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Source: collected/015-mortal-steel-episode-3.mp3
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00:00:00.600 Speaker 1 [rock music]
00:00:46.800 Speaker 1 Mortal Steel. [suspenseful music] Episode three,
00:00:53.600 Speaker 1 part four: Hail Mary.
00:00:57.960 Speaker 1 Ethan watched as a demon swooped toward him.
00:01:02.060 Speaker 2 Overclock!
00:01:04.360 Speaker 1 There was no reason to shout. He could have turned it on with a thought, but there
00:01:08.620 Speaker 1 was a layer of performance here that mattered to his second mind for some reason.
00:01:14.480 Speaker 1 The bio-overclocking kicked in, and time slowed to a near standstill. The swooping
00:01:19.780 Speaker 1 demon froze in mid-flight, its bat-like wings beating the air as if it were made of
00:01:24.420 Speaker 1 molasses now. Its elephant-like trunk was parted, the thousands of needle
00:01:30.200 Speaker 1 teeth dripping some vile green fluid. A dozen more like it circled above him.
00:01:36.720 Speaker 1 Below them, 23 humans in biker leather were mounting rusted motorcycles in slow
00:01:42.360 Speaker 1 motion. Only seven of them had visible signs of demonic tainting, the same bone-like
00:01:48.260 Speaker 1 protrusions piercing the skin around the faces, necks, and hands.
00:01:52.840 Speaker 2 Give me an inventory.
00:01:54.900 Speaker 1 Icons covered Ethan's HUD. Most of them were gray with red crosses through them.
00:01:59.860 Speaker 1 Apparently, he was missing most of his arsenal. Weapons, The Messenger,
00:02:05.880 Speaker 1 Holy Fire, grenades, and something called Trinity.
00:02:12.580 Speaker 1 Below that was another category of tools called combat mods. Again, most of these
00:02:17.860 Speaker 1 were grayed out. It seemed pointlessly cruel to flaunt his full potential in front
00:02:22.500 Speaker 1 of him like this. Perhaps the nuns could explain it later, if he survived.
00:02:30.220 Speaker 1 Of the 23 combat mods listed, only three were available. Neck Cracker,
00:02:36.300 Speaker 1 Tether Grapple, Hydraulic Heel.
00:02:39.560 Speaker 2 Explain Neck Cracker.
00:02:41.240 Speaker 1 Instead of a verbal explanation, his field of vision was overlaid with a hologram
00:02:46.060 Speaker 1 depicting his body and an enemy combatant, not unlike the combat simulations.
00:02:52.780 Speaker 1 If the hologram could be trusted, the Neck Cracker looked to be gruesomely effective
00:02:57.740 Speaker 1 at close range.
00:02:59.200 Speaker 2 Explain Tether Grapple.
00:03:01.660 Speaker 1 Another hologram. This time, Ethan actually laughed. He couldn't remember
00:03:07.580 Speaker 1 the last time he'd laughed. Why didn't he laugh anymore? He was watching a
00:03:13.340 Speaker 1 demonstration of the suggested uses for Holy Fire when his second mind started
00:03:18.180 Speaker 1 chirping. "Bio-overclock warning. Heat build-up. Danger."
00:03:24.320 Speaker 1 If he didn't release the overclock now, the excess heat would cook his own brain.
00:03:29.260 Speaker 2 Release overclock.
00:03:30.840 Speaker 1 Time started again. The flying demon parted its tentacle mouth. It was large enough
00:03:36.540 Speaker 1 to wrap around 10 people. They would be eviscerated in short order as well.
00:03:42.640 Speaker 1 Ethan glanced up at the circling demons. He made no move to dodge the dive.
00:03:48.260 Speaker 1 Instead, he stepped forward to meet it.
00:03:51.540 Speaker 2 Hey, ugly.
00:03:53.320 Speaker 1 200 pounds of drooling demonic flesh slammed into him.
00:03:57.600 Speaker 2 Ugh!
00:03:57.720 Speaker 1 They both went flying from the impact, but Ethan held onto the beast by the base of
00:04:02.520 Speaker 1 the flapping mouth-
00:04:03.540 Speaker 2 Ah!
00:04:03.860 Speaker 1 ... preventing it from closing around him. They rolled around on the ground outside
00:04:07.980 Speaker 1 the church as the creature screamed and flailed to get free. He finally let it go,
00:04:12.780 Speaker 1 then stepped out of range of the gnashing talons. When he looked down, his right
00:04:17.420 Speaker 1 hand was missing. Exactly as planned. The demon
00:04:23.260 Speaker 1 took to the air again.
00:04:26.200 Speaker 1 The creatures were embarrassingly uncoordinated on the ground. A half-centimeter
00:04:31.160 Speaker 1 wire ran from the demon back to the stump of Ethan's right hand.
00:04:35.940 Speaker 2 Come on and give me a lift.
00:04:37.700 Speaker 1 The Tether Grapple stopped reeling out wire-
00:04:39.900 Speaker 2 Ah!
00:04:40.000 Speaker 1 ... and he was pulled violently across the sidewalk.
00:04:42.520 Speaker 2 Ugh.
00:04:43.340 Speaker 1 Dragged backward on his heels, the sound of roaring motorcycles drowned out the
00:04:48.300 Speaker 1 screaming demons. [motorcycle engines running] A pack of four humans rode toward him
00:04:52.820 Speaker 1 at full throttle as he was dragged along the ground, helpless to get away from them.
00:04:58.440 Speaker 1 They stood up on their bikes, nail bats raised. The first biker rolled up to him and
00:05:04.240 Speaker 1 swung her nail bat down at his exposed stomach. Ethan caught the bat and pulled. The
00:05:09.260 Speaker 1 woman fell from her bike, slamming into the church's sign with bone-crunching force.
00:05:14.600 Speaker 1 Her bike kept rolling for a dozen feet, then toppled over, which gave him an
00:05:20.220 Speaker 1 idea. The second biker was smarter. He feinted with the club once-
00:05:25.660 Speaker 2 Whoa
00:05:26.220 Speaker 1 ... then buried it in Ethan's chest. The nail bat stuck, and the rider sped past,
00:05:31.140 Speaker 1 circling back for another pass. Pain and damage sensors lit up in Ethan's HUD, but
00:05:37.140 Speaker 1 his face didn't so much as twitch. Pain was only information
00:05:42.980 Speaker 1 now.
00:05:43.420 Speaker 2 [inhales] Ah.
00:05:46.240 Speaker 1 Ethan still slid backward, moving farther away from the church down the street as
00:05:50.800 Speaker 1 the flying demon struggled to climb higher. Apparently, he'd misjudged how much they
00:05:56.340 Speaker 1 could carry. Or maybe it was just dragging him along intentionally. Either way, he
00:06:02.000 Speaker 1 couldn't get his hand loose. The third biker tried the same trick as the second,
00:06:06.840 Speaker 1 feinting for his first swing. Ethan kicked off the ground, lunged, and grabbed the
00:06:12.464 Speaker 1 tainted man's arm instead of the bat. The man had just enough time to look
00:06:17.864 Speaker 1 terrified. Then Ethan ripped him off the motorcycle, using the momentum of the
00:06:22.944 Speaker 1 falling man to mount the bike himself.
00:06:28.764 Speaker 1 He swung onto the seat and gripped the sides of the bike with his heels to keep that
00:06:32.924 Speaker 1 useless flying creature from pulling him off it. The fourth biker sped up next to
00:06:38.004 Speaker 1 Ethan and flashed a toothy, yellowing smile.
00:06:42.744 Speaker 1 She lifted her nail bat, intending to bring it down on his head, steadying herself
00:06:47.384 Speaker 1 on the motorcycle with the other hand. No thanks. I've already got a ride. Then he
00:06:51.804 Speaker 1 drew the messenger and shot out her front tire. The wheel was shred to shrapnel, and
00:06:57.144 Speaker 1 the rider flipped over the handlebars and smashed into the side of the brick
00:07:01.004 Speaker 1 building.
00:07:03.464 Speaker 1 Ethan lifted the messenger to the sky. Time to put this thing out of its misery.
00:07:10.304 Speaker 1 Then he lowered the gun. Perhaps it just needed a little more motivation.
00:07:16.904 Speaker 1 He gripped the sides of the motorcycle with his legs as hard as he could without
00:07:20.584 Speaker 1 crushing it. Then he used his combined mass as leverage to pull back on the flying
00:07:25.184 Speaker 1 demon. There was a distant screech, and then Ethan swung the demon with his tether
00:07:30.504 Speaker 1 grapple, pulling it off course as easy as pulling a kite. He smashed his living kite
00:07:36.304 Speaker 1 into another, the crunch of hollowed bones audible even at street level.
00:07:42.164 Speaker 1 All the while, he rode down the ruined streets of old Los Angeles, weaving between
00:07:47.464 Speaker 1 rusted cars. He swung the tangle of two creatures into a third with another
00:07:52.584 Speaker 1 sickening crunch. There were three of them at the end of his tether now.
00:07:59.064 Speaker 1 A tangled screeching mass of pale flesh a hundred feet above him. Ethan swerved to
00:08:04.904 Speaker 1 avoid a bus, its rusted frame sagging on long deflated tires. The flying
00:08:10.204 Speaker 1 counterweight lurched left in the air. Ethan and his bike were slammed against the
00:08:14.584 Speaker 1 rusty bus. His shoulder was torn apart down to the titanium
00:08:19.684 Speaker 1 endoskeleton. This time, he screamed.
00:08:29.664 Speaker 1 Aim was information. Of course, a lot of information.
00:08:35.564 Speaker 1 Sparks flew as he tore through the side of the bus, dragged by the monsters. The
00:08:40.164 Speaker 1 sound of rending metal filled his ears and the messenger was nearly torn from his
00:08:44.544 Speaker 1 hip. He was finally pulled through the other end of the bus, busting through the
00:08:48.764 Speaker 1 last of the rusting metal frame.
00:08:53.604 Speaker 1 It was then that the demons finally realized what was holding them down. In that
00:08:59.024 Speaker 1 moment, they stopped fighting to get free of the tangled tether and flapping in
00:09:04.064 Speaker 1 unison to climb higher into the air. Uh-oh. Then Ethan was
00:09:09.804 Speaker 1 lifted into the air, motorcycle and all. He had a moment
00:09:15.724 Speaker 1 to reflect on his situation as the ruined cars and buildings grew smaller beneath
00:09:21.604 Speaker 1 him.
00:09:24.244 Speaker 1 Why was he riding a motorcycle in the sky? Why had he grappled these monsters
00:09:29.924 Speaker 1 instead of simply putting them all down with the messenger? Real life wasn't like
00:09:34.644 Speaker 1 those old action movies. When you had a targeting computer, you didn't miss.
00:09:40.484 Speaker 1 His second mind, which usually confined itself to answering direct questions, spoke
00:09:46.184 Speaker 1 up. It didn't use words. There was no need to use words. It spoke directly to his
00:09:52.184 Speaker 1 intuition. Because presentation mattered.
00:09:59.564 Speaker 1 Far below, thirty-seven dirty human faces were pressed to the windows of the Church
00:10:05.004 Speaker 1 of Immaculate Conception, looking up at the man riding a motorcycle through the sky,
00:10:11.724 Speaker 1 leashed to monsters like it was something he did every day. Ethan pulled
00:10:17.784 Speaker 1 on the motorcycle's throttle. Though the wheel spun uselessly in midair, it
00:10:23.724 Speaker 1 made the engine whirr. Because presentation
00:10:29.564 Speaker 1 mattered. He let go of the throttle and pulled the messenger. The trio of demons
00:10:35.404 Speaker 1 swung him and his bike in a wide arc through the sky, turning him almost horizontal
00:10:40.604 Speaker 1 at the end of his tether, with a perfect view of the biker gang far below,
00:10:46.324 Speaker 1 gawking up at him.
00:10:51.384 Speaker 1 He dropped seven bikers in as many shots, the blue line showing estimated bullet
00:10:56.624 Speaker 1 trajectories ending in satisfying sprays of red blood.
00:11:03.784 Speaker 1 He continued sailing in an arc over their heads, gripping the bike with his legs and
00:11:09.024 Speaker 1 waiting to see what they would do. As he'd hoped, with half their number already
00:11:14.944 Speaker 1 dead, the tainted bikers decided they'd had enough. They sped away from him down the
00:11:19.984 Speaker 1 car-choked streets. Unlike their more twisted cousins in the sky, these people still
00:11:25.664 Speaker 1 felt fear. A proximity alarm forced Ethan to look up. The flat side
00:11:31.664 Speaker 1 of a concrete building was flying toward him at lethal
00:11:37.304 Speaker 1 speed. Overclock! Time slowed to a crawl,
00:11:43.324 Speaker 1 with Ethan and his motorcycle just twenty feet and one short second
00:11:48.984 Speaker 1 away from becoming a stain on the side of the building. He queried his second
00:11:55.124 Speaker 1 mind. Well, now what? A tactical hologram flashed in front of him.
00:12:01.484 Speaker 1 He watched it, then grimaced. Was this really the only option?
00:12:07.524 Speaker 1 He watched a few different simulations, most of which ended with him mangled at the
00:12:12.624 Speaker 1 foot of the building in front of him, next to the burning wreckage of his
00:12:16.564 Speaker 1 motorcycle. He got the feeling his second mind showed them more for emphasis
00:12:22.540 Speaker 1 than actual strategy. This was his only option.
00:12:28.480 Speaker 2 I better not get a ticket for this.
00:12:31.260 Speaker 1 Time unfroze. Ethan's second mind helpfully notified him that if the old world laws
00:12:37.140 Speaker 1 still applied, he had already accrued 73 traffic violations. But since this was
00:12:43.160 Speaker 1 the side of a building and not the road, he was safe up here, legally speaking
00:12:49.200 Speaker 1 anyway. The building flew at him. Ethan leaned back on the bike and extended his
00:12:54.800 Speaker 1 heels. He waited for the moment of impact and...
00:12:58.380 Speaker 1 [motorcycle revving] [building crashing] He fired the hydraulic
00:13:03.500 Speaker 1 heels. Two sets of three-inch steel plates shot out of his heels and smashed into
00:13:09.120 Speaker 1 the building. 37 tons of crushing force counteracted the impact. The side
00:13:15.080 Speaker 1 of the building imploded. Head-sized chunks of concrete showered the interior.
00:13:22.060 Speaker 1 There was a quick zipping sound on the other side of the building as the flying
00:13:25.800 Speaker 1 demons were diced into pieces, the sudden force causing the wire to cut through them
00:13:31.240 Speaker 1 like a scalpel. Even if they were dead, there was enough mass to act as a
00:13:36.960 Speaker 1 counterweight. He hung off the side of the building, suspended by the
00:13:42.940 Speaker 1 tether next to the gaping hole he'd kicked in. His second mind warned of hairline
00:13:48.800 Speaker 1 fractures through his titanium endoskeleton in his legs, hips, and spine.
00:13:55.520 Speaker 1 He ignored them and, still gripping the motorcycle between his
00:14:00.700 Speaker 1 unreasonably powerful thighs, pulled back on the throttle. The machine
00:14:06.780 Speaker 1 roared. [motorcycle roaring] The spinning tires met concrete, and he used the
00:14:11.120 Speaker 1 counterweight of the tether to pull the motorcycle against the wall. Then he drove
00:14:16.540 Speaker 1 up the side of the building. He raced past blown-out windows toward the open sky,
00:14:22.620 Speaker 1 where the rest of the flying demons circled above. Ethan smiled.
00:14:28.600 Speaker 1 They were just more corpses waiting to happen.
00:14:38.140 Speaker 1 [upbeat music] Part five, Almost Invincible.
00:14:44.660 Speaker 1 Xorkek the Imp, servant of The Chained One, bowed before the possessed human
00:14:50.540 Speaker 1 who called himself The Stalker. Xorkek was almost three feet tall, which was
00:14:56.580 Speaker 1 tall for an imp, but still dwarfed by the possessed, even when seated on
00:15:02.540 Speaker 1 his throne. The Stalker's right side, his holy side,
00:15:08.500 Speaker 1 was beautifully transformed. His right arm was twice the length of a normal
00:15:14.080 Speaker 1 human. The elongated fingers on that hand had a tendency to move around on their
00:15:19.280 Speaker 1 own, constantly feeling the world around it as if he were blind. Xorkek
00:15:25.260 Speaker 1 supposed he was, in a way. Even after all these months, the transformation
00:15:31.140 Speaker 1 was still incomplete. The left side of The Stalker's body was that of a normal
00:15:36.660 Speaker 1 human, the remains of the original host. Annoyingly, that man
00:15:42.360 Speaker 1 barred one of The Chained One's children from entering this world. He could not
00:15:46.920 Speaker 1 understand why The Stalker was delaying in such a beautiful process. What
00:15:52.800 Speaker 1 purpose was there in holding on to human weakness? There were still so many humans
00:15:58.660 Speaker 1 crawling around in this city. Had they done anything redeeming recently? No.
00:16:05.120 Speaker 1 The strongest of them had died decades ago. Perhaps that was why The Stalker was
00:16:10.140 Speaker 1 losing his territory war. Still too human.
00:16:15.840 Speaker 1 Well, whether Xorkek served this host or the next, it didn't matter.
00:16:21.900 Speaker 1 A child was ready to be born, and he would see it into this world.
00:16:26.940 Speaker 2 Get up, Xorkek. You said I should bow. I said you should show
00:16:32.300 Speaker 2 respect. I am. You're incapable of respect. I
00:16:38.219 Speaker 2 am here to serve you.
00:16:40.580 Speaker 1 Then The Stalker snatched Xorkek off the floor.
00:16:43.300 Speaker 2 Ah.
00:16:43.660 Speaker 1 A mix of emotions flooded him, elation at being noticed by his holy half,
00:16:49.980 Speaker 1 and terror that his elongated fingers wrapped around him, threatening
00:16:55.960 Speaker 1 to crush him.
00:16:56.980 Speaker 2 What happens if I [Xorkek grunts] kill you again? Uh, war. I'm
00:17:02.960 Speaker 2 already at war. I am an emissary, protected. The hordes will converge
00:17:09.020 Speaker 2 on you, expunge you like human cancer. Ah.
00:17:12.920 Speaker 1 The Stalker opened his hand, and Xorkek fell to the floor. He let the arm drop to
00:17:18.260 Speaker 1 his side, so long the elbow nearly brushed the floor.
00:17:23.400 Speaker 2 Report. I hate looking at your kind.
00:17:26.560 Speaker 1 And not for the first time, Xorkek wondered if he'd chosen the wrong human as
00:17:32.520 Speaker 1 host. Gaining inside knowledge of a human stronghold had been an offer too good to
00:17:38.600 Speaker 1 pass up. It wouldn't matter in a few more months anyway. No host could
00:17:44.600 Speaker 1 resist forever.
00:17:46.140 Speaker 2 A human priest gave an unholy sermon in your territory. He desecrated a building
00:17:51.340 Speaker 2 with it. He was looking for you.
00:17:54.200 Speaker 1 Though his transform half continued its blind, ambient touching, the human half
00:18:00.240 Speaker 1 of The Stalker went unusually still, just for a moment.
00:18:06.040 Speaker 2 Did he seem unusual in any way? [growls]
00:18:11.380 Speaker 1 How was he supposed to know? What did it matter anyway? The Stalker stood
00:18:16.700 Speaker 1 abruptly.
00:18:17.700 Speaker 2 Send an emissary team. Ah. Bring him straight to me, unharmed. That is
00:18:23.104 Speaker 2 important
00:18:24.084 Speaker 1 Xorkek waved his barbed tail around nervously. This was not good. He
00:18:29.984 Speaker 1 was becoming less and less certain this possessed would honor his pact. Um, I
00:18:35.984 Speaker 1 have bad news, Holy One. He destroyed half of the riders I sent to kill him.
00:18:42.204 Speaker 1 Some mixers were there as well. The stalker grimaced. Such a human expression.
00:18:48.184 Speaker 1 Even though half of his face was covered in bone plating, he brought his human hand
00:18:52.984 Speaker 1 to his face, contemplative instead of furious. Fortunately- In that
00:18:58.844 Speaker 1 case, send the strongest demon we have. That would be the spine eater,
00:19:05.224 Speaker 1 which was insane overkill. This was the kind of weapon you used against buildings,
00:19:10.884 Speaker 1 not people. The spine eater. Send it.
00:19:15.884 Speaker 1 Holy One, forgive me, but it's just one man. The stalker narrowed his eyes and
00:19:21.924 Speaker 1 Xorkek considered running. This one was unhinged, even for a
00:19:27.424 Speaker 1 possessed. Not anymore. And if he's what I think he is, we're going to need
00:19:33.184 Speaker 1 more spine eaters. Xorkek bowed again, still uncertain whether that won him any
00:19:38.904 Speaker 1 favor, then rushed off to release the weapon. He didn't relish the thought of having
00:19:43.864 Speaker 1 to round it up again later, but at least he wouldn't have to feed it for a while. It
00:19:49.144 Speaker 1 was a pain gathering living humans every day. They were so
00:19:55.204 Speaker 1 fragile, and the spine eater wasted so many of them. But he wasn't gonna be the one
00:20:01.164 Speaker 1 to tell it to stop playing with its food. It sucks.
00:20:04.924 Speaker 1 [mysterious music]
00:20:15.464 Speaker 1 Ethan pulled the trigger of the messenger until the ammo ran dry, and still the
00:20:21.304 Speaker 1 demons came. Not just the flying ones, but nightmarish crawling
00:20:26.924 Speaker 1 things like giant cockroaches with human heads growing from their backs. Corpse
00:20:32.444 Speaker 1 nests, disgusting demon spawn made from human corpses. Ethan
00:20:38.204 Speaker 1 washed away another wave of corpse nests as they crawled over the edge of the
00:20:42.344 Speaker 1 building. The burning napalm, consecrated by the nuns, did much more than burn the
00:20:48.344 Speaker 1 monsters. It simply disintegrated them. Then the
00:20:53.904 Speaker 1 napalm, dramatically titled Holy Fire on his HUD, ran
00:20:59.504 Speaker 1 dry too. Ethan searched frantically for more enemies. The hellish creatures
00:21:05.364 Speaker 1 had swarmed the rooftop in droves. It felt like the entire city had emptied
00:21:11.164 Speaker 1 itself of monsters to greet him. He was out of ammo, out of grenades.
00:21:17.444 Speaker 1 He'd even used the motorcycle itself as a makeshift club until it had finally
00:21:23.104 Speaker 1 fallen to pieces. It was a shame it was too late to contact the manufacturer.
00:21:29.504 Speaker 1 Ethan would have enjoyed telling them just how far it had exceeded manufacturer
00:21:35.244 Speaker 1 standards. He waited a moment longer, but blessedly,
00:21:41.804 Speaker 1 there were no more demons. It was silent on the rooftop, except for the soft
00:21:47.864 Speaker 1 sound of smoldering corpses. Music.
00:21:54.064 Speaker 1 He spun the messenger in his hand and holstered it, and spared a moment for a
00:21:58.984 Speaker 1 simmering look at the horizon. That was enough presentation for
00:22:04.964 Speaker 1 one day.
00:22:07.524 Speaker 1 He climbed down the building, careful not to strain his endoskeleton any further.
00:22:13.104 Speaker 1 The nuns had asked him not to get it too dented, after all. It seemed unkind to make
00:22:18.084 Speaker 1 them work any harder. Despite the duration of his escapade, it was a short walk back
00:22:23.644 Speaker 1 to the church. It was evening turning twilight by then. The last rays
00:22:29.704 Speaker 1 of sunlight bled at the edges of the horizon, turning it a wicked purple by the time
00:22:35.404 Speaker 1 he started up the stairs to the church. A red warning sign flashed on Ethan's
00:22:41.083 Speaker 1 HUD. I told you to turn those off. The warning sign turned from red
00:22:47.704 Speaker 1 to black. His optics switched to infrared and Ethan stopped in his tracks.
00:22:54.084 Speaker 1 Class A demonic threat.
00:22:59.024 Speaker 1 Fifty combat simulations ran in the instant it took his human brain to catch up.
00:23:05.444 Speaker 1 Fifty defeats.
00:23:08.684 Speaker 1 It was the sound of chewing that shook him from his stupor. Two bright orange eyes
00:23:13.444 Speaker 1 watched him with casual interest from the front doors of the church. The splintered,
00:23:19.964 Speaker 1 ruined front doors of the church. A dark river, nearly black in
00:23:25.824 Speaker 1 infrared, ran from the pile of
00:23:30.384 Speaker 1 human pieces next to the demon. It,
00:23:35.924 Speaker 1 it had killed them. A booming voice rattled in Ethan's mind.
00:23:42.364 Speaker 1 A metal man. The demon rose from its haunches, standing at
00:23:48.404 Speaker 1 its full height. Ethan's second mind went wild, dumping information into
00:23:54.224 Speaker 1 his thoughts. Nine feet, seven inches, six hundred seven pounds,
00:23:59.524 Speaker 1 four-inch chitin armor, regenerative abilities, psychic abilities unknown, six
00:24:05.364 Speaker 1 hundred and twelve combat simulations completed, zero percent chance of combat
00:24:10.304 Speaker 1 success. Shut up. Eight hundred and fifty combat simulations
00:24:16.364 Speaker 1 completed, zero percent chance of combat success. The demon took a step
00:24:22.164 Speaker 1 forward, letting the mangled person it was eating fall from its claws.
00:24:28.288 Speaker 1 Ethan selected Trinity from his weapons list, the only one remaining.
00:24:35.588 Speaker 1 Three spring-loaded blades shot out of his left arm, the points of a cross
00:24:41.768 Speaker 1 extending over his hand from the wrist and out to the left and right.
00:24:48.208 Speaker 1 One thousand twenty-one combat simulations completed. Zero
00:24:53.908 Speaker 1 percent chance of success. Retreat advised.
00:24:59.548 Speaker 1 Instead, Ethan stepped forward to meet the monster.
00:25:04.328 Speaker 1 [rock music]
00:25:45.308 Speaker 1 Xorcax stepped through the burning portal into the holy realm. Stepping through
00:25:50.148 Speaker 1 portals wasn't like walking through a door. You were completely incinerated in the
00:25:55.068 Speaker 1 process. You were remade on the other side, assuming the power that
00:26:00.568 Speaker 1 resided there allowed it. A portal could be a fast death if you were not faithful or
00:26:06.808 Speaker 1 useful. So far, the Lord of Darkness itself had deigned to allow Xorcax
00:26:12.628 Speaker 1 continued existence.
00:26:15.668 Speaker 1 Xorcax climbed into his seat at the bar. A slave demon poured a glass of blood
00:26:21.548 Speaker 1 for him without comment. Good. He was above this creature, at least.
00:26:28.148 Speaker 1 A few minutes later, two more imps wandered in from their own portals, looking
00:26:32.828 Speaker 1 nearly as troubled as he did. They were about Xorcax's size. A little
00:26:38.708 Speaker 1 smaller, maybe. Xorcax was pretty tall.
00:26:44.128 Speaker 1 They sat down in the high chairs on either side of him. Surely, the Holy Ones could
00:26:49.788 Speaker 1 find more suitable seating than this. A chair meant for a human baby was
00:26:56.028 Speaker 1 simply not regal.
00:26:59.408 Speaker 1 He spilled some of his blood drink. Damn it. But the slave demon mopped it up
00:27:05.128 Speaker 1 quickly.
00:27:06.708 Speaker 2 Hey, Xorc. Another tough day?
00:27:12.808 Speaker 1 Oh, you have no idea.