A low, bone-scraping growl rose somewhere within the fog, drifting like a whisper between the shifting curtains of steam. The squad froze mid-step, rifles bristling outward, breaths held tight in their chests. The only sounds were the heavy breaths, the soft churn of ankle-deep water against boots, and the faint electric hum of the drones overhead - each passing flicker of light like a weak heartbeat in the oppressive dark.
Yanagi held his fist up again, signaling halt. Horuichi's scanner twitched in his hands - lines of heat bleeding and flickering uselessly, failing to form a clear outline. A flicker here, gone the next second. He muttered under his breath, tapping the side of the tablet as if that would fix it.
Without warning, the steam ahead parted - a single shape, lean and slick like muscle and bone given feral purpose, surged forward on elongated limbs. Its whip-like tail carved the fog behind it. A trooper near the edge of the formation had just turned his helmet when the thing struck.
There was no roar, just a wet, slicing snap as the Yatzul's jagged maw closed around his shoulder and neck, lifting him clean from the shallow water like a ragdoll. The trooper's scream choked off in a bubbling gasp as the creature vanished back into the fog, dragging its prey with it in a spray of blood and steam.
Chaos struck instantly.
'CONTACT! CONTACT!' someone barked, their voice cracking as rifles swung around, muzzle flashes strobing the dense mist. Bullets rattled the rock and water, sparks snapping off stone mounds, but the shapes were already gone.
A second screech erupted from their flank - another Yatzul exploded from the steam, claws raking across a soldier's back as it pounced, pinning him down in the shallows. He thrashed, boots splashing wildly, but the creature's limbs bent unnaturally, shoulders pitched high as it sank its jagged mouth into his chest.
'LEFT SIDE! TWO MORE!' Horuichi yelled, trying to recalibrate the scanner, his voice swallowed by the rattle of gunfire.
Silhouettes flickered just beyond vision - muscle-bound shadows darting between stone mounds and columns of steam. More splashes, more screams. A soldier stumbled back, water churning around him as a tail like a barbed whip lashed around his legs and dragged him under the shrouded pools.
Yanagi stepped forward through the chaos, teeth bared in a feral grin as he ripped the combat knife from his belt. His eyes flicked to Sakaguchi, who was firing short bursts into the dark with a rifle he grabbed from a corpse.
'Lock it down! Form perimeter! Push them back into the open!'
Kanesaki and Yasuko pressed together back-to-back near the largest rock formation, scanning every shift of fog, every hiss of venting steam, trying to catch a glimpse of what lurked just beyond the veil.
And somewhere deeper in the mist, more low screeches answered the first - the Yatzuls were here, and the hunt had truly begun.
The steam tore apart as more Yatzuls lunged through the shallow pools like shadows given flesh and muscle. The air filled with the clash of steel and the ripping echo of wet growls - so many shapes shifting just beyond the reach of the gun barrels, only flickers of that dark red glow in the mists betraying their motion.
'left flank! bring 'em down!' Yanagi roared, voice sharp, cutting through the bedlam. Muzzle flashes strobed the fog like lightning as a squad of six soldiers braced themselves behind a low group of rocks, rifles leveled, each man's breath ragged behind his mask.
One Yatzul broke cover - a mass of glistening muscle, its skin stretched tight and raw, limbs coiled back like steel springs as it charged on elongated forelimbs. Its tail whipped the steam behind it into spirals as it closed the distance in seconds.
'OPEN FIRE! OPEN FIRE!'
The squad unleashed everything - a rippling line of muzzle flare and spent casings clattering down into the water at their feet. The beast snarled, a horrible, rasping shriek splitting the night as bullets tore through its slick hide. Bits of dark tissue sprayed out behind it, and it staggered - but still it charged, skittering sideways, claws raking across the stone and sending sparks into the mist.
A final volley of shots punched into its neck and shoulders. The Yatzul lunged violently mid-run, momentum carrying it forward another few feet before its legs gave out. Its massive body flipped forward, limbs tangling under its belly in a sickening, wet roll. It hit the water with a thunderous splash, skidding across the shallow pool until it slammed into a rock mound - a smear of dark heat pooling out into the steaming runoff.
The troops barely had time to catch their breath before another shriek rose from the opposite side. Two more shadows burst through the fog, claws tearing up sprays of water as they collided with the line. One soldier went down with a strangled yell, dragged screaming behind the rocks before the firing of his rifle cut out.
'Keep close! On me!' Sakaguchi bellowed, stepping forward to fire controlled bursts, the flash from his muzzle lighting up a grotesque shape - the glistening ribs, the dented head, the sharpened edges that passed for teeth.
***
Yanagi, ahead of them all, slammed his back to a rock face, knife gripped backward in one hand, pistol in the other, eyes scanning the swirling steam for any sign of movement. Around him, the air was a riot of gunfire, splashing water, and human screams echoing out into the dark like bait for the pack still circling unseen.
And somewhere out in the fog, another ripple of water — another splash — another Yatzul, hungry and patient, having been awaiting for its chance to strike.
Yanagi smirked, letting out an eager 'Ha!' Dropping the knife and holstering the pistol, he put his fists up and began circling, the creature's head following with each step, studying the man as it growled - its voice rasped and broken.
Steam coiled off its flesh like smoke, its claws scraping shallow marks in the wet stone as it shifted its weight, preparing to strike. The glow beneath its skin pulsed rhythmically with its ragged breath.
Yanagi's boots splashed lightly in the ankle-deep water, muscles tensing, his grin widening with each slow exhale. He wanted it close. He wanted it desperate.
With a strangled screech, the Yatzul lunged, limbs unfolding like blades as it launched itself forward. Yanagi sidestepped, letting its claws rake sparks off the stone where he had been standing a breath before, water spraying in an arc.
He answered with a straight punch to its side, the specialised gloves humming as the force cracked into the creature's ribs with a wet crunch. The Yatzul shrieked, stumbling sideways, its claws slashing wildly. A swipe raked across Yanagi's chest, scraping against the armoured vest, lightly tearing through its surface, drawing blood from underneath - but he didn't flinch, didn't stagger, only stepped back with a snarl.
'Is that it?' Yanagi's voice was low, almost laughing, blood dripping down his torso as steam rolled around them.
The Yatzul lunged again, jaws splitting open, revealing the row of bone-edged flesh it used for teeth. Yanagi ducked under the snapping bite, grabbing the beast by the lower jaw and driving his fist up into its throat with a savage uppercut. The force rattled up his arm, and the Yatzul gagged, the glow in its chest pulsing erratically.
The creature's claws tore at Yanagi's arms and shoulders, but he held on, fingers digging into the slick, muscular hide, forcing its head back. It screeched, blood and thick saliva bubbling at the edges of its mouth, dripping onto Yanagi's face.
With a violent twist, he pivoted behind the beast, one arm wrapped around its neck, the other gripping its lower jaw. He pulled, compressing the creature's windpipe as it flailed, claws gouging his arms and scraping his chest, tearing lines of blood that steamed in the humid air.
'Come on,' Yanagi hissed into its ear-hole dent, tightening the hold further.
The Yatzul tried to inhale, a horrible, wet gurgle rolling in its throat as blood spilled into its airway. It thrashed, its claws digging lines into the stone as it struggled to find purchase, but Yanagi held it in place with raw strength, his feet digging grooves in the wet sand beneath.
Each rasping breath was now a strangled scream as it drowned on its own blood, foam and dark ichor spilling from its gaping maw, claws growing weaker, strikes growing slower until finally, with a final snap of cartilage, Yanagi wrenched its head sideways, forcing the airway closed completely.
The Yatzul convulsed once, then collapsed in his grip, its glow dimming as it slumped forward. Yanagi let the body fall into the water with a splash, his arms and chest dripping with blood and gore.
He cracked his neck once, rolling his shoulders, breathing heavily but smiling as the steam clung to his skin.
Around him, gunfire and screams still rang out, but for a moment, Yanagi stood there, blood steaming off his arms, the light of muzzle flashes reflecting in his eyes as he turned to face the next threat.
'Next,' he growled, stepping forward as another screech echoed through the steam, the hunt continuing in the fog-choked darkness.
Chapter 42 - end