Touka grabbed Byakuya's arm. Still hesitant, she only took a small, gentle bite.
Thanks to the Hashirama Cells' potent effect, just that tiny amount instantly restored the severely weakened Touka to her peak condition.
Perhaps even slightly beyond her peak.
Touka was astonished by the dramatic change in her body—and equally shocked by Byakuya's taste.
Though she'd long known Byakuya's scent was incredibly appealing, actually tasting him was a completely different experience.
Now she fully understood why shit Tsukiyama was so obsessed with Byakuya.
And Rize too—always clinging to Byakuya, obviously for the same reason.
Touka didn't dwell on it further. With her strength restored, she immediately charged at Tsukiyama.
"Shit Tsukiyama!"
Tsukiyama happened to be rushing toward her. Looking completely deranged, he'd completely neglected defense against Touka's attack—and took a knee strike directly to the jaw.
Already solid contact, plus Tsukiyama's own forward momentum—
His jaw shattered instantly, and who knows how many teeth were knocked out.
"Young Master!"
Kanae cried out.
Though wounded, she desperately tried to rush over to protect Tsukiyama.
But she was a step too slow.
Touka spread her ukaku and launched kagune at Tsukiyama. Unable to dodge, his body was riddled with projectiles.
As Touka devastated Tsukiyama, Byakuya received his system reward.
[Ding! Host completed Option 2. Reward: 100 Fusion Points!]
Seeing the young master in danger, Matsumae immediately moved to intercept Touka.
Though Touka had grown significantly stronger, at most she was roughly on par with—or slightly below—Ayato's level. She was no match for the SS-rated Matsumae.
Matsumae's koukaku struck at Touka. Surprised by her speed, Touka immediately raised her ukaku to block.
But the opponent surpassed her in not just speed but strength. Touka was sent flying.
Just as she was about to slam into the wall behind her, Byakuya flashed over and caught her.
He lifted Touka in his arms and set her aside, saying lightly: "Leave the rest to me."
"Ah... mm..."
Touka's mind went momentarily blank.
She'd just been held by him?
And in that position...
Her cheeks flushed slightly. This was definitely a bit embarrassing!
"Playtime is over..."
With his system reward secured, Byakuya had no intention of wasting more time with these Tsukiyama people.
"Kanae! Get the young master out of here!"
Having witnessed Byakuya's power, Matsumae immediately shouted to Kanae.
She could only try to stall him, buying time for the young master to escape.
Kanae didn't hesitate, urgently helping Tsukiyama flee.
Did Byakuya really think he'd let Tsukiyama go that easily?
He immediately used Body Flicker to catch up with Kanae—his speed momentarily startling her.
"Jason" in his hand slashed at Tsukiyama, but Kanae shielded him with her own body. A massive, hideous wound appeared on her back.
A pained grunt escaped her, but she had no regrets if it was for the young master.
Matsumae's expression changed drastically. Only now did she rush over to block Byakuya.
Though her koukaku was the heaviest of the four kagune types, in her hands it seemed anything but clumsy. She was also one of the rare ghouls who had mastered "kagune detachment technique."
Normally, ghouls could only release fixed-form kagune—like the Kirishima siblings' ukaku wings or Tsukiyama's sword-type koukaku.
But with kagune detachment technique, one could separate their fixed-form kagune and recombine it into any other shape.
Right now, Matsumae had separated her kagune into a net-like barrier, trying to keep Byakuya outside.
Byakuya had known from the start that Matsumae had this ability—his expression didn't change.
"Jason" in sword form was in rinkaku mode. Rinkaku's hallmark attack power could counter koukaku's hallmark defense.
Indeed, the four kagune types had a rock-paper-scissors relationship.
Koukaku → Ukaku → Bikaku → Rinkaku → Koukaku...
This was the kagune counter-cycle. It was as if ghouls were born for slaughter—even their own kind had built-in weaknesses against each other.
Rinkaku countering koukaku, combined with Byakuya's tremendous strength, quickly tore a gap in Matsumae's net barrier.
Forced to engage Byakuya up close, Matsumae's attacks were fierce yet couldn't touch him at all.
Every move, no matter how tricky, was dodged at even trickier angles—as if he'd seen through all her techniques. She felt increasingly hopeless and powerless.
Just then, Byakuya suddenly drew "Hiruko 1/76" from inside his coat and thrust the dagger-Quinque at Matsumae's eye.
Too fast and too sudden—Matsumae couldn't react in time. The dagger blinded her left eye, followed immediately by a sweeping strike from "Jason" that sent her flying with severe damage to her waist.
"No!"
Matsumae's first thought wasn't her own injuries, but Kanae and the young master who hadn't escaped the garage yet.
Byakuya raised "Jason," now transformed to cannon form, already aimed at the fleeing Kanae and Tsukiyama ahead.
Kanae's already wounded back took more damage—even her bikaku kakuhou at her waist was pierced. Her legs gave out and she collapsed, bringing the Tsukiyama she'd been supporting down with her.
Matsumae still tried to reach them, but Byakuya instantly flashed over to intercept. A single sword thrust into her koukaku's kakuhou rendered her completely unable to fight.
[Ding! Host defeated S-rated ghoul "Kanae." Reward: 30 Fusion Points!]
[Ding! Host defeated SS-rated ghoul "Matsumae." Reward: 80 Fusion Points!]
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