Inside the car, Katherine was whispering something to Sherry. Brad sat to one side, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Lear sat at the very back, unable to remember what exactly he had overlooked.
At that moment, Jill slowly walked over and sat down beside him.
"What's wrong? Something on your mind?"
"Nothing, I just feel a bit uneasy. Like I've forgotten something, but I can't think of what it is specifically."
Jill gave a short laugh and patted his arm. "If you can't remember, don't dwell on it. We'll deal with it once we're out. Once we leave this place, find a place to shower and get a good night's sleep. You'll remember naturally when you wake up."
Lear nodded, no longer obsessing over it.
Not long after, the intercom in the car crackled to life, and Carlos's cynical voice came through:
"Everyone, we're about to leave the City Center. After that, we'll be pulling into the final stop in the outer districts. Congratulations to you all, and congratulations to myself—we survived!"
The front car immediately erupted in cheers.
But at that exact moment, Lear suddenly heard the sound of something heavy stomping across the subway car roof.
Instinctively, he grabbed Jill and threw them both into a violent roll across the floor.
Just as they cleared their original spot, two thick tentacles came crashing down through the ceiling, stabbing straight into the position Lear and Jill had occupied seconds before. The appendages then wrenched outward to both sides, and the roof of the car directly above Lear was violently torn open.
"Holy shit!? Nemesis!"
Staring at the hideous monster appearing atop the subway, Lear cursed out loud.
The thing before his eyes could probably no longer be called Nemesis—at least, it definitely wasn't the second form of Nemmy.
Its current size wasn't even as tall as before, two meters at most. The bone spikes on its back had completely fallen off, replaced by soft tissue resembling octopus tentacles. Its limbs had split and twisted, transforming into seven or eight insect-like, sharp, chitinous segments. Its single remaining eye had mutated into an insectoid compound eye, gleaming with an eerie, cold light.
Most horrifying of all, Nemesis's jaw had been torn into two halves right down the middle. Between the gaps of the broken bone, countless sharp teeth had grown in a dense, overgrown mass.
Jill reacted instantly, drawing her gun and returning fire.
"How the hell did this thing get off the Orphanage wall?" Jill cursed as she pulled the trigger.
"Look at its mouth—passed through the iron fence by snapping its own jaw and ripping itself free!"
Before he could finish, Nemesis swept a claw toward them. Lear instinctively locked his hands around the insect-like limb. The monster's speed was noticeably faster now, and its strength far exceeded what it had shown before.
Even with Lear's current physical conditioning, the impact sent a numbing shock through his arms.
With one of its limbs pinned by Lear and unable to break free immediately, Nemesis violently whipped the tentacles on its back toward him. Simultaneously, its other insectoid legs lunged out, stabbing toward Jill, Sherry, and the others behind her.
In the nick of time, the door to the forward carriage slammed open as Tyrell rushed in with several U.B.C.S. operatives. At the sight of Nemesis, these veterans raised their weapons and opened fire as an almost instinctive reflex.
A hail of bullets instantly poured into the monster, forcing it to retract its insectoid legs to shield its front. Seizing the gap while Nemesis's vision was obscured and its movements faltered, Lear jerked away from the tentacles and lunged toward the creature.
Unable to react in time, Nemesis took the full force of Lear's kick to its chest. It was sent flying, crashing violently into the side of the subway car, the thick iron plating buckling into a massive crater.
Without a moment's pause, Lear pressed the advantage and threw his entire weight into Nemesis. Under the sheer force of the impact, he rammed the creature right through the subway's side wall, tearing a gaping hole in the metal.
With half its body dangling outside the car, the monster let out a frenzied roar and retaliated. Several tentacles covered in sharp bone spurs lashed across Lear's body, instantly carving bloodied gashes into his skin.
Under the agonizing pain, Lear nearly coughed up a spray of blood, but he forced the metallic sweetness back down his throat and followed up with a heavy punch square to Nemesis's face.
The monster's roar was cut short by the blow. Its body jerked backward, pinned almost flush against the tunnel wall passing outside the subway.
"Think you're unkillable? I'm going to make sure you stay dead today!"
Lear leaped onto Nemesis, pinning it down. He pressed one hand violently against its hideous face, grinding its head against the passing tunnel wall with crushing force.
Nemesis's face was instantly ground into a bloody pulp. Driven by agony, it lashed out wildly with its pointed limbs. A U.B.C.S. operative who failed to dodge in time was instantly sliced in two by the razor-sharp appendages.
Lear ignored the carnage behind him, only increasing the pressure in his hands.
In a flash, more than half of Nemesis's skull had been ground away.
Sensing that death was imminent, a final survival instinct drove the creature to try and drag Lear down with it.
Summoning the last of its strength, it violently raised a sharp limb, thrusting it straight toward Lear's back.
"ill!!"
A child's panicked cry rang out from behind him.
Lear whipped his head around to see Jill desperately clutching the serrated limb with both hands, her palms already slick with blood.
At the sight of this, rage completely consumed Lear's sanity. He let out a subhuman roar.
He reached back, grabbed the limb, and with a sudden surge of power, snapped it clean off the monster's body. Then, locking his arms around Nemesis, he slammed the creature's entire weight against the outer wall of the tunnel.
A piercing shriek echoed through the air as the creature's remaining limbs lashed frantically at Lear.
He seemed not to feel it, his eyes bloodshot and fixed on the monster before him, until Nemesis was ground into a heap of unrecognizable flesh right before his eyes.
Once he was certain Nemesis was truly dead, Lear immediately rushed to Jill's side.
Jill was still trying to maintain her composure, forcing a lighthearted joke to reassure him. "What are you so nervous for? It's just a small wound, once I wrap it up..."
Before she could finish, a sudden wave of dizziness hit her. Her vision went black, and her body went limp, falling unconscious into Lear's arms.
Lear's heart sank as he frantically looked down to examine her wound. The area around the injury had already turned a bruised shade of blue-black, and beneath the flesh, something seemed to be faintly writhing.
He snapped his head up, looking at Tyrell, who was currently calling for a medic. His voice was icy:
"Stop the train. Pull over at the nearest station. Do you hear me?!"
"Lear, calm down. I understand you're worried about her, but right now..."
Bang—!
Before Tyrell could finish, he was hoisted up by one hand by a furious Lear and slammed violently against the carriage wall.
"I said, stop the train! Do you not understand English?!"
Just then, the sound of rhythmic footsteps came from outside the carriage.
Victor arrived with a squad of U.B.C.S. members, recognizing at a glance that Lear was on the verge of losing control.
He spoke in a low voice: "Do as he says. Stop the train."
Soon, the subway slowed to a halt at a deserted, abandoned subway station.
Lear said no more, picking Jill up and striding quickly toward the exit.
Halfway there, Lear heard a series of light, hurried footsteps behind him.
He turned his head to see Sherry silently following in his wake.
"Sherry, what are you doing? Go back. Get on the subway and get out of here."
Lear's tone carried a hint of harshness.
Sherry looked up, her eyes rimmed with red and shimmering with tears:
"Lear, I'm not leaving. I want to stay with you... I don't want to lose any more family."
Seeing her pitiful state and hearing that she already considered him and Jill as family, Lear's heart softened.
But the situation was critical; he had to harden his heart.
"Sherry, be good. I have to find a cure to save Jill. If you follow, it will only distract me because I'll have to protect you. Listen to me, okay?"
Sherry didn't answer. She only hung her head and gave a stubborn shake.
"Let her come along."
A voice rose slowly from behind Lear.
(Translated by yourtl.app)