Roger hadn't been on guard, and the blast hurled him straight out. His back smashed into the wall, the back of his skull slamming so hard it punched a deep crater into the masonry.
Bang!!
The wall split and crumbled. Roger bounced off it, hastily adjusted his posture in midair, slammed both hands against the ground, and managed to steady himself.
The moment he lifted his head, the flames of the explosion roared toward him, searing his face. His hair was burned clean off, and several patches of skin on his face were scorched to a ruin.
Blood trickled down from his forehead, slid along his cheeks, and dripped from the tip of his chin to the floor.
Roger could clearly feel the fractures in the back of his skull. With his cerebellum damaged, even staying upright was an effort.
In front of him, the flames blazed, devouring everything. All the burning shapes in front of his eyes blurred, indistinct and hard to make out.
"Heh…"
For some reason, Roger laughed.
He stared silently at the floor as something round rolled toward him.
An alarm clock.
The alarm clock Tours had clutched to his chest with all his strength before he died.
Because it was metal, it hadn't been so easily destroyed by the blast.
"Why… did you protect this thing, Tours?"
Roger murmured, as the violently trembling world in his vision finally steadied and came back into focus.
Steam rose from the back of his head. The blood over his body evaporated, and the stains slowly vanished.
Ignoring the burning pain, Roger stooped and picked up the alarm clock Tours had died to protect.
Szzzt—
The intense heat of the metal scorched his skin, charring his fingers black.
Steam and the smoke of searing flesh mingled in the air. Roger stared down at the alarm clock in his hand and saw that it really was just an ordinary alarm clock.
Letting his hand fall, he silently walked deeper into the blasted remains of the room.
[They've finally made a move…]
[Roger, this place is extremely dangerous now.]
[You need to get out of here!]
"So what?"
[What?]
"So what if it is…"
Roger's voice was low as he spoke those words.
Kaneki Ken noticed the veins bulging sharply on his host's forehead.
Roger's fists were clenched so tight his knuckles whitened. Though he said very little, Kaneki could feel it clearly—
He was furious beyond all restraint.
"If they really were so almighty, then why didn't they dare come for me when I took the Founding Titan?" Roger walked to the very center of the ruined room. "Because they're afraid. They'll never dare to strike at me directly."
As he spoke, he turned and slowly swept his gaze around the room.
All he saw on the walls were sheets and spatters of blood, sprayed out like a torrential downpour—every last drop Tours' blood.
The corpse had long since been burned to ash, but the blood on the walls couldn't be erased so easily.
To most people, this sight would be utterly horrific.
But Roger's expression didn't change.
He just clenched his fists, face calm, as if there were nothing left in the world that could make him afraid.
Seeing this, Kaneki fell silent.
Even though the world he'd come from was twisted and brutal, when he'd first seen horrors like this, he'd been anything but calm.
He had never imagined that Roger could stand here so composed.
But was this really composure… or rage pushed past its limit?
Kaneki couldn't tell.
He had long since lost the ability to see through his host.
Rather than saying he was parasitizing this host, it felt more like he was the one being carried along by his host.
[Please calm down!]
[Be like you were before!]
[Don't act on impulse!]
Kaneki pleaded.
Roger acted as if he hadn't heard a thing.
Dusk ebbed away.
Night slowly fell.
Roger still stood in the middle of the room.
Standing.
Waiting.
The alarm clock in his hand gradually cooled.
He kept holding it, refusing to let it go.
"What happened?!"
"Lord Commander!"
Two of the nearest attendants had heard the explosion and rushed over.
When they saw the blasted-out room and the section of wall crushed inward as if something had slammed into it at high speed, they froze.
They exchanged a glance, then hurriedly stepped over the threshold into the ruined interior.
But the instant their feet crossed into the room—
Suddenly—
A black hole ripped open in midair.
It was as if space itself had been torn apart. A person appeared, face emerging from the darkness.
Then, like something out of a ghost story, the two attendants were abruptly sliced in half by some unseen force.
Splat!!
Blood erupted in a waterfall.
Startled, Roger stared at the scene, hand tightening around the hilt of his dagger.
He was ready to slice his fingertip at any moment and transform into a Titan.
But the man in front of him seemed not to care in the slightest that two people had just been devoured by something for no obvious reason. Stepping fully out of the black hole, he walked calmly forward and stood before Roger.
[He's one of them!]
[Be careful! Right now I only know the power of one of them—Kira Yoshikage!]
[From what I know, each of them has a terrifying ability!!]
[Don't push yourself, Roger!!]
[If you get an opening, run!!]
While Kaneki shouted in his mind, Roger studied the man in front of him carefully.
To his eyes, this person looked neither like someone from inside the Walls nor from outside.
Which made one thing very clear—
He had to be from another world entirely.
An enemy from beyond.
"My apologies for the intrusion, Mr. Roger." The man flicked back his long hair. Under the veil of night, his eyes never left Roger's. "My name is Vanilla Ice. I have come under Lord Dior's orders to take the World Source from you and Mr. Kaneki Ken."
After bluntly stating his purpose, he launched his attack.
Roger had no idea what was happening. One moment Vanilla stood there; the next, his body vanished from head to toe.
As if he'd been erased from existence.
Roger's heart lurched.
He had never seen anything like it.
But he knew he had to go all out.
Swish!
Without a moment's hesitation, he slashed his fingertip, ready to transform.
But just then, Roger suddenly felt killing intent surge in from one side. Instinctively, he flashed to the left.
And in that exact instant—
Boom!!
It sounded as if something had slammed into the ground with enormous force, gouging out a deep crater.
Yet Roger still couldn't see a thing.
[Don't stop moving!]
[If you can dodge his attacks—]
[Then don't you dare stand still and let him hit you!]
Kaneki was practically screaming.
Roger understood that much perfectly well.
He also knew that simply dodging forever wouldn't solve anything.
Blood dripped from his fingertip, and a golden light burst from his body.
Boom!!!
With a crack of thunder, a sphere of golden light expanded outward, instantly weaving together the flesh of the Jaw-Armored Winged Titan.
And at that exact moment, under the glare of the transformation, Vanilla Ice's body reappeared—bathed in golden light that seared him, making him howl in pain.
"Light? His weakness is light?!"
The realization struck him like lightning.
But the light of transformation lasted only an instant. Roger couldn't maintain it. All he could do was beat his wings and shoot up into the sky for now.
Even so, Vanilla Ice kept up the relentless pursuit. But he seemed unable to track Roger's exact position, so he could only rampage across the ground, smashing everything in his path.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom!!!
It was like some invisible thing was crashing around at random.
In moments, the buildings were completely pulverized, collapsing into rubble and dust…
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