Beast Soul

"Well, if you think that it's going to help you…" Agent Edgerton opened the backdoor and pulled out one of the black boxes which he had taken from within the crate, and placed it down on the ground. "... Then you're clearly underestimating me…"

Tweek!

He opened the box, revealing a set of camouflage clothes, and he grabbed it, pulled it out of the box, and then wore them over his regular clothes.

The Agent then tapped on the badge on his chest, and the camouflage began to lightly adjust its brightness and colors in order to match the surroundings, similar to a chameleon. It wasn't exactly making him invisible, but it definitely made it difficult to spot him. "Now, let's hunt some monsters!"

And with that, he entered the driver's seat of his car once again and headed forward, passing through the open gates of the Harker mountain ranges.

The concrete road had ended right in front of the old and wooden gates, and from there, it was simply a dirt road that, due to no one utilising the route, was completely covered in tall grass, which made it a bit difficult to drive through.

The car slowly drove through the tall grass, as Agent Edgerton began glancing back and forth at the screen of the tablet and the front window. 

The tablet showed that he was close to approaching the location where the creature would've been at, and he squinted his eyebrows. 

"Could that thing still be here…" He didn't know, but he definitely wanted to find out. 

Sweesh!

He twisted the key of the car and turned the engine off, and let the vehicle move for a few more metres using just the acceleration from before, after which it just stopped moving. 

"Well then, time for the hunt to begin.." He whispered to himself softly as he opened the door of the vehicle with care and caution. He didn't want to make any noise, and wanted to keep it as quiet as he possibly could. 

He then crouched down as he touched the soft and grassy plains, keeping his gaze on his surroundings and careful not to make any sudden movements so as to not alert the enemy.

'He's here…' Agent Edgerton squinted his eyes as he thought to himself. He didn't know how or why, but as soon as he planted his foot on the ground, Agent Edgerton felt a terrifying aura surrounding him, as though something powerful was hiding within the jungle. The aura was so tremendous and terrifying that it even made the agent gulp down his saliva and covered his forehead with beads of sweat.

'I can feel his presence,' An excited and nervous expression appeared on Agent Edgerton's face as he slowly moved forward. He could feel that something had changed from last time he had met the creature.

This time, the aura that the creature was emitting was so much more intimidating and scary. It was as though the creature was telling him that this isn't going to be like last time.

"Oh, but that only makes the hunt even better…" Of course, this wasn't enough to make Agent Edgerton rethink his decision. In fact, this only reassured him that he had made the right decision on pursuing the creature without taking a rest. If he had decided not to follow the creature and instead chose to rest, then he wouldn't have had the opportunity to experience the thrill and excitement that he was feeling right now.

Agent Edgerton licked his lips, and then slowly began to move forward through the pathway, using the bushes and the tall grass in front of him as cover.

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Right then, as though it was waiting for the right opportunity to arrive, raindrops began to fall down with intense force, which made the whole surroundings even more difficult to see. 

The sound of the loud rain masked the footsteps of Agent Edgerton, giving him enough freedom to move a bit more flexibly and easily. 

"Now, where the hell are you?" Agent Edgerton was curious. He couldn't find the position of the creature that he was looking for. Usually, it takes him around five to ten minutes to actually track down such monsters, but Agent Edgerton had a feeling that this time, it was going to be different. 

His eyes began to scan the whole surroundings, one by one. From the trees to the bushes to the swamps to the marshes. 

But he couldn't spot anything suspicious. Absolutely nothing. 

"This is turning out to be harder than I thought," Agent Edgerton wanted to let out a chuckle, but he knew that he had to stay quiet, so he resisted his urge to laugh. "Though I don't mind a challenge!" 

Of course, Agent Edgerton loved to be challenged. So, this game of being patient was only making him more excited as opposed to frustrating him.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The raindrops fell down heavily onto the wet and muddy ground as Agent Edgerton continued to slowly move forward, still alert and cautious as he took his steps.

Swoosh!

Edgerton's eyes widened as he turned his head sideways and pointed his sniper rifle right at the spot that he was looking at. "What the hell was that?" Agent Edgerton raised his eyebrows and said with a frown. He tapped his earpiece twice and then looked at his watch, which gave him the enhanced sound frequency that just passed through his ears, and his frown only deepened. The agent was sure that he had heard a relatively quiet sound of something swiftly moving through the jungle a few hundred meters away. Although the origin of the sound happened about a hundred meters away from his location, his earpiece, which was also another gadget that he had picked up from the large crate, allowed him to listen to low sounds and noises and picked up irregular sound frequencies and then sends it to his ears after enhancing them for the human ear.

"Hm, are you playing with me, my dear monster?" Agent Edgerton squinted his eyes and clicked his tongue in response. Or maybe the monster was trying to gauge him? Trying to get a read on him, perhaps? Or maybe it's just hunting, like him?

"So the hunted thinks that it's the hunter, eh?" Agent Edgerton almost let out another round of laughter yet again. He was right in his decision to continue trying to hunt the creature rather than head back to the precinct, the agent thought to himself. This was turning out to be the best hunting time of his life. And also, the most dangerous.

"Hooo.." Agent Edgerton let out a long, and yet soft breath of air and closed his eyes for a brief period of time, before opening it. His eyes and his expressions were now calm and collected. 

He steadied the sniper rifle on his hand once again, and continued surveying the land for his prey. 

"Come on...Show yourself." Agent Edgerton was ready to wait all day. But the question was, is the creature ready? 

Right then!

Agent Edgerton's eyes widened suddenly, and with a sudden twist of his upper body he turned his sniper rifle sideways and pulled the trigger, resulting in a small explosion the noise of which was muffled under the heavy rain.

BAM!

"Urgh!" Agent Edgerton let out a soft grunt as he was flung back with intense force, causing him to roll down the hillside, hitting small rocks and branches as he moved down the hill. 

"Gah, f*ck!" Edgerton sweared loudly and bit his lips and he grabbed onto one of the rocks and forcefully stopped his body in its tracks. He then looked at his hands, legs and his chest, and realized that he was wounded once again, which made him click his tongue with dissatisfaction. "Great! I injured myself again!"

Well, at least it wasn't an injury made by the monster, he thought to himself. His gaze then went to the top of the short hill and caused him to squint his eyes. 

Clearly, he was still alive, which meant that his attack definitely made an impact, stopping the deadly strike of the creature right before it could connect with his body.

But how much of his attack impacted the creature? Was it partially wounded, or was it a severe one? He had no idea. 

He looked at his hand, and the sniper rifle was still in working condition, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. 'Good. I didn't break it on the first try!' He was careful this time. 

Then, after making up his mind, he climbed up the short slope of the hill and came up to the top, where he could see no one. 

He took a few steps forward and then knelt down at the spot where he had previously stood just a few seconds ago, and touched the grass.

He raised his hand close to his face and looked at his fingers, which were covered in blood. 

"Good," Agent Edgerton nodded his head. "I can already tell that this is going to be a good hunt!"