Ada and Lear kept William dangling at a medium distance, starting a guerrilla battle in the corridor of the Central Elevator shaft.
Although the two had never worked together before, Ada's combat experience quickly caught up with Lear's rhythm.
William's attacks whipped through the air with a howling wind, but every swing missed—his four massive claws grazed Ada's coat each time, slamming into the corridor walls or the floor beside her.
But every strike from Lear hit William's weak points—those exposed eyes.
Soon William couldn't hold out any longer. The G-Virus made him tough, not invincible.
William's pace slowed, and his pursuit gradually dwindled.
Sensing William's weakness, a spark of inspiration hit Lear as he shouted to Ada.
"Now!"
Ada immediately understood his intent. She hooked the Grapple Gun around William's arm and leaped straight off the connecting corridor.
The force of the Grapple Gun's cable yanked William off balance, sending him stumbling toward the edge of the corridor.
But as G3, enhanced by the G-Virus, his twisted limbs gave him immense strength.
Just as one foot touched the edge of the corridor, William used his own power to forcibly halt his backward momentum, digging all four massive claws into the floor.
Boom!
Right as he was about to steady himself, Lear slammed hard into him.
William was sent flying straight out of the corridor. His claws scraped across the metal floor, gouging a deep trench.
His massive body plummeted into the abyss with a roar.
In the last moment before falling out of the corridor, Lear grabbed the edge of the floor with one hand, hanging from the side. Ada used the split-second William paused at the edge to swing back up from below, pulling Lear up as she returned. The two of them landed back in the Central Elevator shaft.
Gasping for breath, Lear had just gotten to his feet when Ada grabbed him without a word and dragged him toward the West Laboratory.
"What's wrong? What did you see?"
Looking bewildered, Lear glanced at Ada and immediately noticed her strange expression—a look of fear mixed with confusion.
Ada didn't answer his question, only saying one thing.
"Get that pet of yours rigged up, hurry! We can't take the elevator shaft—go down the stairs!"
The two quickly reached the door of the West Laboratory. Lear wanted to ask more.
Then, from the depths of the abyss below, a tremendous roar erupted.
The sound was unlike anything Lear had heard before—a raw, purely beastly noise, stripped of all will.
"That's definitely not William!"
Lear judged immediately at the first sound. William's roar didn't have that kind of force.
As the roar echoed, a huge, pitch-black, octopus-like tentacle shot up from below, wrapping around the Central Elevator shaft's corridor.
The tentacle's length was impossible to determine, but from its sheer diameter alone, it must have been over three meters.
"Holy shit!!!!!!"
Lear stood frozen, stunned. "What the hell is this!!!!!!"
Ada beside him looked at the tentacle, her voice hoarse as she said, "Now you know what I saw."
Her voice sounded as if it had been scraped by two sheets of sandpaper—dry and raspy.
Without another word, Lear turned and sprinted toward Friday's direction deeper inside.
The two had barely set foot in the Laboratory when the massive tentacle slammed against the door behind them.
With that impact, the entire NEST seemed to shudder.
Ada and Lear were thrown off balance, tumbling forward. When they got up and looked back again.
The door to the West Laboratory was caved in, twisted together with the steel reinforcements on either side—bent, but somehow stronger. Through the gaps, they could still see the enormous tentacle blocking the entrance.
"Well, looks like we need to find another way."
Ada stood up, dusted off her clothes, and let out a bitter chuckle.
She turned around and saw Lear standing behind her, quietly staring at the tentacle through the torn gap in the door.
"After I jumped down, I saw a huge mass of black stuff climbing up from below. Too dark to make out the shape. All I could tell was that it was enormous."
Ada turned and headed toward the P-4. If she remembered correctly, there should be a ladder leading to the next floor down there.
"Could that be... the Nemesis."
Lear muttered to himself under his breath.
Just then, static crackled from Lear's radio, followed by Claire's voice.
"Lear! Are you okay? Sounded pretty intense over there... What the hell is that!"
Outside the West Laboratory, Claire and the other two, having already set the self-destruct timer, were heading back to the reception when they saw a massive black sphere, easily dozens of feet across, slowly climbing up the wall beside the NEST's Central Elevator shaft.
Countless gigantic tentacles flailed everywhere, flinging disgusting dark brown liquid.
Claire and Alessa's first instinct was to dart into the reception room, but when Annette saw the creature, she froze.
She spotted another monster seemingly being devoured by this black mass.
Annette recognized that monster's identity in an instant, her voice complex with emotion as she called out.
"William..."
Claire, who was pulling her toward the safety of the room, also paused.
Following Annette's gaze, she saw G3 William being slowly pulled into the black mass formed by the Nemesis. Inside the sphere, countless fine, insect-like mandibles drove viciously into William's body. Even as G3 William struggled desperately, the difference in strength was ultimately too great.
Soon, G3 William was completely dragged inside the sphere, followed by sounds like chewing from within.
Crunch! Crunch!
The noise was utterly chilling.
"Claire, listen to me—you guys go first. Ada and I will head down from here. Be careful, this thing has mutated gods know how many times. It's dangerous!"
Hearing that the radio had been silent for a long time, Lear shouted loudly into it.
He didn't even need to say it. The moment they saw the Nemesis devouring William, Claire and Alessa had already grabbed the still-dazed Annette and rushed into the reception.
They ran straight into Leon, who was about to head out and check on the commotion.
Before Leon could ask a question, Lear's warning came through the radio.
"Can you handle it? We'll send Annette and Alessa down first, then come back to help you guys!"
Claire ignored Leon's confused expression and picked up the radio to reply to Lear.
"Listen to me—I've seen this thing before. This is its who-knows-how-many-th mutation. You guys go first, wait for us at the station!"
After a brief hesitation, Claire thought for a moment and then quickly replied, "Alright! Then you two be careful. Also, there're only 15 minutes. The self-destruct sequence starts in 15!"
But this time, the radio didn't crackle back to life. Whether it was out of battery or broken, she couldn't tell.
"Hope Lear and the others heard that!"
Claire couldn't help but grip her radio tightly, her voice laced with urgency.
(Translated by yourtl.app)