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biohazard 4 Kaitai Shinsho (バイオハザード4 解体真書)
※Revised Edition information also included. |
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Released: 02/05/2005
Revised: 16/01/2006 Softcover: 464-511 Staff: Studio BentStuff Publisher: CAPCOM, Enterbrain ISBN-10: 4757722583 ISBN-13: 9784757722583 |
CHARACTER OF biohazard4
Leon S. Kennedy (p.006-007)
A SURVIVING WITNESS TO A NIGHTMARISH INCIDENT
A distinguished U.S. agent. 27-years-old. He was a police officer in the American midwestern rural town of Raccoon City, but right after his assignment he was embroiled in the "Umbrella Incident" and recruited by a covert military agency that valued his skills and his escape from Raccoon City, which had become a city of the dead. He was expected to join the President's daughter Ashley's security detail but since she's been abducted by an unknown assailant, he's forced to investigate the case in secret. Based on received intel, he visits a certain European village and is once again embroiled in a horrific tragedy reminiscent of the nightmare six years ago.
Harking back to his trauma and grueling experience six years before, he's nihilistic and sometimes makes somewhat self-deprecating jokes.
Even when offered cigarettes by his cop guides, he declines, and shakes his head when Luis asks for one. It seems he doesn't smoke cigarettes.
Six years ago, Leon was an inexperienced youngster, now he's a top agent. His hard-hitting performance is one of both flair and coolness.
In the incident six years ago he was at his wit's end with worry over women, but now he appears well-experienced in dealing with women.
Whenever he meets some unexpected individuals again, a former comrade and a woman he used to love, Leon's heart wavers.
Ashley Graham (p.009)
Ada Wong (p.010-011)
THE GREAT FEMALE SPY
A beautiful woman of Asian origin whose age, identity and objectives are all wrapped in mystery. She met and fell in love with Leon during the Umbrella Incident, although she appeared to lose her life due to injuries she sustained during the incident. This time however she appears before Leon while he's visiting the village on the search mission for Ashley and behaves enigmatically, sometimes supporting him by giving advice. "Ada Wong" is an alias she gave Leon six years ago, her real name's unknown and she's currently working as a spy for "The 3rd Organization", apparently aiming for parasite samples in the hands of the cult, Los Iluminados...
She always has a cool smile on her face. The emotional turmoil she displayed in "BIO2" is totally absent this time.
She's been working with Wesker, the mastermind behind the "Mansion Incident", for a long time now, but even she has thoughts and actions he can't read.
Her comings and goings are very vivid. She's also a skilled shooter and can hold her own in a pinch while wearing her magnificent dress.
She rushes to Leon's aid and supports him by shooting. Perhaps it's because there are still a few shreds of love left in her heart, or...
Luis Sera (p.012)
A SHADOW BEHIND CYNICAL CONDUCT
A man who was imprisoned in a cabin in the village. 28-years-old. Despite displaying self-centered behavior, he ends up working with Leon, the man who saved his life. He talks frivolously in mocking tones and doesn't show his innermost feelings. Although he calls himself "an ex-cop in Madrid, currently unemployed", he apparently harbors a past that can't be explained by his background alone, as he's oddly knowledgeable concerning how to deal with the abnormality occurring in Leon and his companion's bodies.
Seeing Ashley's picture he quickly reacts with "the President's daughter." He says he heard the story from villagers, but what about the abduction case?
He seems to be important to the cult of Los Iluminados and is being pursued by the villagers.
His seemingly frivolous way of talking belies his intense caution. He doesn't readily show his hand to his savior, Leon, either.
Ingrid Hunnigan
LEON'S SUPPORTING ROLE
A woman who serves as an assistant to Leon in this mission. Her role's support staff in the U.S. covert military agency and she assists Leon from his home country by radio, giving him appropriate instructions depending on the situation. She's perceptive and not easily fazed even when the unexpected happens. A beautiful woman with large, dark eyes and jet-black hair.
Jack Krauser (p.013)
A SOLDIER WITH A STRONG TIE TO LEON
A soldier once close to Leon. A muscular American fortified with his combat uniform. An ex-comrade to Leon, Krauser was believed dead in an accident two years before but appears during Leon's mission to save Ashley. He works for Saddler but is in contact with The 3rd Organization. He feels he and Leon are two sides of the same coin, having similarities and contrasts.
Krauser accepted the cult's power and gained an ability to jump greater than a human's capable, and his left arm's able to take a different form.
Krauser's been trying to get at Leon as if he has a grudge against him. They were close friends on the battlefield, what could've happened between them...
After Krauser was given an order from Saddler, he secretly contacted Ada. What could this intense conversation mean?
Key point: The Man Named Albert Wesker
Ada and others work for The 3rd Organization and are mobilized by a man named Albert Wesker.
He was ostensibly the Captain of the special mission unit S.T.A.R.S., but in fact, Wesker was a special agent of Umbrella. During the Mansion Incident, as commanding officer he dispatched S.T.A.R.S. to resolve the incident and drove them to destruction while manipulating from behind-the-scenes. He was believed to have died in the midst of the incident, however, in the biohazard incident that occurred on the solitary Rockfort Island in Europe, he was confirmed to have survived.
What's his position now? And what is The 3rd Organization...?
Wesker was resurrected and acquired incredible strength. Is he plotting to revive the Umbrella he once belonged to?
Osmund Saddler (p.014)
A PROPHET WITH EXTRAORDINARY POWER
For a long time in the region of this game's setting there's been a religious organization, the cult of Los Iluminados, he learned the strange power once used by the cult and through the cooperation of the charismatic current feudal lord Ramon Salazar, intends to introduce his and the cult's power everywhere using an "innovative missionary method" with the intent to rule the entire world, starting with the United States of America.
Key point: Los Iluminados
A religious community was active for a long time in the certain European village where Ashley was imprisoned--- the cult Los Iluminados.
The cult took the name "The Enlightened Ones" and amasses its followers using a special method from ancient times, but rather than faith, it's a master that completely rules over the hearts and souls of the believers... the specific properties vanished following intense oppression from the first feudal lord. However the current feudal lord Ramon Salazar became a believer and after beginning to totally cooperate with them, the cult's power spread through the whole village and now all the villagers have become believers. The current master Saddler holds dangerous ideas that'll enable this power to penetrate the whole world, and is highly suspected of involvement in the Ashley abduction case.
A person who has received the sect's unique power will never go against the cult leader and will act according to his will.
While they carry out "rituals" from previous eras, they've set up a research facility with state-of-the-art equipment and are conducting their own research.
Bitores Mendez (p.015)
THE CHIEF OF THE MAD VILLAGE
Leader of the village that's the stage for this case and also a priest of Los Iluminados, he has preached respect and affection to the villagers for the revered cult leader Saddler, whom he holds dear. A tall man with a sense of intimidation and dressed in a trench coat, he has an artificial eye in his left eye
He has a tremendous amount of strength, enough to twist iron levers with a light touch and very easily crush a person's cervical spine.
Is his extreme dislike of outsiders due to the locals' unsociable nature or is there some special reason?
Ramon Salazar
A BIZARRE LORD BOTH OLD AND YOUNG
He became an ardent believer upon joining the sect in opposition to the history of his family who'd oppressed the cult Los Iluminados, the Salazar family, who've ruled this region for generations. Although it seems he harbored feelings of loneliness, the details are uncertain, but his appearance is identical to that of a child around 10-years-old, and while his deeply-wrinkled face and hoarse voice are that of an old man, his actual age is 20-years-old.
Sadistic, arrogant, and childish. He's followed by two mutant aides who willingly follow his cruel orders.
He uses extraordinary abilities gained from receiving a secret ritual, generously using them for the cult leader Saddler's sake.
Leon S. Kennedy (p.006-007)
A SURVIVING WITNESS TO A NIGHTMARISH INCIDENT
A distinguished U.S. agent. 27-years-old. He was a police officer in the American midwestern rural town of Raccoon City, but right after his assignment he was embroiled in the "Umbrella Incident" and recruited by a covert military agency that valued his skills and his escape from Raccoon City, which had become a city of the dead. He was expected to join the President's daughter Ashley's security detail but since she's been abducted by an unknown assailant, he's forced to investigate the case in secret. Based on received intel, he visits a certain European village and is once again embroiled in a horrific tragedy reminiscent of the nightmare six years ago.
Harking back to his trauma and grueling experience six years before, he's nihilistic and sometimes makes somewhat self-deprecating jokes.
Even when offered cigarettes by his cop guides, he declines, and shakes his head when Luis asks for one. It seems he doesn't smoke cigarettes.
Six years ago, Leon was an inexperienced youngster, now he's a top agent. His hard-hitting performance is one of both flair and coolness.
In the incident six years ago he was at his wit's end with worry over women, but now he appears well-experienced in dealing with women.
Whenever he meets some unexpected individuals again, a former comrade and a woman he used to love, Leon's heart wavers.
Ashley Graham (p.009)
Ada Wong (p.010-011)
THE GREAT FEMALE SPY
A beautiful woman of Asian origin whose age, identity and objectives are all wrapped in mystery. She met and fell in love with Leon during the Umbrella Incident, although she appeared to lose her life due to injuries she sustained during the incident. This time however she appears before Leon while he's visiting the village on the search mission for Ashley and behaves enigmatically, sometimes supporting him by giving advice. "Ada Wong" is an alias she gave Leon six years ago, her real name's unknown and she's currently working as a spy for "The 3rd Organization", apparently aiming for parasite samples in the hands of the cult, Los Iluminados...
She always has a cool smile on her face. The emotional turmoil she displayed in "BIO2" is totally absent this time.
She's been working with Wesker, the mastermind behind the "Mansion Incident", for a long time now, but even she has thoughts and actions he can't read.
Her comings and goings are very vivid. She's also a skilled shooter and can hold her own in a pinch while wearing her magnificent dress.
She rushes to Leon's aid and supports him by shooting. Perhaps it's because there are still a few shreds of love left in her heart, or...
Luis Sera (p.012)
A SHADOW BEHIND CYNICAL CONDUCT
A man who was imprisoned in a cabin in the village. 28-years-old. Despite displaying self-centered behavior, he ends up working with Leon, the man who saved his life. He talks frivolously in mocking tones and doesn't show his innermost feelings. Although he calls himself "an ex-cop in Madrid, currently unemployed", he apparently harbors a past that can't be explained by his background alone, as he's oddly knowledgeable concerning how to deal with the abnormality occurring in Leon and his companion's bodies.
Seeing Ashley's picture he quickly reacts with "the President's daughter." He says he heard the story from villagers, but what about the abduction case?
He seems to be important to the cult of Los Iluminados and is being pursued by the villagers.
His seemingly frivolous way of talking belies his intense caution. He doesn't readily show his hand to his savior, Leon, either.
Ingrid Hunnigan
LEON'S SUPPORTING ROLE
A woman who serves as an assistant to Leon in this mission. Her role's support staff in the U.S. covert military agency and she assists Leon from his home country by radio, giving him appropriate instructions depending on the situation. She's perceptive and not easily fazed even when the unexpected happens. A beautiful woman with large, dark eyes and jet-black hair.
Jack Krauser (p.013)
A SOLDIER WITH A STRONG TIE TO LEON
A soldier once close to Leon. A muscular American fortified with his combat uniform. An ex-comrade to Leon, Krauser was believed dead in an accident two years before but appears during Leon's mission to save Ashley. He works for Saddler but is in contact with The 3rd Organization. He feels he and Leon are two sides of the same coin, having similarities and contrasts.
Krauser accepted the cult's power and gained an ability to jump greater than a human's capable, and his left arm's able to take a different form.
Krauser's been trying to get at Leon as if he has a grudge against him. They were close friends on the battlefield, what could've happened between them...
After Krauser was given an order from Saddler, he secretly contacted Ada. What could this intense conversation mean?
Key point: The Man Named Albert Wesker
Ada and others work for The 3rd Organization and are mobilized by a man named Albert Wesker.
He was ostensibly the Captain of the special mission unit S.T.A.R.S., but in fact, Wesker was a special agent of Umbrella. During the Mansion Incident, as commanding officer he dispatched S.T.A.R.S. to resolve the incident and drove them to destruction while manipulating from behind-the-scenes. He was believed to have died in the midst of the incident, however, in the biohazard incident that occurred on the solitary Rockfort Island in Europe, he was confirmed to have survived.
What's his position now? And what is The 3rd Organization...?
Wesker was resurrected and acquired incredible strength. Is he plotting to revive the Umbrella he once belonged to?
Osmund Saddler (p.014)
A PROPHET WITH EXTRAORDINARY POWER
For a long time in the region of this game's setting there's been a religious organization, the cult of Los Iluminados, he learned the strange power once used by the cult and through the cooperation of the charismatic current feudal lord Ramon Salazar, intends to introduce his and the cult's power everywhere using an "innovative missionary method" with the intent to rule the entire world, starting with the United States of America.
Key point: Los Iluminados
A religious community was active for a long time in the certain European village where Ashley was imprisoned--- the cult Los Iluminados.
The cult took the name "The Enlightened Ones" and amasses its followers using a special method from ancient times, but rather than faith, it's a master that completely rules over the hearts and souls of the believers... the specific properties vanished following intense oppression from the first feudal lord. However the current feudal lord Ramon Salazar became a believer and after beginning to totally cooperate with them, the cult's power spread through the whole village and now all the villagers have become believers. The current master Saddler holds dangerous ideas that'll enable this power to penetrate the whole world, and is highly suspected of involvement in the Ashley abduction case.
A person who has received the sect's unique power will never go against the cult leader and will act according to his will.
While they carry out "rituals" from previous eras, they've set up a research facility with state-of-the-art equipment and are conducting their own research.
Bitores Mendez (p.015)
THE CHIEF OF THE MAD VILLAGE
Leader of the village that's the stage for this case and also a priest of Los Iluminados, he has preached respect and affection to the villagers for the revered cult leader Saddler, whom he holds dear. A tall man with a sense of intimidation and dressed in a trench coat, he has an artificial eye in his left eye
He has a tremendous amount of strength, enough to twist iron levers with a light touch and very easily crush a person's cervical spine.
Is his extreme dislike of outsiders due to the locals' unsociable nature or is there some special reason?
Ramon Salazar
A BIZARRE LORD BOTH OLD AND YOUNG
He became an ardent believer upon joining the sect in opposition to the history of his family who'd oppressed the cult Los Iluminados, the Salazar family, who've ruled this region for generations. Although it seems he harbored feelings of loneliness, the details are uncertain, but his appearance is identical to that of a child around 10-years-old, and while his deeply-wrinkled face and hoarse voice are that of an old man, his actual age is 20-years-old.
Sadistic, arrogant, and childish. He's followed by two mutant aides who willingly follow his cruel orders.
He uses extraordinary abilities gained from receiving a secret ritual, generously using them for the cult leader Saddler's sake.
CREATURE
Ganado (p.060)
Humans controlled by the "Plaga" parasite. The parasite assimilates the host's central nervous system and controls their mind, making them attack people due to the Plaga's preservation instinct. In this condition the hosts maintain their intelligence and ability to communicate. During combat they can also use all sorts of weapons, set traps, and hunt their target in groups.
Ganado (Chainsaw) (p.101)
Ganados armed with lumbering chainsaws. Assimilation with the Plaga's quite perfect, allowing them to be controlled by extremely aggressive impulses and swing their chainsaws to kill their enemies. Their bodies are also tougher than common Ganados which allows them to endure much more damage from bullets.
Ganado (Arma de Gatling) (p.104)
Ganados armed with gatling guns. When enemies are spotted, they'll fire their terrifying machine guns, attacking any people in their sight. Originally a heavy weapon like this is fixed on a mount, but the parasite gives them the strength to use it only with their hands. Their bodies are also very difficult to damage, even a head-shot with a rifle can't kill them easily.
Ganado (Plaga) (p.106)
The form of a Plaga exposed from a Ganado's body. When the host receives serious damage and loses brain functions, the parasite controls the human's body itself, but its movements are quite mechanical. The larval parasite's manifested as a long tentacle with a sharp tip. When it nearly grows to an adult, it can spit an acidic liquid and crunch prey with its strong jaw.
Plaga (p.110)
The Plaga parasite without a host. In this state, the parasite can act individually but only live for a short time, gradually becoming weaker and weaker until it dies. The parasite crawls around seeking a new host. Once it finds an appropriate host, it enters the creature's body immediately.
Colmillos (p.111)
Dogs parasitized by the Plaga. The assimilation causes their fangs to overgrow and become exposed from the mouth. They're very swift while hunting and will slice a prey's throat in a flash. The parasite can burst from their body and use tentacles to attack. Perhaps due to the fact the hosts are social animals, controlling them through the Plaga parasite's very stable. And the collective aggression with several dogs is also a conspicuous feature of them.
Novistador (p.114)
An insect-man created through application experiments of the Plaga parasite. It can change the color of its carapace at will to blend in with the background while awaiting prey. Although based on humans, its body's just like that of an insect. It has been observed making giant nests to reproduce. There are large numbers of a weaker type which lack camouflage ability but have wings on their back for flying in swarms when they attack enemies.
Garrador (p.118)
Experimental hosts using the Plaga to enhance the body. Though the experiments successfully gave them very powerful physical abilities, they became extremely aggressive and attack any nearby living things. With no other option, their eyes were stitched and they were strictly restrained. The loss of vision makes their hearing ability highly developed. Once released in battle they can find the enemy's direction based on sound, then destroy them with their iron claws.
Armadura (p.121)
Armor inside the castle internally controlled by a Plaga. In pursuit of a host, the parasite invades an armor and enters a hibernation state to sustain its life, reactivating if any creature approaches. The parasite's tentacles expand within the armor to function as muscles, allowing it to walk and swing weapons just like if a man were inside. Due to its slow movement however, this creature seems quite cumbersome.
Regenerador (p.124)
A monster created out of experiments infecting humans with multiple Plaga parasites. As a result it possesses astounding regenerative capabilities, capable of regrowing lost body parts in a flash. Only a vague human form remains however, with its physical constitution having been completely altered. The changes also influence its brain which causes it to lose the ability to think like a human.
Iron Maiden (p.124)
Improved creatures based on the Regenerador. It has awe-inspiring regenerative capabilities along with many sharp needle-like thorns capable of stretching out from its body. During combat it'll capture prey with its long elastic arms then pierce their bodies using those thorns. Due to its similarity with the torture instrument in 16th century Europe, it was given the same name "Iron Maiden."
El Gigante (p.132)
A giant created during Plaga parasite application experiments. By genetically altering a parasitized human, the host eventually grows four times larger than a normal man. Along with their massive body, their extremely powerful strength and toughness allow them to shrug off common gunfire. However, just like with Del Lago, they're highly aggressive and difficult to control. Only a few of these creatures were produced as a result.
Bitores Mendez (p.139)
Mendez's form with the parasite's power fully unleashed. His exposed vertebra has completely fused with the Plaga and become a centipede-like creature. The two large front legs on his back are incredibly strong with giant claws that allow Mendez to shred his foes to pieces. Mendez also has extremely robust vitality, even when the vertebra's broken he can still function with half his body.
Del Lago (p.129)
A giant aquatic creature exceeding twenty meters in length. It was originally an aquatic salamander (also called a waterdog) used as a sample in application experiments with the Plaga. As the bizarre creature kept growing it grew enormous and additionally acquired the ability to swim through water like a fish. However its behavior couldn't be controlled using the Plaga so it had to be sealed away in the village lake.
Verdugo (p.144)
A terrifying, merciless executioner referred to as its master Salazar's "right hand." With incredible combat abilities, it's considered the final form of the application experiments using insect genes. Along with considerable strength and agility, it's covered by an indestructible carapace that can even ricochet bullets at its foes. The carapace also has perfect flexibility, allowing it to pass whether under a bed or through a ventilation duct. Using its tail with a sharp billhook-like tip, it can launch attacks from any angle at will.
Ramon Salazar (p.148)
The form after Salazar fused himself as well as a Verdugo with the mother parasite. His own body's hidden within a shelter at the giant creature's center and controls three long tentacles to attack. Among these, the tentacle in the center, which has a similar face as Salazar's follower at the end of it, possesses very powerful and deadly fangs. What's more, at its root are many spore-like organs from which it reproduces the Plaga parasite.
U-3 (p.152)
A life-form created by fusing human, reptile and insect genes with the Plaga. Its appearance became extremely deformed and grotesque as a result of failing to adjust each respective species' characteristics. The left hand tentacle can form a whip-like action far too quick for the eyes of prey to glimpse. A large Plaga lies hidden within the human segment's spinal cord and in regards to its large jaw, it can not only slash enemies but also burrow and advance into the earth.
Jack Krauser
Leon's ex-partner as well as a martial arts specialist with a knife. He placed the Plaga within his own body of his own volition and gained powers exceeding human capacity. When he utilizes the Plaga's power his arm transforms into a hard blade to attack his enemies with astounding power. This blade can also be used as a wing-like shield hard enough to defend from even rockets.
Osmund Saddler (p.163)
Osmund Saddler's true form as the master of all Plagas. Four giant legs burst out of his body with countless tentacles while his strong-jawed head's in a central position. Many eye balls are exposed on the joints of his legs so he has no visual blind spots. This creature's carapace is also extremely tough, making him almost invincible while under attack.
Ganado (p.060)
Humans controlled by the "Plaga" parasite. The parasite assimilates the host's central nervous system and controls their mind, making them attack people due to the Plaga's preservation instinct. In this condition the hosts maintain their intelligence and ability to communicate. During combat they can also use all sorts of weapons, set traps, and hunt their target in groups.
Ganado (Chainsaw) (p.101)
Ganados armed with lumbering chainsaws. Assimilation with the Plaga's quite perfect, allowing them to be controlled by extremely aggressive impulses and swing their chainsaws to kill their enemies. Their bodies are also tougher than common Ganados which allows them to endure much more damage from bullets.
Ganado (Arma de Gatling) (p.104)
Ganados armed with gatling guns. When enemies are spotted, they'll fire their terrifying machine guns, attacking any people in their sight. Originally a heavy weapon like this is fixed on a mount, but the parasite gives them the strength to use it only with their hands. Their bodies are also very difficult to damage, even a head-shot with a rifle can't kill them easily.
Ganado (Plaga) (p.106)
The form of a Plaga exposed from a Ganado's body. When the host receives serious damage and loses brain functions, the parasite controls the human's body itself, but its movements are quite mechanical. The larval parasite's manifested as a long tentacle with a sharp tip. When it nearly grows to an adult, it can spit an acidic liquid and crunch prey with its strong jaw.
Plaga (p.110)
The Plaga parasite without a host. In this state, the parasite can act individually but only live for a short time, gradually becoming weaker and weaker until it dies. The parasite crawls around seeking a new host. Once it finds an appropriate host, it enters the creature's body immediately.
Colmillos (p.111)
Dogs parasitized by the Plaga. The assimilation causes their fangs to overgrow and become exposed from the mouth. They're very swift while hunting and will slice a prey's throat in a flash. The parasite can burst from their body and use tentacles to attack. Perhaps due to the fact the hosts are social animals, controlling them through the Plaga parasite's very stable. And the collective aggression with several dogs is also a conspicuous feature of them.
Novistador (p.114)
An insect-man created through application experiments of the Plaga parasite. It can change the color of its carapace at will to blend in with the background while awaiting prey. Although based on humans, its body's just like that of an insect. It has been observed making giant nests to reproduce. There are large numbers of a weaker type which lack camouflage ability but have wings on their back for flying in swarms when they attack enemies.
Garrador (p.118)
Experimental hosts using the Plaga to enhance the body. Though the experiments successfully gave them very powerful physical abilities, they became extremely aggressive and attack any nearby living things. With no other option, their eyes were stitched and they were strictly restrained. The loss of vision makes their hearing ability highly developed. Once released in battle they can find the enemy's direction based on sound, then destroy them with their iron claws.
Armadura (p.121)
Armor inside the castle internally controlled by a Plaga. In pursuit of a host, the parasite invades an armor and enters a hibernation state to sustain its life, reactivating if any creature approaches. The parasite's tentacles expand within the armor to function as muscles, allowing it to walk and swing weapons just like if a man were inside. Due to its slow movement however, this creature seems quite cumbersome.
Regenerador (p.124)
A monster created out of experiments infecting humans with multiple Plaga parasites. As a result it possesses astounding regenerative capabilities, capable of regrowing lost body parts in a flash. Only a vague human form remains however, with its physical constitution having been completely altered. The changes also influence its brain which causes it to lose the ability to think like a human.
Iron Maiden (p.124)
Improved creatures based on the Regenerador. It has awe-inspiring regenerative capabilities along with many sharp needle-like thorns capable of stretching out from its body. During combat it'll capture prey with its long elastic arms then pierce their bodies using those thorns. Due to its similarity with the torture instrument in 16th century Europe, it was given the same name "Iron Maiden."
El Gigante (p.132)
A giant created during Plaga parasite application experiments. By genetically altering a parasitized human, the host eventually grows four times larger than a normal man. Along with their massive body, their extremely powerful strength and toughness allow them to shrug off common gunfire. However, just like with Del Lago, they're highly aggressive and difficult to control. Only a few of these creatures were produced as a result.
Bitores Mendez (p.139)
Mendez's form with the parasite's power fully unleashed. His exposed vertebra has completely fused with the Plaga and become a centipede-like creature. The two large front legs on his back are incredibly strong with giant claws that allow Mendez to shred his foes to pieces. Mendez also has extremely robust vitality, even when the vertebra's broken he can still function with half his body.
Del Lago (p.129)
A giant aquatic creature exceeding twenty meters in length. It was originally an aquatic salamander (also called a waterdog) used as a sample in application experiments with the Plaga. As the bizarre creature kept growing it grew enormous and additionally acquired the ability to swim through water like a fish. However its behavior couldn't be controlled using the Plaga so it had to be sealed away in the village lake.
Verdugo (p.144)
A terrifying, merciless executioner referred to as its master Salazar's "right hand." With incredible combat abilities, it's considered the final form of the application experiments using insect genes. Along with considerable strength and agility, it's covered by an indestructible carapace that can even ricochet bullets at its foes. The carapace also has perfect flexibility, allowing it to pass whether under a bed or through a ventilation duct. Using its tail with a sharp billhook-like tip, it can launch attacks from any angle at will.
Ramon Salazar (p.148)
The form after Salazar fused himself as well as a Verdugo with the mother parasite. His own body's hidden within a shelter at the giant creature's center and controls three long tentacles to attack. Among these, the tentacle in the center, which has a similar face as Salazar's follower at the end of it, possesses very powerful and deadly fangs. What's more, at its root are many spore-like organs from which it reproduces the Plaga parasite.
U-3 (p.152)
A life-form created by fusing human, reptile and insect genes with the Plaga. Its appearance became extremely deformed and grotesque as a result of failing to adjust each respective species' characteristics. The left hand tentacle can form a whip-like action far too quick for the eyes of prey to glimpse. A large Plaga lies hidden within the human segment's spinal cord and in regards to its large jaw, it can not only slash enemies but also burrow and advance into the earth.
Jack Krauser
Leon's ex-partner as well as a martial arts specialist with a knife. He placed the Plaga within his own body of his own volition and gained powers exceeding human capacity. When he utilizes the Plaga's power his arm transforms into a hard blade to attack his enemies with astounding power. This blade can also be used as a wing-like shield hard enough to defend from even rockets.
Osmund Saddler (p.163)
Osmund Saddler's true form as the master of all Plagas. Four giant legs burst out of his body with countless tentacles while his strong-jawed head's in a central position. Many eye balls are exposed on the joints of his legs so he has no visual blind spots. This creature's carapace is also extremely tough, making him almost invincible while under attack.
STORY (text by Benny Matsuyama)
PROLOGUE: Infernal Domain
Six years ago, on October 1st 1998, who could forget?
That was the day that changed everything.
A day when, in a nation that had led the world with its outstanding military and economic power since the collapse of the Cold War era, an untrodden part of the mainland was lost.
It was a day when everyone realized the supposedly sturdy framework of the world was a fragile one that could collapse at a moment's notice.
On that day, Raccoon City, a small city in the American midwest, vanished from the face of the earth along with its 100,000 citizens.
An unprecedented catastrophe caused by an outbreak of the T-Virus, a biological weapon that transforms humans into man-eating monsters--- a hellish city where most of the citizens became Zombies--- the U.S. Congress feared it would spread further. They decided to make use of a missile for a "Sterilization Strategy."
For the first time in history, a weapon of mass destruction was used in the United States, cleansing the entire city in a massive pillar of fire and scorching air.
It was like Sodom, the city of sin subjected to divine punishment.
The villainous Umbrella Corporation was also condemned by the hammer of a furious market.
As their stock prices crashed following a worldwide business suspension order, even this giant company, armed with enormous capital, was completely suffocated.
A number of illegal and inhumane criminal activities that had been carried out on a regular basis were brought to light, then the Umbrella organization was dismantled by force.
It appeared as though the "evil" had been erased from existence along with its horrific weapons.
However, the memories that were etched in minds wouldn't go away.
There's no way to go back and erase what happened in Raccoon City.
Or the fact the American superpower could be shaken.
Since then, the shadow of terrorism has expanded around the world.
The U.S. is trying to be tougher, with its pretensions intensifying ideological conflicts.
Fires are smoldering all over the world, and those who crave the power Umbrella wielded are working behind-the-scenes to stitch it up.
The world had indeed changed that day.
For those who escaped the city of the dead, their fates changed with it.
Even though it was daytime, a thick layer of cloud stained the landscape with gloom.
As they entered an unpaved forest road, a thin layer of fog began to shroud their vision.
The road surface was so uneven the outdated wagon's tired suspension could barely absorb the impact.
Leon S. Kennedy, who was sitting in the back seat gazing out at the monotonous scenery, couldn't help but whisper a swear in his cheeks just as the rear wheels hit a large gap.
The policeman driving the car looked in the rear-view mirror over his glasses and smirked slightly.
He looked as if he was trying to say he enjoyed that.
Inside the car, flamenco music had been playing loudly for hours since they left the police station, all sounding the same to Leon.
The guitar and castanets strummed to the rhythm of the music, while the singer sang in a somewhat sorrowful tone.
The bearded policeman sitting in the passenger seat sang along with the occasional loud scream, then fell silent again.
It was clear neither of them were in the mood.
Their chief had ordered them to accompany Leon, and they weren't enthusiastic about serving as his guides.
Considering their destination was also a cold remote village where even the local police had never been before, they could expect no fun.
---They're not kidding about taking it out on me.
Sighing, Leon turned his gaze back outside the window.
The fog was getting thicker.
As if to symbolize the mission he'd been issued.
It had already been several days since someone had abducted Ashley Graham, the daughter of the President of the United States.
Leon, who works as a U.S. agent, was ordered to find her.
Normally, this would be a case where a large search team and specially trained hostage rescue personnel should be deployed, not a mission where an agent like him should be sent in alone.
However, this abduction was clearly carried out based on highly classified inside information.
That is to say, there was a traitor who had access to important data, and unless they could identify who it was, putting together a large number of troops could lead to further exacerbating the situation.
That's when Leon came into the picture. If Ashley hadn't been abducted, he would've been appointed to her security detail, and as his ideology, background, and history were already examined over a long period of time, he was proven to be a completely trustworthy individual in the government's eyes. In addition, his ability to carry out the mission was also proven by certain incidents in the past. Under the circumstances, he was the perfect person to send.
---A survivor outta Hell, huh? What a cross to bear.
Leon mumbled to himself in his mind. In that city where he'd arrived as a rookie cop for just one day, he seemed to have vented a lifetime's worth of emotions. He'd survived a hell that was more like a nightmare, but before that, the 21-year-old Leon, clad in the glitter of youth, had died. Ever since that day, there has been a huge chasm in the depths of his heart, roaring with a hollow sound.
The wagon crossed a suspension bridge over a ravine and finally came to a stop. A little further on, there was a shabby-looking private house that would be the outer edge of their destination village.
Leon considers the intel, that a girl who looks like Ashley has been seen in this rural area of Europe, to be extremely unlikely. It'd probably end up being a waste of time just asking around. Abducting the daughter of the U.S. President was tantamount to declaring war on the most powerful nation in the world. It looked to him like this was a crime that had nothing to do with this part of the world that had been left behind for two centuries.
Come to think of it, that was the point of entry. They'd crossed a border into a territory infested with madness and terror, a territory ruled by something other than human.
A hint of a presence rose from behind Leon. In order to get rid of the foreigner that has overstepped their boundary, a number of murderous intentions have gathered.
The Raccoon City survivor's now stepping into a new disaster zone.
The curtain of a tragedy has already been raised---
CHAPTER 1: Murder's Nest
A strong sense of déjà vu made Leon's vision wobble as if he were dizzy.
A memory of hell on earth, a memory he could never forget--- the tragedy of Raccoon City, where the dead flooded the streets and devoured everything in an uninterrupted frenzy, it had been replicated. The crowd of villagers were screaming, raising their axes and scythes, and rushing to the scene.
He forcefully moved his nigh-trembling index finger using energy he pulled through his furrowed brow. He pulled it closer. It's the same with the trigger of the fist that touches the belly of the finger.
A 9mm Parabellum bullet fired from his handgun with a dry cracking sound that echoed in the cloudy weather. It flew accurately, following Leon's line of sight.
The next shot wasn't aimed wrong, shooting through the shoulder of a middle-aged man at the front of the advancing crowd, who was swinging to throw a hatchet. The man tilted his body wildly and let out a cry of pain as he stopped in his tracks.
But it was only for a moment.
"Matar..."
The middle-aged man turned his clouded eyes toward Leon, let out a murderous curse, and began to advance on him again. Although he deliberately missed vital points, the bullets were shaped to emphasize less noble stopping power, and if shot, they shouldn't be able to move even with excruciating effort.
Leon had at first intended this shooting as a threat to the mob. The sound of the gunshots in their eardrums and subduing the first to advance would bring back the villagers to their senses, who for some reason--- perhaps a frenzied group psychology--- had gone berserk.
He didn't want to kill them if he could help it. This was at the root of Leon's consciousness. This was different from the other time. Now, he was dealing with humans. Not Zombies that had been infected by a virus developed as a weapon and completely lost the ability to think like humans.
Of course, as a trained U.S. agent, Leon wouldn't hesitate to take out any criminal or terrorist who might be causing harm to innocent people. He was strong-minded enough to pull the trigger if it meant saving the lives of those in danger.
However, even though they'd already killed one of the policemen who'd accompanied him, the villagers were still people with a social life in the area. The weapons in their hands were merely tools they'd been using for everyday tasks only a short time ago. In this alien countryside, Leon was a foreigner, not a spokesperson for absolute justice.
That's why he was trying to wake up the villagers. As long as they came to their senses, they'd be able to pay for their crimes according to the law. There was no point in hurling bullets of condemnation at them here. Leon wanted to believe that.
But...
They didn't stop. The moment the man staggered backwards after being hit by a bullet, the rest of the mob didn't waver in the slightest, and chased after the man as fast as they could. It was as if they didn't care about being shot at at all.
Finally, Leon noticed something. What he saw in their eyes wasn't excitement borne out of deviating from the norm, nor an abnormal fear of intruders. They were the eyes of insects, devoid of any emotion. It was the same level as farming or chopping firewood, a quiet, cold, murderous intent that mechanically eliminates any presence that intrudes upon their territory. It was a madness from which they could never awaken. They're no mob. Hunting and killing strangers was a normal part of life for the people in this village.
Realizing the warning meant nothing, Leon turned on his heel and started running like a man overcome. Turning his head at the sound of wind behind him, an axe whizzed past his ears and dug deep into the door of the hut ahead of him.
Without killing his running speed, he opened it to get a quick look at the interior. In theory it would've been foolish to hunker down in a building, but he already had the layouts of the surrounding buildings in mind. As soon as he saw a ladder, he jumped inside and ran upstairs before the villagers could reach the entrance.
Looking around through a window, Leon was again struck by a strong sense of déjà vu.
The villagers, both men and women, were amassing, each with their own weapon in hand. They all approached with blank expressions, reminiscent of the hordes of the dead that marched through Raccoon City six years ago. Leon could see the boundary between the two days was beginning to fade and melt away.
He could feel someone coming up the ladder. Resisting the urge to move right away, he drew enough of the villagers to crowd around him. Then he leapt his well-built body out of the window and landed on the roof of a neighboring house. That should've broken the siege.
Nearby, a rapidly throttling engine roared agonizingly. Turning around, Leon saw a man rushing toward him, brandishing a large logging chainsaw. The man's head was covered by a sling bag with only his eyes peeking out of holes. The eyes were focused on prey to be chopped up.
The only way to survive is for one to kill the other. As soon as he made that decision, Leon pointed his muzzle between the two holes and opened fire. The man recoiled as if struck by a giant hunter, falling over the green roof with his chainsaw. If he had even the slightest hesitation, he would've been torn apart by the rotating blade.
He jumped off the roof and began sprinting without pause. There was a flurry of orders to re-enforce the siege here and there, but the ring that was about to close was already behind him.
---I'm stepping into Hell again. A blood-soaked, muddy swamp I can't cross without going mad.
The gloomy sound of a bell north of the village reached Leon's ears as he was shaking off his pursuers. It echoed ominously, like a mourning bell dedicated to this intruder's future.
He still has no way of knowing a horror that'll shake the entire world is about to overflow from that remote area...
CHAPTER 2: Hideous Hallucination
He was just about to leave the village with the rescued Ashley when he was informed someone had shot down the helicopter that was to pick them up.
"We're prepping the next chopper now. In the meantime, proceed towards the original drop point."
The operator, Hunnigan, instructed him in a clerical tone, as if she were close-by personnel. She was a mere stranger of course, but Leon was rather grateful for her emotionless response. A support person must always give the impression of looking at a situation calmly. No matter how desperate the circumstances may be.
It was easy to imagine the command center in chaos. The chopper crash, which was supposed to be a top-secret flight, meant information was still leaking out from somewhere. It was unclear if it was an inside job, or if someone had hacked into the communication lines, but it'd be impossible to fly a replacement helicopter without knowing what to do.
He was impressed by Hunnigan's lack of concern over the situation. Yes, there was little hope of survival. Something unexpected was happening in this remote village. No, this was unpredictable territory--- the same as the events in Raccoon City, a world of madness and immorality.
Leon had already witnessed bizarre scenes. A tentacle-like object sprouted from the neck of a villager who should've been dead, but instead had lost his head. It stretched out several strands, bent like a mollusk, then hardened at the tip like a metal blade and attacked Leon with clear murderous intent. While puppeteering the body of a human lacking a head.
It was a life-form that couldn't have been created by common sense. A marvelous parasite that lurked inside the bodies of other organisms, hijacking their central nervous system and controlling their behavior--- something that couldn't be explained by conventional biology.
But Leon could understand. He couldn't reject this madness, he could accept it as reality. Since by doing so, he was one who survived that hellish city. It wasn't just Zombies he had to deal with in Raccoon City. He was chased and obstructed many times by more bizarre and hideous monsters. Leon fought them off with his human strength and is still alive today.
This is why his spirit never retreats in terror. He has acquired a will strong enough to face untold horrors, which is the most essential thing in an unimaginable predicament. Even the bravest of soldiers who've survived many battles wouldn't be able to match Leon's ability to survive the current situation.
Leon, who has one of the best aptitudes for abnormal situations among all people, finds it extremely difficult to see this mission through. The things he has to deal with--- that is, the mysterious creatures that've been haunting the inhabitants of this village--- are that much more dangerous.
As far as Leon had observed, parasitized humans seemed to exhibit tremendous vitality. Perhaps they were secreting a substance that amplified their host's metabolic functions and numbed their sense of pain, but the villagers were still able to stand up without a care in the world after being struck by several bullets. A bullet to the head, which would be a vital point in a normal person, doesn't result in immediate death since the human brain plays only a supporting role. Once brain functions are destroyed, the parasite which was lurking inside the body becomes exposed as a sensory organ to resume functioning as a more ferocious being. Without sufficient firepower, it was an unbeatable monster.
What made them even more troublesome was the fact they still retained their social nature as humans. Even though their bodies had been taken over by a foreign life-form, the villagers were able to continue their lives as they had when they were human, to a somewhat unnatural degree. They were even able to communicate with each other using complex language only the highly communal human race could provide.
A flock of monsters with physical functions surpassing those of humans, but with human intelligence, acting in an organized manner--- and unafraid of death. It was a group even Leon couldn't help but shudder at. An army of immortals that sprung up from the depths of the earth to surround him and Ashley.
And then---
The hair-raising hallucination he witnessed not long ago came back to his mind. The image of something deadly swooshing around the core of his body. With many legs wriggling and writhing, a tiny tyrant that had hatched was crawling around under his skin. Spraying an unholy venom, it transforms what used to be Leon into a different creature.
Where his head used to be, those tentacles were twisting and turning. Like a wirey parasite protruding from the belly of a mantis and performing a wild, nauseating dance...
He suppressed a sudden rush of fear, smothered a scream in the back of his throat, and shook off the hallucination. But in time, the illusion would become reality. The cult hosting this hellish banquet, Los Iluminados, had implanted Leon and Ashley with the parasite's eggs. And they're probably already hatching. They've begun to take root in order to turn the two of them into puppets.
---Even if we could escape from the village, if we can't get rid of these parasites, we're done for. If Los Iluminados are using this thing as a tool for control, they must have a way to remove it...
Once it's fully grown, that'll be impossible. With arduous circumstances like these, where he needed to find a way to get rid of the parasites in a limited amount of time, not to mention escape, he switched off the radio and stared up at the dark rainy sky.
"...Leon?"
She feigns being stout, perhaps because she's aware she's a VIP's daughter, but Ashley's voice, staring at her rescuer beside her, quivered. That was a source of encouragement for the dejected Leon. A memory of that day six years ago, when he scrambled to save a girl infected with a virus. He has experienced it and knows giving up's the biggest enemy of all.
He smiles fearlessly at her. Leon knew how much this little look would reassure her.
As he silently urged Ashley to cross the bridge, Leon thought to himself,
---I'll protect this girl. From the cult, and from those foul bugs.
A fire quietly ignited in the chasm of his heart. Unknown to Leon himself, his dark despair has been melted away by an unyielding flame that'll never be extinguished.
CHAPTER 3: Lost Piece
The old castle Leon and Ashley had escaped to was filled with grotesqueness, as if the paintbrushes had been filled with even more concentrated madness and painted over with violent motivations. They'd been lured into this tasteless expo hall with no other choice to be found.
What lurked there was a group of believers with clear "malicious intent" that separated them from the villagers who'd fallen victim to ignorance and convention in an enclosed society. A group of pagans who believe in a power brought about by the Plaga parasite and have chosen to abandon conventional human reason, the fanatics of the evil group Los Iluminados. They have been turned into meat puppets whose thoughts have been hijacked, and their uniformly expressionless faces occasionally display a blissful smile that sends chills down Leon's spine. This is an expression of the Plaga's horrifying nature, which doesn't even allow one to pray for release.
In addition, there were some horrific beings created by taking advantage of the parasite's obscure tendency to vigorously maintain the host's life.
Since parasitized subjects don't die easily, they're repeatedly subjected to random drug administrations and genetic modifications that would normally be unthinkable. The clawed Garradors were cultivated as killing machines that chase prey using only their hearing, they were then deprived of their sight as they became more violent and uncontrollable. There's also the Novistador, insect-humans transformed into an unrecognizable form after incorporating the genes of a variety of insects. Leon, who'd already stared into Hell, was horrified to see that when people unleash their evil desires, they're capable of carrying out such devilish experiments on humans.
The fact he was separated from Ashley by a trap intensified his frustration. In the first place, she was innocent of any crime. She's been abducted to this remote place just because she's the daughter of the American president, and at the young age of 20, she's being shown a hell splashed with human malice and gore. He had to get her out of there as soon as possible.
The empty space in his heart was now filled with a fiery rage and powerful sense of duty. Leon had never wanted to live as an agent. However, there was an undeniable satisfaction in his heart when he faced a difficult mission. He was able to forget the cost of his survival, a loss that could never be healed.
But then...
The fire in his heart flickered and nearly went out. In one of the castle bedrooms which seemed to have been used for guests in the past.
From the moment he sensed a presence creeping up behind him, Leon had a premonition.
He'd noticed that ever since his actions in the village, somebody was often watching him. It wasn't someone belonging to the cult. In fact, Leon had been saved by the third party's gunfire once, when he was cornered by the giant monster of a village chief, Bitores Mendez. At that time, the silhouette of a woman had indeed flashed past the window. A shadow that vanished from sight with grace, evoking unforgettable memories.
There was a momentary back-and-forth with that shadow in the bedroom. The woman kicked the gun Leon had tried to take from her, and she attempted to grab it again. Just before she could point the gun's muzzle, he pulled out his military knife and placed it to the woman's carotid artery. Their breathing, which had instantly risen and subsided, left a lingering echo of their colliding passion in the room. The lingering scent of a heated, risky undertaking formed by an extreme situation, more dense than a love affair.
On that day, at the bottom of the cauldron of Hell, Leon felt it for sure. On the day of the Raccoon City tragedy, when the city was saturated with corpses, the young rookie cop learned about love and was cruelly deprived of it. The illusion of youth had been stuck in the chasm of his heart, never to return.
That's why Leon couldn't believe it until the woman who confronted him took off her sunglasses. He knew he'd meet the woman he loved again, the woman who lost her life to save his.
"Leon. Long time no see."
It was Ada Wong. Wearing a cheongsam that looked out of place in a war zone, she smiled seductively with a beauty that didn't give away the years that separated them. She had a kind of natural beauty that'd make a man let his guard down even if he'd never met her before.
"Ada...?"
With the lost piece in front of him, Leon's mind was almost filled with a moment of clarity. The mission, his anger at evil, Ashley--- all of it was about to be superseded by Ada.
Through the intelligence division, intel concerning a female spy resembling Ada still being alive had reached Leon's ears. She was also rumored to have joined an organization that could be referred to as the remnants of Umbrella. But he refused to believe it. He'd stubbornly refused to believe the memory of Ada, who'd died in his arms, could be a lie his love whispered to him.
Therefore, a tremendous recoil struck Leon. He wanted to forget everything and hold Ada in his arms. He wanted to fill the six-year gap and quench his thirst in a single breath.
But it was Ada who stifled that. Her eyes, as piercing as a panther's, spoke far more to the male panther than words ever could. Don't let me down, Leon. It's not the path we're on. Show me how you've grown, befitting our reunion after all this time.
---Yes, Ada. You've grown more radiant than the phantom in my mind. What we should be doing here isn't exchanging familiar words.
Swallowing down the cheap love and joy that had almost reached his throat, Leon asked without releasing his tension.
"Heard a rumor you'd found your way into Wesker's organization."
"You've done your homework."
That's good--- that's what it sounded like to Leon. The fading flame of the fighting spirit he needed to complete his mission returned with more vigor. She was his prophet. She was his guide, showing him what to do as he struggled in Hell.
A few seconds later, Ada's discarded sunglasses flashed and she melted vividly into the darkness of the night.
For a moment, Leon stared at the window where Ada had disappeared. Dawn was still far off. The two of them stood even further apart.
But there's no heartbreak. For him, the complicated emotions were synonymous with hope. Leon was finally about to be freed from his phantom.
CHAPTER 4: Plague Origins
I wonder if the tower striking the heavens was, like the magnificent castle, built in the past when the Salazar family was at its full glory.
---Or was it anachronistically built of stone in the 21st century? Using a labor force of those who'd been afflicted with the Plaga and turned into obedient slaves?
As he ran up the spiral staircase that ran along the tower's inner wall, Leon was enraged by this ridiculous symbol of power. What would a ruler do when they'd abandoned humanity in favor of something no longer human? A wave of emotions washed over him and he managed to control his screaming body, which had been overworked since his arrival in the village. As if by some miracle, it sent him the energy to take the next step, and the next. Leon didn't know what awaited him at the apex of the tower. However, he knew what would happen if the disaster that had flourished in this remote European countryside was left unchecked.
If the Plaga parasite were to begin breeding in earnest and spread throughout the world, there'd be no way for humans to fight it. Their hosts, Ganados, with their unnatural behavior, would be possible to detect in places where the local population was tightly knit, but they could easily hide in big cities where even neighbors are indifferent. Ravenous beastly creatures that can't be defeated with firearms, blending into society and breeding new allies. Even if this turns out to be the case, in a metropolis where humans and monsters are mixed among each other, there's no way to carry out a destructive weapon sterilization strategy like the one conducted on Raccoon City. This silent invasion would also eventually undermine the very heart of the nation. Either by being implanted with more advanced parasites that can be disguised, or through the complicity of key people willing to submit to Saddler of their own volition to be given a dominant species Plaga, becoming monsters while retaining their human consciousness...
It was the same as selling one's soul to the devil in exchange for power. Moreover, Leon thinks this is something that shouldn't be sought after by someone in a position of responsibility to society.
However, it's also true those obsessed with power are more likely to succumb to the temptation of new power they stand to gain. A striking example of this is where Leon's headed. At the top of this tower they're about to perform an unholy ritual on Ashley they refer to as a baptism.
Ramon Salazar, a short-statured and clownish young man who could be mistaken for an elderly-looking child, chants his allegiance to the cult of Los Iluminados in a high-pitched voice. Recalling how this guy was intoxicated by terrifying power, Leon felt an uncontrollable disgust well up in his heart. He decided things had been made so much worse by the fact the young lord of the castle had taken an initiative in participating in Osmund Saddler's schemes.
Ramon was a descendant of feudal lords who'd ruled this remote region since ancient times, and even in the 21st century, when most of these monarchies had been abolished, he was the head of a family that had maintained substantial control by monopolizing vast tracts of productive land. It could be said he was the king of this land. From the time they were born, the villagers had to swear vassalage to the Salazar family. Unless they resolved to abandon their homeland, they'd be unable to escape from the customs handed down from generation to generation in that land.
In exchange for such a high status, the right to rule, and the authority to exploit goods, the nobles are inherently obligated to protect their fiefdom. They had to eliminate foreign hostiles who planned to plunder their lands by force, judge crimes in their lands fairly, and lead their people to good and peaceful lives. Although this is an idealistic view, it's precisely because we live in the modern age, where most of our obligations have already been handed over to the functions of states governed by the rule of law, that feudal lords who continue to lead the old way of life must strictly regulate themselves. Otherwise, the nobles in these remote lands would simply be nothing more than parasites sucking blood out of the poor.
In the past, the Salazar family was the lineage of an enlightened lord who sealed away the dangerous indigenous creature, Las Plagas, and cracked down on the pagan group Los Iluminados who were attempting to control its power. Even though Ramon had been enticed by the cunning and charismatic Saddler, Leon felt an inexplicable anger toward the fact the current generation had violated the interdict and unleashed the Plagas, using innocent villagers as live bait.
Countless pagans blocking his way died in a hail of bullets. They piled up on the stairs and fell from the cargo elevator into the entrance hall, turning into crushed lumps of flesh. They were undoubtedly dead once the Plaga hijacked their consciousness, but Leon couldn't substitute his own act of physical killing with the word "redemption." He was constantly aware he was shooting lead bullets into what used to be people, in order to carry out his mission and protect his own life. It was unpleasant. There's no justice on the battlefield. That's why this place is Hell. For Leon, who's no homicidal maniac, the deaths of the cult's victims accumulate as indelible sins. The blood spurting out from their bodies turns him redder and redder. He was like a devil god of the underworld flattening demons, turning him crimson.
He's prepared to live with remorse for the dead. However, he has to deliver some of it to the true evil. To Osmund Saddler, who's still gloating somewhere. And to Ramon. If the head of the Salazar family still had a duty to fulfill at this point, it was to take upon his body the resentments of the people who'd been deprived of their right to live in peace and quiet, in the form of a bullet fired by Leon.
He ran up the stairs to the outside, bathed in the misty night air.
This was the top level of the tower. The wind was roaring. No matter how high he climbed, the tower wouldn't lead to Heaven. Nor would the ambition of the fallen nobleman standing atop a mountain of corpses trying to seize an evil power.
Inside the great double-doors--- a space with a domed ceiling reminiscent of a chapel--- there was a being that evoked a primordial terror imprinted in the human brain. Rooted all over the walls, dripping mucus and writhing lewdly, a massive being that couldn't be called either plant or mollusk, it was the mother of all Las Plagas. The origin of a calamity that must never be touched had been resurrected from the depths of the earth. "I will pay my respects to your strong will as well."
Ramon laughed as he surrendered himself to the winding tentacles and was welcomed into the petal-shaped core. Along with his already deformed aide, the mad lord began to fuse with the Plaga queen.
Behind Leon, iron bars descended heavily.
But Leon, cut off from retreat, wasn't frightened. With a hint of pity, disappointment, and anger he'd been kept away from Ashley once again, he turned his sharp tongue on the young man who'd broken off from humanity.
The roar of what had once been Ramon Salazar proclaimed the beginning of a fight to the death.
CHAPTER 5: Fiery Justice
The sound of the submachine gun echoed through the stone ruins like the rumbling of the earth.
Judging from the sound, it seemed to be a special type of augmented ammunition with more gunpowder to enhance destructive power. Normally, the recoil of the bullets would cause it too far a spread, and they weren't something that could be used in a light machine gun designed to be portable, but the line of fire followed Leon almost without wavering. If he'd jumped into a shielding shadow even a moment too late, he would've been turned into a mass of flesh by the concentrated hail of bullets.
Jack Krauser's armor-like muscles completely restrained the machine gun as it tried to fly out of his hand. Stifling the tremendous recoil with brute force, his former comrade unleashed his stinging murderous intent upon Leon as he hid in a blind spot.
The weathered stone wall was shattered after a single point was struck by the reinforced bullets. Leon was struck in the back by a piece of flying stone and started to run with a short groan. He stitched through the shadows of the broken stone pillars on his way upwards, climbing stairs and ducking into a house. There was no time to fire back. Leon knows very well his opponent wouldn't be easy to counterattack.
Krauser was an excellent U.S. agent. Leon couldn't have asked for a more reliable partner to watch his back. Then two years ago, while they were both engaged in intelligence activities--- there was a mysterious accident that supposedly claimed Krauser's life. This first-class agent showing up as an enemy meant worse things to Leon than being attacked by a pack of monsters.
He was no longer surprised the ghost had come back to life though. In hindsight, it seemed there'd been signs of Krauser's defection even when they'd been working together. Leon had never been an ardent patriot, but he could still sense the discontent and desperation that sometimes came out of his partner, overshadowing his loyalty to the nation. Leon never forgot the look on Krauser's face as he murmured to him on a homeward bound transport plane that the United States was misguided, at a time when terrorism was on the rise and they were incessantly being sent out to respond to it. He sounded like the fanatical, extremist terrorists they'd just been fighting on their previous mission.
Faking his own death and covering his tracks, Krauser turned to an illegal organization led by Albert Wesker, a former Umbrella operative and Captain of the Raccoon Police Department's special mission unit S.T.A.R.S. He's become a lackey for a crazed cabal that seeks to revive Umbrella and use its hazardous technologies to take control of the world.
Leon continues to search for clues so he can counterattack, while dodging Krauser's unpredictable wave of attacks in the carefully trapped ruins.
"What're you fighting for?"
A mocking voice rained down from overhead. With the dark pre-dawn sky at his back, Krauser peered down at Leon with a relaxed expression. What fun's he having, crawling around in this hellhole? The man who surrendered himself to desire asked him, "You could've chosen to live a more comfortable, pleasure-eating life."
There was no trace of the stubborn soldier in his smiling face. Suddenly, Leon felt a burning sensation in the pit of his stomach. The heat swelled as if he'd been shot. He almost shouted, "You've gotta be kidding me."
---He used to be a good guy. What changes a man? The madness of the battlefield, or the absurdities of this world?
Gritting his teeth and choking back a scream, he glared at his comrade as he took a wrong turn.
"Dunno. Maybe it's my trauma."
"Hmm, Umbrella."
Krauser snorted mockingly at this answer. The scornful look in his eyes eloquently informed him he was a stupid person, obsessed with trivial matters, and refusing to see the bigger picture. Krauser disappeared upstairs with an attitude implying he'd lost interest.
Self-propelled explosive devices with anti-personnel sensors glowed as they closed in on him instead. Destroying them with accurate shots, Leon ran to the upper levels of the ruins. Then he asked himself again.
---What am I fighting for? Six years ago, Leon S. Kennedy had left his emotions behind in that vanished city six years ago, and was living like a mindless zombie. In this unbalanced world, where only desire and hatred are growing---
A moment later, a flashback hit him like a slap on the cheek.
"It's not, is it?" said a girl wrapped in a large jacket brandishing a goddess on her back.
"You're so boring now!" said the pony-tailed warrior ally he'd survived Hell with together, raising her eyebrow.
"You're too pure," smiles Ada from that day. "But that's okay. You just need to be straight up angry. What you feel is really what everyone should be fighting for."
Scolded by the phantoms of his past, Leon feels the fog in front of his eyes being rapidly dispelled, and his confused mind becoming clearer.
What lights up in the chasm of his heart, which should no longer exist, is a passion he thought he'd lost. A dazzling flame of hatred for evil, from his younger days when he wanted to be a police officer. It was an unflinching, fiery rage against grotesque desires that trample on meager happiness.
Sensing Leon's movements had changed, Krauser stood in front of him. In his face one could read the pleasure of a beast desiring to torment and kill a guardian who has lost his way and is struggling to escape.
"Let's finish this."
The man tossed aside his machine gun, revealing his muscular upper body, then held his left arm up to the sky. Leon saw his skin ripple eerily, his veins rose, then his toned arm began to transform instantly. His horrifying hallucination of the Plaga remaking his own body overlapped the scene before him with a sense of déjà vu.
Having become a prisoner to the parasite, the man leapt, proudly raising his enlarged blade-shaped left arm.
After losing his sense of justice and ceasing to be a human being, Leon welcomes his former comrade as a human being. Believing in the reason burning inside his heart, he keeps on fighting.
EPILOGUE
The long, suffocating night had finally come to an end.
The morning fog gradually lifted, and the surface of the lake, with its fine waves, became like a myriad of jewels, catching the returning sunlight and turning it into a swarming glitter.
The fight to the death was over.
Leon had succeeded in his mission to get back Ashley Graham, and had also eradicated the terrifying parasite that had been planted in her and Leon.
He'd crushed the ambitions of the cult of Los Iluminados, which had planned to use the excavated Plaga as a means of control in an attempt to shake the United States and eventually the entire world. All those who had played central roles in the cult, who were inhabited by a dominant species and could function while retaining their human consciousness, had departed to a place befitting their transformed forms. Their souls had been reaped by the Reaper's scythe, and they'd been dragged to the depths of the underworld to receive their due retribution.
Leon had also survived Hell. His body, overworked beyond its limits, was engulfed in severe fatigue resembling a feeling of emptiness. The event was too horrifying and too insane for him to face in his human body. It was too full of the desire and viciousness that would torment the survivor for the rest of his life.
But to him, the rising sun looked different from what he'd seen on the outskirts of Raccoon City that day. Here, there was hope. After six years of long dark nights finally dawned and the emptiness in the back of his mind was filled, Leon realized he'd been reborn as a person. With part of himself he'd lost returning to him, everything in the world seemed vivid, renewed. His senses were crystal clear, and the pain of his extreme crossings, the bruises, and the cuts, even they were pleasant now.
With Leon and Ashley aboard, the custom high-powered jet ski drives nimbly over the lake. The shadow of the isolated island they left behind was now a haze melting into the distance.
The home of the cult, Los Iluminados--- a research facility on an isolated island where life-desecrating attempts were carried out to improve the Plaga as a bioweapon--- has been burnt to ashes in red engulfing flames. A massive amount of explosives were used to destroy all key points on the island, completely obliterating the results of the experiments that had been conducted there. The preparations had probably been carried out in secret by Ada Wong and her organization.
Leon recalls the final appearance of the cult's supreme leader, Osmund Saddler.
Could he really be called Saddler? The dominant Plaga was created through a series of genetic enhancements and was supposed to be able to maintain human consciousness even after parasitizing them--- when Saddler unleashed his capabilities however, his appearance was unbelievably far from human.
The parasite's cells, once densely compressed inside his body, mutated then expanded rapidly outwards, forming a giant arthropod-like figure. Saddler's body, dangling at the parasite's center, looked like the shell of a pupa after being discarded by a hatching insect. The master-slave relationship between parasite and host had been reversed, leaving only a monster too deformed to be dubbed the leader of a new world.
Or perhaps even Saddler, who thought he had everything under control, was being used by the mysterious Plaga parasite without even realizing it.
After all, the Plaga was a fragile organism that could only live if it parasitized another creature. It was sealed up as a kind of abominable plague in the past, when science was still in its infancy, since its methods could never be referred to as symbiosis. However, the fact someone appeared in this modern age with a desire to spread it around the world was probably an unexpected stroke of luck for the Plaga species while it was on the verge of extinction in a state of suspended animation.
If the planet Earth were to be filled with Plagas, the world would be more stable than it is now, with different species of hosts capable of communicating with each other, able to give rise to an ideally balanced ecosystem. If one were to think about it in cosmic terms, the existence of these parasites may not be a "plague" at all.
However, Leon finds it unacceptable. The fact the unstable species known as humans was trying to build and maintain a diverse society was worth something. Human beings don't think they should leave everything to the Plaga and let themselves perish. Although they're arrogant and selfish, he believes their will to avoid destruction will lead them to an everlasting future, even if this world's full of absurdity and hatred.
The enhanced Plaga sample was stolen by Ada. Once again, there remains a seed from which another being like Saddler could sprout. But Leon wasn't pessimistic. He knew once it was in her hands, it was unlikely the worst would happen. Deep in his heart, he was sure Ada was acting with different intentions than Wesker.
The distance between Leon and Ada was now far apart. Their hearts may be in each other's hands, but their paths in life are distant and parallel to each other.
One day, their footprints will overlap again. As long as they live, and if the world goes on.
---I wanna keep going. I've got my reason for fighting back. For that, I'll go through Hell as many times as it takes.
"Hey you."
Ashley says, her wet hair blowing in the wind behind her back.
"You called that lovely lady somebody who haunts your heart. Does that mean you're crazy about her?"
Leon was relieved to see this young girl had a much stronger spirit than he'd imagined. She may have some emotional scars, but Ashley had a natural strength she didn't show.
"What's with the persistence? I said maybe."
"Someone who haunts your heart eh. I think you've got a great romance on the cards. I wanna hear a bit about it before we get back to the States together, okay? I'll ask my dad to make that part of the mission."
"...Wonderful."
Leon laughed a little, realizing that what happened with Ada in Raccoon City was no longer a tragedy to be sealed away in the depths of his memories.
Report About Ada
Ada's shrouded in "mystery."
No accurate information's been disclosed about her. Nothing's known about when or where she was born, her nationality, race, exact age, or even the name given to her at birth.
Only the woman who calls herself Ada Wong knows the truth about herself.
Her outstanding beauty and smooth pearl-like skin hearken to her Asian origins. Her alluring body's complex curves seem complete and devoid of waste, perfectly proportioned with no loss of her feminine appeal. But all of this, squeezed into a thin dress, is no more than an "enigma" hiding her true qualities. Like a form of powerful thought control over those who gaze at her.
That's right, Ada's camouflaged. Within a beautiful female spy. As long as she devotedly carries out her duties with absolute certainty, no one can guess her true intentions. Both her thoughts and ideology are hidden behind her enigmatic smile, and she gets one step closer to her true purpose.
The deception continues.
The rulers of the "organization", which operates behind-the-scenes of global affairs, truly couldn't help but be puzzled when Ada first approached them. A spy whose background's mostly unknown or built on false footprints----- Ada's outstanding capabilities were evidenced by her only verified record, her survival from the cursed town of Raccoon City.
Even the term "hellscape" fails to adequately describe the devastation which struck that land. It was a city of the dead that had been erased as if to cover up the terror of a madness that had gone out of control. Hence, the immoral product she brought back from there, the "G-Virus", became an undisputed appraisal for the one who achieved the extremely arduous mission of retrieving it. The name "Ada Wong" has become a legend among those engaged in espionage.
The approach of that female spy. There were many within the organization who viewed this as the work of a different group and insisted she be dealt with. Ada was too mysterious and dangerous to be welcomed with open arms.
However, the organization was already harboring an uncontrollable spark that could scorch its contents from within. A man who had now become too influential to be ignored, who'd infiltrated the heart of the organization with the gift of research results from the giant corporation Umbrella which was responsible for the Raccoon City biohazard---- Albert Wesker, former Captain of the Raccoon Police Department special division S.T.A.R.S. In order to restrain this lion-hearted bug, the rulers adopted a stratagem to co-opt Ada and try out an idea on her.
It wasn't that they had any reason to trust her unconditionally, but as long as she could function as a watchdog against Wesker, it'd benefit them even if Ada harbored treacherous intentions. If the two could keep each other in check, they'd be able to limit their activities as double agents that'd be most inconvenient for the organization------- that's what they decided.
Ada then handled her role with precision. Despite the fact she was being monitored, she made the most of her position as the organization's pet to get close to Wesker, then made him realize she was a more-than-capable intelligence operative if he were to use her as a pawn. As a confident man who considers himself a chosen one, Wesker prefers cunning wolves who can sink their fangs into your throat if you're not careful, over foolish but loyal foxhounds----- alternatively, he perceived she possessed a personality that appealed to him, so he skillfully constructed a power balance that made him feel like he had her under his control. As if he wanted to use Ada, his most capable "pawn," at every critical juncture of his schemes.
Of course, Wesker was also cunning, so he fully expected his movements would be conveyed to the organization's top brass through Ada. On the contrary, he actively leaked information he didn't mind being leaked, or he wanted people to think he did, but even so, a fact emerged dimly. Wesker was plotting something------- faint traces of this formed an unnatural rut within the accumulated plethora of information. It was reminiscent of the shadow of a huge, thick umbrella blocking out the rays of the sun...
In the midst of all these complexities and conflicting thoughts, only Ada remained a total mystery. Only her purpose is missing, like a gaping hole. As if she was truly serving the "organization." As if executing the mission's her greatest pleasure.
The deception continues.
There was a moment Ada's eyes carried a sparkle of truth. A glimmer of her will directly connected with hidden thoughts she couldn't disguise.
There, the life and death of a single man inevitably affected her. Six years ago, at the bottom of the darkness near between Raccoon City's destruction, the bare feelings of an upstanding young man and a female spy shrouded only in falsehood collided------- the life of Leon S. Kennedy. While often ordered by Wesker to eliminate him as an obstacle to accomplishing her mission, she formulated a scheme in which she didn't need to. She occasionally jeopardized her own life and held out her hand to Leon during his plight from the shadows.
Now this time too------- Ada ran within the huge steel frame-constructed tower and caught the desperate struggle between Osmund Saddler, who'd turned into a monster, and Leon who was fighting bravely. The beautiful leopardess ran at full speed inside the framework, defeating the crowding Ganado in defiance of the detonator that had already begun to operate. Saddler's counterattacks demonstrated his abnormal vitality------- In other words, the rocket launcher she held, equipped with a special warhead, was used as Leon's way to survive.
All of these may have been measures to get closer to the true purpose she holds. There are none who see the truth, save for Ada. There's a possibility Leon's survival may just be one very useful pave-stone.
However, in that moment she threw him the rocket launcher, Ada was struck with intense déjà vu.
A flashback to a memory sealed in her mind. That day, Ada, having faked her own death, tossed a weapon to Leon in the same manner during his arduous battle with an immortal monster in the underground laboratory while she hid in the shadows... -------She laughed. That hasn't changed either.
For just a moment, a smile flashed on Ada's face, lit up by the flash of light from the special rocket exploding. Leon wasn't able to catch her expression, but it was surely her true face, having forgotten the veil of "mystery" in that moment.
PROLOGUE: Infernal Domain
Six years ago, on October 1st 1998, who could forget?
That was the day that changed everything.
A day when, in a nation that had led the world with its outstanding military and economic power since the collapse of the Cold War era, an untrodden part of the mainland was lost.
It was a day when everyone realized the supposedly sturdy framework of the world was a fragile one that could collapse at a moment's notice.
On that day, Raccoon City, a small city in the American midwest, vanished from the face of the earth along with its 100,000 citizens.
An unprecedented catastrophe caused by an outbreak of the T-Virus, a biological weapon that transforms humans into man-eating monsters--- a hellish city where most of the citizens became Zombies--- the U.S. Congress feared it would spread further. They decided to make use of a missile for a "Sterilization Strategy."
For the first time in history, a weapon of mass destruction was used in the United States, cleansing the entire city in a massive pillar of fire and scorching air.
It was like Sodom, the city of sin subjected to divine punishment.
The villainous Umbrella Corporation was also condemned by the hammer of a furious market.
As their stock prices crashed following a worldwide business suspension order, even this giant company, armed with enormous capital, was completely suffocated.
A number of illegal and inhumane criminal activities that had been carried out on a regular basis were brought to light, then the Umbrella organization was dismantled by force.
It appeared as though the "evil" had been erased from existence along with its horrific weapons.
However, the memories that were etched in minds wouldn't go away.
There's no way to go back and erase what happened in Raccoon City.
Or the fact the American superpower could be shaken.
Since then, the shadow of terrorism has expanded around the world.
The U.S. is trying to be tougher, with its pretensions intensifying ideological conflicts.
Fires are smoldering all over the world, and those who crave the power Umbrella wielded are working behind-the-scenes to stitch it up.
The world had indeed changed that day.
For those who escaped the city of the dead, their fates changed with it.
Even though it was daytime, a thick layer of cloud stained the landscape with gloom.
As they entered an unpaved forest road, a thin layer of fog began to shroud their vision.
The road surface was so uneven the outdated wagon's tired suspension could barely absorb the impact.
Leon S. Kennedy, who was sitting in the back seat gazing out at the monotonous scenery, couldn't help but whisper a swear in his cheeks just as the rear wheels hit a large gap.
The policeman driving the car looked in the rear-view mirror over his glasses and smirked slightly.
He looked as if he was trying to say he enjoyed that.
Inside the car, flamenco music had been playing loudly for hours since they left the police station, all sounding the same to Leon.
The guitar and castanets strummed to the rhythm of the music, while the singer sang in a somewhat sorrowful tone.
The bearded policeman sitting in the passenger seat sang along with the occasional loud scream, then fell silent again.
It was clear neither of them were in the mood.
Their chief had ordered them to accompany Leon, and they weren't enthusiastic about serving as his guides.
Considering their destination was also a cold remote village where even the local police had never been before, they could expect no fun.
---They're not kidding about taking it out on me.
Sighing, Leon turned his gaze back outside the window.
The fog was getting thicker.
As if to symbolize the mission he'd been issued.
It had already been several days since someone had abducted Ashley Graham, the daughter of the President of the United States.
Leon, who works as a U.S. agent, was ordered to find her.
Normally, this would be a case where a large search team and specially trained hostage rescue personnel should be deployed, not a mission where an agent like him should be sent in alone.
However, this abduction was clearly carried out based on highly classified inside information.
That is to say, there was a traitor who had access to important data, and unless they could identify who it was, putting together a large number of troops could lead to further exacerbating the situation.
That's when Leon came into the picture. If Ashley hadn't been abducted, he would've been appointed to her security detail, and as his ideology, background, and history were already examined over a long period of time, he was proven to be a completely trustworthy individual in the government's eyes. In addition, his ability to carry out the mission was also proven by certain incidents in the past. Under the circumstances, he was the perfect person to send.
---A survivor outta Hell, huh? What a cross to bear.
Leon mumbled to himself in his mind. In that city where he'd arrived as a rookie cop for just one day, he seemed to have vented a lifetime's worth of emotions. He'd survived a hell that was more like a nightmare, but before that, the 21-year-old Leon, clad in the glitter of youth, had died. Ever since that day, there has been a huge chasm in the depths of his heart, roaring with a hollow sound.
The wagon crossed a suspension bridge over a ravine and finally came to a stop. A little further on, there was a shabby-looking private house that would be the outer edge of their destination village.
Leon considers the intel, that a girl who looks like Ashley has been seen in this rural area of Europe, to be extremely unlikely. It'd probably end up being a waste of time just asking around. Abducting the daughter of the U.S. President was tantamount to declaring war on the most powerful nation in the world. It looked to him like this was a crime that had nothing to do with this part of the world that had been left behind for two centuries.
Come to think of it, that was the point of entry. They'd crossed a border into a territory infested with madness and terror, a territory ruled by something other than human.
A hint of a presence rose from behind Leon. In order to get rid of the foreigner that has overstepped their boundary, a number of murderous intentions have gathered.
The Raccoon City survivor's now stepping into a new disaster zone.
The curtain of a tragedy has already been raised---
CHAPTER 1: Murder's Nest
A strong sense of déjà vu made Leon's vision wobble as if he were dizzy.
A memory of hell on earth, a memory he could never forget--- the tragedy of Raccoon City, where the dead flooded the streets and devoured everything in an uninterrupted frenzy, it had been replicated. The crowd of villagers were screaming, raising their axes and scythes, and rushing to the scene.
He forcefully moved his nigh-trembling index finger using energy he pulled through his furrowed brow. He pulled it closer. It's the same with the trigger of the fist that touches the belly of the finger.
A 9mm Parabellum bullet fired from his handgun with a dry cracking sound that echoed in the cloudy weather. It flew accurately, following Leon's line of sight.
The next shot wasn't aimed wrong, shooting through the shoulder of a middle-aged man at the front of the advancing crowd, who was swinging to throw a hatchet. The man tilted his body wildly and let out a cry of pain as he stopped in his tracks.
But it was only for a moment.
"Matar..."
The middle-aged man turned his clouded eyes toward Leon, let out a murderous curse, and began to advance on him again. Although he deliberately missed vital points, the bullets were shaped to emphasize less noble stopping power, and if shot, they shouldn't be able to move even with excruciating effort.
Leon had at first intended this shooting as a threat to the mob. The sound of the gunshots in their eardrums and subduing the first to advance would bring back the villagers to their senses, who for some reason--- perhaps a frenzied group psychology--- had gone berserk.
He didn't want to kill them if he could help it. This was at the root of Leon's consciousness. This was different from the other time. Now, he was dealing with humans. Not Zombies that had been infected by a virus developed as a weapon and completely lost the ability to think like humans.
Of course, as a trained U.S. agent, Leon wouldn't hesitate to take out any criminal or terrorist who might be causing harm to innocent people. He was strong-minded enough to pull the trigger if it meant saving the lives of those in danger.
However, even though they'd already killed one of the policemen who'd accompanied him, the villagers were still people with a social life in the area. The weapons in their hands were merely tools they'd been using for everyday tasks only a short time ago. In this alien countryside, Leon was a foreigner, not a spokesperson for absolute justice.
That's why he was trying to wake up the villagers. As long as they came to their senses, they'd be able to pay for their crimes according to the law. There was no point in hurling bullets of condemnation at them here. Leon wanted to believe that.
But...
They didn't stop. The moment the man staggered backwards after being hit by a bullet, the rest of the mob didn't waver in the slightest, and chased after the man as fast as they could. It was as if they didn't care about being shot at at all.
Finally, Leon noticed something. What he saw in their eyes wasn't excitement borne out of deviating from the norm, nor an abnormal fear of intruders. They were the eyes of insects, devoid of any emotion. It was the same level as farming or chopping firewood, a quiet, cold, murderous intent that mechanically eliminates any presence that intrudes upon their territory. It was a madness from which they could never awaken. They're no mob. Hunting and killing strangers was a normal part of life for the people in this village.
Realizing the warning meant nothing, Leon turned on his heel and started running like a man overcome. Turning his head at the sound of wind behind him, an axe whizzed past his ears and dug deep into the door of the hut ahead of him.
Without killing his running speed, he opened it to get a quick look at the interior. In theory it would've been foolish to hunker down in a building, but he already had the layouts of the surrounding buildings in mind. As soon as he saw a ladder, he jumped inside and ran upstairs before the villagers could reach the entrance.
Looking around through a window, Leon was again struck by a strong sense of déjà vu.
The villagers, both men and women, were amassing, each with their own weapon in hand. They all approached with blank expressions, reminiscent of the hordes of the dead that marched through Raccoon City six years ago. Leon could see the boundary between the two days was beginning to fade and melt away.
He could feel someone coming up the ladder. Resisting the urge to move right away, he drew enough of the villagers to crowd around him. Then he leapt his well-built body out of the window and landed on the roof of a neighboring house. That should've broken the siege.
Nearby, a rapidly throttling engine roared agonizingly. Turning around, Leon saw a man rushing toward him, brandishing a large logging chainsaw. The man's head was covered by a sling bag with only his eyes peeking out of holes. The eyes were focused on prey to be chopped up.
The only way to survive is for one to kill the other. As soon as he made that decision, Leon pointed his muzzle between the two holes and opened fire. The man recoiled as if struck by a giant hunter, falling over the green roof with his chainsaw. If he had even the slightest hesitation, he would've been torn apart by the rotating blade.
He jumped off the roof and began sprinting without pause. There was a flurry of orders to re-enforce the siege here and there, but the ring that was about to close was already behind him.
---I'm stepping into Hell again. A blood-soaked, muddy swamp I can't cross without going mad.
The gloomy sound of a bell north of the village reached Leon's ears as he was shaking off his pursuers. It echoed ominously, like a mourning bell dedicated to this intruder's future.
He still has no way of knowing a horror that'll shake the entire world is about to overflow from that remote area...
CHAPTER 2: Hideous Hallucination
He was just about to leave the village with the rescued Ashley when he was informed someone had shot down the helicopter that was to pick them up.
"We're prepping the next chopper now. In the meantime, proceed towards the original drop point."
The operator, Hunnigan, instructed him in a clerical tone, as if she were close-by personnel. She was a mere stranger of course, but Leon was rather grateful for her emotionless response. A support person must always give the impression of looking at a situation calmly. No matter how desperate the circumstances may be.
It was easy to imagine the command center in chaos. The chopper crash, which was supposed to be a top-secret flight, meant information was still leaking out from somewhere. It was unclear if it was an inside job, or if someone had hacked into the communication lines, but it'd be impossible to fly a replacement helicopter without knowing what to do.
He was impressed by Hunnigan's lack of concern over the situation. Yes, there was little hope of survival. Something unexpected was happening in this remote village. No, this was unpredictable territory--- the same as the events in Raccoon City, a world of madness and immorality.
Leon had already witnessed bizarre scenes. A tentacle-like object sprouted from the neck of a villager who should've been dead, but instead had lost his head. It stretched out several strands, bent like a mollusk, then hardened at the tip like a metal blade and attacked Leon with clear murderous intent. While puppeteering the body of a human lacking a head.
It was a life-form that couldn't have been created by common sense. A marvelous parasite that lurked inside the bodies of other organisms, hijacking their central nervous system and controlling their behavior--- something that couldn't be explained by conventional biology.
But Leon could understand. He couldn't reject this madness, he could accept it as reality. Since by doing so, he was one who survived that hellish city. It wasn't just Zombies he had to deal with in Raccoon City. He was chased and obstructed many times by more bizarre and hideous monsters. Leon fought them off with his human strength and is still alive today.
This is why his spirit never retreats in terror. He has acquired a will strong enough to face untold horrors, which is the most essential thing in an unimaginable predicament. Even the bravest of soldiers who've survived many battles wouldn't be able to match Leon's ability to survive the current situation.
Leon, who has one of the best aptitudes for abnormal situations among all people, finds it extremely difficult to see this mission through. The things he has to deal with--- that is, the mysterious creatures that've been haunting the inhabitants of this village--- are that much more dangerous.
As far as Leon had observed, parasitized humans seemed to exhibit tremendous vitality. Perhaps they were secreting a substance that amplified their host's metabolic functions and numbed their sense of pain, but the villagers were still able to stand up without a care in the world after being struck by several bullets. A bullet to the head, which would be a vital point in a normal person, doesn't result in immediate death since the human brain plays only a supporting role. Once brain functions are destroyed, the parasite which was lurking inside the body becomes exposed as a sensory organ to resume functioning as a more ferocious being. Without sufficient firepower, it was an unbeatable monster.
What made them even more troublesome was the fact they still retained their social nature as humans. Even though their bodies had been taken over by a foreign life-form, the villagers were able to continue their lives as they had when they were human, to a somewhat unnatural degree. They were even able to communicate with each other using complex language only the highly communal human race could provide.
A flock of monsters with physical functions surpassing those of humans, but with human intelligence, acting in an organized manner--- and unafraid of death. It was a group even Leon couldn't help but shudder at. An army of immortals that sprung up from the depths of the earth to surround him and Ashley.
And then---
The hair-raising hallucination he witnessed not long ago came back to his mind. The image of something deadly swooshing around the core of his body. With many legs wriggling and writhing, a tiny tyrant that had hatched was crawling around under his skin. Spraying an unholy venom, it transforms what used to be Leon into a different creature.
Where his head used to be, those tentacles were twisting and turning. Like a wirey parasite protruding from the belly of a mantis and performing a wild, nauseating dance...
He suppressed a sudden rush of fear, smothered a scream in the back of his throat, and shook off the hallucination. But in time, the illusion would become reality. The cult hosting this hellish banquet, Los Iluminados, had implanted Leon and Ashley with the parasite's eggs. And they're probably already hatching. They've begun to take root in order to turn the two of them into puppets.
---Even if we could escape from the village, if we can't get rid of these parasites, we're done for. If Los Iluminados are using this thing as a tool for control, they must have a way to remove it...
Once it's fully grown, that'll be impossible. With arduous circumstances like these, where he needed to find a way to get rid of the parasites in a limited amount of time, not to mention escape, he switched off the radio and stared up at the dark rainy sky.
"...Leon?"
She feigns being stout, perhaps because she's aware she's a VIP's daughter, but Ashley's voice, staring at her rescuer beside her, quivered. That was a source of encouragement for the dejected Leon. A memory of that day six years ago, when he scrambled to save a girl infected with a virus. He has experienced it and knows giving up's the biggest enemy of all.
He smiles fearlessly at her. Leon knew how much this little look would reassure her.
As he silently urged Ashley to cross the bridge, Leon thought to himself,
---I'll protect this girl. From the cult, and from those foul bugs.
A fire quietly ignited in the chasm of his heart. Unknown to Leon himself, his dark despair has been melted away by an unyielding flame that'll never be extinguished.
CHAPTER 3: Lost Piece
The old castle Leon and Ashley had escaped to was filled with grotesqueness, as if the paintbrushes had been filled with even more concentrated madness and painted over with violent motivations. They'd been lured into this tasteless expo hall with no other choice to be found.
What lurked there was a group of believers with clear "malicious intent" that separated them from the villagers who'd fallen victim to ignorance and convention in an enclosed society. A group of pagans who believe in a power brought about by the Plaga parasite and have chosen to abandon conventional human reason, the fanatics of the evil group Los Iluminados. They have been turned into meat puppets whose thoughts have been hijacked, and their uniformly expressionless faces occasionally display a blissful smile that sends chills down Leon's spine. This is an expression of the Plaga's horrifying nature, which doesn't even allow one to pray for release.
In addition, there were some horrific beings created by taking advantage of the parasite's obscure tendency to vigorously maintain the host's life.
Since parasitized subjects don't die easily, they're repeatedly subjected to random drug administrations and genetic modifications that would normally be unthinkable. The clawed Garradors were cultivated as killing machines that chase prey using only their hearing, they were then deprived of their sight as they became more violent and uncontrollable. There's also the Novistador, insect-humans transformed into an unrecognizable form after incorporating the genes of a variety of insects. Leon, who'd already stared into Hell, was horrified to see that when people unleash their evil desires, they're capable of carrying out such devilish experiments on humans.
The fact he was separated from Ashley by a trap intensified his frustration. In the first place, she was innocent of any crime. She's been abducted to this remote place just because she's the daughter of the American president, and at the young age of 20, she's being shown a hell splashed with human malice and gore. He had to get her out of there as soon as possible.
The empty space in his heart was now filled with a fiery rage and powerful sense of duty. Leon had never wanted to live as an agent. However, there was an undeniable satisfaction in his heart when he faced a difficult mission. He was able to forget the cost of his survival, a loss that could never be healed.
But then...
The fire in his heart flickered and nearly went out. In one of the castle bedrooms which seemed to have been used for guests in the past.
From the moment he sensed a presence creeping up behind him, Leon had a premonition.
He'd noticed that ever since his actions in the village, somebody was often watching him. It wasn't someone belonging to the cult. In fact, Leon had been saved by the third party's gunfire once, when he was cornered by the giant monster of a village chief, Bitores Mendez. At that time, the silhouette of a woman had indeed flashed past the window. A shadow that vanished from sight with grace, evoking unforgettable memories.
There was a momentary back-and-forth with that shadow in the bedroom. The woman kicked the gun Leon had tried to take from her, and she attempted to grab it again. Just before she could point the gun's muzzle, he pulled out his military knife and placed it to the woman's carotid artery. Their breathing, which had instantly risen and subsided, left a lingering echo of their colliding passion in the room. The lingering scent of a heated, risky undertaking formed by an extreme situation, more dense than a love affair.
On that day, at the bottom of the cauldron of Hell, Leon felt it for sure. On the day of the Raccoon City tragedy, when the city was saturated with corpses, the young rookie cop learned about love and was cruelly deprived of it. The illusion of youth had been stuck in the chasm of his heart, never to return.
That's why Leon couldn't believe it until the woman who confronted him took off her sunglasses. He knew he'd meet the woman he loved again, the woman who lost her life to save his.
"Leon. Long time no see."
It was Ada Wong. Wearing a cheongsam that looked out of place in a war zone, she smiled seductively with a beauty that didn't give away the years that separated them. She had a kind of natural beauty that'd make a man let his guard down even if he'd never met her before.
"Ada...?"
With the lost piece in front of him, Leon's mind was almost filled with a moment of clarity. The mission, his anger at evil, Ashley--- all of it was about to be superseded by Ada.
Through the intelligence division, intel concerning a female spy resembling Ada still being alive had reached Leon's ears. She was also rumored to have joined an organization that could be referred to as the remnants of Umbrella. But he refused to believe it. He'd stubbornly refused to believe the memory of Ada, who'd died in his arms, could be a lie his love whispered to him.
Therefore, a tremendous recoil struck Leon. He wanted to forget everything and hold Ada in his arms. He wanted to fill the six-year gap and quench his thirst in a single breath.
But it was Ada who stifled that. Her eyes, as piercing as a panther's, spoke far more to the male panther than words ever could. Don't let me down, Leon. It's not the path we're on. Show me how you've grown, befitting our reunion after all this time.
---Yes, Ada. You've grown more radiant than the phantom in my mind. What we should be doing here isn't exchanging familiar words.
Swallowing down the cheap love and joy that had almost reached his throat, Leon asked without releasing his tension.
"Heard a rumor you'd found your way into Wesker's organization."
"You've done your homework."
That's good--- that's what it sounded like to Leon. The fading flame of the fighting spirit he needed to complete his mission returned with more vigor. She was his prophet. She was his guide, showing him what to do as he struggled in Hell.
A few seconds later, Ada's discarded sunglasses flashed and she melted vividly into the darkness of the night.
For a moment, Leon stared at the window where Ada had disappeared. Dawn was still far off. The two of them stood even further apart.
But there's no heartbreak. For him, the complicated emotions were synonymous with hope. Leon was finally about to be freed from his phantom.
CHAPTER 4: Plague Origins
I wonder if the tower striking the heavens was, like the magnificent castle, built in the past when the Salazar family was at its full glory.
---Or was it anachronistically built of stone in the 21st century? Using a labor force of those who'd been afflicted with the Plaga and turned into obedient slaves?
As he ran up the spiral staircase that ran along the tower's inner wall, Leon was enraged by this ridiculous symbol of power. What would a ruler do when they'd abandoned humanity in favor of something no longer human? A wave of emotions washed over him and he managed to control his screaming body, which had been overworked since his arrival in the village. As if by some miracle, it sent him the energy to take the next step, and the next. Leon didn't know what awaited him at the apex of the tower. However, he knew what would happen if the disaster that had flourished in this remote European countryside was left unchecked.
If the Plaga parasite were to begin breeding in earnest and spread throughout the world, there'd be no way for humans to fight it. Their hosts, Ganados, with their unnatural behavior, would be possible to detect in places where the local population was tightly knit, but they could easily hide in big cities where even neighbors are indifferent. Ravenous beastly creatures that can't be defeated with firearms, blending into society and breeding new allies. Even if this turns out to be the case, in a metropolis where humans and monsters are mixed among each other, there's no way to carry out a destructive weapon sterilization strategy like the one conducted on Raccoon City. This silent invasion would also eventually undermine the very heart of the nation. Either by being implanted with more advanced parasites that can be disguised, or through the complicity of key people willing to submit to Saddler of their own volition to be given a dominant species Plaga, becoming monsters while retaining their human consciousness...
It was the same as selling one's soul to the devil in exchange for power. Moreover, Leon thinks this is something that shouldn't be sought after by someone in a position of responsibility to society.
However, it's also true those obsessed with power are more likely to succumb to the temptation of new power they stand to gain. A striking example of this is where Leon's headed. At the top of this tower they're about to perform an unholy ritual on Ashley they refer to as a baptism.
Ramon Salazar, a short-statured and clownish young man who could be mistaken for an elderly-looking child, chants his allegiance to the cult of Los Iluminados in a high-pitched voice. Recalling how this guy was intoxicated by terrifying power, Leon felt an uncontrollable disgust well up in his heart. He decided things had been made so much worse by the fact the young lord of the castle had taken an initiative in participating in Osmund Saddler's schemes.
Ramon was a descendant of feudal lords who'd ruled this remote region since ancient times, and even in the 21st century, when most of these monarchies had been abolished, he was the head of a family that had maintained substantial control by monopolizing vast tracts of productive land. It could be said he was the king of this land. From the time they were born, the villagers had to swear vassalage to the Salazar family. Unless they resolved to abandon their homeland, they'd be unable to escape from the customs handed down from generation to generation in that land.
In exchange for such a high status, the right to rule, and the authority to exploit goods, the nobles are inherently obligated to protect their fiefdom. They had to eliminate foreign hostiles who planned to plunder their lands by force, judge crimes in their lands fairly, and lead their people to good and peaceful lives. Although this is an idealistic view, it's precisely because we live in the modern age, where most of our obligations have already been handed over to the functions of states governed by the rule of law, that feudal lords who continue to lead the old way of life must strictly regulate themselves. Otherwise, the nobles in these remote lands would simply be nothing more than parasites sucking blood out of the poor.
In the past, the Salazar family was the lineage of an enlightened lord who sealed away the dangerous indigenous creature, Las Plagas, and cracked down on the pagan group Los Iluminados who were attempting to control its power. Even though Ramon had been enticed by the cunning and charismatic Saddler, Leon felt an inexplicable anger toward the fact the current generation had violated the interdict and unleashed the Plagas, using innocent villagers as live bait.
Countless pagans blocking his way died in a hail of bullets. They piled up on the stairs and fell from the cargo elevator into the entrance hall, turning into crushed lumps of flesh. They were undoubtedly dead once the Plaga hijacked their consciousness, but Leon couldn't substitute his own act of physical killing with the word "redemption." He was constantly aware he was shooting lead bullets into what used to be people, in order to carry out his mission and protect his own life. It was unpleasant. There's no justice on the battlefield. That's why this place is Hell. For Leon, who's no homicidal maniac, the deaths of the cult's victims accumulate as indelible sins. The blood spurting out from their bodies turns him redder and redder. He was like a devil god of the underworld flattening demons, turning him crimson.
He's prepared to live with remorse for the dead. However, he has to deliver some of it to the true evil. To Osmund Saddler, who's still gloating somewhere. And to Ramon. If the head of the Salazar family still had a duty to fulfill at this point, it was to take upon his body the resentments of the people who'd been deprived of their right to live in peace and quiet, in the form of a bullet fired by Leon.
He ran up the stairs to the outside, bathed in the misty night air.
This was the top level of the tower. The wind was roaring. No matter how high he climbed, the tower wouldn't lead to Heaven. Nor would the ambition of the fallen nobleman standing atop a mountain of corpses trying to seize an evil power.
Inside the great double-doors--- a space with a domed ceiling reminiscent of a chapel--- there was a being that evoked a primordial terror imprinted in the human brain. Rooted all over the walls, dripping mucus and writhing lewdly, a massive being that couldn't be called either plant or mollusk, it was the mother of all Las Plagas. The origin of a calamity that must never be touched had been resurrected from the depths of the earth. "I will pay my respects to your strong will as well."
Ramon laughed as he surrendered himself to the winding tentacles and was welcomed into the petal-shaped core. Along with his already deformed aide, the mad lord began to fuse with the Plaga queen.
Behind Leon, iron bars descended heavily.
But Leon, cut off from retreat, wasn't frightened. With a hint of pity, disappointment, and anger he'd been kept away from Ashley once again, he turned his sharp tongue on the young man who'd broken off from humanity.
The roar of what had once been Ramon Salazar proclaimed the beginning of a fight to the death.
CHAPTER 5: Fiery Justice
The sound of the submachine gun echoed through the stone ruins like the rumbling of the earth.
Judging from the sound, it seemed to be a special type of augmented ammunition with more gunpowder to enhance destructive power. Normally, the recoil of the bullets would cause it too far a spread, and they weren't something that could be used in a light machine gun designed to be portable, but the line of fire followed Leon almost without wavering. If he'd jumped into a shielding shadow even a moment too late, he would've been turned into a mass of flesh by the concentrated hail of bullets.
Jack Krauser's armor-like muscles completely restrained the machine gun as it tried to fly out of his hand. Stifling the tremendous recoil with brute force, his former comrade unleashed his stinging murderous intent upon Leon as he hid in a blind spot.
The weathered stone wall was shattered after a single point was struck by the reinforced bullets. Leon was struck in the back by a piece of flying stone and started to run with a short groan. He stitched through the shadows of the broken stone pillars on his way upwards, climbing stairs and ducking into a house. There was no time to fire back. Leon knows very well his opponent wouldn't be easy to counterattack.
Krauser was an excellent U.S. agent. Leon couldn't have asked for a more reliable partner to watch his back. Then two years ago, while they were both engaged in intelligence activities--- there was a mysterious accident that supposedly claimed Krauser's life. This first-class agent showing up as an enemy meant worse things to Leon than being attacked by a pack of monsters.
He was no longer surprised the ghost had come back to life though. In hindsight, it seemed there'd been signs of Krauser's defection even when they'd been working together. Leon had never been an ardent patriot, but he could still sense the discontent and desperation that sometimes came out of his partner, overshadowing his loyalty to the nation. Leon never forgot the look on Krauser's face as he murmured to him on a homeward bound transport plane that the United States was misguided, at a time when terrorism was on the rise and they were incessantly being sent out to respond to it. He sounded like the fanatical, extremist terrorists they'd just been fighting on their previous mission.
Faking his own death and covering his tracks, Krauser turned to an illegal organization led by Albert Wesker, a former Umbrella operative and Captain of the Raccoon Police Department's special mission unit S.T.A.R.S. He's become a lackey for a crazed cabal that seeks to revive Umbrella and use its hazardous technologies to take control of the world.
Leon continues to search for clues so he can counterattack, while dodging Krauser's unpredictable wave of attacks in the carefully trapped ruins.
"What're you fighting for?"
A mocking voice rained down from overhead. With the dark pre-dawn sky at his back, Krauser peered down at Leon with a relaxed expression. What fun's he having, crawling around in this hellhole? The man who surrendered himself to desire asked him, "You could've chosen to live a more comfortable, pleasure-eating life."
There was no trace of the stubborn soldier in his smiling face. Suddenly, Leon felt a burning sensation in the pit of his stomach. The heat swelled as if he'd been shot. He almost shouted, "You've gotta be kidding me."
---He used to be a good guy. What changes a man? The madness of the battlefield, or the absurdities of this world?
Gritting his teeth and choking back a scream, he glared at his comrade as he took a wrong turn.
"Dunno. Maybe it's my trauma."
"Hmm, Umbrella."
Krauser snorted mockingly at this answer. The scornful look in his eyes eloquently informed him he was a stupid person, obsessed with trivial matters, and refusing to see the bigger picture. Krauser disappeared upstairs with an attitude implying he'd lost interest.
Self-propelled explosive devices with anti-personnel sensors glowed as they closed in on him instead. Destroying them with accurate shots, Leon ran to the upper levels of the ruins. Then he asked himself again.
---What am I fighting for? Six years ago, Leon S. Kennedy had left his emotions behind in that vanished city six years ago, and was living like a mindless zombie. In this unbalanced world, where only desire and hatred are growing---
A moment later, a flashback hit him like a slap on the cheek.
"It's not, is it?" said a girl wrapped in a large jacket brandishing a goddess on her back.
"You're so boring now!" said the pony-tailed warrior ally he'd survived Hell with together, raising her eyebrow.
"You're too pure," smiles Ada from that day. "But that's okay. You just need to be straight up angry. What you feel is really what everyone should be fighting for."
Scolded by the phantoms of his past, Leon feels the fog in front of his eyes being rapidly dispelled, and his confused mind becoming clearer.
What lights up in the chasm of his heart, which should no longer exist, is a passion he thought he'd lost. A dazzling flame of hatred for evil, from his younger days when he wanted to be a police officer. It was an unflinching, fiery rage against grotesque desires that trample on meager happiness.
Sensing Leon's movements had changed, Krauser stood in front of him. In his face one could read the pleasure of a beast desiring to torment and kill a guardian who has lost his way and is struggling to escape.
"Let's finish this."
The man tossed aside his machine gun, revealing his muscular upper body, then held his left arm up to the sky. Leon saw his skin ripple eerily, his veins rose, then his toned arm began to transform instantly. His horrifying hallucination of the Plaga remaking his own body overlapped the scene before him with a sense of déjà vu.
Having become a prisoner to the parasite, the man leapt, proudly raising his enlarged blade-shaped left arm.
After losing his sense of justice and ceasing to be a human being, Leon welcomes his former comrade as a human being. Believing in the reason burning inside his heart, he keeps on fighting.
EPILOGUE
The long, suffocating night had finally come to an end.
The morning fog gradually lifted, and the surface of the lake, with its fine waves, became like a myriad of jewels, catching the returning sunlight and turning it into a swarming glitter.
The fight to the death was over.
Leon had succeeded in his mission to get back Ashley Graham, and had also eradicated the terrifying parasite that had been planted in her and Leon.
He'd crushed the ambitions of the cult of Los Iluminados, which had planned to use the excavated Plaga as a means of control in an attempt to shake the United States and eventually the entire world. All those who had played central roles in the cult, who were inhabited by a dominant species and could function while retaining their human consciousness, had departed to a place befitting their transformed forms. Their souls had been reaped by the Reaper's scythe, and they'd been dragged to the depths of the underworld to receive their due retribution.
Leon had also survived Hell. His body, overworked beyond its limits, was engulfed in severe fatigue resembling a feeling of emptiness. The event was too horrifying and too insane for him to face in his human body. It was too full of the desire and viciousness that would torment the survivor for the rest of his life.
But to him, the rising sun looked different from what he'd seen on the outskirts of Raccoon City that day. Here, there was hope. After six years of long dark nights finally dawned and the emptiness in the back of his mind was filled, Leon realized he'd been reborn as a person. With part of himself he'd lost returning to him, everything in the world seemed vivid, renewed. His senses were crystal clear, and the pain of his extreme crossings, the bruises, and the cuts, even they were pleasant now.
With Leon and Ashley aboard, the custom high-powered jet ski drives nimbly over the lake. The shadow of the isolated island they left behind was now a haze melting into the distance.
The home of the cult, Los Iluminados--- a research facility on an isolated island where life-desecrating attempts were carried out to improve the Plaga as a bioweapon--- has been burnt to ashes in red engulfing flames. A massive amount of explosives were used to destroy all key points on the island, completely obliterating the results of the experiments that had been conducted there. The preparations had probably been carried out in secret by Ada Wong and her organization.
Leon recalls the final appearance of the cult's supreme leader, Osmund Saddler.
Could he really be called Saddler? The dominant Plaga was created through a series of genetic enhancements and was supposed to be able to maintain human consciousness even after parasitizing them--- when Saddler unleashed his capabilities however, his appearance was unbelievably far from human.
The parasite's cells, once densely compressed inside his body, mutated then expanded rapidly outwards, forming a giant arthropod-like figure. Saddler's body, dangling at the parasite's center, looked like the shell of a pupa after being discarded by a hatching insect. The master-slave relationship between parasite and host had been reversed, leaving only a monster too deformed to be dubbed the leader of a new world.
Or perhaps even Saddler, who thought he had everything under control, was being used by the mysterious Plaga parasite without even realizing it.
After all, the Plaga was a fragile organism that could only live if it parasitized another creature. It was sealed up as a kind of abominable plague in the past, when science was still in its infancy, since its methods could never be referred to as symbiosis. However, the fact someone appeared in this modern age with a desire to spread it around the world was probably an unexpected stroke of luck for the Plaga species while it was on the verge of extinction in a state of suspended animation.
If the planet Earth were to be filled with Plagas, the world would be more stable than it is now, with different species of hosts capable of communicating with each other, able to give rise to an ideally balanced ecosystem. If one were to think about it in cosmic terms, the existence of these parasites may not be a "plague" at all.
However, Leon finds it unacceptable. The fact the unstable species known as humans was trying to build and maintain a diverse society was worth something. Human beings don't think they should leave everything to the Plaga and let themselves perish. Although they're arrogant and selfish, he believes their will to avoid destruction will lead them to an everlasting future, even if this world's full of absurdity and hatred.
The enhanced Plaga sample was stolen by Ada. Once again, there remains a seed from which another being like Saddler could sprout. But Leon wasn't pessimistic. He knew once it was in her hands, it was unlikely the worst would happen. Deep in his heart, he was sure Ada was acting with different intentions than Wesker.
The distance between Leon and Ada was now far apart. Their hearts may be in each other's hands, but their paths in life are distant and parallel to each other.
One day, their footprints will overlap again. As long as they live, and if the world goes on.
---I wanna keep going. I've got my reason for fighting back. For that, I'll go through Hell as many times as it takes.
"Hey you."
Ashley says, her wet hair blowing in the wind behind her back.
"You called that lovely lady somebody who haunts your heart. Does that mean you're crazy about her?"
Leon was relieved to see this young girl had a much stronger spirit than he'd imagined. She may have some emotional scars, but Ashley had a natural strength she didn't show.
"What's with the persistence? I said maybe."
"Someone who haunts your heart eh. I think you've got a great romance on the cards. I wanna hear a bit about it before we get back to the States together, okay? I'll ask my dad to make that part of the mission."
"...Wonderful."
Leon laughed a little, realizing that what happened with Ada in Raccoon City was no longer a tragedy to be sealed away in the depths of his memories.
Report About Ada
Ada's shrouded in "mystery."
No accurate information's been disclosed about her. Nothing's known about when or where she was born, her nationality, race, exact age, or even the name given to her at birth.
Only the woman who calls herself Ada Wong knows the truth about herself.
Her outstanding beauty and smooth pearl-like skin hearken to her Asian origins. Her alluring body's complex curves seem complete and devoid of waste, perfectly proportioned with no loss of her feminine appeal. But all of this, squeezed into a thin dress, is no more than an "enigma" hiding her true qualities. Like a form of powerful thought control over those who gaze at her.
That's right, Ada's camouflaged. Within a beautiful female spy. As long as she devotedly carries out her duties with absolute certainty, no one can guess her true intentions. Both her thoughts and ideology are hidden behind her enigmatic smile, and she gets one step closer to her true purpose.
The deception continues.
The rulers of the "organization", which operates behind-the-scenes of global affairs, truly couldn't help but be puzzled when Ada first approached them. A spy whose background's mostly unknown or built on false footprints----- Ada's outstanding capabilities were evidenced by her only verified record, her survival from the cursed town of Raccoon City.
Even the term "hellscape" fails to adequately describe the devastation which struck that land. It was a city of the dead that had been erased as if to cover up the terror of a madness that had gone out of control. Hence, the immoral product she brought back from there, the "G-Virus", became an undisputed appraisal for the one who achieved the extremely arduous mission of retrieving it. The name "Ada Wong" has become a legend among those engaged in espionage.
The approach of that female spy. There were many within the organization who viewed this as the work of a different group and insisted she be dealt with. Ada was too mysterious and dangerous to be welcomed with open arms.
However, the organization was already harboring an uncontrollable spark that could scorch its contents from within. A man who had now become too influential to be ignored, who'd infiltrated the heart of the organization with the gift of research results from the giant corporation Umbrella which was responsible for the Raccoon City biohazard---- Albert Wesker, former Captain of the Raccoon Police Department special division S.T.A.R.S. In order to restrain this lion-hearted bug, the rulers adopted a stratagem to co-opt Ada and try out an idea on her.
It wasn't that they had any reason to trust her unconditionally, but as long as she could function as a watchdog against Wesker, it'd benefit them even if Ada harbored treacherous intentions. If the two could keep each other in check, they'd be able to limit their activities as double agents that'd be most inconvenient for the organization------- that's what they decided.
Ada then handled her role with precision. Despite the fact she was being monitored, she made the most of her position as the organization's pet to get close to Wesker, then made him realize she was a more-than-capable intelligence operative if he were to use her as a pawn. As a confident man who considers himself a chosen one, Wesker prefers cunning wolves who can sink their fangs into your throat if you're not careful, over foolish but loyal foxhounds----- alternatively, he perceived she possessed a personality that appealed to him, so he skillfully constructed a power balance that made him feel like he had her under his control. As if he wanted to use Ada, his most capable "pawn," at every critical juncture of his schemes.
Of course, Wesker was also cunning, so he fully expected his movements would be conveyed to the organization's top brass through Ada. On the contrary, he actively leaked information he didn't mind being leaked, or he wanted people to think he did, but even so, a fact emerged dimly. Wesker was plotting something------- faint traces of this formed an unnatural rut within the accumulated plethora of information. It was reminiscent of the shadow of a huge, thick umbrella blocking out the rays of the sun...
In the midst of all these complexities and conflicting thoughts, only Ada remained a total mystery. Only her purpose is missing, like a gaping hole. As if she was truly serving the "organization." As if executing the mission's her greatest pleasure.
The deception continues.
There was a moment Ada's eyes carried a sparkle of truth. A glimmer of her will directly connected with hidden thoughts she couldn't disguise.
There, the life and death of a single man inevitably affected her. Six years ago, at the bottom of the darkness near between Raccoon City's destruction, the bare feelings of an upstanding young man and a female spy shrouded only in falsehood collided------- the life of Leon S. Kennedy. While often ordered by Wesker to eliminate him as an obstacle to accomplishing her mission, she formulated a scheme in which she didn't need to. She occasionally jeopardized her own life and held out her hand to Leon during his plight from the shadows.
Now this time too------- Ada ran within the huge steel frame-constructed tower and caught the desperate struggle between Osmund Saddler, who'd turned into a monster, and Leon who was fighting bravely. The beautiful leopardess ran at full speed inside the framework, defeating the crowding Ganado in defiance of the detonator that had already begun to operate. Saddler's counterattacks demonstrated his abnormal vitality------- In other words, the rocket launcher she held, equipped with a special warhead, was used as Leon's way to survive.
All of these may have been measures to get closer to the true purpose she holds. There are none who see the truth, save for Ada. There's a possibility Leon's survival may just be one very useful pave-stone.
However, in that moment she threw him the rocket launcher, Ada was struck with intense déjà vu.
A flashback to a memory sealed in her mind. That day, Ada, having faked her own death, tossed a weapon to Leon in the same manner during his arduous battle with an immortal monster in the underground laboratory while she hid in the shadows... -------She laughed. That hasn't changed either.
For just a moment, a smile flashed on Ada's face, lit up by the flash of light from the special rocket exploding. Leon wasn't able to catch her expression, but it was surely her true face, having forgotten the veil of "mystery" in that moment.