During Sakaguchi's fight with the Yatzul
Isao held his dual blades, a nervous drop of sweat slipping from his chin as he watched the two brutes brawl it out.
'Isao, when are they gonna kill each other? I'm bored here!?'
Peering back, the officer sighed; his semi-crazy mood had shifted to one of a calm, observant stature.
'Almost done, if he can get a good hit in, at least.'
Turning his head back to focus on the fight, he thought of jumping in to help out, his fingers wrapping around his blade's hilts, his eyes narrowing.
'I-Isao...'
The weak call from the Chimera forced his head to twist back. His eyes flooded with shock at the sight.
Yasuko's stomach had been sliced open - so cleanly it was almost invisible. She staggered, the pain finally catching up, and beside her stood the masked figure, their pale metal mask now streaked with dried and fresh blood, silent as a specter.
Isao's eyes widened in horror. Without a word, he drew his blades with a screech of metal and lunged forward in a burst of fury, slicing through the air. But the figure was already gone - appearing at his flank in an instant, their blade flashing as it carved deep across his side.
Yasuko crumpled behind him, her body folding with a muted gasp as her eyes fluttered shut. Isao, reeling, stumbled forward, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He threw a desperate kick with his left leg - it barely connected. The figure didn't even flinch, simply responding with a brutal elbow to his back, sending him crashing to his knees.
He forced himself up, trembling, clutching his blades tighter. But another flash of steel met his throat - a shallow slash, deliberate and precise. Not deep enough to kill. Just enough to remind him who was in control.
A strangled cry tore from Isao's lungs as he coughed, blood spitting between clenched teeth. He swung wildly - once, twice - but the figure danced just out of reach, watching him fall apart with a cruel calm. Though the mask revealed nothing, their quiet stillness made it clear:
They were enjoying every second of it.
'Who... The hell... Are you..?'
Certainly—here's an enhanced version of your scene with refined pacing, tone, and emotional weight:
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Isao's voice came out thick with blood, each breath rasping against the pain surging through his battered body. The figure stood before him, motionless and calm as he fell to one knee. His strength drifted away away. Head bowed, he stared at the ground until his gaze drifted sideways, catching sight of Yasuko lying nearby.
She was still breathing - barely - but alive.
With a trembling effort, she lifted her head. Her eyes found him, covered with pain, but not without recognition. Isao's body slumped further, but he forced his eyes to meet hers.
Then the figure moved.
Without hesitation, it reached out and gripped Isao by the throat. Fingers clamped down like steel, lifting him partially off the ground, strangling the last of his resistance.
'I-Isao... Wait... Stop...'
Yasuko's voice was a fragile whisper, cracking with desperation.
Isao turned his head slightly, as much as the grip would allow. Blood streamed down his chin. But he smiled - just faintly.
'Don't go crying over me now… ya idiot,' he murmured, voice hoarse and fading.
And then, she broke.
Tears welled in Yasuko's eyes and spilled down her cheeks, too weak to scream, too helpless to stop what came next.
There was a sickening crack as Isao's neck snapped. Then came the tearing of flesh.
Blood dripped to the scorched floor in steady rhythm.
The figure stood tall above what remained of the Chimera, Isao's severed head hanging loosely in its grasp, the fresh crimson still coating its fingers.
No words. No remorse. Just silence and the soft, broken sobs of the one left behind.
'What the hell... Who are you!?'
Still looming over Yasuko, the figure tilted their head with a slow, unnatural twist - like a predator sizing up its next threat. Sakaguchi was already charging in, eyes wild with fury, thundering forward like a rampaging bull.
The figure shifted smoothly, their stance low and deliberate. As Sakaguchi closed the gap, they pivoted sharply, slipping just past his side with ghost-like precision. The motion was eerily familiar, just like with Isao. A cold flash of steel followed, the blade slicing across Sakaguchi's midsection in a clean arc.
The cut was shallow, not fatal - but enough to draw blood.
Sakaguchi barely flinched. He gritted his teeth, muscles flexing as he spun on instinct, driving a brutal elbow backward toward the figure's head. But the strike met only air. The figure dipped low, ducking beneath the counterattack, then rose with predatory speed.
Two swift slashes carved across Sakaguchi's chest, drawing lines of crimson that bloomed against his uniform. Sparks flickered briefly from the reactive fibers of the YNS suit as it triggered emergency sealing protocols, trying to close the wounds before they deepened.
But Sakaguchi didn't stop, rage fueling his body.
Certainly! Here's an enhanced version of that passage with added tension, visual clarity, and character nuance:
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He lunged forward with a sharp jab, followed swiftly by a sweeping hook - but both strikes cut through empty air. The masked figure twisted away with effortless grace, flipping backward to gain distance, boots skidding lightly across the blood-slicked ground.
Sakaguchi staggered, chest heaving as he fought to steady himself. His muscles screamed from the brutal clash with the Yatzul; every breath felt like it scraped the inside of his lungs. He was running on rage - his body trembling at the edge of collapse.
Across from him, the figure moved with unnerving calm. They pranced in a loose, almost mocking rhythm, twirling the blade between their fingers like a toy. With a casual flick, they tapped the chin of their blood-smeared mask, tilting their head slightly, as if amused by the desperate state of their opponent.
Through the struggle and pain, Sakaguchi's body collapsed, blood spraying from his wounds as he propped himself up, still holding on to his consciousness.
Sakaguchi's breath came in shallow gasps, his vision flickering with the threat of darkness. He glared at the masked figure, fury burning in his chest. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to act, but his body betrayed him, the cuts from the Yatzul, still fresh and bleeding, weakening his every movement. The figure toyed with him, not rushing, enjoying the spectacle.
The blade spun again, glinting in the flickering light from the burning wreckage around them. The figure didn't seem to care about the chaos - didn't even flinch as the surrounding firelight played off their sleek, blackYNS. With their eyes hidden behind the mask, it was impossible to read their intentions, but their actions spoke volumes. They were playing with him.
Sakaguchi's mind was screaming to push forward, to ignore the pain, but his body betrayed him again. He could barely stand, let alone launch another attack. His grip tightened, his knuckles whitening harshly.
But it was no use. With a swift motion, the figure closed the distance again, moving like a shadow. They ducked under his wild, desperate swipe, their blade flashing once more as they cut across his chest. This time, deeper. Blood sprayed from the wound, and Sakaguchi staggered, the impact almost enough to send him crashing to the ground.
Still, he refused to fall.
His mind flared with frustration, anger rising in a wave.
'You're not walking out of here', he growled, voice strained but determined.
But before he could make another move, the figure was already gone again. Their movements were impossibly quick - one moment they were there, the next they had already disappeared into the shadows, reappearing at his flank with a brutal, precise cut along his arm. Sakaguchi's world blurred. Blood poured from his wounds, staining the ground, his mind blurring as he fell to his knees.
'Not yet...', he muttered to himself, clenching his fists, his body trembling from exhaustion.
The figure held the blade high over the officer's head, ready to plunge it within his skull - yet just threw it away, dashing it behind them carelessly. Sakaguchi peered up, his face all bloodied and bruised - a faint whirring could be heard just behind the cliffs.
Through the illuminated night, a sleek, almost invisible ship tore its way towards them, its engines a deafening scream of a banshee. The figure began running in its direction, as if they were charging it - before leaping up as the ship zipped just below their feet, their body landing atop it as it continued it's flight, just avoiding the oncoming cliff edges, zooming into the night without a trace.
The figure was gone just like that, leaving the defeated officer and the near-death Chimera to struggle their way to the hangar.
Sakaguchi raised himself up, grasping to his last bits of energy as he picked up the now unconscious Yasuko and began to make his grueling walk to safety.
Chapter 27- End