Chapter 11

Hudson swallowed hard, feeling an urge to retch. If Winona hadn't been there last night, he might have suffered the same fate as Anne. He trembled as he turned to Winona and asked, "Can she be saved?" It was obviously a foolish question. Winona shook her head indifferently. "Unless she has an extraordinary physique like yours, it's unlikely." Then, she raised a sleek black scythe with its blade gleaming coldly. At the same time, the monster that had been feeding on the woman's remains noticed them. It let out a piercing shriek and charged toward them. "Get behind me, Hudson. This is an infected with the codename Multiclaw." She instinctively reached for her ear as though to press something, only to realize she wasn't wearing her earpiece. She was only in a nightgown. "Codename: Reaper. Commencing hunt." Murmuring to herself, Winona darted forward. Her movements were lightning-fast, and she closed the distance between her and the monster in an instant. The sleek black scythe cut through the night, tracing a graceful yet lethal arc. With a flash of the blade, one of the monster's forelimbs was severed cleanly, falling to the ground with a thud. Scarlet blood gushed from the wound, spraying across Winona's face. She exhaled softly, her breath plumed white in the chilly air. In the next instant, the blade flashed again, and the scythe severed the monster's elongated spine into two. The monster let out a bloodcurdling scream before collapsing in a heap. Winona smoothly retracted her scythe, flicking the blood off the blade with practiced ease. The fight had been over in moments. Yet, she showed no signs of fatigue with her breathing still calm and composed. Hudson was dumbstruck. The night before, Winona had told him to shut his eyes, so he hadn't seen her in action. Witnessing her fight up close now left him utterly shaken. Winona knelt beside the woman, gently folding her hands over her chest. "May your soul find peace, and may you be spared from suffering in your next life." The woman's pupils trembled as if she wanted to say something, but no words came. A flash of light cut through the night as the scythe severed her neck, granting her final relief. Then, Winona slowly walked back toward Hudson and said in a calm voice, "I'll call the organization's logistics team to clean this up. For now, we should—" Before she could finish, she froze as if sensing something. It was a feeling she was all too familiar with. Hudson noticed it too. Behind Winona, a rift was slowly tearing through the air. "Watch out!" Hudson shouted, running toward Winona. She turned her head just in time to lock eyes with a monster's head emerging from the rift. Her pupils contracted sharply. The monster twisted its face into a grotesque smile, its rows of sharp teeth glinting menacingly in the moonlight. It lunged, jaws snapping toward Winona's head. In a split second, Winona snapped back to her senses and instinctively raised her scythe, but it was too late. She barely managed to block, and the monster clamped its jaws around the blade. The two forces clashed in midair, locked in a brief stalemate, until the monster violently twisted its head, flinging Winona and her scythe into a nearby brick wall with a loud bang. The heavy impact reverberated through the alley, followed by Winona's stifled cry of pain. She felt the immense force crush her, her internal organs shifting under the blow. Blood filled her mouth. Sliding weakly down the wall, she collapsed onto the filthy ground, struggling to remain upright. Blood trickled from her forehead. Her breaths were shallow and labored, and her vision became blurry due to the pain. Her scythe had flown out of her grasp, landing on the ground a short distance away. She turned her head weakly, trying to find Hudson, but her blurred vision rendered him indistinguishable. She mustered her strength to call out, "Hudson, run…" The monster's massive form and grotesque features emerged fully from the rift, emanating a presence of pure malice. Winona tried to push herself up but found that her legs had gone weak. And it wasn't just the injuries. No, she was terrified. "This… this isn't an infected…" She heard her own trembling voice filled with disbelief and dread. Yes, she finally realized that the monster before her wasn't one of the low-level infected she usually hunted. This was a genuine… Beast. And this beast clearly possessed intelligence. After emerging from the rift, it didn't immediately attack. Instead, it used its overbearing presence in its favor, suffocating the entire alley with its oppressive force. It created a perfectly controlled hunting ground. Only after asserting its dominance did it leisurely begin devouring the carcass of the infected that Winona had slain earlier, all while steadily approaching her. Winona's trembling hand reached for the scythe. But her hands shook so violently she couldn't even lift the weapon properly. A mix of helplessness and fury churned within her. Fear surged into her heart like a tidal wave. It wasn't the first time. She hadn't expected that she would still feel so weak and helpless in the face of a beast after all this time. The beast drew closer, its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth gaping wide, foul blood streaming out as it prepared to deliver a fatal blow to Winona. At the critical moment, a rock flew through the air, striking the beast on the head. It let out an enraged screech, twisting its head sharply to glare in the direction the rock had come from. "Run!" Hudson's voice rang out nearby. He shouted, "I'll hold it off—just go!" As he spoke, he hurled another rock at the beast. This time, the beast was thoroughly provoked. Its eyes burned with rage as it abandoned the powerless Winona and turned its fury toward Hudson, lunging in his direction. Watching the beast close in on Hudson, Winona panicked. She gritted her teeth, trying to force down her fear. Trembling, she shifted her body and reached for the scythe lying on the ground, mumbling to herself like a mantra. "I... I can do this. I'm not the same as before... I can do this..." But when she grasped the scythe, she trembled so much that she couldn't even lift it properly. A deep sense of powerlessness and anger welled up inside her, flooding her heart with frustration and despair. Memories flooded her mind—her parents being slaughtered by beasts, the screams and chaos, the inferno and overwhelming stench of blood. A sharp cry snapped her out of her daze. She turned her head abruptly to see Hudson already caught in the beast's grasp, dangling helplessly in its jaw. The beast seemed to enjoy toying with its prey. Instead of killing him outright, it slowly tore his arm from his body with its sharp claws. Blood spurted everywhere, the warm, metallic liquid splattering onto Winona's face. Her pupils contracted, her expression going blank. The searing pain nearly drove Hudson unconscious. At that moment, an inexplicable rage began to boil inside him.