"Bang—!!!"
A flashbang grenade was suddenly thrown.
Wesker was completely unprepared for this last move from Javier. It was fortunate it was only a flashbang; if Javier had held onto a high-explosive grenade, Wesker might have been dead already.
Coincidentally, Wesker's incredibly swift dagger slammed down onto the flashbang's casing. The collision created a sharp noise, accelerating the grenade's fuse. With a muffled explosion, a mass of blinding light instantly condensed and expanded...
"Buzz..."
Like a brilliant fireworks display, white starlight scattered. In an instant, a brightness of nearly six million candela dissipated, accompanied by a piercing sonic boom. Seeing this, Wesker hastily shut his eyes, covered his ears, and rapidly retreated. His black sunglasses should have greatly reduced the flashbang's effectiveness, but unfortunately, during the previous exchange, when Wesker tried to kill Javier with the "Reaching Heaven's Palm," the shattered pieces of Javier's knife had not only scratched Javier's face but had also cracked one lens of Wesker's sunglasses.
Therefore, his main defense could not block the full force of the blast.
"..."
It was over almost instantly. The blinding white light of the flashbang enveloped Wesker. His eardrums ruptured, and crimson blood began to flow. His eyes, intensely flash-blinded, became swollen and painful, tearing uncontrollably. Wesker instantly entered a state of severe rigidity and dizziness, just like the previous T-002 Tyrant.
It's nearly impossible for any creature with sight and hearing to resist the power of a flashbang; they will suffer a momentary control loss.
Taking advantage of this time, Javier injected all the adrenaline into his body.
The adrenaline rush was incredible. Javier clearly felt his heart rate rapidly increasing, yet without any shortness of breath or chest tightness. Blood swiftly circulated to every corner of his body. His temperature was rising, his skin reddening, and his brain becoming incredibly lucid. This state made Javier highly excited, feeling an inexhaustible surge of power.
Simultaneously, with the injection, Javier noticed a change in his vision. Countless scenes flashed before his eyes, yet their speed seemed extremely slow. As the saying goes: "It's not that I've slowed down; it's that I'm getting faster..."
This was Javier's first time entering [Bullet Time]!
"Click...!"
Javier quickly ejected and inserted a new magazine. He broke his personal limit, completing the reloading action fluidly in about one second. Even with his eyes closed, he could have inserted the magazine precisely. Facing Wesker, who was still paralyzed, Javier immediately pulled the trigger. A series of Magnum bullets flew out again!
"Bang—Bang—Bang—!!!"
Three heavy Magnum shots rang out.
The bullets were fired at various tricky angles: high, middle, and low arcs. With both his ears and eyes temporarily useless, Wesker could not immediately determine the direction of the three incoming bullets. He could only rely on his most fundamental "sense" to evade.
The first bullet flew incredibly fast, leaving a strong wake in the air. Wesker's skin subtly vibrated, as if detecting its position. Without hesitation, Wesker violently hurled the tactical knife from his hand. The blade flew out with a piercing sound and instantly struck the incoming Magnum bullet.
"Clang—!"
A crisp sound rang out. Wesker's prediction was correct. The first bullet was knocked down. Wesker knew that because of Javier's Gun-Fu, he couldn't let the annoying bullets curve and disrupt his judgment; shooting them down before they curved was the only solution.
But now... two bullets still remained.
How could Wesker deal with them? He was truly unarmed, and he had at least one or two minutes before his vision returned—he couldn't wait that long. The remaining bullets would come from even more bizarre directions, making pre-emptive strikes impossible.
In that case... Wesker smiled coldly.
If he couldn't dodge, he would meet the attack head-on. Wesker swiftly charged, completely ignoring the two rapidly approaching Magnum rounds. His hearing and sight were ruined, but his sense of smell remained, allowing him to clearly lock onto Javier's location. He decided on an all-or-nothing approach: instead of waiting for his vision to recover and being slowly depleted by Javier's Magnum rounds, he would capture the leader first.
Did this risk self-destruction? Wesker didn't care. With his superior Progenitor and T-Virus regeneration, he would last much longer than the ordinary Javier. Since the risk wasn't too high...
"Stomp—!"
"Boom... CRASH—!!!"
Wesker stomped his foot, sending debris flying, and launched himself forward like a cannonball.
Because Wesker chose not to defend, the two Magnum rounds instantly tore through his left shoulder and thigh. The intense cavitation effect ripped through his muscles, causing blood to splatter instantly. His shoulder and thigh were pierced with grotesque bloody holes, and the bone was shattered.
Despite this, Wesker didn't flinch or cry out in pain. His expression remained fierce and savage, as if the horrific wounds didn't concern him. Upon reaching Javier, Wesker raised his remaining right roundhouse kick and swept out violently—!!!
The brutal kick came with a "whoosh—!!!"
Javier was caught off guard. He hadn't expected Wesker to be so reckless, willing to take two Magnum rounds just to close the distance. It was a fearless tactic.
Javier had to admit Wesker's choice was correct. Only a desperate, close-range fight gave him an advantage; otherwise, Javier could use the minute of Wesker's blindness to wear down his stamina, leading to a quicker death.
"So fast!"
Javier, marveling at Wesker's speed, quickly crossed his arms to form a defensive shield, attempting to brace for the powerful kick. The kick was too fast. He had no time to dodge or counter. The disparity in power and skill was immense, making Javier feel like an ordinary person facing a master fighter.
"BANG——————!!!"
"Crack..."
A sharp sound rang out. The powerful kick was full of penetrating force, instantly sending the shielded Javier flying several meters. He slammed hard against the tunnel wall like a ragdoll, spitting up blood. Worse, his arm was broken.
"Shit, it's broken!"
"Is the power difference really this huge? I thought [Bullet Time] would compensate, but I guess I hoped for too much."
Javier, propelled to his feet by adrenaline despite being thrown, wiped the blood from his mouth. He was still excited, but the lack of sensation in his left arm—which was either fractured or completely broken—made his expression grim. He realized the power of the Progenitor and T-Virus trumped human limits; Wesker's single kick had fractured his arm. Both men were heavily damaged.
Wesker offered no respite. After the kick, he charged again, launching his signature front kick to keep the distance closed.
"Whoosh—!!!"
Javier quickly dodged sideways. With a "bang," Wesker's kick missed and slammed violently into the tunnel wall, embedding his foot in a crater of shattered rock—a testament to his frightening strength.
Javier didn't show weakness. He counter-attacked, dragging his broken arm. Despite being a S.T.A.R.S. officer, his martial arts were far from Wesker's level.
Seizing the moment Wesker's leg was stuck, "Good chance! Have a punch!" Javier frantically swung his fist at Wesker's face.
But Javier again underestimated Wesker's martial arts skill.
"Clap... Clap... Clap...!!!"
Every punch was blocked. With only one functional hand, Wesker parried all of Javier's wild swings, turning his palm into a blade. He aimed a hand-blade strike at Javier's armpit, hitting with a "snap" that made Javier momentarily stop his attack due to searing pain. Wesker then pushed Javier's arm aside and thrust his hand-blade toward Javier's throat, intending to snap his neck.
"Crack..."
"BANG————!!!"
Faced with a lethal hand-blade strike, Javier instantly abandoned close quarters. He quickly pulled out the Desert Eagle again and fired a close-range, curving shot.
"Pooch..."
Wesker couldn't react in time. The Magnum bullet instantly shattered his hand, destroying several fingers and the palm, exposing white bone and gore. Even Wesker's eternally icy face twitched in pain, showing the intensity of the injury.
But Wesker was not one to give up easily.
"Die!"
He was the definition of vengeance. Despite the destruction of his second hand, Wesker did not retreat. Instead, he used his head as a weapon, his slicked-back blonde hair thrusting forward into a powerful headbutt to Javier's chest, sending him flying back several meters again.
"Bang..."
A dull ache filled Javier's chest, and he felt blood rising in his throat. Seeing Wesker, who was utterly fearless, still trying to charge, Javier held nothing back. He extended two fingers and aimed them directly at Wesker's swollen, exposed eye (under the remaining broken sunglass lens), employing the classic dirty fighting move: the eye poke. (He mentally noted the other dirty tricks: groin kick, toe stomp, hair pulling—all effective in a chaotic brawl.)
"Pooch..."
As the two fingers went in, Javier felt a thick, viscous fluid coat them. When he pulled back, Wesker's eye socket was leaking pus and macerated flesh, as if something inside had burst. The usually stone-cold Wesker finally let out a painful grimace and a scream...