and human sacrifices from a cult of followers in exchange for granting them immortality. Those who refuse to worship are hunted down in the woods. The narrative explores themes of guilt, survival, and the horror of being forced into submission to an eldritch entity.
Monsters
Moder - A Jötunn and bastard daughter of Loki. Her true form is a headless humanoid torso with antlers growing from where her arms should be, and additional human hands on her hips. She possesses powerful illusionary abilities and feeds on the fear and worship of her victims. In this story, the Jotunn Sephirot faces shares Moder's key characteristics: connection to Loki, antler-like limbs, demand for worship, and a cult of followers in a remote forest setting.