The first floor of the underground floor was an art storage. Paintings and sculptures stood and laid near the walls and on the shelves, just as still as the corpses left near the bottom of the stairs. The bright electrical light didn't even give him an illusion of movement.
But those art pieces had the beat of life. Shin could feel it—the beat of eerie magic that cultists used to lure in their victims and sacrifice them to The Horned King.
Not all art pieces were magical, but enough to be felt.
The best things weren't stored here, though. Shin had to get past the storage room to get to the secret staircase that led to the real storage.
He walked past the art without stopping, only occasionally turning to check that Mihara didn't stray far.
"It's too quiet," Mihara whispered.
It was. Shin heard no footsteps or shouts around anymore.
He let Tetsu unlock the next door and pull it open. On the other side stood Hamlet—who wasn't shouting anything or running anywhere.
Shin and Mihara stopped in their tracks. Tetsu emerged fully from Shin with a sneer on her red lips.
Hamlet sneered back.
"I shouldn't have trusted you even a little. Now I know that if you were sent for anything, it was to test me. And I failed to see through your ruse, deceiver," he said to Shin. "I will atone for my ineptitude with your sacrifice."
"H-ha-ha-ha!" Mihara's laugh was harsh and nervous. "Sacrifice? I have a gun, and you are alone! Just standing here like a target practice, saying your speeches. I'm not stupid! I will just kill you and this all will be over!"
With that shout, Mihara pressed the trigger twice, startling Shin with the loud noises. From this distance, they both hit Hamlet square in the chest, making him stumble two steps back.
But he didn't fall, and barely any blood seeped from the bullet holes in his business suit.
Hamlet clutched at them and laughed like a maniac. "My flesh belongs to our King! I have not been released from my service yet! My blood will be the gateway for His power!"
With eyes wide from fear, Mihara shot three more times. He kept pressing the gun's trigger even when it started clicking empty.
Two shots missed because of the man's shaking hands; the third hit a shoulder but did as much damage as the previous two.
Shin felt something in the paintings respond to each wound that appeared on Hamlet. The man knew what he was doing when he let himself be wounded. At this place and time, even his death will only serve as fuel for this ritual.
A ritual that was going to free what was hiding in the paintings.
Those things were going to be a problem. Or they could've, if Shin didn't make his plan with them in mind.
Now that Mihara couldn't shoot anymore, Shin and Tetsu could finally approach Hamlet without risking being shot. Instead, Shin turned to Mihara.
The man was a liability, but so far, everything went according to the plan. Shin's plan.
Get in, use Mihara as a distraction against the main defense force of the cult, reach the secret storage of the cultists, feed Tetsu the things inside so she would restore more of her old power, then go back, deal with whatever will be left in the art gallery, and kill Mihara.
"We will split here. You finish him off, and I will see you later."
Without letting the man or his demon process the words, Shin ran forward past Hamlet. Tetsu merged with him again two steps later, giving his footsteps extra speed.
Shin ran as fast as he could, feeling the eldritch magic behind him becoming stronger and stronger with every moment. He ignored shouts from Mihara and Hamlet, ignored hisses of Iashkawa.
Only when he was about to turn the corner did Shin turn back.
Hamlet's body was lying on the ground in the puddle of blood. His head rolled a few meters away.
Mihara and Iashkawa weren't paying him any attention anymore. Instead, they focused on the three monstrosities that came from the storage room.
The creatures looked almost like humans—humans flayed alive, bleeding with every step they took. A hand of an unknown sculptor twisted them, elongating their limbs and turning their already grotesque faces into something so ugly Shin felt nauseous. They made no sound as they moved, besides the dripping of blood.
The paintings they came from were torn apart, but many others were stained with blood just because those monsters passed by.
The monsters wobbled unsteadily on their long feet, but lunged with unexpected speed. The first one passed through Iashkawa, and its strike hit the wall instead, sending deep cracks in the brickwork and making bits of plaster fall from the ceiling.
Shin turned away.
Yeah, Mihara better distract them while Tetsu was still so weak. There probably were more of them on the upper floor. Leaving could be a problem.
But for now, Shin was perfectly sure that Mihara would hold them off, thanks to Iashkawa's ability. And he had no choice but to do it! They ran faster than them.
Shin kept running. Down the hallway and to the secret staircase. He knew which bricks to press to open it. Then down it and—
A sweep of red claws almost tore off Shin's face. At the last moment, he jumped back, almost stumbling on the staircase's steps.
A Red Painting stared silently at it with its crimson eyes, then lunged again.
"Stay away from us!" Tetsu shouted, emerging from Shin to meet the attack with her own fist.
They clashed. Shin felt the power of the impact reverberate through his own arm, before Tetsu was slammed back into Shin's body.
They gasped as the remaining force pushed Shin back. He caught himself on the elbow as he fell on the rising staircase and stared up at the Red Painting.
'Fuck,' he thought. 'This wasn't in the stories. All the Red Paintings were above… Is this my bad luck again?'
'Boss? That thing is strong!' Tetsu exclaimed in alarm. 'Tell me how to defeat it!'
Shin grit his teeth and pushed himself up. 'I wish I could, Tetsu, but I didn't think to give those things any weaknesses. We must deal with it the hard way.'