As Jake listened to the whirring of the elevator, he felt everything around him shift. The air seemed to condense, as if a pressure was being applied. Mist began to creep in, resting at his boots. Shifting his feet, he felt as if he was ankle deep in water.

He was now in its domain.

Feeling the elevator come to a stop, he racked a round as the doors hissed open. Stepping out of the elevator, he slowly made his way through the halls of the lab, the Luminore outcrops revealing just how far the area was changed. Various species of fish swam by him, each one a small monster themselves. In fact, they seemed to be the only monsters that were in the surrounding area.

Strange.

As he turned a corner, he felt something bump into his feet, causing him to pause. Turning his gaze downwards, he was met with a gaunt face staring back at him. Eyes sunken into its face and patches of sagging skin still on its flesh, it was clear that it had been here for a while. Looking over the pallid corpse, something caught his eye. Kneeling down, he moved the corpse to its back, revealing a keycard on its chest.

‘Head Researcher, huh,’ he thought as he looked over the keycard. So the organization wasn't inherently religious.

Pocketing the keycard, he stepped over the corpse as he continued down the hallway, his footsteps echoing through the hall.

As he made his way towards the containment unit, he felt the air get heavier. It was as if he was waist deep in a swamp, the humidity only exacerbating that feeling.

Turning the corner, he found himself in front of a gleaming metallic door. Placing the keycard on the reader, he stepped back as the door hissed open, revealing what seemed to be an observation deck. Stepping into the room, he turned his gaze towards the broken window. There, he saw the Demon in question. With shimmering scales of various colors and fangs like that of knives, he watched as the humanoid thing slept, surrounded by dozens of Mermen and other creatures. Each one was postured as if in worship of a saint.

‘A Siren,’ he thought as he leaned over the barrier. It was a low ranking one, a creature that was treated as an elite enemy at first, then just common fodder. Things that could be killed by the dozens on the path for more valuable prey. Still, considering the scarring on its body, breaking through the glimmering shine, it must be at least an Elder. After all, only something of that age could exert this amount of change passively.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Hopping over the boundary, he silently slung the rifle over his shoulder before bringing out his ax to bear.

‘Time to clear them out,’ he thought before bolting towards the closest monster. Slamming the blade into the creature's skull, he twisted his body before swinging it at the neck at another. With each swing, another of the beasts fell, crumpling like puppets without their strings. As he cut down the monsters, he noticed that the Siren watched how the blood was split, examining how he fought. He could see arrogance in its eyes as he cut down another of its followers.

Slamming the ax into the skull of the final Mermen, he let go of the handle before hopping back as a torrent of water hit where he stood, cracks appearing in the stone. Bringing the shotgun to bear, he quickly pointed it at the Siren before emptying the magazine into the beast. Buckshot ripped chunks of flesh off the creature's body, causing it to roar in pain. As he continued to dash around the Siren’s enclosure, firing off round after round into its body, he watched as it began to grow erratic. Its actions became less focused, its eyes darting around to see just where exactly he was. The attacks became more widespread, intent on just destroying everything around it.

However, it wasn't enough.

Slowly but surely, it became weaker, a black ooze mimicking that of blood seeping from various wounds on its form. Chunks of meat ripped off, revealing twisted flesh and blackened bone.

Stopping in front of the near dead creature, he pressed the barrel against the skull of the beast before firing a round, painting him with blood and brain matter.

As he watched the body crumble into dust, he tossed the now unneeded shotgun aside, the sound of it clattering on the stone echoing through the enclosure.

Now that was done, he was able to backtrack and clean things up.

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Stepping into his apartment, Jake tossed his bag onto the coffee table before throwing himself onto the couch. As he started to unpack the materials he took from the rest of the grounds, his eyes landed on a small pile of gems. Around the size of a human heart, it was like that of a small void, consuming all surrounding light.

‘A Demon Core,’ he thought as he looked over the gemstone. Tossing the gem back onto the table, he closed his eyes as he started to think of a plan. He had no use for them at the moment, since he didn’t have the equipment to make anything useful. However, he knew a place where it would be valuable to certain parties.

Best to pay someone a visit tomorrow.