Chapter Text
The style rank was dropping. Time dripped like tar through a sieve. V1 was standing idle on a platform that was gliding slowly to the next destination in Hell.
Fortunately, there was no need to waste energy on running programs like impatience or dread in the background, so V1 was content to stand there without.
The slow travel did seem counterproductive, however. The quiet on the platform posed in contrast to the near-constant rush of hostile targets thus far.
V1 attempted to extrapolate from the previous encounters in Hell the possible challenges that would await on the next level. Extrapolation proved unsuccessful with the inclusion of the slow platform ride. The prediction had only about a 12.38% confidence. V1 only bothered with a single additional attempt (removing the SPR (slow platform ride) from the dataset) when a shout could be heard from below. Peeking over the edge of the platform, V1 could see a sheer drop into nothingness.
Floating in the middle of that empty space was a colossal beast similar to the Leviathan.
Before V1 could observe anything else, the slow platform tilted sharply downward, dropping V1 through a checkpoint and into a freefall. V1 quickly grappled the floating beast and scrambled to gain a purchase on its back.
An immediate rain of projectile attacks awaited V1, which was not surprising.
What was surprising, however (as V1 dodged and parried the volleys being launched in every direction), was the crowd of angels that scurried and fought along the back of the flying creature. The beast was the only solid and mostly horizontal space as far as V1 could see.
In the midst of the chaos, V1 was able to identify three things
1. The flying creature was filled with blood
2. Many of the attacks were coming from the crowd of angels, and hardly any other type of creature according to visual data
3. Each attack and each heal depleted the health of the flying creature, identified as Geryon by V1’s sensors.
V1 understood that taking advantage of the blood source from Geryon came with a risk of eliminating the one platform that was suspended in the abyss. While V1 deftly worked to eliminate all threats, a large enemy stood up tall in the midst of the chaos. This large entity could be identified as Malacoda, and launched attacks against V1, angels, and Geryon alike. V1 needed to end the fight quickly in order to continue standing on Geryon.
Despite V1 doing its best to manage the field, Geryon was already suffering major damage before V1 arrived. Only a few more minutes passed before the body burst into flames and broke in two. Everyone was sent into the nothingness below, some screaming. V1 instead contemplated its fate silently, deciding that the skirmish cohered with the rest of its data unlike the SPR. There was a lapse in consciousness after which V1 awoke on a heavily damaged floor.
V1 slowly got up to take a look at its surroundings. For a while V1 stood in the abyss. There was no sound. Temperature sensors indicated that the surrounding area was well below freezing. V1 continued to move forward.
“Machine.” a familiar voice called out in the distance. V1 moved towards the source of the sound.