Chapter Seventeen: The Encirclement of Ironblood

Chapter Seventeen: The Iron-Blooded Ambush

After the bullets in Mike’s weapon ran dry, he hefted the minigun beside Breen’s corpse and began spraying the forest with even greater frenzy.

The Reincarnation Squad, hearing the gunfire, rushed in at once and opened up toward the dense woods ahead, pouring a storm of fire into the treeline.

At that moment, Schust drew Blood Dance Crescent Moon from his back and charged toward the left edge of the firing line. Then, in a flash of steel...

A clang rang out, sparks flew, and some strange object was severed and dropped away. Schust immediately dropped flat, and the ferocious line of fire screamed overhead. The arriving Overlord also swept the area with his RPK in crossfire with Mike.

Five seconds later, the crossfire of the two men struck something invisible and unknown, erupting in violent sparks. The patch of forest shuddered hard, and the strange object vanished.

The foliage before the two squads was quickly shredded by their firepower, and only when Dutch signaled everyone to cease fire did the woods settle back into silence. Schust got up from the ground, brushed the leaves from his body, and then joined the others before the thing they had hit.

"What is this?" Dutch asked, picking up the object that Schust had just cut in half. It was a bizarre, small, grenade-launcher-like device.

"Sorry, but may I take a look?" Xu Xuan said as he stepped out from the side.

Dutch glanced at him and, saying nothing, handed it over.

Xu Xuan studied it first, then said, "This thing should be what killed Rane. There are still signs of a high heat source here."

Hearing this, Dutch turned to Little Black Mike and asked, "What did you see?"

"I... saw it," Little Black Mike said, somewhat dazed. The entire squad looked at him in confusion.

"Major, look. There are no explosives on him, but he has a hole burned through him by high heat. His organs were cooked, and the flesh around the wound is charred. There was no bleeding," Billy said after checking the injuries.

"We didn't hit anything. Nothing at all!" Mike shouted.

"No, you did hit something. Look carefully here," Schust said, pointing to a patch of green liquid on a rock.

It was the blood of the Iron-Blooded hunter. If one did not look closely, it could easily be mistaken for plant sap.

Dutch dabbed some of the blood and put it to his mouth, then murmured, "What kind of monster have we run into... maybe some invisible thing, some creature only found here, something we don't know. In any case, it's not human. All right, Mike, contact headquarters. Tell them we need support. Call for a helicopter... Mike, Mike!"

Only after being called twice did Mike come back to himself. "Yes, sir."

"Set up a defensive position on the ridge. Get all explosives ready. Take him with us too. We’re bringing the body out," Major Dutch said, ordering that the corpse be carried away with them.

Everyone present voiced their own thoughts on the ambush. Then, suddenly, a piercing roar echoed from deep in the forest.

It was the cry the Iron-Blooded hunter let out while tending its wounds, and it also heralded its vow of revenge.

As night drew near, the squad found a place easy to defend but difficult to assault and began to camp. Then they went up onto the hillside and laid mines, tripwires, bouncing mines, and many other traps along the nearby approaches. Dutch and his men were certain the enemy could only come through the branches, and so they even set traps among the limbs overhead.

Night fell. Everyone stood watch at their positions, some cleaning their guns, some lowering their hats to rest in silence. The Reincarnators gathered together and cautiously observed the movements around them. Although the Iron-Blooded hunter had failed to find the Reincarnators’ weak point during the day, tonight would be entirely different. One of them might be killed at any moment.

"Tonight, the Iron-Blooded hunter will probably come back for the body. Zheng Zha, you’re in charge of frontline melee. Schust, you handle support. Does Lolita have a weapon that can pierce the Iron-Blooded armor? Good. You’ll be on support too. Zero is responsible for the finishing shot. Overlord only needs to provide suppressive fire when the Iron-Blooded enters the trap. Zhang Jie handles the cleanup. Li Xiaoyi and Zhan Lan, if anyone gets gravely wounded, drag them away for immediate treatment. Any questions?" In a corner, Chu Xuan laid out the tactical plan to the surrounding Reincarnators.

"No," said Schust.

"Understood," said Lolita.

"No problems here," said the others.

Chu Xuan thought for a moment, then continued, "Also, when you attack, everyone except Zheng Zha must aim for the neck. The armor around the Iron-Blooded’s neck is thin."

"Overlord, load these enchanted rounds. One hundred of them. Shoot straight." Schust walked up to Overlord and patted his back, unable to reach his shoulder because of the height difference.

As night deepened, everyone, exhausted from the day, rested in silence. Then—whoosh—a streak of light flashed by.

"Damn it, something triggered the trap! Flares!" someone shouted.

And while Breen’s closest pal, Little Black Mac, had just finished off a wild boar with a dagger, by the time everyone recovered from the burst of laughter, the sleeping bag containing the body was gone, along with Breen’s corpse.

Everyone realized they had become prey to this unseen, eerie killer, and each man, fearing for his own life, crowded together to discuss a response.

Dutch: "Each time, it kills one of us..."

Billy: "Like a hunter."

Then Dutch and his men went to the captive Anna. Dutch grabbed her arm and shouted, "What did you see yesterday?"

Ramirez, the squad’s translator, swiftly rendered it into Spanish.

Dillon: "You’re wasting your time."

Dutch: "This isn’t a game!"

Anna: "I don’t know what it was, it..."

Dutch: "Keep talking."

Anna: "It changes color, like a chameleon, using the jungle as cover."

Dillon: "You’re telling me Breen and Hawkins were killed by some damn lizard? Nonsense."

Ramirez, holding the metal wire used for setting traps, said, "It can see our traps."

Dutch: "Maybe it can’t see the plants around them."

Anna: "Yesterday you wounded it. I found the blood it left behind."

Dutch: "Then we can wound it, which means we can kill it. I need your help. A monster? Maybe... but whatever kind of monster killed my men will pay for it!" At first Major Dutch seemed to be muttering to himself, but gradually his voice grew firm.

The major lifted his head and looked around for a long while before saying with conviction, "I know what it is. It moves through these trees! It travels in the branches, not on the ground. That’s why it avoided every one of our traps."

"It’s an invisible monster. When I was young, I once heard a story about it. One year, the men from our village went into the jungle to hunt, but none of them came back out. Only later was a pile of skinned corpses found. The deaths were horrific. It’s like a hunter, killing only one at a time, and taking the skin as a trophy. Like some ancient sacrificial rite."

"Very well. Everyone reinforce the defensive line. We must kill it!" the major said.

"No! That’s impossible. We just keep moving forward and get out of here, and we can reach the rendezvous point. The helicopter won’t wait for us," Dillon protested.

"No. If we don’t kill it, none of us will get out of this canyon alive. It will pick us off one by one," the major said, leaving no room for argument.

"Exactly! We have to kill it, and I want revenge for Hawkins too!" Ramirez said.

Under Dutch’s lead, everyone began gathering the vines around them to make traps. Schust set up a remote bomb with the strongest possible shock effect, reducing the explosive charge to increase the vibration, enough to stun a creature’s ears in an instant. Once the traps were ready, the group lay in ambush.

Their chosen ground was excellent. If the enemy wanted to attack the squad, it would either have to pass along the trap-laden path or come from above. But everyone’s gaze remained fixed on the branches overhead; the moment any bough moved in a broad arc, the automatic rifles on the ground would pour bullets into that spot.

Everyone waited in silence, waiting for it to appear. Anna began telling us what she had seen as a child about that monster. It was terrifying, the sort of story that could easily be told as a horror tale.

After carefully checking the traps, Dutch found nothing amiss. He turned back, preparing to return to the concealed position, when the trap behind him suddenly sprang.

The prey had taken the bait.

"Now!!" Schust shouted, slamming down the remote trigger.

Boom...

A thunderous blast slammed Colonel Schwarzenegger from behind and knocked him to the ground. He immediately rolled aside, clutching his head. At the same moment, Overlord’s RPK spat out tongues of flame toward the direction of the explosion. Lolita and Chu Xuan followed suit, firing at the Iron-Blooded hunter as it was blown over and struggled to its feet, shaking its head. Zero, from the side, put a round straight into its pig-faced mask. Paralysis triggered, and half the mask shattered. Zheng Zha rushed forward, leveled the M1 Super 90 at the dazed hunter, and held the trigger down. Schust had already swung Blood Dance Crescent Moon down...

The Iron-Blooded hunter was in terrible shape. No matter how formidable it was, there was no way it could remain intact under such concentrated fire. But a miracle happened then: it actually borrowed the force of the M1 Super 90 blast and was hurled backward, causing Schust’s certain killing blow to miss its head. Even so, one arm was severed. At the same moment, Zero’s headshot also went wide, blowing off its other arm instead.

The Iron-Blooded hunter, spraying green blood all over its body, fled into the depths of the jungle. Just as it was about to break free of the encirclement...

A Desert Eagle appeared at the bend and pressed against the forehead exposed where the hunter’s mask had shattered...

Bang.

The Iron-Blooded hunter, its head blown open, fell to the ground. Zhang Jie, who had delivered the fatal shot, lit a cigarette with extravagant flair and then spun the Desert Eagle a few times before holstering it at his waist.