The fall is much slower than Jill would have thought, four stories down should be a quick thing or so she thinks. Instead it feels like eternity as the General writhes and she releases her grip on him.
It ends eventually, she falls on top of the General, head crashing into his chest before she rebounds. She lands on her back the second time, pain blooms in her chest and her eyes blur while she tries to come back to herself.
Once she is finally able to regain her footing she is met with more monster than man, she finds herself thoroughly frightened and uncertain of what to do. The workers have done their jobs and lit the lanterns all around so that the monster before her can be undeniable.
He's grown at least a foot, each of his injuries sparking the growth of a tentacle just as black and writhing as the last. His eyes glow red, and where her head crashed against his chest now blazes orange and pulsates as if his heart erupted from beneath the skin.
He reaches for her, his snake like arm elongating so that he hardly moves at all. Jill lifts herself and rushes out of his reach, managing to keep her footing as she races into the greenery but stumbling as she goes.
"Here I am offering you my precious time and you waste it by running around." Wesker calls out, his voice still normal despite the horror of his body.
Jill looks around frantically loading her gun as she tries to formulate a plan. Before she can decide on a course of action, the man hurls himself after her and jumps in her way.
With a gasp and a stumble back Jill manages to shoot his heart.
"Now, now, no need for that." The General gives a laugh before using his tentacle arm to smack her halfway into the garden, she lands at the base of the large pool. Among the flowers is a reprieve of a fountain, surrounded by a few stone benches and large statues standing at the four cardinal directions.
She's limited knowledge of palaces to be perfectly honest. She knows only what her eyes have beheld and what little information was divulged to her by Mrs. Wong. And perhaps that is all she needs…
"You should have stayed out of all this, girl." Wesker says stalking towards her, the glint in his eye akin to the devil himself.
"And ruin your mistress's plans? I could never." Jill claims, hiking her skirts whilst taking another shot at the heart.
Wesker stumbles back, giving her the opportunity to rush down one of the walkways. Her mind runs much faster than her feet, she must return to the palace proper if she's any hope at all. That is if her plans are to come into existence as she intends for them. She starts to pray as fervently as she can that she has not been led astray.
"I am the one in control, do not doubt that!" Wesker calls after her. She can hear his attack and manages a swift dodge.
"Really? I'd have never guessed." She taunts again reaching her intended target.
"The human race requires judgement." Wesker's arm slams her once more, crashing her body into the nearest window of the palace. Several undead servants scatter away from her as if they know better than to get in the way of their master on the hunt.
Jill props herself up glancing between the two choices she has to run towards.
"And this is what you call judgement? Turning them into monsters like you?" Before Wesker can break himself into the palace wall, Jill sprints down the hall before her.
Feet pounding so heavily against the tile she can feel the pressure in her knees, she barrels through the corridor at an unfathomable pace. She can hear the monster behind her crash and skid behind her, it only acts to spur her feet further and faster still.
"I am no monster, those cretins would be lucky to be bestowed with such a gift." The General spots her and sets to the chase.
Jill blindly fallows the weaving path of the palace, hoping to come upon an armory or a lab of some sort. Mrs. Wong said she had more acid, if she can just find even a scrap of it perhaps she can turn the tide of this impossible battle.
There's a sound akin to the crack of a whip behind her, slashing at her back so forcefully it thrusts her into the wall before her. Landing with a painful thud against a kitchen counter, Jill pulls herself off of the table and hobbles forward. The reward for her actions is a dead end, nowhere left to turn but back towards that monster.
In a panic, she scans the room for anything to help her, but the only thing available is large bags of salt, sugar, and flour. As the General moves yet more of the wall out of his way, Jill fires a few more bullets into him, then once he's fully before her, she slices open the bag of salt and throws it haphazardly at him.
The salt burns some of her wounds during the action, but the monster is far more affected by this, screeching in pain when the contact is made. She dashes passed him and scurries down yet another hall, an armory has to be nearby. The creature left in her wake screeches as she turns to corner and she can only hope he's far enough behind to grant her some semblance of peace.
There are a few doors she passes by without a thought, but one is left slightly open at the end of this hall. She throws herself into the room and finds it full of chemicals, every kind and color imaginable.
In her haste she scans the labels, a vague familiarity fills her mind as she reads through the bottles. Her memory is jogged by colors from her time in the Umbrella, reports on which chemicals did what and color coding for those who could not remember the impossibly long names. She hears a rumble from the halls and quickens her pace.
In the back of this room she notices the most recently disturbed bottle, clear and smelling like rot. She glances over the container, reading enough to know this is the correct compound as she shoves a cork down the neck of the jug.
Wesker bursts into the room in a divine fury, his tendrils smack one shelf to the ground causing a most wretched smell to fill the room. The other shelf he lifts and throws towards the nearest wall, breaking a hole into the wall. Jill runs at the hole, it's barely big enough for her to fit and she stumbles as she goes. The burn of the chemicals still fresh in her nose, the pain quickly rises to her head causing a violent ache so demanding she nearly collapses.
Given that collapsing is not a choice, however, she runs back into the gardens. The crashing of the remaining wall echoes painfully behind her, a low growl reaches her ears as well, but her focus is intent.
Despite the pain, Jill manages to keep ahead of the creature as she enters the maintenance shed. The room is in shambles, but the main structure is sound. Wading through the mess is a simple task and she finds the pump for the fountain with relative ease. She's not a perfect scientist by any stretch of the imagination, a fact proven by her time within the umbrella, but she knows enough to understand the power of chemicals against the undead. Wesker may not be undead, per say, but most things in nature are weak to such things.
She throws the jug into the pump well, then fires three bullets into the glass, shattering it violently. Some of the chemical spits back at her, but the burning is minimal in comparison to her earlier encounter.
Once more, Wesker breaks in the wall behind her, this time snaking his arm around her wasit.
"Every day humans come one step closer to self-destruction. I'm not destroying the world, I'm saving it." His breath is hot and putrid against her already sensitive skin.
"Saving humanity from what? Ourselves? Because humanity made this infection in the first place!" Jill argues despite the panic in her throat. She still has her sword, but how can she manage to attack when his grip is that of steel?
"And they made greed, and war, and vices abound. Humanity has made all manner of things, starting with Eve who caused all of this suffering." He brings her closer still, "The world will be cleansed of sin, that original womanly sin will finally be undone."
"Are you not led by a woman?" Jill asks feeling her arm loosen in his hold, "Ada leads you."
"I am led by the calling of God and no other!" Wesker shakes her briefly, "The entire world will be infected! A new Genesis is at hand and I will be the creator!"
Using his erratic state, Jill bursts through his constraining hand, then exploiting the momentum of the motion, she hurdles forward, stabbing his glowing heart.
The monster wails and Jill is finally able to rush back towards the pool, her breathing erratic as she hurries away.
"You're a monster Wesker, in life and death, now the world can see what you are!" Jill taunts, begging him to follow.
"I am no monster, the monster lives in mankind alone!" He cries, barreling after her like a tiger set in the chase.
She turns to face him, this time thrusting a dagger towards him, she lands a hit in his arm but the black sludge engulfs the weapon as if it hungered for more.
"I am the second coming! I am the one who will redeem the world! I will bring us to salvation!"
Jill steels herself against the basin of the pool staring down her enemy and shooting frantically. He takes the bait, extending his arm recklessly towards her. She jumps out of his way at the last possible moment leaving his appendage to land in the pool of acid.
He lets out an inhuman scream and she cannot help the smile that forms on her lips.
"Come now, a big strong man like you couldn't possibly be outwitted by a woman!" She calls haughtily, racing along the curve of the pool.
"Indignant bitch!" He retorts viciously.
He starts to thrust himself at her haphazardly, throwing hits like a blind man as she evades his every attempt. The arm which had bathed in the acid is stunted at the length it entered the pool, and Jill allows herself to feel some semblance of hope.
She recognizes that this cannot go on forever, thus she takes her next leap of faith. Eyes landing on the statue set in the direction of the north, Jill sets herself to this new target.
Nimbly climbing the statue, she deftly avoids each of Wesker's pursuing attacks. The wind whips violently around her as she begins to question her sanity and the vitality of this plan. Still, despite her better judgement, she climbs to the tops of the statue and stares at the ground far below her.
The monster claws at her like a fire licks the edges of kindling, and she knows she's come too far. She must act even if it makes her mad. She thrusts herself from the piece unceremoniously and sails over the pool.
For the second time that night, falling feels like eternity. Her arms and legs swing wildly as if she'll catch some unseen ledge to keep her from crashing into the ground once more. Her heart skips a beat, anticipating the pain that will surely engulf her upon this landing, but there is nothing she can do now.
She lands on the ground with a hard, painful thud, if it weren't for the sheer panic of the situation she might've curled into herself to hold her aching ribs. However, instead she clutches the throbbing bones and watches as the creature sinks into the pool, screeching and thrashing as he goes.
"I can't lose, not to you!" He cries, skin and bone boiling as he melts into nothing.
"I'm afraid you have anyway, sir, what a pity that is." She quips as a form of release.
Watching the man who caused such pain in the world melt into nothing gives her such joy it could be criminal. Even if she herself is in agony, she cannot help the thrill within her.
"Jill!" She hears his voice but can hardly believe her eyes.
"Chris." She mutters just barely as he approaches on horseback.
"We have to go! The army is going to destroy the palace!" He holds out his hand to her as he dashes by.
She barely manages to hook herself onto the horse as they race out of the gardens and towards the front gates.
If she were in a better state of mind, she might call her feeling exhilaration. Having killed the Anti-Christ is no small feat and should be celebrated after all. Yet the only feeling in her gut is dread as she resigns herself to fate. How long do they have before the palace is destroyed? How long do they have before the undead throughout the palace hunt them down like frightened lambs among a pack of wolves?
She does the only thing she can, hold onto Mr. Redfield as tightly as possible and hope he can get them to safety.
It is when they reach the front gate that she slowly turns to look back at the palace. Undead are smashing through windows, groaning like the untamed beasts they are, and she can hardly take in the sight without giving a resigned sigh.
The gate is opened for them; however, the palace is surrounded by cannons and catapults standing at attention. The moment the pair is out of the gate, Mr. Redfield shouts at the soldiers to fire.
Jill buries her face into Mr. Redfield's back, bracing herself for the explosion behind them.