With a sharp clang, a scarlet, sinister-looking Rinkaku kagune suddenly burst forth, intercepting Furuta's attack just inches from Takatsuki's throat.
Sparks flew.
"Oh? I didn't expect it to be you. This is quite the surprise." Furuta halted his movements, raising an eyebrow.
"Something like this surprises you? How shallow. Seems like you haven't improved at all over the years."
A charming voice accompanied the figure stepping out from the shadows.
A captivating woman, alluring in every way, emerged from the darkness—violet hair, violet eyes, and four luminescent, blood-red Rinkaku kagune swaying behind her like eerie, living whips.
It was Rize Kamishiro.
She was the one who had stopped Furuta's attack.
"Your sharp tongue hasn't dulled one bit," Furuta sneered, his gaze icy. "Has no one ever told you that people who talk too much rarely meet good ends?"
"Whether my end is good or not is none of your concern," Rize smirked coldly. "But I do know that your end won't be a good one. This isn't some childish game. Did you really think you alone could change the world? You're just a delusional schoolboy lost in his own fantasies."
"A schoolboy?" Furuta scoffed. "Look who's talking. I wasn't planning on dealing with you, but since you're so eager to throw your life away, I suppose I'll have to oblige."
He cracked his knuckles, the snap of bone echoing ominously.
Nearby, Takatsuki Sen, who had been prepared to die just moments ago, now stared at Rize in stunned disbelief.
"It's you..." he muttered, his expression complicated. "I never thought I'd owe you my life. But don't get me wrong—I'm not grateful."
"No need to thank me," Rize turned to him with a playful glint in her eyes. "I didn't do this for you."
Her gaze softened, her lips curling into a cryptic smile.
"But after all, we're still allies, aren't we?"
"Oh? If your bond is so strong—"
Furuta's smirk deepened as his foot pressed into the ground. In a flash, he shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Scarlet Rinkaku kagune erupted from his back, lashing out with lethal speed, aiming to skewer them both in an instant.
"—then die together!"
...
Meanwhile, in the 16th Ward.
The CCG-Squad was locked in fierce combat with mutant Kakuja ghouls.
These abominations were far beyond ordinary Kakuja—their regenerative abilities were extreme, and their kagune structures were terrifyingly advanced. Their sheer resilience made them nightmarishly difficult to kill, leaving even the most elite CCG investigators struggling.
The reason for their predicament was simple:
The mutants wouldn't die.
No matter how many times they were struck down, they kept regenerating—faster, stronger, more vicious.
The battle had raged for hours. The exhausted investigators had pushed themselves to their limits, but the mutants showed no signs of slowing down.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks erupted as Akira Mado's Quinque blade cleaved cleanly through a mutant's kagune shield, slicing it straight down the middle.
Splurt!
A torrent of crimson gushed forth.
The creature collapsed, convulsing violently as its severed halves wriggled on the ground.
Akira Mado stood panting, sweat beading her forehead.
Her body was drenched, muscles burning with fatigue.
Hours of relentless combat had drained her. Even with her skill, her arms trembled from overuse, the weight of her weapon growing unbearable.
"This isn't working." Akira Mado gritted her teeth, thinking to herself.
The mutated Kakuja had completely overwhelmed the battlefield. Their forces were heavily surrounded, with soldiers constantly getting injured, killed—or worse, turning into Kakuja themselves. The dead piling up should have been an indication of the hopelessness of their situation, yet the enemy numbers only seemed to grow.
By now, they had lost more than half their troops. The remaining fighters were all wounded in some way, their bodies covered in blood and bruises. Though they carried newly developed inhibitors designed to suppress the virus, the drug was too rare and produced in such limited quantities that it couldn't meet the demands of combat.
The only ones still managing to hold the line were Arima Kishou and a handful of Special-Class Investigators. But apart from Arima—whose expression remained completely unmoved—the others were clearly reaching their limits. Their breathing was ragged, their limbs trembling, their bodies dangerously close to collapse.
"That idiot—where the hell is she?!" Akira clenched her Quinque tightly, her voice tense with urgency.
She was starting to regret it. She should have told that person about the situation beforehand. But she had assumed this mission to exterminate the Kakuja nest wouldn't be that difficult. It never occurred to her that things would spiral out of control like this.
Just as frustration built up in her chest—
"Oh? Were you guys looking for me?"
The soldiers all froze at the sound of the playful voice.
They looked up.
And in that moment, hope ignited in their eyes.
Against the backdrop of the dawn sky, where the first hints of daylight painted the clouds in soft hues, a silver-haired girl hovered in midair, her strikingly beautiful face adorned with a teasing smile.
"We're saved!"
"I thought we were dead for sure!"
"When I get home, I swear I'm setting up a shrine for Lady Liuli!"
"Long live the Fox Fairy!"
Kaguya floated above them, glancing down at the battered group. She raised an eyebrow.
"Huh? You guys aren't dead yet? I thought for sure you'd been ripped to pieces by now."
The soldiers' joyous expressions stiffened.
A moment later—
"Don't just say such terrifying things so casually!!!" they all shouted in unison.
Seriously, can't she be serious for once?!
Akira sighed, rubbing her temple in exasperation.
"Well, you all still seem pretty lively," Kaguya mused, turning away.
She snapped her fingers.
"Alright, time to take out the trash."
"Projection: Sword of Victory and Oath."
The moment her words fell, delicate strands of golden light flickered into existence, gradually weaving together to form a radiant longsword.
A masterpiece of craftsmanship, the blade gleamed with a dazzling golden glow.
Kaguya stretched out her hand and grasped the hilt. The moment her fingers wrapped around it, the sword erupted with an overwhelming radiance, its shimmering blade reflecting the advancing wave of Kakuja like a golden sea of destruction.
Then—
A blinding golden beam shot skyward, piercing through the clouds.
The sheer intensity of the light turned the entire sky into a canvas of shimmering gold, stretching so far that even those tens of kilometers away could see its brilliance. Wisps of golden energy scattered through the heavens, dyeing the drifting clouds in shades of warm sunlight.
Kaguya raised the Sword of Victory and Oath high above her head.
Her lips curled into a smirk.
"Ex—"
With a single swift motion, the blade sliced downward.
"—Calibur!"
A golden tsunami of destruction roared across the battlefield.
...
The blinding light gradually faded, and the scorching heat waves dissipated into the wind. The deafening explosions fell silent, and only then did the stunned onlookers dare to open their eyes.
What appeared before them was a vast, deep trench, stretching across the battlefield like a valley, its surface still smoldering with wisps of smoke, extending all the way to the horizon.
Every single Kakuja mutant had been obliterated by Kaguya's attack—reduced to nothing, not even ashes remained.
The frigid northwesterly wind howled across the battlefield, lifting dust from the ground, adding an even greater sense of desolation.
—Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield—
Boom!
A thunderous crash shook the air.
Two figures were sent flying, smashing into a distant wall with tremendous force. The impact instantly shattered the wall, sending cracks spreading outward like a spiderweb.
The two figures—
Takatsuki Sen and Rize Kamishiro.
"Is that the best you can do? You thought you could disrupt my plans with this level of power?"
A shadow stepped forward, a sinister smirk playing across his lips.
It was Furuta.
"Cough… Cough…"
Takatsuki Sen clutched her chest, blood seeping from the corner of her lips as she struggled to lift her head. Pain wracked her body, but her sharp gaze remained unwavering.
"The only naïve one here is you."
Rize Kamishiro steadied herself, taking a slow breath before fixing Furuta with a mocking expression.
"Do you even understand what you're doing? Do you truly believe such an absurd plan will succeed?"
"Hmph. How could foolish mortals possibly comprehend the vision of the enlightened?" Furuta scoffed, shrugging indifferently. "But it doesn't matter. I never expected you to understand. At first, I thought you might be useful to me, but clearly, that was a mistake. And I do not tolerate anyone who dares to defy me."
"How arrogant. You're just trying to convince yourself this will work."
Takatsuki Sen wiped the blood from her lips, smirking.
"You're stalling. Deep down, you know you don't have complete control over this situation. Otherwise, why waste your breath trying to justify yourself?"
"What did you say?"
Furuta's expression darkened instantly, his previously amused demeanor vanishing in an instant.
"Isn't it obvious?" Takatsuki Sen's golden eyes gleamed with sharpness as she took a step forward. "You keep talking, acting like you have everything under control—but if that were really the case, why would you even entertain this conversation? You know it as well as I do—there's still something beyond your grasp, something that could ruin everything. That's why you're stalling. You're afraid."
Furuta's face twisted into something truly terrifying.
"Afraid?"
Takatsuki Sen chuckled, unbothered by his murderous aura.
"Face it, Furuta. You're terrified."
In an instant—
Furuta was already in front of them.
His tail kagune lashed out like a lightning strike, moving too fast to follow.
"So fast—!" Rize's heart clenched.
"Boom!"
A muffled impact rang out as Furuta's tail kagune slammed against their defenses. The sheer force sent Takatsuki Sen and Rize hurtling backward, their bodies crashing against the ground before skidding to a stop.
Before they could even push themselves up, fresh blood spilled from their lips.
"What's wrong? Did I hit a nerve?" Rize Kamishiro wiped the blood from the corner of her lips and looked up, sneering.
"It seems there's no need to waste any more words on you," Furuta Nimura's expression darkened, his sharp eyes glinting with malice. "You can die now."
The moment he finished speaking, Furuta stomped down hard—
The ground cracked beneath him as his figure shot forward like an arrow, appearing in front of the two girls in an instant. A twisted smile curled on his lips as he spat out—
"Die."
High-speed movement, overwhelming force—death was inevitable.
Just then—
A delicate hand emerged from the void, placing itself between Furuta and the girls.
"What—"
Furuta's pupils contracted in shock. His expression twisted as he instinctively tried to retreat, but that flawless, jade-like hand followed relentlessly.
Before he could evade—
It lightly pressed against his chest.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted.
Furuta was sent hurtling backward like he had been struck by a speeding train. He streaked across the battlefield like a meteor, smashing through seven or eight walls before finally crashing into a massive boulder with a thunderous impact.
He came to a stop—barely.
"Pfft—"
Furuta's eyes widened as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
His chest had completely caved in.
That single, effortless palm strike had left him utterly wrecked.
From the rift in space, a familiar figure stepped out, the corners of her lips curling into a smirk.
"Since when do pathetic mutts think they have the right to bark so loudly?" Kaguya sneered. "A stray dog should know its place—stay put and stop embarrassing yourself."
She had planned to make a cool, dramatic entrance.
But before she could even finish her words—
"Oof—"
A sudden weight crashed onto her.
Two figures had thrown themselves onto her, clinging tightly.
It was Rize Kamishiro and Takatsuki Sen.
"Hey, hey—what are you two doing?"
"Well, well, fancy meeting you again. What a coincidence."
Rize's warm breath tickled Kaguya's ear as she chuckled, pressing closer, her mesmerizing eyes flickering with amusement. She even subtly leaned in, her soft curves brushing against Kaguya teasingly.
Meanwhile, Takatsuki Sen wrapped her arms around Kaguya's waist, giggling. "Liuli, you smell nice! Let me hug you a little longer!"
"Since when were we this close?" Kaguya muttered, black lines forming on her forehead. "Do you two suffer from some kind of terminal illness where you'll die if you don't latch onto something?"
Rize and Takatsuki exchanged glances—then, as if coming to an unspoken agreement, tightened their grip on her.
"I thought you'd enjoy this sort of thing," Rize teased, her smile seductive.
"I do not."
"Oh?"
Takatsuki tilted her head, flashing an impish grin. "Then… why aren't you pushing us away?"
"I, uh…" Kaguya averted her gaze, muttering vaguely, "I guess… it's not that bad?"
Truth be told, she hadn't expected to find them here. She had only sensed a faint trace of her own power and had used Yomotsu Hirasaka to teleport over—only to stumble upon this dramatic scene.
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