Alex, Rebecca Chambers, Claire, and Moira were sitting in the Impala, slowly driving through the ruins of Hong Kong. Alex was focused on the road, carefully steering around rubble and collapsed buildings that blocked their path. He couldn’t help but think about how much the city had changed since their last visit.

Back then, he and his team were rescuing Price, Chun-Li, Cammy, and other survivors, while also destroying the Evil Corporation’s lab that housed the Red Marker. The entire underground base had been wiped off the map, and it was there he first heard demons calling him the “false savior.”

Since then, that nickname had stuck among intelligent demons — they spoke it with contempt, restrained fear, or bitter mockery. Alex couldn’t help but smirk at the memory. The city had become even darker and more devastated. Skyscraper wreckage, melted asphalt, shattered vehicles, and the lingering marks of war were everywhere.

Rebecca, Claire, and Moira scanned the ash-covered, debris-littered streets. They knew that Hong Kong had fallen not only because of the demon invasion but also because Alex’s group had ordered a massive bombardment to save those who were still alive.

Alex was looking for any signs of demon activity — one or two, no more — just enough to test the experimental virus Rebecca had recently synthesized.

But the city felt dead. No sounds, no movement, not even a shadow. Just emptiness.

“Strange…” Alex thought. “Even demons didn’t stick around here?”

He was certain that no human could’ve survived in such a hell. Even if someone had avoided the demons, the ruined city itself would’ve been their grave. Still, Alex had a way to save time — he focused and released a mana pulse into the surrounding space to scan the area.

The pulse returned seconds later, and Alex detected several small groups of demons scattered throughout Hong Kong. Most likely just remnants — stragglers left behind after the main invasion. But something about the readings caught his attention — something odd, vaguely unsettling.

Still, before investigating that, he needed to reach the nearest group.

Turning the wheel, Alex steered the car in the right direction, but soon an entire collapsed building blocked their way.

“And now what? Going around? Or are you gonna start doing your ninja tricks again?” Moira smirked, squinting at him.

“Hmm… why not?” Alex shrugged, stepping out of the car.

He walked to the road and slapped his palm against the ground. The earth began to tremble, cracks forming in the asphalt as thick roots broke through. Within seconds, they surged upward, lifting the collapsed building like giant wooden hands. Moments later, the path was clear. Young trees burst from the ground, rising high above the ruins.

The three girls watched in renewed amazement. Rebecca and Claire had seen something like this before — in South Korea, Alex had grown a giant tree that had stunned them with its beauty and power.

“I wonder if that tree you created in South Korea is still standing?” Rebecca asked, glancing at Alex.

“Of course. It’s a tree. Unless someone decided to chop it down. Though, considering its size — good luck with that,” Alex chuckled, climbing back into the car and hitting the gas.

They continued on, chatting about the tree and other oddities they had seen on recent expeditions. As the car rolled slowly through the shattered city, Alex felt he was getting closer to a cluster of demons — from the feel of it, just regular imps. He sensed them huddled around corpses, devouring the remains.

Stopping at a safe distance so as not to startle the creatures, Alex and the girls got out of the car.

“How did you even find anything in this ruined city?” Moira asked, watching him with genuine curiosity. “How do your powers work?”

“It’s pretty simple,” Alex began, scratching his chin. “I send out a chakra pulse in all directions. When it comes back, I can sense where everything is.”

“Like animal sonar?” Rebecca asked, frowning.

“Exactly. Just way more effective,” Alex nodded with a satisfied smile.

Having received an answer to their question, the girls didn’t stop — they were eager to learn more. They were especially impressed by how Alex could process so much information at once. According to him, he was collecting data from the entire city using a mana pulse.

As he answered their questions, Alex moved forward slowly through the ruins with the girls, helping them navigate through obstacles: cracks in the asphalt, debris from collapsed buildings, fallen beams. The atmosphere was tense, but not gloomy — a blend of quiet anticipation and focused determination.

As the group approached the estimated location of the demons, Alex gestured for them to move as quietly as possible to avoid alerting the enemy. Slipping through a hole in the crumbling wall of a building, they were immediately hit by the sickening sound of wet chewing.

Creeping closer and peeking down, they saw a disturbing sight: a group of imps hungrily gnawing on someone’s remains. Claire, Moira, and Rebecca all turned away at once — the scene was too revolting.

Alex, however, felt a spark of excitement. He wasn’t going to miss this chance to catch his first test subjects. Without a word, he stepped forward and dropped down with a soft thud — right into the middle of the feasting horde.

The imps reacted instantly, shrieking and turning toward him, but Alex stomped the ground. Thick, wooden roots burst through the floor like serpents, wrapping around the creatures and pinning them down. The imps growled and thrashed, but the roots held firm.

The girls peeked through the gap and saw that everything was already over. The imps were securely bound. Moira even gave a low whistle.

“Test subjects secured. You can come down,” Alex said, giving them a thumbs-up and a grin.

“And how exactly do you expect us to do that? We can’t all leap from that height like you,” Claire called down, rolling her eyes.

“Jump. I’ll catch you,” Alex replied, arms open.

He could’ve just jumped back up and carried them down… but apparently, none of them felt especially hesitant.

Moira didn’t even wait. She jumped first — right into Alex’s arms. He gently set her down and stretched out his arms again. Claire followed next, wearing a slight smile as she landed neatly in his hands, then slipped down beside him.

Only Rebecca remained. She clearly hesitated — the height wasn’t insignificant. Alex just smiled and nodded, silently reassuring her. Taking a deep breath, she stepped off… and a moment later, found herself in Alex’s arms.

Rebecca slowly opened her eyes and realized his face was only inches from hers.

“See? Not scary at all,” he said with a slight, almost kind smirk.

“Of course not. I only fell several stories and ended up in your arms,” she muttered, rolling her eyes.

“But I caught you. Everything went perfectly. Which means I deserve a reward,” Alex added, raising an eyebrow.

Rebecca paused for a moment, then smiled and kissed him on the lips.

While they were busy with that, Claire and Moira examined the bound creatures. Hearing a familiar sound behind them, the girls turned and saw Alex and Rebecca kissing.

“Hey, you two! This isn’t a date!” Moira said in an exasperated tone. “Don’t forget why we’re here. You can kiss later!”

“Moira, I’ve told you — jealousy is an ugly emotion,” Alex replied, breaking the kiss.

“It’s not jealousy. It’s irritation,” she shot back, rolling her eyes.

“Then it wasn’t a kiss. It was just… lip contact,” Alex teased with the same sarcastic tone.

Claire shook her head while Moira snorted irritably under her breath. Alex gently set Rebecca Chambers down on the ground and approached the girls. Meanwhile, Rebecca began examining the still-living imps. Fortunately, the roots Alex had used to bind the demons were strong enough—none of them could so much as twitch.

Alex, Claire, and Moira waited patiently while Rebecca finished inspecting their potential “volunteers” for the virus test. Alex, meanwhile, was considering the usefulness of testing the virus on a variety of demon species, but unfortunately, they’d only encountered imps so far. He just shrugged—gotta start somewhere. If the virus Rebecca had prepared didn’t work even on low-level demons like these, there would be no point in trying it on stronger ones.

Finishing her examination, Rebecca pulled out three vials of the virus.

“Well? Are you going to inject them yourself, or should I do it?” Alex asked, looking at her.

“Better if you do it,” she replied, handing him the injectors. “I’ll document everything. We need accurate records.”

“So what exactly is this virus supposed to do? Are they just going to die? Explode? Melt?” Moira asked, eyeing the tied-up trio of demons.

“Or turn into zombie demons,” Claire suggested.

“Honestly? I’m not exactly sure myself,” Rebecca said thoughtfully, turning her gaze toward the imps. “We only ran a few preliminary tests in the lab. The only thing we know for sure is that the virus has a strong effect on demon blood.”

“Well, we’re about to find out. Whether they burst or melt—we’ll see soon enough,” Alex said, twirling the injectors between his fingers like he was juggling them.

The girls nodded—it was better to test than guess. Alex walked over to the first imp, grabbed its head firmly, and prepared to inject it.

“Wait. Which sample are you about to use?” Rebecca stopped him.

“The first one I grabbed… according to the label, it’s number two,” Alex replied, squinting at the markings.

“Start with the first,” Rebecca said, taking the injector from his hand and giving him the one marked with a number one.

Without complaint, Alex shrugged and injected the virus into the imp’s neck. As soon as he released its head, the demon appeared to shut down, going limp in the roots’ grasp. Alex gave the injector a surprised look, wondering if the virus had been too strong—the imp had died almost instantly. Moira and Claire also watched in surprise.

But their relief was short-lived.

The imp suddenly snapped its head up and let out a wild, piercing screech. The sound was so sharp and unbearable that all three girls immediately covered their ears.

“What the hell?! Why is it screaming like that?! What the hell was in that thing?!” Moira shouted over the demon’s screech.

“The virus, obviously! But I didn’t expect this kind of reaction,” Rebecca yelled back, pressing her palms to her ears.

“Alex, maybe do something before it lures the entire damn city to us with its screaming?!” Claire barked over the noise.

“Alright,” Alex said calmly, and snapped his fingers.

The scream stopped instantly. A thin, bleeding line appeared on the imp’s throat—Alex had simply sliced its vocal cords without killing it. He understood that if the demon died too quickly, they wouldn’t learn anything useful from the test.

Lighting a cigarette, Alex stood with the girls and watched what would happen next. Within seconds, the imp’s body started convulsing. It coughed, then gagged up the first lump of blood. The girls instinctively took a step back.

The imp continued spewing more and more bloody sludge from its mouth until it began choking on its own blood. With one final heave, it vomited a torrent of crimson fluid—and then went still.

“Holy crap… Rebecca, what kind of cocktail did you put in that thing?” Moira asked, staring in shock at the imp’s remains.

“Seriously,” Alex agreed, gesturing at the corpse with his cigarette. “It literally puked itself to death.”

“We decided to test demon resistance to the most dangerous viruses in human history,” Rebecca explained calmly. “The first injector contained a hybrid strain of anthrax, bubonic plague, and smallpox. Naturally, all modified to only affect demons. It took some effort, but as you can see—the results speak for themselves.”

She nodded toward the massive scarlet stain left behind by what used to be an imp.

Alex raised an eyebrow in surprise as he looked at the injector marked with a “1” in his hand. He hadn’t expected such a powerful cocktail of viruses to be in his palm—especially one that would affect a demon. However, he was sure the effect would be gradual, so he had to wait a couple of minutes before the imp started to die.

When the demon finally collapsed dead, Alex silently handed the empty injector back to Rebecca Chambers and pulled out a notebook from his inventory. He began making detailed notes—describing the reaction, reflecting on the first virus prototype, and pointing out what needed to be improved in future developments. The virus’s lethality didn’t concern him, but the methods of transmission definitely needed work. Waiting for a few minutes was way too long—every second could cost dearly in a fight.

While he was writing, three girls approached him, interested in his notes. Rebecca immediately started running through possible improvements in her mind, following Alex’s thoughts. Infection speed, transmission routes, lethality—everything needed to be calculated and refined.

Alex finished writing, tore out the page, and handed it to Rebecca. She carefully folded the sheet and put it in her pocket.

“We tested the first one; two more left. What’s next, Rekka?” Claire asked, glancing at Rebecca.

“The second one… is different. Well, it’s still a virus, but its effect is the opposite,” Rebecca replied, choosing her words carefully.

“How’s that? A virus but not really a virus?” Moira raised an eyebrow, surprised.

“I’ll try to explain. Demons, like humans, can bleed. So their blood can clot, too. The second virus is supposed to cause blood coagulation… inside their bodies. But how exactly that will happen—I don’t know,” Rebecca said thoughtfully.

“Well, we’ll find out now. Come on, Alex, inject the second one,” Claire nudged him with a smirk toward the next imp.

Alex shrugged, approached the second demon, and injected the virus. He released the imp’s head and stepped back. Everyone started watching.

This time, the demon didn’t scream. Instead, its body began twitching convulsively. Alex wanted to ask if this was normal, but the imp’s trembling only grew stronger. It seemed like some insane speed was awakening inside it.

Then, suddenly, everything stopped. The demon went limp, hanging lifelessly.

“Well, that wasn’t as impressive as the first one,” Moira commented with slight disappointment.

“Tell me about it. It just vibrated a little… and died,” Alex added, inspecting the body.

He stepped closer to make sure the imp was really dead. He leaned in—and at that moment, the demon exploded in a bloody shower.

Blood, bones, and entrails flew everywhere. Alex found himself right in the blast’s epicenter—from head to toe he was soaked. The girls were lucky—Alex had shielded them unintentionally.

Alex’s eye twitched nervously. Standing there covered from head to toe in demonic guts, the girls tried not to laugh but barely held back—the trembling of his shoulders clearly showed how angry he was.

“Alex, you okay?” Rebecca asked cautiously, patting him on the back.

“Ugh… yeah, I guess. Just feels like something got in my mouth…” he mumbled, spitting out bits of the imp.

“You know what? I’m changing my mind. This version of the virus is better than the first,” Moira said, barely suppressing her laughter.

Alex shot her an irritated glance. Of course, it was easy for her to say—she wasn’t the one covered head to toe in blood and guts. Suppressing his anger, he pulled a bottle of water and a towel from his inventory. Wetting the towel, he began wiping his face and hands.

As he cleaned himself up, his thoughts drifted back to the second virus. The effect had been much more destructive, but the delivery method remained inconvenient—injecting each demon individually by hand was inefficient.

Rebecca noticed how diligently he was wiping and came over, gently taking the towel from his hands.

“Let me help,” she said, carefully wiping the blood off his face.

Alex didn’t object. He just stood there, thinking about how to modify the virus so it could spread like a real infection—from one demon to another.

“Thanks, Rekka,” he said quietly, handing the towel back and tossing it aside.

“No problem. But are you really okay? Even I can see your eye is still twitching,” she said with concern in her voice.

“I’ve been in worse situations… It just happened so suddenly. I didn’t even have time to react,” Alex shrugged.

“No one expected the demon to explode like that. Who would have thought the blood clotting effect would cause such a reaction,” Claire added with a slight smirk.

Sighing inwardly, Alex decided it was time to finish this and pulled out the last injector with the third virus. This time, to avoid getting caught in a bloody rain of entrails, he took a transparent police shield from his inventory and held it in front of him. After injecting the virus into the imp, he raised the shield again, just in case.

“So what’s the third virus?” Claire asked, turning to Rebecca Chambers.

“To be honest… I’m not exactly sure what the effect will be,” Rebecca answered with noticeable uncertainty. “According to the data, it should dissolve the red blood cells inside the demons. But what the actual result will be—I have no idea. The second virus, for example, was only supposed to clot the blood, not blow up the body from the inside…”

Alex, Claire, and Moira stared silently at Rebecca, who now seemed to doubt the consequences of her own creation. Alex frowned, analyzing what he’d heard. If the virus really dissolved erythrocytes, its impact would be more widespread and possibly far more dangerous. And he was right—the demon’s body literally began to melt, turning into a disgusting, rotten slime.

Alex even smirked to himself, recalling a scene from the Gremlins movie—when exposed to sunlight, their bodies started to dissolve into a foul-smelling, greenish mass. A nauseating stench poured from the imp’s dissolving flesh, so thick it felt like the air had become viscous. The three girls simultaneously covered their noses, trying to hold back their nausea. Even Alex felt his nostrils fill with the revolting stench.

“God, what a stink…” Moira croaked, barely holding back vomiting.

“That’s putting it mildly… I feel like I’m gonna throw up,” Claire added, covering her face with her hands.

Unable to bear it any longer, Alex scooped up the girls in his arms and, using his strength, leapt powerfully through the hole in the ceiling. Without wasting a moment, he carried them toward the street. Only once outside did they begin to eagerly breathe in the fresh air, as if fleeing from a nightmare that had haunted them until the very end.

“I hope it’s just the smell stuck in my nose… because if not, we’re going to have to burn all our clothes,” Claire said, taking deep breaths through her mouth and nose.

“The virus worked… but using it against clusters of demons is like hitting the enemy and yourself at the same time. Not even a gas mask would save you from this stench,” Alex grumbled, lighting a cigarette to mask the foul smell with tobacco smoke.

“Definitely,” Moira snorted, leaning against the wall and wiping sweat from her forehead. “After this virus, the phrase ‘chemical weapon’ took on a whole new meaning. I nearly threw up the dinner I ate last week.”

“Rebecca, what do you think? Will you and the scientists keep working on this third virus, or switch back to the first two?” Alex asked, exhaling smoke and glancing at her.

“It’s effective… but way too dangerous, especially considering the smell,” Rebecca admitted with a crooked smile, covering her nose with her hand.

“Better not… It’s scary to even imagine what would happen if a bunch of demons turned into that stinky slime,” Claire added, her face pale.

Alex just smirked, seeing how clearly Claire and Moira were against further development of that virus. After catching their breath and shaking off the sticky feeling of the stench that followed them onto the street, the team headed back to the car.

Once there, they immediately got inside, ready to leave.

“Well, since we’re done here… maybe we should go back? Or continue our ‘date for four’?” Moira suggested with a smile.

“Moira, only you could call this a date. Especially considering how it ended,” Claire snorted, rolling her eyes.

“Of course we can go back… but I have one more little errand in this city,” Alex said, starting the engine.

“So you really decided to continue our date? I don’t mind… but a date where you have to test viruses on demons is a first for me,” Claire laughed.

“You could say that. Remember when I said I use chakra as a sonar?” Alex asked, glancing at the girls.

“And what did you sense?” Rebecca asked, intrigued.

“We’ll find out soon enough. I don’t have a clear answer yet,” he said with a mysterious smile and pressed the gas pedal.

The three girls exchanged looks, also curious about what Alex had sensed using his sonar. Suddenly turning the wheel, he steered the car toward where he had detected a strange presence. Alex skillfully maneuvered between debris and rubble until he reached a huge crater in the ground—the very place where the Evil Corporation’s laboratory had once stood.

He stopped right in front of the crater, and the girls immediately became alert.

“Alex, what is this place?” Claire asked, squinting.

“This… used to be a laboratory. Now there’s only a hole left,” Alex replied, closing his eyes and sending out another chakra pulse to precisely locate the source of the strange sensation.

When the pulse returned, he snapped his eyes open.

“It’s close,” he muttered, turning the wheel and pressing the gas again.

The road led them to a half-ruined building that, despite the damage, looked surprisingly intact compared to the other ruins around.

“So, what exactly did you sense here?” Moira asked, studying the building in front of them.

“It’s hard to say… Just a strange feeling. Like something’s calling. I’ve never felt this before,” Alex said, shaking his head.

“Then let’s see what exactly caught your attention,” Claire said, stepping out of the car first.

Alex followed her, with Rebecca and Moira behind him. Approaching the building, he pushed the old door—it crashed to the floor with a bang, raising a cloud of dust. Grimacing, Alex drew his revolver from behind his back and was the first to enter. The girls turned on their flashlights and followed him, lighting up the dark corridors.

Guided by the pull of his feeling, Alex led them deeper into the building. The closer they got to the source, the stronger he sensed that strange energy—thick, oppressive, unfamiliar. Soon they reached another door. Alex pushed it open, revealing a stairwell.

“Which way now? Down or up?” Claire asked, shining her flashlight on the stairs.

“Down,” Alex answered shortly. “But be careful. The stairs look like they’re held together by a promise.”

“I trust you’d catch us if anything happens. But you better go first: if it holds you, it’ll hold us,” Moira smirked, gently pushing him forward.

Alex chuckled softly but obeyed and began to descend. The girls followed cautiously, lighting their way. Step by step, they made their way into the depths of the underground.

The deeper they went, the clearer Alex felt that whatever was calling him was very close. The sensation was new, frightening, and at the same time, compelling. Something ancient, forgotten… and intriguing.

When they reached the bottom, Alex looked around and noticed another door in the corner—large, metallic, covered with rust. Carefully, he pulled the handle and slightly opened it, letting the dim flashlight beams inside.

The girls followed closely behind, trying not to fall behind.

Suddenly, Claire stopped and whispered,

“Do you hear that?..”

Alex, Moira, and Rebecca froze, listening. After a few seconds of silence, voices sounded—muffled, distant, as if coming from deep within the underground.

Alex raised an eyebrow in surprise—these were human voices. What caught his attention even more was that the strange feeling he’d sensed all this time came exactly from that direction.

As they moved forward, they gradually began to make out what the strangers were saying:

“LEE-rahk, TAH-sah, VEH-fah. VAYL Beh-lee-AHL…”

The voices sounded rhythmic, in unison, like a mantra. The same words repeated over and over without stopping, like a broken record. Alex and the girls exchanged wary, anxious glances. Tension grew in their chests.

“Sounds like… a ritual,” Alex whispered, looking ahead. “And judging by this, they’re trying to summon someone. I can’t think of any other explanation.”

He gestured for the girls to be as quiet as possible. They began to creep slowly down the dark corridor, trying not to make a sound. The closer they got, the louder the voices became. Soon, a dim, flickering light appeared ahead.

Drawing nearer, they hid behind a pillar and peeked inside the room. Before them was a gruesome sight: a hall soaked in blood and littered with mutilated bodies. In the center stood figures in cloaks—their faces hidden beneath hoods. They formed a circle and tirelessly repeated the same words, as if hypnotized:

“LEE-rahk, TAH-sah, VEH-fah. VAYL Beh-lee-AHL…”

Alex’s eye twitched. He instantly knew—yes, they were cultists. And yes, they were actually preparing to summon someone.

“Don’t tell me they’re really trying to call a demon,” Rebecca whispered, peeking from behind the cover.

“So what? It’d be interesting to see if they succeed or not,” Alex smirked, watching intently.

“I’ve only seen this kind of thing in movies…” Moira added, trying to suppress the tremor in her voice.

Despite the danger, Alex decided to observe. He had never seen a real summoning ritual before—only theories, guesses, and myths. He was curious whether it would actually work. Considering how bloody the scene was and how concentrated the energy in the air felt, he guessed the odds were about fifty-fifty.

But the main question was—who were they trying to summon?

A petty imp? A miserable spirit? Or something far, far worse?

He was especially interested to see whether these cultists would summon a minor demon or someone more serious. Given that any demon could now simply break free from its bloody nest and enter this world, Alex’s curiosity about who the cultists were trying to bring forth with this ritual grew even stronger.

And that was what intrigued Alex the most.

To be continued…

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep