Volume 10: Resident Evil Village, Vengeance: Chapter 18: I Am The Duke
"Where... is this place?!"
After being inexplicably tossed around, Ethan seemed to have gradually grown accustomed to such situations.
Consequently, his expression didn't show much panic as he slowly stood up from the ground.
He began checking the wounds on his body; after all, a dull pain was still radiating from his arm and fingers.
"Damn it, is this getting infected?"
However,
what he saw was far from trivial.
The sight gave Ethan quite a fright, his expression instantly turning ugly as he couldn't help but mutter curses.
Taking off his green windbreaker and rolling up the sleeves of his undershirt, Ethan soon saw the purplish, hideous wound on his shoulder.
Although it had already scabbed over,
the color was a dark, bruised purple, resembling a wound infected after being bitten by a zombie; it felt hard on the outside but soft on the inside.
Furthermore, a tingling, numbing itch was coming from it.
It made Ethan feel very uncomfortable, leading him to subconsciously believe the wound was suppurating and infected.
It wasn't just the arm near his shoulder;
even the finger that had been bitten off was the same. In the original story, two fingers were bitten off,
but this time, because Ethan reacted quickly, only one was chewed off, preserving the flexibility of his hand.
It hadn't been greatly diminished because of it,
but the wound on his finger was similar to the one on his shoulder.
It also had that dark purple scab, which left Ethan feeling helpless.
If not treated properly, his arm might end up needing amputation. Therefore, his top priority was to find disinfectant medicine as soon as possible.
However,
in reality, Ethan was completely wrong.
This wasn't an infected, inflamed, or suppurating wound, but simply the power of the mold at work. Ethan, possessing the power of the mold within his body, would not die easily.
Once the wounds were held together, they could recover quickly. Even if an entire arm was eaten and couldn't be reattached,
with the passage of time,
the lost limb would still slowly grow back.
That itching sensation was the best proof; it wasn't the itch of suppuration or inflammation, but the itch of new flesh growing.
However,
Ethan hadn't realized this point.
He was still very worried about his physical condition. To prevent his arm from being amputated due to deep infection,
Ethan immediately put his clothes back on and began fumbling for his weapons and equipment, planning to set out at once to escape this underground passage and determine his location.
*Rustle, rustle, rustle...*
Fortunately,
Ethan quickly found a handgun and a knife in his pockets, which he had obtained in the old man's shack in the village.
The handgun hadn't fallen out while he was being dragged by the Lycan; it was still in his pocket, and the Lycans hadn't searched him thoroughly.
This gave Ethan a handy weapon for self-defense,
so he wouldn't have to resist unarmed. If that were the case, it wouldn't be Resident Evil, but a simple horror escape game.
"Thank goodness..."
Looking at the old-fashioned handgun and the rusty knife in his hands, Ethan breathed a slight sigh of relief.
He removed the magazine to check; there were five rounds left.
Previously, he had used an axe to split the head of the Lycan that attacked him, so quite a few bullets remained in the magazine, barely enough to save his life.
As for that rusty knife,
well... perhaps he could pray it could slice through a Lycan's thick, tough fur. After all, without the axe, Ethan's melee capabilities were significantly weakened.
Compared to a blade,
he seemed to prefer the simple and crude axe.
It suited him perfectly—a newcomer who hadn't learned much close-quarters combat; he just needed to rely on brute force to create miracles!
"Time to move. I need to escape this hellhole first..."
After checking that his weapons were in order, Ethan began running and moving quickly through the underground passage.
He wasn't actually sure where the path ahead led, but as long as he could get back to the surface first, it would be fine. After all, he could only determine his bearings once he reached the ground.
*Tread, tread, tread...*
Ethan's solitary footsteps sounded very clear in the silent underground passage. At every corner,
the highly alert Ethan would slowly decelerate to test the waters, concentrating his mind to listen for sounds within the passage.
Because after the previous Lycan incident in the village,
Ethan was now well aware of the bizarreness of this place. To avoid repeating his mistakes and getting captured again, he had to be much more cautious than before. After all, better safe than sorry.
However,
this vigilance indeed helped him avoid many dangers.
Just as he was about to pass the next corner of the underground passage, the slowed-down Ethan soon heard a rustling sound coming from around the bend.
*Rustle, rustle, rustle...*
*Chewing... crunch, crunch...*
The sound was very faint,
but Ethan could tell it sounded like someone gnawing on something; the sound of bones being crushed was very distinct.
Moreover, a foul stench of rot permeated the air.
This instantly put Ethan on high alert, as he anticipated something bad. It was very likely the sound of a Lycan devouring prey.
Seeing this,
Ethan pressed his back tightly against the wall.
Taking a deep breath and mentally preparing himself, Ethan suddenly opened his eyes with a determined gaze.
Gripping the old-fashioned handgun and the knife in his hands,
he counted to three in his head and then suddenly lunged around the corner of the passage, instantly pouncing toward the source of the sound.
*Heh, heh, heh, heh...*
*Hiss, hiss, hiss—!!!!*
In fact,
Ethan's guess was indeed correct.
It was indeed a Lycan dwelling in the underground passage.
Its body was covered in thick, messy fur, and it was crouching in the corner by a wooden crate, holding a human leg in its hands with its head down.
It was gnawing away with sharp fangs,
blood and bits of flesh constantly oozing from the corners of its mouth, looking extremely hideous and terrifying. Upon detecting movement,
a pair of beastly eyes hidden under the messy fur suddenly looked up fiercely, baring its teeth as it looked at Ethan pouncing toward it.
The Lycan didn't initially see Ethan as prey, but rather as an enemy competing for its food, so it began to guard its meal with bared teeth.
But the next second...
*Bang—!!!!*
A gunshot rang out.
Ethan didn't hesitate for a moment.
He fired a shot the moment he raised his hand, but it was only one shot. Since he didn't have many bullets in the handgun, he didn't want to deplete his ammunition so quickly.
Therefore, he aimed the sights at the Lycan's head. From his previous observations, he had discovered that these Lycans had thick hides and very resilient defensive power and vitality.
Shooting other parts wouldn't kill them;
only a headshot could be lethal, almost exactly like a zombie.
But just to be safe, after firing that shot, Ethan immediately pulled out the rusty knife and rushed forward, intending to engage in a life-or-death struggle at close range!
*Squelch...*
The sound of a bullet piercing flesh rang out,
but unfortunately,
Ethan's marksmanship wasn't that good. The bullet grazed the side of the Lycan's head.
As mentioned before, his main profession was a clerical worker; he didn't come from a proper police or military background.
He had received training,
but it wasn't that rigorous.
Therefore, he was somewhat inferior in terms of marksmanship and combat ability.
One could tell from the games that Ethan didn't have any so-called physical combat techniques. Compared to Leon and Chris, who could kill enemies with melee moves, there was a clear gap.
Consequently,
the bullet didn't directly blow off the Lycan's head,
but instead scraped off a layer of flesh, shearing away the fur and meat on the side to reveal the white skull beneath.
This only made the Lycan even more enraged and ferocious from the pain. Its crimson wolfish eyes lit up,
and it let out a roar from its foul, gaping maw as it lunged rapidly toward Ethan. A human's ability to fight a beast barehanded isn't actually that poor;
the only difference is that humans want to win without taking any damage too much, which sometimes leads to them being bitten by the beast in more places instead.
But it didn't matter,
because once injured,
a human's adrenaline kicks in, allowing them to burst forth with unbelievable strength.
And that was exactly the case with Ethan now. Facing the Lycan which was even more ferocious than himself, a savage look appeared on Ethan's face too.
He was no longer that gentle and refined man; now, he was just a stubborn father who would stop at nothing to save his daughter.
"Die—!!!"
With a low shout,
Ethan didn't show any intention of backing down. He shoved the muzzle of the old-fashioned handgun directly into the Lycan's foul mouth filled with sharp fangs.
This not only prevented him from being bitten by the sharp teeth but also very accurately pinned the Lycan's head in place.
Meanwhile, the knife in his right hand was plunged fiercely into the eye of the Lycan in front of him. His knife certainly wouldn't be able to slice through that thick, tough hide,
but eyeballs were different. The eyeballs of any creature are extremely fragile; even a wooden splinter could injure them.
*Roar, roar, roar, roar—!!!!*
At this moment,
the Lycan had already pinned Ethan down, its strong, powerful hands pressing him firmly to the ground.
However, the pain from its eye and the iron tube shoved into its mouth caused the Lycan agonizing pain; even if it wanted to bite Ethan, it had no way to do so.
"Goodbye, you beast...!"
*Bang—!!!!*