Grafted Scion

That exaggerated?

Lu Mingfei thought, Wasn't that almost on par with a Dragon King?

It actually did seem similar. From the perspective of origin, they were alike as well. The Black King gave birth to the Four Sovereigns, while God gave birth to the demigods...

Seeing Lu Mingfei remain silent for so long, Ken Kaneki assumed he had lost confidence and spoke gently:

"Don't worry, Lu. Godrick hasn't fully mastered the Great Rune yet. He even has to rely on grafting to strengthen himself.

"And... you aren't fighting alone."

"Huh? Oh... thanks for the reassurance."

Lu Mingfei, who had merely been spacing out, came back to his senses and scratched his head.

"Anyway, let's give it a try first. It's not like we can run away."

After clearing out the corridor, Lu Mingfei held up his torch. In the flickering firelight, he vaguely saw something hanging from the ceiling.

At first, he did not notice anything strange overhead, until the torchlight shifted slightly upward.

Severed limbs hung densely from the ceiling.

Broken arms, twisted legs, even half-torsos—like chunks of meat in a slaughterhouse, they were skewered by iron hooks. Dried blood glimmered dark red in the firelight.

Some of the limbs had already rotted black, maggots writhing through the decayed flesh. Others were relatively "fresh," their pale skin and muscle fibers clearly visible, as though they had been brutally chopped off not long ago.

Lu Mingfei's stomach, which had only just settled, began rebelling again. Despite the pit of flesh and blood from earlier, he still felt a wave of physical nausea.

After all, that had merely been a burial pit, and the bodies had been wrapped in sacks. This place was far bloodier.

"This place... is where the Grafting Ritual takes place?"

He asked through his nausea.

"Mm."

Ken Kaneki's voice was somewhat low.

"Godrick's men hang the 'materials' here so they can be taken whenever needed."

As he spoke, he took out a stone glowing with multicolored light and gently tossed it downstairs.

Under its faint glow, the monster wandering below revealed itself:

Its knotted body stretched out spiderlike limbs, countless joints and severed arms twisting and tangling together.

It was the nightmare of every Tarnished: a Grafted Scion.

"What do we do?"

Ken Kaneki turned his head and asked softly:

"Should we kill it? If you want to go around, I know the route too."

"Like I said."

Lu Mingfei grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

"We're already here."

Ken Kaneki could not help but laugh.

The Grafted Scion seemed to notice the movement above. Its spiderlike limbs suddenly froze, and it slowly raised its head.

Its delicate face, still retaining the appearance it had possessed as a human—a young nobleman—faced Lu Mingfei and Ken Kaneki. There was no light at all in its hollow eye sockets.

"Still got noticed."

Lu Mingfei lowered his voice and gripped the hilt of his greatsword with both hands.

He recalled how this thing had miserably slaughtered him at the Chapel of Anticipation when he first arrived in the Lands Between. His already gloomy mood worsened further.

But Ken Kaneki's calm breathing somehow reassured him.

What an angel.

Lu Mingfei could not help but marvel.

If Emiya Shirou was a dependable good companion, then Ken Kaneki was a kind and attentive older brother next door...

Scarlet Rinkaku unfurled before his eyes, and those living-tentacle-like appendages interrupted Lu Mingfei's fantasy.

Fine, this angel's wings were a little strange.

Ken Kaneki spoke softly, scarlet points of light clearly visible in his Kakugan:

"Do you need me to sever its joints? Or..."

Lu Mingfei took a deep breath. His Golden Eyes slowly lit up in the darkness.

"Same as before. I'll take the lead and keep it occupied. You deal the damage."

Before he had even finished speaking, the Grafted Scion let out a shriek.

The sound was like wind pouring into a rotten chest cavity, and like fingernails scraping across a blackboard in a piercing, drawn-out screech.

Its knotted limbs suddenly stabbed into the ceiling, and the rotten planks collapsed with a deafening crash under the heavy blow!

If the corridor had not been so narrow, it might even have been able to leap straight up with its powerful lower limbs.

The two of them jumped away at the same time. Ken Kaneki's Rinkaku shot out like arrows, piercing the monster's left shoulder first—if it had such a thing.

Lu Mingfei seized the opportunity to bring down his sword. Borrowing the force of his fall, he viciously slashed at its absurdly small head.

Clang!

The sound of metal colliding exploded through the room.

The Grafted Scion had actually blocked the blow with a battered Beast-Patterned Golden Shield.

It twisted its body, extending more limbs. The Ritual Straight Sword held in its hind limbs stabbed straight at Ken Kaneki like a blooming flower of death.

Ken Kaneki dodged sideways and shouted at the same time:

"Lu!"

Lu Mingfei understood. The glow of his Golden Eyes flared brighter, and a Dragonblood Mark formed in an instant.

An illusory dragon head appeared in midair and bit down on the Grafted Scion's body!

Foul-smelling blood sprayed everywhere.

Roar—

Wracked by pain, the monster suddenly went berserk. Its longsword and limbs stabbed wildly at Lu Mingfei and Ken Kaneki, incredibly fast and frequent. Though utterly unstructured, the assault still forced them to avoid its edge.

Ken Kaneki used his kagune to move nimbly through the hall, but Lu Mingfei was in much worse shape. He rolled and scrambled to evade the thrusts, yet was still struck twice. Fortunately, he wore full armor, giving him a high margin for error.

The Grafted Scion raised its body high and ended its barrage of attacks with a savage downward smash.

Boom!

Rubble flew in all directions.

Lu Mingfei caught the instant when the Grafted Scion stiffened. He stomped forward, and blazing Dragonfire swept out from his mouth, instantly raising the surrounding temperature—

Modified Dragonfire!

The Grafted Scion failed to evade in time. Its flesh split and blistered from the flames, and it screamed without end.

Yet the burning flames alone were not enough to kill the tenacious Grafted Scion.

It shrieked, its sword-wielding hands tracing a half-arc as its body spun. The trajectory of its blade came straight for both of them!

The howling wind was already against their ears!

Lu Mingfei had nowhere to dodge. Left with no choice, he raised his greatsword horizontally before himself to block—

Clang!

The tremendous force numbed his hand, and he staggered backward several steps before finally bleeding off the impact.

The Grafted Scion's blade scraped across his armor in a string of blinding sparks, nearly forcing Lu Mingfei into the corner.

The double-headed blade in Ken Kaneki's hands suddenly blazed with blood-red flames. Then he shot forward, his dazzling yet deadly swordsmanship fully blooming at that moment. Like a whirlwind bearing down on the enemy, he severed several limbs in rapid succession.

Bloodblade Dance!

The illusory Dragon Communion Mark appeared once more. Lu Mingfei gritted his teeth and squeezed out the Dragon Communion Flame within his body, praying it would activate faster.

"Get back!"

He shouted.

Ken Kaneki's Rinkaku retracted instantly as he leaped backward.

A massive Dragonclaw crashed down upon the Grafted Scion's body, shaking the ground!

The Grafted Scion let out a heart-wrenching wail beneath the Dragonclaw's heavy blow.

Scarlet blood gushed from its twisted joints, mixed with shattered bone and splashed across the walls.

Its delicate human face twisted completely under the agony. Its limbs convulsed madly, while the once-splendid Beast-Patterned Golden Shield had long since been dented and warped.

Scarlet Rinkaku coiled around its neck.

Crack!

Ken Kaneki cleanly tore off its still-twitching head, its expression frozen forever at the moment of death.