Drops of foul-smelling water drip from the ceiling and fall to the cracked floor with a constant sound.
—Drip! Drip! Drip!
I see rats scurrying away at full speed, fleeing from something, probably from me.
Then suddenly one scream after another echoes through the tunnels.
"He's around here! Hurry up and catch him!"
"Damn it! He's murdered many of our comrades! Does he think he's getting out of here alive? Not in his dreams!"
Shouts like that can be heard resonating everywhere.
My back is against the wall, in a small fork off the main tunnel. In the straight tunnel, the footsteps are getting closer and closer.
—Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
I can hear them clearly, and concentrating on the sound their footsteps produce, I can reach the conclusion that there are five ghouls.
But I'm not worried about them seeing me since the fork where I am is dark and hidden by a blind angle.
"Kukuku..."
A smile spreads across my face which is hidden by an oni mask used in setsubun.
Ah, if you're wondering how I ended up in this situation, then the answer is quite simple.
It all started about a month ago. When I ventured into the 24th Ward from the sewers that my All-Seeing Eye discovered.
At first I just entered the ghoul society of the 24th Ward without getting involved, especially to learn their customs and to understand how things worked down here.
And just as Touka once said, they're quite violent.
I discovered that most of those who live here are cannibals. Ghouls who eat other ghouls.
It makes sense when you think about it, after all, ghouls have a much higher concentration of RC Cells in their bodies than humans. About ten times more or less according to what I remember from the manga.
So it's natural that those seeking more power would be tempted to commit what's known as ghoul cannibalism.
In some cases this custom might be seen as bad, but for those who live here that's not necessarily true. After all, only by becoming stronger by consuming other ghouls can they have more opportunities to survive.
It's survival of the fittest.
During the first week I also used the three All-Seeing Eyes to traverse the 24th Ward, and although I didn't cover the entire perimeter, I obtained important information.
Locations of some ghouls' territories, the hierarchies they have, who's strong, who's weak, who eats what. All that information is useful to me.
From the second week, I started hunting.
Of course, since I know the territories thanks to my three floating eyes, I don't enter where the strongest ghouls are, since I'm not that stupid.
So cautiously, I started by attacking solitary ghouls first, whether those wandering alone through the tunnels, the weakest ones, or the most careless.
After killing them, I ate their kakuhous and hearts.
That way, by the third week, I had already killed more than fifteen ghouls.
If I wasn't being cautious, and went directly to kill them indiscriminately, I probably would have already eaten more than thirty.
But caution is important.
I don't want all the ghouls in the 24th Ward to unite against me. At least for now I'm not yet prepared to see ghouls coming after me like thousands of cockroaches.
15 ghouls, huh. It's impossible to get this quantity of ghouls in such a short time on the surface.
There's not much to do about it since up there you have to be careful with humans, with the police and the CCG.
Down here? There are only ghouls, and nobody cares if a ghoul kills another ghoul.
I must say it's paradise for a predator like me.
And during that time...
The footsteps get closer.
I smile seeing a ghoul with red irises and black sclera passing right in front of my hiding place.
His nose moves as he sniffs the air. It seems he's picked up the scent of the perfume I sprayed on myself.
Every time I go to the surface, I don't forget to buy perfumes before returning. After all, due to my 'special condition', my body seems to be especially attractive to supernatural beings.
If I don't disguise my smell to confuse their sense of smell, throwing myself in here without preparation, I'd undoubtedly have hundreds of ghouls wanting to bite my ass right now.
The ghoul becomes alert.
He opens his mouth to shout—
—Fwoooosh!
But before he can make a sound, I move.
My body becomes blurred, I appear behind him in an instant.
—Shiiink!
His head detaches from his body, and goes flying through the air, spinning like a kicked ball.
—Thud!
It falls to the ground and rolls a few meters before stopping at the feet of another ghoul. His headless body staggers for a moment before collapsing.
In my right hand is my sword, which is heavy and large, black in color. Overall it appears to be made of metal, except it has cracks throughout the blade. And inside those cracks, there are materials that seem to be made of bright crimson flesh mass that constantly pulses.
—Thump! Thump! Thump!
If you don't pay enough attention, you wouldn't notice that sound similar to what a heart produces.
This sword is the manifestation of my second kakuhou in the form of a kagune.
Koukaku Kagune.
The one that sprouted above my Rinkaku Kagune.
A week ago, after eating so many kakuhous, my second kakuhou fully matured.
And now I have two different kagunes.
Rinkaku and Koukaku.
Well, it must be said it's a bit funny wielding this sword. Being only the height of a ten-year-old child, the claymore in my hand is much larger than me.
I probably look ridiculous.
The other four ghouls who were running behind the one who was instantly decapitated stop dead in their tracks as their eyes open wide seeing their dead companion on the ground.
"W-What...?"
"Shit!"
The reason these ghouls are following me is because for the past few days I started hunting groups of ghouls. They're more dangerous since they're not alone, but they're also more nutritious.
Apparently, in the 24th Ward information has spread about "a madman who indiscriminately hunts ghouls."
Everyone in this particular area is on alert for my presence.
When I went after this group and killed one of them, I turned around and had some follow me and lured them here away from their base.
After all, I had seen at that time with the All-Seeing Eyes many ghouls living together in that area. They would surely be alerted if we fought there.
It's not like I'm afraid of them.
With my current strength, unless I encounter S-class or higher ghouls, I wouldn't be in much trouble if I started a fight with dozens of normal ghouls.
Rather, I'm worried that my prey will become alert and start fleeing. I can't allow my buffet to escape.
So faced with that, my strategy is to "divide a large group and eliminate them little by little."
One of the ghouls before me activates his kagune.
—Splash!
His back opens and wings made of pulsating flesh emerge. Then they crystallize, becoming hard and shiny.
An Ukaku.
"Die, bastard!"
Seeing this, my eyes shine with excitement.
"Kuku..."
I show a wide smile.
My surroundings become blurred and I disappear from where I was.
—Fwoosh!
I appear before the ghoul just as his wings fill with sharp spikes about to be launched at me.
"Too slow!"
I swing my enormous sword.
The claymore swings horizontally with enough force to produce a sound of air being whipped.
—Slash!
The ghoul's upper body separates from the lower. It does a magnificent flip in the air, spinning and spinning before impacting the tunnel ceiling.
During that process, blood splatters the floor, walls and ceiling while his intestines spill out and hang like ropes.
Without having his upper half, his legs fall to the ground.
This scene reminds me of a certain sorcerer with white hair and blue eyes.
—Thump! Thump!
The faces of the three remaining ghouls turn pale witnessing this scene.
"H-How can a koukaku kagune user move at such a stupid speed!"
They scream in panic.
"Ah, that?"
While it's true that for a normal ghoul a koukaku is extremely heavy, and grants a slowing effect to its users, that's only because their strengths aren't high enough.
But me? I'm a being that evolves as I devour others, therefore, up until now my physical strength has far exceeded a normal ghoul.
Lifting a koukaku in the form of a claymore, apart from being just a bit awkward to wield, doesn't require such extreme effort as to slow me down.
In fact, I feel quite comfortable with it.
The three ghouls look at each other, and by their emotional frequencies they emit, I can sense fear.
"W-We must return!"
"We have to inform the boss about this!"
"This guy is a monster!"
They plan their escape, and want to flee to inform what I assume is the most powerful ghoul among their group. Faced with the panic on their faces, I show a smile full of teeth.
"Want to escape? Kukuku..."
My lower back opens.
—Splash!
"I don't allow it."
My tentacles emerge and writhe and pulse.
"No one gets out of here alive."
×××
20 advanced chapters on Pa-treon.
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