Chapter 126: "Feast" - The Raid - Headache

In the dense forest, the occasional call of birds echoed through the air. The thick fog composed of tiny water droplets and dust, combined with the towering trees and dense foliage, ensured that sunlight never reached this place throughout the year. It was damp, cold, and decaying—a habitat few animals would choose. However, the true reason animals avoided this area was the pervasive presence of "death" and "fear."

At this moment, a small red fox, barely half a meter long, was creeping along the ground, seemingly drawn by the scent of something irresistibly tempting—perhaps food or prey—leading it unknowingly into the woods.

Rustle… rustle…

Hearing a faint sound coming from the bushes ahead, the red fox immediately halted, pricking up its ears in a state of alert. Its mouth twitched as if debating whether to continue forward.

"Roar!!"

Suddenly!

Before the red fox could make a decision, the forest resounded with a beastly roar.

!!!

Startled, the red fox's eyes filled with terror. It quickly scrambled to escape from this place of death. But before it could turn around, it was abruptly dragged into an even darker, more humid "domain."

Crunch! Crunch!

Before losing consciousness completely, the red fox heard the sound of sharp teeth tearing and slicing through its flesh and bones. A gray-furred wolf, three meters long, was feasting on the lured fox.

Thud, thud!

Soon, another black wolf approached.

"Ugh…" Seeing that the gray wolf had already caught prey, the black wolf shook its head in annoyance and spoke in human language:

"Did you really win this time? Ugh!"

"Pah!" The gray wolf spat out chewed-up pieces of meat and replied:

"I can't stand the taste of foxes—full of fur, and the meat is just too gamey... way too gamey!"

"Hahaha!"

Seeing the gray wolf in such discomfort, the black wolf no longer cared about the hunting contest but turned and headed deeper into the forest, saying:

"Well, foxes are gamey and tough, but you're the one who insisted on trying the little critter we lured. We should be eating humans—human ribs, smoked human meat, or my favorite, roasted tenderloin. Ugh, I'm getting hungry. Let's head back quickly!"

With that, the black wolf started to sprint.

"I prefer fresh meat! Or organs!" The first thing the gray wolf did after catching up was to share its peculiar preference with its companion.

"Gah…" The black wolf made a deliberate gagging motion. "Everyone likes fresh meat, but I don't get how you can enjoy organs polluted by industrial waste."

"Those things have a nice chew to them!"

"..."

As they conversed, the two wolves passed through the thickest fog and arrived at a dilapidated square. Due to its age, the tiles paving the square were cracked and overgrown with weeds, while the stone pillars standing at the border between the forest and the square were of varying heights, with some reduced to mere stumps.

They did not linger but continued running at their original pace, crossing the square in the blink of an eye.

Ahead, a town located at the heart of a basin, perfectly hidden by the dense forest, came into view.

There were no tall buildings or modern infrastructure; even the lighting was provided by the most traditional torches and candles. However, a clear river flowed through the area, with lush fruit trees growing along its banks… it was like a secluded, idyllic garden far from human civilization.

But as they crossed the river and reentered the town, it became clear that this was merely the "garden" of vampires and werewolves.

The town appeared to be hosting some sort of "feast."

Countless residents gathered in the streets, sitting at outdoor tables or directly on the ground. The reason it was called a "feast" was that the werewolves were feasting on human body parts, while the vampires raised their goblets, drinking fresh human blood.

Laughter and merriment never ceased.

After all, this was the Valley of Death, the birthplace of vampires and werewolves. After centuries of "construction" and "development," these two abnormal species had built a town named "Sanctuary" centered around the temple of Ekati.

Although Sanctuary looked like a medieval or even more ancient village, the vampires and werewolves living there felt no discomfort and did not consider themselves inferior to the human world.

As for humans? Humans were merely livestock, kept in underground "farms" several kilometers away. The vampires and werewolves believed this was Sanctuary, the domain of their Sovereign Lord and Goddess, and thus would not allow it to be defiled by living humans.

At that moment, the gray and black wolves who had returned to the town had reverted to human form, changed into fresh clothes, and eagerly joined the feast.

The gray wolf, still with a thick coat of hair, sat at a table, drank a cup of blood to rinse the gamey taste from its mouth, and then began to devour the food.

The black wolf sat opposite, slowly savoring a skewer of roasted "delicious" meat.

"Sigh… With the Twilight Tavern gone, the human governments must have fully realized our existence by now."

However, an untimely sigh immediately killed the festive atmosphere at the table.

"So what?" The gray wolf was indifferent. "The Sovereign Lord has already awakened, and the sacrifices are almost complete. What is there to fear?"

"Exactly." The black wolf nodded in agreement. "The Sovereign Lord will grant us even greater power, and then humans will be nothing more than a minor nuisance—not something to fear or worry about."

"But humans have nuclear weapons."

"So what? Do you think humans would dare recklessly use them? I bet..."

Boom! Boom—boom—boom!!

Before the gray wolf could finish expressing its disdain, a series of dense and violent explosions interrupted it.

At the same time, the fire and shockwaves from the explosions instantly engulfed the gray and black wolves' location.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Tens of thousands of tiny blades whistled through the air with the shockwaves.

Splat! Slash!!

The vampires and werewolves who had survived the initial explosions and were trying to hide were quickly shredded into pieces by the flying blades.

"Ah… my leg… Someone, help me, get my leg over here..."

"Grace! No! What the hell is happening?!"

"It's the humans! The humans have definitely discovered Sanctuary!"

After the shockwaves subsided, the feast organized with human flesh and blood was forcibly halted by sheer physical destruction. Those abnormal creatures who had been laughing and joking loudly were now howling in despair, their previous "elegance" and "calm" nowhere to be found.

Yet before they could recover, a second wave of explosions, shockwaves, and blades followed in quick succession.

Leaving the now darkened town, let's move up to the bright, clear sky.

At first glance, nothing seemed to be up there except for a few white clouds. But in reality, two cloaked Pied Falconet carrier-based aircraft had just dropped a series of low-intensity bombs.

Boom——!

After completing their bombing run, the engines of the two aircraft roared as they accelerated back to base, the sonic booms seemingly revealing their location. However, since the Valley of Death is situated at the border between Europe and the Middle East, a chaotic region in the primary universe, no one would dare venture here on foot, and thus no one would notice what was happening.

Not long after, a group of "black dots" suddenly appeared in the sky.

The fact that these "black dots" were rapidly growing in size indicated that they were falling quickly.

As they came within visible range, it became clear that the "black dots" were actually small and medium-sized drop pods belonging to the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST).

The smaller drop pods, which could only accommodate one person, were more maneuverable and could be steered by the occupant to avoid collision by altering the direction.

Boom—boom—!!

All the drop pods deployed their bottom-mounted buffers, slowing their descent in stages.

Inside one of the small drop pods;

"This is Captain Volokov! Everyone, prepare for impact!" The communication line echoed with a loud reminder in a Russian accent.

Fully armed, Lyon watched the outside world through his helmet screen and the small observation windows in front of him.

Honestly, after personally experiencing an orbital drop, Lyon couldn't help but think that ODSTs were not human!

If it weren't for the military training at the Kenya base and the genetic enhancements he received, he would still be unconscious by now.

On the other hand, the ODSTs, who were still considered ordinary humans, were shouting and yelling in excitement as they broke through the black barrier.

It's no wonder the company had started using the term "Helljumpers" to describe the ODSTs' insanity.

Thud!!!

However, as the drop pod landed and the jarring impact forced Lyon to focus entirely on the upcoming battle.

He disengaged the mechanical exoskeleton, raised his right hand, and pulled the conspicuous red lever.

Thud~boom—!

The heavy pod door ejected several meters away.

"Ah!"

It happened to sever a vampire's legs.

"Cunning, treacherous humans! I will drain all your blood dry!"

The vampire, trapped under the door, struggled to free its legs while roaring in rage.

Thud, thud.

Lyon, gripping his AMWS rifle, jumped out of the drop pod, quickly approached the vampire, and fired at its head at close range.

Rat-tat-tat!

After the gunfire ceased, the vampire's head was reduced to a bloody mess.

"6.2mm armor-piercing incendiary rounds—always reliable. So, what were you planning to use to block this, huh?"

Lyon's quip was his response to the vampire's earlier threat of draining his blood. After all, with its head blown to bits, there was no way the vampire could bite anyone now.

After dealing with the vampire, Lyon didn't waste any time. Using his minimap and friend-or-foe identification system, he swiftly and accurately took out any nearby enemies with precision shots.

Before long, he regrouped with Mike, Chris, and the others. Together, the tactical team of investigators began to weave through the shattered town, efficiently eliminating any enemies they encountered.

Meanwhile, the ODST troops who had also completed their landings were engaging the enemy with their usual aggressive combat style.

"Hahaha! Die! Die!"

"You disgusting freaks! Have a grenade!"

In their hands, firearms seemed to have no semi-auto mode. Any vampire or werewolf unlucky enough to appear in their sights was immediately subjected to a relentless barrage of bullets, blasted to pieces. Some vampires attempted to use stealth techniques to launch surprise attacks, only to be thwarted by the ODST's pulse-detection equipment, which allowed them to be shot through walls.

As for the vampires and werewolves, they were already in a state of disarray from the initial bombardments. Just when they thought they could rely on their regenerative abilities to recover from their injuries, they found themselves facing Atlas's elite troops, leaving them with no chance to mount an effective counterattack.

Not to mention, Atlas's forces included Tyrants armed with small-caliber plasma cannons and combat mechs equipped with 30mm Gauss machine guns.

...

Ten minutes later.

In the heart of the so-called Sanctuary, a temple stood, resembling the ancient Roman or Greek style. The vampires and werewolves living here had apparently renovated the temple extensively, so it no longer bore the dilapidated look of centuries past. The massive marble columns were now adorned with glittering jewels.

However, the only entrance to the temple was blocked by a visibly shimmering, faintly purple barrier.

Most importantly, some unseen "force" seemed to protect the entire temple. While the surrounding plaza was left pockmarked by the bombardment, the temple remained completely unscathed.

At this point, the joint raid by the investigators and ODST had nearly reached its conclusion, with the town, one of their primary targets, thoroughly cleared of enemies. All that remained was the temple before them and the task of confronting Julian Belafila, who was hiding inside.

The ODST, whose primary role was combat, maintained a perimeter around the temple, while the investigators, responsible for intelligence gathering, gathered near the temple's entrance.

Looking at the barrier emitting a purple glow, Mike raised a hand to tap on his helmet, saying:

"I don't know about you guys, but the closer I get to this place, the more my head hurts. My body even started to feel like it wasn't under my control."

"Same here," Lyon agreed.

"..."

Chris remained silent, then removed the custom BFG from his back. He steadied himself, aimed at the barrier, and without hesitation, pulled the trigger.

Whoosh—!!

A plasma bolt shot out of the barrel.

Boom!!

The high-temperature plasma struck the barrier, causing a low-intensity explosion. However, after the explosion, the barrier remained intact. Even the plasma that splashed outward failed to melt the nearby steps, tiles, or columns. It was as if nothing had happened at all.

"Strange," Chris muttered, his tone growing more serious. "There might be a device generating this energy barrier. We'll need bigger weapons!"

"Hold on, Redfield," Lyon interjected, stopping him. "That anomaly named Leroya said this place is cursed. If we force our way in, it might backfire."

"It could even be a trap," Mike added in agreement.

Hearing this, Chris shook his increasingly aching head and said:

"In that case, we'll have to let Director Wang report the situation to the company first. Let's hope they have a way to deal with this."

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