Jill and Lear led David and his group, moving swiftly through the nearly deserted streets. Not a single stray zombie wandered into their path along the way. Picking up the pace, the group arrived at the Raccoon City Police Department in less than half an hour.
However, the scene before them caused everyone's heart to sink.
The iron gates surrounding the Police Station were flung wide open, and the main entrance inside was in a state of utter carnage. The door panels looked as though they had been pierced by something sharp and then violently torn apart from the center, leaving a jagged, terrifying breach.
This is bad.
Lear thought to himself, his tense expression already signaling that something disastrous had happened here.
Jill frowned deeply and glanced at Lear, her eyes filled with unspoken questions.
Lear shook his head slightly, indicating he was just as much in the dark about the current situation; the place had been intact when he left.
The two quickly signaled David and the other two officers to lead the survivors back and rest for a moment. With a silent understanding, they drew their weapons and prepared to enter the mangled doorway.
At that exact moment, several crisp gunshots suddenly rang out from deep within the Police Station, followed immediately by a beast-like, berserk roar that shook the air.
The two locked eyes, their gazes turning sharp in an instant. Without a word, they sprinted toward the source of the noise.
"That's... the direction of the Library," Lear said in a low, heavy voice.
Jill didn't speak, only nodded, her footsteps never faltering as they burst into the Main Hall.
The west-wing door of the second-floor corridor, which had been sealed shut long ago, was now torn to shreds, with wooden splinters scattered across the floor. They hurried through the ruined doorway and reached the Police Station Library 2nd Floor.
Standing on the second-floor balcony and looking down, the scene before them was incredibly bloody.
Five or six bodies lay strewn across the floor—all of them officers in Police uniform. Not a single corpse was intact; severed limbs were scattered everywhere, blood soaked the ground, and the pungent stench of iron hit them full force.
An abnormally tall, ragged monster was cornering a surviving officer against the wall, advancing step by step.
"Elliot!"
Lear shouted when he recognized the officer.
Corned by the monster, Elliot jerked his head up. When he saw the two on the second floor, his face went pale, and he roared at the top of his lungs, "Lear?! Run! You can't beat this thing!"
The commotion from behind caused the monster to slowly turn its body. A rigid, lifeless face stared directly into the eyes of Lear and Jill.
"Tyrant!"
Lear's pupils shrank. "This thing actually tracked us down! Me and my big mouth!"
The Tyrant before them had its straitjacket torn to ribbons, hanging off its body in tatters. Its grotesque, ash-gray muscles were completely exposed, and its arms had mutated into two sharp, massive talons—one long and one short. Upon the right side of its chest, a strange mass of red flesh was pulsing frantically. The Tyrant seemed to recognize the two of them instantly. It ignored Elliot, despite him being right before its eyes, and slowly raised its head. Its cold gaze locked onto Jill and Lear on the second floor.
"Run!"
Seeing the Tyrant's reaction, the look in Elliot's eyes below suddenly turned to one of grim determination. He snapped his gun up, aiming at the Tyrant's head and pulling the trigger repeatedly. Bullets hissed toward the monster. "Marvin and the others have already gone to the parking lot! I'll hold it back! Get out of here!"
The Tyrant didn't even spare Elliot a glance. With a casual sweep of its arm, it swatted him aside. Elliot slammed heavily into a nearby bookshelf; the terrifying force nearly brought the entire unit down, sending heavy books cascading to the floor. After a muffled groan of pain, Elliot fell silent.
Seeing this, Jill immediately prepared to vault over the railing to face the Tyrant, but Lear grabbed her firmly, holding her back.
"Go check on Elliot. Leave this to me."
Watching colleagues who were vibrant just an hour ago turn into cold corpses—watching the usually timid Elliot try to act as bait just to give them a chance to escape—Lear felt a searing rage boiling in his chest. He didn't know if Elliot was alive or dead.
"Still want some even though you didn't die the first time? Fine. I'll play with you. You'll make for good practice."
He spat the words out one by one, his voice cold and fierce.
As the words left his lips, Lear turned and ran quickly toward the Main Hall. The Tyrant immediately broke into a stride, pursuing him closely.
"Jill, tell David and the others that no matter what they hear, they are not to come in!"
Lear threw the command over his shoulder before disappearing.
Jill nodded to show she understood. Taking the opportunity, she leapt down from the other side of the corridor and rushed toward the bookshelf to check on Elliot.
Lear led the Tyrant across the corridor, circling back all the way to the Police Station Lobby, finally coming to a halt in front of the weapons station. He looked up, his eyes locked onto the Tyrant as it emerged from the doorway.
The Tyrant suddenly leapt down from the second floor, its massive talons whistling through the air as it lunged straight for Lear. Lear shifted his weight, agilely lunging to the side to dodge. He immediately reached back to grab a shotgun from beside him, aimed the muzzle at the Tyrant's heart, and pulled the trigger repeatedly, unleashing a dense spray of lead.
This Bio-organic weapon, meticulously crafted by Umbrella, was indeed difficult to handle.
The Tyrant swept its right claw up, forcefully intercepting the shotgun's trajectory. The hail of metal struck its ashen muscle, sending sparks flying. Holding its right claw as a shield before its chest, the Tyrant continued its frenzied charge through the gunfire. Its left talons swept upward toward Lear, the tips raking across the marble floor and gouging out three deep cracks.
Unable to dodge completely, Lear was caught by the aftershock of the claw's swing. His Police uniform was instantly shredded, exposing a nasty gash across his chest.
Lear retreated quickly, glancing down at the tear in his clothes. His expression tightened as cold sweat broke out.
I overreached. That was close. If Lear's enhanced body hadn't provided a significant boost to his reactions and strength, that single blow would have been enough to rip him open.
Missing its mark, the Tyrant immediately stepped back, crossing its claws in front of its body to block Lear's line of fire and protect the weakness in its chest from close-range shots.
Inside the Police Station Lobby, man and monster fell into an eerie standoff, the air feeling as though it had frozen solid.
Lear was the first to break the silence. The muzzle of the shotgun erupted in flames as he poured out a new barrage. Taking advantage of the moment the Tyrant raised its arms to guard, he suddenly accelerated into a slide. He skimmed across the floor past the monster's right side, quickly retreating back toward the weapons station.
"Toss this on for size!"
Lear let out a low growl as he snatched a linked grenade from the weapon rack. His fingertips deftly pulled the pin and he flicked his wrist, sending the grenade arching through the air toward the Tyrant with precision. As soon as it left his hand, Lear dove behind the front desk.
The Tyrant reacted with blinding speed, swinging its left arm and spreading its massive talons in an attempt to intercept and swat the grenade away mid-air. However, just as its fingertips were about to touch the device—BOOM!—the grenade exploded with a deafening roar.
A violent shockwave swept outward. Two of the Tyrant's three massive talons were shorn off by shrapnel, leaving only one hanging lonely from its left hand.
But just as Lear was about to charge in and shatter its heart while it was reeling from the injury, a sharp screech and the sound of something cutting through the air suddenly came from behind him.
(Translated by yourtl.app)