Theodore and the team stormed the basement, following the path illuminated by the single Glowstone.
The air was thick with mist and the faint, sickening scent of decay and formaldehyde. Angie's maddening cackle echoed from the shadows, making the uninitiated like Ethan feel lightheaded.
"She's playing hide-and-seek! We need to find her three times to win the puzzle!"
Daniela whispered nervously, her voice betraying the fear she still fought.
"We don't play her game,"
Theodore declared. He used his Eagle Eyes to cut through the smoke and mist, focusing on the movement and sound.
"Alcina, she's moving fast through the crawlspace to the right! Block the exit!"
Alcina didn't hesitate. She slammed her massive fist down onto the concrete floor of the basement, not breaking it, but causing a massive seismic vibration that dislodged stones and debris, collapsing the narrow crawlspace exit and sealing
Angie inside a small, dark closet.
A high-pitched, furious scream erupted from the closet—the sound of an utterly trapped creature.
"Ethan, on my command!"
Theodore yelled. He approached the closet door, ignoring the bizarre, illusory dolls that began to materialize in the gloom.
"She's trying to stall! She's trying to win back time!"
Cassandra warned.
Theodore didn't give her a second.
He pulled out the Ascalon sword, placed the tip against the rotting wood of the closet door, and delivered a swift, powerful kick to the handle.
The door flew inward.
Theodore didn't look at the small, terrified, white doll trapped inside. He plunged the Ascalon through the doll, pinning it to the back wall.
THWACK!
The attack was so sudden and definitive that the entire house gasped.
The lighting returned, the shadows vanished, and the mist evaporated instantly.
Donna Beneviento, the true master, was physically revealed—a woman in a black wedding dress, connected to the puppet by a thin thread.
The woman didn't scream or fight; she simply withered.
The connection to the source of her life and power was violently severed.
Donna Beneviento slumped forward, dead. The magical item she controlled—a small, glowing, doll-shaped item—clattered onto the floor.
[Lord Defeated: Donna Beneviento]
[Experience Gained: 5000]
[Level Up]
[Free Point Gained: 4]
[Item Dropped: Beneviento's Flask]
"That," Theodore said, retrieving the Beneviento Flask, "is how you cut a four-hour puzzle down to thirty seconds."
"Rose,"
Ethan breathed, rushing toward the table where a crib was set up, his only thought for his daughter.
The crib was empty, save for a note: The Maiden is with the Magneto.
"Heisenberg,"
Theodore translated grimly.
"We just wasted thirty seconds."
Miles away, at the command center hastily established in the abandoned church, Chris Redfield slammed his fist onto a tactical map displaying the containment zone.
"Report!"
He barked into the comms.
"Sir, the targets are confirmed inside the Beneviento Estate! Thermal scans show extreme localized heat—not gunfire, but something... explosive near the ventilation system. The power grid in that whole sector just failed," reported an operator.
"They bypassed the security systems?"
Chris asked, his voice tight with disbelief.
"They blew their way in?"
"Negative, sir. The anomaly—the fast male—entered first. He appears to be leading the Dimitrescu targets. They entered the main door after the failure. Local intelligence suggests the Beneviento system requires hours of intricate psychological engagement to neutralize."
Chris stared at the schematic of the village.
The anomaly. The guy was treating the entire, deadly operation like a sightseeing tour.
He didn't use force where stealth was required, and he used brute force where puzzles were expected.
"He's disrupting the plan,"
Chris growled.
"He's not a monster, he's a catalyst. The Dimitrescus are now cured and loyal to him. He's actively weaponizing the Lords' weaknesses against the other Lords."
He pointed to the next major location on the map, a massive, industrial complex near the river.
"Heisenberg's Factory. He's the next logical target for the anomaly. He has Rose. Get the air unit moving. I want a perimeter established around the Factory, but do not engage the anomaly until we have eyes on Rose. I need to know what that little bastard is playing at."