Descending, we found ourselves on a spiral bridge shaped like an L—only mirrored, curving the other way and leading to an identical ascent on the opposite side. Not far from where we came down lay a grown monster. Well damn—so it really had grown that much. I'd thought that memorable moment in the game had been exaggerated.
Slightly smaller than a Tyrant, sprawled before us was something that looked like a human and a leech fused together—an inflated human, at that. Only the right arm (torn from Irons) and the leg on that same side were almost human; the rest was a bona fide monster. An elongated neck, bleary eyes, and an overall appearance as if someone had forgotten to pull skin over it—its rib cage even sat atop muscle and sinew, as though serving as armor.
"Yamata, take samples. They'll definitely be useful—and grab a couple of vials. Having a reserve is always good. I'll just…"
I bent down, gauged the angle, and tore out the heart—but the moment I swallowed a single bite, my body doubled over and promptly rejected it. Either it was inedible, or I had a problem.
"What's wrong?" Four Eyes asked, alarmed and surprised, though she didn't look up from the samples. Katherine simply placed a hand on my back in silence. I don't know how it feels for the living, but to me her palm was neither hot nor cold. Even the retching brought no sensation—only a faint discomfort in the process.
"I've got a nasty suspicion—and it just turned into certainty."
I added the second half of the sentence when I noticed that the monster's greenish blood was calmly being absorbed into me, and I felt no urge to vomit. If it was poisonous, it wasn't to me. Conclusion? I'd switched to a liquid diet. On the one hand, that was good—no more feeding on corpses. On the other, my already meager menu had shrunk to choosing blood types.
"Oh, so now you're officially just a bloodsucker?" Four Eyes remarked, having noticed everything, trying, in this way, either to cheer me up and distract me—or to jab at me. More likely the former, but she played it convincingly enough that, judging by Katherine's frown, at least one of us took it as the latter..
"Looks like it. I'll be feeding on the blood of virgins now."
I tried to smile, forgetting about my fangs—so it probably came out more like a snarl.
"You'll die out—we're in America!" Four Eyes laughed back, matching my tone, and even Katherine let out a small snort.
"You're cruel. I'll leave you—say, for Africa. I might have a chance to survive there… at least on animals."
I snorted, drawing in what Four Eyes hadn't managed to collect. A shame, but now I'd have to settle for two vials instead of the three or more I'd hoped for.
I'm thinking about the wrong things. I'd just absorbed someone else's blood again, which meant there could be consequences—this was G-parasite blood, after all. Better not to think about it. I nodded gratefully to Katherine for the show of concern—she simply didn't know how else to help—and headed for the stairs on the other side.
A short climb later, we emerged into a surprisingly tidy section of sewer. To the right and beneath us was a raised platform; to the left, a fenced descent into the water and steel gate leaves marked with the index XD-R.
"Can you handle it?" I cast a glance at Yamata.
"Of course. I'll need a couple of minutes, so don't interfere," she said, pulling out her electro-lockpick and hopping over the waist-high railing. Really, why bother walking all the way around the room?
"In the meantime, we'll keep training. Go on, Kate—claws out, climb up to that tier. And tell us what's up there and where the path leads," I decided to put the downtime to use.
While Yamata worked on the lock, Miss Warren had already managed to get the hang of the new way of moving—accelerating both within it and while remaining in the normal plane. That was more than enough for her. Against ordinary enemies, this plus superhuman strength would suffice. Against anything more serious, even I wouldn't save her—at least not in a straight fight. Even now, I had doubts about the outcome against Birkin or Nemesis. As for Lisa Trevor, I planned to bury her under bodies and just take a blood sample—could even inject it directly, using the already tested method.
A few minutes later, my thoughts were interrupted by Yamata's joyful exclamation, followed by the illuminated silhouettes of two figures beginning their ascent toward us along the spiral stairs. Let them go first. I'm wary of changing canon—and even more so of running into Birkin, who should be colliding with his daughter within the next half hour. Let these two—more precisely, Claire—clear the way for us.
That's exactly what I told the girls, and the three of us climbed up to the upper tier. Our place was taken by Sherry and Redfield, who quickly dropped into the water and were already heading for the entrance when a roar suddenly echoed…
From our side.
As one, we turned our heads to the right and saw Birkin advancing toward us—and in what a state. Assuming he'd gone through at least one stage of evolution, I was completely right.
Annoying. The situation itself, too.
If we jump down, the humans will spot us and we'll have to make adjustments to the timeline. If we stay here, it's either a confrontation with this monster—or fleeing along the upper routes in an unknown direction, with only a ghost of a chance of finding the right turn and tailing the two below again.
(End of Chapter)
P@treon: /SadRaven
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰