The creature at the far end of the trench did not rush forward.
It simply stood there.
Watching him.
That alone made it different from most things Kenji had met so far.
The red mist curled around its legs.
Its frame was lean and bent, almost human, but wrong in too many places.
Its arms hung too low.
Its shoulders were narrow.
Its fingers were long enough to brush its knees.
And that curtain of wet, black hair hid its face almost completely.
Kenji grinned and took another step forward.
"Come on then."
The creature's head tilted a little further.
Then it moved.
Fast.
Not like the plated beast from before.
That thing had been heavy and direct.
This one was silent.
A blur slipped through the trench mist and appeared at Kenji's side.
His body twisted on instinct.
Sharp fingers grazed across his ribs instead of sinking into his throat.
Kenji jumped back.
A thin line of pain followed.
He looked down.
Another cut.
Not deep.
But clean.
He looked up again, grin widening.
"...You're quick."
The creature said nothing.
It was already moving again.
Kenji swung at where he thought it would be.
His claws tore through mist and nothing else.
A second later, something slammed into his back and sent him stumbling forward.
He caught himself before falling and spun around.
The creature stood several steps away, one hand raised.
Dark blood dripped from its fingertips.
Its voice came again, thin and rough.
"Mine."
Kenji laughed.
"Yeah, I heard you the first time."
The creature vanished once more.
This time Kenji did not try to follow it with his eyes.
He listened.
A faint scrape.
A shift in the mist.
Pressure on his left.
He ducked.
The creature passed above him, its fingers cutting through the air where his neck had been a moment before.
Kenji drove his elbow upward.
The blow landed somewhere soft.
The creature hissed and recoiled.
It could still be hit.
Good.
Kenji pressed forward instantly.
He did not give it time to disappear again.
He kicked off the ground, closed the distance, and slashed with both hands.
The creature bent backward in a way no human body should have been able to.
His claws missed its face by inches.
Its leg snapped upward and struck him under the chin.
Kenji's head jerked back.
For a split second, his vision blurred.
Then the creature's fingers stabbed toward his chest.
He caught its wrist.
At last.
Kenji grinned.
"Got y—"
The grin vanished.
The creature's other hand was already there.
Its claws plunged into his side.
Pain exploded through him.
Kenji snarled and threw it away by the arm.
The thing skidded across the trench wall, landed on all fours, and stared.
His blood dripped steadily now.
More than before.
He pressed a hand to his side and felt warm wetness coating his fur.
"...Annoying."
The creature twitched once.
Then, to his surprise, it smiled.
Or at least he thought it did.
Behind the hanging hair, a row of narrow teeth showed.
"Bleed," it whispered.
Kenji's eye twitched.
That pissed him off.
Heat surged in his chest.
The familiar energy coiled through him, sharper than before.
He could move it more easily now.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
He let his hand fall from his wound.
"Alright."
His voice came out lower.
"Let's stop playing around."
The creature rushed him again.
This time Kenji stepped forward instead of back.
He forced the energy into both legs and kicked off the ground hard enough to crack the trench floor.
For an instant, the creature's body language changed.
Surprise.
Kenji appeared in front of it and swung downward with one clawed hand.
The creature twisted, but not fully.
His claws ripped through its shoulder and tore a strip of flesh free.
It hissed and sprang back.
Kenji did not stop.
He chased.
The trench shook beneath his steps.
The creature tried to circle him, disappear into the mist, attack from the side—
but now Kenji could keep up just enough to ruin that pattern.
A slash to its arm.
A kick to its ribs.
A missed strike to his face that still clipped one horn.
Pain flashed, but he ignored it.
The creature leaped to the wall and pushed off, trying to drop behind him again.
Kenji turned and punched.
His fist crashed into its stomach midair.
A choked sound burst from its throat.
It hit the ground hard and rolled.
Kenji lunged.
The creature's long fingers shot up and sank into his forearm to stop the strike.
They stared at each other for a second.
Close.
Its hair shifted just enough for him to see one eye.
Pale.
Too pale.
And intelligent.
"You're not just some beast either," Kenji muttered.
The creature's fingers dug deeper into his arm.
In response, Kenji bit into its shoulder.
Its whole body jerked violently.
The taste hit him at once.
Cold at first.
Then rich.
Sharp.
Different.
Not as heavy as the plated beast.
But denser in a strange way.
The creature shrieked and tore free, ripping part of its own flesh loose just to escape his mouth.
Kenji swallowed and laughed.
"Oh, that's good."
The creature staggered back, one hand clutching its torn shoulder.
For the first time since the fight started, it looked uncertain.
Kenji wiped blood from his mouth.
"You talk."
He took a slow step forward.
"You think."
Another step.
"And you taste better than the others."
The creature let out a low, rattling hiss.
The mist around its feet stirred more violently now.
Kenji noticed that at once.
The trench floor trembled.
The red mist thickened and began to gather around the creature's legs in thin streams, like it was being pulled toward it.
Kenji's grin faltered.
"...What the hell is that?"
The creature's head rose slightly.
Its voice came softer now.
"Mine."
Then the mist lunged.
It shot across the ground in strands, wrapping around Kenji's legs before he could fully jump back.
His feet locked in place.
He looked down, stunned for half a second.
The creature moved.
Too fast.
Its claws drove straight toward his exposed throat.
Kenji threw up his forearm at the last instant.
The blow tore through fur and flesh and stopped at bone.
Pain flashed white behind his eyes.
Still trapped by the mist, Kenji roared and forced energy through his body all at once.
His muscles swelled.
The strands around his legs snapped.
He slammed his forehead into the creature's face.
A sick crack echoed through the trench.
The creature reeled backward.
Kenji tore his wounded arm free and stepped in.
No hesitation.
No space.
He seized its head with both hands before it could fully recover.
The creature clawed wildly at him, cutting across his shoulders and chest.
He ignored it.
With a snarl, Kenji smashed its skull against the trench wall.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The stone cracked.
The creature's body went weak.
He slammed it a fourth time.
This time the skull gave way first.
The body twitched in his grip, then sagged.
Kenji stood there panting, blood running down his arms.
For a few seconds, he said nothing.
Then he looked down at the limp body and frowned.
"...That mist thing was cheating."
Naturally, there was no answer.
He dropped the corpse and immediately tore into it while it was still alive enough to matter.
The first bite sent a chill through him.
Not pain.
Not exactly.
Something colder than the usual heat.
It slid through his chest, then spread.
He tore off another piece.
Then another.
By the time the creature fully died, Kenji was breathing harder than before.
He looked at his wounded arm.
The torn flesh knit a little faster this time.
Still not enough to fully heal.
But enough that he could move without the arm feeling useless.
Then he looked down at the corpse.
And at the mist pooled around it.
The red strands that had wrapped around his legs before were gone.
But he had felt them.
Clearly.
That thing had used something.
Not just raw strength.
Something else.
Kenji stared at his own hand.
Then slowly flexed it.
"...So there are tricks too."
The idea settled heavily in his head.
This world was already brutal enough.
Now it seemed strength was not the only thing that mattered.
For some reason, that made him grin again.
"Good."
He looked deeper into the trench where the mist grew thick and dark.
"If that's how it is..."
His claws flexed.
"...then I'll take that too."