Hunting

"I want to go watch a movie with Youzi."

Clutching the stiff paper ticket hidden in her chest.

Inside Kujo Ryuko's heart, besides personally killing her Older Sister who had fallen into the Anomaly Abyss, there had never been such an intense desire.

A late-night movie theater.

A screening room for just two people.

Dim... flickering projection light.

And... more captivating than the movie itself, a young girl watching the screen with intense focus.

That previous taboo... humiliating... kneeling before Miss Youzi, learning to act like a dog, the humiliation it brought was so earth-shattering.

So now, the girl's gentleness and intimacy brought such a pleasant and enjoyable contrast.

Her heart trembled.

Longing for the girl's next moment of tenderness.

Even more so, longing for... the girl's next act of bullying.

"But--"

"Someone as gentle as Youzi, it'll probably be difficult to get her to humiliate me again."

"Strange... why do I have such strange thoughts?"

"Why does thinking that make me feel like I'm about to become strange?"

Lifting her chin high, feigning a cold demeanor.

Kujo Ryuko tried hard to hide herself from Su Youzi.

But compared to when they first met, Kujo Ryuko, despite showing a soft and gentle smile, would make one feel like they had fallen into an ice cave the moment they saw her scarlet eyes, a stark contrast to her current smile.

The current Kujo Ryuko... was more like a Big Cat waiting for its owner to rub its tail.

The girl's fragrance was like a poison that corroded the heart.

Even she herself hadn't realized it yet.

At some point... she had already fallen into it.

Perhaps, more than the girl's gentleness, Kujo Ryuko harbored a deeper and more 'cherished' desire.

Subconsciously--

In the depths of her scarlet eyes, she even began to ponder how to 'anger' Miss Youzi without making Miss Youzi dislike her.

"Kujo Ryuko doesn't like people."

"She likes dogs."

"Dogs are obedient."

"People aren't."

"But..."

"Miss Youzi is an exception."

It was already afternoon when she returned from the training hall.

Kujo Ryuko had only rested for a short while before being woken by her adjutant, the young female police superintendent known as 'Hayabusa'.

Tonight--

They had a very important Mission.

She glanced back at the window of the women's dormitory.

Looking at Su Youzi's room, the extinguished light and the faint glow of the pink and blue night light, Kujo Ryuko turned around without hesitation.

A smile reappeared on her face.

A soft and gentle smile, a smile that made one feel like they had fallen into an ice cave.

Hayabusa had already investigated the origin of the "Manifest Manufacturing" earphones.

The hiding place of the "Eye of Insight" cult... they had probably figured it out.

Just like the 'rats' Suo Ishikawa Kiyomi had mentioned before.

These crazy guys were actually hiding right under the Investigation Department's nose.

Their hideout wasn't in the desolate ruins outside the city covered in Calamity Aura, but... in the vast Underground Drainage System of the harbor.

They were true 'rats'.

Taking off the conspicuously symbolic combat uniform of the Investigation Department's Fourth Action Department.

The only things that could symbolize the girl's identity... were her scarlet eyes and the tight black silk clinging to her body.

In the dead of night--

Kujo Ryuko and Hayabusa strolled along the harbor embankment.

To be honest... she was quite reluctant to part with these 'rats'.

After all... it was these 'rats' who gave her the opportunity to return to Private Huiqun Garden Academy and live in the Assault Department Dormitory in broad daylight.

After slaughtering these rats... she would have to embark on the path of pursuing Anomalies again.

At that time, she wouldn't be able to say goodnight to Miss Youzi every day before sleeping.

Kujo Ryuko gazed at the pitch-black sea surface.

The sea was shrouded in a dense white mist.

Ever since the Calamity descended seven hundred years ago... this white mist, filled with a strong Calamity Aura, had been drifting on the sea surface at night.

It had made night voyages extremely difficult.

The open sea--

had completely become a domain that Humanity could hardly set foot in.

Kujo Ryuko lightly jumped off the tilted embankment, and behind her, Hayabusa slid down diagonally.

The huge sewer opening was deep and dark, like a monster in the dead of night ready to devour people.

In the dark night... the burly men of the Investigation Department's Fourth Action Department appeared in neat formation.

They began to seal off the scene.

The Fourth Action Department's operational method was actually very simple.

Kujo Ryuko was responsible for killing.

Hayabusa was responsible for observing the enemy's situation and... at critical moments, controlling the out-of-control Kujo Ryuko.

As for those burly men.

More often than not, they were only responsible for sealing off the scene, catching any stragglers, and... cleaning up.

Taptap... the crisp sound of the girl's high heels stepping on the slightly damp cement floor echoed in the huge sewer space.

A black and purple light illuminated.

It was an eye-shaped totem.

These days... Kujo Ryuko had seen this totem countless times.

A gaunt, emaciated figure appeared from the shadows, exuding a strong anomalous aura.

Compared to the girl's thought-provoking Anomalous state.

The gaunt man in front of Kujo Ryuko... could probably only be described as simply 'Corrupted'.

The next second... a ferocious black and red Beast lunged out from the shadows, biting the back of the man's neck and shaking its head wildly.

A smile spread across Kujo Ryuko's lips.

She lowered the hand that had been pressing the hard paper ticket against her chest, slightly bent her body to accelerate, and reached out her right hand towards the torn and battered body. The man's blood poured into her hand like a spring.

Vroom--

The sound of a chainsaw chain being pulled.

A slender Blood Saw, almost as tall as the young woman, took shape in her hand.

Hayabusa simply followed quietly behind Kujo Ryuko.

She watched the time.

The hunt began--

Lord Kujo should still be able to make it to her date with Miss Youzi.