Night hung thick as ink over a lonely stretch of highway outside Derry.
A convoy tore through the darkness, escorting a stretched black Lincoln limo at its center.
Even at night the limo's windows stayed fully curtained, hiding whatever luxuries waited inside.
In the back, a fat man reclined on the leather sofa with pure satisfaction.
He swirled a crystal wine glass in one hand. Every finger glittered with gemstone rings. His polished dress shoes rested not on soft carpet, but on the bare back of a nearly naked man.
The man on the floor stayed perfectly still like a loyal hound, face pressed to the floor mats. Far from looking humiliated, he seemed almost excited to be used as a footrest.
"Goddamn this place. Mud and mosquitoes everywhere."
Aurelia Wayne snorted.
This remote, backward stretch of nowhere that stank of cow shit was pure torture for a man used to the excesses of Washington.
If the apostle in charge of this region hadn't been such a useless piece of shit—forced to blow his own soul rather than get captured—Aurelia never would have had to come out here and clean up the mess himself.
The more he thought about it, the more irritated he got. He tipped the entire glass of thousand-dollar red wine onto the head of the man under his feet.
Crimson liquid ran down the man's hair and cheeks, making the face pressed to the floor look even more twisted.
"When we get back, go collect a reward. Consider it a gift from me."
Aurelia didn't even glance down as he spoke.
"Thank you, my lord! Praise be to my lord!"
The believer didn't dare move an inch. He let the wine drip into his eyes and mouth and kept thanking him over and over.
"Hmph. Trash."
Aurelia's face twisted with disgust. He stomped hard on the back of the man's skull a few times.
"Screeech—!!"
The car slammed on its brakes. The whole limo lurched forward hard.
Aurelia's already foul mood exploded. His foot pressed down just a little harder—
Crack.
Red-and-white matter exploded across the floor mats.
"What the hell is going on?!"
He roared, barely keeping the fury in check.
The bulletproof partition between front and back slowly lowered. The driver smelled the fresh blood in the air, but his expression never changed. He dipped his head and reported calmly.
"My lord, there's a woman blocking the road ahead."
"Just run her over. Why the fuck are you bothering me with this shit?!"
Aurelia waved a hand impatiently.
If the higher lords hadn't issued orders to capture the demon hunter who kept wrecking their operations, he never would have set foot in this shithole.
He couldn't stand another second of this place.
"Yes—"
The driver's answer cut off mid-word.
"Ka-chik."
Several razor-thin black threads punched straight through the bulletproof glass and pinned the driver's body to the seat.
The threads went soft a second later, wrapping around the corpse and yanking it clean out of the car.
A tall, curvy figure stepped up to the windshield.
Black-rimmed glasses. A beauty mark under her red lips that made her look even more dangerous.
"Evening, fatty. I've been looking for you people for a long time. Finally reeled in a nice, juicy prize."
Bayonetta leaned against the hood, smiling as she greeted him.
The apostle who blew himself up earlier had cut her trail cold for a while.
Lucky for her, that little bastard Soren kept making so much noise out in the world that he finally dragged this deeply hidden apostle into the open.
She'd have to think of a proper reward for him later.
"You— Bayonetta?!"
Aurelia's face drained of color. This witch had been digging into their organization nonstop. They'd already lost one apostle because of her.
The higher-ups had already discussed wiping out every demon hunter and witch who kept sticking their noses where they didn't belong.
But he never imagined this trip would already be a trap she had set long ago.
"Damn you! You crazy bitch! I'm nothing like that weakling!"
Aurelia roared. Power exploded out of him.
Riiiip—
His ten-thousand-dollar tailored suit shredded instantly.
His body swelled like a balloon, splitting the Lincoln limo apart like cheap tin.
In the space of a few heartbeats the fat man was gone. In his place stood a monster nearly eight meters tall.
Its head was a giant slot machine. The display spun wildly with blood-red numbers and skulls. Its chest was a half-open bank vault, and from inside came the endless screams of countless humans.
"Oh? Quite the unique transformation."
Bayonetta stood on the ground, looking up at the massive thing with genuine interest.
"Though looking at you like this… you remind me of every cheap casino I've ever walked past."
"As a lady, I really can't stand secondhand smoke… or gambling."
---
Not far away, in the underground base, another fight was hitting its peak.
"Go, new master! Use my flames and roast every one of these ugly bastards to charcoal!"
"No! Use my wind! Sweep them all into the sky! That move of yours is elementary-school level—pure stupid!"
Soren gripped Agni and Rudra in both hands. The roars of monsters filled the air, but so did the endless bickering and running commentary of the two blades.
"Shut the hell up!"
Soren snapped, temples throbbing.
He reversed his grip and cleaved a mutated hound clean in half as it lunged.
To be honest, Soren was starting to regret this.
When he first saw the narrow corridors packed with endless test subjects and demons, dual blades with big AOE had looked perfect for the job.
Now he finally understood exactly why Uncle Dante had sold these things the second the job was over.
They were just too goddamn loud.
They didn't just mess with your concentration—they drowned out the sound of enemies moving.
It was like having a few hundred ducks quacking right in your ears at full volume.
Even after he warned them, the twin brothers kept doing whatever they wanted, critiquing both Soren and the monsters nonstop.
"Oh man, brother, look at that sheathing form just now. Zero aesthetic!"
"Right?! And that fat one's marbling looked perfect—eight minutes, medium-rare. And you just chopped him in half! What a waste of good meat!"
Behind the battle line, Ada pressed herself against the wall, silently watching Soren carve through the monster tide like a man possessed.
Even under this much pressure, he still had enough free mental space to talk to the swords in his hands.
A strange light flickered in her eyes.
This man's strength was a little higher than she had calculated.
Once she confirmed he could handle the current mess, Ada didn't hesitate for a second.
Using the shadows and the chaos Soren was creating, she slipped deeper into the base without a sound.
Soren's peripheral vision caught the figure moving, but he didn't stop her. She would bolt the moment she got the chance anyway, and their goals didn't conflict right now.
"Boom!"
While he was half-distracted—and still forced to listen to the twin blades trash-talking each other—a mutated test subject exploded out of the side and smashed a fist into his shoulder.
The force made him rock slightly. His attack rhythm slowed by half a beat.
It didn't change the fight at all.
But it gave the blades the perfect opening.
"Ooooh! You actually got hit! What a stupid master!"
"I told you to watch your left! Is your brain located in your ass?! All you know is brute force—zero technique!"
The two blades immediately started screaming and laughing like a couple of hyenas.
"!!!"
Soren's eyes went cold. His footwork shifted and he slipped clean out of the encirclement in one smooth motion.
He was done listening to these two.