Ethan didn't look back. With Rose clutched tightly to his chest, he sprinted away from the smoking wreckage of the Factory, driven by pure instinct and relief.
The metallic, grinding chaos of Heisenberg's domain was replaced by the dense, silent forest.
He ran until the sound of the impending confrontation—a sound like the air being violently compressed—faded behind him. He followed the crude main road leading out of the valley, exhausted but resolute.
Just as he reached the old, dilapidated suspension bridge marking the village exit, the powerful roar of a jet engine and the sound of heavy chopper blades filled the air.
Chris Redfield and his Hound Wolf Squad had anticipated the final escape route.
The massive, dark helicopter descended rapidly, kicking up snow.
Chris jumped out immediately, rifle in hand, flanked by several heavily armed soldiers.
"Ethan! Stop!"
Chris yelled, his voice strained.
"Are you injured? Where are the targets?"
Ethan stumbled to a stop, lowering Rose slightly.
"Chris. Thank God."
He looked Chris directly in the eye, his face pale with exhaustion and the lingering effects of the battle.
"Rose is safe. She's cured, I think. But you need to stand down."
Chris looked skeptical, his gaze sweeping over the innocent child.
"Cured? Ethan, where are the Lords? The Dimitrescu women—we tracked them to the Factory! They're B.O.W.s!"
"They're not B.O.W.s anymore, Chris. They're people,"
Ethan insisted, quickly explaining the truth.
"Theodore—the guy you were chasing—he cured them. He resurrected Alcina. Miranda was controlling them all through the Megamycete. They're allies now. They're back there... fighting Miranda. The final boss!"
Chris lowered his weapon, his expression shifting from aggression to profound confusion.
"Cured? Resurrected? That's impossible, Ethan. Who is this Theodore? What power does he possess?"
"I don't know,"
Ethan admitted, shaking his head.
"He's a gamer. He uses items from other worlds. He's... he's doing the impossible."
He pointed back toward the distant valley.
"Miranda is coming for him now. He's facing the final boss with a family of newly-cured vampires and a bunch of hand-me-down guns."
Chris looked at his tactical team, then at the desperate sincerity in Ethan's eyes, and finally at the distant, silent valley.
The situation defied all his experience with bioterrorism. If a common B.O.W. could be cured, their entire paradigm was wrong.
"Extraction confirmed,"
Chris spoke into his comms, keeping his eyes on the village.
"Ethan, get Rose on the bird. You're going home."
He paused, then added a new, unprecedented order:
"Hound Wolf, stand by. We are holding positions. We are waiting for them, Theodore Mayer, and his allies. The targets are now confirmed non-hostile. We do not engage. We provide extraction support."
Ethan looked at him, surprised.
"You're waiting?"
"If he just resurrected a biological weapon and convinced her to fight the source of the evil,"
Chris said, reloading his gun,
"Then I need to have a very serious talk with this 'gamer' about international security protocols."
Miles away, at the ruins of Heisenberg's Factory, the air grew violently cold and still.
The shadows deepened, pooling into a dense, swirling vortex over the wreckage.
Mother Miranda materialized directly out of the corruption, her black robes swirling, her body radiating an immense, terrifying power far surpassing that of her four former Lords.
She wasn't just magnetic, reptilian, or insectoid; she was the embodiment of the Megamycete itself.
[Final Boss Activated: Mother Miranda]
"My family! My tools!"
Miranda's voice was pure psychic energy, ripping through the minds of everyone present.
"You dare to break the bond of my divinity, Theodore Mayer! You interrupt my grand design for my daughter, Eva!"
Alcina stepped forward, placing herself between Miranda and Theodore.
Her beautiful features were set in stone, her amber eyes burning with pure hatred for the woman who had enslaved her for decades.
"We are not your tools, Miranda,"
Alcina spat, drawing her body to its full, imposing height.
"We are free. You control nothing here anymore."
Theodore grinned, completely unfazed by the terrifying appearance of the final boss. He pulled out Heisenberg's Flask.
"She's right, Miranda. The server rules have been updated. You've been patched."
He glanced at the sisters, who were awkwardly gripping their new guns.
"Remember, no reloading, no aiming. Just point and empty the clip!"
He pulled out a final, gleaming Black Firebomb.
"Alcina, go for the center mass! I'm going to hit her with a finisher right out of the gate!"
The final fight had begun.