Maeda's eyes flickered behind the shaded glasses, finally stepping forward, the click of his boots echoing in the blood-slick cave. A thin tongue of blue flame snapped along the length of his sword, steam rising as droplets of blood hissed away.
Kanesaki's cracked eyes twitched, focusing on Maeda alone, ignoring the remains of the clones twitching on the ground. Maeda tilted his head, studying him as if he were a puzzle. Then he sighed, stepping lightly across the wet stone, blade hanging loose at his side.
'Look at you,' Maeda murmured, voice soft, even calm, almost disappointed. 'Cracking. Just like a rabid dog. Like glass under pressure. Us Chimera were meant to surpass humanity, yet you shatter under your own strength.'
He raised the flame-edged blade, turning it so the glow reflected in Kanesaki's fractured pupils.
'We were born to be weapons, boy. Tools. Disposable flesh to keep the true strong hidden. The only path left to us is domination - to cast off these lied of obedience to humans and take our place as the rightful rulers.'
Kanesaki's grip on his blade tightened, blood streaming down his arm, mixing with the water at his feet.
'Shut… up.'
Maeda smiled slightly under the scarf, small and cold.
'Think about it. Those clones - Chimeras like us - all so eager to fight, to die, to serve. For what? Humans who fear us? Commanders who send us to die? We could be more. The strongest should rule, Kanesaki.'
Maeda twisted his wrist, the flame roaring brighter, heat pressing against Kanesaki's face.
'You and I—'
Kanesaki's eyes snapped open, the fractures widening, veins of red leaking into the whites like splinters.
'You…' His voice broken, low, hoarse, a broken grin pulling at his blood-caked face. 'You talk too much.'
Maeda's eyes narrowed, head tilting down as he released a muffled sigh.
'Are you familiar with what they do to a rabid dog? Here, I'll show you, boy.'
And he lunged.
The flame sword roared as it slashed across, heat blistering the air, scorching a line across Kanesaki's chest, igniting the blood and water into a brief burst of steam and fire.
Kanesaki stumbled, flesh burning, the pain screaming - but he didn't stop. His feet slammed against the stone, and he came forward, teeth bared.
Maeda pivoted, slashing again, flame trailing like a comet, burning across Kanesaki's shoulder, searing flesh and bone.
Kanesaki roared, the fractured cracks in his eyes deepening, veins bulging along his neck, skin blistering but refusing to burn away completely as the healing factor fought to keep up.
Maeda's voice remained steady, controlled, as he circled him.
'Humans are weak, Kanesaki. Your faith in them is weakness. You know we're stronger. You feel it every time your blade sinks into something, every time you watch them cower. Join me. Leave them behind.'
Kanesaki lunged, swinging his blade.
Maeda sidestepped, flame sword cutting a deep line across Kanesaki's ribs, the fire crawling across his skin, clinging like hungry serpents.
Kanesaki staggered, steam rolling off him, the scent of burned flesh filling the cave, but he straightened, a cracked, ragged laugh tearing from his throat.
'You think… that's strength?' Kanesaki's voice was a rasp, words warping around the fractures of his mind, eyes flickering with that cracked red glow.
He lunged again.
Maeda parried, sparks and flame spraying, steel shrieking. Kanesaki pushed forward, ignoring the burning blade as it cut into his side, forcing Maeda back step by step.
'Strength isn't—just—power, you bastard!'
Their blades locked, flames guttering as blood hissed against steel. Kanesaki's eyes bore into Maeda's, fractured, wild, but clear with purpose.
'Strength is protecting others even when it hurts. Strength is standing with them—not above them.'
Maeda's expression tightened.
'You're delusional.'
Kanesaki's grin was wide, feral, smoke rising from his skin.
'And you're alone.'
Kanesaki headbutted Maeda, shattering the man's glasses, sending him stumbling back, the flame sword slashing wildly as it carved a burning line across Kanesaki's hip—but Kanesaki did not stop.
He slammed his blade down, forcing Maeda to block, the impact cracking the stone beneath their feet, flame guttering as it sputtered against the blood.
Kanesaki leaned in close, the cracks in his eyes glowing like molten veins.
'Your clones. Your plans. All of it—bullshit.'
He twisted the blade, forcing Maeda's flame sword aside, stepping inside the guard, ignoring the fire crawling across his chest as he rammed his forehead into Maeda's nose again, blood spraying.
'Humans and Chimeras will get along… even if I have to drag us there by your throat!'
He pulled back, blade ready, eyes fractured, laughter bubbling in his throat as the fog and steam swirled around them, ready to clash again.
Maeda wiped the blood dripping from his shattered nose with the back of his hand, shards of his glasses falling to the wet stone as he reset his stance. The flame along his sword guttered, then flared brighter, blue-white tongues of fire lapping up the blade as the canisters on the hilt hissed, pressure ticking higher.
Kanesaki's chest heaved, smoke rolling off his burned skin, wounds refusing to fully close as they were seared open again. His cracked eyes glowed faintly in the gloom, reflecting the flicker of flame, his grin split wide across bloodied lips.
They moved at the same time.
Clang—!
Steel clashed, the scream of metal on metal rising above the roar of the flames. Maeda's blade, engulfed in fire, bit into Kanesaki's, searing heat traveling down the steel, burning Kanesaki's hands where he gripped the hilt.
Kanesaki snarled, forcing his blade aside, stepping into the flame to get close. The heat blistered his skin, but he used it as cover, twisting his blade low and slashing across Maeda's thigh, cutting deep, spilling blood into the fire.
Maeda grunted, pivoting with the pain, retaliating with a backhand slash that ignited the air. Kanesaki ducked under it, the flames scorching the top of his head, hair curling and burning away, the scent of singed flesh choking the air.
Maeda's foot lashed out, boot catching Kanesaki in the ribs, sending him crashing against the cavern wall. Rocks cracked, water splashed, steam rising as blood smeared the stone.
'You call that strength?' Maeda's voice was calm, deadly, carrying over the hiss of the fire. 'You're no savior, Kanesaki. You're a broken dog chasing an illusion.'
Kanesaki's laughter echoed, low and ragged, as he pulled himself upright, blade hanging loose at his side, tip dragging sparks against the stone.
'Funny… that's what they say about you, too... no?'
Maeda's eyes narrowed. He lunged.
The flame blade carved a burning arc, Kanesaki barely deflecting it as the heat seared across his forearm. Maeda didn't stop, pressing forward with relentless precision, slashing low, then high, each swing leaving trails of flame in the air.
Kanesaki parried and blocked, his body smoking, the fire biting into him with every pass. Pain flashed behind his eyes, but it only made the cracks grow deeper, the red glow spreading like veins of molten glass.
'Your pain means nothing!' Maeda hissed, swinging for Kanesaki's throat.
Kanesaki caught the burning blade on the flat of his own, pushing it away just enough as the heat scorched his neck, blisters bubbling along his skin.
'Neither does yours!' Kanesaki roared back, twisting and slamming his elbow into Maeda's face, knocking him off-balance, blood spraying from Maeda's split lips.
They clashed again, blades sparking, fire washing over Kanesaki's torso, igniting his tattered uniform. The flames rolled across him, lighting up the cave in an orange glow, but he moved through it, a silhouette of smoking fury.
Kanesaki slashed, a feint low, then high, nearly taking Maeda's head clean off. Maeda twisted just in time, the blade slicing across his cheek, opening a deep line that poured blood down his jaw.
Maeda retaliated, plunging the flaming sword forward, the blade spearing through Kanesaki's shoulder, the fire roaring as it burst through flesh.
Kanesaki screamed, a ragged, feral sound, but he grabbed the blade with his free hand, letting it burn his palm as he pulled himself further onto it, ignoring the fire searing through muscle and bone.
His eyes, cracked and glowing, locked onto Maeda's.
'You're not stronger,' Kanesaki growled, spit and blood mixing on his lips. 'You're just a coward.'
Maeda's expression remained cold, but his eyes flickered, the first hint of doubt passing over them.
'You—'
Kanesaki surged forward, twisting off the blade, pain lancing through him, but using the momentum to step inside Maeda's guard. His blade whipped upward, slashing across Maeda's wrist, forcing him to drop the flaming sword.
Maeda stumbled back, reaching for another weapon on his belt, but Kanesaki was already moving, his burned boots skidding across the wet stone, blade reversing in his grip.
'You're done talking,' Kanesaki hissed.
He drove the blade forward, punching it through Maeda's scarf and into his mouth, the steel bursting out the back of his neck in a spray of blood and steam.
Maeda's eyes went wide, blood pouring from his lips, his hands clawing at the blade sticking through his face, choking on his own blood.
Kanesaki leaned close, cracked eyes glinting.
'Got your mouth, didn't I?'
Maeda gurgled, trying to speak, blood frothing around the blade, eyes rolling back as he sank to his knees, the flame sword hissing as it lay beside him, guttering out as blood dripped onto the rune.
Kanesaki stood over him, breathing heavily, burned skin still smoking, eyes fractured but clear, ready for what came next.
***
Nishihara's boots splashed through the mud, the fog swallowing everything more than a few meters away, thick as wet wool. The taste of iron and gunpowder hung in the air, along with the low hum of distant gunfire and the metallic stench of blood.
He moved fast, senses straining for any hint of Kanesaki or Yasui's signals. The faint crackle of radio comms was just static in the fog, dead air hissing.
Shapes emerged—a group of soldiers, huddled near the base of a jagged outcrop, weapons drawn, eyes wide and scanning the mist. Their leader turned as Nishihara approached, blade raised before recognizing him.
'Lieutenant Nishihara!' the soldier called, relief in his voice, but tight with fear. 'We've lost visual! The fog—something's moving in it!'
'Hold your positions,' Nishihara snapped, moving past them, eyes scanning the shifting grey. He could sense them—Yatzuls further out, but his focus was ahead.
He paused, glancing back at the soldiers, breath clouding the cold air. 'The others are east of here, near the broken ridge. Regroup with them now and help secure a perimeter. Move fast, keep low, don't waste your ammo on shadows.'
The soldiers hesitated. One of them, younger, clutching a battered rifle, swallowed. 'What about you, sir?'
'Looking for more stragglers.' Nishihara's eyes narrowed, the amber flicker of his irises sparking briefly in the fog.
They exchanged a quick, fearful glance, then nodded, forming up and moving out, boots crunching on wet gravel, fading into the fog in disciplined formation.
Nishihara exhaled, letting the stillness settle before he moved again, weaving between boulders and corpses—Yatzul and human alike, senses picking up the stench of the blood and steam from the water.
A sudden gust parted the fog briefly—and there it was.
The cave mouth, jagged and dark, torchlight flickering inside, shadows dancing across the walls. The stink of scorched flesh and burning oil wafted out, along with the tang of Chimera blood, thick and bitter on the air.
Nishihara's eyes narrowed as he stepped forward, adjusting his grip on his blade.
He stepped into the darkness, the fog swirling behind him as he disappeared into the cave, ready to face whatever was waiting inside.
Chapter 55—end