บท 53: Saving Private Sherry

Boom!!

The chandelier fell on the floor with a crashing thud sending dust around it.

'I made it on time!'

My stealth was canceled and I was awkwardly holding Claire with both of my hands in a princess carry. I was like a dwarf trying to carry Snow White alone, but instead of failing, I could hold her just fine.

The second attack then quickly follow through without giving me a breather. William threw the broken chandelier, forcing me to jump away once more. Because it was already damaged when it crashed on the floor, the chandelier broke apart mid-air into smaller projectiles or shrapnel.

It was a bit hard to evade them, but I already trained myself for this. Even with Claire on my arms, I could evade it by relying on my agility. I put her down once we were at a safer distance. She wasn't hurt.

"Go. I'll stall him for you." I said to Claire. Before she could say anything, William charged at me. He was pissed off because I kept getting in his way. Somehow, I think he remembered me from our last meeting two days ago.

"An energetic one, aren't you?" I equipped two P90s in both of my hands and showered him with a barrage of bullets. "I'm sorry, but I prefer lesser eyeballs."

However, it didn't do much to him as he used his right arm to cover both his head and the huge eyeball on his shoulder.

"Good. Keep charging at me like that." I muttered. I need to change the stage and let him focus on me. Claire had to find Sherry all alone. Before the impact, I twisted my body and moved under his grotesque arm. The sudden movement threw off William's center of gravity and he couldn't stop himself from slamming the brick wall.

Boom!!

The wall collapsed with him falling from the second floor directly to the lush garden. The clear sky exposed William's body in its full glory. I couldn't see him clearly because everything happened too fast, but the William in the garden frightened me a little bit.

"Bullshit! It transformed into the second form already?"

His feature was much more different than the one I've seen before. The blonde head now was positioned on much lower, more precisely on his chest. Another huge arm on his left side completely takes over the function of his arm. Now he looked more balanced unlike before. The former arm was stiff as a stick, keeping close to his chest. His muscle tissues were expanding like a balloon, wriggling around his body like a worm. The stump that I saw before on his shoulder, now transformed into its head. He grew 30cm taller than before. What was left of his clothing was only his pants, reminding me of the green angry block I would meet later on.

"Hey, who a—"

Before Claire could finish her question, I threw her one of my FAMAS and a few magazines. It was the first AR I ever used. I already knew every inch of it so when I reinforced it for her, it finally reached the next level after Moderate, High Improvement, granting it three special abilities.

Aim-Assist, just like its name would unconsciously help the weapon user in aiming. It reminded me of playing FPS games on Console. Shadow Bullets +10 increase the bullet capacity upon reloading without the need to add more bullets in the magazine. It automatically added them once there was space inside. Lastly, the Knockback Bullets ability granted a knockback effect on every shot, something that would be very useful in a zombie apocalypse. Too bad, the buff's duration was only 37 minutes.

"Do what you need to do, I'll hold him off for you," I said. The Bulletproof Glass Helmet changed my voice, so I didn't need to worry myself when talking with her. But when she went back to the car, she would be suspicious if she couldn't find me inside. Well, I don't care anymore. I would rather choose her safety over fearing my identity to be exposed to her.

I jumped down to the garden, facing the G2 in front of me. Calling him William anymore would be inappropriate I guess. Just on a simple glance, no one would refer to him as a human anymore. He was twice my size, maybe taller, I don't know. Anyway, I have to fight him without allowing him to shorten the distance to the 3rd form. Not that it matters that much since his cells were constantly evolving at a slow pace.

"Fuck! You're one tough guy, aren't you? Thankfully, my job was only to buy time." I dashed toward it with my full speed. I put all of my power on my right arm and sent a punch to the blonde head on his chest. The G2 squirmed a bit, but that was it. His power was doubled after reaching the second form, probably surpassing mine. But at least I could do a little bit of damage without using my real power.

He tried to grab my head, but I ducked and jumped back, inserting a distance between us. "Now, let's compare the difference. Reinforce!"

One by one, my equipment glowed in white lights.

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<Item Abilities: Extreme Maneuver (Passive), Tiger Leap (Passive).

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<Item Abilities: Grizzly Grip (Passive), Piston Punch (Active).

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Just like I thought. Lately, I started to experiment on Reinforcement ability. Through trials and errors, and chugging a whole lot of mana potions, I was finally able to somehow set the Item Abilities close to what I wanted. This time, I set it to grants me at least one Passive and one Active Ability. I couldn't do so if Reinforce didn't grant Moderate Buff or higher and it also doubled the cost on Mental Power.

I feel more powerful than before. Once again, I dashed toward him, but now with much faster speed from the Fast Dash passive on my boots. In the next second, I arrived In front of him, but he also launched a stabbing motion with his huge claw, trying to impale me. However, the passive Extreme Maneuver from my pants allowed me to change direction without affecting my speed at all. In a moment, I already stood on his side with a cogged left fist behind me.

"Piston Punch!"

Bam!

I punched his waist, making him bend In an awkward position and writhing in agony. Using the Active ability, Tiger Leap, I somersaulted over his shoulder to perform the next attack.

"Hammer Stomp!"

Buog!

I performed a downward kick using my heel, sending a blow to his head. I heard a crack from its neck as he fell on the ground. But I sent another combo using my spinning body's inertia.

"Piston PUNCH!"

BAM!

His upper body was carved into the ground. I leaped back and stare at him. A melee battle might still affect his rate of regeneration, but it was far slower than using weapons. Besides, I need a punching bag. I hadn't had any training in the past two days. Only fieldworks.

The G2 rose slowly. His huge eyeball turned red, forming a slit. He was pissed off.

"Well, I got his attention now. I'll leave Sherry's matter on you, Aunt Claire." I said as I looked toward the mansion.

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Meanwhile, inside the mansion, Claire was frustrated because she couldn't find Sherry. She already scoured the whole second floor and found nothing. Sounds of battle resumed outside, catching her attention. The small figure in a white coat earlier passed in her mind. Who was it? And why he helped her?

She shook her head and clapped her cheeks with her palms. She should focus on Sherry. The mysterious monster earlier was something out of this world. She knew Sherry was in danger and she needs to bring her to safety as soon as possible. She didn't know how long that small person could hold against the monster.

She thought that that the small person was forced to fight it in a melee because he gave her his weapon. She didn't know that Edward was currently bullying the G2 in a Chuunibyou fight. Why Chuunibyou? It was because he was forced to shout or say the name of the ability to use it. Item Ability was a different system, unlike his special ability that could be used just by thinking.

Although the monster was doubled in strength, Edward was stronger after receiving the Moderate Buff. The G2 needs to evolve to the next step, the G3, to fight him equally.

10 minutes passed without any results. Claire was almost bursting into tears, but she couldn't give up. Sherry was like a niece for her, just like Edward. They spent a lot of time together in the past month. She already had a lot of affection for that shy girl.

When she retraced her way back to the kitchen on the first floor, she found something odd. There was small ventilation leading underground. She started to think like Sherry. If she was in danger, where would I hide? The bedroom? No, it's too easy. Sherry lived here since she was born, she must have known one or two secrets of this house.

Left with no choice, she went inside the ventilation. Just like what she thought, the ventilation led her underground. When he got out on the other side, she found that it was a one-way tunnel, there were other similar vents next to her vent. She believed it also led to one of the rooms in the mansion. It must be a secret passage to help the residents escape.

She released the safety button on the FAMAS and turned on a flashlight she found in the utility room next to the kitchen. She keeps walking for the next 10 minutes in the dark tunnel until she reached an already opened metal door. On the other side was another tunnel that must have been the city's sewer. There were two small paths to walk on either side while the middle side was for the flowing waste. She could hear the sound of droplets from the pipes, making the dark and stinky tunnel even more dreary.

"Sherry!" she shouted. Although she knew that calling Sherry's name out loud could be dangerous, she couldn't be bothered with it. Finding her was of the utmost priority.

10 more minutes later, she was met with a T-junction a bit further in front of her. Suddenly, before she could approach it, she heard running footsteps in front of her. She positioned her left arm under the FAMAS while using the flashlight to lighten the path in front of her. She gulped as the footsteps were getting closer and closer. That was when a small figure appeared from the left side of the T-junction.

"Sherry!" shouted Claire, relief, and happiness were drawn on her face. The small figure was, of course, Sherry, but somehow she didn't appear relieved or happy as her. It was one of a frightened expression.

Sherry didn't say anything but one word, "Run!"

Suddenly the ground started shaking and trembling so hard almost like an earthquake. From the direction that Sherry came from, a huge long jaw of predator appeared with a loud hissing. It was a massive crocodile, it's whole body could cover the tunnel completely if it was a bit older. Claire was shocked speechless. If not for Sherry pulling her hand, she might have stood still there, not knowing what to do.

She turned back while holding Sherry's hand and pulled the trigger on the FAMAS to somehow slow down the huge Crocodile's chasing speed. The aim could have been affected by her swaying movement, but the Item's ability prevented her to miss the shots. And also, something surprising happened, the crocodile was visibly flinching with every shot that hit his body.

Noticing that the huge predator was howling loudly in pain, Claire turned her head. She didn't know what happened but she resumed her attack with a proper position, emptying the magazine. The crocodile was pushed back, literally. The knockback effect was pushing its gigantic body further away. Seeing that her opponent couldn't advance anymore, she reloaded and continued to send a barrage of bullets.

The massive crocodile couldn't do anything but accept its fate as it fell and floated on the waterways. Claire was on her last magazine if her attack couldn't do anything to it... She was too scared of thinking about what would have happened.

"Claire!" suddenly Sherry jumped to Claire's embrace. Knowing that they were safe now, Sherry could finally smile in relief. The previous encounter was a first for her. She already roamed the underground tunnel more than anyone could think of. She knew the pathways just like she knew how to find her ways in the city.

"Did you get hurt?" Claire asked.

"No, I'm fine. How did you get here?" she asked?

Both of them then shared their sides of the story. Sherry was happy that Edward and Claire were thinking about her safety, even looking out for her. Tears started to fell on her chubby face, relieving herself of the tension she felt since last night.

Apparently, William suddenly appeared at the mansion. It keeps chasing her throughout the mansion, ignoring anyone but her. Once William couldn't find her, he vents his frustration by killing the butler. That was when Sherry used the hidden ventilation in her bedroom and escaped through the secret tunnel.

Claire suddenly recalled that Edward was all alone in the car waiting for them. She also recalled the monster that the small person faced earlier. Guilt and panic appeared on her face. If something happened to him, she didn't know what to do anymore.

Sherry also noticed her expression and guessed what she was thinking about. She already knew that Edward also came to find her, so it was easy to draw the dots. Now both of them were in panic.

However, just when they decided to get back, the massive crocodile opened its eyes. Once it found its target, it opened its massive jaw, trying to take a bite on both of the girls. Both of them were surprised by the sudden revival of their enemy.

Suddenly, just when Claire shielded Sherry's body to protect her, the wall next to the crocodile crumbled. Another massive being appeared from the wall and slammed the massive crocodile to the next wall. It was a massive worm-like creature.

It was a...

ALASKAN!

BULL!

WORM!

Well, something like that. It didn't have eyes and the circular mouth was decorated with thousands of saw-like teeth. Four massive claw-like teeth butter on the corners of its mouth. They were called the Grave Diggers.

But it didn't end just there. Another Grave digger burst from another wall, attacking the helpless crocodile.

'Jesus... Fucking... Christ...'

, thought someone while watching the unbelievable cutscene. It was the invisible Edward.