Once I saw the level, the crucifix made sense – the level was a graveyard.
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I was still on edge, thinking this was some kind of trick. The last level had always involved running from the demonic beast, and I wasn't going to be fooled into thinking this would be any different.
So I started out running, but after a minute without interruption, I slowed down. It was during this time that the music caught my attention. I knew it sounded familiar when I first heard it, but it took a while before I realized what it was — An 8-bit rendition of "Prayer For Peace", from the first Godzilla film. A very sad, powerful song, even in this form.
At two minutes into the level, I encountered something that I wasn't sure how to react to:
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My first instinct was to run, but this blue statue-esque being simply floated in place. And I felt compelled just to stare at it, for a time.
Since this was a grave, and it was floating over a chapel, I guessed that this was some kind of Angel, watching over the deceased.
It gave me a strange, but warm feeling. I wouldn't say "happy", but I felt that I was at peace, somehow. I had never seen this being before, yet it seemed very familiar to me.
Just as I was going to leave, The Hell Beast appeared, and it's presence warped the music into a terrifying discordant screeching and transformed the level, desecrating the tombstones as a new ground appeared, comprised of blood soaked bodies:
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I could feel my heart now beating out of control, I had no chance of escape with the monster that close! It lunged for the kill, but the Angel got in its way. The demon roared and started clawing through the Angel's leg, and tears of blood streamed from its eyes.
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I wanted to save the Angel, but there was nothing I could do. I had to honor its sacrifice and run. And so I ran through the hellish landscape as fast I could. The beast soon caught up with me, still swallowing the body of the Angel, whose legs it had torn off.
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And this sight made my terror change into anger. I now found myself hating this horrible monster. There was no doubt in my mind that it was pure evil, and I wanted it to die.
When I got to the end, I remembered how it responded to my insult in Trance, I spoke to it and said: "You're going to pay".
This was its response:
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I had no idea how I would follow up on that threat.
And nothing could have prepared me for the horrors of the final world – Zenith.
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