111 Longing

Good Ol' Charles Johnson was one of the avid followers of the cult. He had been in the cult ever since he stopped 'standing', blaming his 'little brother's incompetence on a devil's curse. After being long exposed to Christabella's toxic tongue, he could be regarded as the most devout follower among the others, blindly offering his wealth and loyalty to the real devil, in return for a shred of hope for his little brother's ability to stand once again.

However, as devoted as the followers could be, there will always be a doubt in their hearts. Darkness couldn't exist without light, and so did the other way around. Especially, when the bigger the faith in their heart, the deeper the qualm they bore. And Charles was a good example of it.

He was about to drop to his knees to deliver his prayer when suddenly, Christabella, screamed her lung out, causing him to turn toward the distressed lady.

"It's the DEVIL!!" shouted Christabella while pointing at the girl behind Rose using her index and little finger, as if making a sign, promptly gathering the other's attention. "She's back!"

The sudden screaming was met with varied reactions upon tracing Christabella's line of sight. Some would make a sudden prayer in fear. Some flinched and moved away from the group. Some immediately hid behind the pillar, cowardly. Some just stood motionlessly like Charles did, not knowing how to react. All the while the bravest and craziest, immediately resort to violence.

"What do we do!?"

"Burn her!"

"Hurry! Or we will be the ones she burnt!

"Strip her!"

"Filthy demon!"

"Put her on a stake!"

Almost half the amount of the people in the church moved like a pack of zombies, unafraid of the danger, intending to capture the devil whom Christabella proclaimed.

'Why would we be scared?'

'We are in the Sanctuary. Protected by the great being.'

'The god is watching us.'

Or so they thought...

Rose took out the grenade from her waist, pulled the safety pin, and threw it past the charging masses. Good Ol' Charles' thick mustache shook violently when he saw what the flying object was. Out of reflex, he ducked while using his sweaty hands to cover his head. The grenade bounced off his balding head and flew further behind him toward the cowards hiding behind the pillar.

Boom!!

It exploded with a great rumbling. Body parts flew from one corner to the other. It must be noted that previously, the grenade, was blessed with Edward's reinforcement and the following result was not an exaggeration.

The pillar holding the second floor's seating area burst into pieces and flew toward the other cult members like a spear, impaling their face, heart, limbs, or their other private body parts.

Thick dusty smoke covered half of the church, only Christabella and the girls were safe from the grenade's effective range.

Although the explosion was spectacular, it didn't do much against the cult members. Not at first, as they didn't know the extent of the damage that was caused. They quickly picked themselves up and resumed their charging.

Evil must be taken down, no matter what it takes. That was one of their rules.

Rose pulled another one, but this time, she just hang it high in the air for all to see. Once they realized what was she holding, everyone stopped. Another round of silence permeated the air.

Only Christabella's commanding voice could be heard in the middle of this mess. Unafraid of the consequence of her action. She believed that she was invulnerable.

"What are you doing? Capture them!" she yelled, foam coming out of her mouth as her eyes bulged in anger, threatening to pop out of their socket. The followers looked at each other, urging each other to make the first move, but not even a strand of their hair swayed.

Then, the smokes started to thin out, revealing the state of the church, making it worst or the better depending on whose side we're talking about. Although there was no hole in the wall, the entirety of the left section of the church was completely obliterated. The second floor was on the verge of falling...

Crash! Thud!

Oh... it fell.

They saw the state of their brethren. People were thrown away left and right. Some would miss limbs, others would miss their entire top half. While some were able to muster a sound, others weren't that lucky enough.

Good Ol' Charles Johnson though, he was one damn lucky fella, coming out unscathed from this ruckus. Not even a drop of blood. He was laying down on top of his stomach.

"What have you done!?" muttered, Christabella. Furious, she continued, "you dared to commit manslaughter in this holy Sanctuary!?"

'Hey, you did worst. Don't act as if you are much better than a rat.' thought Rose.

Cybil acted fast. She pulled out her gun and shielded the two little girls. She understood what was going on after seeing how bloodthirsty the people in this place were, earlier.

Ignoring Christabella who was fuming in anger, seeing the state of her Church, Rose faced the majority of the cult followers, or what was left of them. She remembered the points that Edward stressed earlier that day.

[Christabella's little club was oblivious of the state of the world outside Paleville, Silent Hill. They were informed by her, that their god sent down a punishment to the earth. The world's end. Doom's day is what they called it,] said, Edward.

"I came from the world outside. Where there is endless BLUE SKY on our heads. SEA and MOUNTAINS unobstructed by this endless fog!" yelled Rose. "YOU have been lied to."

Rose pointed toward Christabella while stressing her the last two words to the crowd. All eyes now moved toward the latter, while the former just smirked. Only a few would stand behind Christabella, showing their unshaken belief.

"Impudence! This is treachery! You dare to point your hand toward the god's prophet!?" snapped one of the guys next to Christabella. He had long hair and a pale face.

Christabella just smiled while holding out her hand, stopping the guy from blatantly charging toward Rose. The accusation didn't falter her at all.

"Oh, poor little lamb. You have been deceived by none other than the child demon. What sky are you spouting about? What sea and mountains did you see? All of it is already gone. Only by our God's side, you could be saved. Only by your devotion, you could be salvaged. Now, child. Put down that evil object, and pledge for forgiveness." said Christabella, taking a step closer to Rose.

[Christabella is a great spokesperson, I admit that. If she attend a TED-TALK, I believe she would surpass Steve Jobs with her presentation. Hell, she could sell tons of cow dunk and make a profit out of it. These poor people were simply brainwashed into believing that their god only spared them because of their honest prayer. What bullshit, right? I know. But when people are at the end of their wits, anything is better as long as they could escape the harsh reality.]

Now eyes returned to Rose's side. Although she could put a dent into the crowd's belief, she didn't have anything to back up her words. Or is she?

Aside from two grenades, there is something else that Edward gave her. Pictures. And a lot of them.

[They wouldn't admit it. But each and every one of them knew that... they fucked up.]

She tossed everything into the air. A bundle of pictures burst like sakura flowers at the peak of spring. There was a picture of stone mountains, lands, and of course, skies. How did he get his hand on them? Well, it was Eve who had them, tucked along with the card she used to open the facility's steel door. Some were cut from magazines while the others were pictures taken by the staff and gifted to her. Some had descriptions on them, while others had the date and location stamped behind the cards.

As fate was whispering right to his ears, Charles Johnson grabbed one of the countless cards falling from the sky.

He admit, that rather than having his little brother standing one more time, breathing the fresh air was much better. He didn't know when it started, but the air in this place was filled with the stench of the abyss.

Once he took a good look at the picture, his eyes bulged. He knew where the picture was taken. It was a picture of a barn, a family could be seen standing side by side. It was a pair of a lovely couple and an old woman who was holding a baby on her weak arm.

"Bertha... Curtiss... How I missed you."

The picture became an eye-opener for these blinded lambs. One by one, they started to look forward. The fog in their eyes started diminishing.

"Forgive me..." muttered the Good Old Man, Charles Johnson, toward the girl hiding behind Cybil, toward Sharon... no... but toward Alessa.

[Sometimes, a little girl's pure longing could be the greatest eye-opener.] smiled Edward, gently rubbing Eve's fluffy hair.

===°°°===

-A few moments ago, deep inside the pitch-black darkness of the Hidden Dragon Shrine.-

A flintlock.

It was a damn flintlock. If you wanna know what type of gun I hate the most, it's a flintlock. It wasn't a damn musket either, but a pistol. Short effective range, has bad accuracy and took ages to reload. Overall, it's a damn pain in the ass and bad for the environment. The only good point it had, you asked? It looks damn fabulous.

[Is something wrong, Sir?] asked Regina, wondering why I suddenly spaced out.

"Nothing, I was just imagining myself fighting multiple enemies while reloading this thing," I replied.

What if a horde of monsters came at me, or if I was in New York fighting those aliens. This thing would be useless against them.

[Why don't you try to read its description, Sir? Gauntlet weapon can't be useless or bad.] urged Regina.

"Fine," I replied, rather reluctantly.

I opened the flintlock's description. A blue screen appeared on my face.

---

---

<Cooldown: Same as the weapon's CD.>

<By trading with the user's MP, once the bullet hit the target, it can and will completely erase it from existence. Caution, if the target intended to be erased far outweighs the user's MP or the cost of the trade, it can and will result in immediate death.

For example: erasing the existence of a person stronger or at the same level as the user would result in immediate death. Erasing an object more powerful or at the same level as the user would result in immediate death.>

---

My brain stopped. I took back my words. It was too OP and dangerous at the same time. I was thankful that the weapon, instead of needing to be physically reloaded, had a cooldown time. I didn't have to do anything but wait for the CD to be over. Not that I would be bothered even if I need to manually reload it.

"The ability is somewhat confusing though," I mumbled, tilting my head deep in thought.

[What's so confusing about it, Sir?] asked Regina, who was thinking the name alone was self-explanatory.

"How do I know something is stronger or weaker than me? What if I mistakenly shot something powerful? And how can I use it to fight enemies if I can't erase them?"

[Sir, are you really that dense?]

"Wha— That was so uncalled for."

[First, we could just limit the use of the weapon until we are sure that the target could be afforded. Second, the shifting bullet can be controlled by thought. You just need to accelerate your thought, and some of your skill and ability could already back you up to a certain extent.] explained Regina. [You can't erase your enemy, but everything other than that is basically legal. Do I still need to continue, Sir]

"Holy shit!"

How could I not see that!? Is this the side-effect of dying earlier? I almost lost my imagination skill. The shifting bullet is the answer! The weapon is not dangerous, it's actually unparalleled in OP-ness. Besides, my mental and physic could already be regarded as inhuman.

Tired of fighting your enemies? Erase the heart. Dead.

Is the enemy too tough? Erase its muscle tissue. Limp biscuit.

A missile fell from the sky? Erase the explosive chemical, like TNT. It's just a pile of fancy steel.

There is an unlimited way to use it. As long as I hit the target, it's pretty much un-blockable.

"Flintlock is the best weapon made in history."

[sigh*] Regina shook her non-existent head as she watched Edward rubbing his cheek on the gun.

Grroooooongg!!!

Suddenly, something akin to gears started turning around me. The ground started shaking, the dragon shrine was slowly sinking into the deep darkness.

[Run, Sir...] cautioned, Regina, out of nowhere.

I knew the situation was dangerous, but I didn't think that I had to be warned like that. Whenever Regina told me to run or flee or hide, it meant the danger was imminent and I wouldn't be able to manage it by myself.

Without a hint of hesitation, I closed my eyes and activated my radar sense. The darkness vanished, replaced by a series of outlines of various objects. The place I was currently at was a dome-shaped building. The huge gears were arranged like a delicate machine and the dragon shrine was slowly descending into a hollow box underneath it.

But that was not the problem. The problem was laid on the creature that was slowly creeping behind the Dragon Shrine. It looked like a monster from an anime series I watched in my previous life.

Half-human. Half-Spider.

Well, the top part is a human, and the bottom part is a spider. Do I really need to explain this?

I turned my heel and started sprinting with all of my power toward the hole I came from earlier. It wasn't that far, I just need to leap once, and then escaped.

Leaping into the hole, a tug suddenly stopped my movement mid-air I was pulled back to the ground, planting my face on the hard stone floor.

"Guhhk!"

It was a thread, so small I could barely notice it. The spider-lady already stood a meter across me. Her humanoid hand was reaching toward me. I quickly hold my bearings and prepared myself for the incoming attack. Even pointing Whitebeard toward the creature's spider body, unsure where to shoot.

But there was none.

Odd.

A pair of cold hands suddenly hold both of my cheeks. Sensing that I was disturbed by the temperature of her palm, the spider-lady forced her blood to rush toward her hand. It was warmer, but it couldn't help me with the current situation.

"What should I do?" I asked Regina. The spider-lady thought I was just speaking to her, so she moved her body closer so that I could see her face.

Meanwhile, Regina was also dumbfounded by the current predicament as well, [It seemed to recognize you, Sir.]

What the hell? I don't think I am supposed to have a spider acquaintance yet. Well, not this early.

The spider lady seemed to be waiting. Oh, how rude of me. What kind of man would make a lady waiting, especially when she was bare-chested.

"Hehe..." a laugh came out of me.

Realizing that I was distracted, the spider lady pinched my cheek and nudged my chin, telling me to look up. At the same time, I was verbally lectured by Regina inside my head on how to behave. Yeah, my bad.

Once I looked at her face, I don't know what to do next. Not that I know whom the face belonged to. I didn't have a single idea.

A question formed on my face. However, I was suddenly assaulted with the feeling of guilt and sorrow.

'Is it attacking me!?'

No, that was not the case. This feeling didn't come from her, but from deep inside me. As if this feeling was imprinted on my soul.

I looked back toward the face the woman had. Still have no clue who it was.

It was an average face, with no great points to mention. It was the face you could find everywhere. A face belonged to a worker from a black company.

'Huh...? Why did I suddenly assume she was a black company worker?'

Just as a question suddenly arose in my head, a thundering voice erupted, waking me up, "Who dares to infiltrate my realm!!"

It was a voice so cryptic and evil, goosebumps and cold sweat covered my body.

At the same time, a notification appeared at the edge of my vision before vanishing again. Then something started shaking again. The gears collapsed one by one, the Dragon Shrine was crumbling.

The pitch-black darkness was suddenly split by a flaming red light. It consumed the whole place.

Meanwhile, the spider lady grabbed me from behind, her arm wrapped around my chest tightly. We were floating. To be exact, she was using her thread to float in the air, whilst the dome crumbled and fell.

The darkness vanished, replaced by the scorching red realm spreading around me without limit. This... was hell. One that was ruled by none other than Mephisto.

How did I know that? Well, the owner was standing around a thousand kilometers away. However, its huge body, made him look like he was just standing a few meters away. So damn huge.

At the same time, I heard an explosion behind me, where a pillar of flame jutting out to God's know where. The spider lady's thread was connected to it.

Mephisto squinted his eyes to see the thing that was bothering him. He already destroyed the weird-shaped ship or maybe plane that suddenly appeared inside his realm, but a creature came out of it.

It was a half-human, half-spider. Well, he had a lot of them as well, but this one was not one of his.

"What does a fog creature doing in this place? Did it finish already? That shouldn't be, it needed more time to harvest the human." as Mephisto snapped out of his stupor, he felt something else. The familiar feeling that he felt years ago.

"This feeling... that soul! What is she doing in my realm!!" Mephisto started pinpointing the source of his anger and fear. It was weaker than the last time he met her, but he was sure of it.

"You thief!!" screamed Mephisto, launching another attack. He summoned a flame sword out of nothingness and slashed downward. A line of fire flew toward us.

Sensing that we were exposed to the most dangerous opponent, the spider-lady threw me toward the tower of flame behind us. I couldn't make it, but I managed to grab a line of thread connected to the towering flame. I swayed here and there, trying to use the momentum to make me glide into the only hole carved into the flame tower.

Meanwhile, the flame slash came closer and closer to us in a matter of a second.

The spider lady formed a wall of thread filled with the agonizing soul of countless demons of the fog. It spread wider and wider, layer by layer.

"What is this!?"

The scale of the fight was out of the ordinary. The wall souls seemed to be impenetrable. I was trying to fight that? I couldn't help but laugh awkwardly.

The crescent line of fire then hit the wall of souls, during its contact, the demons consumed the flame as if they were hungry. It didn't take long until the flame vanished.

However, it didn't end just yet. Another was launched, then the third, the fourth...

This time, it was impossible to block it.

I jerked the thread, allowing me to land on the edge of the hole on the wall of fire.

"Come inside!" I yelled toward the spider-lady.

It was a monster, and just like what Mephisto said, a fog monster. Which means it was a creature coming from Silent Hill. It was odd, I didn't remember any creature that resembled her at all. I played almost all of the franchise, and not even one of them mention her.

Who it is?

Hearing my shout, the spider-lady turned around and smiled. She knew her limit. She was just a copy of the real deal. While the copied person could get stronger and stronger as time passed, she couldn't.

However, she was glad. By the end of her life, she could meet him. She could meet Edward. She knew that it was that woman's son. Which means, he was also hers.

She, just like her, will protect her son.

"Keaaaaaaaghh!!"

With a burst of scream, the spider-lady summoned her strongest attack. A wave of soul burst out of her before forming several titan-sized mannequins. Her fingers twitched those mannequins moved into the flame slash, offering themselves to stop the flame from moving further to Edward's side.

One...

Two...

Three...

Four...

Five...

That was the last mannequin, in the end, she fell short as the last crescent line of fire still freely gliding at high speed toward them.

Six...

In the end, she too offered her body.

The flame swallowed the spider. Nothing she could do against it. The flame was simply too strong, one that was summoned by the Devil himself, Mephisto.

The last flame vanished along with her. The unknown spider lady. But she didn't regret it, at least there is something she could do for him.

She protected her son.

"Tch!!"

It was a short encounter, but the feeling was genuine. There was no enmity between them, but the spider-lady was protecting him. There must be something else hidden in this place.

Silent Hill, the spider-lady, and Mephisto. All of them were connected. But how?

[Sir! Get inside! Quick!] warned Regina.

I had no choice but to save the question to a later date now was not the time.

But there was another problem.

'Now that I am inside, how do I close the hole?'

No matter what I did, the hole just wouldn't close.

"Not so fast!! Even if I have to stay for another hundred years, I will destroy you here and now!" yelled Mephisto.

The lame sword in his hand turned into a javelin and he threw it with all of his power toward the hole in the flaming tower.

"Oh shit!!"

'This is it. It was not long ago I meet my death, now I'm going to really die this time.'

"Oh well, at least I could see boobies before I died. It's worth it." I mumbled, closing my eyes. Regina was scolding me but I couldn't be bothered by it. Not when I was finally meeting my end.

"Oh right. There was a notification earlier. I wonder what it is."

There was actually two notification. I opened both and make sure to read them properly, as it was the last time I could read them.

I didn't wait for even a millisecond before saying, "I choose you Arceus!"

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