By the time Ash reached the fusion monster, every head had already been destroyed by the grenade blasts, leaving the ruined mass incapable of screaming or speaking. He crouched beside the twitching remains, drove one fist deep into the fused flesh, and released Demonic Power directly into its core. Black energy erupted throughout the body and crushed the combined spiritual presence formed from the many Deadites inside. The instant that supernatural core disappeared, every severed limb scattered around the street became completely still.
These demons had been unlucky enough to possess ordinary human bodies without greatly increasing the durability of the flesh they occupied. Their strength rose dramatically, and the dead hosts could continue moving through injuries that would instantly kill a living person, but bullets, machinery, and explosives could still destroy the physical vessels. That weakness was exactly why older Ash's shotgun could blow apart Gabriel's head, the wood chipper could shred the fused bodies, and the Mk 19 could reduce the Marauder-like creature to pieces.
Ash had also learned something important about the possession itself. Once one of these spirits fully entered a host, it seemed unable to freely jump away whenever it wanted; the vessel had to be damaged badly enough before the entity could escape. Gabriel's spirit had fled only after older Ash destroyed his head, which meant Ash could use that brief separation as an opportunity to destroy the supernatural core before it found another body. If the spirits had been able to switch hosts instantly and without restrictions, dealing with them would have been far more troublesome.
The enhancements Ash gained from killing them were different from those provided by monsters with powerful physical bodies. These Deadite-like entities existed primarily as corrupted spirits, so their deaths strengthened his mental and spiritual qualities far more than his muscles. The difference became obvious whenever Ash converted spiritual power into Demonic Power, because both the amount he could generate and the density of the black energy had noticeably increased.
Ash actually preferred killing creatures with genuine physical forms. A monster with a powerful body still possessed a strong soul, which meant he usually received substantial physical enhancement without sacrificing much spiritual growth. Pure spirits offered the opposite deal: excellent gains to his supernatural reserves but relatively little improvement to strength, speed, or durability because the corpses they inhabited were already dead.
The special abilities he extracted from the demons were considerably more interesting.
The entity controlling the elevator had granted him Pollution Resistance, a passive ability that sounded unimpressive until Ash examined what it actually protected against. It strengthened his resistance to mental corruption, supernatural contamination, hostile spiritual influence, and even certain forms of physical pollution caused by abnormal entities. Considering the number of cursed objects and mind-altering monsters that seemed to exist in this world, Ash suspected the ability would eventually prove much more valuable than its name suggested.
The cloth demon had given him Object Control. Ash could now exert supernatural control over nonliving objects, including corpses, and move them without physically touching them. Unfortunately, the ability only supplied control rather than intelligence, so whatever he manipulated remained nothing more than an object following his commands.
Ash sighed at that realization.
"So much for building an army of action figures."
The final ability came from the enormous fused Deadite.
Presence Concealment.
Ash could suppress his aura and supernatural presence, making himself much more difficult to detect through spiritual senses. That also explained why he had failed to notice the fusion monster earlier despite sensing demons elsewhere in the building; the group of spirits inside it had been concealing their collective presence.
Ash nodded approvingly. "Great. Now I have stealth."
He glanced back at the smoking Mk 19.
"Stealth with a grenade launcher."
That sounded much more like him.
After confirming the fused entity was permanently dead, Ash touched his new tactical microphone. "Target neutralized. I'm going back through the building to make sure nothing else is hiding inside." He was no longer willing to rely entirely on supernatural detection after discovering Presence Concealment. If another Deadite possessed the same ability, it could remain hidden until AIIB personnel entered and then start the entire disaster over again.
Ash returned inside alone and searched the structure floor by floor. The earthquake had destroyed much of the staircase and the elevators had suffered enough abuse for one night, but his enhanced body made ordinary building access problems almost irrelevant. He climbed damaged walls, crossed broken sections of flooring, and used Shadow Travel whenever convenient to move between accessible areas.
The sweep took a little over ten minutes.
No demons remained.
Unfortunately, neither did any other surviving residents beyond Ellie's family, who had already been evacuated. The remaining occupied apartments Ash checked showed clear evidence that the Deadites had reached their occupants before he and older Ash could intervene.
Ash reported the results.
AIIB logistics teams moved in immediately after receiving clearance, followed by NYPD personnel assigned to establish a wider perimeter. The Mk 19 barrage had been impossible to conceal from the surrounding neighborhood, so Raymond coordinated directly with senior police officials and provided a cover story involving heavily armed criminals barricaded inside an already condemned building.
It was not a perfect explanation.
It was still easier to sell than a pile of demon-possessed corpses fused together and attacked a federal agent with a fire axe.
Police officers redirected pedestrians, reassured nearby residents, and kept reporters away from the most heavily damaged areas while AIIB personnel documented the supernatural evidence. Ash walked through the cordon without difficulty, and whenever someone unfamiliar tried to stop him, showing his Special Agent credentials ended the conversation immediately.
He soon spotted older Ash, Pablo, and Kelly waiting beyond the police line.
Pablo practically bounced when he saw him. "That was insane. I thought you were kidding about the secret federal agency until those people showed up with military equipment."
Ash approached them. "The Mk 19 was a special case. Don't assume I can order one delivered every time somebody sees a demon."
Kelly crossed her arms. "Still. Federal monster hunters with grenade launchers are pretty hard to beat."
"Benefits package is decent too."
Older Ash looked personally offended again.
"I hate that part the most."
Ash smiled. "You can still apply."
"Still thinking about it."
Kelly glanced between the two men. "You know, hearing everybody call you both Ash is already confusing enough. Then those Bureau people kept saying 'Special Agent Williams' over the radio."
Older Ash had been smiling, but something in Kelly's comment made him pause.
He looked more carefully at young Ash.
For several seconds, his expression became unusually thoughtful.
"Wait."
Young Ash raised an eyebrow.
Older Ash pointed at him. "Your father wasn't named Edwin Williams, was he?"
Ash's amusement vanished.
"You knew my dad?"
Older Ash stared for another moment before recognition fully settled across his face. "Son of a bitch. I knew there was something familiar about this whole name situation."
Ash folded his arms. "You've known my name since we met."
"Yeah, but I was a little busy dealing with demons, junior. Give an old man a minute."
Pablo and Kelly exchanged amused looks.
Older Ash continued, "Years ago, I came through New York and ended up drinking at this bar. Somebody called out 'Ash Williams,' and your dad happened to hear it. He came over laughing because he said his own kid was named Ash Williams too."
Ash blinked.
That was not remotely what he expected.
Older Ash smiled faintly at the memory. "We ended up drinking together. I told him some stories about the crap I'd dealt with when I was younger—possessed cabins, Deadites, ancient books, the usual nightmare fuel."
"You told a stranger all that?"
"I'd been drinking."
"Of course you had."
Older Ash ignored him. "The weird part was that Edwin believed me. Didn't laugh, didn't call me crazy, didn't try to get away from the lunatic talking about demons at the bar. Instead, he invited me to visit his shop."
Ash frowned.
"My dad's shop?"
"Yeah."
Older Ash's expression became more serious. "From the outside it looked like a regular little place selling curios, antiques, religious junk, and whatever else paid the bills. Then your dad showed me what he kept away from ordinary customers."
Ash stared at him.
Older Ash continued, "Blessed weapons. Exorcism tools. Protective charms. Old Church supplies. Stuff for dealing with things most people don't believe exist."
Ash's eyebrows slowly drew together.
"My father sold exorcism equipment?"
Pablo looked at him. "You didn't know?"
"No."
Ash immediately thought of the silver-white greatsword he had inherited from his father. The Latin prayers, the Church blessing, and the weapon's ability to destroy the Bloodthirsty Demon had already proven that Edwin Williams knew far more about the supernatural than Ash understood. Hearing that his father had secretly stocked equipment for fighting demons made the mystery surrounding his parents even deeper.
Older Ash seemed equally surprised. "I figured you became a demon hunter because of him."
"I didn't."
"Huh."
Older Ash scratched his cheek with his left hand. "Your dad and I stayed in touch for a little while, but I was only visiting New York. I eventually went back to Michigan, life turned into its usual mess, and we lost contact."
His expression darkened slightly.
"This morning, Pablo, Kelly, and I went to Woodsboro because I wanted Edwin's help with something."
Ash immediately looked at him.
"You went to my house?"
"Yeah. Nobody was there, so we asked around town." Older Ash's joking tone disappeared. "That's how I found out your father had died."
For several seconds, Ash said nothing.
Then he asked, "What did you need his help with?"
Older Ash glanced toward Pablo and Kelly.
Ash noticed.
"And why were the three of you driving around Manhattan in an RV before you somehow ended up in that building's parking garage?"
Older Ash exhaled.
"Get in the RV."
Ash narrowed his eyes. "That sounds suspicious."
"It'll make sense when you see it."
Ash followed the three of them.
Inside the RV, older Ash moved toward the bed and opened a large storage case secured beside it. He reached inside carefully and lifted out an object wrapped in heavy cloth.
Ash immediately recognized the shape.
Older Ash removed the covering.
A grotesque ancient book appeared in his hands.
Ash stared.
"You've got one too?"
It was unmistakably another Book of the Dead.
The volume recovered from the condemned building had two pronounced rows of tooth-like protrusions along its edge and a slightly different arrangement of flesh-like ridges. Older Ash's book looked equally ancient, but the distorted human face molded into its cover was much more prominent.
Pablo handed over the volume recovered from Danny's apartment.
Older Ash placed both books beside each other.
For once, Ashley J. Williams had nothing sarcastic to say.
He stared at the two grotesque covers before slowly shaking his head.
"All these years..."
Older Ash looked toward young Ash.
"I never knew there was more than one Book of the Dead."