But my actions only made the monster freeze for a moment—though in that instant I managed to drink nearly a liter of blood, although in my opinion there's far more blood in this hulking thing than in an ordinary human. Unlike the special forces, who apparently did not notice my feint at all, since they did not stop firing for a second.
Then this damn soccer player swung his leg, lifting it off the ground along with me, and before I could pull myself away—pushing off wouldn't have worked anyway, with my lower body refusing to cooperate—he hurled me into the building next to the one I'd already visited, straight through another second-floor window.
Some Brazilian national team soccer player!
All right. I'll lie here for half a minute, let the blood circulation patch up the damage, then slowly get back to my feet to the familiar sounds of gunfire, swearing, and explosions…
And a helicopter?
What the hell?
I carefully approach the window and witness a scene that gives me a nervous tic—at least mentally; my half-dead body is immune to that sort of thing. The Echo-6 fighters certainly exchanged fire with the monster, and in precisely this context, but the main contribution was coming from a blond individual whose appearance was already familiar to me.
What a surprise.
"...nswer me already!" someone's voice snapped over the intercom. Though why someone's? Only Yamata and I can use it.
"Cain here. Why did you take so long to intervene?" I asked, since Four Eyes was now firing at the armed monster. And, judging by the container nearby, the weapon had been delivered by the helicopter flying over the city. Apparently, Umbrella had dumped the monster into the streets first and only then supplied it with hardware—or maybe the "big guys" noticed something and decided to arm it retroactively.
What an armament.
A real Gatling gun.
"What the hell is going on here? And how long was I gone?" I asked the most important questions, deliberately ignoring the girl's reproachful tone.
"No more than twenty seconds," she replied. "Though in our situation, that's quite a long time. The moment you were thrown somewhere into the building—or rather, a second before that—this unknown type of infected jumped down from the opposite side and immediately charged your attacker. And you know… either she got stronger, or she was holding back last time. But I suspect you're no match for her. She's tearing Nemesis's armor apart very efficiently, dodging attacks just as quickly, and deliberately drawing all the fire onto herself."
She paused for a fraction of a second.
"Unfortunately, she was a little late with this. The first volley from the dropped weapons still hit those bumbling soldiers. So they lost that big bearded guy. And, in my opinion, it was a complete loss. Maybe we should retreat? And… yes, sorry for not interfering earlier. I just needed to see what you were capable of. After all, laboratory data—especially from portable devices—is one thing. Real combat is another."
"I wouldn't want to go back into the lab with that monster, knowing there's someone nearby whom even ordinary Titans would tear apart," Four Eyes admitted. "I'm sorry, but you should understand my caution."
What a pain! Hah, I ended up with a real stubborn one.
But Nemesis's roar cut off my thoughts and any chance of responding. That blonde zombie finally finished my work by ripping off his remaining armor—but in the process, she caught almost a full burst of fire at point-blank range. Given the sheer power of the Gatling gun and the zombie's relatively fragile build, the rounds simply tore her in half.
Before she could do anything—before she could even crawl away—Nemesis crushed her head under his boot and roared in triumph.
And right before my eyes stands the last glance of that girl, who, a moment before her complete destruction, found my silhouette in the window and looked straight at me with a gaze I couldn't understand.
What kind of nonsense is this—me feeling sorry for a zombie? And why do I have the distinct sense that it wasn't just an infected creature that died, but at least someone I knew well?
My roof quietly slides off, empathizing with the death of an incomprehensible zombie… and then, from somewhere deep inside, a powerful rage surges upward.
Meanwhile, Nemesis unleashed another burst at the squad opposite him, and not all of them managed to make it behind cover. He turned toward the position where Four Eyes had been firing her rifle.
"Run!" I shouted into the radio.
But all I got I got in response was a cry of pain.
I'll kill you! You killed my scientist—and I needed her! I'll tear you apart. I don't care if you're stronger!
I leap down, no longer caring about people or masking. Yes, the plan was mediocre from the very beginning, and I paid dearly for its failure. Now my consciousness began drifting back into the dark crimson void—just like the first time, when I encountered the dead dogs, when my body fought on its own and I didn't even remember anything afterward.
Heh. Who cares.
The only thing that matters now is killing!
And right now, controlling myself is the last thing I'm interested in.
🙌Bonus chapter for 100 power stones!
🎁The next bonus chapter will be for 200 power stones.