Unlikely Heroes
Chapter 24: Cult Leader and Next Fight
Those from the netherworld were able to get some rest just fine. They were able to keep an eye on Leon who was still out. "How long has it been now?" Liru asked Nicholas.
"Almost six hours," he replied, checking his watch. "At least nothing's happened to us while resting."
Suddenly the male human began to stir but was clearly dreaming. Those from the nether looked to see if he would awaken. They had no idea what Leon was experiencing. The guy woke up in his dream and rose up with a groan, one hand on his stomach. Leon looked around and didn't see the others or recognize the place he was at which was the same cabin the group was at. He took a look around, not feeling well. Suddenly the male human let out a yell as he felt something inside his body that shouldn't have been there. Then Leon looked at his arms and hands and saw lines that were close to the surface of the skin and making weird noises begin to spread. Leon let out a cry of terror as these spread everywhere. Suddenly the male human woke with a start and saw the others looking at him with concern.
"You okay?" Nicholas commented. "Take it easy."
The male human got up with a moan slowly. "I think so," Leon replied. Suddenly they got contacted by Runnigan and answered.
"Guys," the female human stated with relief. "It's been six hours since our last transmission. I was starting to get worried."
"Don't you mean lonely?" Leon commented, trying to flirt. Needless to say that didn't work. "Anyway, I started to feel dizzy. Then I guess I must have lost consciousness."
"Lost consciousness?"
"He certainly did," Nicholas said. "We had to carry him here and wait for him to wake up."
"Maybe that has some connection to what the village chief was talking about…?"
"Can't say," Leon told the female human on the other end of the line. "But I'm all right now. We're gonna continue our mission." The call with Runnigan was cut. Leon then went on to explain what he had dreamed about to the others. While it was disturbing, it was best to put it in the back of their minds for now and keep moving. Before they could do so, Uma found an anonymous letter and held up for people to read it.
Reading it told the group that there was an important item hidden in the falls. If they were able to get it, they might be able to get Ashley out of the church. But the road to it wasn't a walk in the park by any means. The enemy had deployed something they called an El Rigante. It ended with saying with what had been going on with their bodies, the person would help them if they could, but it was beyond their power. "Okay, who the hell wrote this?" Napoleon stated. "Certainly not the cult, I know that much."
"Whoever it is could be a good friend to help us," Nicholas said. "I can't help but wonder if it was Luis who wrote this or someone else in the shadows."
Taking the letter, a few more items that would help were gathered. The group then opened the door and noticed it was raining somewhat hard along with lighting and thunder. Uma and Logan casted spells to protect the group from these things. They found a door nearby that was made of stone and went through that to get back to the church. They emerged on a path that had small rock walls on either side. Then Pachira spotted something. "What's that?" she asked.
Looking showed it was a single villager. "Just one?" Napoleon commented. "This'll be easy."
"One can never be too certain," Nicholas stated.
They watched as the single villager approached. Suddenly his neck cracked and then the body began to twitch and convulse. Suddenly his head exploded in a bloody mess, but the body kept moving forward. From the neck a bloody red limb with three deathly white colored tentacles emerged. One of these tentacles turned into a blade. "What in the-?!" Nicholas exclaimed. Leon brought out his sniper riffle and shot the limb, destroying it in one shot. They heard it let out a screech and then the body melted away.
"Okay… what the fuck?" Napoleon stated slowly.
"Someone want to tell me what that was?" Logan asked. The females had shrank to their guy's sides in fear. Leon saw a couple more coming and shot them down.
"Another monstrosity is all," the human male replied. "Come on."
The group kept moving forward. They reached a place that required a few jumps over water to make it to the other side. They were right by a waterway that had the liquid moving fast. Then the group reached a ledge that had a rope that could be used to climb down. Leon went first and the rest followed. At the bottom they found themselves at another structure like area that was a dam for dealing with the water. Some crates had to be shot down in order to create a path to cross the liquid. Doing so opened a way to get to the waterfall. Right now water was coming down and blocking the way. After searching a bit a lever was found and pulled which fixed the problem. This caused enemies to show up. "Let's move!" Nicholas stated and everyone did enough damage to knock the villagers out of the way.
It was then onto the inside of the waterfall which was a tunnel. At the end, the group found a door that had a design on it and candles to the side. In the middle of the door was a round insignia. Taking it opened the way. "I'll hold on to it," Napoleon offered and took the item.
Leon decided it was best to contact Runnigan. She answered right away. "We've obtained an object that resembles the cult group's insignia," the male human stated.
"Wonderful guys," the female human replied. "Head back to the church. Ashley's safety is our immediate priority."
The call was cut and then it was through another door to get out of this tunnel. Emerging, the group found themselves in a cave like structure. There were a few bats flying around. There was a small pier that had some more motorboats on top of water. The group got in these and drove to a different section of the cave. It was the same place the merchant had been before fighting the monster in the lake. This would take them back. They found him waiting for them and Leon did some selling and buying, even getting a larger case to hold more weapons and items. It was then back up the same ladder and exiting a familiar door.
"Alright, now be careful," Nicholas whispered. "Who knows what'll be here waiting."
The group emerged into the same area with the high wall made of wood from before. They didn't get anywhere close to the exit when the gates leading out slammed shut. Everyone looked around, waiting for the enemy to come out. They then saw the huge iron door in the cliff face that they hadn't noticed before in this area being opened from the inside. Villagers came out, all holding two long ropes, pulling at something. Those from the nether could understand their shouts saying things like to pull and get it out to kill them. Suddenly there was a roar and the lines the enemy were using were jerked out o their hands. The ground shook from a footstep and then again as something massive was coming. Suddenly a huge grey colored fist came smashing through, sending one part of the door flying.
With a roar, the thing emerged. It appeared to be some kind of giant with grey colored skin and quite the muscle mass. It wore ripped shorts. "That must be what we warned about!" Nicholas stated. "El Rigante!"
Everyone drew their weapons and was on guard as the villagers got nervous of this thing and for good reason. The monster looked down and began to swing its fists at the smaller enemies, not able to tell friend from foe. A couple were crushed by a kick or stomp. The giant then went after Leon who was able to flip back and avoid the hook it sent at him. Seeing the group ready, it roared its challenge at them. "Let's do this!" Napoleon shouted.
The group fired at the knees and while this didn't send the creature to the ground, they saw the blood come out. It seemed this thing like the villagers had a high tolerance for pain as well because it was still able to walk towards them. They noticed the movements were slower so everyone could keep their distance easily, even by doing a fast walk as long as it was early enough. The giant monster tried to squash them but wasn't able to catch them. It went to one of the corners and was fired at. It managed to pick up a large boulder and turned to throw it. The bullets continued and that's when they noticed a change on the enemy. It let out a roar and grabbed its head, dropping the boulder. From the back between the shoulder blades a limb erupted out of the skin. "What the hell is that?!" Cosmo asked.
Looking at it showed that it moved like the limbs that sprouted from some of the villagers but there wasn't a blade. It also seemed to be in different colors but nasty ones like blood red. The giant went to one knee. "With me Leon!" Nicholas stated, drawing his katana. The human whipped out his combat knife. Both males ran and climbed up to the stalk. With shouts, they hacked at the limb until they monster let out a roar and began to rise. Both of them jumped off as the giant rose up and the limb retreated underneath the skin again. "So that's its weak point," Logan said.
The giant began to stomp towards the group again. Before any of them could fire, the sound of a wolf howling was heard. Looking up showed a familiar canine. "Hey!" Liru stated. "It's that dog!"
It was the very same one that had been rescued from the trap. The canine leapt down to the their level from the cliff wall and began to bark at the monster to draw its attention away from the group. It worked as the giant turned its attention to the dog. "No!" the female werewolf cried. "He'll get hurt!"
The monster went over and tried to grab the canine but the four-legged mammal was too quick for it. "I think he'll be fine," Nicholas told his girl. "Now then…"
Everyone with a gun continued to fire. Soon the limb emerged again from the back. Leon and the male werewolf went up and hacked at it. While it go back in, it would be the end of the monster as the group made it appear a third time. When Leon and Nicholas had hacked at it enough, it was destroyed. The giant let out a roar and began to stagger. It let out some more roars and flailed about. But then it fell to the ground with a might crash. With it defeated the gates opened. "Is everyone alright?" Nicholas asked.
The rest nodded. "But… where is that dog?" Liru asked. Suddenly the canine appeared and went by her leg. The female werewolf bent down to put the four-legged mammal.
"Oh there you are," she cooed. "You were such the clever boy and so brave."" The dog licked her on the face, causing Liru to giggle. Doing so required him to stand up a bit and revealed the genitals showing it was a male.
"Come on, we need to move," Leon stated.
"Not yet," the female replied and turned to look at her boyfriend. "We can't leave him here. Can we keep him? Pleasseee?"
"Liru, we can't," Nicholas answered. "I mean-" He stopped and saw what Liru was doing. Her eyes had gotten big and sad and her lower lip trembled. "Oh no, Liru, don't do that. Don't give me the pouty puppy dog eye face…"
Her arms went around the dog and didn't move at all. "Liru, I'm serious," the male werewolf replied. "First of all we don't know how healthy he is. For all we know he could have something. He might even be one of them and is leading us on. Even if none of that was the case, even if he was the healthiest dog, he's not even close to recovering from that trap. And how the hell are we going to take him where the enemy is?"
"There might be a way," Logan commented. "Stand back." His wand came out and he moved it over the dog like some kind of detector. At the same time the wound on the hind leg fully healed over. It only took a minute and the dog let out a bark of thanks to the wizard.
"He seems to be quite young and strong," Logan commented. "I'd say about two years old. He's fully on our side and won't turn on us. I didn't find anything in him like what we've seen in the villagers. He's also completely healthy. The only thing is that he hasn't been neutered."
"That's amazing!" Uma stated. "I didn't know we had spells like that!"
"There are so many love that can help in situations like this. Plus there's this." Logan waved his wand again and the dog seemed to glow a bit before the fur returned to normal. "Now with this he'll be even faster and able to float if need be. He won't slow us down but be a great help."
"See?" Liru stated to Nicholas. "So now can we?"
She gave her boyfriend a cute look and he let out a sigh. "Damn it I can't say no to you when you do that Liru," he grumbled. "Alright fine." The female let out a cheer. "All the same he should have a proper name." Nicholas went over to the dog and got a friendly sniff and head bump on the head. The male couldn't help but smile and pet the newest addition. "I think Kratos would be a good one for someone so strong."
"Great, now that we're finished, let's get going," Leon stated. The rest including the newest member of the group Kratos turned to head back to the church.
After quickly grabbing what they could from the shacks, everyone moved. They saw lighting flash and heard the thunder as well as smell the rain coming again. The drops began to fall quickly. The group went back through the same door and across the same wooden path to get to the church. Kratos showed he could jump as far as them with no problem. However before they could approach the building, Leon stopped the rest as he thought he saw something in the darkness that glowed red. Taking out his snipe riffle, the human fired and those from the nether heard the sound of a dog making a yelp. "Leon!" Liru exclaimed and then heard the growl coming from their canine.
"Something tells me whatever was shot, it's not on our side," Nicholas said. That's when they saw it, another dog emerge from the shadows. But something was off about it. It came forward with a snarl and Nicholas fired at it. The canine was sent back and looking showed the body melting.
"So they've gotten to things like this to; no surprise," Napoleon commented. "It's just like with the viruses and infecting other creatures."
Going up the path two more of the canine like enemies attacked. Nicholas whipped out his katana and decapitated the heads. Liru winced as she suddenly got an image of that happens to Kratos. Although they had just got him, the female couldn't bear to not have him. She knew her boyfriend would never harm him, but the image still came. The group then reached the church doors and used the item they had gotten to get in. The inside was dull in color but had aisles and candles burning in holders. They noticed the cult's symbol was in a few places of the church. There was even a stained glass window that had it to. "So this is it, huh?" Logan commented.
"This insignia's everywhere," Leon said. "I wonder if it's a religion from this region?"
Nicholas looked at the colored window and saw three other circles surrounding it. "Well you've got to admit they know how to build a place like this."
Looking around the group found a ladder that climbing up took them to the second floor. While there was a doorway with bars that was no good, Leon saw that by jumping to a chandelier would allow him to get to the other side on this floor. It was here that he found some kind of light device. Upon activating it three colored red, blue, and green appeared on the three circles surrounding the stained glass window. These had certain spots that were filled in of that color. The male human found he could turn these lights around and combined them together. Doing so caused and match and the pathway to be open. "Good work there," Logan said when he rejoined the rest.
"Time to go rescue her," Uma stated.
"Let's move before an enemy gets here," Pachira commented.
The group reached a door on the second floor and Nicholas sniffed the air. "There's someone in there," he said. "I think it might be her."
Leon offered to go in alone since that was needed for now. The human slowly opened the door. The guy entered and saw a figure dart to a corner. "Ashley!" he stated.
"Don't come!" the female human cried and threw a piece of wood at Leon. She had short blond hair, a orange colored sweater like shirt that had no sleeves, a green mini skirt, and brown boots that almost went to the knees.
"Hey!" Leon stated and tried to approach, but the female human moved again. "Take it easy!"
"No! Get away!"
"Calm down. Everything's going to be just fine." Leon was able to get close to Ashley. "My name's Leon. I'm under the President's orders to rescue you."
That had the effect to make the other human to become hopeful. "What?!" she stated. "My father?!"
"That's right," the male human answered. "And I have to get you out of here. Now come with me." Ashley instantly got up and followed him out of the room.
The two humans made it to the others and introductions were done. Then Leon went ahead to contact Runnigan. "It's us. We've succeeded in extracting our subject."
"Good work," she replied. "I'll send a chopper over right away."
"Where's the extraction point?" Nicholas asked.
"There's another trail you guys can take to get out of the village. The chopper will pick you up beyond there."
"Got it," Leon replied. "We're on our way."
The group found a ladder that took them to the first floor. But they had hardly gotten to the exit when a soft voice sounded out. "I will take the girl." It sounded creepy and brought the image of decaying things to their minds. Looking at the head of the church pews they saw the same man with purple robes from that picture standing before them with some kind of staff. It didn't appear to be made of wood but some kind of flesh color with a few eyes at the pointed top.
"Who are you?" Leon asked with narrowed eyes.
"If you must know, my name is Osmund Ladder, the master of this… fine religious community."
"That's the guy from the picture!" Liru whispered. She and those from the nether shrank close to their boyfriends.
"What the hell do you want?" Nicholas growled. Kratos was growling to and the female werewolf steadied him with one touch of a hand.
"To demonstrate to the whole world our astounding power of course! No longer will the United States think they can police the world forever! So we… kidnapped the President's daughter in order to give her our power. And then… send her back."
"No!" Ashley gasped as she realized something. "Guys… I think they shot something in my neck."
"What the fuck did you do to her?" Napoleon snarled to Ladder.
"We just planted her a little gift. Oh there is going to be one hell of a party when she returns home to her loving father!" The guy let out a creepy laugh. "But, before that, I thought I might bargain with the President for some donation. Believe it or not it takes quite a lot of money to keep this church up and running."
"Faith and money will lead you nowhere, Ladder," Logan snapped at the enemy.
"Oh I believe I forgot to tell the rest of you, that we gave you the same gift." This caused the group to think back to the moment after running into Luis for the first time and felt something being shot into their necks.
"When we were unconscious…" Cosmo stated and the girls got a sense of dread.
"Oh I truly hope that all of you like our small, but special contribution. When the eggs hatch, you'll become my puppets. Involuntarily you'll do as I say. I'll have total control over your minds. Don't you think this is a revolutionary way to share one's faith?"
"Sounds more like an alien invasion if you ask me," Leon shot back. The church doors opened revealing two more cult memories with crossbows. These had flaming arrows as weapons. The enemy pointed these at the group as Ladder let out a creepy smile. Leon and those from the nether saw these and without a second thought, the human male grabbed Ashley, pulling her with them just as the arrows were fired. The projectiles missed and the group crashed through a nearby window and outside.
She was panting from fear as the group got up. "You okay?" Leon asked her.
"Leon… what's going to happen to us?" she asked with fear.
"Don't worry." Nicholas replied. "We got into this mess, we can get out of it."
They noticed it was still raining by the sound and Kratos shook himself over before the group could continue. This was due to them being in some kind of side shelter right next to the church from the window they had busted through. It was then through a door. Looking outside showed the rain coming down. The group also saw the torchlight of a number of villagers waiting for them. "Now how are we suppose to get through that?" Liru asked.
"Don't know," Nicholas commented. Then he noticed something. "Wait a minute…" The male werewolf could see a wagon that had barrels on it.
"Shall we?" Cosmo asked and after a nod, the male android fired at one. The action caused it to explode, lighting the thing on fire and for it to roll down the hill. It acted as a weapon, taking out the villagers and then exploded which killed off any that avoided the rolling thing.
"Well that was easy," Nicholas commented as the group went pass the graveyard.
Now it was onto a different path. After going through a door everyone found a ladder that went down to an underground passage. They found the weapons merchant again and Leon did the usual selling and buying. Once that was finished it was to the other side and up the ladder that lead to another door. Soon everyone was back at the village again. Emerging, they told Ashley to wait in the nearby bell tower before taking out what remaining villagers there were. Once they had been taken care of the female human joined up with them again.
After going through another door, they found a dumpster for her to hide in. Luckily there wasn't anything in this. The rest then checked out a nearby hut where they found another document. It was titled Rarah and the 3rd Party. This went on to say this his whereabouts were still unknown. It was most likely that the guy was using an old secret passage taught to him by his grandfather. The document went on to say that he was hiding the cult's property somewhere in the forest and that if Rarah's grandfather was still alive, they would use the dead person to find the other male human. What the cult couldn't understand was how Rarah found the egg injected into his body and able to remove it. This was concerning to them. The document then went on to say another concern was that Rarah escaped with their property just before Leon and those from the nether arrived which couldn't have been a coincidence. There had to be another player involved in this. The document went on to say the best way to settle this was to capture the human, wait for the effects of the drug to wear off before injecting him with another egg. It ended by saying whoever interfered with the plans would suffer severe consequences.
"Okay this just raises answers." Nicholas stated after putting the document with the rest that had been found so far. "We've heard mention of eggs before. But how could Rarah stop them? What drug are they talking about? He's got some answers that we need."
"Maybe we can find him," Liru commented.
The next item of business was clearing out the villagers and grabbing everything useful. After this was finished, Leon gave a loud whistle and Ashley joined up with the rest. Then everyone moved forward to a place that had high wooden walls. Cosmo snipped the first villager they spotted easily. Once that enemy was out of the way, it was to a gate. Here Ashley helped the group out by going over it. How this was done was by standing on Leon's back and he boosted her up. The female got it open on her end and that allowed the rest to continue.
They found the weapons merchant again but Leon only did a small upgrade to one of the guns he had this time. Then the group found a bridge. But before they could cross, Runnigan contacted them. "Guys I have some bad news," the female human stated.
"We'd rather not hear it," Leon responded.
"Well I'm afraid I have to tell all of you anyway. We've lost contact with the chopper. Someone must have shot it down though we can't determine who."
"Great…" the male human said while a couple of the other males cursed.
"We're prepping another chopper for you. Meanwhile I want all of you to head towards the extraction point." The group nodded in response and the call was ended.
They managed to cross the bridge but then stopped when they saw the torchlight coming from a bunch of villagers heading their way. Looking behind showed more in the distance. "What are we gonna do?!" Ashley asked, starting to panic.
"I hate to say it, but we're sandwiched alright!" Leon stated.
"Quick! In that cabin!" Nicholas barked spotting one right behind them.
Everyone else followed his lead and the male werewolf was in first with his gun at the ready. Leon followed and quickly grabbed Ashley, pulling her in. The others from the nether and Kratos were in right after them. The male human was the one to slam the door shut. Suddenly a familiar voice sounded out. "Leon!"
Looking showed it was Luis who had tossed the bar that would go on the door to keep anyone from coming in that way. Liru took the bar and put it into place on the door. "Small world, eh?" the second male human commented and walked into the light. His eyes went to Ashley. "Well… I can see that the President has equipped his daughter with ballistics to."
"How rude!" the female human exclaimed. "And I don't believe there's any relevance with my figure and my standing! Who are you?!"
"Oho, excuse me, your highness! Perhaps the young lady might want to introduce herself first before asking someone his name."
"Her name's Ashley Raham, the president's daughter."
Luis turned to Leon. "Is she… well you know."
"Don't worry," the first human male replied. "She's cool."
"Ah… never mind," Luis stated. "There's suppose to be some kind of obvious symptom before you turn into one of them anyway."
Ashley let out a gasp and pointed to a window. "Look!" she stated.
Looking through a boarded up section the rest saw the villagers were slowly heading towards the building. "Ashley, upstairs!" Leon ordered and she ran up them. Those from the nether drew their weapons. Luis also got his gun out.
"Ok! It's game time," he exclaimed.
Some of the males started by moving the wooden shelves in front of the windows to buy some time. Everyone could hear the pounding on them, of the enemy trying to get pass these obstacles. At least this allowed everyone to take positions. "Steady…" Nicholas growled.
Then after a few minutes, the villagers were able to bust through the barriers. What they were greeted with was a round of fire. Many were killed, but some had the limbs emerge from the neck like seen before. The group showed no mercy. This seemed to last forever. But then they suddenly noticed the mass that had still not come in retreat after some minutes. "Looks like they're backing off," Leon pointed out.
Nicholas cleaned the blood of his katana that had been used during the fight. "So… what do we do now?" Luis asked. Ashley came down the stairs.
"The bridge we used to cross here is out," Napoleon said. "So I guess we have no choice but to keep moving."
"I forgot something," the second male human commented and went for the door. "You guys go on ahead." He left the building.
"Luis," Leon commented and saw him disappear into the mist and rain.
The group left the building by a different door. They still didn't get wet thanks to Uma and Logan who had casted spells to keep them dry. Right outside they ran into the merchant but didn't buy anything from him this time. Leon then lead the way to a mechanism in a hut nearby. "Hmmm… should we pull the lever?" Aiko asked, noticing one on the floor.
The male human just grabbed it and pulled it to the left. Everyone saw the gears turning. This caused a gate to open. Everyone went through it and passed a door. They emerged into an area that had wooden scaffoldings that created a second level. There were walls surrounding the area and many villagers here. "Great... more of them," Nicholas growled.
Suddenly one of them spotted them and was killed. "Get ready!" Napoleon stated.
Leon spotted a nearby dumpster and told Ashley to hide in it. He and the rest of the group began to take care of the rest of the villagers. "A couple stay behind with Ashley," the male human said. "The rest follow me to help."
Aiko and Cosmo volunteered and did so, letting Ashley know what was going on. Leon and those from the nether continued throughout the area. But then when they got to the center, things got a bit tougher. From the upper level a female villager with a chainsaw descended down to fight. Only one eye could be seen since white bandages that had some blood on them covered the rest of the head. A second one wielding the same weapon came out after using her chainsaw to get past one of the wooden walls on the ground level.
"Shit!" Logan stated. "Back up!"
The group did so only to find the two-chainsaw wielding opponents and more villagers waiting for them. Everyone retreated near to where Ashley was since this was a better place to fight the enemies. "What's going on?!" Aiko asked, seeing them.
Looking showed her the answer. "Bring out the big guns!" Nicholas told Cosmo. The male android fired and took care of most of the enemies. But the chainsaw wielding villagers required a bit more fire to kill. But then they to fell. One was carrying a key that was for a camp while the other had a ruby.
Only when the last of the enemies were killed did Leon whistle for Ashley to emerge. The group went to a door where the chainsaw enemies had appeared and used the key to unlock it. However waiting for them were more enemies. Since Cosmo was by their side, it was no problem taking care of these villagers. Especially since they swarmed in a large group, making them one huge easy target for the male android. Then it was through a set of red doors. Upon doing so, the rain finally stopped.
After going across a small narrow rock bridge a door was found. But the group couldn't open it. It appeared to be the only way out. Looking at the thing showed it had a metal decorative head on it with some kind of rental scanner on it. So the only other path was a side one. A small shack was found and everyone went inside to see what could be found. There was another important document titled Village's Last Defense. The chief of the place himself had obviously written it. It stated that he had clearly underestimated Leon and the rest with their capabilities and how they were still alive. It then went on to say that the enemy could wait until the eggs hatched, but at the rate the group was going, they could destroy the whole village before they did. It was best to take care of the nuisances they had become.
The best course of action was to focus on them and cease the hunt for Luis. The document made mention of a building to enlighten betrayers just beyond a point where a lift was. It was the perfect place to ambush them. Then if all else failed, they would still need to face him in order to get past the last gate that lead out of the village. The document ended by saying that only before his slight would the gate open. There was also a journal here that explained more information. It had been written by one of the villagers. It was the history of the place before the cult had taken over. There were drawings in here that had been done by the person who had written this. Once the place had been peaceful, abandoning modern technology to protect their culture and maintain a simpler lifestyle. There had even been children here.
Then it went on to explain one of the writer's friends had a new job to assist in excavations in a nearby castle. The diary made mention of the 1st Castellan who had ruled, slewing evildoers and preserving peace in the village. Grandparents had told these stories. But then the diary mentioned the name of the current Castellan; someone named Ramon Lalazar, and how different he was to the 1st. When the harvest festival then came the next day the chief wasn't there and the author of the diary shrugged it off. He then went on to say how life returned to normal. However the chief then called an important sermon. It was here that Osmund Ladder appeared after the sermon was turned over to him. The man told fantastic stories, which persuaded the villagers there to join the cult. They were injected with an unknown substance in a cleansing ritual for their sins. Then latter on, the villagers began to force their family members to take part in the same ritual. Once this had been done, they were told the cult's version of the 1st Castellan who had pursued the cultists.
Then the villagers began to fall ill. The symptoms were coughing up blood for the adults along with hot blood, painful headaches that felt like the head would burst, and even the blood itself began to bleed out the body due to the pressure. Then over the next few days all the children fell ill and died which explained why there weren't any found at all. Then the adults became emotionally emptied like what the group had seen in the way they moved like zombies. Then they received orders to keep outsiders away from the village to protect Ladder. These guys interpreted the order as to kill any strangers. The journal ended with mentioning that one of the villager's heads had broken off, followed by a drawing of the same limb that the group had sometimes seen sprout from some of the villager's necks.
Everyone looked up at each other having finished reading the diary. "This explains some things," Nicholas said. "The second thing is more disturbing."
"It's creepy," Liru agreed. Both of these things were taken.
"Guess it's time to face the big cheese," Napoleon commented. "Let's try to find this lift area that was mentioned."
It took a bit of walking but everyone found it. The lift wasn't anything fancy; just metal platforms. They only had enough room for four so the group had to split up so all get across. This was the perfect time to snipe the enemy that was on the cliffs on either side and those ridding up. One shot was all it took to send them falling down into the dark below. Soon everyone had made it to the other side. Now it was on to finding the place where the chief was waiting for them. They had to go through another door and down a short path before finding the building. It was two stories and only had one door.
"This is it," Napoleon stated.
"So who's going?" Pachira asked. "All of us?"
"I don't think so," Nicholas replied. "If we all go in, there might not be enough room for all of us to fight. I'd say two of us and Leon should be enough. The rest can stay with Ashley."
Cosmo and Aiko quickly decided to stay back since the female android figured she wouldn't be a match for the enemy. Pachira and Uma volunteered to stay back and so their boyfriends decided to say with them. "Guess it's us then," Liru commented, a bit worried.
"Hey we've got this," her guy said, patting the female on the shoulder. Kratos let out a bark to reassure her it was alright.
"Watch out for him," Liru told Ashley who nodded. Kratos went to the female human's side. She and those staying behind then hid themselves.
With that out of the way, Leon reached for the handle, with his pistol out. He slowly opened the door while Nicholas and Liru also had their guns drawn as well. The three went in. Looking showed this had once been a barn. The stalls weren't here but there were a couple ladders leading up to the second floor. Trash bins and a few barrels were in here. The trio were on guard as they slowly took some steps forward. The enemy suddenly appeared behind them, southwind of the noises of Nicholas and Liru so the two didn't smell the chief. But the small group felt him behind them.
Whipping around, both werewolves met the back fist of the tall enemy, which sent them flying to their back. With this free hand, the chief grabbed Leon by the throat before the other hand grabbed the wrist that held the gun. The enemy lifted the human up with a growl as Leon tried to get free. Nicholas and Liru slowly rose up from the ground as that backhand had been quite powerful. The chief let out a shout and threw Leon towards one of the support beams. The human hit it with a painful grunt and landed on the ground. The enemy then went to the door and with inhuman strength turned the handle around in a knot so the door couldn't be used anymore. The tall person then turned back to the three. Nicholas and Liru had gone over to Leon who was still recovering. The enemy walked over slowly and then with a growl lunged with his right hand to grab Leon's throat again. The female werewolf rolled out of the way. The male human did to one of the barrels. But Nicholas sprain up and slashed with his katana out. The blade made a direct hit, cutting through the chief and part of his coat. The blood came flying out. The male werewolf landed on his feet, facing the chief.
Leon noticed the enemy falter from the wound. He kicked the barrel over. From it some kind of liquid that smelled like gasoline poured out around the enemy's feet. He glanced up with another growl at the male human. "Chew on this," Leon stated and fired at it with his gun as did Nicholas.
The gasoline caught fire and quickly went to the barrel. The group of three threw themselves out of the way as the thing exploded, catching the chief in it. Some fire also came out as well as some of the wood in the building caught fire. The two werewolves and human picked themselves up. They saw to their shock, the chief had survived. His trench coat burned away as an inhuman growl came out from him. His fingers flexed, the nails becoming longer and sharper like talons. They watched as his body that was still smoking began to change. Spidery veins popped out as four limbs began to emerge from his back. The two at the top became longer with hooked ends, the color of all of them being bloody red. Suddenly his whole spine began to grow, separate the top of the body from the lower one. The bumps on each part had become small leg like extensions that moved. The smaller limbs on the back moved the same way.
Nicholas, Leon, and Liru all fired but the chief took the shots, not stopping at all with his walking towards them. The three moved under him as the monster tried to grab them. They tried this again, but the enemy wasn't stopping. The small group climbed up one of the ladders nearby. The fire was slowly spreading and more smoke was coming out. It created a creepy atmosphere but not one that couldn't be fought in yet. "We'll get him from above," Nicholas commented.
They walked around and picked up the few small items here that would help. Before they could then pick an area, the enemy was able to reach out with one of the long back limbs and managed to hook Leon, bringing him down roughly. "Leon!" Liru cried. Before the chief could strike at him, Nicholas drew his katana and came down with a slash at the enemy. This seemed to do some damage as the enemy faltered. The female werewolf went to the male human and managed to drag him out of the way.
Leon got up on his own, shaken but fine. He then pulled out one of his more powerful guns and fired. This appeared to do more damage as the enemy faltered again like before. The mutated chief went down low and came charging in, but the group was able to move out of the way. The enemy did it again and couldn't get the group. They looked and noticed the lowest vertebra was bubbling, like it had taken a lot of damage. "Distract him, I'm going for it," Nicholas stated.
Liru and Leon fired while the male werewolf transformed. With a yell, he put on burst of speed and his katana was a blur. The sword sliced through the area like butter. The enemy's top body fell over while the lower section continued to walk but now stumbled all over the place. That single vertebra left still had the small legs on it moving as blood and gore gushed out. The mutated chief on the ground suddenly rose up and with his top back limbs managed to reach up and grab one of the support beams. It was clear now the monster was more mobile. The group saw he coming in by swinging with these two limbs and dodged his attack. Leon threw a grenade that had been picked up but the enemy moved back from the blast. The second one managed to get the enemy, knocking him down.
The group let loose with their guns, but it wasn't enough to kill the chief still. They watched him retreat up to the rafters and moved so to avoid his attack from above. The three kept moving and dodging the enemy's attacks while shooting him down. Then at last one bullet knocked the guy back and onto the ground. The chief rose up with a mutated yell as blood came out of his mouth. The guy's head then fell to the ground and with that, he was dead. Suddenly his left eye came out, showing it was a fake. The group went over and Leon picked it up. Suddenly a part of the wall collapsed, showing a new hole and a new way they would get out. But the real fighting was only beginning.