"I-I'm… okay now…"
Touka's voice was barely a whisper, her eyes evasive. She didn't dare look at Rei Ao's face so close to hers.
"Th-thank you. You can… put me down now…"
"Mm."
Rei Ao obliged, gently setting her on her feet. Feeling the ground under her shoes calmed her a little. But the surplus of strength now flooding her body, and the lingering warmth at her wound, still made her heartbeat stumble.
She quickly took a small step back to put a bit of space between them, then bowed to him, solemnly.
"Thank you very much for saving me, Group Owner!"
When she straightened, the shyness on her face was quickly replaced by urgency and worry. Her amber eyes fixed on him, pleading: "Rei Ao-sama, please save my comrades—especially the Manager. He's in great danger right now! I'm begging you…"
"Relax."
Rei Ao cut gently across her anxious appeal, wearing a faint, reassuring smile.
"Since I accepted your transaction, I'll see it through. 'Make your comrades live'—that's the deal."
He paused, then held out his hand to her, palm up.
"Your hand."
"Eh?"
Touka blinked, staring at those long, well-shaped fingers. The blush that had just faded crept back.
Give him… her hand? What did that mean?
"The battlefield's a bit far, and the situation looks… interesting," he explained, still light in tone. "I'll take you there. After all, the trouble your Manager is facing seems to be the biggest one."
Go save the Manager? Go straight to the fight?
Touka's heart leapt into her throat. Without hesitation she placed her slightly trembling hand into his warm palm.
"Hold tight."
Rei Ao smiled, squeezed her hand—
—and the world around her smeared and twisted.
Skyscrapers, moonlight, neon— everything spun and stretched like dyes tossed into a washing machine!
A wave of weightlessness and vertigo crashed over her.
When her vision cleared again, she found herself in a completely unfamiliar place.
…
It looked like a vast abandoned construction site: shattered walls, exposed rebar and concrete, mountains of rubble.
Under the cold moonlight it was all especially bleak—ruinous.
And right now this wasteland was a battlefield.
BOOM—!!!
A thunderous blast! Dust geysered skyward!
At the center, a monstrous, hulking figure was attacking in a frenzy— its body armored in dark red kagune plates like a bloated demon, with countless writhing, tentacle-like kagune whipping from its back. Each blow shook the earth with terrifying force.
It was Yoshimura Kuzen in kakuja—SSS-rated ghoul "Owl"!
His opponent looked small by comparison: a man in a white CCG coat and glasses—Kishou Arima!
Facing Owl's tidal onslaught, Arima remained uncannily calm and composed.
In his hands was a silver quinque shaped like a massive cross—IXA. In Arima's grip, IXA seemed alive: at times an indestructible shield, meeting Owl's heavy strikes with precise blocks; at times a peerless spear, darting in at vicious angles to stab joints and thin spots in the armor.
His movements were spare, efficient—precision itself, like a machine born for combat. Every dodge came at the perfect instant; every counter targeted a vital point.
Though he was far smaller than Owl's kakuja, sheer skill and IXA's protean forms let Arima suppress Owl completely.
Owl's roars carried fury—and a trace of agitation. His attacks were savage, but Arima neutralized most of them with ease. Instead, IXA kept tearing into Owl's armor, spraying dark red fluid.
Anyone could see Owl was at an absolute disadvantage.
And yet… to Yoshimura, one thing felt off: Arima didn't seem to be going for the kill. His strikes leaned toward attrition and control, as if he were waiting—for something.
Just then, one of Yoshimura's hammer-blows hit empty air. Arima sprang lightly back, opening distance—and actually stopped attacking.
"Hm?"
A flicker of doubt glinted in Owl's giant single eye.
Tap… tap…
Soft footsteps came from the shadows of the ruins to one side.
A figure emerged, a humanoid shape wrapped head to toe in filthy bandages. The face was hidden; only a pair of crimson kakugan peered through the gaps, glinting coldly.
A ghoul?
Yoshimura tensed. Reinforcements for the enemy? Or…
What happened next made his pupil contract.
The bandaged ghoul walked straight to Arima's side and came to a halt— and Arima showed no intent to attack her; if anything, he seemed to have expected her.
He pushed up his glasses; the lenses flashed with cold light. In a flat voice, he said to the bandaged figure, "He's yours. No problem?"
The bandaged one answered in a warped, husky voice that somehow still carried a girlish lilt: "Of course~"
"But I'm really curious—why did the CCG make such a big move today? That wasn't in the plan~"
Arima shook his head. "The order came from above—sudden. As for the reason, I'm not informed."
There was the faintest hint of doubt in his tone.
Yoshimura's massive body shuddered; his growl rumbled low: "You… you're together?"
"Who are you?"
He demanded of the bandaged ghoul.
"Hee-hee~" She let out a delighted laugh, savoring the moment without actually revealing anything.
"You can call me Takatsuki Sen—or, by the better-known name: the leader of Aogiri Tree."
Aogiri Tree!
Shock slammed through Yoshimura. That ghoul organization that had risen so fast in recent years, infamous for its extreme, violent methods—
And its leader was this bandaged creature before him! What's more, she knew Kishou Arima? They even looked… cooperative?!
What truly chilled him was the pressure rolling off this self-styled "Eto." From her, he sensed a danger at least rivaling his own prime.
This was absolutely an SSS-rated ghoul.