An unpleasant human.
He would never encounter another human as irritating as this one in his entire life.
He had only snatched the man to pin the blame for a mistake made during a hunt. But if he had drawn a short straw, he had drawn the shortest one possible.
This human simply refused to die quietly. He wouldn't even consider giving up.
In the police car, in the villa, in the alley—the man had already come close to death three times. And every single time, he had stubbornly survived, making a fool of him.
Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn, stubborn, stubborn, stubborn!
A human, a mere human, a mere human, a mere human, a mere human!
Why wouldn't he just lie down and be eaten? Why did he keep struggling? Why did he dare to oppose him again and again? He was a Ghoul. A far superior existence that preyed upon them.
So why won't you give up? Why do you still believe you can beat me!
Disgusting!
You really are...! You really are...!
***
“You’re really, truly, unbelievably disgusting, you bastard!!!!”
The enraged Ghoul wrapped his Koukaku around both arms, swelling its bulk as he charged.
Q Bullet. It could certainly stand against a Ghoul, but it wasn’t an especially effective weapon.
Aside from a Quinque, it was one of the few weapons capable of dealing definite damage to a Ghoul’s steel-hard body, but it lacked decisive power.
That was why Q Bullets were issued only for self-defense; the Quinque used by Ghoul Investigators was far more efficient.
As long as the brain or kakuhou wasn’t hit, it wouldn’t be an instant kill. Even if it struck the heart, it would hurt like hell, but regeneration was still possible.
The only thing that needed protecting was the upper body, centered on the head. The Ghoul covered his torso with the Koukaku wrapped around his arm and charged at Koma like a raging bull.
The distance was about twenty meters.
The moment the Ghoul’s foot struck the floor, fire burst from Koma’s pistol.
Bang―――――!!!!
“Tch!!”
The one who let out the frustrated grunt was Koma. The bullet flew off into empty air, missing the Ghoul entirely.
A gun was a far more recoil-heavy tool than most people imagined. It wasn’t easy for a novice to handle.
Furthermore, Koma currently had one arm broken, forcing him to fire one-handed.
He used one shot!
As the original owner of the pistol, the Ghoul knew exactly how many rounds remained.
The weapon was a six-shot revolver. One blank for intimidation, two live rounds for humans, and three Q Bullets for Ghouls. The Ghoul had already used the blank and the live rounds himself. Since live rounds were useless against Ghouls, they could be ignored. The only real threat was the Q Bullets.
He had just wasted one with that miss, leaving only two.
He only had to be careful twice.
The Ghoul’s explosive speed closed the distance in a single breath. When the gap shrank to about ten meters, Koma fired a second round.
Bang―――――!!!!
“Ghk!!”
This time, the groan came from the Ghoul.
With the distance closed, even Koma, who had no shooting experience, found it easier to hit his target.
While Q Bullets were effective, the Koukaku was the sturdiest wall among all Kagune types. Therefore, Koma hadn't aimed for the vital points hidden by the Ghoul, but for his mobility.
The Q Bullet punched a clean hole through the Ghoul’s left knee. He lost his balance and, driven by his own momentum, began to topple forward.
But he didn’t simply fall. The distance to Koma was about four or five meters—too far for an ordinary human arm, but Ghouls possessed something far more useful.
The Koukaku wrapped around the Ghoul’s right arm unfurled, shooting straight toward Koma.
KWA-AAAAANG!!!
Koma threw his upper body back, narrowly avoiding the Koukaku tendril. He hurled himself sideways and swung the gun toward the Ghoul, who had fallen completely to the floor.
With the Koukaku shield gone, the Ghoul’s head was fully exposed.
It was the moment Koma pulled the trigger to fire the final bullet and end it all.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-AAAAANG!!!
“...!?”
Another Koukaku burst up through the concrete floor.
It was the second Koukaku from the Ghoul’s other arm.
The moment he had fallen and planted his hand on the floor, he had driven the Koukaku downward into the lower level, aiming for the spot beneath Koma’s feet.
Koma avoided a direct hit, but it was hardly a relief. He bit his lip and stared at the pistol in his hand.
White smoke rose from the muzzle. The bullet had gone off while his aim was thrown off by the surprise attack.
As Koma stared in shock, the Ghoul’s mocking voice reached his ears.
“Heh... You used your last bullet.”
Limping on his wounded left leg, the Ghoul rose. The two strands of Koukaku sliding down his arms writhed, encircling Koma.
“Let’s end this boring game of tag!!”
Just as he swung the Koukaku from both sides to crush Koma, Koma shouted, looking past the Ghoul’s back.
“Now, Eto!!”
“...?!!!”
A chill ran down the Ghoul's spine.
Right. He had been so distracted by the Q Bullets that he had briefly forgotten the more dangerous presence.
He had assumed the fatal wound would keep her immobilized... but what if the human's attack had been a mere diversion?
The real attack was the half-blood brat striking at his wide-open back!
“GRAAAAH!!!”
He yanked back the Koukaku he had been about to swing at Koma and whipped the heavy tendril behind him.
Whoooosh!!!
But all he heard was the sound of wind slicing empty air. There was no impact.
“What...!”
He spun around, but Eto’s attack never came.
Eto had exhausted all her strength in the previous fight and suffered a severe wound to her back; she had only just managed to crawl out from the wall she had been half-embedded in.
She was in no condition to attack.
“You tricked me...!!”
“What kind of parent wants to stain their kid’s hands with blood!!”
When he turned back, Koma had already slipped into his blind spot.
Koma’s gaze, blazing like fire, pierced the Ghoul’s eyes.
Like a boxer throwing an uppercut, he swung his arm from low to high—but at the end of it was not a fist, but a pistol.
The muzzle was pressed firmly under the Ghoul’s chin as he pulled the trigger.
“!!!”
In that instant, the realization hit him.
The “first bullet” Koma had missed... what if that hadn’t been a mistake, but a deliberate miss?
If that had been a human round instead of a Q Bullet, then the round now pressed against his jaw was...!!
“W-wait...!!!”
“You’re cornered, asshole.”
Koma curled his lip into a smirk and squeezed the trigger.
BANG―――――――――!!!!!!!
The bullet bored into the Ghoul’s jaw, tore through his brain, and burst out through the crown of his head.
A jet of blood shot upward before splattering across the floor.
***
“Hah! Hah! Hah! Hah!”
Thud!
After catching my breath while staring at the Ghoul’s corpse, I collapsed beside it, my strength completely gone.
I’d dismembered plenty of corpses before, but I’d never actually killed anyone.
The shock of the act, combined with the crushing fatigue of everything that had happened today, left me barely able to stay conscious.
I need to deal with this body... First the hospital... No, before that I need to contact Hitokawa...
There was a mountain of things to do, but my body was spent, and the situation felt bleak.
If I had to prioritize, the most important thing was to check on Eto’s condition...
Throb!
“!?!!”
Suddenly, the scar on my right arm began to throb. There was only one reason this scar ever hurt like this, which made the sensation incomprehensible.
Why? That Ghoul was dead, so why did I still feel that “gaze of being seen as food”?
Was there still an enemy left?
My survival instinct kicked in, and I coaxed my body to move just one more time. Using my spasming arm to brace against the floor, I pushed myself up.
As I looked around, I found the source of the gaze.
“...Eto.”
“Krrr...!”
It sounded like the groan of a wild beast.
Eto had crawled out from the wall and was dragging herself toward me. But she was no longer the Eto I knew.
There was no trace of reason left in her bloodshot eyes.
Sharp teeth were bared through a mouth stretched wide in hunger, and thick saliva dripped from her chin.
She dug her fingers into the concrete floor with vicious strength, leaving a trail of blood from the wound on her back as she crawled.
The fight with the police-costume Ghoul had left an unimaginable aftereffect.
Due to the excessive use of her Kagune, Eto had fallen into a state of starvation, and the massive wound on her back had triggered her primal Ghoul instincts.
Right now, Eto was suffering from agonizing hunger while being consumed by the instinct to heal her wounds.
I knew exactly how to solve both problems at once.
By eating.
She was no longer the daughter who called me Dad.
She was a Ghoul, and I was her prey.
“...Haah. Mister Kuzen. Raising a kid really is hard.”
I let out a deep sigh, thinking of Mister Kuzen, who was likely fighting a bloody battle against the organization somewhere right now.
In the meantime, Eto had reached me.
If she lunged now, I would be torn apart without mercy. I couldn't expect any restraint from her in this state.
So, I exhaled.
“Eto.”
As if nothing had changed, I called her name and opened my arms wide.
“Come here.”
If you want to bite, then bite.
If you want to eat, then eat.
Even if you tore out my guts and chewed them to pieces,
I would still hold you and tell you that I love you.
Because that was the bare minimum of “love” I could give you.
“Krrr... AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!”
Perhaps there was still enough consciousness left for her to understand my “permission.”
Eto seemed to hesitate for a split second before baring her teeth and lunging.
SPLASHHHHH!!!
A spray of blood erupted.
And so, on the cold gray floor, a warm red flower began to bloom.
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