Yasuko stood, shaking. Her breath was out of order, mixed up. She could feel her heart pumping faster, her teeth gritting and eyes narrowing as she readied herself against the Yatzul.
It lunged, claws scraping up sparks as they raked toward Yasuko's legs.
She ducked low, sweeping her sickle upward in a crescent arc, the blade hissing as it cut across the creature's glowing flesh, sending a splash of dark blood onto the stones. The beast screeched, its serrated maw snapping as it bit down onto the blade, teeth-like protrusions grinding against the metal with a wet crunch.
'Let—go—!' Yasuko snarled, yanking back, but the Yatzul's jaws held firm, its whip-thin body twisting as it lunged again, dragging her forward.
Its claws lashed out, tearing across Yasuko's stomach. She felt the impact, the sudden warmth blooming under her top as pain seared across her abdomen.
'Agh—!'
She stumbled backward, knees slamming into the rocks, the sickle still wedged in the creature's mouth. The Yatzul advanced, dropping low, tail swishing as it prepared to pounce again, hot breath rattling from its throat.
And then—
A figure dropped from above, cloak snapping from the impact, boots colliding with the Yatzul's skull in a devastating down-kick that sent the creature smashing into the wet stone with a wet, crunching thud.
The hooded figure landed lightly, straightening slowly, their masked face turning down toward the recovering Yatzul. The creature hissed, limbs folding as it began to rise, claws glinting in the dim light.
Yasuko heard a slight, muffled sigh from the figure as they removed their gloves, placing them into their trousers pockets before sliding one foot back, bending their knees in preparation.
The figure lunged forward without hesitation, fist smashing into the Yatzul's throat, followed by a rapid series of hammering strikes to its chest and shoulders, each blow cracking bone and sending ripples across its ember-lit flesh.
Yasuko, clutching her bleeding stomach, watched through blurred eyes as the figure danced around the Yatzul's swipes, weaving and countering with precise, brutal punches and elbows, each hit thudding wetly in the fog-choked air.
The Yatzul lashed out with its claws, grazing the figure's shoulder, but the figure twisted, grabbing the claw and snapping it clean off, plunging the broken piece into the creature's neck with a single, practiced movement.
The Yatzul screeched, staggering, as the figure released it, stepping back, fists lowering.
Steam hissed from the creature's wounds as it slumped, collapsing with a splash into the shallow water, twitching once before going still.
The hooded figure stood there for a moment, breathing calmly, before slowly turning their masked face toward Yasuko, who was slumped against a rock, blood leaking between her fingers as she tried to rise.
Her eyes widened in shock and rage as memories pulsed behind her eyes.
'You—'
Her hand reached for the sickle, rage trembling under her exhaustion, ready to strike the moment she could stand.
***
Water dripped from the cave ceiling in slow, rhythmic taps, mingling with the spreading pool of blood beneath Ike's broken body. He lay on his side, one arm twisted unnaturally, his face an unrecognizable swell of bruises and torn flesh, shallow breaths rasping through bloodied teeth.
Maeda stood over him, glasses reflecting the pale light leaking in through cracks above, the last five clones forming a silent half-circle behind him. Their weapons - curved sword, spear, twin axes, a gunblade, and a heavy chain - dripped blood from the earlier fight, still warm in the cave's chill.
Maeda tilted his head, studying Ike's trembling frame with clinical detachment.
'So fragile,' Maeda said softly, voice echoing across the cave walls. 'Humans. You pride yourselves on adaptation, on your so-called "spirit," yet the body breaks so easily when tested properly. Bones snap, flesh tears, screams spill from your throats like children weeping.'
He paused, adjusting his glasses, eyes narrowing.
'It's fascinating, in its own pitiful way. That you still think resistance is courage rather than delusion.'
Ike groaned, blood bubbling at the corner of his mouth, one swollen eye flickering open for a moment before falling shut again.
Bootsteps echoed.
Maeda turned, unhurried, as Kanesaki stepped through the cave's archway, water sloshing around his ankles, sword already drawn. His eyes swept over the scene: Ike's mangled body, the clones' weapons still raised and ready, Maeda's calm posture.
For a brief, flickering moment, Kanesaki's expression twisted with confusion, eyes darting between the clones and Maeda, before settling into a cold fury.
'You…' Kanesaki growled, shoulders tensing, his knuckles whitening around the hilt of his blade. 'You fucking traitor!'
The clones adjusted their grips in eerie unison, stepping forward with mechanical precision, forming a loose perimeter.
Maeda merely adjusted his glasses again, regarding Kanesaki with that same empty, almost polite look.
'You shouldn't have come here, boy,' Maeda said, voice low, almost regretful, but utterly devoid of emotion. 'I had hoped to avoid unnecessary messes.'
The water rippled as Kanesaki took another step forward, blade lowering, his eyes blazing with quiet, murderous intent.
'I'm gonna kill you... You bastard...' he said, flatly, teeth gritting harshly.
The air inside the cave thickened, the tension humming through the stagnant mist, Ike's faint groans a reminder of what Maeda had done, the clones tightening their circle as Kanesaki rolled his neck once, breathing out slowly.
Maeda's eyes flickered, his expression visibily changing under the scarf.
'Try.'
With that final word, he pointed to Kanesaki, the five cloned nodding in unison, readying to charge.
Kanesaki drew his blade, it warped from a deep red liquid form into the blade as he gripped the hilt, eyes full of hatred, confusion and betrayal.
***
Yasuko's grip on the sickle tightened, her knuckles pale as she tried to push herself upright, rage cutting through the fog of blood loss.
But her vision swam, darkness creeping in.
Her knees buckled, and she collapsed, landing hard on her side, the sickle clattering beside her.
The hooded figure stepped forward, boots splashing in the shallow water as they crouched, a bloodied hand reaching toward her throat, checking her pulse.
For a breath, there was only the hiss of steam and the rasp of Yasuko's labored breathing.
Then her eyes snapped open.
'—Gah!'
Her hand shot out, grabbing the sickle, dragging the blade upward with all her remaining strength and gouging it into the figure's eye socket, punching through the mask's lens with a wet, cracking sound.
A spray of blood shot out, splattering across Yasuko's cheek and the stone beside her as the figure stumbled back, clutching at their face, a muffled gasp escaping them.
Yasuko forced herself up, feet slipping in the blood and water as she launched forward with a flurry of desperate punches, fists hammering into the figure's mask. One strike shattered the corner of the mask, pale fragments falling away to reveal a quarter of a pale face, a torn socket where the eye once was, dark blood streaming down, going over the mask, staining it.
The figure lifted their head up, slick black hair, semi-long with a few strands coloured red - covering their remaining eye, cold and unfathomable as it locked onto her, a crimson glint shining through just briefly.
They stumbled back, bracing against the ground with one hand, blood still leaking between their fingers, before whipping their body around, delivering a vicious spinning kick that collided with Yasuko's neck.
Her breath caught in a strangled gasp, the world tilting as her body twisted mid-air, crashing into the rocks with a splash.
Everything went black.
The figure stood silently, blood dripping from the gouged socket, breathing hard as the mist curled around their boots.
At their feet, Yasuko's sickle began to crumble, the shimmering metal fading into fine grey dust as it lost its form, swept away by the rising steam.
The figure's eye flicked down, watching the last fragments swirl around Yasuko's limp fingers before vanishing completely.
Slowly, they stepped forward, boots splashing in the shallow water as they crouched, sliding one arm under Yasuko's back, the other under her knees, lifting her carefully, as if she weighed nothing.
They paused, looking down at her bloodied face, the rise and fall of her chest shallow but steady.
They turned—
—and froze.
A figure stood atop a broken column of rock just ahead, her silhouette framed by the faint glow of the low moon.
A faint smile tugged at Yasui's lips, eyes sharp, one hand resting lazily on her hip while the other was lifted, her two massive, razor-edged disks flickering into existence from her shoulders and sliding down to her hands, the edges already spinning with silent violence.
'Now…' she said, tilting her head, the corner of her mouth curling higher, 'what are you doing to my lovely subordinate?'
The wind shifted, carrying the scent of blood and steam between them, the dull hum of the spinning blades the only sound as the masked figure slowly straightened, Yasuko still limp in their arms.
Neither moved.
Then, Yasui's eyes sharpened further, the glow of the disks flashing dangerously as she stepped off the rock, landing softly, the ground cracking beneath her boots.
'Put her down,' she said, her smile now gone, 'and we'll see if I let you keep your other eye.'
Chapter 50 - end