Chapter 155
154
Chapter 154 Kill Kill Kill Kill Kill Kill Kill Kill Kill Kill—!
Ward 7, a hidden haven for Ghoul to feast amidst the bustling commercial district.
The facade is understated yet luxurious, a disguised upscale members-only restaurant.
The labyrinthine, enclosed interior space is a quiet and secluded place.
The eeriness, filth, and the stench of decaying corpses together permeate the atmosphere of this place—a place that cannot bear the light of day.
The faint echoes of chaotic footsteps, mixed with exasperated voices.
A group of well-dressed men and women are guarding the restaurant, and under the guidance of the staff, they are secretly digging a VIP escape route to move out.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to inform you that due to those unromantic doves, today's banquet must be cancelled."
"Damn those white doves! How hateful! They've ruined all the show I meticulously planned!"
"That useless piece of trash, Shitaro, decomposed so slowly! Such a rare delicacy, 'ingredient,' and I didn't even have a chance to taste it before I had to escape through the sewers in such a sorry state. How embarrassing! So incredibly embarrassing! So inelegant!"
The loosely moving diners were all dressed fashionably and attractively, with heavy makeup and flashy masks, like a group of gentlemen and ladies leaving a masquerade ball.
"Why was this sweep carried out without any warning? Who has recently overstepped the mark by preying on 'talented individuals'?!"
"Idiot, don't you ever watch the news? Nobody's overhunting. It's that damned white dove who's in charge. He's been dredging up old grievances like a madman ever since he arrived. The whole situation in District 7 is a complete mess. Baka! It's only been one day since he arrived, and some people can't handle the pressure. There's a risk of being exposed here—"
As they rounded a corner, someone tried to explain to their fellow countrymen who only knew how to eat, but their words were interrupted by a sudden scream.
At the end of the passage, a blood-stained figure rushed out.
With his arm severed, blood flowed from the wounds on his arm and chest. He staggered and crawled.
"CCG".
He only had time to utter a small, rough cry before gushing blood blocked his throat. Pfft! The black steel thorns burst from his chest, and amidst the spray of blood, he collapsed to the ground, pooling into a glaring red puddle under the stark white light.
Meanwhile, muffled gunshots echoed through the building.
This is bad!
Upon seeing this, the restaurant staff who were leading the diners away froze.
The sclera instantly became congested and turned black, and the iris turned scarlet.
He was used to dead bodies and the smell of blood, but this was an escape route, and the deceased, like him, was a restaurant employee who should have been guarding the exit with his colleagues. In other words—
Tap, tap.
From afar came the sound of dense and orderly footsteps.
A nearly two-meter-tall armored figure slowly emerged from the deeper part of the area.
With a distinct outline, the curves of her body clearly indicate that she is a woman. Her matte black armor is covered with dark red Kagune veins, which flow like blood in the gaps between the grooves. With each movement of the newcomer, blood-red smoke swirls around her.
She held a long, black, thorny spear in one hand.
On the Gunblade, Fang Ning's still-damp blood stained the spiral thorns red, like a blooming flower of steel and blood.
As it passed through the corpse pierced by the separated blades, a buzzing sound rang out, and the blades inside the corpse separated, deformed, and turned into a cluster of non-Newtonian liquid that returned to the structure of the Gunblade.
With her other hand, she was gripping the neck of a Ghoul dressed in a warrior's uniform.
As it was being dragged, the sharp gauntlet pierced the skin of the neck, and a silent, blood-red light flowed along the exposed Kagune veins from bottom to top, from the gauntlet to the torso, writhing almost imperceptibly, as if drawing nourishment.
"A breeding ground for filth and corruption."
With a satisfying snap, the sound of a neck breaking rang out. Vera felt the backlash from [New Ayato-α], now that she was 'full and satisfied,' becoming less and less severe, and casually tossed the Ghoul's corpse aside.
Ghoul's blood is rich in Rc cells. Well, although it can't compare to Rc cells concentrate, it's still a great boost for crushing weaker opponents. As long as you can keep creating open wounds on Ghoul, you can sustain yourself through combat.
Ghoul are truly a treasure trove from head to toe.
With a final blow, he wielded a centipede-like Quinque to decapitate the corpse Vera had left behind to prevent it from rising from the dead. Donning his combat uniform, Kureo Mado glared at the 'gentleman and lady' who were now clearly in a commotion, his signature mismatched eyes glaring. He stuck out his tongue as if vomiting, and sneered, "You're trash pretending to be upper class, a monkey in a crown, behaving like a dog or pig. It's ridiculous, utterly disgusting!"
"White dove!"
Without a second thought, one diner released his Kagune, the rough, dinosaur-tail-like Kagune slapping against the dry, grinding floor as he roared, "Kill them! Charge out—"
With a piercing whistling sound as the black blade pierced through the air, it sliced through the man's open mouth, smashed his jawbone, broke through his skull, and went straight in. This was followed by several screams and a loud crash. In an instant, rubble flew everywhere. Twenty or thirty paces away, at the corner of the escape route, three members of [Black Abyss IV] were pinned to the cracked concrete wall.
Blood splattered from where the screaming Ghoul's head should have been.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Even after the headless corpse had fallen, the Ukaku, as if still not in a daze, continued to thrash around a few times.
"Mado, maintain the distance. Shinohara, you're in charge."
With that, Vera took a step forward, activating her shoulder blade Ukaku with [New Ayato-α]. Two jets of purple-red gradient Kagune tails appeared, resembling a rainbow-colored feathered robe. In an instant, a sonic whistling sound rang out.
With a deafening roar, the entire passage was engulfed in intense tremors and thunderous sounds.
"She's that rice-eating white..."
The Ghoul, Kakuhou to defend himself, was thrown into the wall along with his Kagune halfway through his sentence, creating a cracked crater and the sound of flesh and blood exploding.
It was fast, fierce, and ruthless; even the fluorescent light covers on the walls were knocked off, and several cables emitting sparks hung down from the shattered ceiling.
"Don't let her take the Quinque back! Go and fetch the 'The Madam'!"
The experienced Ghoul roared as he retreated.
With a hiss, a thick, dark blue -Koukaku, as thick as a decapitation blade, burst through his shoulder blade. Just as he was about to direct Ghoul Ukaku around him to provide cover, he heard a deafening gunshot. Turning around, he saw a huge hole explode in his Ukaku companion's forehead, his skull ripped open, and a mixture of blood and brain matter sprayed all over his hand.
This is something that a CCG submachine gun with 9mm Q-rounds could never do!
Da da da da—
A large group of fully armed search officers advanced in.
They may be armed with firearms or wield CCG standard riot shields, which are known for their excellent rigidity and toughness.
Several investigators had already deployed their own quinques to provide suppressive fire, while investigators specializing in high-intensity close combat carried undeployed quinque cases alongside their colleagues, providing vigilance and auxiliary observation.
"This is not a good habit..."
Carrying his own "Oni Yamada No. 1," Shinohara Yukino Shinoara Vera, who was straying ahead from the group, and shook his head, rubbing his forehead.
"Special Investigator Shinohara, aren't you planning to wear the [new] uniform?"
Wielding a centipede chainsaw, Kureo Mado cut a female Ghoul who had been feigning death but suddenly launched an attack in half at the waist, standing next to Yukino Shinoara.
"I?"
Upon hearing this, Yukino Shinoara, who was directing the joint force's advance, looked ahead:
Even unarmed, Vera's [New Ayato-α] attire transforms her entire body into a deadly weapon, making her movements almost impossible for the human eye to keep up with.
She weaved through the horde of Ghoul, some fleeing and others retaliating, like an elegant and deadly ballerina, avoiding the Ghoul' deformed and swollen predatory organs from gaps and angles that ordinary people wouldn't dare to imagine. She moved as if she were in an empty field, and although her movements seemed small, she cleanly and efficiently killed one Ghoul after another.
She handles heavy tasks with ease; taking a punch from her is like being hit in the face by a car.
The sharp gauntlets sent blood and flesh flying wherever they went.
Behind the shoulder armor, purplish-red Ukaku ignited, moving at high speed like elongated tassels, cutting and shredding everything in their path.
A brutal beauty that is completely different from Kishou Arima's.
Yukino Shinoara shook his head at this.
"In middle age... I'm just an ordinary person, without the exceptional physical advantages of Russell, Yuma, and others."
"Even though Dr. Chigyou's improvements to [New] are quite complete, greatly reducing the backlash on the user, the performance improvement will inevitably put a huge burden on the body and consume too much energy. I simply cannot fight for long. It's better to use our resources wisely and wait until we run into the 'The Madam' and other troublesome Ghoul ... Suzuya, come back!"
Continuing to direct the advance, Yukino Shinoara suddenly saw Juuzou Suzuya —that short, white-haired subordinate with an androgynous, bewitching face, resembling a porcelain doll, switching the S+ rank [Gun III] Hybrid Quinque from hand cannon mode to a broadsword. It was a gift from Vera.
Clearly, he was excited and wanted to try breaking through Vera.
Yukino Shinoara immediately turned serious. He grabbed the other man's collar, pulled him back, and slapped Juuzou Suzuya on the head.
"What are you thinking?! Suzuya, Russell has armor while you don't. Don't be willful, proceed according to plan!"
Vera can charge in because the opponent has proven himself and has the [New Ayakata-α] for protection, so he's not afraid of being accidentally hit by teammates. In this kind of escape route, there's no room to hide or move around, so a squishy character with no armor shouldn't be wandering around in front of his teammates' guns.
"Oh."
During the conversation, Vera is about to break through the escape route.
Boom! Another exceptionally violent explosion shook the passageway, and the solid reinforced concrete walls cracked inch by inch. Vera put down the still steaming humanoid muscular flesh in her hand, "An S-class detached solid Ukaku, huh?"
She looked around the corner and saw new diners appearing.
One of them wore a half-face mask decorated with feathers, staring with a pair of Kagune Eye. Although he was Ukaku, Kagune rocket launcher, resembling Koukaku, grew from his back.
Whoosh! Solid feather-like kagune shot out like a rocket launcher, accompanied by a large amount of smoke.
The target wasn't Vera, but the entrance to the escape route.
"You**!!"
Seeing this, the most anxious ones were not Vera, but the Ghoul who were still stuck in the passage facing the CCG sweepers, in a position that was neither high nor low, and they immediately started cursing.
Boom, boom boom...
Splattered concrete began at the crack, which spread rapidly like a spiderweb. Just as the man was getting into the swing of things, whoosh...
The [Black Abyss IV] guns of the three men suddenly trembled violently. With a hiss, barbs and spikes, the three bodies were pierced by the spiraling thorn blades Ghoul bodies torn apart. Whoosh!
Clusters of scarlet light flashed; those were the Kagune that made up the spiral spearhead of [Black Abyss IV]. Like molten iron, they suddenly bent and stretched, forming a sharp arc. The wall plaster burst open, and debris flew everywhere.
The next moment, the scythe-like blade shifted the center of gravity, spinning and whooshing!
"What?"
The Ghoul's tough skin, immune to small-caliber ammunition, was easily sliced open like cotton cloth, and a black-and-red blade pierced through its chest, splattering blood.
The gun trembled, causing the powerless Ghoul to stumble.
Vera stepped forward, calmly reaching out to grasp [Black Abyss IV], and with a hiss!
The blade was swiftly drawn, lifting his entire body into the air. Vera then flung him away with force, and with a thud, he flew out and crashed into the crowd outside the entrance, scattering a large number of people.
At this moment, close-combat Quinque users, led by Yukino Shinoara, seized the opportunity to charge forward, moving left and right.
Vera looked into the room on the other side of the corridor.
The surging high-density Kagune coalesced in an instant, igniting, and roared—!
The burning blood-red wings of the Kagune flapped, and a thousand feathers bloomed.
Amidst a sharp shriek, countless cone-shaped crystalline Kagune engulfed a large number of A- and B-rank Ghoul, causing numerous casualties. Amidst muffled groans and screams, splattered blood across the surrounding ground.
The Ghoul outside the entrance panicked and fled in disarray, while those inside were all slaughtered.
With a casual gesture, Vera swung [Black Abyss IV], slamming the last resisting S-rank Ghoul against the wall, creating a cracked dent.
Stepping over the concrete debris and bloodstains of flesh scattered on the ground, she entered the Ghoul Restaurant.
My vision suddenly opened up.
The ceiling is high, the enclosed stairwell has no windows, and the lights are relatively sparse.
Although it was a cloudy day, the place still seemed exceptionally dark and deep.
The scale is quite large.
Just like the problems within the urban construction department, regulatory departments, CCG Washuu Clan...
Vera calmly waved her hand, "Let's go."
"Gogogo!"
"Action!"
With Vera as the spearhead, they broke through the narrow terrain and quickly deployed their formation, following the CCG investigators who had stormed inside and the North American Federal Anti-Ghoul Operatives.
Combat squads engage Ghoul who fail to escape in time, while simultaneously conducting sweeps, rescues, and search missions under the leadership of senior investigators wielding combat Quinque.
Da da da da—
Bang bang bang bang——
Bang, bang—
Q Bullets of various calibers struck the Ghoul, their Kagune, and the reinforced concrete, mingling and exploding into clusters of chaotic debris, creating a cacophony of sounds, like a unique symphony.