The Devil’s Seed

The Vault was collapsing.

Kaela staggered forward, her arms barely strong enough to hold the Genesis Core.

Arin limped beside her, his blade cracked, his body broken.

The victory over the Hollowborn was short-lived.

Because they had not truly won.

In the rubble behind them...

Riven's body twitched.

Not naturally.

Not humanly.

A black ember — the last living fragment of the Hollowborn — floated through the air like a malevolent ghost.

It sank into Riven's broken chest.

His back arched unnaturally.

A horrifying screech tore from his throat — a sound that wasn't his.

Kaela turned, her heart stopping.

> "Riven...?"

His eyes snapped open.

But they weren't his eyes anymore.

They were bottomless voids — swirling with a twisted, ancient hunger.

> "Riven is no longer here, Kaela."

"Only we remain."

The Hollowborn had found a new host.

---

The New Hollowborn

Riven's corpse morphed and twisted in horrifying ways.

His limbs stretched unnaturally long.

His skin blackened, cracked, releasing black mist that corroded the ground.

Bones pierced through his arms like jagged blades.

The Hollowborn reborn — in a form both tragic and monstrous.

Kaela dropped the Genesis Core in shock.

Arin pulled her back.

> "We can't fight him... Not like this!"

> "I can't kill him!" Kaela screamed, tears streaming down her face.

But the Hollowborn-Riven didn't care.

It lunged forward with impossible speed, forcing them back, back — until they were pinned against the broken walls of the Vault.

They had no way out.

No strength left.

No hope.

---

The Legend Returns

A new sound ripped through the battlefield—

The heavy thundering of armored boots.

And from the choking dust and broken stone—

they came.

An old man — battle-scarred but still powerful — marched at the head of a squad of elite soldiers.

Chris Redfield.

His gray hair was cut short.

His face was lined with age and scars.

His eyes — cold, determined — locked onto the monster in front of Kaela and Arin.

Behind him marched a squad of elite operatives: the remnants of the old world's finest.

Chris didn't hesitate.

He raised his massive custom rifle and barked out a command:

> "Light it up!"

Gunfire roared, ripping into Hollowborn-Riven's twisted body.

Flash grenades exploded, forcing the monster back.

Energy nets pinned it down temporarily.

Chris stormed forward, grabbing Kaela by the arm.

> "You're not dying here, kid. Move!"

---

The Escape

Kaela and Arin, still stunned, stumbled after Chris and his team.

The Hollowborn-Riven thrashed against the nets, letting out an earth-shattering roar.

But the soldiers were fast, professional — covering their retreat with relentless fire.

Chris threw a glance back at the monster, his voice grim:

> "That thing… it's not your friend anymore."

Kaela clenched her fists, her heart shattering inside her chest.

> "I know... but it was."

---

A Bitter Victory

Outside the ruins, dozens of helicopters hovered in the blackened sky.

Chris's people loaded the wounded, covered the perimeter, and prepared for another battle.

Chris turned to Kaela and Arin.

> "You're carrying the Genesis Core. That thing's a beacon for monsters."

"From now on... you stick with us. You understand?"

Kaela and Arin exchanged a look — exhausted, broken — but nodded.

The war wasn't over.

It was just beginning.

And somewhere behind them —

the creature that was once Riven howled into the night, promising that it would hunt them to the ends of the earth.