Human - Predator - Xeno

"Poseidon, I've discovered the second Predator youth's corpse."

Chris reported, his brow furrowed as he surveyed the carnage before him.

The Predator youth lying in a pool of fluorescent green blood was not Celtic, whom Chris had encountered earlier, nor could it be Chopper, who had been the first to meet his end. It was Scar, who should have been one of the protagonists in the film.

Scar's body lay face down with a gaping hole in the back of his head; it appeared he had been ambushed by a Xeno from behind and then finished off by the creature's inner jaw.

In contrast, Celtic, who had originally died due to his own carelessness, had now secured two kills, having abandoned his playful, sadistic nature early on because Chris and his team were different from the film's protagonists.

Following tradition, Celtic removed his mask and used the acidic blood of a Drone to carve two symbols resembling a slash and a backslash onto his forehead and his mask.

This signified that Celtic was no longer a youth, but a fully-fledged adult Predator.

A Facehugger had attempted to ambush Celtic while he was carving the symbols, but unlike Scar in the film, Celtic—the strongest of the trio—naturally did not let the surprise attack succeed.

The Facehugger was sliced clean in two by a boomerang.

After finishing the markings and donning his mask, Celtic prepared to retrieve his Shoulder Cannon, but first, he had to deal with the survivor—Chris.

Ten minutes passed, and the secret chamber doors opened, allowing Chris to continue searching for an exit out of the pyramid.

As Chris crossed a ledge and reached a corridor on the middle level of the pyramid, he met Celtic at a corner; the Predator had his dual wrist blades extended on his right arm and a combi-stick in his left.

"Ga... ga..."

Celtic emitted the unique vocalizations of his race and shook the weapons in his hands, as if issuing a challenge to a duel.

After all, having survived an attack from Chopper and successfully killing a Xeno, Chris was worthy of a one-on-one duel with Celtic, regardless of whether luck had played a part.

Understanding the creature's intent, Chris stopped in his tracks to face him.

In an instant.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Whoosh!"

Chris and Celtic launched their attacks simultaneously.

The MA5B roared with gunfire, and the combi-stick was hurled with immense force.

Chris barely dodged the spear, then adjusted his stance to continue firing precise, short bursts at Celtic.

However, Celtic used the armor on his left arm to shield his unarmored abdomen, charging toward Chris without a hint of fear.

"Clang! Pfft!" The bullets were deflected by the armor.

While the young Predator's armor could not withstand acid, it was not something that could be easily pierced by the caliber of an MA5B.

Seeing this, Chris immediately adjusted his aim, firing bursts at the unarmored thighs.

"Squish! Pfft!" The attack proved effective; three bullets successfully "drilled" into Celtic's right thigh.

"ROAR!!" The agony of the bullets churning inside his flesh forced a roar from Celtic.

But Celtic was a Predator, not a human; his muscle and bone density were far superior, and three shots were not enough to stop his charge.

On the contrary, the pain caused Celtic's body to secrete a surge of adrenaline-like hormones.

The ten-meter gap vanished in a heartbeat, and Celtic swung his dual wrist blades at Chris with all his might.

!!!

The speed was such that Chris instinctively raised his MA5B to block.

"Clang!"

The MA5B, made of titanium alloy and polymers, did manage to slow the downward strike of the wrist blades to an extent. While it could not avoid being sliced into several pieces, it gave Chris just enough time to counterattack.

Chris stepped back and, seizing the momentum, delivered a powerful front kick to Celtic's lower abdomen.

"Pong!" A dull thud echoed.

"Augh...!" A howl of pain followed from Celtic.

Struck by the tonnage of force from the mechanical exoskeleton, even Celtic, who weighed over half a ton, was sent sprawling by Chris's kick.

"Thud!" Celtic slammed heavily into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Had Chris aimed his kick just a little lower, Celtic might have become the first "Predator eunuch" in history.

If that had happened, Chris would never have been able to complete the mission of earning the respect of the Predator race, even in death.

As Celtic hit the ground, Chris drew his .40 caliber STARS Samurai Edge from the holster on his right leg.

Just as he finished drawing the weapon, Chris heard a cold breeze behind him and immediately dodged to the right.

"Hiss!" Seeing that the ambush on Chris had failed, the Drone Xeno lunged directly at the prone Celtic.

"Roar..." Pinned to the ground by the Drone and unable to rise, Celtic had not yet recovered his breath and could not push the creature off.

"Cha! Cha!" The Drone snapped its inner jaw at Celtic's head several times, but Celtic managed to dodge each strike.

The two remained locked in a stalemate.

However, anyone with a discerning eye could see that at this rate, Celtic would sooner or later be killed by the Drone.

So...

Chris stepped forward quickly and delivered another "Pong" kick to the Drone, utilizing the immense force provided by his Mechanical Exoskeleton to send the creature flying.

After kicking the Drone off Celtic, Chris aimed at a spot on the Drone not protected by its exoskeleton and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Pfft! Splat!"

To show sufficient respect, Chris emptied his extended magazine, which held twenty-four rounds, all of which were equipped with high-velocity armor-piercing tips.

Strictly adhering to Sui Bian's policy of "double-tapping," Chris reloaded a fresh magazine and fired five more shots into the exact same spot on the Drone's head.

With that, the Drone that had failed its ambush and ended up being... killed, was thoroughly dead. There would be absolutely no jump-scare effects like those seen in the movies.

"Hiss--!"

But no sooner had he dealt with the Drone than the howls of a large number of Xenos echoed from the end of the corridor.

Chris turned to look and discovered that at least seven Xenos were charging toward their position from the dim end of the hallway.

The number exceeded the six that had been in the Sacrificial Chamber, which meant that back when they were ambushed in the narrow hall, quite a few D-Class Personnel hadn't fully breathed their last and had been dragged off by the Xenos to be used for propagation.

Seeing this, Chris turned his head toward Celtic, who was struggling to stand, and tried to propose:

"Hey, big guy, I know your mask can translate what I'm saying. We're both trapped here now; if we don't cooperate, we're both going to die."

After saying this, Chris holstered his pistol, freed up both hands to quickly take off his backpack, and pulled out the longest silver Shoulder Cannon from inside.

He pulled out the Shoulder Cannon.

Zipped the bag shut.

Chris put his pack back on, held the Shoulder Cannon out to Celtic with his right hand, and added, "What do you think? Time is running out."

Celtic, having recovered enough, did not let out his usual angry roar but instead stared at Chris in silence for two seconds.

In the end, Celtic chose to take the Shoulder Cannon.

Meanwhile.

In the Poseidon combat briefing room.

Detected abnormal phenomenon: Chris Redfield's special attribute, 'Good Luck', has been activated.