With a thunderous boom, the female vampire—caught completely off guard—was slammed head-on by the accelerating pickup truck. She was thrown more than twenty meters through the air.
Before she could even get up to curse, Bella flipped herself out of the pickup. Her eyes glowed a faint blue—that was the sign of her psionic energy being pushed to its limit. She stomped down hard with her left foot, leaving a shallow mark on the ground, and then instantly shot forward. In less than a second, she appeared behind the female vampire.
James, the male vampire, skidded to a halt, spun around, and prepared to flank and assist. What he saw instead was Bella gripping the female vampire's head and tearing it clean off.
"This smell is absolutely disgusting! What did I tell you earlier? You trash are all dying today!" Bella lifted the severed head, her voice full of confidence.
She kept reinforcing her body with psionic energy, constantly telling herself things like You can do it, You're amazing.
She didn't have time to learn actual combat techniques—but if she was faster and stronger than her opponent, that was all she needed.
Confidence was a bizarre thing: once one side's morale skyrocketed, the other side naturally faltered—especially when James realized he had miscalculated something big. He had always assumed Bella's power was strange but that she had zero physical combat ability.
But now he had to change that belief. This damned woman had ripped off a vampire's head before he could even react. That speed and strength surpassed the limits of any human.
A sliver of doubt crept into him. When Bella lunged at him, he instinctively stepped back half a step. Then his vicious nature surged back. What's there to be afraid of? Fight!
After three exchanges, his confidence shot back up. Bella's attacks were... well, "total amateur hour"—ugly, blunt, totally untrained.
Bella realized the same thing. After only three moves, her own confidence plummeted. She could fool others, but she couldn't fool herself.
She had basically no fighting skills. Telling herself she was strong didn't magically change reality. She absolutely could not beat James in a fair fight.
If you can fight, fight. If you can't—run!
No fancy moves, no feints. She scraped the ground with one foot, kicking up a huge cloud of sand—and bolted.
James didn't hesitate for even a second. He lunged after her.
"GET DOWN!" A thunderous shout erupted from the left front.
A black Chevrolet was parked sideways across the road.
A muscular white man wearing a tactical vest was standing in front of it, both hands gripping a handgun, aiming straight past Bella's shoulder.
Who is that? Since he seemed ready to help, Bella didn't question it.
She sidestepped sharply, clearing the man's line of fire.
Gunshots exploded nonstop.
A Beretta M92F was a famous gun—but handgun muzzle velocity was still too slow against vampires. At this distance, James dodged left and right, losing only about twenty percent of his speed while avoiding the first five bullets.
It was the white man's first time seeing someone dodge bullets at close range. But unlike Bella, his mental stability was rock solid. Though surprised, he didn't panic.
He didn't back up a single step. His grip stayed steady. He continued firing without interruption.
He used his extensive combat experience to predict James's dodging angles and speed.
The vampire had just evaded one bullet—when the next one appeared right in front of him. In that brief moment between movements, with the Beretta's 375 m/s muzzle velocity, he couldn't dodge in time.
Vampires still had flesh and blood. Bullets hurt.
Shot after shot tore into him. Bella burst in from the side and kicked one of his legs clean out. While the white man reloaded, a brunette woman stepped out of the black Chevrolet.
Bella recognized her instantly—Claire Redfield, whom she'd seen twice during the plane incident.
Claire's hair was tied into a ponytail. White shirt, short jacket, jeans, short boots—completely different from her student look. She now looked sharp, almost like a soldier heading into battle.
Compared to that, the white man's mercenary-style appearance somehow looked perfectly fitting. A guy built like a tank would look ridiculous in a suit anyway.
The two of them fired together, their accuracy cold and ruthless. With his mobility crippled, James was turned into a sieve. Per Bella's request, they kept shooting until his skull was a ruined mess.
Only then did they stop.
Bella dragged the two vampire corpses together, drenched them in gasoline, lit a match, and set them ablaze.
As for Laurent—dead or alive, she had no idea where he'd ended up. She had no clue. This was the best she could do for now.
Then came a serious problem: Bella's speed and strength during the fight had been far too shocking. She was sure Claire and her companion had seen everything. How was she supposed to explain that?
Before Bella could even come up with an excuse, the white man invented one himself.
"Is she... one of those rumored bio-soldiers? That strength and speed are unbelievable."
"Uh? Ah—yes. Yes! Exactly! Gene-modified, you know..." Bella wiped nonexistent sweat from her forehead. Her mind replayed everything she did after the two arrived.
She had been about to run away—they must've noticed something strange. But since they didn't ask, she didn't need to explain.
Gene-modified bio-soldier it is!
"Miss Swan, you're in extreme danger right now. This is my brother, Chris. He's... he works for the FBI."
The white man—Chris—pulled out a badge and flashed it convincingly.
Claire quickly introduced both of them. Bella nodded politely—but she definitely didn't believe his so-called FBI identity.
Everyone knew the FBI was a mixed bag. Their members included, but were not limited to: actual agents, S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, HYDRA, CIA, KGB, Mossad, MI6, random civilian militias, demon hunters, vampires, demons, angels, and aliens.
Grab ten random people on a street—one of them was guaranteed to have FBI credentials, and they always looked extremely authentic.
Bella blinked. "And... this 'danger' you're talking about?"
Chris looked around, then lowered his voice dramatically. "A hidden enemy caused the plane crash. I suspect he used some kind of optical camouflage and then engineered a series of coincidences to kill people, creating the perfect alibi. This is a high-intelligence criminal mastermind!"
Bella: "..."
If I didn't know the truth, I would've believed him!