Engineer

Deep Throat held an Eagle Claw Boning Knife in each hand, constantly rubbing them together as if sharpening pencils with a knife.

Chains were attached to the handles of the Eagle Claw Boning Knives. Their other ends pierced Deep Throat's ribs and dug into her body.

She slowly approached the two hearts. With the boning knife in her right hand, she lifted Frank's heart and hung it on the spiked pillar.

High Priest Pinhead stepped forward and crushed Giovanna's remaining heart beneath his foot.

A piercing scream came from the heart, so terrible it could pierce the soul. Even the deaf could hear it.

It was the sound of a soul being torn apart.

"Worthless salvage."

Nailhead said it without emotion.

The heart hanging from the pillar transformed back into Frank, but the pillar's hooks still held his body fast, a foot above the ground.

"Frank!"

Nailhead looked at Frank and spoke slowly.

"We must hear your confession."

Deep Throat took over.

"This isn't for your benefit."

Nailhead controlled the chains with his mind and sent them flying toward Frank.

Countless chains hooked into Frank, tugging at his facial muscles and forcing him to speak his final confession:

"God wept."

Then Frank was torn to pieces once more.

When they had finished, the four Cenobites turned their attention to Wu Heng and Kirsty.

"We must complete the second confession."

Deep Throat said.

"We have many more sights to show you."

Nailhead added.

Wu Heng hadn't expected Nailhead to start picking and choosing from their bundled deal, rejecting Giovanna and breaking their contract.

"Oh, damn it."

Kirsty cursed.

Wu Heng stepped forward, shielding Kirsty. He slipped one hand into his pocket and gripped the photo of Nailhead as a human. With his other hand behind his back, he quietly passed the Puzzle Box to Kirsty.

Kirsty took the Puzzle Box and quickly slid her fingers over it in a specific sequence.

"Go to hell!"

Kirsty shouted and restored one half of the transformed Puzzle Box to its original position.

"You shouldn't have done that."

Deep Throat had barely begun to speak when she vanished in a flash of lightning, along with Nailhead and Chatterer. The infernal instruments of torture disappeared as well.

The fat Butterball removed his sunglasses, revealing eyes sewn shut with stitches. He appeared behind Kirsty in an instant and was about to unleash Gluttony, absorbing her into his body so he could reclaim the Puzzle Box.

But the unstable passage to Hell had cut off much of the Cenobites' power. Wu Heng yanked Kirsty out of the way.

His body only brushed against the corner of Butterball's clothes, but the right side of him melted and flowed into Butterball's body.

He was missing another kidney.

Enduring the electric current surging through the Puzzle Box and ignoring her pain, Kirsty used all her strength to restore it. Butterball vanished.

Wu Heng ignored his injuries. While the passage's field was still gone, he grabbed Kirsty and raced down the stairs to the first floor.

"Dean!"

Kirsty cried out as she ran.

One corner of the Puzzle Box suddenly turned slightly on its own.

A crack appeared again at the top of the second-floor stairs.

The lizard-like monster Wu Heng had seen at his villa—the one that looked skinned and crawled upside down through the air—climbed out of the crack again and began chasing them.

When Wu Heng saw it appear, he finally pressed the remote control in his pocket.

Boom!

The remote-controlled bomb he had deliberately left in the attic before going to the villa district to rescue Kirsty exploded.

The second floor was blown apart. Wu Heng clutched Kirsty and charged out the door, narrowly escaping the blast wave.

As Wu Heng hit the ground, he covered Kirsty's ears.

The explosion had made his ears bleed, but three notifications sounded in his mind:

[Plot Mission 3: Kill a Cenobite (Mission complete. Received 10,000 survival points. Exploration rate: 55%. Plot rating increased.)]

[Exploration rate reached 50%. Identity retention unlocked for this plot world.]

[After completing all plot missions, you may choose to return early.]

The ringing in Wu Heng's ears gradually faded. Seeing the mission-complete notification, he knew he had succeeded once again.

This Blood-Colored Lizard Monster had briefly appeared in the first film.

It was actually Hell's Engineer, responsible for maintaining and repairing Hell and overseeing its construction. Their modifications were highly specialized.

Engineers had powerful regenerative abilities, but they had not been granted great strength, nor did they wear clothes made from Leviathan's skin. That meant ordinary weapons could injure them.

If the Cenobites summoned by the Puzzle Box to harvest souls were the worker ants of a colony, then the Engineers were its builders. But there was no denying that they, too, were modified Cenobites.

Wu Heng had thought that capturing Frank early and changing the plot had made him miss this rarely seen Engineer, leaving him unable to complete Mission 3.

He had brought the remote-controlled bomb as a precaution, but he hadn't expected the plot to circle back to its starting point. So when he sensed Kirsty was in danger, he had planted the bomb in the attic ahead of time.

The monster that appeared at the very end of the story had shown up after all.

After studying the entire plot, Wu Heng had already concluded that the only way ordinary people could complete Mission 3 was to seize the brief chance to kill the Engineer during its fleeting appearance at the end.

Unfortunately, when a Cenobite died, the power and soul granted by Leviathan returned to Leviathan, who could even resurrect them.

Wu Heng couldn't Siphon anything from it. Even the weakest Cenobite was still a Cenobite. If he could take even one sip, he couldn't begin to imagine how it would taste...

"Dean, are we safe? Are you okay?"

When Kirsty fell, she had already turned the twisted corner of the Puzzle Box back into place.

The half-destroyed wooden house finally fell silent. Only the broken walls and rubble still smoked and flickered with flames.

Kirsty stared at Wu Heng's wound in despair. She wanted to use her clothes to bind it, but was afraid of hurting him. An injury like that—

Wu Heng heard police cars and fire engines wailing in the distance, and saw people beginning to gather around them.

"Let's go back to the villa. I have a way to heal."

Wu Heng turned his hole-ridden coat inside out to hide the wound on his right side. Then he and Kirsty walked a few dozen meters, hailed a car, and headed for the villa.

Back at the villa, Wu Heng opened the custom-built refrigerator. Sealed blood bags were neatly arranged inside.

Kirsty stayed by Wu Heng's side, watching his movements with concern. As far as she knew, anyone who suffered such severe injuries would already be dead. Yet Wu Heng's expression remained calm, and he showed no signs of weakness.

She watched as Wu Heng took a sealed bag of blood from the refrigerator and slit it open with scissors. The blood vanished in an instant, and the wound on his waist visibly healed.

"What! Dean, you..."

Kirsty looked at him with a hint of fear.

"Kirsty, I escaped from Hell too."

Wu Heng touched the spot where his kidney had healed. It was strong and whole, without a trace of damage.

He turned to Kirsty and spoke seriously.

He couldn't keep this secret from her.

Since Nailhead's Hermit had already set its sights on Kirsty, she would inevitably have more dealings with Hell and learn about the Cursed Disciples.

So Wu Heng might as well explain things to her now. At least then, if she encountered anything like this again, she would know what was going on.

"Dean, all I know is that you saved me. I'm scared."

Kirsty stepped forward and gently wrapped her arms around Wu Heng's waist. She touched his healed wound and rested her head against his chest.

Wu Heng, too, let out a breath of relief. At the last moment, he had nearly called Butterball by his human name to awaken his memories and escape. Fortunately, he had stopped himself just in time.

The photo of Nailhead and the true identities of the four Cenobites were bargaining chips that could get him back from Hell. He wouldn't use them unless he was truly trapped there.

Wu Heng had been fully prepared for the risks of this adventure. The worst-case scenario was dying and ending up in Hell, then awakening the four Cenobites' memories and escaping once more.

Kirsty wasn't some helpless heroine. She was the true protagonist, and an indispensable part of the path he was laying out for the future.

If Kirsty died too soon, he wouldn't dare enter this world again. At that point, there'd be no use saving his trump card.

So he had to take the risk!

Fortunately, both his trump card and Kirsty were safe. This time, it had been well worth it!

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