[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 463 - Come, Single Combat

The monster's massive head tilted. That eyeless face hung there for a moment, as if actually considering Leon's words.

Leon almost laughed at himself.

He'd always thought pre-battle single combat was something only cornered idiots fell back on. Betting your life on a long shot. And even then, you needed the other side to play along.

Now he was that idiot.

Save Rat Boss first. Worry about your dignity later.

Rat Boss was still dangling in midair, arms and legs churning uselessly, a dark wet stain already spreading across his crotch. The man had pissed himself.

Leon couldn't blame him.

Rat Boss hadn't been modified. He was just a regular person. Leon wasn't going to stand there and watch his own guy get stuffed into that thing's mouth like a snack. He himself was at least half-corpse — he could take a hit Rat Boss couldn't.

"Let him go."

He said it again. His grip on the fire axe went tighter.

"Come on. Just the two of us. I say what I mean."

A low rumble crawled out of the monster's enormous mouth.

"Fine."

"My earlier offer still stands. There's no reason this has to go any further. Leave the girl, and I'll let the rest of you walk."

The tentacle coiled around Rat Boss loosened.

Rat Boss dropped like a garbage bag, hit the ground hard, and immediately scrambled back on all fours.

He shoved himself behind T-Dog.

"It... it actually let me go?"

Merle watched the whole thing, looking almost impressed despite himself.

"Honorable son of a bitch."

But the monster didn't drop the rocket launcher.

The tentacle hoisted the RPG up, dangling it in front of Leon and the group.

Showing it off.

Then, right in front of all of them, the tentacle squeezed.

SCREEEECH!

The sound of metal folding under pressure, sharp and ugly.

The rocket launcher that could have blown the monster itself half apart was crushed down into a twisted knot of scrap.

The tentacle released.

The lump of metal hit the floor with a hollow clang.

"Fuck!"

Shawn Greene spat.

Everyone saw it clearly now.

It was stripping them of anything that could hurt it. It wanted to play, but it was making sure it couldn't lose.

Before anyone could react.

A black tentacle launched from the monster's body like a bolt. So fast it left only a smear in the air.

SMACK!

The high-powered flashlight still in T-Dog's hand exploded into fragments, glass and components scattering across the floor.

"My flashlight!"

T-Dog hadn't finished the sentence.

SMACK. SMACK. SMACK.

Three more, nearly simultaneous.

The flashlights in Merle's hand, Glenn's, Daryl's, each one found and destroyed by that flickering, ghost-like tentacle with surgical precision.

Just like that, every source of intense light they had was gone.

The greenhouse had one light source left: the emergency strips overhead, buzzing and stuttering, half of them already dead.

"This thing..."

Abraham watched the tentacle retract. A vein jumped on his forehead.

"It's disarming us."

Rebecca's voice came from behind them, shot through with something close to fear.

"It's enjoying this."

"It's showing us who's in control."

The monster seemed satisfied with its work.

Its massive body turned toward Leon.

No more deafening roar. No wasted movement.

It simply stepped forward.

BOOM!

The floor shuddered under the weight.

Its spider-like lower half moved on thick, jointed limbs, each step dragging a grinding scrape across the concrete that crawled under the skin.

Step by step. Steady. Unhurried.

Coming for him.

Pure pressure.

"Come on then. Make your choice."

"Last chance."

Rick and the others stepped back without thinking, knuckles white on their guns.

They all knew those guns were useless. Might as well be holding sticks.

Leon didn't move.

He stood there, chin up, watching the massive black leech close the distance. He barely came up to its knee. That huge circular mouth, taking up half its head, hung directly above him. Black mucus dripped from between the spiraling teeth and hit the ground at his feet.

"I'm actually curious," Leon said. "Why do you keep wanting Rebecca?"

The Leech Queen let out a low, rolling laugh.

"I already told you."

"And I noticed the changes in your body some time ago. You can control my bio-organic weapons. She's your team's scientist — I'm certain she holds the key to that secret."

The Leech Queen went quiet after that, waiting. Patient.

Truthfully, it had no desire for this fight either. Every leech that died was a fraction of its strength gone, and it was still saving itself for Umbrella.

Leon's mouth curved.

Hand Rebecca over. Sure.

He raised the fire axe.

Because he'd already spotted the slender figure moving in the distance.

He rolled his wrist once, easy, finding the weight and balance of the blade.

Then he settled the axe across his shoulder, tilted his head back, and looked up at the colossal thing standing over him.

"Looks like this fight was always going to happen."

➤ Next: Ada Arrives — Steel and Blood