Location: Sub-Level 9 – Echo Containment Vaults
The walls pulsed.
Not lights.
Not machines.
Pulsed.
Alive.
You and Leon moved slowly, rifles raised. The air was thick. Humid. Like something wet had been breathing here for too long.
The lights flickered.
That's when you heard it.
Not footsteps.
Dripping.
And then a voice—so distorted it barely sounded human.
"…is it time…?"
Leon froze.
"Grim," he muttered. "It's him."
The thing that stepped from the shadows was not a man.
Ten feet tall. Joints bent in the wrong direction. Veins like wires under armored skin. His face… had pieces of his old face fused into it. Like someone tried to preserve a memory inside a monster.
He looked at you.
And smiled.
Or maybe the skin just tore open that way.
---
Battle Begins: Grim Unleashed
He charged—no warning, no theatrics.
The floor cracked under his weight as he slammed Leon through a column, then spun and grabbed you, throwing you into the wall so hard it dented the steel.
Pain.
Real.
You rolled, spitting blood, dodged just as Grim's claw tore through the floor where your head had been.
Leon opened fire with specialized Echo-killer rounds.
They stuck. But didn't stop him.
Grim turned, arms splitting open into blade-covered appendages, and roared.
The room shook.
You grabbed a plasma charge, ignited it mid-roll, and jammed it into his ribs—BOOM.
Smoke.
But when it cleared—
He was still standing.
Burned. Bleeding. Laughing.
Leon crawled beside you, breathing heavy.
"You got a plan?" he grunted.
You coughed, wiped your mouth, stared at the monster.
"Yeah. Don't die."
You stood again.
---
Final Scene
Grim lowered his head, eyes blazing.
His voice echoed—
"…Zeyren gave me purpose…"
He raised his arms.
"…Now let me return the favor. With your corpses."
Then he charged again.