Even so, Hilda, who had undergone a complete metamorphosis into a dragonfly, still couldn't speak; only hisses burst from her throat.
This was her limit; her remaining sanity couldn't grant her language, but… for a farewell, it was already enough!
"Buzz…"
"Whoosh—!"
After a brief moment of adapting to her new body, a slight tremor from the massive wings on her shoulders immediately unleashed a powerful hurricane within the narrow dam stronghold.
Dragonflies fly entirely differently from birds; they don't rely on gliding to move forward.
Instead, they generate lift rapidly through the vibration of their wings.
In terms of acceleration and agility, they are unmatched by birds or other flying insects.
Within such a confined environment, Hilda could effortlessly execute highly complex flight maneuvers.
Furthermore, a dragonfly's dynamic vision is terrifyingly acute, like a radar.
No matter how intricate the dam's passages, Hilda reacted in an instant.
Thus, like a high-speed fighter jet, in just a flash, Hilda flew out of the dam stronghold at an unimaginable speed and headed towards her daughter Manuela to provide support, like a rapidly flickering shadow, vanishing without a trace in an instant.
"Wait… just a little longer, Manuela—Mommy is coming to protect you!"
Chapter 31: Life's Exchange
"Cough, cough…!"
Manuela, struggling to hold on, was about to collapse, uncontrollably coughing up sweet-smelling blood.
Her slender body half-knelt on the ground, the surrounding golden flame shield had vanished, leaving only a faint pillar of fire still emanating.
Meanwhile, V-Complex, relying on its powerful regenerative abilities, continued to relentlessly crush Manuela while absorbing the life force of the surrounding jungle plants.
The massive bone hook, like a crane, pressed down firmly, refusing to give up no matter how the golden flames burned it, determined to smash the ant below into a pulp.
Facing such a critical situation, Javier and the others in the distance, no matter how much they used RPG rockets to bombard and interfere, still couldn't capture V-Complex's attention.
It seemed that drug lord Idalgo, who controlled the brain, had been completely consumed by the T-Veronica Virus, losing all reason.
Otherwise… after such a long time, he wouldn't fail to recognize that the white figure below was his daughter Manuela.
"…"
"It seems this should be ending soon," Manuela murmured to herself with a hint of sorrow, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth, as she struggled to open one of her gray-blue eyes, sensing the condition of her body.
She had reached her limit.
Although she currently appeared to still be outputting blood-biological flames, she was actually at the end of her rope.
If her final resolve ceased at this moment, and the golden flames disappeared, Manuela was certain that her body would instantly shatter, dissolving into endless golden particles in the air.
However… for Manuela, perhaps this was the best outcome!
She didn't dislike this ending—
As she thought…
"Bang…"
Manuela's other gray eye suddenly closed tightly, as if she couldn't control her consciousness and was about to faint.
Her raised hands suddenly dropped, and her whole body slumped weakly to the ground, on the verge of passing out at any moment.
"Pfft…"
And immediately following was the vanishing golden, brilliant flame.
The originally fierce and brilliant golden pillar of fire instantly disappeared without a trace the moment Manuela's hands dropped and she fainted, like a fire extinguished by water, not a single ember remaining, stopping abruptly after a burst of white steam rose into the air.
"Whoosh—!"
"Boom—!!!"
At this moment, a loud bang struck.
After losing the obstruction and resistance of the brilliant golden pillar of fire, V-Complex's massive bone hook met no impedance, its trajectory unimpeded.
It slammed down like an extraterrestrial meteorite, instantly creating powerful air currents and a sonic boom!
"Bang…!!!"
"Rumble!!!"
It hit—
V-Complex's massive bone hook struck the location where Manuela was.
The moment the huge bone hook descended, the surrounding ground instantly vibrated violently, shaking the earth and mountains.
A powerful shockwave swept out, and a massive, deep crater was smashed into the ground.
The crater was several meters deep, and the displaced dust shot into the sky, filling the air.
It truly looked like a meteorite impact.
A strike of this intensity, even if a massive iron block were placed on the ground, would likely be flattened in an instant, for its power was too terrifying.
Earlier, with just a light strike, V-Complex could easily penetrate several layers of steel plates in the basement.
Even if an Umbrella Corporation Tyrant with its limiter removed came, it would just be child's play.
"…"
"Manuela—?!!"
Seeing this, looking at the soaring dust, there was no doubt that this power was enough to destroy everything.
Javier and the others in the distance watched in disbelief, unable to accept the reality unfolding before their eyes.
How could this be… Javier had thought that by giving Manuela the freedom to choose, she would at least personally stop her father Idalgo, and then bid them a final farewell before her death.
But in reality, Manuela was utterly unable to stop her father Idalgo, and she was no match for V-Complex at all.
She died… she died because of the wrong choice Javier himself had given her.
If he could do it again, Javier would absolutely not let this foolish girl be so willful.
"Wait…"
"Javier, look at the sky, what is that…?!"
Just as Javier believed Manuela had died, Rebecca beside him suddenly spoke up, looking at the figure circling in the sky with some confusion.
It was a high-speed flying dragonfly, its legs pressed tightly together, with red and blue markings on them like a dragonfly's tail.
Four arms tightly clutched a white figure, her pure white skirt swaying in the air; it was none other than the nearly unconscious Manuela.
On the insect's body was the face of a mature woman.
Although the skin patterns were strange, it was indeed a woman's face.
The giant wings vibrated and flapped rapidly, their flight frequency astonishingly high.
In mid-air, it seemed to teleport, appearing in various places from time to time.
And that was Manuela's mother, Hilda, a dragonfly that had completed its metamorphosis, a proud creature of the sky, her final evolution before departure…
The moment Manuela was about to lose consciousness and faint, just as she was about to be struck by V-Complex's massive bone hook, Hilda appeared at an unimaginable speed.
She quickly flickered to Manuela's side in 0.1 seconds and then swiftly carried her away in the blink of an eye.
The entire process took less than a second…
This speed was comparable to the speed of light.
It was Hilda's urgent expression as a mother saving her daughter.
Therefore, V-Complex's previous attack, though seemingly fierce, was actually just a miss; nothing on the ground was struck by it.
"Uh-oh…"
"Mom… Mother…?!"
Manuela, who had almost fainted, groggily awoke when she felt herself being pulled away.
And most importantly, in this person's embrace, Manuela felt a long-lost warmth and familiarity.
It was the warm feeling of her mother holding her to sleep, which Manuela found unforgettable.
Therefore, the moment she opened her gray-blue eyes, Manuela looked at the dragonfly woman behind her, who was much larger than herself, and did not feel fear or fright due to the strange insect patterns and unusual appearance.
Instead, she called out with a slightly puzzled surprise, because Manuela could simply feel that the dragonfly woman before her was her mother Hilda, especially when she mimicked a human-dragonfly head, which was almost seven-tenths similar to her mother Hilda.
"…"
"Hiss…"
In response, Hilda, who had long since transformed into a dragonfly monster, trembled slightly.
Her eyes, with tens of thousands of black compound facets, gazed at her daughter Hilda in her arms, her expression too complex to describe.
She wanted to speak… but only hisses could escape her mouth.
Perhaps… this was the final punishment—
But it didn't matter anymore.
Hilda was already content enough to hear her daughter Manuela call her mother one last time.
Very content, immensely content.
It turned out her daughter had never seen her as a monster, still seeing her as a mother.
For Hilda, this was already more than enough!
However, this was not the time for farewells.
Because there was still a massive V-Complex to deal with.
Although Hilda could feel that her husband Idalgo was inside V-Complex, as his wife, she did not spare V-Complex because of this.
She not only understood the mistakes her husband Idalgo had made but also wanted to teach a lesson to this man who couldn't even recognize his own daughter.
Hilda had given Idalgo such a lovely and beautiful precious daughter; she wasn't going to let this bastard man bully her casually.
Therefore, with a low hiss and growl, Hilda slowly landed, holding her daughter Manuela's frail body.
Feeling Manuela's body on the verge of shattering, she immediately bared her sharp steel teeth and the razor-sharp barbed fingers on her arms, like surgical scalpels.
Upon seeing this, Manuela did not flee in fear, because she felt no killing intent or malice from her mother Hilda.
Her mother couldn't speak, so perhaps this action had another meaning.
Thinking of this…
"Come, Mother,"
"Although I don't know what you intend to do, I trust you.
As a mother, you would never harm your own child."
As the saying goes, even a tiger won't eat its cubs.
Even a fierce tiger wouldn't devour its own children, let alone Hilda, who was a mother.
But because language made communication impossible, Manuela, choosing to trust, could only close her eyes and let her mother Hilda do as she pleased.
And upon seeing her daughter Manuela trust her so completely, Hilda didn't hesitate.
The low hissing continued, and the sharp, blade-like fingers in her hands instantly sliced open Manuela's back.
"Pfft…"
Blood flowed, and a hideous, striking wound appeared.
Manuela almost fainted from the pain, but Hilda's long, slender arms unhesitatingly pierced through.
"Click…"
This bloody scene was almost jaw-dropping.
Didn't they say a tiger wouldn't eat its cubs?
Why was Hilda's method so cruel and bloody?
Before Manuela could react, two cuts were made on her back.
However, miraculously, this pain did not last long.
As Hilda's arms slowly embedded, the severed wounds quickly healed.
And the moment her arms were inserted, Hilda's flesh began to slowly shrivel.
First, her legs; her full thighs completely transformed into withered tails, a large amount of flesh disappearing, leaving only thin, shriveled segments.
Where did it go?
It vanished into Manuela's body.
Hilda, as a mother, could feel the T-Veronica Virus furiously eroding Manuela's flesh at that very moment.
In a few more minutes, Manuela's body would likely shatter.
Therefore, to keep Manuela alive, Hilda chose to use her own flesh and blood to counteract the T-Veronica Virus's erosion.
Because Hilda, as a mother, also clearly understood that although she had metamorphosed into a dragonfly and completed her final evolution, this slender body was utterly useless against V-Complex.
Aside from unimaginable speed, she had no means to harm V-Complex.
Given this, then…