It all happened in a flash.
The scene froze in silence.
Everyone inside the Ward 7 branch building stared wide-eyed in shock—an investigator, a ghoul?!
Bang, bang-bang—
Breaking the silence came more gunshots, fired in quick succession without pause.
"All units, stand back."
Vela, wielding a US military-issue Beretta M9 with one hand, didn't even bother aiming. Relying on memory reflex, she pulled the trigger, unleashing Q-bullets into Furuta Nimura's face with maximum efficiency.
At the same time, she lunged forward, brushing past the US officer who had instinctively reached for his weapon but found his holster empty. "Fetch my Quinque case."
Even as she spoke, her free hand drew the special M9 multi-purpose combat bayonet from his tactical belt sheath. She weighed it in her grip, spun it in a sharp flourish to adjust the angle, then thrust straight for the man's crimson kakugan at near point-blank range.
There was barely two meters between them—impossible to evade, practically nose to nose.
Meanwhile, in the instant he was shot in the head, Furuta's heart sank—his half-ghoul identity had been exposed.
Facing a deliberate close-range assault, blood dripping down his forehead, pain jolting every nerve—ghoul or not, instinctive self-preservation kicked in. Adrenaline surged, Rc cells activated…
The wound on his forehead visibly squirmed as flesh knitted. Forced to reveal his kakugan to channel Rc cell activity, he could not understand how he'd been exposed. He had been careful. He had been vigilant.
But no time remained to think—
Too fast!
The 9x19mm Q-bullets slammed into his face, torso, hands. Flesh, fabric, and blood sprayed as Vela closed the gap in a blink. Furuta stumbled back, one hand shielding his eye from being pierced, the other swiping forward clawed—
Thunk! The bayonet pierced through the webbing of his fingers, sinking deep.
Exposed, there was no turning back…
Trembling hand twisting the blade embedded in his palm, Furuta's lips curled as though savoring pain itself. He shed all pretense.
"Furuta… you damn ghoul! You tricked me!"
Shiki Kijima, who had just realized the truth after recovering from shock, bellowed in rage. His scarred, monstrous face twisted further in fury.
"Ah, ahh… so painful, so scary. Truly terrifying, Special Class Russell—you really are strong. But isn't it surprising? I'm stronger than you thought, too?"
Ignoring Kijima's words, ignoring the chaos of investigators drawing weapons around them, Furuta sneered. One kakugan blazing, he put on a grotesque, mocking mask, turning to smile at the nearby American anti-ghoul agent.
"Don't compare me to trash like the Yasuhisa sisters…"
Then, his tone hardened, venomous.
"Meddling Yankee!"
Instead of retreating, he advanced—smashing a tile underfoot with explosive force. With blood spraying, he yanked free his impaled right hand, raised his left hand blade-like, and slashed viciously toward Vela's slender neck.
His Quinque case, set down earlier when he bowed in false humility, still lay by his feet, unopened. And Vela's weapon was not at hand either. The perfect chance to kill her!
Only the Washuu, bound by traditions and taboos, would hesitate.
Those who needed reasons before acting were trash. He killed whomever he pleased. Those others dared not touch, he would kill!
As for backlash from North America, from the international community—what of it? Let Washuu burn, let the CCG collapse. Let everything be destroyed!
Bloodshot eyes gleamed with frenzied malice.
Vela, having emptied her 15-round magazine, casually tossed the M9 aside. She tilted her head slightly. "Is that so?"
Whoosh! The blade-edge of his strike swept past her ear. She smiled faintly.
Knowing well his history, she mocked: "How pitiful, the illegitimate son of a concubine."
"You!!"
The words "concubine," "illegitimate son" made Furuta's eyes twitch.
He froze, his movements stalling for an instant.
"How much do you know?!" he demanded.
"I've no interest in explaining anything to ghoul trash. You don't deserve to hear it."
A fleeting moment, but enough for Vela to act.
The next second, a surge of immense force wrenched through Furuta's arm. His eyes went wide in shock.
That strength?!
Something was wrong…
Not good!
Crack! His wrist bone snapped under unbearable pressure.
Seizing his arm, Vela twisted her waist and flung him overhead. From feigned weakness to full power, she slammed him down—his skull smashing brutally into the polished tiles.
Boom! The impact exploded through the Ward 7 CCG branch corridor. Marble shattered like brittle wafers, steel-reinforced concrete beneath caving in. Shards flew, cracks spiderwebbed outward.
Warning alarms shrieked through the halls.
"Associate Special Class Kijima, fall back."
Without looking back, Vela gave the order.
The buzzing chainsaw roar—that was Kijima. Enraged, he had drawn his custom Quinque chainsaw, its engine powered by a Kakuhou, its blade forged of Quinque steel, ready to fight Furuta to the death.
Ugly though he was, he was still fully human. A decorated investigator. The scars twisting his face came from ghoul hunts.
And he was an interrogator with real talent. Vela, unwilling to waste him, restrained his suicidal impulse.
"Why, Special Class Russell?"
"Because saving you would disrupt my rhythm."
Her voice calm, she commanded: "Release the CRc gas. Support me."
"A prize like this, at least SS+, maybe even SSS-rated Kagune—you think I'll let him slip away?"
She yanked the pin from a CRc gas grenade, grinding her steel-toed boot into Furuta's skull.
Even bodies hardened beyond steel, like those of SS-class ghouls, could not endure such force unscathed. Pain lanced through his frame, blood rising hot.
Sprawled in the crater, blood dripping from his lips, Furuta pushed with his arms, struggling to rise.
Crack! His sunken chest heaved outward, fractured bones knitting. His mangled left arm snapped back into place. Face grim, he muttered: "Damn it… how are you this strong? Are you half-human too?"
He had expected her strength—comparable to Kishou Arima. But she wasn't wearing any biological Quinque armor.
This was pure muscle. Strength even more outrageous than the Kuroiwa clan, famed for snapping ghoul necks barehanded.
America had no half-humans, no hybrids. Could it be super soldier serum? Augmented warriors?
And beyond doubt—Vela had been prepared from the start.
His information had been laid bare.
Unease crept in. Releasing or silencing the Yasuhisa sisters was no longer possible.
Internal injuries throbbed from the slam, stealing his breath. And with that gasp—his lungs filled with CRc gas.
Furuta's face tightened, limbs suddenly weak. Rc cell flow slowed, strength fading.
Impossible. The effect was too strong. He had already adapted to the CRc gas of Ward 23's Cochlea. Was this… Kouitsu Chigyou's new improved model?
Better to flee. Rize was still waiting…
At that thought, with a ripping shhk! sound, four dark red tendril-like Kagune burst from Furuta's spine.
The same type as the Yasuhisa sisters.
More precisely, the same as the ravenous, gluttonous S-rated female ghoul of Ward 20—the "Binge Eater."
But unlike the sisters, Furuta's Kagune glowed with a deep crimson radiance—Rc cells densely packed, ferociously active.
Crack-crack! Furuta's Kagune tore through the concrete, gouging deep fissures as the tendrils lashed toward Vela.
Without armor, Vela could not take them head-on. Kagune of at least SS+ grade would tear a human body apart. She dodged, shifted, withdrew, widening the distance.
Landing on one knee, eyes locked on the writhing appendages sprouting from Furuta's back, she showed no surprise.
This was her Divine Gift, granting her 'future vision.'
Furuta Nimura—or rather, Souta Washuu-Furuta.
The labels on him were many, as far as Vela knew.
Half-human, artificial one-eyed ghoul, scion of a Washuu branch family. Boyhood friend of Rize Kamishiro, collaborator of Kanou Akihiro, logistics operative for the Washuu's secret extermination group, V. Leader of the Clown organization—the same group that had once harbored the transvestite ghoul Nico, whom Vela had slain…
Born illegitimate, raised as a tool under suffocating discipline. Talented, but barred from inheritance. Resentful of fate, his mind twisted and erratic.
Loyal to no one—not Washuu, not any faction. His sole desire was to sow chaos, to ruin all.
A creature of pure, chaotic evil.
It had been he who released Rize from the Washuu detention zone. He who caused the falling steel beam incident that 'killed' her. The root of Ken Kaneki's tragedies.
Later, through Kanou's perfected surgery, he had a Kakuhou transplanted from Rize. His power soared. In rebellion, he annihilated his kin, patricide and massacre, and seized the Washuu name.
In the end, he was the mastermind behind Tokyo's downfall, spreading the ghoul virus.
That was in the original timeline.
Here, in this altered timeline shaped by Vela, the environment was harsher, the Washuu pressured, Kanou's lab exposed years early. Without three years of honing, of grafting Kagune, without cultivating the ghoul-source 'Dragon' or consuming its primal virus, could he truly surpass SSS+? Could he achieve complete Kakuja?
Vela's eyes gleamed with curiosity as she measured him.
His appearance at the Ward 7 CCG branch was unexpected. She was no god, no prophet. She could not foresee all.
If only she had [Arata-Ayato-α] and [Black Abyss IV] at hand.
A mixed blessing. If she had appeared carrying [Arata-Ayato-α], Furuta's first instinct would have been to flee, not to stay and fight.
After all, in Japan's counter-ghoul circles it was said Quinques accounted for 75% of an investigator's combat strength. Vela let them think so. She deliberately feigned reliance on weapons.
Furuta's killing intent—she felt it keenly.
"Damn it, what ghoul would be so reckless as to invade a CCG branch guarded by multiple Special Classes? Unless… the One-Eyed Owl?!"
Footsteps thundered. Marude arrived.
"Another one-eyed ghoul?!"
Seeing Furuta facing Vela, he froze—then his face darkened instantly.
One humiliation after another.
"Rank-1 Furuta."
As an administrative Special Class stationed at Headquarters, Marude knew the boy. To find he was a ghoul—ghouls inside the investigators' ranks!
"Special Class Russell did not exaggerate."
Kuroiwa's voice was flat, expressionless. "That a ghoul could infiltrate the CCG… Why did the Rc detection gates not sound? How did he pass evaluations? The rot has reached the point that only cutting to the bone will suffice."
"Ready?"
Yukinori Shinohara freed his Quinque, blade angled low. In unspoken accord, he and Kuroiwa pressed forward.
Houji said nothing, but his stance spoke volumes—poised for the strike.
"Rank-1 Furuta… this is the last time I call you that."
Grinding his teeth, Marude demanded: "How many ghouls are hidden within the CCG?"
Furuta sneered. "Take a guess."
Step by step, Furuta edged closer to the wall nearest the windows. He eyed Vela warily as she picked up the Quinque case that should have been his, flipping it open. With mocking sarcasm, he said: "My dear Special Class Marude, a friendly reminder—no upper limit, you know…"
What did Washuu's fate matter to him?
The gathered investigators looked confused.
No upper limit?
The words carried ominous weight.
Boom!
Without warning, Furuta leapt, smashing upward into the ceiling. His four Bikaku Kagune tore into the cement and tiles, sending debris raining as he burst into a conference room above.
"He's escaping!"
Marude cursed, stomping in frustration. "Russell, think of something! Use that No.1 combat strength of yours!"
"Relax. He's not getting away. By now… it should be time."
At that instant—
"Commissioner!"
The US officer returned, having retrieved her Quinque case.
Catching the toss, Vela armed herself with [Arata-Ayato-α] and [Black Abyss IV].
Click—
Equipped.
Her tall, black-armored form shot forward. The spear's spiraling thorn-blade gleamed cold, twin blood-red wings unfurled like flowing ribbons, Kagune-fire burning within.
Crack!Crash!
She smashed through the steel partitions, launching skyward. A hundred meters up, Furuta burst through glass, plunging into the stormy night.
Falling fast.
A third of the way down, his three Kagune stabbed into the building's glass wall, sparks flying like welding flames.
"Not enough. Far from enough. I need more Kakuhou…"
He replayed the plans of his "love nest" with Rize in his mind, eyes measuring the nearby skyscraper. Timing the jump—slash!—steel shattered, sparks rained.
"What?!"
"Goodbye… pitiful Washuu wretch."
Crash!
A black silhouette descended with thunderous force. Glass all around cracked with the shock. Furuta's eyes bulged, ribs crunching under the impact. He vomited blood and organ fragments.
Against gravity's force, even Rc-hardened flesh was paper-thin.
[Black Abyss IV] speared through him, his body carried away by sheer momentum. Three Kagune snapped—and he plummeted.
BOOOOM!!!
The crash thundered at the CCG branch entrance. Cracks spiderwebbed outward as blood and flesh spattered across stone.
Amid settling dust—
"Huff… huff… Since you came, you stay. Kagune of SS+, even SSS+ potential—I don't make a habit of letting tigers return to the mountain."
A cold, commanding female voice.
"Cough… cough… a caged bird… when… when will it fly free… Rize… if only we could live like normal people…"
His voice dwindled, a bloody whisper.
"Incoherent… Forget it. At least the head might still record a dream trace. The source of ghouls…"
The black-armored figure bent down, tore off the head, and lifted it in her hand.
She murmured to herself: "A Washuu ghoul assaulting the Special Commissioner of the North American Commission of Counter Ghoul. How should the sentence be?"
Moments later, investigators arrived breathless at the shattered front entrance.
Vela looked at Marude.
"Given the severity of Furuta Nimura's exposure, my recommendation is immediate phased internal purges within the CCG. Marude, you will oversee it—with no upper limit. I will submit this proposal to the Prime Minister, to legally suspend the Washuu family's hereditary privileges. Now, all of you—steel yourselves. Take your positions. Our ghoul purge is not yet finished."