You Owe Me at Least Twenty Lives

"S-rank!" Kureo Mado laughed viciously, bringing the bone blade in his hand down with a clang against the Ice Blade.

Louis felt the tremendous force transmitted through his hand. It was barely weaker than Shuu Tsukiyama's strength. Was this really strength a human should possess?

Something whistled through the air beside his ear. It was Amon's Quinque.

If he put distance between them, Mado's long-chain kagune would attack him. If he stayed close, he would have to face both men at once.

Two options flashed through Louis's mind. The first was to focus his attacks on the weaker Amon, then control the flow of battle, using Amon's body to obstruct Mado's attacks as much as possible.

The other was to stop forming new crystals and attack the stronger Kureo Mado at full power. If their exchanges were fast and frequent enough, Amon would have no opportunity to intervene. The drawback was that without his crystal ability, Louis might not be Mado's match in close combat.

In the past, Louis would certainly have chosen the safer first option, but now he wanted to try the second.

With that thought, Louis stopped forming new crystals around him and drew a tier-three Ice Blade from his waist. His speed surged. Dodging Amon's attack, he pressed forward against Mado's assault, slashing with both Ice Blades at such tremendous speed that even Mado's expression shifted.

Dual wielding.

"Now that's more like an S-rank!" But Mado was only briefly surprised before he adapted to Louis's speed, swinging his bone blade against Louis's twin Ice Blades. Their rapid clashes rang out in a flurry of metallic chimes.

"Mr. Mado..." Amon watched the two suddenly accelerate and gritted his teeth, but he could only stand by. If he recklessly charged into a battle at that speed, he would only get in the way.

Kureo Mado, meanwhile, was not troubled by Louis's suddenly accelerated assault. Instead, he grew even more excited. "Why haven't you brought out your kagune? Are you a ghoul who isn't good at using it? Or are you saving it as your trump card?"

Seemingly wary of the kagune his opponent had yet to reveal, he fought more defensively, retreating as he parried.

"Let me guess. What type of kagune do you have? Ukaku? No, no. Your stamina shouldn't be this good if that were the case."

Kureo Mado appeared perfectly composed. His Ghoul Investigator training had taught him to avoid trading injuries with ghouls whenever possible, and his Quinque training had taught him never to let an opponent pin down his Quinque easily.

Although his opponent's attacks were somewhat strange, that did not stop him from applying those lessons.

Louis did not answer. His heartbeat quickened, and his muscles worked without pause. Maintaining this attack speed was already placing a considerable strain on his body.

Yet Kureo Mado clearly still had strength to spare, further convincing Louis that the physical capabilities of Ghoul Investigators were far beyond those of ordinary people.

And besides...

Kureo Mado was not particularly fast, yet he always managed to deflect Louis's attacks with the smallest possible movements. Years of fighting ghouls had taught investigators how to fight opponents who surpassed them in both strength and speed.

Unfortunately for him, Louis was not a ghoul.

Seeing that he had put enough distance between himself and Amon, Louis steeled himself and let his opponent thrust the blade straight into his abdomen.

"Hm?" Kureo Mado froze. His opponent should have been able to dodge that. But when he tried to pull the blade out, he discovered that bloodstained crystals had already spread across the point where it had pierced Louis.

He immediately pressed the button to extend the bone blade, but Louis was faster. His Ice Blade fell, severing Mado's arm at the wrist, then he swung a fist into Mado's face and sent him flying.

"Mr. Mado!" A furious shout came from behind Louis, followed by the sharp whistle of an attack cutting through the air.

Louis had no time to pull the Quinque from his abdomen. He shifted left to dodge the attack. Fortunately, Amon did not press the assault and instead knelt to check Mado's injuries.

"That should be enough..." Gritting his teeth against the agony, Louis pulled the bone blade from his abdomen. Blood continued to seep from the wound.

The wound was about three centimeters to the right of his navel. That last-second shift of three centimeters had kept Louis from being incapacitated outright.

He could heal from an injury like this on his own, but he would need enough rest.

"I need to go..."

If he kept fighting, even he would die.

Louis stood up. After a moment's thought, he hoisted the bone blade from the ground onto his shoulder and looked toward Amon, who was bandaging Kureo Mado's wound some distance away.

Kureo Mado seemed to have lost consciousness. Amon was tending to his wound. His hand had been severed at the wrist; if the bleeding was not stopped in time, it could prove fatal.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out nearby. Before Louis could react, a bullet struck his mask. The impact knocked his head slightly aside, but fortunately, it lacked the penetrating power to do more than chip off some ice.

Louis pinched the bullet lodged in his mask and looked toward the person who had ambushed him.

It was an investigator's assistant, holding a gun in trembling hands. After his shot failed, he looked terrified.

"You're no match for him! Stand down!" After finishing the bandages on Kureo Mado's wound, Amon immediately barked the order. He approached with his Quinque in hand, his face full of fury and killing intent pouring off him.

"If you attack me, I'll kill that white-haired man first." Louis pointed at Kureo Mado behind him. At some point, a tier-three Ice Blade had appeared above Mado's head. Once the power supporting it was withdrawn, the sharp Ice Blade would plunge straight into Mado's throat.

"What..." Amon looked back in disbelief. In his anger, he had forgotten the thirty-meter attack range.

"You bastard!" The fury in Amon's eyes intensified, but he did not take another step forward. Mado was his partner and his teacher. He did not dare gamble with his life.

"What makes this underhanded? You keep taking our lives to protect other people. Right now, I'm only threatening his life so I can stay alive."

Louis carried the bone blade over his shoulder, intending to take this Quinque with him. Perhaps that would prevent some meaningless deaths in the near future. "Ghouls' feelings are never false. In fact, they're purer than those of some of you investigators."

"If we get the chance, perhaps we can sit down and talk... It doesn't have to be with me, either. You'll meet someone better suited to that someday."

Strictly speaking, Louis was not a ghoul, so he could not speak for them.

Seeing Amon's response, Louis lingered no longer and turned to leave. Many armed people stood around him, but none dared fire again.

"Oh, right." Louis suddenly stopped and roughly counted the unconscious people lying around him. "You owe me at least twenty lives."