The threat of death always followed a Ghoul.
Back when he had no strength, when he couldn't eat and lay on an alley floor slowly dying, he had felt death winding around him like ivy.
When he was being hunted by Ghoul Investigators, death came after him in the shape of a hound, sick of the chase and desperate to sink its teeth into his throat.
The day he first fought Kuzen, death had appeared as a wall, or perhaps a giant whale.
He knew it meant him no harm, but if it wished, it could have crushed him to death with overwhelming force.
And now, Koma Enji had met a new form of death.
It was simply pure white.
Like a thick fog.
He couldn't touch it, and he couldn't find a way out. By the time he came to his senses, it had already crept up silently and swallowed everything around him.
He lashed out with his fist in a desperate struggle. That was all.
No matter how he screamed or flailed, the fog only scattered for a moment before settling back into place.
Then, that fog became a shapeless blade and stabbed into Enji's side.
"Cough!!"
Enji spat blood and looked down at his flank.
The dark red Quinque longsword, which had looked like fog only a moment ago, was buried deep in his side.
Holding the hilt was a boy in a spotless school uniform rather than a white coat. There wasn't even the slightest trace of killing intent in the eyes that looked at Enji with such indifference.
He killed because there was something that needed to be cut down. Nothing more. It was an image that looked too pure, and yet far too terrifying.
Shrrk!
The moment Enji tried to counterattack by driving down his elbow, Arima had already finished his next move.
The Quinque lodged in Enji's body was yanked out in a crescent arc, tearing through the skin of his belly as it came free. Intestines caught on the blade's edge spilled from his abdomen.
He managed to stop his organs from bursting out all at once by bracing them with his muscles, but Enji couldn't escape the damage and staggered.
Of course, Arima did not miss that opening.
As if he had planned it from the start, he kept the sword's direction and speed unchanged, spun in a wide motion, and brought it down toward Enji's neck.
Clang!!
At that dramatic instant, Kaya intervened and knocked the tip of the blade away. Because of her interference, Enji felt the fog of death that had been pressing in on him recede for a moment.
They had deliberately dragged in the Kakuja monster—and even Hitokawa, who was aiming for the back of that monster's head—in order to disrupt Arima's spacing.
"GRAAAAH!!"
"You monster bastard!! Your flesh is disgustingly thick!!"
KRAKAKAK!
The Quinque blade dug in, but the Kagune armor was too thick to allow for serious damage.
The monster that had been chasing Kaya turned its eyes on Hitokawa, who had sliced into its flesh, and glared at him.
Then it swung a log-thick arm at him as he fell to the side after cutting across its back.
"...!!"
With nowhere to dodge in midair, Hitokawa crossed his twin Quinque blades. Just before he could take the monster's blow head-on, Arima cut in.
Thud!!
"KAAAH!!"
The longsword Arima threw pierced one of the monster's eyes clean through.
He yanked Hitokawa back by the nape of his neck, pulling him out of the monster's attack range. Then, just before retreating, he kicked the longsword lodged in the monster's eye with the tip of his foot.
Spinning through the air, the sword landed precisely above Arima's head as he came down onto a pipe. Catching it, Arima asked Hitokawa, "Are you all right?"
"...I could have blocked that attack even without your help."
"I see."
He said that, but if he had actually taken that blow head-on, something in his body would have broken. It was just a grumble born of pride wounded by being helped by a kid.
Even with Hitokawa's curt tone, Arima nodded calmly.
Put kindly, he was broad-minded. Put less kindly, he didn't care at all what anyone else said.
With the monster's eye injured and Arima and Hitokawa pulled back, there was a brief opening to catch their breath. Kaya used that moment to speak.
"Hey, monkey. You still alive?"
"Tch... I almost died. What a mess..."
Enji muttered while forcing the spilled intestines back into his belly. If not for Kaya's help, he would have been decapitated and parted ways with the world then and there.
Kaya narrowed her eyes and watched Arima.
Most of the wounds they had taken had been inflicted by that boy. And yet he hadn't even disturbed his breathing.
In a fight where Ghouls and humans were tangled together, Arima's presence was far too alien.
"That damn Investigator and that Kakuja monster are the only reason we've held out this long. If it had been one-on-one, we'd have been dead already."
To them, Hitokawa and Arima seemed to have only just met. Their timing and coordination were completely off when they attacked. And because the Kakuja monster kept charging in without thinking, Arima was avoiding direct confrontation, likely because it was hard to kill in a single blow.
Those two factors combined to make Arima's attacks, which should have flowed like interlocking gears, grind and stutter.
Ironically, the existence of Hitokawa and the Kakuja monster was prolonging Enji and Kaya's lives.
But even that had reached its limit. Their injuries were deep, and their stamina was gone.
If Arima kept attacking, they would not make it out alive.
"At the very least, I'd like to get those two out of here..."
"..."
Kaya knew who Enji meant by "those two."
Takaki Koma and his daughter, Eto.
They had drawn a line and said they'd only dip one foot in, but they were the ones who had reached out to help them. And now those two had somehow been dragged deep into their world and couldn't get back out.
If they stayed here, it was obvious they'd be lumped in with the others and wiped out together.
Even if the Investigator realized they weren't on the same side, there was no way that would end well.
A human protecting Ghouls, and the Ghoul child he was raising—would a group that believed in exterminating Ghouls ever understand them?
The sewer was surrounded by Investigators, and all over the place Ghouls fleeing from them were scattered like landmines.
Their own situation was hopeless enough, but the other side must be feeling no less desperate.
"...Huh?"
Looking down without thinking, Kaya let out a blank sound.
She had expected Koma to have his head bowed in despair, but instead he was looking up at them.
His face was hidden by a monkey mask, but the eyes visible through the gaps were not the gloomy eyes of someone broken by despair.
Rather, there was resolve there. A hot light—the light of someone who intended to do something.
"What is it? ...Huh?"
Enji followed Kaya's gaze downward and made the same blank sound.
He didn't see the look in Koma's eyes like Kaya did. Instead, he noticed something strange at Koma's feet.
A cross marked in blood.
It was a clearly visible symbol drawn with a fairly large amount of blood. Wondering where he had gotten that much, Enji and Kaya noticed the severed arms and legs Arima had cut off lying right beside Koma.
After confirming that both of them were looking at him, Koma thumped his own chest.
"Trust me."
Then he pointed to the X he had drawn.
"This area here."
He clenched his fist and made a forceful downward smashing motion.
"Smash it apart!"
Koma's gestures said exactly that.
They had no idea why Koma was sending such a message. They couldn't even tell what he was aiming for.
But to them, on the verge of being broken by despair, Koma's unwavering eyes and that heat looked like a lamp they wanted to cling to in the dark.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but if he's begging that hard, should we listen?" Kaya asked lightly.
Enji grinned and said, "Well, it's either this or die trying."
Exchanging a look, the two of them hurled themselves downward. Hitokawa was startled by their sudden move.
"...! Are they trying to run?"
"..."
Arima tried to pursue them, but the enraged charge of the Kakuja monster stopped him. As if in revenge for the eye he had stabbed earlier, the monster clasped both hands together and brought them down like a hammer.
"KYAAAH!!"
BOOOOM!!!!
Ignoring the explosive roar behind them, Enji and Kaya dropped onto the X Koma had marked.
As Enji wrapped his Bikaku around his fist, he shouted, "How big does the hole need to be!?"
"As big as possible! Big enough for all your subordinates to get through too!"
"That's going to be tough. I should've taken in fewer subordinates."
After grumbling for a moment at Koma's shout, Kaya also drew out her Ukaku, fixed its shape, and thrust it out like a spear.
Enji and Kaya's strikes fell onto the X at the same time.
BOOOOM!!!!!
"Hm...?"
"What is that!?"
At the deafening blast and vibration, the Ghouls and Investigators locked in battle all turned their eyes that way.
The center of the chamber caved in, revealing a hole large enough for Ghouls to rush through all at once. What lay beneath it could not be seen through the thick darkness.
With dust billowing up from the floor behind him, Koma shouted at the Ghouls, "Everyone, jump into the hole!!"
"What?"
"Why all of a sudden...?"
The Ghouls, unsure whether Koma was an outsider or one of their own, had no choice but to panic at his words. But they could not ignore the voices of their leaders that followed.
"Get the injured and jump into the hole!"
"Those who can still fight, buy time until the injured are moving!"
Who would dare disobey that?
Those who still had some room to spare stepped forward and held off the Investigators, while the Ghouls with serious injuries dragged their immobile comrades and ran for the hole.
Katsura, one of Enji's subordinates, came running with three or four people slung over both shoulders and asked, "Boss! What's under the hole?"
"I don't know."
"Huh?"
"That guy probably does."
Enji pointed toward Koma, who was tying Eto tightly to himself with a knot made from torn clothing.
Katsura said with a baffled expression, "No, you're telling us to trust some guy who looks like he just rolled in from nowhere and jump into a hole when we don't even know where it leads?"
"Trust him. He looks it, but he's pretty reliable."
"But he's still a human, isn't he? The difference in experience when it comes to danger is nothing like ours as Ghouls! Boss, you should be the one leading us out instead..."
Katsura's words were persuasive, but Enji thought differently.
Ghouls were, in a sense, lions. Every day was survival of the fittest, and they lived harsh lives facing countless enemies that hunted them.
Humans, on the other hand, were rabbits. Compared to lions, everything about them—strength, build, everything—was inferior. All they could do was avoid the strong and live quietly.
And yet there was a rabbit living right in the middle of a pride of lions. That was Koma.
A rabbit didn't have fangs and claws like a lion. Even when a small danger came, it had to pour everything into overcoming it through desperate effort. That hardship would be greater than that of a lion living by the law of the jungle.
Enji and Kaya decided to bet on the experience he had gained by overcoming such hardships.
"...!"
Sensing the flow of the air change, they looked up. They saw Hitokawa and Arima striking at the Kakuja Ghoul's shoulders.
Hitokawa's Quinque had cut halfway through the shoulder and stopped against bone, but Arima had somehow completely severed the monster's otherwise rock-hard shoulder.
The Ghoul staggered back, and Arima's gaze turned this way. He had realized they were trying to flee into the hole.
"Damn it! Enough complaining—get in there already! Staying here will only get us slaughtered!"
Thud!
"Ghk?!!"
Without realizing that the reaper had already set his sights on their necks, Enji kicked away a subordinate who was hesitating and looked back at Kaya.
After confirming that the last injured Ghoul had thrown himself into the hole, she turned to Enji and nodded.
"Good! Leave the Investigators alone now! Focus on escaping!"
At that, the remaining Ghouls who had been holding off the Investigators all rushed toward the hole.
The Investigators chased after them to stop them, but the Ghouls were faster at throwing themselves into the opening.
Just as Enji, Kaya, Koma, and Eto were about to leap in after them—
Bang!!
As if he would not let this stand, Arima's figure shot forward like an arrow, kicking off the Kakuja monster's back.
Enji and Kaya's eyes widened in shock at the place toward which that eerie longsword, no different from a reaper's scythe, was headed.
""Danger!!""
The place they were throwing themselves toward was none other than where Koma stood.
Koma, who had already bent his upper body toward the hole, heard the shout and looked back. He saw the boy dropping straight toward him with an expression of utter indifference.
As Arima drew the Quinque back to swing it, the contents of the order he had received brushed past his ears.
If there is a Ghoul giving orders to Maen and Kuroinu, eliminate him first.
The person who had issued the order had briefed Arima with Kuzen in mind.
If there was a Ghoul giving orders to Enji and Kaya during the operation, then he had judged that it was surely Kuzen, hiding his identity as an ordinary Ghoul.
Enji and Kaya's response to Koma's instructions had instead made him the target.
Unaware of that situation, Enji and Kaya threw themselves forward, trying to save Koma's life if nothing else.
But before they could, Koma was trapped in Arima's range first.
The moment Arima brought the Quinque down toward Koma's head to carry out his order—
Clang!!
With a metallic ring, the Quinque was knocked away.
The rebound forced the distance between Arima and Koma, which had just closed, back apart.
Behind Koma's back, Kagune wings had already burst forth.
Eto, who had awakened at the perfect moment, had protected Koma from the reaper's killing blow.
"..."
After colliding with the Kagune, Arima felt a numbing sensation in his hand, and a small flicker of surprise passed over his face. Then, for a brief moment, he met Eto's burning eyes through the mask.
Whoosh!
While he was still in midair, Eto drove a kick into his chest. Arima, unable to recover his Quinque in time after his arm had been knocked away, pulled only the hilt of the longsword in front of his chest to block Eto's strike.
Thud!!
In the two collisions that occurred in the blink of an eye, the rebound surrounding Arima and Koma grew even stronger, lifting both of them into the air.
Arima landed on the floor a little distance away, while Koma and Eto fell completely into the hole. Enji and Kaya jumped in after them.
"..."
After their figures vanished completely from sight, Arima looked down at his hand.
He stared at the hand that still held a slight numbness for a long while.
"Gah!! What was that just now!? I almost died, right!?"
As I fell into the darkness, I screamed while thinking back on what had just happened.
It had all happened so fast that I was late to process it, but I realized I had really come back from the brink of death by a hair's breadth.
"We're not out yet! They'll be after us any second now!"
"Like you said, we fell into a hole! What are we supposed to do next!?"
"Ah! First, hold your breath! It probably won't be good for your health if you breathe it in!"
""...Breathe in what?""
Enji and Kaya asked with blank expressions. Right after that—
Splash!
After a grand splash, tiny bubbles tickled my ears.
My soaked clothes and the weight of Eto on my back pressed down heavily on me, but I somehow managed to lift my head above the surface.
"Puhah!"
Once I got out of the water, voices from all around reached me.
"Boss! You made it!"
"Sis! But where is this? I can tell it's a place where water has pooled deeply, but it's sealed off on all sides."
"Sealed off?"
At that, Kaya, who had surfaced, turned to look at me. Her eyes were asking whether this was the escape route.
It was only natural that the other Ghouls would also look at me with suspicion, since the place we had fled to after escaping the Investigators was a body of water so deep it was hard to move in, and it was sealed off to boot.
It looked like I needed to explain myself quickly, or things were going to go bad. Not for me, but because Eto would react to the unfriendly looks being thrown my way and cause a scene.
She had managed to hold on to consciousness, but she still didn't seem to be able to distinguish people properly, and I could hear a low growl. This was not a good atmosphere.
"This is a reservoir tank. Rainwater from the whole city collects here. Lucky for us, it happens to be under the chamber we were in."
"Lucky, you say... why? If it's sealed off, how are we supposed to get out?"
"Because it's a reservoir tank, obviously. It only opens on rainy days. When the floodgates open, the water will drain all at once. We just have to escape through there."
"Really? It'll drain all at once... ...what?"
Kaya, muttering after me, asked again as if she had heard wrong.
The other Ghouls' faces also began changing as they started to understand what was going on. Mostly in the direction of fear.
Gugugung...!!
As if confirming their ominous imagination, the water's surface trembled and a loud rumble rolled through the tank.
It was the sound of the floodgates opening. Then, in the still water, a current began to form.
At first the flow of water felt as slow as a turtle's crawl, but before long it began to speed up to the pace of a walking person.
Even I had to admit this was a pretty extreme method.
There was enough water here to hide the bottom from sight. So what would happen if you opened the floodgates?
With an awkward smile, I said to the eyes now fixed on me, "Well, let's live through it and see."
"You crazy bas—"
Whatever one of the Ghouls muttered never reached us.
The fast-moving current had already become a raging torrent.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-BOOOOM!!!!