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Deep underground in the mountains, inside the office.
Westen stared at the crater photos on his phone screen, his eyelid twitching violently.
"This whole damn family is beyond saving… a bunch of lunatics…"
The landline on his desk suddenly rang. He picked up.
A low male voice came through: "Pull the dispatched special-ops team back immediately."
Westen's face changed. "Mr. Armitage, that Soren has already destroyed multiple containment assets of ours—"
"I will send someone to make contact and find out exactly what he wants."
The man on the other end cut him off without mercy.
"That's all."
Beep—
Westen slammed the receiver down, his face ashen with rage.
Those cowards in the Armitage family!
Relying on their lucky break with brain-transplant technology, they secretly swapped bodies for politicians and the elite, extending their lifespans in exchange for massive political protection and resources.
Of course they could sit back and watch from the shadows.
But now this demon hunter named Soren had set his sights on them.
A nobody demon hunter wasn't enough to scare him.
But if Dante ever caught wind of this…
With that man's "no rules, no limits" style, the entire containment center could be uprooted overnight.
All of Westen's hard work would become someone else's political achievement.
He'd either die at the demon hunter's hands or be thrown out as the scapegoat.
"You want me to sit here and wait for death? Dream on."
Since regular armed teams couldn't handle him, it was time to deploy the special assets from the containment vault.
A vicious glint flashed in Westen's eyes. He pushed open the door, took the elevator, and descended to the deepest level of the underground facility—
Bio-Cultivation Sector.
In the ice-cold laboratory, a row of researchers bustled about recording data.
Before them stood several giant cultivation tanks filled with formalin.
Inside each tank floated stitched-together monsters.
One of them was his proudest creation.
The creature's head and most of its chest had been replaced by an engine. In front of the engine were three razor-sharp alloy blades.
This was a biological weapon jointly developed by the center's engineering department and the occult division.
They had fused high-tier demon limbs with modern industrial tech using sorcery.
The end result: a pain-immune, murder-only stitched abomination.
These test subjects had originally been prepared for internal containment breaches or escaped demons.
Now, Westen had decided to activate them early—to deal with Soren.
...
Los Santos.
Soren had already returned to the office.
He lay sprawled on the sofa while the TV broadcast live footage of the meteor crater.
"…According to experts from the relevant departments, the anomaly in the suburbs this afternoon was caused by a rare localized thunderstorm that accidentally ignited an underground gas pipeline, resulting in a chain of explosions…"
"As for claims by some citizens that they saw a meteor fall, the meteorological bureau has already debunked it—that was merely a mirage caused by light refraction…"
The on-site reporter stood in front of the crater with a straight face, never once mentioning Constantine, the Hudson family, or the exorcism.
Looked like the authorities had already spun a cover story. Soren relaxed.
He pulled up the system panel and found the Devil Arm he'd been eyeing for ages—Alastor.
"Exchange."
The moment the exchange went through, Soren suddenly realized something and clutched his chest.
"No way… right?"
A blinding blue electric arc exploded in mid-air.
A massive sword crackling with blue lightning appeared.
The sword's guard was carved with a winged demon; the sharp blade flickered with arcs of electricity like thunder spat from its jaws.
The instant the lightning sword appeared, it sensed the Sparda blood inside Soren.
It spun mid-air, turned into a bolt of lightning, and shot straight toward his chest.
"Just as I thought."
Soren had been ready. Demonic power surged in front of him, forming a giant purple hand to catch the rebellious weapon.
It was useless.
Schlick!
The lightning blade tore straight through the ghost hand, stabbed into his chest, and carried him flying backward, pinning him to the office wall.
"History really does repeat itself."
Soren looked helplessly resigned. He had known this was coming, yet there was no dodging it.
After drinking his blood, however, the lightning sword Alastor stopped moving.
BANG!
The office door was kicked open.
Nico burst in excitedly, holding two strangely shaped weapons. "Soren! Your new gear is done!"
The second she stepped inside and saw him nailed to the wall by a giant sword, she froze.
"Is this some trendy new kink you kids are into these days?"
Soren gave an awkward laugh.
He gripped the hilt, gritted his teeth, and slowly pulled Alastor out of his chest inch by inch.
The moment the blade left his body, the gaping wound healed instantly.
Seeing he was fine, Nico lifted the weapons and began her explanation.
"These dual blades were forged using the black-forest demon antlers you gave me, plus some premium materials I had in storage."
"Try them out."
The blades were pitch-black with red blood grooves. Soren took them, spun them in a flashy flourish—light and perfectly balanced.
The grip curvature suggested they were designed for reverse-grip fighting.
Compared to the wide-swinging Alastor, these were clearly built for close-quarters combat.
Aside from the excellent material and feel, though, Soren didn't sense any special properties yet.
Nico seemed to read his mind. She leaned in with a grin. "Don't rush—the best part's coming."
"Pump some demonic power into them and join the hilts together!"
Soren injected a thread of power.
The moment the two blade tails touched, purple demonic energy linked them. The blades automatically fused.
Under the power boost, the edges flipped outward.
The two close-range short blades transformed into a uniquely shaped composite bow.
Purple demonic energy stretched from both ends of the bow, forming a glowing string in the middle.
Soren gripped the bow with his left hand, pulled the energy string with his right.
As he poured more and more power in, a purple arrow of condensed demonic energy materialized on the string.
He released.
Whoosh—
BOOM!
Even with Soren's enhanced dynamic vision, he only caught a faint purple streak.
When the dust settled, the office door had been reduced to a pile of splinters.
Soren looked at the insane destructive power and nodded in satisfaction.
What he lacked most right now was precise mid-to-long-range firepower. This weapon filled that gap perfectly.
Even better, since the arrows were formed from his own demonic power, he would never have to worry about running out of ammo.
And he could feel that the more power he poured in, the stronger the arrows became.
Soren cut off the energy flow. The bow gave a soft click and split back into two independent blades.
"Great weapon. I love it. How much for the work?"
Soren stored the blades happily and pulled out his phone to pay.
Then he saw his bank balance.
His expression froze.
"What's wrong?!" Nico had been watching his reaction the whole time. As a perfectionist genius mechanic, the worst thing was a client unhappy with her work.
Seeing his face change, she panicked. "Was the draw weight off? Or the energy conduction?"
"Neither."
Soren sighed and silently showed her the bank app.
Faust's Hat had burned through far more money than he imagined. The millions he had scraped together were completely wiped out by one meteor.
He didn't just lack money for the weapon fee—he couldn't even pay next month's electricity bill.
Nico glanced at the screen, then waved it off casually. "I thought it was something serious. No money? Just owe me. When you land a big job and get rich, pay me back with interest."
"Besides, I've had enough fun in Los Santos this trip anyway."
She pushed her goggles up onto her forehead. "Now that the weapon feels good in your hands, I'm heading to my next destination for fresh inspiration!"
Soren nodded. "Stay safe. Safe travels."
"See you around."
Nico turned and walked out. At the doorway she pointed at the wreckage. "Remember to get someone to replace the door."
Soren looked at the door he had just shot into oblivion and rubbed his temples.
After seeing Nico off, he sank his consciousness into the Otherworld.
In the misty forest town, Alessa stood guard beside Valak's corpse.
The body had already shrunk significantly.
The conversion into a Devil Arm was almost complete.
Soren walked over to Alessa and watched her focused expression curiously. "What are you doing?"
Alessa stared at the corpse without blinking, swallowed hard, and said:
"I want to eat…"