Chris couldn't hesitate. He hoisted Li Yexing, aiming to get him off the battlefield.
Lilith, impaled on the Nemesis's claw, wailed—a beastly roar mixed with a grieving cry. Chris gritted his teeth, not looking back. With things this bad, he had to save Li Yexing.
As if annoyed or venting, the Nemesis slammed its claw, with Lilith, repeatedly onto the concrete. Her blood sprayed, and the stoic girl let out a heart-wrenching scream, not just from pain but loss.
"Forgive me…" Chris whispered.
A bloodied hand crept up his back, gripping his strap tightly.
"Where the hell you going?"
Chris turned, shocked. Li Yexing, half-slumped, pale, and weak, stared with eyes like a vengeful demon from hell. Even battle-hardened Chris felt a chill.
"You're awake?"
"Where the hell you going?" Li Yexing growled, each word deliberate.
"It's out of control. I'm getting you out. BSAA and UN troops are coming to handle it," Chris explained.
"What the hell!" Li Yexing roared, blood spraying Chris's face, not sounding like a dying man.
"Can't you hear her calling me?" Clutching his wounded abdomen, he shoved Chris, nearly collapsing. Chris moved to help, but Li Yexing stood, staggering toward Lilith. She was silent, blood-soaked, her leg twisted unnaturally, silver hair matted with blood, mutated claw broken, dangling. Her torn clothes revealed a faint red glow at her chest, pulsing weakly, signaling she was alive.
"Lilith… Lilith… wait, I'm coming… to save you…"
Teeth clenched, Li Yexing limped forward, blood dripping.
"You're insane!" Chris exploded. "Look! That's not Lilith anymore! She's a BOW! A weapon! A monster!" He reached for Li Yexing, but one look froze him—cold, hollow, murderous, like a corpse driven by obsession.
"I'm done with you…" Chris sighed, raising his gun, firing at the Nemesis's arm holding Lilith. Weakened from its fight with her, its virus couldn't heal fast enough. Bullets stung, making it wail and flail, throwing Lilith to the ground. Her veins calmed, claws shrinking back to slender hands, blood pooling on the concrete.
The Nemesis lunged for her, but Chris's fire slowed it, damaging its failing body—not enough to kill, but enough to stall. Li Yexing stumbled forward, picking up his dropped Glock, firing at the Nemesis as he neared Lilith.
Pain faded, leaving cold. He couldn't stop. His mind flashed to a small room, a silver-haired girl smiling sweetly.
That smile—he'd protect it, even if it killed him.
His gun empty, Li Yexing stopped, smiling, standing before Lilith, facing the Nemesis.
"Touch my girl?" His lifeless face twisted into a mad grin. Roples' mad dog bared its fangs, even at death's door.
"I'll kill you!"
Chris ran out of ammo, reaching for more—none left.
"Move! I'm out! Run!" he yelled. Li Yexing ignored him, grinning maniacally at the Nemesis.
It couldn't comprehend why the downed man stood before it. Its mission was T-Lilith. No need to think—just destroy obstacles.
It charged.
In Chris's stunned gaze, Li Yexing, laughing wildly, rushed the Nemesis. It swung its mutated arm. Chris couldn't watch, but Li Yexing dropped, sliding under the blow. He lunged, pain erupting in the Nemesis's chest wound. It roared, grabbing him with broken tendrils, throwing him. He rolled, sprawling like a dead dog. The Nemesis didn't understand the suicidal charge. As it turned, Li Yexing raised his head, grinning, bloodied hand trembling, holding a glinting metal ring.
"You're done," he taunted.
Like a death sentence, a grenade stuffed in the Nemesis's chest exploded. Blood and flesh sprayed from its wound and mutated mouth. No time to scream, it staggered and collapsed.
"We… got it?" Chris couldn't believe it. This gutted, dying merc, for a non-human girl, unleashed such power, pulling off a desperate, clutch kill.
Roples' mad dog—well-earned.
Li Yexing, unable to stand, crawled through blood to Lilith. Sitting with effort, he gently held her.
"Lilith…" he whispered.
Hearing him, she stirred, her faint voice trembling.
"Yexing… Yexing? Is that you…"
"It's me, Lilith," he replied softly.
"Thank… goodness…" She opened her eyes, tears streaming. Struggling to reach his face, he guided her hand to his cheek.
"i- it hurts… so much… but seeing you alive, it doesn't," she said, smiling at his pale, loving face.
Chris, glancing at them leaning against a container, reported to BSAA: the Nemesis was dead, thanks to a local merc. They needed medical aid urgently.
No backup came. The promised aid would be cleanup now.
Suddenly, the Nemesis's corpse twitched, bubbling blood, mutated arms and lower body sloughing off, its mouth squealing. It lost BOW control, becoming a mindless killing machine.
"Watch out!" Chris shouted to Li Yexing and Lilith.
They saw it. Li Yexing frowned. "Can't you read the mood, bastard?"
Lilith reached for the Desert Eagle he gave her, too weak to grip. A hand covered hers. She looked up—Li Yexing's loving smile.
Together, they raised the gun, aiming at the writhing Nemesis. Its mutated mouth opened, bloodied flesh churning, limp tendrils waving weakly.
Li Yexing, holding her hand, took a deep breath and roared, "Eat this!!"
The Desert Eagle's recoil knocked them back. The bullet roared, blasting through the Nemesis's mouth, exploding blood and flesh out the back.
Screaming, white gas hissing, its blood sprayed from every wound, flesh shriveling visibly into a lifeless heap in a pool of blood.
It was truly dead.
"You okay?" Chris ran to them. Li Yexing and Lilith lay together, hands still clasped on the gun, like they were asleep.
Chris sighed in relief.
---
Memories flashed in Li Yexing's mind like a slideshow: in a school uniform, dazed in class; on a ship, laughing maniacally while skinning someone; at a barbecue shop, forcing smiles; in a desert, staring at a half-headed corpse; admiring a girl's back; riding a woman. Scenes assaulted him. Then, they vanished. In a small room, sunlight streamed through a window onto a girl. In the shadow, Li Yexing saw her silver hair turn, her stoic face blooming with a warm smile.
"Welcome back," she said softly.