As the last looper collapsed to the ground, panting but free, the dark energy evaporated into the sky. Asmodeus stood over the center of the breach, watching the purple mist dissipate.

"It was just a test," Callisto remarked, stepping up beside him. "The entity is probing the Island's defenses."

Asmodeus moved with a speed that defied human reflexes. He was a blur of tactical precision and supernatural grace. He slid under a hail of assault rifle fire, firing a single, precise shot from his hand cannon that shattered the shield of the lead attacker.

Asmodeus did not flinch. He slowly reached behind his back and drew his weapon, his Ocular back bling shifting and dilating as it tracked every target in the vicinity.

One by one, the corrupted loopers fell, not to their deaths, but freed from the dark trance as the enforcers' specialized kinetic strikes severed the hold of the outside entity.