The expected scene of a split skull did not occur.
The sharp edge of the Kouink long blade only embedded less than an inch into the viscous crimson surface before being firmly gripped.
The electric snakes dancing on the blade flickered futilely a few times on the surface of the wriggling crimson liquid before quickly extinguishing.
Kishitani's tiger's mouth instantly split, blood flowing freely. The immense recoil caused his arms to ache as if they would break, and the counterforce made him stagger backward.
His eyes were filled with extreme horror and despair.
Even the Kouink… was ineffective?!
The part of Slaughter's head that had been struck, the viscous crimson liquid, wriggled as if alive, quickly healing the insignificant shallow mark.
Two points of dark red light locked onto Kishitani, containing no anger, only a cold and cruel mockery.
"...Toy…" Slaughter's consciousness growled in He Xi Qian Yu's mind, with a bloodthirsty pleasure.
Just as Kishitani lost his balance due to the recoil, several crimson tentacles, poised and ready, lunged at him from different angles.
The first tentacle lashed like a whip, striking Kishitani's wrist, which held the blade.
"Crack!" His wrist bone shattered instantly, and the Kouink long blade flew from his grasp, spinning as it plunged into a distant pile of garbage.
The second tentacle wrapped around his ankle like lightning, and the terrifying crushing force instantly pulverized his ankle bone.
The third and fourth tentacles were the thickest; one coiled around his waist and abdomen, while the other, with destructive power, tightly wrapped around his neck.
"Uh ah—!" Kishitani's scream was choked in his throat, leaving only painful whimpers. He was violently lifted off the ground by the immense power of the tentacles, and a crushing pain, enough to make him collapse, radiated from his limbs and bones.
He struggled frantically, but the crimson tentacles wrapped around his body possessed infinite strength; each wriggle and tightening brought a suffocating sensation of bones and internal organs being compressed.
His face rapidly turned purplish-red from congestion and suffocation, and his eyeballs protruded horrifyingly, bloodshot.
Slaughter's massive crimson body slowly approached, its two points of dark red light gazing down at Kishitani's contorted, pained face from close range.
He seemed to be enjoying the prey's death throes, emitting a low hiss from his throat.
"Crunch… snap… squelch…"
Horrifying sounds echoed in the alley.
The several tentacles wrapped around Kishitani's body acted like multiple fully powered hydraulic presses, simultaneously exerting irresistible force in an all-encompassing strangulation.
Kishitani's body was like a rag doll subjected to immense force, displaying extremely unnatural contortions and collapses. His bones shattered completely with a teeth-grinding sound. His internal organs ruptured under the immense pressure, and blood gushed like a fountain from his mouth, nose, and ears, instantly turning him into a blood-soaked figure.
In his protruding eyeballs, the last flicker of life was completely submerged by boundless pain and fear, leaving only the dull grey of death.
The tentacles loosened.
Kishitani's almost unrecognizable corpse fell with a "thud" onto the cold ground, already soaked in blood. His body was twisted as if repeatedly run over by a heavy truck, completely devoid of any signs of life.
A suffocating silence once again enveloped the alley.
Slaughter's massive body, composed of crimson viscous liquid, stood in the center of the blood pool. The dancing tentacles slowly retracted, wriggling back into his flowing liquid form.
He slightly turned his head, his two points of dark red light sweeping over the three corpses in the alley, each with a different manner of death. A low, satisfied gurgle emanated from his throat again, as if savoring the feast of Slaughter.
The crimson viscous liquid covering his entire body contracted and flowed inward as if alive, revealing He Xi Qian Yu's original outline beneath. It was covered in large, sticky, glaring crimson stains—the still-warm blood of the Search Officers, slowly dripping from his clothes, creating small ripples in the blood pool at his feet.
He Xi Qian Yu slowly turned around. His face held only a profound indifference, as if crushing three ants just now was merely dusting off his clothes.
His eyes, now returned to human form, reflected the hellish scene in the alley, yet were as calm as a deep pool.
His gaze fell upon Dong Xiang, who had been standing still, as if frozen.
Time froze for several seconds in the thick, suffocating smell of blood.
Dong Xiang still had her head lowered, her long eyelashes casting deep shadows on her face, almost completely obscuring her eyes. However, her slightly rising and falling chest silently spoke of the turmoil within her.
The intensely nauseating yet fatally alluring scent of blood in the alley furiously assaulted her Ghoul instincts. But at the same time, the sight of the Search Officer corpses discarded like trash, and the aura of disregard for life emanating from He Xi Qian Yu, were like a bucket of ice water, dousing the burning sensation brought by instinct, leaving behind a bone-deep chill and almost primal fear.
The wind, carrying a heavy scent of death, swept through the silent alley, stirring a few loose strands of hair at her temples.
"...Ghoul…" Dong Xiang's voice finally sounded, with a barely perceptible tremor.
She slowly lifted her head, her violet eyes piercing through the shadows, locking onto He Xi Qian Yu. Complex emotions, like raging waves, surged within them—shock, disbelief, and a hint of wariness.
After a brief pause, her voice cut through the silence, word by word: "How many Ghouls… have you killed?"
"Who knows," He Xi Qian Yu's tone was light.
"Do you remember how many slices of bread you've eaten?"
"...There were clearly only two…" Slaughter's consciousness grumbled in He Xi Qian Yu's mind without warning.
"Shut up," He Xi Qian Yu snapped irritably in his consciousness.
"...Oh…" Slaughter responded sullenly and retreated.
He Xi Qian Yu looked at Dong Xiang, whose eyes still held a lingering tremor of fright.
He was silent for a moment, his voice unconsciously lowering, carrying a hint of confusion, as he asked:
"Did I scare you?"
Dong Xiang's gaze met his calmly, without flinching or disgust. She tilted her head slightly, as if seriously considering the question.
"No," her voice was clear, "I wasn't scared."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over his blood-stained clothes:
"Just a little… unexpected." Her gaze returned to He Xi Qian Yu's face, and a sharp glint flashed in her violet eyes, "I didn't expect you to be a Ghoul." Her words paused, as if she was choosing her words carefully, "Ghouls… are very rare."
Just then,
"Woo—woo—woo—"
A sharp, piercing siren, approaching from a distance, suddenly broke the alley's silence. Red and blue alternating police lights flashed wildly on the wall far down the alley, rapidly approaching, and the roar of the engine and the sound of tires rubbing against the ground were clearly audible.