"Gamma squad better shake a leg, approaching drop-off. ETA forty-two seconds." The pilot's voice rasped over the intercom, crackling with static. The tone was clipped, mechanical, but Renji felt every word thrum through his bones like the drumbeat of inevitability.
The transport rattled as it cut through the night sky. Metal groaned under strain, and the interior smelled faintly of grease, sweat, and recycled air. Renji sat rigid, harness locked across his chest, heart hammering harder than the turbulence outside. He forced himself to breathe evenly, but each inhale felt shallow, fragile, like the air could shatter in his lungs at any moment.
They weren't flying with Beta Division. That fact alone pressed on him like a weight. Beta operatives—professionals, monsters in their own right—were on a separate plane, one meant for actual combat. Gamma's orders were simpler, crueler: infiltrate, scout, confirm the size of the threat. No heroics. No backup. Report, and wait for the real warriors to arrive.
Renji's fingers dug into the straps of his harness. The logic was sound, but logic didn't erase the image of a claw slicing through his skin, of jaws clamping down, of blood painting the ground. He'd studied enough case files to know how quickly things went wrong.
And yet, beneath the fear, something else gnawed at him. A pull. A strange gravity dragging him forward. As though the abyss itself was whispering his name.
"Hey, Renji." Hanzo's voice cut through the roar of the engines. His friend's grin was still there, cocky and warm despite the flicker of nerves in his eyes. "Just stay close to me, alright? I'll keep you alive."
Renji let out a dry laugh that cracked like brittle glass. "Keep yourself alive first."
Hanzo chuckled, shaking his head. "Fair enough."
The banter was thin armor, but it helped. For a moment, Renji could almost forget the fear, almost believe this was just another drill. Almost.
He leaned closer. "Thanks, man.". "You're welcome, Renji."
The intercom blared again. "Gamma squad, roll out!"
The hatch opened with a hydraulic hiss, and cold night air tore through the cabin like claws. The city lights of Hoshimari twinkled far behind them, distant stars swallowed by the dark horizon. Ahead, the landscape stretched wild and hostile, thick with forests and jagged ridges. Shadows pooled in the valleys, and in those shadows, something stirred.
Renji's stomach flipped as the countdown hit zero. Harnesses unclipped, boots pounded the steel floor, and then the world dropped away beneath him.
Skydiving wasn't a graceful thing. It was chaos. Wind screamed in his ears, battering his body, tearing at his cheeks and clothes. The earth below rushed upward, a patchwork of black woods and silver rivers glowing under moonlight. Renji's heart hammered so hard he thought it might burst from his chest, yet in the madness of the freefall, there was a strange clarity too. The fear was sharp, yes, but so was his focus. Every breath, every second mattered.
Chutes opened with violent jerks, snapping bodies upward. Renji's followed, the drag wrenching at his shoulders. He fought the spin, guided himself down, and braced for impact.
The forest swallowed them.
Renji hit the ground with a grunt, knees buckling before he steadied himself. The forest floor was damp, soft with moss and dead leaves. Around him, the others landed—Hanzo agile, rolling to his feet; Ryu cursing as he tumbled awkwardly; Koji hitting hard but upright. Shadows loomed tall, trees stretching like black spires into the sky.
The comms crackled in Renji's ear. "Gamma, report position."
"Squad down," Hanzo replied quickly. "Area secure for now."
Secure. Renji almost laughed. The woods pressed in, dense and suffocating, the silence too heavy to be natural. The air smelled wrong—thick with damp earth but tainted by something metallic, like rust, like blood left too long in the open.
They moved in formation, rifles and blades raised, boots muffled against the soil. Renji kept his guns steady, scanning every shadow. His pulse pounded in his throat, but his mind ticked through every fact he'd memorized. Signs of nests, distortions in foliage, irregular animal behavior. He saw the marks—trees clawed open, bark shredded into ribbons. Footprints too wide, too deep. The forest was a grave waiting to close.
"Renji," Hanzo whispered, "see anything?"
Renji crouched, tracing his fingers over a gash in the dirt. It wasn't just a claw mark. The soil itself seemed burned, edges fused like glass. His mouth dried. "This isn't standard. Class-C demons don't leave residue like this."
Hanzo's expression hardened. "Meaning?"
Renji swallowed. "Meaning… whatever made this is bigger. Stronger."
The words barely left his lips before the forest itself exhaled.
A growl rolled through the trees, low at first, then rising like a storm. Branches shook, leaves trembled, and then came the stench—rot and sulfur, thick enough to choke. Shadows writhed as something massive moved between the trunks.
"Positions!" Hanzo barked.
They raised weapons, the line of Gamma squad taut with terror. Then the demon stepped into view.
It was enormous. Taller than the trees, its body hunched yet still towering. Flesh mottled with cracks that glowed faintly red, as though molten veins ran beneath its skin. Its face was wrong, stretched too far, mouth splitting wide to reveal rows of jagged, uneven teeth. Eyes glowed like burning coals, fixing on them with hunger.
Renji's breath caught. He'd seen sketches, read descriptions—but none of them captured this. This wasn't a Class-C. This wasn't even Class-B. It was something worse. Something unrecorded.
"Open fire!"
Gunfire erupted, deafening in the night. Muzzle flashes lit up the clearing, bullets streaking into the monster's hide. The air reeked of gunpowder, smoke stinging Renji's eyes. Hanzo's knives flashed, spinning silver arcs before burying themselves into the beast's arm. Ryu unleashed bursts of flame, the trees around them hissing as heat licked through the branches.
The demon barely flinched.
It roared, the sound ripping through the forest, a shockwave of raw force. The ground trembled. Birds exploded from the canopy in panicked swarms. Renji staggered, ears ringing, his chest rattling from the sheer volume.
Then it lunged.
The world blurred. Claws big as swords tore into the ground where Koji had stood seconds before. He scrambled, screaming, as dirt and stone exploded around him. Hanzo darted in, slashing at its leg with a blade, but it was like cutting stone—the weapon sparked off hardened flesh.
Renji raised his guns, sighted the glowing fissures in its skin, and fired. Bullets slammed into the cracks, and for the first time, the beast howled in pain. Steam hissed from the wounds, a foul stench rising.
"Yes!" Renji shouted, breathless. "Aim for the fissures!"
Gamma squad shifted, targeting the glowing lines. More shots, more sparks, more furious howls. But it wasn't enough. The creature swatted its massive arm, and Ryu flew like a ragdoll, crashing through branches with a sickening crack. His flame sputtered, gone.
Hanzo cursed, voice raw. "Renji, keep firing!"
Renji's hands shook as he reloaded, sweat burning his eyes. His lungs ached, every breath shallow. The demon loomed closer, eyes searing into him like twin furnaces.
He slammed the comms switch on his earpiece. His voice cracked with desperation. "Command, this is Gamma squad! We've engaged a demon—no, not Class-C, it's… it's bigger! Stronger! We need immediate backup, repeat, we need—"
The roar of the monster swallowed his words as it lunged again, blotting out the stars.