Take Hirako had no choice but to obey Huiqi's orders, advancing toward the wall step by step with his Quinque in hand.
"Stop. Just ahead and to your right. Thrust your Quinque there."
Shhk! Crack!
"Aaargh!!!"
A cry of pain rang out at the same time. Everyone stared, stunned. Fusami Shimoguchi and Kuramoto Ito felt as though their entire worldview had been shattered. Was this really something a human Ghoul Investigator could do?
"Lucky guess," Huiqi said flatly. He had only roughly sensed what was over there; he hadn't known the Ghoul's exact location.
"A Ghoul?" Take Hirako looked at the corpse at his feet. Killing it in a single strike was strangely abnormal. The Ghouls he had encountered before had always put up at least some resistance.
That form looks familiar. One of Akihiro Kano's experiments in his spare time?
Seeing the Ghoul's familiar appearance, Huiqi realized this was where Akihiro Kano dumped his experimental subjects. In other words, plenty more things like this were lurking in the dark.
"Stay sharp. Watch your surroundings."
"Understood!"
This time, everyone grew alert and cautiously scanned their surroundings.
The closer they came to the building, the darker it became. A Ghoul could spring out of the surrounding shadows at any moment.
The noise grew increasingly dense, mingled with breathing at different rhythms. Huiqi gradually slowed his steps, aimed his Quinque at a corner where the sounds were most concentrated, and abruptly fired.
With a boom, the wall shattered. Golden serpents of lightning spread wildly, blasting several Ghouls out from around the wall.
The others beside Huiqi immediately charged forward, each finding an opponent of their own.
The person on the roof of the abandoned building noticed this as well.
"The Ghoul Investigators are clearing out Ward 16. Should we abandon it?"
"Forget