"I spent so long carefully picking out those lace curtains last time, the Hello Kitty pillow, and that tea set I put on the desk — they're all gone!"
"Robbed?"
Soren blinked. Who the hell would be stupid enough to rob a demon hunter's office?
And only steal girly stuff at that?
But the moment he thought about it, he immediately understood what had happened.
All the missing items were things Patty had bought.
Dante had probably reached his limit with his demon-hunting office being turned into a pink princess bedroom. Combined with the fact that the office was broke again, he had simply packed everything up and sold it to the black-market dealer Enzo.
That was 100% something Dante would do.
"Uh… maybe Dante took them for cleaning? You know how much he likes the things you buy."
Soren rubbed his nose, not daring to tell the truth. If he did, and Patty got angry while Dante was away, wouldn't he be the one who suffered?
"Don't give me that! You think I'm three years old?"
Patty clearly knew Dante's habits too well. She shouted angrily over the phone, "Neither of you ever lets me have any peace! I'm so mad!"
"Soren, get back here right now! I want a big feast to heal my wounded heart!"
"Okay, okay, I'm on my way…"
Soren brushed her off. Before Patty could start another round of scolding, he quickly said, "Hello? Hello? I can't hear you, the signal's bad. Gotta go, talk when I get back!"
Beep—
After hanging up, Soren looked at the screen that immediately lit up with another incoming call from Patty and calmly pressed the mute button, tossing the phone aside.
Even though he had just been lectured, he didn't feel annoyed at all.
After spending several days in Silent Hill's oppressive atmosphere, even Soren had started feeling uncomfortable.
Arguing over these trivial little things actually helped him relax.
"Phew—"
Soren shifted into a more comfortable position, about to take a nap, when he suddenly felt a faint fluctuation in the dark power inside his body.
"Alessa? Are you awake?"
Soren asked tentatively in his mind.
"Mm…"
A weak voice echoed in his head. "After leaving Silent Hill, the consumption from forcibly expanding the Otherworld was more than I expected."
"But just now, I felt a strange power flow into my body… it felt very comfortable."
"Strange power?"
Soren paused. Where did that come from?
Then he understood.
It must have been the excess energy released when his bloodline awakened, which Alessa, residing inside him, had absorbed.
As one of the highest-ranking demons in Hell, Sparda's power was indeed a great tonic for a dark being like Alessa.
"Good that you're awake."
Soren didn't dwell on it. He watched the streetlights flashing past the car window, the alternating light and shadow sliding across his face.
"Rest well, Alessa."
"Once we get there, I'll show you a real human city. It's way more lively than Silent Hill."
...
Night had fallen over Los Santos.
Puddles on the ground reflected the city's neon lights. Police sirens wailed in the distance.
After parting ways with James, Soren walked toward the office.
A large purple skeletal hand extended from his left shoulder, casually carrying two massive, steaming pizza boxes.
Floating beside him was Alessa, now wearing a brand-new dress. She looked around curiously at the colorful billboards and buildings.
Soren had thought her old, tattered clothes looked too outdated, so he used part of the final payment from James to buy her a new outfit.
He wasn't short on money right now.
"Alessa, maybe you should walk on the ground?"
Soren held a freshly bought strawberry sundae in one hand, scooping a big spoonful into his mouth. The cold, sweet taste brought him immense satisfaction.
Every time he returned with Dante, this was his ritual.
He spoke with his mouth full, "Even though this alley is pretty deserted, if someone sees you floating in the air, it might scare them."
Alessa looked at the giant purple skeletal hand extending from Soren's body, stayed silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay."
Although she agreed, she stubbornly continued floating a few centimeters above the ground.
Just as the two were about to pass through a dark alley, several shady figures swaggered out from the shadows.
They were holding baseball bats and switchblades, wicked grins on their faces.
"Hey man, what you got there? Smells good… it's pretty late to be—"
But the moment they saw the glowing purple skeletal hand on Soren's shoulder, their faces changed drastically. They immediately turned to run.
"Fuck! Run!!"
"Tch."
Soren looked annoyed. He reached out and caught the falling pizza boxes.
The giant skeletal hand instantly stretched across more than ten meters, grabbed the fleeing thugs in its palm, lifted them into the air, and slammed them down hard.
"Ahhh!! My leg!"
A series of miserable screams rang out.
Soren skillfully pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
"Hey? It's me, Soren."
"No demons this time, just caught a few punks. Yeah, in the alley off Red Grave Avenue."
The person on the other end was a detective who often worked with Dante.
Due to his line of work, he wasn't unfamiliar with demons and would even send some cases to the office.
"Thanks, Soren. Perfect, I still need to hit my quota this week," the other party sounded tired. "I'll treat you to a meal sometime."
...
Red Grave Avenue.
This was an old street located between the slums and the commercial district. Dante's office was also located here.
Soren stood in front of the familiar building, looked up at the dark signboard, and sighed, "Power's out again, as expected."
He pushed open the heavy door. The office was pitch black inside, with only a few weak candle flames flickering, giving off an eerie atmosphere.
Suddenly—
Click.
A bright flashlight beam shot up from below, illuminating a pale little face.
"You actually dared to hang up on me?!"
Patty was holding the flashlight under her chin, making an exaggerated scary face. Her voice was ghostly as she said, "You still know how to come back? I waited for you all day, you know?!!"
"Wow!"
Although this little trick couldn't scare Soren, he still played along by taking half a step back and dramatically patting his chest.
"Miss Patty, scaring people like that can actually kill them — especially in a dark haunted house like this with the power out."
Patty looked smug. She snorted coldly and turned off the flashlight.
Under the dim candlelight on the table, Soren finally saw the tragic state of the office —
Aside from the sofa and desk, almost every slightly valuable decoration was gone. The place was practically empty.
"Has Uncle Dante still not come back?"
Soren asked.
"If he dares to come back, I'm going to pluck every single hair from his beard!"
Just as Patty was about to explode again thinking about how all her carefully chosen decorations had been sold,
she noticed under the moonlight the many slashes on Soren's coat and caught the faint smell of blood.