Saving the End: The Villainess Redemption

Chapter 7

"Get back, Mikha!" Diego screamed, pulling the boy behind the heavy steel pillar. "Keep your hands over your ears and do not look up!"

"Diego, what's happening?" Mikhail sobbed, clutching his blue backpack tightly. "The metal is shaking so hard!"

"I know, buddy! Just hold on to me!" Diego yelled back, his eyes locked on the ceiling.

CRASH.

Above them, the reinforced glass windows of the upper loading bay shattered into a million pieces, showering the concrete stairs with razor-sharp shards as the wind began to howl through the building.

"Ah!" Alina gasped, jolting upright from the sleeping bag on the floor. Her eyes snapped open, wide and bloodshot. "What... where am I? Diego? Why does my head feel like it's burning?"

"Alina! Thank god you're awake!" Diego shouted, sprinting to her side and pulling her to her feet. "Can you stand? Can you run?"

"I think so, but my mind is so foggy," she muttered, stumbling slightly. "What did you do to me? What was that needle?"

"It was a stabilizer! It stopped your mana from tearing you apart!" Diego explained quickly, ushering her toward the steel crates. "But we don't have time to discuss medicine! We have to move right now!"

"What is that horrible sound?" she demanded, clutching her temples. "It feels like needles are piercing my brain!"

"It's a Screamer! It's a tier-two evolution!" Diego yelled over the rising, mechanical hum echoing from the ceiling. "It just wiped out the people in the hallway! It's inside the warehouse now!"

"The police officer?" she asked, her eyes widening in horror. "Are they all dead?"

"Yes, they're dead! And we're next if we don't lock this place down!" Diego shouted. "Get behind the middle crate with Mikhail! Do it now!"

"Alina!" Mikhail cried, throwing his arms around her waist the moment she reached him. "I'm so scared! The monster is in the room with us!"

"I've got you, Mikha. I've got you," Alina promised, her voice trembling as she held him tight. "Diego, where is it? I don't see anything in the dark!"

"It's in the shadows!" Diego warned, raising his fire axe. "Keep your voice down! It hunts by sound!"

A pale, faceless shape slid out of the dark ceiling duct. Its skin was a sickly, translucent grey, and its throat ballooned like a massive, pulsing purple lightbulb.

"Oh my god," Alina whispered, shielding Mikhail's eyes. "It doesn't even have a face."

"It doesn't need one!" Diego hissed. "It feels the air vibrations! Don't make a sound!"

The Screamer's throat suddenly swelled to twice its size.

WUUUUUURRRRRR.

A high-frequency pulse rippled through the basement, vibrating the very air.

"Argh!" Diego screamed, dropping to his knees. His axe clattered against the floor as a thick drop of blood ran from his left ear. "Damn... damn it!"

"Diego!" Alina yelled, taking a step toward him. "Get up! It's turning toward you!"

"Stay back!" Diego gasped, his vision swimming in violent circles. "My ears... my balance is completely gone!"

"Use your blue screen!" Alina shouted, panicking. "Can't you upgrade your stats? Do something!"

"I don't have any points left!" Diego wheezed, shaking his head to clear the fog. "I spent my only point on Strength to save you guys on the ladder earlier!"

"Then let me use mine!" Alina offered, her hand hovering in the air. "I still have one point! Where do I put it?"

"No! Don't touch it!" Diego yelled back, coughing up a smear of blood. "If you spend it now without a class, you'll ruin your mana channels! It will kill you!"

"Then how do we fight this thing?" she screamed as the Screamer crawled down the concrete pillar, its movements terrifyingly fast.

"The crate!" Diego pointed a shaking finger at the open steel container. "The side compartment! There are emergency road flares!"

"Flares?" Alina repeated, turning toward the crate. "How is a light going to help us against a blind monster?"

"It doesn't have eyes, but its skin is incredibly sensitive to thermal changes and sudden light!" Diego explained, raising his voice over the beast's low growl. "A sudden thermal flash will blind its sensory organs! It will buy us enough time to strike!"

"I'm looking!" Alina shouted, digging through the gear. "I found them! Three red tubes!"

"Take one!" Diego instructed, dodging a sudden, blind swipe from the Screamer's long arm. The concrete wall behind him shattered into dust. "Be ready!"

"How do I light it?" she asked, her voice cracking as she fumbled with the plastic cap.

"Pull the cap off!" Diego commanded. "Strike the scratch-pad on the top against the exposed tip! It will ignite instantly!"

"And then what?"

"Throw it directly at its chest!" Diego yelled. "And cover your eyes! It's going to be incredibly bright!"

"Mikha, close your eyes!" Alina ordered, her hands trembling as she positioned the cap. "Close them tight and don't open them until I say so!"

"They're closed!" the boy cried, pressing his face into her side.

"Diego, it's getting ready to scream again!" Alina warned, pointing at the glowing purple throat of the monster. "It's swelling up!"

"Do it now, Alina! Light it!" Diego roared.

Alina scraped the cap against the tip.

HHHIIIISSSSS.

A brilliant, violent crimson light erupted, instantly illuminating every corner of the dark basement with a harsh, flickering glare.

The Screamer let out a high-pitched, agonizing shriek, thrashing its limbs wildly as the intense thermal wave and light overwhelmed its sensitive skin. It backed away from the flare, completely disoriented.

"Now, Diego! Strike!" Alina yelled, shielding her eyes with her arm.

"Die, you freak!" Diego roared.

He grabbed the fire axe, using the last of his strength to propel himself forward. He swung the blade in a wide, desperate arc, aiming directly for the pulsing purple throat.

CRUNCH.

The blade buried itself deep into the soft tissue, completely severing the vocal sac. A thick, foul-smelling black fluid sprayed across his face and chest.

The Screamer fell to the floor, its limbs twitching weakly before it finally went entirely limp.

"Is... is it dead?" Alina asked, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps as she dropped the sputtering flare.

Diego didn't answer. He released his grip on the axe, his legs buckling beneath him.

"Diego?" Alina called out, stepping closer. "Hey, look at me."

"I... I can't hear you," Diego mumbled, his voice slurred as the room spun in violent, nauseating circles. "Everything... is spinning."

He took a step forward, but his equilibrium was completely gone. His eyes rolled back, and he began to fall.

"Whoa! I've got you!" Alina cried, lunging forward.

She caught him by the shoulders just before his head hit the hard concrete, her arms wrapping tightly around his vest to support his weight.

"Hey, stay awake," she whispered, her dark eyes searching his face with a sudden, genuine wave of concern. "Don't you dare pass out now. You said you were going to save us."

"I... I'm trying," Diego whispered, his head resting heavily against her shoulder. "But the room... won't stop moving."

"Just breathe," she said softly, holding him close as the red light of the flare continued to flicker against the walls. "We're still here. We're still alive."