But Ripley was too late as the tank had already moved out and fired a shell at the Crimson Devil.
And his worst fears came true when the Crimson Devil easily sent the shell shooting back towards the tank, making a large hole through it.
Ripley felt a sudden heaviness in his heart, his limbs tingling with fatigue when he saw how the most powerful weapons like RPGs and powerful rifles were all basically useless against someone who could send rockets flying back to them.
He didn't know what to do or how to fight this calamity. All he knew was that he should at least make sure his family was saved. But even that was a bleak hope, considering how he was sure that the Crimson Devil would easily break in and kill everyone.
"Cease fire! We are going in!"
Ripley turned around to see Bella and three others, all suited up to face the Crimson Devil. She and the others together formed Team Hound, and each of them were strong Ascended ones in their own right.
She didn't have fear written on her face other than crazed excitement, while the other three had ashen faces, not knowing whether they even stood a chance against the devil.
"Bella, are you sure you want to fight him?" Ripley asked out of concern as her fellow comrade.
"Hmph, of course," Belnna snorted as her palms lit up in flames.
Ripley didn't stop her anymore and said, "Okay. Be careful, you all, and retreat if there is no chance."
He opened the doors again, but just then, a mangled tank came crashing in, killing Bella and the other three Ascended ones just like that.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Ripley's jaw slacked while feeling his legs go numb, seeing how the Hound team, which consisted of the most powerful Ascended ones in his team, got crushed to a bloody paste.
"Everyone, retreat!!" Ripley now was absolutely sure that there was no point in losing more lives by fighting back.
He suddenly thought of another idea which he had no idea if it would work or not but was the best and only alternative he could use.
"Stop firing! Set up C4s, landmines, any bombs with good explosive power around this place. We are going inside the secure holding!" Ripley wanted to see if he could bring down the Crimson Devil by making this whole place explode while taking cover in the prison, which was made like a bunker.
The other soldiers let out a sigh of relief, hearing that they don't want to fight the calamity outside now, but still, they knew they were far from danger.
Everyone abandoned their posts as they quickly began to run inside the building, heading towards where their family was while taking the necessary weapons with them, just to feel safe.
Ripley made sure his men put every bomb they got wired through the whole place and then didn't even bother to check how close the Crimson Devil was before running into the building.
Nathasia was in half delirious state when she saw many women and children coming in who looked at her with a surprised look but then ignored her.
She didn't know who these people were but guessed that they must be families of the soldiers here.
"H-Help...please…" Nathasia tried calling out, hoping that they would at least free her.
But the others only looked at her with pity while some with wariness, thinking that she was some hardcore criminal.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Don't stay here. Move into the second room!" A soldier said in a loud voice, making everyone move into an inner room that was behind one of the doors in the prison room.
Nathasia was alone again when all the women and children moved over to a more secure room which was behind a heavy metal door. Even if a missile was fired at the door, it wouldn't be able to make a hole in the door.
Soon after, Nathasia saw many men and women in uniforms and guns assembling in the prison room while some only shot some glances towards her before ignoring her.
Nathasia wondered why all of them were coming here and what was happening outside.
But the soldiers who had their nerves brimming with uneasiness couldn't help but talk to each other about their current situation and how hopeless things seemed.
Even if their families were in the next room, not one of them dared to waste time by opening it. Ripley made them move there so that even if the worst comes to worst, he hoped that everyone's families would stay out of the Crimson Devil's sight and avoid getting killed.
Or he hoped that the Crimson Devil wouldn't go too far to kill unarmed women and children.
But this was all just his wishful hoping, and he also made his way towards the prison room after making sure everyone went inside.
He made sure that the bombs were wired in such a way that the moment anyone comes through the door, all the bombs would be triggered and explode at the same time.
Nathasia's eyes lit up when he heard the soldiers tensely discussing what was happening outside.
'He is here!' She felt immensely happy knowing that Damien was here and suddenly felt as if a ray of hope was shining in her dark world.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})She couldn't help herself from smiling, thinking that finally, she was going to get justice for her parents since she knew Damien was going to kill everyone here.
The others thought she had gone crazy from being imprisoned under Bella's care, seeing her smiling to herself.
But that was just a passing thought as everyone was tightly gripping their rifles with clammy hands, desperately praying for the explosion to go off and take care of the walking calamity.
*BOOOOM!!!*
Suddenly the whole earth shook when a booming explosion resounded outside, making everyone tremble, feeling how powerful that explosion was since they could hear the earth rumble from inside this secure room.
But at the same time, some had ecstatic expressions on their faces thinking that the Crimson Devil should have blown up to nothing but ashes since they were sure the bombs could only be triggered if someone walks in.
Ripley, however, didn't show any excited or happy expressions since he knew the only way to make sure the Crimson Devil was really caught up in the explosion and died was by seeing if he was going to come through the secure door in front of them within the next ten minutes.
If he doesn't, then Ripley was sure that something would have happened to the Crimson Devil, and they would have the win.
But if he does...then not even gods could help them.
Nathasia was immensely worried, hearing the conversation of some of the soldiers, and felt enraged, thinking how despicable these people were to rig a bomb to kill Damien.
If they were so worried about their lives, why did they kill his family?
*BANG!*
Everyone got startled when they heard the sound of a metal door being forced open and crashing onto the ground.
But this sound made everyone's chest cave in as they let out a hard sigh, closing their eyes since this meant that the Crimson Devil was alive and he was coming for them!
