He looked at the phantom of Alessa that had appeared beside him at some unknown time, and nodded.
"Come."
Instantly, countless rusted steel rods and wires spread outward from Sephirot as the center.
They interlocked and forcibly laid out a layer of steel ground over the foul-smelling lake surface.
Alessa's Otherworld, descended.
Sephirot looked down at the steel rods and wires beneath his feet, inwardly relieved.
Thank goodness I managed to bring Alessa over, fighting in this foul water would be disgusting to even think about. Who knows what kind of primordial bacteria are in this water.
Facing this supernatural scene that instantly altered heaven and earth, James's pupils contracted, startled considerably by this sight, but he soon took a deep breath and forcibly calmed himself down.
He glanced at Sephirot, who still seemed relatively normal, then looked at the dried-up corpse monster hanging inverted in the iron cage in mid-air, silently taking out a wooden club studded with nails from his body and gripping it tightly in his hand.
"Sephirot... sir."
James swallowed, "What should we do now?"
Observing his reaction, Sephirot inwardly sighed.
Indeed, those chosen by Silent Hill are all freaks.
Whether it's Rose's exceptionally high acceptance capacity or James's reaction facing monsters, ordinary people fall far short.
These people's first instinct when facing monsters is to think about how to kill them, not how to flee.
Gathering his thoughts, he raised his hand pointing toward the opposite shore deep within the dense fog: "James, the truth you seek is in the hotel, go."
Keeping him here would only be cumbersome.
Sephirot paused, then continued:
"As for this place, leave it to me."
James opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but when meeting Sephirot's faintly red-glinting eyes, all words were forcibly choked in his throat.
He suddenly recalled the various bizarre rumors about this Agency, Devil Hunter, 100% completion rate...
These were also reasons he chose this Agency.
James gritted his teeth, no longer hesitating, and sprinted along the newly formed wire path toward the depths of the mist.
Maria in mid-air did not stop James from leaving either.
On the contrary, watching that back disappear, her dried-up face even seemed somewhat relaxed.
Perhaps deep within her heart, she still retained a shred of dignity belonging to "Mary."
She absolutely did not want the man she deeply loved to see her true monstrous form.
"Bang!"
The M1911 in his hand roared and erupted, Sephirot without any idle talk.
He ran across the uneven steel rods and wire mesh, as if walking on flat ground.
The bullet directly penetrated Maria's body imprisoned by the frame, apart from splattering a few strands of black misty fog, it did not inflict any substantial damage.
Physical immunity? Or spiritual manifestation?
That thought had just flashed through Sephirot's mind when Maria's counterattack arrived.
Her jaw opened upward, her mouth widening exaggeratedly, spewing out countless black-gray moths like a dark cloud.
The moths scattered toxic dust with the flutter of their wings, enveloping Sephirot.
"No wonder it smells so foul, covered in fleas. Did Silent Hill's water supply cut off, lady?"
Sephirot halted abruptly, continuously pulling the trigger in his hand, the specially made ammunition exploding amidst the moth swarm.
"Boom!"
Flames consumed the moth swarm, smoke billowing.
When the black smoke dissipated, Maria's form had vanished from sight.
Sephirot's eyes flickered rapidly, scanning the surroundings.
The next moment, he leaped high into the air, firing several shots downward with his handgun.
A tentacle thick as a baby's arm shot out from underwater, passing through gaps in the steel reinforcement and wire mesh, thrusting toward Sephirot.
Sephirot, mid-air, twisted his waist, slid the gun back into its holster, and grabbed that slippery tentacle. He then drew the tactical dagger from his waist and, leveraging the force of his descent, hacked down fiercely!
"Thwack!"
The dagger felt like cutting into an extremely thick piece of rubber; it got stuck halfway in.
Sephirot leveraged the force, executed a backflip landing, looked at the rapidly retracting tentacle, and raised an eyebrow:
"Quite resilient. Probably need a pressure cooker simmering for three days to make soup out of it."
Maria's form reconstituted nearby.
The metal frames around her body began to split, transforming into four thinner, sharp-tipped metal legs, instantly spreading out around her body.
She transformed from a coffin box into a gigantic steel spider, with Maria's main body suspended upside-down like an armored pilot at the spider's center.
"Shriek!"
Following a piercing screech, Maria charged toward Sephirot at an extremely high speed.
On the steel ground Alessa had created, each time her four sharp metal legs landed, they accurately found purchase on the rounded, rough steel surface.
There was none of the worry an ordinary woman wearing high heels might have about stepping into a sewer drain.
"Second phase already?"
Sephirot quipped, but his movements weren't slow.
Facing this monster charging at high speed and sweeping with its forelimbs, he had nowhere to evade and could only raise his gun to block.
"Clang!!"
A loud crash, a terrifying monstrous force struck.
Sephirot slid backward.
"Crack!"
The M1911 in his hand, having endured this impact, was overstressed; its body dented, parts scattered, clearly already destroyed.
His arm sprayed blood, bearing a deep wound visible to the bone.
But the next moment, a startling scene occurred.
That wound didn't continue bleeding; instead, it stopped bleeding, scabbed, shed at a visibly rapid rate, and within mere seconds had restored to its original state.
Only leaving a patch of skin slightly paler than the surrounding area.
"Tsk."
Sephirot glanced somewhat ruefully at the handgun in his hand and tucked it into his embrace.
Hot weapons were handy, but influenced by Dante, he actually preferred close-quarters combat.
Unfortunately, his uncle always refused to equip him with suitable weapons, citing his lack of sufficient power.
But in Sephirot's view, that old man drowning in debt was simply broke.
This time when I return, I'll definitely save up some points and exchange for a decent weapon.
Sephirot spat a curse inwardly, flexed his wrist, and charged bare-handed toward the Iron Spider.
"Screech!"
The Iron Spider's sharp limbs stabbed down like frenzied spears.
Sephirot dodged most attacks relying on his speed advantage, but the relentless assault made it hard to withstand.
"Slice!"
A cold gleam flashed, a sharp segment piercing his arm.
"Get off!"
He kicked the Iron Spider's body and flipped backward.
When Sephirot used the recoil to distance himself, several more wounds deep enough to show bone appeared on his body.
He looked at his pierced arm; white smoke rose from the wound, and the injuries rapidly healed.
"Huff... huff..."
Though the wounds recovered fully, his complexion paled somewhat. Fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, his chest slightly heaved, and hunger emerged from within.
The Demonic Bloodline could heal quickly, but this healing wasn't without cost.
An unawakened Demonic Bloodline was like a pump without a switch: once it sensed wounds, it forcibly drained Sephirot's stamina and bio-energy to restore.
If he couldn't find a way to break this stalemate, after a few more rounds like this, he might collapse completely from exhaustion.
Sephirot suddenly recalled something Lady had once told as a joke.
His uncle had disappeared for a month without reason, later discovered because wounds exceeded the healing limit, causing energy depletion.
This forced him to sleep unconscious in an unknown filthy ditch for a full month before waking up.
Damn... next time I go out, I should buy some Snickers.
Sephirot looked at the monster preparing another attack, clenched his fists, feeling unwilling.
Fighting bare-handed against this thing was really disadvantageous.
Just then.
Perhaps sensing Sephirot's physical condition, or unable to bear watching him face enemies weaponless, a calm voice sounded in his mind.
"Raise your hand."
(Translated by yourtl.app)