Chapter 104: Beginning

It started with a low, mournful tone that  rolled through the Nightmare Hotel, vibrating through every hallway, every room, every floor.

Then another.

Then another.

Athena’s calm voice echoed through hidden speakers across the hotel.

“WARNING.”

“WARNING.”

“Large hostile force detected.”

“Estimated enemy count exceeds two thousand individuals.”

“Hotel Defense Protocol Omega has been activated.”

The peaceful morning vanished instantly.

Every resident stopped where they stood.

The warm smell of fresh bread drifting from the kitchen was replaced by hurried footsteps.

Doors opened.

Armor was grabbed.

Weapons were drawn.

Outside…

The forests surrounding the Nightmare Hotel were alive.

Thousands of black-robed cultists marched from every direction.

Standards bearing the cracked emerald symbol of the Hollow King fluttered overhead.

War beasts lumbered between their ranks.

Siege engines rolled over the hills.

Dark mages formed circles that shimmered with sickly green light.

The hotel stood alone in the center.

Waiting.

⸻

The Caretaker was already moving.

Without a word, he lifted his massive weapon from its resting place beside the front entrance.

Jesse Belle hurried beside him.

She adjusted the straps on her armor before looking up.

“You know the plan.”

The giant gave one silent nod.

She smiled despite herself.

“Come back.”

He reached over.

His gloved fingers rested against her cheek for only a moment.

Then he turned.

The enormous front doors opened.

Cold air rushed inside.

The Caretaker stepped through first.

⸻

Inside the lobby, Hank climbed onto the reception desk.

“Everyone that isn’t fighting…. This way!”

The more harmless residents hurried toward the hidden elevators.

Children clung to frightened parents.

Workers from the town beneath the hotel gathered together.

The elderly.

The injured.

Visitors that came during the worst time.

Athena illuminated arrows along the floor.

“Emergency shelters are now open.”

Mother Sarah appeared from the chapel hallway.

Her veil floated unnaturally behind her.

“The Dark Chapel is here to help.”

Four nuns stepped beside her.

Sister Beatrice.

Sister Miriam.

Sister Abigail.

Sister Lucille.

Each carried strange ceremonial weapons.

Each bowed silently.

Mother Sarah raised one hand.

“Our main mission is to protect the innocent first.”

All five disappeared into shadows.

⸻

Outside…

The first cultists charged.

They screamed prayers to the Hollow King.

The Caretaker answered with silence and a massive blade.

His enormous blade swept once.

The front ranks scattered.

The charge faltered.

Jesse Belle darted through the opening with impossible speed.

Her twin blades flashed.

Several attackers dropped before the others even realized she had moved.

Arrows rained from the hotel walls.

Various summoned monsters joined the defense.

The Mimic burst upward from beneath the earth.

It had been working on its boulder disguise and the group had trampled over its head.

Its enormous jaws snapped shut around the advancing siege engine.

Wood splintered.

Metal twisted.

The machine vanished beneath rows of monstrous teeth.

Fluffy bounded into battle.

All three heads barked at once.

One breathed fire.

Another unleashed freezing mist.

The third slammed into enemy formations with enough force to scatter them across the hillside.

The Haunted Chef stormed from the kitchen carrying an absurdly oversized frying pan.

A cultist rushed him.

The Chef swung once.

The attacker disappeared over a nearby wagon.

The Chef pointed his pan toward another group flinging caramelized onions onto them.

“No one interrupts lunch.”

The second swing sent the cultists scrambling for cover.

Even Hank left the front desk.

Armed with a heavy shotgun from Gene’s weapon machine, he calmly fired at approaching enemies while directing frightened civilians toward safety.

“Second elevator!”

“Keep moving everyone!”

“Stop pushing back there!”

Athena announced calmly.

“Civilian evacuation: Thirty-eight percent complete.”

⸻

Farther away…

Dark magic erupted across the battlefield.

Green fire crashed into the hotel’s outer defenses.

Protective barriers shimmered.

The Dark Chapel nun group emerged from out the church.

Mother Sarah floated above the battlefield.

Her black veil fluttered despite the still air.

“The manuscript helps bind us sisters…”

Light erupted from the lantern that quickly began to fuse to her arm.

The other nuns joined hands.

Dark symbols spread beneath their feet.

The ritual completed.

Reality twisted.

The nuns figures merged together.

Cloth.

Shadow.

Prayer.

The monstrous form of the Dark Choir slowly ascended.

Multiple arms folded in silent prayer.

The porcelain face remained perfectly serene.

The towering neck behind the statue-like head slowly turned.

The choir raised its burning lantern.

Dark mist rolled outward.

The advancing cultists hesitated.

Some fled.

Others continued to charge anyway.

The Choir spoke with several overlapping voices.

“You have entered our sacred ground.”

The battlefield trembled.

The cultists found themselves surrounded by shifting darkness.

Shapes moved within it.

Whispers echoed from nowhere.

The hotel defenders surged forward.

⸻

Deep beneath the hotel…

The final civilians entered the reinforced shelter.

Athena sealed the blast doors.

“Civilian evacuation complete.”

“Safe room secured.”

⸻

Back outside…

The battle only intensified.

Wave after wave crashed against the Nightmare Hotel.

The defenders refused to give ground.

Prince Cassian arrived with his army.

Rows of Royal Paladins slammed their shields into the earth.

Spell Knights unleashed coordinated magical volleys.

Griffin Riders dove through enemy formations before soaring back into the clouds.

Cassian raised his sword.

“For the Hotel!”

Hundreds of voices answered.

“For the Hotel!”

His disciplined army collided with the cult’s chaotic advance.

⸻

Inside the underground laboratory…

Gene finished fastening the living slime armor around himself.

The blue.

Purple.

Red gems glowed brightly within the armor’s chest.

Athena’s voice filled his helmet.

“Battle conditions acceptable.”

“Combat synchronization: Ninety-eight percent.”

Gene flexed his fingers.

Black slime flowed around his arms.

Beside him, Selene tightened the straps on her own equipment.

“You ready?”

Gene smiled.

“I don’t think they’ll appreciate our late entrance.”

Selene laughed.

“They never do.”

⸻

A section of earth exploded upward.

Gene erupted from beneath the battlefield as a towering chaos creature.

Living armor flowed around his body like liquid steel.

Massive claws crashed into the ground.

Nearby cultists stumbled backward.

Selene emerged riding one of her dragons.

She immediately raised her staff.

Fire and ice intertwined into brilliant spirals that crashed into enemy siege weapons.

Explosions rocked the hillside.

Cheers erupted from the defenders.

“Sir Gene!”

“Lady Selene!”

“They’re here!”

Momentum shifted.

The hotel forces pushed forward.

The cultists began retreating.

Then…

Everything felt like time stopped.

A strange laugh echoed across the battlefield.

One dying cultist slowly stood clutching their stomach.

Their body trembled.

Their stomach expanded unnaturally.

Two impossibly long hands burst outward from inside.

The surrounding cultists backed away in terror.

Something climbed out.

Not from the ground.

Not through a portal.

From inside the persons stomach itself.

Long limbs unfolded and grew.

A porcelain mask smiled as it floated in front of the quivering growing mass.

The empty shell of the body collapsed behind them.

The newcomer stretched slowly.

His movements were almost curious.

As though waking from a pleasant nap.

Then…

The mask looked directly at Gene.

His head tilted.

“…Gene.”

The voice carried across the battlefield.

Every defender froze.

“…Gene…”

The porcelain smile widened as the creatures long fingers grabbed onto the mask.

“I finally found you.”

Before anyone could react—

The Pale Watcher blurred forward.

Too fast.

Even Gene barely saw him move.

A pale hand stretched out towards Gene’s throat.

CLANG!

The Caretaker appeared between them.

Steel met flesh.

The impact echoed like a cannon blast.

The giant monster caught the attack with his machete before twisting violently.

With one tremendous motion…

He hurled the Pale Watcher back across the battlefield.

The creature smashed through a group of cultists and into a stone wall.

The walls entire structure collapsed in a cloud of dust.

Silence settled.

Gene stared.

“…Who…”

The rubble shifted.

A pale hand emerged.

Then another.

The Watcher slowly crawled free.

His porcelain mask remained perfectly intact despite the collapse.

He brushed dust from one shoulder.

Then looked toward the Caretaker.

A soft chuckle escaped him.

“My…”

The Caretaker adjusted the sleeve of his coat.

“…your new friend is quite the strong one.”

The Caretaker stepped protectively in front of Gene.

Weapon at the ready.

The Pale Watcher waved around at the battlefield.

“So many monsters.”

“So many heroes.”

“So many wonderful experiments.”

Finally…

His eyes settled back on Gene.

“You don’t remember me…”

Gene frowned.

The voice…

Something about it…

The rhythm.

The calmness.

Fragments surfaced.

Rain.

A city street.

Sirens.

Blood.

Then…

The Pale Watcher slowly reached upward.

He grasped the edge of his porcelain mask.

As he pulled the mask on…

For a moment…

Gene recognized the face beneath.

He was older.

Twisted.

Changed.

But unmistakable.

The memory hit him like a hammer.

A knife.

A madman smiling.

A voice whispering,

“I’m sorry… the Watcher chose you.”

Gene’s breathing hitched.

“…Elias…”

The Pale Watcher’s smile somehow became even wider.

“There you are.”

“I was wondering when you’d remember me.”

Around them…

The battle continued.

But for Gene and Elias….

Everything else had disappeared.

Standing before him…

Was the man who had ended his first life.