It was an incredibly fatal blow!
So…
His eyes completely lost their sight again. This was expected for Javier.
As mentioned before, Javier had the ability to give him sight and also to take it away. And the punishment… was double!
Not just sight,
but even hearing—
Javier would temporarily deprive him of that too.
It was also at a very close range.
And a flashbang also had a powerful sound wave penetration ability that could instantly cause ringing in a creature's ears, and in severe cases, lead to deafness. The stronger a creature's hearing, the greater the damage from a flashbang.
The T-Virus mutated giant bats, Lickers, and now the Claw, were undoubtedly… excellent in terms of hearing. But precisely because of this… flashbangs inflicted the most damage on them.
At this moment, Javier couldn't help but exclaim,
A flashbang… seemed to be the strongest weapon against creatures. It might not have the powerful destructive force of a High-explosive grenade, but its control effect was unmatched by other weapons.
After all, in RPG and MOBA games, damage output is secondary, as there are many sources of damage. But a mage's crowd control is very important.
Powerful crowd control can stop bosses with high-speed movement, flashes, temporary invincibility, and damage immunity. As long as they are controlled for a moment, their powerful abilities cannot be utilized, and they can then be focused down and eliminated.
And at this moment, the Claw was undoubtedly in such a situation.
The eyes that had just regained sight completely lost their vision again. The center of his blood-red, turbid pupils turned grayish-white, having long lost the ability to see. And his sensitive ears suffered perforated eardrums due to the flashbang's sound blast.
Blood continuously flowed from his ear canals, and intense ringing and dizziness persisted in his ears, making him unable to hear any footsteps.
His eyes, his ears,
all became useless.
Now, the only thing the Claw could use was his sense of smell. Like a wild beast, his sense of smell could detect the scent of prey in the scent-filled dungeon. It was the smell of a special living creature, a scent that made him hungry and salivate.
When the human body is extremely hungry, the brain also strengthens various organs to enhance the ability to find food.
Blind, deaf,
the Claw didn't want to become stupid again…
So he planned to rely on his last sense of smell to find Javier, this damned prey. But as Javier had said before, the ability of Mirror Flower, Water Moon was to completely hypnotize the opponent's five senses, and how could Javier overlook this point?
Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch…
Javier admitted that as a half-baked practitioner, he certainly couldn't manually create a complete Mirror Flower, Water Moon hypnosis. But the most important three senses—sight, hearing, and smell—Javier could completely erase.
As he spoke…
"Click—!"
Another iron bolt was pulled out.
But the Claw couldn't hear this sound at all. Acrid, rolling white smoke suddenly enveloped the entire dungeon.
This was a smoke grenade modified by Javier. To prevent his invisibility from being detected by smell, he increased the stimulating scent of the smoke grenade.
So…
In the pervasive, smell-affecting smoke, the Claw's nose twitched slightly. He only felt an incredibly uncomfortable scent in the air, and Javier's presence disappeared again. This time… he was completely plunged into darkness.
Can you feel the dark, helpless world in the mind of someone who cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch, and has lost sight, smell, and hearing?
That kind of world is terrifying.
It's colorless, pitch black, even without sound or scent, existing in true chaos. It's as if only one person remains in the entire world, with nothing to respond to them. Such a world is despairing and incredibly collapsing.
Undoubtedly…
Javier had tortured a monster to the extreme of despair—
In a sense, he was the true devil.
"Roar, roar, roar—!!!"
The Claw, having lost everything, let out a hysterical roar. The roar was incredibly deep and hoarse, like the last dying wail of a trapped beast. The Claw, equipped with its huge Claws, began to attack wildly in the dungeon.
Hitting the wall, he chiseled out cracks. Hitting chains, he frantically tore them apart. Hitting obstructing wooden planks, he ripped them to shreds. Colliding with stone pillars, he smashed and broke them.
Ignoring the bloody wounds all over his body, intense pain swept through him, but the Claw felt exhilarated, because only such intense pain could make him feel the existence of the world and the meaning of his own existence.
Otherwise,
he would fall into the abyss,
and he would be extremely panicked. A world where he was alone was the most unbearable world!
Therefore, he began to frantically destroy everything, trying his best to prove his own existence and the evidence that the surrounding world still existed…
However,
the Claw didn't notice at all
a silent, death-like footsteps gradually approaching his back. However… he was already blind and deaf, and his nose had no sense of smell, so it was very normal for him not to notice.
"Pfft—!"
Javier's hand moved, and his knife fell.
The sharp Dog Leg Knife instantly plunged into the Claw's back spine. The Plaga parasite hidden inside instantly burst out. Like the previous giant, it was a yellow variety. When it burst, yellow viscous liquid splattered everywhere, grotesque, rampant, and incredibly disgusting!
"Roar…!!!"
A painful wail,
The Claw, whose spine was cut by the Dog Leg Knife, let out a low growl, but quickly, the painful expression was replaced by excitement. He had not fallen into the abyss, the prey… the prey from before was around him.
Thinking of this,
the Claw became even more frantic, even beginning to swing his huge Claws and rampage through the dungeon. He spun wildly in place, attempting to indiscriminately attack Javier, who was hiding in the corner.
But—
"Shatter, Mirror Flower, Water Moon…!"
A murmur,
The Dog Leg Knife in Javier's hand flashed white. In the brief moment when the Claw paused his attack, completely unprepared, Javier seized the opportunity to deliver the final blow. The sharp blade completely severed all the Plaga parasites on the back of the spine, which then fell heavily to the ground.
And the fierce Claw,
also trembled suddenly due to the death of the Plaga parasite, as if a toy robot had lost its battery. It instantly froze in place, then collapsed to the ground. The giant fell.
"Silent Assassin, achievement unlocked,"
Javier looked at the fallen Claw, muttering to himself faintly. Then he shook the blood off the Dog Leg Knife and gently inserted it into the sheath on his back.
This was a crushing victory of intellect. Although the Claw was powerful, as long as his weaknesses were exploited, he was like a tiger with broken legs, full of fangs but unable to bite anyone, only able to struggle on the ground like a trapped beast.
And Javier,
by virtue of… his familiarity with the Claw's weaknesses, achieved an accomplishment that he hadn't even completed in the game. He even defeated the Claw with a knife, taking no damage. Javier couldn't help but exclaim that he had become stronger!
What?
Using a flashbang was already cheating?
Uh… I don't care, I've already completed it anyway!
"Awooo, awooo—!!!"
And at this moment,
seeing Javier so cleanly deal with such a terrifying monster, the White Wolf, who had been hiding on the dungeon steps, suddenly ran down and quickly rubbed affectionately against Javier's feet, while happily howling a few times, expressing its joy and delight.
Undoubtedly,
this White Wolf was also a clever one. It would run away when things went wrong and immediately show its loyalty when the tide turned. It was truly a fair-weather friend, and no wonder it had been abandoned by the wolf pack before.
Fortunately, Javier was not a true wolf king, and he hadn't really taken the White Wolf's escape to heart. Therefore, he didn't blame it too much. After stroking the White Wolf's head, he indicated that it was fine…
After dealing with the Claw in the dungeon,
Javier and the White Wolf continued to scavenge for antiques in the castle. Javier also collected valuable oil paintings and vases. Their age was their most precious quality, and they could be sold for a lot of money. In short, the storage ring's space was still very large and could be filled to the brim.
After all, the castle was the most lucrative dungeon in Resident Evil 4. Although the Institute on the Island later allowed for farming Invisible Bugs for gems, it was only gems.
After all, there were no other additional sources besides Invisible Bugs. The Institute was full of research equipment, and it was difficult to find valuable items, so Javier had to collect more now!
…
Meanwhile—
Leon and Ashley were still on the run. Escaping the pursuit of the servants and cultists sent by Raymond from the castle hall, Leon was leading Ashley in another direction. After breaking through numerous traps, just as they were about to head to the next large door, a speaker installed on the wall suddenly emitted a sound.
This startled Leon and Ashley slightly.
The voice coming from inside was hoarse and unpleasant, a bit like a gander's voice. Undoubtedly, it was the voice of the castle lord, Ramon Salazar:
"As expected of rats…!"
"You are very good at escaping, extremely good at escaping, Leon Scott Kennedy, but you won't escape for long. I will definitely catch the rats scurrying around my castle, I promise!"
"Don't let me catch you. I will torment you well, just as I said before. And Princess Ashley Graham, we have already injected the Plaga parasite into your body. We are kin, so don't think of escaping the grace of The Illuminados."
"Leave that man's side obediently and return to our embrace. If you do… I might grant you mercy and allow Mr. Kennedy, who has insulted me and spoken presumptuously, to safely leave the castle. Or… Princess Ashley, do you want to lose your sanity and personally kill the knight protecting you when the Plaga parasite activates?"
Raymond's malicious words slowly emanated from the brass speaker on the wall. This was the castle's unique communication system, similar to a village's public address system, capable of reaching every corner of the castle.
After all, the castle was very large, and sometimes it was not enough to rely solely on servants to convey messages. When people couldn't be found, the broadcast speaker could also be used to notify them, which was very convenient.
This was a black technology belonging to the castle itself—
Raymond's words, while warning Leon, also attempted to sow discord between Leon and Ashley.
After all, the Plaga parasite in Ashley's body was about to activate, and there was no cure for it in the short term. If these two continued to stay together, Ashley indeed might lose her sanity like the villagers and then attack Leon…!
Chapter 43: Blackwater Hall
Inside the brass speaker on the wall, Raymond's malicious curses constantly emanated. This greatly unnerved Ashley, who was already anxious. She looked at Leon with a very fearful expression, wanting to reach out and grab Leon, but then feared she would truly turn into a monster, so her hand, extended halfway, quickly retracted as if shocked.
Undoubtedly…
Ashley truly couldn't imagine how terrifying it would be to turn into one of those villagers—
"…"
"Le… Leon, I… I, I…"
Her words were trembling and broken. Ashley no longer knew how to express her fear, so even speaking was difficult.
However, Leon didn't care about that at all. Looking at the timid Ashley, Leon decisively and firmly grabbed Ashley's wrist, which she had just retracted, and said:
"Don't be afraid, Ashley!"
"That ugly dwarf goblin just wants to sow discord. His childlike brain hasn't fully developed, so how could he know these things? Luis is the true Plaga parasite research expert. If he says you still have time for surgery, then you definitely still have time. Moreover, Luis is already helping us find an inhibitory agent."
"So don't be anxious or afraid. I will safely send you back to America, back to your father's side. I keep my word, this is my mission. So the only thing you need to do now is to unconditionally trust yourself!"
Leon comforted the underage girl Ashley in as gentle a tone as possible.
And under Leon's gentle comfort, Ashley's panicked mood gradually stabilized. The persuasion had worked…
Ashley felt the sense of security Leon provided. This man would truly follow through and protect her, and he wasn't afraid that she would mutate, which was the most precious thing.
Along with the warmth from her wrist,
Ashley's gaze towards Leon sparkled. Undoubtedly, this was the first time she had felt such admiration and adoration for a man. He didn't abandon her, didn't give up, and always prioritized her safety. This was the Prince Charming she had long awaited in her boring life.
"Mm, I understand!"
"Thank you, Leon, for being so willing to trust me, even at such great risk to save me!"
Nodding,
while accepting the comfort, Ashley also expressed her composure, stating that she would definitely not overthink things next time and would try her best to be a hostage who didn't cause trouble or become a burden.
"It's nothing,"
"It's just my mission. If you really want to thank me, why don't you go back and have your dad give me a raise?"
Shaking his head, Leon saw that Ashley's emotions had truly calmed down, and to lighten the mood, he decisively joked.