The echo of his own footsteps was all Adam could hear now. The bell, still damp with his blood, weighed in his hand as if it carried a thousand voices screaming in silence.
He didn't know how long had passed since he escaped the ritual chamber, but he felt that time didn't flow the same way down here.
The tunnel ahead was different — more recent, perhaps carved by human hands… or something imitating humanity. The cracked concrete walls replaced the living rock, but the distorted symbols were still marked everywhere. Now, they seemed to move when he wasn't looking directly at them.
His shoulder throbbed. The gash from the chain burned, and blood slowly seeped under his torn shirt.
He tried to ignore the pain.
— "Just a bit more… just a bit more."
His breath caught as he spotted a metal door at the end of the corridor. Above it, written in nearly faded black ink:
"Here begins the true judgment."
He pushed the door open, and it groaned like a wounded beast.
Inside was a circular chamber, lit only by red torches that didn't burn — they glowed like watching eyes. Three hooded figures stood at the center, motionless. All around them, dozens of chains hung from the ceiling like snakes ready to strike.
Adam stepped forward, cautiously.
[Emergency Mission Activated: Judgment of the Guardians – High Category – Survive]
The figures moved simultaneously.
One raised its arm, and all the chains stirred.
— "You carry the bell…" said a female voice, muffled and distorted. "But you are not yet purified."
The second figure stepped forward, and the torches flared brighter.
— "We judge your sins, Adam R. You dare to bring interference into this world?"
The third figure remained still, but its presence was crushing. An invisible aura made the ground tremble beneath Adam's feet.
He knew he couldn't win. Not in a conventional way.
But he also knew he couldn't run.
He gripped the bell. Felt it pulse with his pain. And then, for the first time, he rang it.
Dong…
The sound reverberated as if it crossed through realities.
The torches went out. The chains recoiled.
The figures screamed in unison.
[Relic Unlocked: Bell of Spiritual Control – Temporary Active Mode – 2 minutes remaining]
Adam dropped to his knees under the strain, blood pouring from his nose, but he didn't back down.
The hooded figures began to dissolve, slowly, like shadows burning in light.
— "You do not belong to this cycle…" one whispered, its voice almost sorrowful. "And yet… you walk it."
With one final toll, Adam sealed them.
Silence.
Only the dying echo of the bell in the air.
[Mission Complete: Judgment of the Guardians – +1400 Reward Points]
[Side Effect: Spiritual Exhaustion – Mobility reduced for 3 hours]
Adam collapsed on the cold ground, sweating, vision blurry.
— "Once again… barely made it."
But something inside him had changed. The bell was no longer just a key.
It was a part of him now.
And perhaps… that had been Silent Hill's intention all along.