About twenty hours had passed since the kidnapping.
These bastards had no manners when dealing with people. They hadn’t given me so much as a sip of water, let alone anything to eat.
The hunger felt as if my stomach lining had fused to my spine, and the thirst was drying my esophagus to the point of agony. It was a fantastic feeling.
Endure it. Just endure. This is nothing compared to the hunger a Ghoul feels. If I think of Eto, this is...
...Eto has been suffering through this kind of pain?! Like hell I can just sit here!!
Thud!
Feeling my grip on sanity slip, I slammed the back of my head into the wall.
The wound from the steel pipe split open again, and pain surged through me, but it was enough to snap me back to my senses.
My body was worn down, and my mind seemed just as ruined. Perhaps this was the aftereffect of facing not one lunatic, but a whole collective of them.
The artist-slash-salarymen who had been debating what kind of "art" to make out of my disassembled body were still in their meeting and hadn’t returned yet.
They had been gone for quite a while, so it wouldn’t have been strange if they walked through the door at any moment.
“Mmnya... mmnya....”
Minami, who had woken up earlier from some weird dream, was nodding off again.
This was the perfect chance.
Creak...
I grabbed the loosened stake connected to the shackles and pulled.
I couldn’t afford a mistake. I had to extract it as quietly as possible.
I slowly increased the force as I wrapped the chain around my arm and tugged at the stake. Even the tiniest scraping sound felt deafening in the silence.
The concrete wall sounded like a whining child having a tooth pulled.
Despite the noise, Minami didn’t wake. The stake was almost out. Just a little more!
Swoosh!
“...!!”
The resistance suddenly vanished, and the stake popped free. I flinched and reached out instinctively.
Thanks to my reflexes, I managed to catch it before it hit the floor, but the slack chain dragged noisily across the ground instead.
Shrrrk!!
“...!”
Holding my breath, I shifted my gaze to check on Minami.
A moment later, a sigh of relief escaped me.
“Mmm.... Kuu....”
Minami only frowned slightly before settling back into a peaceful sleep.
Feeling sweat bead in my palm, I wrapped the chain fully around my arm and wedged the stake in place. Now, the chain covered my wrist like a sleeve, ensuring it wouldn’t scrape the floor again.
With my freed hand, I pulled out the stake on the other side.
Now that I had a free hand, the second stake was easy to handle.
Phew...
I rolled my stiff body around to loosen up, letting the feeling of liberation spread through every limb.
Okay. I can move fine.
Now all that was left was escaping this place.
I checked the door leading out of the room, then looked at Minami, who was dozing in the chair beside it.
I didn’t know her circumstances, but as long as she was cooperating with those Ghouls, she was a liability. If she woke up and realized I was gone, she’d alert them immediately.
I’d have to knock her out before I left.
With that thought, I gripped the chain with both hands and approached Minami carefully.
How many seconds did you have to choke the carotid artery to make someone pass out?
I was recalling an old fainting game that used to be popular when I brought the chain toward her neck.
Then—
Grab!
Whoosh!
“!?”
My field of vision flipped violently.
It happened so fast I couldn’t tell if I’d been lifted off the ground first or if Minami—who I’d thought was asleep—had snatched my wrist first.
Bang!!
My body was slammed onto the hard floor.
Air burst from my lungs as Minami pinned me down, twisting my right arm into a dangerous angle.
“You thought I was asleep? Too bad~ I was just pretending~☆ You were sneaking around and trying so hard, Koma-kun, it was so cute I couldn’t help messing with you~.”
“You bitch....”
Minami’s teasing voice in my ear made irritation flare.
I tried to shake her off, but it was useless. She had me in a proper joint lock; if I moved even a millimeter, it felt like my arm would snap.
Minami giggled, clearly amused by my struggling.
“No use~. Women these days all know basic self-defense for dealing with creeps~. I’ve been practicing with a book called How to Become a Mature Woman and Take a Man Down, and my skills have been improving like crazy.”
“Huh? That sounds absurdly familiar.”
For a second, a nightmare flashed through my mind—a memory of Eto actually reading that book and using it to throw me down and lock my joints.
“Really~? Then that won’t do~. You were just trying to touch my body while I was pretending to sleep, weren’t you? Men really are lewd~. Where were you planning to touch? My chest? My stomach? Or maybe my....”
“I was only trying to touch your neck.”
Sensing a dangerous turn in the conversation, I cut her off hurriedly.
But Minami only sounded disappointed.
“That won’t do~. Guilty~. Should I hand you over to the police~?”
“Why? Is trying to knock out a kidnapper and escape really such a serious crime? You’re the type to sue someone for molestation if a hand brushes your skirt on the subway.”
As I spoke, I steadied my breathing.
I was out of time. I had to shake Minami off and get out. To do that, I had to deal with this joint lock first.
There was only one way, and it required a certain level of resolve.
“My neck’s my erogenous zone~. You tried to greedily paw at someone else’s sensitive spot like an animal, so now you’ve got to pay the price~.”
Minami continued in a bright, excited voice, clearly enjoying the banter.
She was spouting nonsense just to keep the conversation going, but I had no interest in playing along.
“Is that so? Then I’ll hit somewhere other than your neck.”
The moment the words left my lips, I clenched my teeth and twisted my body by force.
I ignored the fact that my joint was still locked.
Crack!!
A sickening sound echoed from my shoulder, and a beat later, searing pain attempted to hijack my brain.
Before the pain could paralyze me, I swung. I drove my fist—gripping the chain like a knuckle-duster—straight into Minami’s face.
“!?”
Pow!!
My fist landed before Minami could react. She likely hadn't expected me to break my own joint just to escape.
It was a punch thrown without proper form, but it was heavy enough to jolt her entire body.
I shoved her away, throwing her over my back, and scrambled to my feet. Then, I bit down hard on the arm I’d used to punch until it bled.
Kaaaaaaaaagh!!!!
The scream never left my throat; it echoed inside me instead. If I screamed now, the others would hear.
I’d been prepared, but the pain of a forced dislocation was worse than I’d imagined.
When my arm had been broken before by some Ghoul playing dress-up as a cop, I’d been drowning in adrenaline, which made it bearable. This time, I had nothing.
I braced my back against the wall, forcing my collapsing body to stay upright.
Cold sweat poured down me, and my vision swam. My brain, sensing the trauma, began pumping out endorphins to dull the pain.
Once the agony faded enough for me to think straight, I looked back at Minami.
She was lying face-down on the floor, groaning. Blood ran from a cut on her forehead where the chain had torn into her.
“H-hey, hitting a woman’s face is too much.... Is this what they call misogyny?”
“Haa... haa... it’s misandry, you bitch...!”
After everything she’d put me through....
I’d learned that letting my guard down meant getting wrecked.
Sure enough, while I was clutching my dangling right arm, Minami suddenly lunged.
Expecting another trick, I didn’t hesitate and sprang after her.
Minami was reaching for the steel pipe that had brought me here in the first place.
Are you kidding me? I never want to taste that pipe again as long as I live!
Grab!
Minami swung the pipe the moment she gripped it, and I thrust out my left arm.
The chain wrapped around my wrist blocked the blow, sending sparks flying. The impact was so violent I feared my left wrist would snap right after my right shoulder.
Pow!!
With the pipe blocked and Minami’s guard open, I drove my left foot into her abdomen.
Her face twisted in pain as she folded forward. Using the momentum from the kick, I swung my upper body forward.
My forehead crashed into hers.
Crack!!
“...!!”
Minami’s head snapped back.
She staggered for a few seconds before toppling backward like a felled tree.
Her eyes rolled back, leaving only the whites. She was completely out.
“Haa! Haa!”
I barely managed to steady myself and catch my breath.
She had swung that pipe so hard that my left hand was still numb from the impact.
Who says women are the weaker sex? They say female animals are scarier than males, and Minami was exactly that kind of creature.
Looking at her unconscious form, I rubbed my shoulder.
The price for forcing my way out of that lock was a dislocated shoulder.
“Hup!!”
Thud!
Grabbing below the elbow, I shoved the bone back into place with a grunt.
After a wave of cold sweat, I felt the joint settle back into its socket.
The damage remained, however, and pain surged every time I moved.
I had to get out of here fast. If I didn’t hurry, my daughter—the apex predator of all terrifying females—would surely come running.
That absolutely could not happen.
No matter how strong Eto was, there were four Ghouls in this building.
If the "boss" Minami mentioned actually existed, that made five. Numerically, Eto would be in too much danger.
I need to find a phone the moment I get out.... If I can warn Eto to stay away and call the CCG...
With that plan in mind, I opened the door to the sealed room.
“You’re human, but you’re quite something, aren’t you?”
“...!?”
Standing right in front of me was a man with a horse-like face.
It was the Ghoul—the Section Chief or whatever he was.
Powww!!!
“Cough!!”
Before I could react, a brutal fist slammed into my torso.
I felt myself fly through the air for several seconds before crashing into a hard wall and collapsing to the floor.
“When creating a work of art, the key is how well you refine the soul of the piece. You possess an astonishing amount of grit and an unbreakable will. You might just become the finest work this company has ever produced.”
I couldn’t even process what the horse-faced Ghoul was rambling about.
Damn... it...
I cursed inwardly. It wasn’t just because my escape had failed at the final hurdle.
As I lay on the floor, I felt a throb in my broken arm.
Specifically, the tooth-shaped scar on my right arm was pulsing.
It was different from the pain I felt when a Ghoul looked at me as prey.
So you really came....
That child was nearby. And she seemed to be in a very foul mood. I could feel it instinctively.
I wanted to tell her not to come. But I had no way to send the message.
My consciousness faded into black.
“Is this the place?”
“...Yes.”
Hitokawa and Eto’s gazes met as they looked at the seven-story building before them.
A sign suggested it had once been a pharmaceutical company, but it was now a skeletal ruin, the faded sign the only remnant of its former life.
“Do you have a plan?”
“First priority is securing Koma. And then....”
Clack, clack, clack!
The moment he stepped out of the car, Hitokawa opened a metal case.
From within, a massive sword shaped like a bird’s wing sprang forth into his hand.
“...We eliminate every other obstacle.”
“That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard you say, Hitokawa.”
Eto’s left eye burned with a blood-red light, a flame that could no longer be contained.
Toward the unsettling building, whose empty windows looked like hundreds of gaping mouths, the two of them strode forward.
The rescue operation for Takaki Koma begins now.
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