"Hmm…"
Hōjō Yoru looked at Yuuki Asuna with a meaningful gaze, then let a faint smile appear.
"What do you think?"
"Uh…"
Asuna wasn't stupid. She recalled last night in the park—what those two ghouls had said, the way they'd looked at them—and hesitated.
"Don't tell me…"
"Bingo."
Yoru patted her shoulder, looking sincere as he spoke with grave, elder-like wisdom.
"Yuuki-san, you've done a great service this time. A top-tier beautiful girl like you is irresistible bait to any ghoul. If you hadn't been there—looking close to me, like we were together—and if I hadn't said I'd share the prey…"
He smiled.
"…that guy would never have swallowed the hook so easily."
Asuna's lips curved upward before she could stop it. Then she immediately realized what was happening and rolled her eyes.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you? Earlier you called me narcissistic, but the moment you need me as bait, suddenly I'm 'top-tier beautiful girl'?"
"I've always thought you're a gorgeous, delicious-looking beautiful girl," Yoru said, meeting her face directly without a hint of embarrassment. "If you weren't, even if you had the potential to awaken some special power, I wouldn't have chosen you as my partner."
Asuna clearly hadn't expected him to be that blunt. Her face reddened. She huffed softly, turned away to avoid his gaze, and tucked her smooth flaxen hair behind her ear in an adorably tsundere attempt to look composed.
"Hmph. Don't worry. Even without you buttering me up like that, I know what I should do."
Her eyes steadied.
"I'm the one who said I want to become a Devil Hunter like you. I won't regret it."
......
A little later, inside Yoru's apartment.
"Here. Take this."
"…Huh?"
Yoru produced a black handgun and offered it to her. Asuna accepted it with both hands. The weight made her forearms dip slightly, and she jolted as soon as she realized what she was holding.
"I—I don't know how to use a gun!"
"It's fine. Learn it now."
"…What? Are you serious?"
Asuna stared at him, stunned. "Can something like this be learned that fast? Isn't it too late?"
Yoru nodded first, smiling.
"Of course it's too late. Even just aiming at a fixed target takes a lot of practice. Forget hitting a moving target in real combat."
Then his tone flipped.
"But you don't need to truly shoot well. You just need to look professional enough that the enemy believes your aim is deadly—pure intimidation. A few hours of crash practice is enough."
"Oh… I see."
Asuna nodded uncertainly. Following his instructions, she practiced disengaging the safety and raising the gun into a stable two-handed stance. But she couldn't help asking:
"Why do I even need to intimidate them? It's just one ghoul, right? You can probably kill it instantly."
"It won't come alone."
Yoru shook his head and explained calmly.
"It mistook me for a ghoul, but it can also tell I'm stronger than it is. If it comes alone, what if I eat both you and it? So it'll bring at least one partner to prevent that—maybe several."
He sighed.
Asuna's heart tightened.
Even he's sighing… does that mean tonight will be dangerous?
But then Yoru continued, wearing a deeply troubled expression, and said something that made her go completely blank.
"If dozens show up, how long will it take to eat them all? I don't want my Gluttony Devil to get stuffed and burst."
"..."
......
That night, 8:58 p.m.—Meguro, Tokyo. Inside an abandoned, unfinished building.
"Hōjō."
Footsteps echoed from the stairwell. Standing beside Yoru, Asuna looked up.
The blond ghoul she'd seen in the daytime—Matsuo Satoshi, who looked like a high school student—walked in slowly from the stairs.
And he wasn't alone.
Two others followed—faces Asuna had never seen before.
"This place isn't bad," Satoshi said.
Now he had fully dropped all pretense. His eyes were blood-red—kakugan—and the other two had the same crimson glare. All three stared past Yoru at Asuna with undisguised bloodlust, even licking their lips.
"You're willing to share prey. That's nice," Satoshi said.
Then he looked at Yoru and smiled with clear mockery.
"But if she goes missing for no reason, the CCG will get suspicious. They'll trace it to you… and then from you, to me."
His smile sharpened.
"So for my safety, there's only one solution."
"You die here too. Along with this human."
"And you both disappear from the world."
What Satoshi didn't expect was that Yoru didn't panic.
He didn't rage.
He didn't plead.
He even kept that relaxed smile that made Satoshi feel like he was being looked down on.
"Oh," Yoru said lightly. "So that's the setup. Pretty dirty."
He sighed theatrically.
"Wow. You really have zero moral bottom line."
"You bastard… still acting tough when you're about to die," Satoshi snapped. "I've heard eating our own kind makes us stronger. Since you delivered yourself—"
"Idiot."
Yoru cut him off with a soft laugh.
"I'm not a ghoul."
"What? No—impossible!"
Satoshi's eyes widened, then he immediately barked back.
"You never showed kakugan, but your physical ability is stronger than mine—there's no way you're human!"
"You're loud," Yoru said, patience gone.
He turned slightly toward Asuna, voice low.
"Move."
Asuna didn't hesitate. She drew the black handgun from her waist. Her motion—safety off, sights up—was smooth and professional, just like he'd drilled into her.
The three ghouls instinctively raised their arms to cover their faces.
Their bodies were tough, but a bullet to a vital point—or a fragile spot—could still cripple or kill them.
But the expected gunshot never came.
Instead—
heavy, explosive footsteps hit the floor like a predator launching into a kill.
Yoru vanished forward at a speed far beyond human limits, appearing in front of one ghoul in an instant. With its arms shielding its face, its chest was wide open.
Thud!
Yoru's right hand formed a claw—five fingers half-curled—and drove straight through the ghoul's left chest.
His fingers closed around the still-beating heart.
And without the slightest hesitation, he crushed it.
"Too naive."
Yoru slowly withdrew his blood-soaked hand. He didn't even look at the ghoul collapsing behind him.
His eyes locked onto the retreating Satoshi and the last remaining ghoul, both staring in disbelief.
Then Yoru spoke calmly—like a verdict.
"Tonight, you're not the hunters."
"You're the prey."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 90)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 95)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter70)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter70)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter50)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter60)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 30
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 30
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