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The ghoul could tell right away that something had changed in the air.
The "meal" he was clutching, the one who'd been screaming just moments ago, had suddenly gone quiet. Instead, she was looking at him with a strange kind of gaze.
It wasn't fear. It was the cold, casual look you'd give to an insect on the roadside—something you could crush under your foot at any moment.
That made his blood boil.
He'd seen that look countless times before, especially from those damn White Doves always hunting him down. Their contempt was expected. But now, even a piece of food dared look at him like that?
Absolutely unacceptable.
A twisted grin spread across his face. Fine. He'd decided. He would devour her bite by bite, let her taste the agony of being eaten alive.
But just as that thought settled, the "food" lifted her hand and swung it at his head like a whip.
It was fast. Too fast. He didn't even have time to react.
Smack!
The slap landed square on his face.
The impact was like a landslide, like a tsunami crashing down. His whole body lost control, the meal slipping from his grasp as he was blasted through the air like a cannonball, slamming into the wall with a heavy thud.
For a moment his vision swam, his limbs limp and useless.
Impossible. A mere human had just knocked him flying.
How could a human have that kind of power?
If she had this strength, why didn't she use it earlier? Why let herself get bitten at all?
What the hell was going on?
The ghoul had no answers.
Meanwhile, Saeko Busujima staggered back to her feet, breathing hard. She glanced at her right hand. Even though she had tried to control the strike with precision, her palm was already swelling, the bones faintly cracked.
It couldn't be helped. She had only just returned to this timeline, reborn from the future, and her body hadn't been tempered yet.
That blow had relied on the Wu Clan's release technique, unleashing more power than her body was ready to handle.
Still, it was bearable.
Saeko steadied her breath.
Ripple Breathing.
A miraculous technique she'd learned in that bleak future, passed down by the one she followed—the Commander himself. With just a shift in breathing, one could accomplish feats beyond imagination.
As she inhaled and exhaled in rhythm, the blood from her shoulder wound slowed, then stopped. Before her eyes, the gash began to scab over. The swelling in her hand receded, the tiny fractures knitting themselves back together.
Release: 50%.
That was her current limit. Any more and her body would collapse beyond repair—Ripple Breathing wouldn't save her then.
But for one ghoul, it was more than enough.
The next instant, Saeko blurred forward, her speed inhuman. Before the ghoul could register, her hand clamped around his neck and twisted.
Crack!
His head spun a full seven hundred and twenty degrees. His body twitched, then dropped heavily to the ground.
Even for a creature with a ghoul's vitality, this wound was fatal.
Before the ghoul hunters chasing him arrived, Saeko was already gone.
Time shifted back to the present.
Tōtsuki Academy, inside the Gourmet Research Kitchen.
Saeko had just finished telling Erina Nakiri everything—her rebirth, the zombie outbreak, and the eventual fall of Japan.
The reason she confided in Erina was simple: the girl before her, the same age as herself, had once stood tall in that dark future. She had turned the tide of disaster, protecting countless lives—including Saeko's own.
More than that, she had taught Saeko powerful techniques: the Wu Clan's release, Ripple energy, and more.
That was why Saeko trusted Erina so instinctively.
On the very first day of her return, she had sought Erina out, determined to warn her of the tragedy to come so she could be ready.
As Saeko finished, Erina and Hisako exchanged a glance. Both saw the same disbelief mirrored in each other's eyes.
A zombie apocalypse? The fall of Japan? Rebirth from the future?
It sounded exactly like something out of a novel.
"You're sure everything you said is true?" Erina asked, unable to help herself.
Saeko nodded solemnly. "I know it sounds unbelievable, but I swear—every word is true. I haven't lied to you once."
Erina frowned. "Then why tell me all this?"
"Because you're my Commander."
"…Commander?"
Saeko nodded again. "In the future I lived through, Japan may have fallen, but humanity didn't vanish. Several great factions rose up, rooted themselves here, and kept fighting against the calamity.
They fought demons and zombies alike, trying to restore humanity's glory.
And you—you were one of their leaders."
"Me?" Erina blinked, taken aback. "Are you sure about that?"
Saeko's voice was steady. "In the crisis to come, you somehow produced an enormous supply of food, enough to feed hundreds of thousands of survivors.
That food carried incredible energy. Many who ate it awakened Gourmet Cells, gaining extraordinary power.
I was one of them.
With that strength, we held Tōtsuki Academy as a stronghold, joining forces with Mahora Academy, Academy City, the Onmyoji Bureau, and other groups to fight back."
Erina froze as the pieces clicked together in her mind.
The Gourmet Sanctuary.
That had to be it. Only there could such vast quantities of food exist—enough to sustain hundreds of thousands and even awaken Gourmet Cells in people.
So the future version of herself must have discovered a way to bring food back from the Gourmet Sanctuary.
But how had she done it?
And yet… something nagged at her.
Where was Lord Akio?
If Saeko's story was true, with Akio's power, wouldn't this crisis have been trivial? Why hadn't she mentioned him even once?
Her curiosity burned too strong to ignore.
"Wait," Erina asked at last, "what about Lord Akio? You've told me so much, but never mentioned him. Didn't he fight in this crisis?"
Saeko blinked, caught off guard.
"Akio? Who's that?"
"..."
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