Chapter 36 Concrete and Twisted Steel

Before Shujinko could continue, a mercenary stepped up and slammed the butt of his rifle into Shujinko’s stomach. The air rushed out of him in a pathetic wheeze as he collapsed to his knees.

Makiko shouted, trying to rush to him, but another merc grabbed her in hold.

"Hey, Firestorm, I see you as feisty as ever. I hope you haven't forgotten about me."

Kaiju exhaled slowly, shaking his head. He turned his gaze to his men.

"Move it people, move it, we don't have all day!"

Kaiju turned back to Ichiban, rolling his shoulders.

“Now, where were we? Oh, right. My gun, bullet and hole in your head. Dealing with you.”

Ichiban staggered.

At first, it was just a small misstep, barely noticeable. But then she sucked in a sharp breath, her hand flying to her head as if something inside her skull had just cracked apart. Her other knee buckled, and she knelt.

Everyone froze.

Kaiju smirked, arms crossed, unimpressed.

“Oh? Finally realizing you’re out of options? Or just run out of juice?”

Shachiku took a hesitant step forward.

"Dr. Ichiban? Are you alright?"

Shujinko, still gasping from where the merc had struck him, forced himself upright.

“She—she’s just exhausted! She’s been up all night keeping watch! She—she needs—”

And then—

BOOM.

The ground trembled.

CRACK!

A crystal vine burst from the ground behind them, toppling the Humvees, spiraling upward like a living spear. Then another. And another. The sky darkened as massive crystalline tendrils coiled and thrashed, their iridescent surfaces pulsing with a sickly glow.

The mercenaries shouted in confusion, some raising their rifles, others stepping back in panic.

Kaiju’s smirk disappeared.

“Oh fuck! This crystal bitch! Not again!”

The crystal vines raged, lashing out in all directions like the limbs of an enraged god. One whip of jagged crystal tore through the nearest squad of mercenaries, cleaving through flesh and bone as easily as paper. Their screams barely had time to escape before they were shredded, blood spraying across the ruined pavement. Another vine coiled around a distant office building, wrapping its massive, gleaming tendrils around the structure’s base like a constricting serpent.

The entire building was yanked from the ground. It hovered for the briefest moment, tilted dangerously, then came crashing down.

BOOOOOM.

The earth shook violently as concrete and steel collided with the street below, obliterating everything beneath it. The shockwave tossed bodies like ragdolls, throwing both soldier and survivor alike into the air. A brutal storm of dust and debris consumed the battlefield, suffocating everything in a choking, gray fog.

Shachiku and Akarui barely made it, diving behind the helicopter just before the worst of the impact. Chunks of asphalt peeled away as the ground cracked apart. Shattered glass and rubble rained down, pinging off the chopper’s metal frame.

Across the carnage, Conor saw it coming.

His eyes flicked to Kaiju, who stood frozen, watching in shock as the massive structure tilted toward them. Conor didn’t think—he moved. He lunged, tackling Kaiju hard, sending them both rolling out of the collapse zone. The building slammed down, a tidal wave of destruction. The impact threw them aside, chunks of falling concrete slamming onto Conor’s back as he shielded Kaiju.

His men weren’t as lucky. The mercenary squad was crushed instantly. Makiko was gone.

Shujinko was still standing near Ichiban, both untouched. 

“We must go. While we can.”

But Akarui’s voice rang out in protest.

“What about Makiko?!”

Shujinko echoed him, “We can’t leave her! She might still be alive under there!”

Ichiban turned her eyes toward them. Then, she lifted a single hand and gestured to the spawn emerging from the wreckage—crystal creatures, clawed, shifting things that twisted and screamed as they took shape.

“A building fell on her. There is no saving her.” She said, cold and logical.

Shujinko clenched his fists.

“But if she’s still breathing—”

“Even if by some miracle she survived,” Ichiban cut him off, her voice calm, “those things will finish her. And you, if we stay.”

Ichiban stepped forward, pressing the urgency.

“We need to save the world. Don’t let her sacrifice be in vain. Be a Hero Shujinko, a Hero we need, she needs, this world need... I need.”

Akarui and Shujinko exchanged looks—anguish, hesitation, despair. But they had no choice.

The helicopter roared to life.

With no other option but to flee, they powered the engines, leaving the burning wasteland below.

The whirl of helicopter blades roared through the sky, cutting across the ruined city below. Smoke and dust billowed upward from the carnage they left behind, and from up here, it looked like the entire world was coming apart at the seams.

Inside the chopper, Shujinko sat stiff, his hands clenched into fists on his lap. His face was pale, his body tense—still shaken from abandoning Makiko. Akarui stared out the window, teeth gritted so hard his lip bleed, watching the chaos shrink beneath them. No one spoke.

Ichiban sat in the corner, motionless.

Meanwhile, back on the ground Conor gritted his teeth, yanking Kaiju from the rubble. He forced himself to stand, gripping Kaiju by the collar and hauling him up like dead weight.

Kaiju coughed violently, dust caking his face, his crystal arm glinting. His breathing was ragged, but the fury in his eyes burned hotter than ever.

Conor snatched his radio from his belt and barked order.

“Base! Come in! We need a helicopter! Now! Target is on the run! Keep satellite tracking active—don’t lose them!”

His voice was sharp, clipped, urgent. There was no time to waste. He switched channels, trying to salvage what was left of his team.

“Team One, report! Do you copy? Team Two—anyone?!”

Silence.

His jaw tightened. His grip on the radio turned into a death squeeze.

They were gone.

“Goddamn it,” Conor snarled, shoving the radio back onto his belt. He scanned the ruins around him—what was left of his men was buried beneath the wreckage, their bodies crushed under the slabs of concrete and twisted steel. The helicopter blades from the enemy’s escape whirred in the distance, growing fainter by the second.

Kaiju stumbled forward, coughing dust from his lungs, his crystal arm gleaming ominously in the dimming light. He wiped his mouth, smearing grime across his face, then turned to Conor with a glare.

“Well, that went to shit quick! That crystal bitch fucks us over again!”

Conor shot him a look that could’ve burned through steel.

  “Thanks to you and your God damn yapping! You could just simply shoot and be done with it!”

Kaiju scoffed.

  “Excuse me? I wasn’t the one who let the damn vines tear through our people like a toddler shredding wrapping paper!”

He held up his crystallized hand and flexed his fingers.

  “Not to mention, if we went with a full squad as I said, maybe we wouldn’t be standing here breathing in dead bodies! We are against this crystal bitch, for god's sake! It spawns these damn crystal creatures! Just look around!”

Conor took a step forward, his posture rigid, his voice low and dangerous.

“Watch your fucking mouth, Kaiju. Those soldiers? They were brothers. We’ve been through thick and thin—chewed through hell on nothing but orders and each other’s backs. And they died cleaning up your mess. My men bled out because of your shit. So, unless you want to join them! I suggest you! Shut the hell up! And show some goddamn respect!”

Kaiju rolled his eyes.

“Oh, spare me the moral lecture. They knew the risks. I knew the risks. You knew the risks. Everyone dies someday, Conor—some just get there a little faster!” 

He stretched his back with a grunt, then reached for his own radio. 

“Now, instead of whining about it, how about we check in with our goddamn ride out of here before those things finish the job? How that sounds? Hmm? Good?!”

As if on cue, a low, inhuman screech echoed through the ruins. Both men turned their heads sharply toward the sound. From the jagged cracks in the pavement, something shifted. Twisted. Grew. The crystal corruption was spreading.