Yanagi barely made it up the ridge before collapsing to one knee, breathing hard, blood matting his hair.
Sakaguchi gave him a hard slap on the back, nearly knocking him over. 'Still breathing, old man.'
Yanagi laughed, short and sharp, eyes flicking around, locking onto Nishihara, relief breaking through the tension. 'Glad you bastards are still up here. Thought you would've gone into the fog.'
Nishihara stepped forward, offering a hand to pull him up. 'Where's Horuichi's squad?'
Yanagi's face tightened. 'Lost them in the fog. We got split when a pack rushed us. They headed east—'
He moved to push past, but Nishihara blocked him, hand on his chest. 'Yanagi—'
'Don't,' Yanagi snapped, shoving Nishihara's hand away, eyes burning. 'I'm the captain. If anyone's going back in there, it's me. I'm not leaving them behind.'
Nishihara's jaw worked, but before he could argue, a sudden shout tore through the fog below.
Heads snapped toward the sound as figures appeared, stumbling and sprinting up the slope.
'HOLD YOUR FIRE!' Nishihara roared.
Out of the rolling grey, Horuichi came bursting forward, dragging a soldier by the arm, another two following close behind, dirt and blood streaked across their faces, their rifles clutched tight as they ran for their lives.
Behind them, the fog churned with movement, low growls echoing from deeper within as the last of Horuichi's team scrambled toward the ridge, eyes wide with desperate relief as they spotted Nishihara, Yanagi, and the others waiting, weapons raised, ready to cover them.
Horuichi collapsed onto the ridge, gasping, blood streaked down his cheek as he waved them back, eyes wide with raw fear.
'Back—back, get back—!' he choked out.
Nishihara grabbed him by the shoulders. 'What is it? What did you see!?'
Horuichi's eyes darted to Yanagi, to Sakaguchi, then back to the fog below. 'There's and alpha in there—multiple. We could hardly take out one, so we fell back—saw it start eating other alphas. It assimilated them, got stronger—it's coming here. Now!'
A sound rolled through the fog, a heavy, rattling breath that shook the ground under their boots. Then came the screech.
It was a sound that tore the air like a blade, echoing against the crater walls, setting teeth on edge.
Through the shifting mist, it appeared.
It was massive, easily the size of a large house, moving on six powerful legs, the front four thick, corded with muscle, ending in hooked claws that gouged trenches in the ground as it advanced. Its back legs were leaner, allowing it to pivot quickly, spiked joints clicking as it moved.
Its spine was lined with jagged, blackened spines, pulsing with faint veins of pale blue, like veins beneath diseased skin. Two whip-like tails snapped and twisted behind it, the tips curved with barbed bone, slicing the fog as they cracked.
And where its head should have been, there were three, fused and twisting grotesquely, each splitting open with gouging maws, lined with rows of glassy teeth that shone as they opened in a unified, shrieking roar that sent a wave of foul heat across the ridge.
The creature's bodies shifted with each step, muscles and plates of jagged chitin rippling as it advanced, its throats vibrating with a rumbling growl that sank into the bones of every soldier on the ridge.
Yanagi swallowed, fingers tightening into fists as he matched forward, in front of the group.
Sakaguchi's mouth had gone dry, eyes locked on the approaching shape. 'Captain… Nishihara…'
Nishihara stared, jaw tight, odachi trembling slightly in his grip as the beast screeched again, the fog rippling away from the force of it, revealing more of its shifting, twitching bulk.
He exhaled sharply, lifting his blade.
Yanagi closed his eyes, pondered over something for a moment, then opened his eyes.
'Positions. Now.'
Horuichi and the remaining soldiers dropped to prone, rifles snapping up as the Alpha surged forward, its claws tearing through the ground as it picked up speed.
'FIRE!' Horuichi roared.
The ridge exploded with muzzle flashes, the air filling with the crack of rifle fire. Bullets stitched across the fog, tearing into the Alpha's chitin, punching small, dark holes across its legs and shoulders, dark blood spraying in thin arcs.
It barely flinched.
The Alpha screeched, the sound rattling the soldiers' bones as it lunged, closing the distance in seconds, its tails cracking like whips, smashing through rocks as it charged directly for the ridge.
'Captain, move!' Nishihara shouted, eyes narrowing as he gripped his odachi, the YNS pulsing through his veins.
Yanagi turned, shouting, 'Sakaguchi, Nishihara, on me!' before leaping down the slope, boots slamming into the mud as the three advanced to meet the charging beast.
Sakaguchi let out a guttural yell, his arms flexing as he leapt, slamming down onto the Alpha's back, punching down with his YNS-enhanced strength, sending a shockwave cracking across the beast's spine. The Alpha roared, twisting violently, one of its tails whipping around to slash Sakaguchi's shoulder, splitting flesh.
Blood sprayed, but Sakaguchi's YNS flared, the wound slowly knitting as he snarled through gritted teeth.
Yanagi roared, leaping up to grab one of the creature's spines, swinging himself toward its heads, hammering punches into one of the fused maws, splintering teeth with each strike, even as claws raked across his chest, cutting deep lines through armor and flesh.
His body struggled to keep up with the damage, blood bubbling at the corners of his mouth as he kept punching, refusing to let go.
Nishihara circled low, mud splashing underfoot, eyes locked onto the three heads.
'We take out the heads, we kill it!' he shouted, the odachi humming as he gripped it tighter.
The Alpha lunged for Yanagi, forcing him to let go as it slammed him into the ground with a claw, pinning him briefly before he managed to roll aside, gasping, blood mixing with water across his face.
Sakaguchi grabbed the base of one tail, swinging it down to the ground as he roared, using it as leverage to haul himself up again, slamming his fist into the nearest head with a wet crunch.
Nishihara sprinted forward, the odachi sweeping up in a wide arc, carving a deep gash across the neck of the central head, dark blood spraying across his face and chest as the beast screeched, staggering.
The Alpha reared back, its clawed arms slamming down, catching Nishihara in the ribs, lifting him off the ground before throwing him aside like a doll, cracking a boulder with his body.
His vision swam, pain exploding through him, ribs shattered. The YNS struggled to catch up, burning like fire as the bones began to snap back into place with nauseating pops.
He coughed blood, staggering upright, odachi dragging as he advanced again, eyes locked with the Alpha's center maw as it roared, ready for another charge.
Yanagi wiped blood from his mouth, grinning, adrenaline surging.
They lunged together, the fog swirling with blood, mud, and the screech of the Alpha, as the ridge battle roared into chaos.
Horuichi wiped blood from his eyes, spotting a discarded machine gun by an injured soldier. He lunged for it, flipping the bipod open, slamming it onto a rock, and cocking it back with a savage pull.
'LIGHT IT UP!' he roared, finger squeezing down.
The ridge erupted with the stutter of heavy gunfire, bullets slamming into the Alpha's flanks, forcing it to rear back, its fused heads screaming as Horuichi walked rounds up its spine, each impact bursting black blood into the fog.
'NOW, NISHIHARA!' Horuichi bellowed.
Nishihara charged, boots pounding across the water, leaping up onto the Alpha's back as it flinched under the machine gun's barrage. His odachi hummed, crackling with kinetic charge as he sprinted along its spine, the beast's spikes tearing at his legs, blood streaking his trousers as his YNS fought to seal the wounds.
With a final yell, Nishihara leapt high, the odachi raised, and brought it crashing down in a perfect vertical slice, cleaving clean through the middle head from skull to jaw. The split halves fell away with a wet crack, black gore spraying across Nishihara as he landed heavily on its shoulders.
The Alpha shrieked, stumbling.
Yanagi and Sakaguchi were already there, grabbing the other two heads as they snapped and tore, their teeth scraping across armor and flesh. Yanagi's biceps bulged, veins thick as cables as he roared, tearing one head clean off the body, black blood gushing across his chest as the head's jaws still snapped weakly.
'Die already!' Yanagi roared, slamming the torn head into the ground so hard the jaw shattered.
Sakaguchi grabbed the final head in a headlock, his massive arms crushing down as the neck crunched beneath his grip, the Alpha's claws tearing into Sakaguchi's back, leaving deep, red furrows that the YNS struggled to close fast enough.
With a final yell, Sakaguchi ripped the head off, tossing it aside as the Alpha's body shuddered violently, black blood spraying in high arcs before the massive form slumped, crashing to the ground with a quake that shook the ridge.
Silence fell, save for the ragged movements of the corpse.
Nishihara staggered off the beast, odachi slick with dark gore, chest heaving.
Yanagi stood over the severed head, breathing hard, blood and staining face, staring down at the twitching limbs of the creature that had nearly wiped them out.
Sakaguchi cracked his neck, wiping blood from his brow, glancing at Yanagi with a grin.
'Next time,' Sakaguchi panted, 'you rip the damn head off. I'll take the legs.'
Yanagi laughed, shaking his head, even as blood dripped from his chin.
Horuichi lowered the smoking machine gun, staring in awe at the dead Alpha, then let out a sharp, relieved cry of victory that echoed across the ridge. The other troops back onn the ridge joined him, with Sakaguchi and Yanagi celebrating their glory, too.
Nishihara wiped the blade clean, eyes narrowing as he turned to face the crater, fog still swirling.
'Hey, any idea if Kanesaki and Yasuko are still in there?' He asked, looking over to Yanagi and Sakaguchi.
The two shook their heads, Sakaguchi folding his arms as he pondered.
'They were together, should be fine, right?' Sakaguchi laughed nervously.
Nishihara eyed the fog - the screams and roars of the Yatzuls had seemingly ended. Gripping the hilt of his Odachi, he began marching towards the haze.
'I'm going in. I'll be back soon, trust me.' He reached back, grabbing the sheath of the Odachi and dropping it to the water, splashing lightly as Yanagi nodded, his body already feeling a little fatigued.
'We'll hold out here for a couple minutes, then circled back to Wachisaka.' he said, his voice regaining his serious tone.
Nishihara, now focused on the new objective, dashed out into the fog, mist curling around his body as he vanished into the night.
Chapter 52 - end