And now, that was the opportunity.
Blood-Red Night had already been severely wounded by Roland and Angelica, two top Fixers…
She should no longer have any extra strength to continue fighting.
Arthur quickly scanned his surroundings. The blood pillars and blood walls that had once formed the entire underground sleeping quarters—driven by the Bloodfiend—were now melting away…
Then—
There was only one possibility.
She was escaping.
Arthur tightened his grip on the gun and sprinted toward the pipe.
He shouldn't have been able to locate Elena's escape route within a pool of crimson blood.
But… right beside him, only he could feel it—
A deep-yellow phantom patted his shoulder and silently pointed him in the correct direction.
You can't escape…
Arthur ran desperately, letting the emotions buried deep within him and the adrenaline surging through his body drive him forward.
After resonating with the Anomaly "Mole", his body had received a tremendous enhancement.
Although he was still only a Level 3 employee on the system panel, he could clearly feel it—
Whether it was the physical reinforcement granted by Anomaly Resonance, or the additional vitality gained from Life Crystals—
He was now comparable to a 4th-tier, or even a 3rd-tier Fixer.
And all the way, stepping through the blood pool—
Finally, at the end of the pipe, he saw that blurry figure.
Even a Star of the city–level Bloodfiend could not continuously dissolve herself within the filthy blood of 23rd Alley.
Arthur pulled the trigger again.
The gun in his hand roared.
Accompanied by red muzzle flashes, bullets carrying both physical and soul damage poured forth.
"Bang! Bang! Bang—!"
Each bullet struck the blood wall Elena hastily conjured with a wave of her hand.
But they failed to penetrate.
Just like Roland and Angelica's blades earlier—
As if striking an alloy steel plate, the bullets stopped without suspense.
A heavily wounded Star of the city was still a Star of the city.
Elena dispersed the blood wall and looked at the familiar deep-yellow hazmat suit before her.
She recognized him.
These were the same uninvited guests who had arrived before Roland and Angelica.
This Star of the city had only just risen from the blood pool; even her skin had not fully reformed. Crimson blood merely flowed within the limits she could barely restrain, giving her a disheveled, grotesque appearance.
"I can easily kill you," Elena said coldly,
"Just like I killed your companions."
She could still feel the soul-searing burn left by the earlier bullets. Though the injuries would not kill her, the sensation fueled her fury.
"Then you can try…"
Arthur didn't waste words, maintaining a safe distance from her.
Then—
He pulled several oval-shaped objects from his equipment pouch.
These items were unfamiliar to most people of the City, but to anyone from a modern world, they were utterly conventional weapons.
Though they could not yet be classified as E.G.O Equipment—
All items originating from Terraria were inevitably corrected the moment they left that world and entered the influence range of Lobotomy Corporation.
For example—
Even the most ordinary grenade now possessed a baseline destructive power amplification.
Arthur pulled the pins and hurled them toward the Bloodfiend.
What is this? A toy?!
As a native of the Backstreets, Elena had never encountered such weapons.
Only a lingering sense of caution made her instinctively wrap herself in blood.
"Bang—!"
Several sharp explosions erupted.
She felt high-speed shrapnel pierce into her blood mass.
But the outcome is still the same!
Forcing all the blood she could muster into reinforcement, the fragments still failed to penetrate fully.
But just as she waved her hand to part the blood wall and prepare a counterattack—
What greeted her was the cold gleam of Decisive Heart.
Arthur surged forward, blade in hand, striking her most vulnerable moment—
The dark blade, faintly flickering with blue light, cut cleanly across her neck.
The next second—
Her head fell.
Yet she was still alive.
"Wait—!"
The Bloodfiend felt an intense burning sensation at the severed point. There was no time to question where this man had obtained such a weapon capable of inflicting such damage.
She needed time.
Time to re-condense her blood.
Elena looked calmly at Arthur, her voice almost inquisitive.
"What's wrong with us simply wanting to survive? Is it our fault we were born Bloodfiends? What crime have we committed that we can't walk freely, but must hide in the dark?"
"Don't believe her."
Roland and Angelica emerged from the darkness behind Arthur.
Having just escaped the collapsing sleeping quarters, both were drenched in blood.
"I know," Arthur replied, sheathing his blade.
"I just wanted to ask her."
He crouched down, gazing through the hazmat visor at the Bloodfiend's severed head lying in the blood pool.
"You think you shouldn't die—so they should?"
"What are you saying?" Elena didn't understand.
"…Do you think they wanted to die?" Arthur continued.
"They had families. Friends. Ordinary lives. Do you think they came here because they shared your desires?"
Arthur felt calm.
Yet his fingers had unconsciously tightened around the gun.
"You kill indiscriminately to live. They die alone to protect others. You think what happened to you is unfair—do you think what happened to them was fair?"
"All the dead are humans," Elena replied evenly.
"And we Bloodfiends must consume human blood."
Her tone remained detached.
After all, she was no longer capable of empathizing with human tragedy.
Who cared about the feelings of food?
"Heh… Is that so?" Arthur exhaled softly.
"That's that and this is this…"
He stood up.
At this moment, he finally understood why Roland and Angelica so often repeated that phrase.
"Then don't talk to us about identity or fairness either."
"We're just enemies."
"And in my eyes, they are infinitely more noble than insects like you—who selfishly cling to life in 23rd Alley."
"Wait—"
Elena tried to speak again.
Arthur raised his gun.
"Shut up. Go to hell."
Another bullet left the chamber.
This time, it pierced cleanly through the woman's head.
Roland and Angelica watched as red and yellow matter—mixed with something unidentifiable—spilled into the pool of blood.