He glanced at the phantom of Alessa that had appeared beside him at some point and gave a small nod.
"Come on."
In an instant, with Soren at the center, countless rusty steel bars and iron wires spread outward in all directions.
They intertwined and forcibly created a layer of steel ground across the foul-smelling surface of the lake.
Alessa's Otherworld had descended.
Soren looked down at the steel wires and rebar beneath his feet and felt secretly relieved.
Good thing I brought Alessa along. Fighting in this stinking water would've been disgusting.
Who knows what kind of ancient bacteria were floating in there.
Faced with this supernatural scene that had completely changed the environment in the blink of an eye, James's pupils contracted. He was clearly shocked, but he quickly took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
He glanced at Soren, who still looked relatively normal, then at the dried-up corpse monster hanging upside down in the iron frame in mid-air. Silently, he pulled out a wooden stick studded with nails and gripped it tightly.
"Mr… Soren."
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James swallowed hard. "What do we do now?"
Soren observed his reaction and sighed inwardly.
As expected, the people chosen by Silent Hill are all weirdos.
Whether it was Rose's insanely strong ability to accept the situation or James's reaction to monsters, both far exceeded what normal people could handle.
The first reaction these people had when facing monsters wasn't to run away — it was to think about how to kill them.
He raised his hand and pointed toward the opposite shore hidden deep in the fog. "James, the truth you're looking for is inside the hotel. Go."
Having him stay here would only get in the way.
Soren paused for a moment, then continued:
"As for here… leave it to me."
James opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but when he met Soren's faintly glowing red eyes, every word got stuck in his throat.
He suddenly remembered the strange rumors about the Devil May Cry office — demon hunters, 100% success rate…
Those were exactly why he had chosen that office in the first place.
James clenched his teeth, stopped hesitating, and sprinted along the newly formed iron wire path toward the depths of the fog.
Maria in mid-air did not try to stop James from leaving.
On the contrary, as his figure disappeared, a trace of relief appeared on her withered face.
Perhaps deep in her heart, she still retained a shred of the dignity that belonged to "Mary."
She absolutely did not want the man she loved to see her in this monstrous true form.
Bang!
The M1911 roared.
Soren didn't waste any words.
He ran across the uneven steel bars and wire mesh as if it were flat ground.
The bullets pierced straight through Maria's frame-bound body, only kicking up a few wisps of black mist without causing any real damage.
"Physical immunity? Or spiritual form?"
The thought had just flashed through Soren's mind when Maria's counterattack arrived.
Her lower jaw stretched upward, mouth opening unnaturally wide. Countless blackish-gray moths poured out like a dark cloud.
The moths scattered toxic dust with every flap of their wings, enveloping Soren.
"No wonder it stinks so much. You're covered in fleas. Did Silent Hill cut off your water supply, lady?"
Soren stopped abruptly, rapidly pulling the trigger. The special ammunition exploded within the swarm of moths.
Boom—
Flames swallowed the moths, filling the air with smoke.
When the black smoke cleared, Maria's figure had already vanished from sight.
Soren's eyes flickered rapidly as he scanned the surroundings.
The next second, he leaped high into the air and fired several shots downward.
A thick tentacle as wide as a baby's arm shot up from underwater, piercing through the gaps in the steel wires straight toward him.
Twisting his waist mid-air, Soren holstered his gun, grabbed the slippery tentacle with one hand, drew the tactical knife from his waist with the other, and slashed down hard using the momentum of his fall!
Schlick—
The knife felt like it was cutting through extremely thick rubber. It sank halfway in before getting stuck.
Soren used the force to perform a backflip and land. Watching the tentacle rapidly retract, he raised an eyebrow.
"Pretty tough. If I took this home to make soup, it'd probably need three days in a pressure cooker."
Maria's form reconverged not far away.
The metal frame around her body began to split apart, transforming into four thinner, razor-sharp metal legs that spread out around her.
She had gone from a coffin-like frame to a giant steel spider, with her original body hanging upside down in the center like a pilot inside a mecha.
Hiss—
Accompanied by a piercing screech, Maria charged toward Soren at terrifying speed.
On the steel ground created by Alessa, her four sharp metal legs landed with perfect precision on the uneven surface with every step.
She didn't have to worry about stepping into a sewer like a normal woman in high heels.
"Second phase already?"
Soren complained, but his movements were swift.
Facing the high-speed charge combined with sweeping forelimbs, he had no room to dodge and could only raise his gun to block.
Clang!!
A deafening crash rang out as terrifying force slammed into him.
Soren was sent sliding backward.
Crack—
The M1911 in his hand couldn't withstand the impact. The frame caved in, parts scattering. The gun was clearly ruined.
Blood sprayed from his arm, revealing a deep wound that reached the bone.
But the next second, something astonishing happened.
The wound stopped bleeding and began healing at visible speed — scabbing over and shedding within just a few seconds, leaving behind only slightly paler skin.
"Tch."
Soren looked at his destroyed pistol with some heartache and tucked it away.
Although firearms were convenient, under Dante's influence, he actually preferred close-quarters combat.
Unfortunately, his uncle always claimed his strength wasn't ready yet and refused to give him a proper weapon.
In Soren's opinion, that debt-ridden old man was simply broke.
"When I get back this time, I really need to grind some points and exchange for a decent weapon."
Soren cursed inwardly, loosened his wrists, and charged bare-handed toward the steel spider.
Hiss—
The steel spider's razor-sharp limbs stabbed down like spears in a frenzy.
Although Soren used his superior speed to dodge most of the attacks, the airtight assault made it hard to keep up.
Schlick!
A flash of cold light. One sharp limb pierced straight through his arm.
"Get lost!"
He kicked hard against the spider's body and flipped backward.
When he used the recoil to create distance, several more deep, bone-revealing wounds had appeared on his body.
He looked at his pierced arm. White smoke rose from the wound as it rapidly closed.
"Huff… Huff…"
Although his injuries had healed, his face had turned noticeably paler. Fine sweat beaded on his forehead, his chest rose and fell, and a strong hunger rose from within.
The demon blood could heal rapidly, but it wasn't without cost.
The unawakened demon blood was like a pump without an off switch. The moment it sensed injury, it forcibly drained Soren's stamina and life energy to heal him.
If he couldn't find a way to break the deadlock, a few more rounds like this and he might pass out from complete exhaustion.
Soren suddenly remembered something Lady had once mentioned as a joke—
His uncle had once disappeared for an entire month for no reason. Later they discovered it was because his wounds had exceeded his healing limit, causing total stamina depletion.
He had slept for a full month straight in some unknown stinking ditch before waking up.
"Damn it… Next time I go out I really need to buy some Snickers."
Soren looked at the monster preparing to attack again and clenched his fists, unwilling to accept this.
Fighting something like this bare-handed was too much of a disadvantage.
At that moment.
Perhaps sensing Soren's physical condition, or simply unable to watch him fight empty-handed any longer.
A calm voice rang out in his mind.
"Raise your hand."