Before the violent tremors caused by the explosion had completely subsided, another, more primal and terrifying pulsation originating from deep within the earth's core, abruptly enveloped the burning ruins.
The earth was torn apart.
The concrete beneath Chris's feet was no longer solid ground, but a fragile floe of ice that could shatter at any moment amid raging waves.
His body, which he had just managed to steady, was violently flung up again by an immense force.
This time, he was prepared; his leg muscles instantly tensed, and his body swayed with the earth's jolts but never fell.
"Rumble—Rumble—Rumble—Rumble—Rumble—!!!"
The sound was no longer merely the roar of an explosion, but the painful groan of the entire crust buckling under unbearable stress.
Countless hideous fissures, wider and deeper than before, spread, intersected, and merged wildly across the ground.
The surrounding architectural remnants, already reduced to steel skeletons, emitted grating metallic screams as they collapsed in swathes, raising a vast gray curtain of smoke mixed with sparks and dust.
The pungent smell of fuel and gunpowder in the air was dispersed by an older, fouler stench.
Chris's stomach churned violently in an instant.
He held his breath, his eyes fixed intently on the collapsed area that had completely transformed into a gaping abyss.
Just then.
"ROAR—WUUU—!!!!"
A massive, bestial roar, too terrifying for human language to describe, pierced through the layers of thick rock strata from the deepest part of the abyssal maw and shot up into the sky!
The sound transcended the realm of hearing.
It felt like an ice pick forged from pure malice and madness, brutally stabbing into Chris's eardrums.
His mind went blank instantly.
Chris felt as if his internal organs were being kneaded by an invisible hand, threatening to be expelled from his mouth.
Even he, an S.T.A.R.S. ace who had survived countless battles and witnessed numerous BOWs, felt a bone-chilling dread in that moment!
What... was that thing?!
Even the Tyrant from moments ago seemed like a docile, harmless housecat compared to that roar.
"Cough... cough cough..."
Rodriguez, curled up on the ground, began coughing more violently.
His body trembled violently under the repeated assault of the terrifying sound waves, like a leaf caught in a storm.
Chris snapped back to his senses.
He refocused his gaze on the ground not far away.
Less than twenty meters away, the relatively intact concrete ground began to slowly bulge upward in a manner that defied the laws of physics.
It felt as if a prehistoric behemoth was slowly arching its spine beneath the earth.
Sand, stones, twisted rebar, and concrete fragments mixed together, constantly being pushed upward like a fountain by the terrifying force from below, before weakly rolling away.
"Screech—"
The hard ground finally gave way, and a massive fissure appeared at the highest point of the bulge.
Immediately after.
Chris saw something.
A massive object, covered in slick, dark brown mud, slowly squeezed out of the fissure.
It looked like a giant earthworm magnified tens of thousands of times, or perhaps an aging industrial rubber pipe abandoned in the deep sea.
Its huge, grayish-brown cylindrical body was covered in sickening circular folds and continuously secreted a layer of greasy, foul-smelling transparent mucus.
The putrid chemical stench assaulted them like a tangible wave of toxic gas.
And that wasn't all.
The massive cylindrical body continued to surge out from the abyss beneath the earth.
One meter, two meters, five meters, ten meters... It was like a death train emerging from Hell.
The small portion exposed above ground was already larger and thicker than a heavy truck.
What kind of monster is this?! What the Hell has Umbrella been hiding beneath this island?!
Chris's heart sank.
His palms, gripping the M4A1, were slick with cold sweat.
Just then, the top of the giant worm, its smooth, rubber-like head, began to contract and curl inward, like a carnivorous flower slowly blooming.
The next second, Chris witnessed the most horrific, profane, and biologically unnatural sight he had ever seen.
The monster's "head" split open.
Forming a massive, bottomless circular cavity.
The inner wall of the cavity was densely lined with countless curved, sickly white keratinous fangs, sharp as shark teeth!
The teeth were arranged in spirals, circling deeper and deeper into the cavity, and were slowly rotating and grinding at a speed that made one's scalp crawl.
Countless dark red fragments of flesh and bone shards from creatures that were impossible to identify hung between the continuously rotating fangs, being ground into finer, bloody pulp with every slight movement of the creature.
A thick stench of blood and decay sprayed out from the abyssal cavity.
"ROAR AHHHHHH—!!!"
Another deafening roar boomed out from the mobile meat grinder constructed of fangs and flesh!
The monster opened its terrifying maw, large enough to swallow a car whole, and lunged fiercely toward the tiny figure on the ground who had lost all ability to resist!
Its target was Rodriguez!
"Damn it!"
Time, in that moment, seemed to stretch infinitely.
Just before the abyssal maw, lined with spiral fangs, was about to devour Rodriguez along with the concrete beneath him.
Chris grabbed Rodriguez's arm and, using all his strength, yanked his limp, ragdoll-like body backward!
"CRASH—!!!"
The monster's huge mouth slammed exactly where they had been standing moments before.
The hard concrete looked as if it had been hit squarely by a heavy aerial bomb.
A massive, bottomless crater, over three meters in diameter, instantly appeared!
Tons of concrete and rebar were instantly pulverized into fine dust by the terrifying spiral fangs!
Crushed stone shot out in all directions like buckshot!
Chris, holding the nearly unconscious Rodriguez, rolled several times on the ground, barely managing to dissipate the massive impact force.
Several fist-sized rocks slammed into his back, making him wince in pain.
But he ignored it.
He dragged Rodriguez behind a relatively safe section of broken wall, then immediately pulled an M67 Fragmentation Grenade from his tactical pouch, cleanly yanked the safety pin with his thumb, and tightly gripped the cold, heavy "iron pineapple."
His mind was working at high speed.
The 5.56mm rounds from the M4A1 would likely not even scratch a monster of this size.
The horrifying defense capabilities of the T-078 Tyrant were still fresh in his memory.
This subterranean behemoth, whose codename was unknown, would only have more terrifying defenses than the Tyrant.
Physical attacks were likely ineffective.
The only weakness was its massive maw—the cavity—which lacked any external protection!
Failing to strike and missing the food that was within reach plunged the monster into an even more savage fury.
Its massive, eyeless head suddenly pulled out of the crater it had created and turned toward Chris and Rodriguez.
Although it lacked visual organs, it seemed able to precisely locate its prey through vibrations or some unknown bio-electric field.
"ROAR—!!!"
It let out a roar filled with anger and hunger, its huge body writhing and twisting frantically on the ground, kicking up clouds of dust, and charging toward Chris once more!
A sharp glint flashed in Chris's eyes.
He watched the abyssal maw drawing closer, almost blotting out the sky, calculating its speed and trajectory.
Closer... a little closer... Just as the foul, rank wind, mixed with sulfur and rotting flesh, was about to make his combat uniform flap fiercely.
Chris suddenly stood up from behind the cover, his arm tracing a precise and powerful arc, and hurled the slightly warmed grenade deep into the monster's bottomless throat!
Having done all this, he didn't even wait to see the results before diving sideways!
A muffled explosion sounded from within the monster's body!
"WUU—AOW—AOW—AOW—!!!"
The monster's massive body suddenly froze in mid-air.
Immediately afterward, it let out a horrifying shriek that was infinitely more agonizing and piercing than any previous roar.
Its huge, rubber-pipe-like body began to twitch, roll, and thrash wildly on the ground in an extremely bizarre manner!
It was like a giant python injected with an overdose of neurotoxin; every twist and roll smashed the surrounding architectural debris.
Chris turned his back, allowing the shattered stones and rebar flung by the monster's frenzied thrashing to rain down upon his back.
The next second.
"PFFFFT—!!!"
A torrent of thick fluid—a mixture of dark green, yellow, and various indescribable, foul colors—mixed with countless undigested biological remnants, crushed stones, dirt, and its own shattered, exploded internal organs, surged wildly out of its massive cavity like a breached dam!
In an instant, the entire area was subjected to a disgusting downpour of minced flesh and stomach acid!
The surrounding ruins, the ground, and even the burning flames were covered by a thick layer of foul-smelling, highly acidic mucus and shredded meat.
After nearly a minute of frantic struggle, the massive body of the arrogant subterranean behemoth slowly stopped twitching.
Its huge, hill-like body collapsed limply into the filthy Lake of filth it had expelled.
Large amounts of foul-smelling yellow and green mucus continued to slowly seep from its massive, bloodied and mangled mouth, gathering on the ground to form an acidic swamp emitting wisps of white smoke.
Is it dead?
Chris cautiously climbed to his feet, the M4A1 still firmly aimed at the motionless giant monster.
Only after confirming that the monster had completely lost all signs of life did he finally let out a sigh of relief.
He turned around and immediately went to check on Rodriguez.
"Hey! Are you okay?!"
However, the sight before him made his heart sink once more.
Rodriguez was unlucky.
Just moments ago, during the monster's death throes, a section of broken concrete wall crashed down from the top of the ruins, landing squarely on his already fragile lower body.
Dark red blood had seeped out from beneath the concrete wall, pooling into a small, shocking puddle of viscous gore beneath him.
"Damn it..."
Chris cursed. He reached out with both hands, trying to push the heavy wall, but his powerful strength, enough to easily lift an adult, seemed utterly pale and powerless against that massive weight, which symbolized "despair."
"Don't... waste... your strength..."
A voice so weak it was barely audible struggled out from Rodriguez's lips.
Chris stopped moving.
He watched Rodriguez slowly open his eyes.
His eyes, which had been dull and unfocused from excessive blood loss, now held an unprecedented clarity and peace.
Looking at Chris's face, which was slightly contorted with anxiety and guilt, a slow smile of relief appeared on his own.
He slowly took a deep breath, as if wanting to keep this world's last mouthful of foul air, mixed with smoke and blood, forever in his lungs.
Then, slowly, using the last remnants of his life force, he spoke his final, fragmented words.
"Your sister... they... the group..."
"Might have gone to... the Man... sion..."
"I... can finally..."
"Get some... proper sleep..."
Before Chris could say anything more.
Rodriguez's eyes, fixed on the sky, permanently lost all light.
He slowly closed his eyes, still wearing that peaceful smile of release, and heavily exhaled the last warm, bloody breath of his life... This former Umbrella containment facility warden, this sinner who clung to life for his Family, this man who achieved self-redemption in his final moments, had finally found his overdue peace.
(In the game, Rodriguez was swallowed by "The Gravedigger," and Chris killed "The Gravedigger," causing it to spit him out...)
Chris stood silently where he was.
The firelight stretched his silent shadow long and far.
He looked at Rodriguez's face, peaceful as if he were merely sleeping, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
Enemy? Ally?
Perhaps on this island shrouded in death and madness, such boundaries were no longer so clear.
Finally, he silently offered a few seconds of prayer for the unfamiliar Soul that had just departed.
He stood up, no longer looking at Rodriguez's corpse or the horrific remains of the giant monster.
His hawk-like eyes looked toward the outline of the classical architecture, faintly visible in the blood-red night sky deep within the island.
The Mansion.
Jill was trapped in the unknown Underground Mirror Palace.
Claire and her companions had gone to the even more dangerous Ashford Family Mansion.
Chris took a deep breath, gripped the M4A1 carbine tightly in his hand, and walked away with steady, determined steps.