The Hunter was indeed one of the most challenging enemies in the early stages of Resident Evil. Its predatory instincts were intact; it possessed the lizard's ability to sever its tail and escape, had high regenerative abilities, and could deflect ordinary pistol shots with its arms, using the brief opening to close the distance for a deadly, self-sacrificing attack. Facing a Hunter one-on-one was extremely difficult.
Fortunately, Javier's group had four people, all armed with shotguns, which were more than enough to deal with a single Hunter. Javier and Barry's concern only stemmed from the fear that there might be more Hunters in the mine, acting as the dungeon's guards. If that were the case, the situation would become much more complicated, as the Hunter population would likely be higher than anticipated.
"Click...!"
Without hesitation, Javier and the others raised and chambered their weapons, aiming at the Hunter's limbs. Javier had experience dealing with these creatures: shooting for the head was futile, as the Hunter would use its reinforced forearms to block the fatal shots. Worse, it would use that defensive posture to quickly close the distance and launch a powerful, reckless assault. Against a highly regenerative lizard-man like the Hunter, the correct strategy was to disable its limbs first, preventing it from blocking fatal attacks. All they had to do now was wait for the Hunter to enter their firing range!
However, just as Javier's group was holding their breath and waiting for the Hunter to approach, the aggressive creature suddenly stopped moving. This confused Javier and the others.
"Hiss..."
The Hunter let out a low hissing sound, its yellow vertical pupils fixed on Javier's group with fierce intent. But the next second, its large, muscular body suddenly froze. A bizarre aura was approaching it. As a hybrid creature, it still retained the animal's instinct to sense danger. The Hunter clearly perceived the presence behind it as incredibly dangerous... it had to flee immediately! That strange aura felt like infinite tentacles of death slowly wrapping around its limbs, causing its body to stiffen.
"Roar, roar, roar—!!!"
Seizing a window, the Hunter suddenly roared, instantly breaking free from the paralyzing aura and body stiffness. It spun its head around violently.
It saw the strange creature standing behind it—Lisa Trevor.
It was a humanoid figure only half its height, with a massive head wrapped in layer upon layer of flesh. The flesh was permanently adhered, and upon closer inspection, it was clear that the bulk was composed of dozens of torn-off human faces, perhaps fifty or sixty in total. The rest of her skin was not putrid but morbidly pale, like a victim of severe leukemia, covered in dark bruises with visible veins that were an unsettling black, not red. She wore only tattered cloth that barely covered her torso.
Due to the apparent weight of the human faces on her head, she was always severely hunched over. Her long, thin arms, seemingly stretched by the heavy shackles she wore, drooped down to her calves—a grotesque posture impossible for a normal human. This figure stood silently behind the Hunter.
The Hunter looked at the creature behind it—uglier but smaller than itself—with confusion in its large yellow pupils. It didn't understand why it was afraid of such a thing.
Then... "Roar, roar, roar—!!!"
The Hunter roared again, as if to summon its courage. After bolstering its confidence, its eyes filled with murderous intent once more. It instantly raised its steel-blade-like arm and savagely brought it down on Lisa's head. The strike was heavy and powerful. Its thick, sharp claws could easily shred a wooden door and tear through metal sheets. Even Javier's tactical knife had been shattered by a single blow from a Hunter. The sheer force of the Hunter's attack was immense!
But... "Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—!!!"
In the next second, a series of whistling sounds erupted. They were sharp and piercing, like arrows flying after a bowstring snapped. Several fleshy tentacles—about twelve of them—suddenly burst from the back of Lisa's massive head. They shot out with incredible speed, piercing the Hunter's body before its attack could land. Two tentacles, in particular, instantly penetrated the Hunter's brain, splattering red and white matter onto the ground. The sheer explosive power of the tentacles was equivalent to a large-caliber pistol round!
This was utterly unbelievable to Javier and the others. Their expressions were stunned as they watched Lisa. They couldn't understand the origin of this monster, which had instantly killed a Hunter with such effortless power. Its strength was far too high. Could it be the mine-dungeon's true guardian?
Not quite. Javier looked at the familiar figure of Lisa, amazed. Her power level was much higher than he expected. He hadn't seen much of Lisa's combat ability in the original Resident Evil. Back then, she'd merely knocked Jill unconscious with a heavy shackle. While she had an instant-kill ability in the game, her visual presentation of strength was not on the level of bosses like the Tyrant. Javier had previously assumed that Lisa, aside from the G-Virus's tenacious vitality, didn't have immense combat strength.
But now, he knew he was wrong. Based on her ability to instantly dispatch a Hunter, she was no weaker than a Tyrant, and thanks to the G-Virus's relentless life force, she might even be slightly stronger. The modern Tyrant had too many weaknesses.
And those grotesque tentacles... If Javier was right, they were the Nemesis- parasite. The T-Virus had numerous flaws, particularly the severe loss of intelligence. To solve this problem, Umbrella developed the Nemesis- parasite to replace the BOW's brain. Umbrella controlled the parasite, and the parasite controlled the BOW in combat; it was a portable remote control. However, the parasite had extreme side effects, and all hosts had died without exception. William Birkin was struggling to solve this problem until he remembered his "universal test subject."
William had injected Lisa with the parasite. To his astonishment, Lisa's body proved truly universal, fusing with countless viruses. The Nemesis- parasite couldn't take over Lisa's brain; instead, Lisa was able to absorb it. After successfully absorbing the parasite, Lisa gained a new neural system, and her intelligence began to slowly recover.
It was precisely at this time, when William realized the Nemesis- parasite could not control Lisa, that he understood a secret must be hidden in her body that made her immune to poisons. To find out what it was, William extracted Lisa's blood for study and discovered a newly evolved viral progenitor—the virus he would later name G!
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
After killing the Hunter, the wildly writhing tentacles quickly retracted into Lisa's body. Lisa, seemingly without emotion, casually pushed the Hunter's corpse aside and continued to walk toward Javier's group. Her seemingly slow, swaying walk exerted a huge, invisible pressure on them. They had no idea what this monster wanted, and the unknown was the most terrifying thing.
Jill and Rebecca, the two women, especially winced and showed disgust as they looked at the terrified faces plastered onto Lisa's head. They found these "decorations" incredibly disturbing, seeing the multitude of hollow eyes as a form of extreme mental intimidation.
"She's coming closer..." Jill asked, unable to bear the mental pressure any longer. "Should we counterattack directly, or should we retreat and try to probe the situation?" She and Rebecca felt as if the empty eyes on the human faces were staring intently at them. This made the women feel an intense revulsion, as if this monster had some strange, specific craving for them. The feeling was even worse than being lecherously stared at and harassed by police officers at the Raccoon City Police Department—it was the sickening gaze of a mentally deranged pervert.
This was because Lisa had been trapped here for decades and had torn off the faces of countless women while searching for her mother. Now, upon seeing two women, she instinctively and temporarily considered Jill and Rebecca to be her mother, leading to that intense, focused gaze.
However, Lisa clearly remembered her mother's scent. After taking a deep sniff of the air around Jill and Rebecca, Lisa realized her mistake and slowly retracted her fervent gaze.
"Ho-ho... ho-ho..."
A husky voice emanated from her. "G-give... g-give m-me the l-letter... and the p-photo...!!!"
Her voice was incredibly strange, likely muffled by the thick layer of human faces, but still barely intelligible. Lisa extended her shackled hands, pointing at the letter and photo in Javier's hand, mumbling her request.
This action completely shocked Jill and the others! What kind of monster could talk? Most of the bioweapons they had encountered were mindless and speechless, with only the Queen Leech, who inherited Marcus's memories, having a limited ability to communicate. The fact that Lisa suddenly spoke a human language terrified them. They couldn't tell if Lisa was truly sentient or if she was merely repeating a few fixed phrases—a deceptive trick used by some predators, like an anglerfish, to lure prey closer before striking.
Javier, however, did not think so. He knew that this was Lisa, and she possessed consciousness. The fact that she had not immediately attacked Jill and Rebecca or rushed forward in a rage to snatch the letter and photo confirmed that Lisa's intelligence level was much higher than in the original game timeline.
"Wait a minute..." Javier decided instantly. "Don't be so quick. Let me try. If you don't trust me, take a few steps back."
Javier held up the letter and photo, shaking them to get Lisa's attention. He slowly stepped forward from the group and asked calmly: "I have your mother's letter and photo. I can exchange them with you, but I have a question. Since you can speak, it means your consciousness has not been completely erased. Your father is George Trevor, your mother is Jessica Trevor, and your name is Lisa Trevor, correct?"
Javier spoke clearly and slowly. To prevent this girl from mistaking him for an Umbrella guard, as she had her father, and attacking him, Javier slowly removed his gas mask to show sincerity...