"Boom—!!!!"
The heavy gate, carved with the intricate crest of the Ashford Family, let out a groan of being overwhelmed!
The sturdy locking System shattered instantly, and a hideous hole exploded from the center of the door panel, with Noah's fist as the origin!
Countless wood splinters and metal fragments, like shrapnel from an explosion, shot wildly toward the unknown space behind the door!
Without waiting for the door panel to shatter completely, Noah had already retracted his fist and used his momentum for a fierce shoulder ram!
"Bang!"
The entire broken gate was knocked out of its frame by him, flying backward into the interior of the hall!
Dust and debris filled the air.
Without the slightest hesitation, the six of them formed a combat formation, stepped over the messy door frame, and entered the world behind this door.
What met their eyes was a massive hall, even more grand and classical than the main hall from before.
A broad staircase covered with dark red carpet spiraled upward, leading to a circular corridor on the second floor.
On the walls, those familiar deer head specimens silently watched these uninvited guests.
"This place..." Chris's pupils shrank suddenly, and he subconsciously gripped the M4A1 in his hand, "It's Spencer's Mansion..."
Jill's face also showed undisguised shock and disgust.
"It's exactly the same... That madman actually replicated another tomb here."
However, their attention was quickly and completely drawn to the two figures facing off in the center of the hall.
One of them was someone they knew all too well.
Albert Wesker.
Only at this moment, he appeared to be in a wretched state.
That iconic black trench coat had a hideous hole burned into the shoulder, revealing the charred flesh beneath.
There was even a trace of undried blood hanging from the corner of his mouth.
He was half-kneeling on the ground, gasping for air in large gulps, his crimson vertical pupils filled with unbelievable terror and rage.
And standing opposite him was an existence that made everyone's breath hitch.
Alexia Ashford.
But she was no longer the young girl in the white dress they had seen on the monitors.
At this moment, her entire body was completely covered by a layer of blue-gray cuticle shimmering with a metallic luster.
The cuticle was covered with complex biological patterns as exquisite as works of art, making her look like a perfect blue-gray sculpture carved from unknown metal and jade.
Her beauty and horror were perfectly fused in a distorted yet harmonious way, radiating a non-human, suffocating aura of terror.
Wesker saw Noah's group at the door. His face, somewhat distorted from intense pain and shock, suddenly pulled into a hideous and playful smile.
He slowly stood up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, his crimson vertical pupils staring fixedly at Chris.
"Chris... my old friend, look at what a grand welcoming ceremony I've prepared for you."
His voice was raspy, yet filled with the pleasure of gloating over their misfortune.
He reached out and pointed at the Alexia standing quietly like a god or demon opposite him, his smile becoming increasingly cruel.
"I'll leave her to you."
The moment the words fell, Alexia's cold, amber-like golden eyes slowly turned toward this group of uninvited guests at the door.
Wesker seized this thousandth-of-a-second opening!
The ground beneath his feet shook violently, and he shot up toward the circular corridor on the second floor like a cannonball!
His virus-enhanced body erupted with astonishing power, allowing him to easily leap several meters, grab the railing of the second floor with one hand, and land steadily on the corridor with an agile flip.
Without even looking back once, he sprinted toward the depths of the corridor!
"Wesker!"
Noah roared, exerting force with his feet as he prepared to give chase!
However, a blue-gray afterimage appeared instantly before him without any warning, blocking all his paths.
Alexia.
She just stood there quietly, those golden eyes devoid of any emotion, containing only an absolute coldness enough to freeze the Soul.
A terrifying pressure, like a landslide or a tsunami, surged toward him!
Noah was forced to stop his steps, every muscle in his body tensed to the limit at this moment!
He knew that an unprecedentedly fierce battle was now unavoidable.
"Spread out! Crossfire!"
Chris's roar shattered the dead silence!
The six people instantly scattered, aiming their muzzles from different angles at that terrifying yet perfect figure in the center of the hall.
The corner of Alexia's mouth curled into a cold, emotionless sneer.
She raised her left hand and used the blade-sharp nails of her right hand to lightly slice across the palm of her left hand.
"Squelch—"
Crimson blood with a trace of eerie gold surged out from it.
She casually swung it forward toward the group!
A dozen drops of blood shot out in all directions like buckshot!
The moment those blood drops left her palm, they burst into flames in mid-air, turning into clumps of bewitching blood-red fire!
"Get out of the way!!"
Leon roared, performing a desperate dive to avoid two clumps of Blood Flame coming straight at him!
The flames brushed past his back, and the scorching temperature made him feel as if his combat uniform was about to be ignited!
Everyone scrambled for cover, dodging frantically within this death barrage composed of blood-colored flames!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The tmp submachine gun in Ada's hand spat out dense tongues of fire, attempting to intercept the incoming Blood Flames.
But when the bullets hit the Blood Flames, they only caused the fire to explode even more violently; there was no way to extinguish them!
A clump of Blood Flame landed on a classical wooden table in front of Chris.
"Boom!"
That blood-red fire, as if carrying an inextinguishable curse, frantically devoured the expensive wooden table, burning it into a pile of charred charcoal in just a few seconds!
"This fire is strange! Don't let it touch you!" Jill shouted a reminder while shooting.
Just as everyone was thrown into a panic by the Blood Flames, Alexia moved.
Her figure left a faint afterimage where she stood, while her body appeared beside Jill as if teleporting!
She raised her blue-gray hand, fingers pressed together like a hand-blade, and slashed fiercely toward Jill's neck with a whistle that tore through the air!
Too fast!
Jill's pupils snapped shut; she didn't even have time to make any reaction, only able to watch helplessly as the shadow of death rapidly enlarged in her vision!
"Clang—!!!"
A deafening sound of metal clashing rang out!
Noah's figure appeared before Jill at some unknown moment, using his right fist covered with knuckle dusters to firmly block Alexia's lethal strike!
Immense power traveled from the knuckles; the marble floor beneath Noah's feet instantly cracked, and he slid back more than half a meter!
He only felt a wave of numbing pain throughout his entire right arm!
Such terrifying strength!
"Get back!"
Noah growled, throwing his left fist in tandem to force Alexia back, gaining a precious breathing moment for Jill.
"Claire!"
Noah shouted loudly.
Claire understood instantly; her four-barreled Grenade Launcher was already aimed at Alexia!
"Boom!"
An incendiary grenade, trailing a long tail of fire, whistled out!
Alexia's figure became blurred again, easily dodging the grenade with a speed that surpassed the limits of human vision.
The grenade struck the wall behind her, exploding into a massive fireball and completely turning that area into a sea of fire.
However, the moment Alexia revealed her form, the broken butterfly in Leon's hand let out a deafening roar!
"Bang!"
The large-caliber magnum bullet accurately struck Alexia's chest!
A series of dazzling sparks exploded!
The bullet, capable of blasting through light armor, actually only left a faint white mark on her grey-blue cuticle before being deflected!
"Useless!" Leon's expression turned incredibly grim. "Conventional weapons can't breach her defense at all!"
Just then, a slight change appeared for the first time on Alexia's perfect yet icy face.
She opened her mouth.
A thick, greenish-yellow poison mist with a sickly sweet stench erupted from her mouth like a fountain, instantly and completely shrouding a large area in front of her!
"It's poison gas! Masks on! Fall back!"
Chris's face changed sharply. Shouting, he pulled Jill along and beat a hasty retreat!
The group scrambled out of the mist's range, coughing violently as they hurriedly put on their Tactical Masks.
Alexia stood silently in the poison mist like a queen from Hell, her golden eyes watching her prey scurry about like insects with a cruel sense of playfulness.
This wouldn't do; at this rate, they would be worn down to death!
Noah's mind raced at high speed.
She was too fast, her defense too strong, and then there were those bizarre Blood Flames and the poison mist... He had to find her weakness!
At that moment, Claire moved faster than anyone expected—even Chris only saw a black afterimage flash by!
She actually charged toward the slowly expanding poison mist!
"Claire!" Chris cried out in alarm.
Yet, Claire was even faster than he imagined!
Like a phantom, she curved around the edge of the poison mist, and the mp5 submachine gun in her hand emptied an entire magazine in an instant!
The bullets didn't target Alexia's body; instead, they all landed precisely at her feet!
The hard marble floor instantly erupted in flying stone fragments under the concentrated storm of bullets!
For the first time, Alexia's rock-steady body swayed due to the loss of footing!
The wordless understanding between Noah and Claire was displayed to the fullest at this moment!
At the same instant Claire fired, Noah had already moved!
The g-virus power within him was pushed to the limit as he turned into a bolt of black lightning, instantly crossing over ten meters to appear before Alexia!
He used no fancy Moves.
He simply focused all his strength, anger, and killing intent into his right fist!
A most simple, pure, and violent straight punch!
At that moment, the air itself seemed to be sucked dry!
For the first time, a look of shock flashed in Alexia's cold golden eyes!
She tried to dodge, but the unstable footing made her prideful speed a tenth of a second too slow!
And that tenth of a second was enough to decide everything!
"Bang—!!!!"
Noah's fist slammed solidly into Alexia's chest!
The indestructible grey-blue cuticle let out a sharp "crack" like shattering glass!
Web-like cracks quickly spread outward from Noah's fist!
"Ah—!!!"
Alexia let out a shriek filled with pain and fury!
A strange greenish-gold blood sprayed from the crack in her chest!
Her massive body, as if struck by a battering ram, flew backward and crashed into the winding staircase, smashing the sturdy railings!
The battle came to a brief halt.
Alexia struggled out of the wreckage. Looking down at the hideous wound on her chest, her golden eyes burned with uncontrollable, murderous madness.
She glared at Noah as if she wanted to tear his Soul to shreds!
Then, her figure blurred into an afterimage again, fleeing in panic into the darkness of the second floor!
The suffocating, terrifying pressure vanished along with her.
Deathly silence returned to the hall.
Only the heavy panting of the group remained.
"Hah... hah..."
Noah knelt on one knee, gasping for air. That punch had nearly drained all his strength.
Claire hurried to his side to support him.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Noah shook his head with a weary smile.
The group slowly gathered, their faces showing the relief of survivors.
Chris walked over to Claire, looking at his sister with pride, relief, and a deep, incomprehensible confusion.
He opened his mouth to speak but ultimately didn't ask.
He just reached out and gave her shoulder a firm pat.
"Good job, Claire."
But privately, he couldn't help but lean in and lower his voice.
"Claire, you..." He searched for words, trying not to sound too shocked. "That speed and power just now... that wasn't anything I taught you. What happened?"
Claire's body stiffened.
Her gaze instinctively flickered toward Noah, who was checking his gear nearby.
In an instant, she looked away, her face flushing bright red through the soot and smoke.
She looked down at her toes, her voice barely a whisper.
"I... I don't know either... Can we not talk about this now? It's too dangerous here."
Seeing his sister looking like she wanted to disappear into the floor, Chris was baffled but tactfully dropped it.
"Alright," he sighed. "Stay safe."
The group rested briefly and searched the area where Wesker had fled, only to find the corridor ended in a cold, blank wall.
"That bastard must have a secret passage," Leon said bitterly.
"Forget him for now." Ada spread a map of the research facility she'd found earlier on the floor. "The priority is getting out. The map shows a backup Transport Plane at the rear. We can leave once this blizzard lets up."
Everyone agreed; it was their only and best option.
Just as they reached a consensus and prepared to find a place to rest...
A low, skin-crawling "rip" sound, like flesh being torn, echoed from the ceiling and walls!
Their expressions changed as they looked up!
Hideous gashes were splitting open across the ornate ceiling and sturdy walls!
Countless massive, dark green vines pulsing with twisted veins surged out like a nightmare!
This time, they didn't attack.
Instead, as if summoned, they converged rapidly in the center of the hall!
They twisted, coiled, and fused... a massive, writhing, pulsating mass of sickening plant flesh took shape before their horrified eyes!
Finally, the massive hunk of plant flesh "bloomed."
Alexia's perfect, cold face emerged from the disgusting fleshy center.
Her body had completely fused with the myriad of vines!
Her eyes burned with a hatred colder and more insane than an Antarctic blizzard!
It turned out those vines had been part of her body all along...