Stanley didn't immediately go back to Rowena after his defeat of Miss X. Oh no, as a completionist and someone who was obviously perturbed with the manner in which he ended up defeating the Bogey, he spent a significant amount of time after the fact exploring the mansion. Of course, if you ask him the main reason for this course of action will always be the pursuit of loot. On his journey however, he also found bits of lore scattered about in notes and whatnot. As distasteful as he found all the lewdness to be, Stanley can still respect and appreciate the effort Ezraphel put into crafting the world.
Unlike in the games, enemies didn't respawn, which saved him a lot of grief. Still, of all the loot he uncovered throughout the castle, the most valuable of the lot had to be the silver coins. As much as he wanted to Stanley abstained from returning to the 'art room' and instead made his way back to Rowena.
"You actually managed to do it," was the Wight's response when he came back and showed her Miss X's dropped loot of a massive crystalline effigy of her torso and the special key to exit the mansion.
"I am very impressed."
Stanley didn't have a scowl on his face that was only minutely less severe than the one he had prior to washing his hands of Bogey Girl Cum.
"Am I also going to have to fingerbang your other subordinates into submission?"
He spoke in a relatively calm tone; however, the inherent edge behind his words elicited a sense of danger, even to the Wight, who hid her apprehension behind her fan.
"Only if you are interested in trying your hand at that," she joked, only to tense up at the growl and the spike of an oppressive aura emanating from the man.
Hiding the embarrassing squeak behind a prim cough, Rowena continued, "But no, my other subordinates are not as naturally robust as Miss X so there will be no need to resort to that. Though you will obviously need better caliber weapons."
Thankfully, with her words, the tension seemed to drain from both the man and the atmosphere, causing the undead matron to also be relieved.
'If I wasn't already dead, I would be holding my breath,' she thought wryly.
"Right, who am I going after next?"
"That would be Beatrice," Rowena informed with a frown, "a former knight I took in after her failed defense of her former lord castle, which ended with her death. She was put in charge of defending my holdings."
"You put someone who failed at their job in charge of your security?"
"There were extenuating circumstances surrounding her death; Beatrice did not fail her duties," Rowena defended with furrowed brows. "Even now, after her betrayal, she still devotes herself to the defense of the lands from invaders," her red eyes peered onto him, "and infiltrators."
"Naturally," he drawled.
"Luckily for you, along with being a knight, Beatrice is also a weapons collector whose domain happens to include armory."
Stanley perked up at this "go on."
"She herself has taken quite an interest in these foreign weapons. Despite not using them, I imagine she has quite the collection scattered about."
"Where?"
"They are in places you will most likely not be able to access. Not to worry, I will have my servants bring them to me, and you will be able to collect them at your leisure."
"At a price, right?"
He could imagine Cheshire smiling behind her fan right now "naturally."
Stanley could only shake his head in acceptance. "Am I going to have to come back here every time I want to buy something from you?"
"No, no, no, seeing as how you are aiding me, the least I can do is make it more convenient. I am already working on setting up shop in other areas, and I trust that you will see me again during your travels, wherever you may go. But to make it easier."
Rowena snapped her fan close before it became enveloped in a ghostly pale aura. Pointing to the side, the aura jumped out and grabbed something before, with a flick, sending it to Stanley, who caught it easily. Looking down at the object, he found it was an old-style compass with a gem at the center that flashed a dark purple.
"Much like this room, my shops will be warded against detection and protected from intrusion. You won't be able to find them without that compass, and if you happen to be in need of my services, it will guide you to the nearest one in your vicinity."
"Handy," he pocketed the compass in his inventory and asked, "what exactly should I expect from Beatrice?"
Considering she's involved in protecting the place, Stanley was expecting actual armed guards and whatnot.
"Before her demise, Beatrice was a knight commander of some renown. Her personality may be rigid and layered in tradition, but she is a seasoned warrior with years of combat experience, and her skills with a blade are second to none. And that's when she was alive." Rowena added.
'I figured as much.'
"And now?"
"The same, but layered with superhuman strength, speed, and resilience, as well as wearing enchanted armor and carrying an enchanted sword."
"How does that hold up to a gun?"
"Funny thing about that; she wondered the same, which is why she had tested herself against the myriad of foreign weapons."
"And?"
The Wight winced. "She found them wanting, to say the least."
"Oh my God," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Yes, in fact, she found them to be so useless that she left a few scattered around her territory."
Stanley perked up "does that mean?"
Rowena smiled "my servants are gathering them as we speak, though, to be honest, I doubt having additional firepower will make much of a difference. Mundane weaponry, no matter how foreign, won't do much against enchanted armor."
"So I need to get around the enchantments."
Rowena nodded "indeed, which is why I recommend you visit the chapel and receive a..." Her face twisted slightly "ugh, the Chief God's blessing."
"You keep a church nearby."
"I assure you, it was not my idea," the Wight informed, "unfortunately, its construction was part of the deal I made to acquire Moira."
"Does anyone even go there?"
"Despite her current status as a priestess of Hela, Moira still visits the chapel to pray to the Chief Goddess."
Stanley opened his mouth. "that's…" He then paused, remembering Banshee's backstory and title before shaking his head, "no comment."
Shaking her head, Rowena continued, "in any case, you'll need to go through the village proper to reach there."
"Let me guess," Stanley interrupted. "I'll have to fight through the residents to get to it."
"Naturally."
"As long as I don't have to induce an orgasm to beat them, I can deal."
"Once you clear a path to the chapel, I urge you to visit me before you enter."
"I was planning on doing that anyway."
As if he'd willingly face a boss going in half-cocked.
Speaking of which...
"You got any silver coins in there?"
"I'm afraid not, but I did find a particular weapon that may act as an upgrade to one you seldom wield."
Stanley's interest peaked, only to be disappointed when she revealed said weapon.
"Oh, it's a knife," he muttered with disappointment.
"A combat knife," Rowena emphasized before adding, "enchanted to be unbreakable."
Unfortunately, if she was expecting him to be impressed, then she was surely disappointed when his eyes narrowed instead.
"That explains why it's so expensive."
"I'm offering a discount."
"Wait, this is the discount price?" He made a face and said, "You can keep that."
"Are you mad? It's an unbreakable knife!"
"And? It's not like I'm stabbing anyone."
The truth is, using a knife on someone never even occurred to him. He's more Ethan Winters than Leon Kennedy in that sense.
Rowena pursed her lips "I see, then perhaps this will be of interest to you."
This turned out to be a gold ring with runic engravings. As Stanley read the summary, his furrowed brows rose as his curious yet doubtful eyes lit up with interest.
"I see I've now stoked your interest."
The ring, as it turns out, is enchanted with a spell that increases proficiency in knife combat. With it, a complete amateur would have the knife-fighting capabilities of a trained veteran. Everything from stabbing, slashing, cutting, and parrying will be at his disposal should he don the damn trinket. And paired with an unbreakable enchanted combat knife meant...
"I'll take them both."
Rowena's smile was the epitome of smugness as she spoke, "Of course, provided you have sufficient funds."
Stanley looked at the cost of the ring, then added it to the cost of the knife, and his reaction is summed up in a single word.
"Fuck."
Later…
Stanley exited the mansion with a scowl.
Who would have guessed that a magic, unbreakable knife and a ring that could give him an advanced combat skill would be so expensive? Thankfully, the crystalline effigy as well as the jewels he found lying around the mansion and in the display room were worth a lot to the vainglorious Wight and covered the costs enough for him to buy additional ammo and health potions.
In order to get to the church, he needed to go through the village where it was located, and that meant tangling with the villagers.
'It's looking a lot like RE:4 right now' He remembered thinking, 'which is ironic considering what I'm about to do next?'
Following the path Rowena gave him, he came upon a gate, and beyond that gate was a dirt path that was mostly obscured by overgrown plant growth. Halfway down, Stanley broke away from the dirt path and into the bushes on Rowena's advice. The path would have taken him to a gate with a lookout that would have sounded the alarm upon seeing him. The alternative path had him crouching through unkempt bushes to a side fence that was deliberately broken. This is what Rowena had her loyalist servants set up after he beat Miss X and went exploring.
On the other side of the fence was a house; he was now in the village proper. He couldn't say much about the architecture or general layout, not because he didn't care about such things (he didn't), but because his attention was taken by a nearby zombie. This one wore peasant clothes and was preoccupied with looking down a well. Stanley made sure to check the area before creeping towards the Zombie's exposed flank while withdrawing his brand new knife.
Once he was close, he jumped up, reaching for her mouth to muffle her surprise, a kick to the back of the knee to bring her down to his level, and a sharp stab to the back of her cranium. The result was a smooth textbook takedown courtesy of the ring, and the Demon Realm Silver blade sank into the zombie's head as if it were butter. As Stanley dragged the body out of sight, he picked up the loot and began to survey the area from his hiding spot.
The village was named Ambergarde, and it was currently crawling with Zombie villagers on the prowl. Some of them were even carrying weapons in the form of literal torches and pitchforks. The reason for this became obvious as he saw his wanted poster plastered on the wall of the house he was hiding behind.
He counted at least a dozen oddly sexy corpses shambling about aimlessly and clicked his tongue 'am I going to have to clear out everyone?'
It was looking like it. He didn't see any inconspicuous bell towers in the distance so nobody's going to be running off to play Bingo. He could be wrong but better to prepare for the worst but hope for the best.
And in this case 'let's see how far stealth takes me.'
Spoiler Alert: It took him surprisingly far, actually. Personally he chalked it up to the shitty intelligence of the Zombies something which he has no doubt was on purpose all thing considered, not that he was complaining about that. The village or rather this area of the village was larger than he thought and it's not as if he has a 'Detective Mode' HUD.
Eventually however his luck ran out and he was discovered not that he was really concerned about it. So as the horde of Zombies gathered in front of him, and Stanley dropped his latest victim and rolled his shoulders.
"S'up, bitches, who's next?"
BGM: Resident Evil 4 Wesker Theme Remix
The Zombies began to circle him, and Stanley pulled out his combat knife just in time for one of them to lunge forward with a pitchfork.
*Sching*
With an almost practiced ease, Stanley parried the farming equipment and did a side kick into her gut, knocking her into another zombie and sending them both to the ground.
Seeing the loose circle of zombies encircling him, he took out his gun and popped off two shots in the knees of another at a relatively weak point before running up and kicking them in the face.
Stanley made his way out of the ambush circle, ducking an attempt at grabbing him before shooting the offender in the knee. As the zombie staggered, Stanley shoved the knife in her head, dropping her.
…
Things were chaotic, but Stanley was managing... until…
*SMASH*
Suddenly, a Minotaur enters the scene with a giant spiked Warhammer, causing Stanley to stare in open-mouth shock.
"You've got to be kidding me."
The Minotaur locks eyes with Stanley before charging forth with a warcry.
"MOOO!"
"God dammit, Ez!"
…
Stanley locked himself in one of the vacant houses, overturning a cabinet by the door as a makeshift barricade and picking off any of the zombies attempting to climb through the window with precise shotgun blasts to the face. Unfortunately, he was only one man, and the house was fairly large. Not to mention, he's pretty sure the house wasn't meant to take hits from a damn warhammer.
Eventually he was forced to admit defending the position was a lost cause and retreated to the second floor, where he kicked over a ladder and its occupant attempted to get in. Another crash resounded, and the zombies as well as the Minotaur on his trail came up. With a second glance out the window, Stanley bit the bullet before turning back to the slowly advancing horde.
"I'll just let myself out."
He then proceeded to jump through the second-floor window and into a conveniently placed bale of hay, Assassin's Creed style.
…
Through his various ammunition-saving experiments, Stanley found out that sufficient blunt trauma to the head or neck without the use of a gun or knife can be used to put zombies down. This resulted in him reliving his WWE fanboy phase.
"WELCOME TO SUPPLEX CITY!" Stanley shouted as he grabbed a zombie by the waist and swung his body back, using his superhuman flexibility to pull off a perfect Russian suplex.
It was the first perfect one after several fumbles, and Stanley was admittedly very excited about finally figuring it out.
"SUPLEX CITY AGAIN!"
*CRACK*
…
Stanley could no longer put off taking care of the Minotaur. He's thinned the zombies enough not to get immediately swarmed, and he's proud to say that he didn't waste any bullets while he did…for the most part.
"God damn, you're a big bitch," he taunted while switching to his shotgun.
The Minotaur simply snorted before raising her warhammer to swing at him. At the same time, Stanley raised his shotgun, taking aim.
"Olé!"
*BANG*
…
Stanley thought the Minotaur was just as stubborn as she looked; however, Stanley has managed to concoct a plan. The plan involved a horse stable that was thankfully devoid of horses and a lit lamp conveniently hanging over the entrance, where he led the Minotaur and two zombies.
Switching to his pistol Stanley took aim and lamp and muttered, "Hasta luego."
A single shot rang out as the pellet hit the lamp at an angle, causing it to smash on top of the Minotaur, dousing it in oil and setting it on fire, which quickly spread to the zombies next to it. All of them started to scream and groan, but thankfully none demonstrated any kind of complex emotions or mannerisms that would suggest even a facsimile of sentience.
Good.
…
With a shotgun in hand, Stanley proceeds to finish off the four remaining zombie villagers, feeling like he's an on-rails shooter with how he's essentially mopping up the stragglers at this point. Yet another point to the villagers essentially being NPC mobs set to attack the player and nothing else.
And as the final shot put down the last zombie, the man released a breath. There weren't any bodies to provide evidence, but Stanley had just killed what is essentially an entire neighborhood of its residence.
Talk about a one-man army.
BGM End