Countless binding chains erupted from the energy wave, piercing through from all directions to seal the hell passage.
Crash!
Chains of shackles enveloped the hell portal. The restraints burned with blue flames and rippled with spatial distortions, completely sealing off the passage. No demons would be able to break out of hell anytime soon.
"Time to have some fun!"
With those words, Marcus's body instantly transformed in a blaze of energy, and black and white armor appeared before everyone.
Equinox - Day and Night
Marcus, having completed his transformation, looked at the hell passage now blocked by chains. Energy surged through his body as he shifted into his blazing day form.
Maim
A wave of energy spread out from his body, and under the shocked gazes of Bruce and the others, open wounds appeared across all the surrounding demons.
"What the hell..." Gordon gasped in shock.
"It's nothing. Take care of things here and finish off these demons. I need to check on the situation over there."
As Marcus moved forward, more and more demons developed deep gashes across their bodies, wounds that continued to spread and deepen.
In the blink of an eye, a large number of lesser devils were carved into puddles of black flesh before everyone's eyes.
Marcus didn't care about these cannon fodder demons at all. He calmly walked into the blocked hell passage, using the spreading power of decay from his body to slaughter demons wholesale.
His hands weren't idle either. The destructive power of Maim alone wasn't enough to destroy the stronger demons in the passage, so he advanced wielding a War Blade in one hand and a Tigris in the other.
Bang! Bang!
The Tigris barrel erupted with flames. No matter what kind of demon it was, none could withstand the weapon's devastating shots.
Massive demons fell under the Tigris's firepower, while farther away, the War Blade ricocheted back and forth between demon ranks.
BOOM!!!
Accompanied by a thunderous roar, a large area of demons was corroded into residue by the explosion.
Raising his hand to catch the returning War Blade, Marcus hurled it again at demons in another location, clearing out the massive numbers of creatures piled up around the area as he advanced.
Outside the passage, scattered demons were rushing toward other areas.
Swoosh!
Blue sword light flashed, and a goat-headed demon's head hit the ground. Bruce appeared behind the creature, sword in hand.
"Got any better ideas for dealing with demons? If this keeps up, we might not last much longer!"
Bang! Bang!
"How about crosses?" Gordon replied while shooting demons. "Church crosses, or holy water used for baptisms—that should work!"
Those words reminded Bruce of something he'd forgotten. When people performed exorcisms, their first instinct was usually to find a priest.
But the nearest church was several blocks away. How could they possibly have time to get those items from there?
"Harvey, can you hear me? Harvey!" Gordon lowered his shotgun and pulled out his radio. "Harvey, do you copy?"
"Static... Gordon? Thank God you're still alive! I brought every cop from the station—those Beast-slayers won't escape!"
Hearing Harvey's response, Gordon sighed and raised his shotgun to blast another charging demon.
"Listen Harvey, there are no Beast-slayers here anymore. Now we're facing demons from hell itself. Can you help me get some exorcism supplies from the church? There are too many demons here! Bang!"
Harvey, who was rushing toward the scene, was confused by Gordon's words. Why were there demons now?
Remembering the situation when he'd left, Harvey thought about that monster Marcus had directly smashed.
"That thing was a demon? But isn't that just legend stuff?"
Although somewhat skeptical, Harvey turned around and drove toward the nearest church.
He knew Gordon wouldn't joke around easily, especially at a time like this. Since Gordon said he needed church supplies, Harvey would go get them.
The church was empty—even the priest would be sleeping at this late hour.
But Harvey didn't hesitate. He shot the lock off the church door and ran inside.
"Hope God forgives me, but where are the exorcism supplies?"
Muttering to himself, Harvey scanned everything in the church. A crucifix in the center made his eyes light up.
"This should work! Hope Jesus doesn't hold it against me!"
He climbed onto a table and took the nearly two-foot-tall cross down from the wall.
After climbing down, he spotted a Bible in a drawer.
"Oh right, this Bible should work for exorcisms too."
With the Bible tucked under his arm, Harvey ran around the church, checking for anything else that might be useful for exorcism.
"Baptismal font? Salt shaker? Whatever, I'm taking it all!"
He basically ransacked the church, gathering everything into a large bundle before running out.
After getting in his car, Harvey made the sign of the cross, looked back at the church, and prayed:
"Even though I'm a bastard, I hope You'll bless Gordon. He's a good cop!"
With that, he drove toward Gordon's location.
A short time later, Harvey arrived at the former Beast-slayer battleground.
The place was now packed with people—dozens of cops and gangsters, all with guns raised, attacking the escaped demons.
Among them, he even spotted a familiar face: Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin.
The bastard stood beside Gordon with a smile on his face, holding a shotgun and firing at demons.
"That asshole's here too!"
Harvey sighed, then shouldered his bundle and pushed through the crowd.
"Gordon, I didn't expect what you said to be true. Here are those exorcism items you wanted. Can't guarantee they'll work, but I can guarantee I practically stripped that church bare."
Opening the bundle, the largest item was holy water from the baptismal font, followed by several sterling silver cross decorations.
What remained was a Bible and the large crucifix.
"Oh yeah, and this salt shaker!"
Harvey pulled a jar full of white crystals from his jacket, grabbed a pinch, and tossed it at a nearby demon.
Hiss!
The white salt hit the demons, causing their bodies to emit bursts of blue smoke while they roared in agony.
"Ha! Looks like it works! Try the other stuff!"
Harvey laughed, encouraged by the salt's effectiveness. It had been worth practically emptying that church.
Gordon didn't waste time talking. He immediately grabbed a small bottle of baptismal holy water and splashed it vigorously at the demons.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!
Thicker blue smoke rose from the demons' bodies. Those contaminated by holy water melted directly.
"It really works, but we need to use this stuff carefully."
Although Harvey had brought plenty of supplies, if they wasted them like this, they wouldn't last long.