Agony. Heat.
Queasiness. Dizziness.
Shifting focus. Ringing in her ears. The scent of blood.
The taste of blood flooded her tongue.
Danger signals flashed through her body, as if a fatal error had crashed a program.
Instinctively, she searched for the cause of the error.
The source of this pain.
The source of all this suffering.
This woman.
The woman standing right in front of her.
She had to be eliminated!
KWA-GA-GA-GA-CRACK!!!
A dark red mass burst through the cracked floor. It was a Kagune extending from the back of Eto, who had been pinned to the ground.
The Kagune, surging upward in the shape of a hook, aimed for the flank of Kasuka, who was still pressing down on her.
But Kasuka twisted away with fluid ease, as if she had anticipated the move.
Simultaneously, she leaped off Eto and reclaimed the rapier lodged in the Ghoul's shoulder, showing ruthless precision as she twisted the blade to widen the wound upon withdrawal.
Tap.
Kasuka landed lightly, her movements as rhythmic as a dancer's step.
Eto staggered to her feet, but one of her ankles had been completely severed. Unable to find her balance on one foot, she lurched violently.
While Eto reeled, Kasuka examined the bloodstained blade and spoke.
"You know, I actually like Ghouls quite a bit."
"...?"
Eto, clutching the torn flesh of her shoulder, looked at her in sheer bewilderment.
A severed ankle, a gaping shoulder wound, twisted organs, and shattered bones. After reducing a Ghoul like Eto to the brink of death, how could anyone claim to 'like' Ghouls and expect to sound sane?
Then again, there was nothing normal about a human claiming to like Ghouls in the first place.
It reminded Eto of Shinaoto Minami, who had once confessed her admiration for Ghouls and her desire to become one.
Perhaps this woman was simply a different breed of lunatic.
Yet, Kasuka seemed entirely earnest.
"Ah, don't misunderstand. I don't mean 'like' in the way one likes family or close friends."
Her finger slid slowly across the flat of the blade.
Blood that had been coursing through Eto's veins only moments ago now stained Kasuka's fingertip. She held it up to the light, studying it with clinical interest.
"It's more like an interest in insects, I suppose. Like a researcher who is so fascinated by bugs that they spend their whole life hunting them in the wild. A researcher wants to know how the insect survives. How strong a particular specimen is. How it reacts under specific conditions."
"..."
"I've always been deeply curious about your kind. Where did you come from? How do you survive? What emotions drive you to oppose us? In that sense, being a Ghoul Investigator was my true calling. It allows me to observe you from the closest possible distance, right at the core of your essence. Of course, that doesn't mean I neglect my duty to exterminate you."
With a sharp motion, Kasuka's Quinque snapped back toward Eto.
"You're truly fascinating. From the moment you fell from above, you had countless opportunities to strike my vitals, yet you seemed focused entirely on subduing or neutralizing me. Even just now. If you had truly wanted to inflict a fatal wound, you could have. But you didn't. Why?"
Step. Step.
Smiling, Kasuka began to stride toward Eto. It was a disturbing smile—a paradoxical harmony of murderous intent and genuine curiosity.
Eto tried to retreat, but with her ankle gone, movement was an agonizing struggle. The distance between them closed rapidly.
"Is that a mask? Or is that your true nature? I'm dying to know. And you know what?"
In a void where light barely existed—a darkness so oppressive that even Ghouls and investigators would hesitate—the blade suddenly flashed.
"When anyone is driven to the absolute limit, right on the precipice of death, they shed their shell and reveal who they truly are."
In an instant, a streak of silver aimed for the space between Eto's eyes.
Fwoosh!!
Kasuka lunged, erasing the distance Eto had desperately tried to maintain.
Eto arched her back violently, narrowly avoiding the tip of the rapier. In the same motion, she lashed out with both legs, aiming for Kasuka's jaw and chest.
Thud!
But Kasuka used Eto's rising legs as stepping stones, vaulting backward in a graceful flip.
As she spun through the air, a long gun was already gripped in her hand, drawn from her waist.
Rat-a-tat-tat!!
Though it looked like a long gun, it spat bullets in rapid succession like an automatic rifle.
The long-gun Quinque likely possessed two modes of fire: a high-power single shot and a lower-power rapid fire.
This was the latter, but in Eto's shattered state, even a single graze was a death sentence.
Squeezing out every last drop of her remaining strength, Eto threw herself forward.
She sprinted toward the wall, dodging the blurred streaks of bullets racing across the floor, then pivoted sharply and lunged at Kasuka.
From beneath the filthy blanket, Eto's fingers burst forth like the talons of a raptor, tendons straining.
Judging by the trajectory toward Kasuka's throat and the sheer savagery of the strike, it was clear Eto was now aiming for the kill.
"So you're pretending to reveal your nature, are you?"
Kasuka sensed the feint immediately, but she played along.
There was no reason to be rattled by a fake killing intent. She was simply curious to see Eto's next move.
Whoosh!
She swung the rapier to intercept Eto's hand.
Depending on the Ghoul's durability, Eto's hand should have been severed instantly. Kasuka had already proven the blade's sharpness with the ankle.
In a direct collision, Eto would be the only one to bleed. Yet, Eto didn't stop her hand.
Instead, she shifted her trajectory mid-swing.
She moved in perfect synchronization with the path of the rapier.
Grab!
"...!"
She caught the blade.
Eto hadn't resisted the force of the rapier; she had flowed with it, absorbing the momentum by moving in the same direction.
It sounded simple, but executing such a maneuver in the split second of a sword strike was nearly unbelievable.
As she clamped down on the rapier, the blade sliced into her palm. Blood welled up; the edge had barely grazed the bone.
A fraction of a millimeter's error in force distribution would have resulted in a severed hand rather than a deep cut.
The rapier was now pinned, locked in Eto's grip.
The moment Kasuka realized she was trapped, she thrust the long gun in her other hand forward like a bolt of lightning.
Grab!
But as if she had been waiting for this exact moment, Eto's other hand clamped over the muzzle.
The crushing grip conveyed a terrifying resolve: even if Kasuka pulled the trigger and blew a hole through her palm, Eto would not let go.
With both weapons neutralized, Eto's face lunged forward.
Specifically, her forehead. Even through the blanket, Kasuka could see the object expanding rapidly in her field of vision.
A different attack pattern. She's taking a massive risk.
Kasuka's claim of being an observer was no lie.
Despite their brief encounter, she knew this was an attack completely unlike Eto's usual style.
It's not the recklessness of desperation. There's a strange, misplaced confidence in every high-risk movement.
Kasuka surmised that Eto must have a family member or acquaintance who was incredibly reckless.
Cornered and trembling, Eto was projecting herself into the image of someone she trusted deeply to suppress her fear and force herself to act.
Perhaps even the decision to ram her with her forehead instead of her teeth was an imitation of that person.
In the heart-stopping moment where her skull threatened to crack, Kasuka's lips curled into a grin.
"You really are interesting."
Sshhk!!
"...?!"
Eto's eyes widened in shock.
The headbutt she had thrown with all her might struck nothing but empty air. Instead, a searing heat tore through her from the right shoulder to the left flank.
...How?
She had the rapier in one hand and the long gun in the other. Eto was still gripping both firmly.
Kasuka's weapons were sealed. That was an absolute fact.
It was also an absolute fact that a human could not injure a Ghoul with bare hands without a Quinque.
Then what was this pain?
What had just happened?
Thud!
She rolled across the ground, unable to even attempt a breakfall.
She landed face-first, but the agony from the long gash across her torso far outweighed the impact.
"Hah, haah! Hah…! Hah!"
Fighting for every breath, she looked back.
The rapier Eto had released was still in Kasuka's hand.
The barrel of the long gun lay rolling on the floor between them.
And in the hand that had held the gun's grip, a dark red dagger had emerged.
"I wonder if you've heard of a Chimera Quinque?"
A Chimera Quinque.
In rare cases, Ghouls are born with two different types of Kagune. A Quinque crafted from such a specimen is known as a Chimera Quinque.
By blending two types of Kagune, the weapon can transform its shape depending on the situation, making it a lethal tool against Ghouls.
Just now, Kasuka had shifted the [Ukaku] long gun into a [Bikaku] dagger, slicing through Eto's body in an instant.
"That went in pretty deep. Even though [Bikaku] is a poor match for an [Ukaku] Ghoul... you'll die if you just stay there."
Grit!
Eto clenched her teeth and tried to push herself up. But she lost her balance and collapsed, planting her palms on the ground.
Yet, her gaze was predatory. She looked like a beast on the verge of losing all reason.
With death looming and her body broken, nothing remained but raw malice.
...Or so she wants me to think.
Kasuka saw through the act once again.
Eto was pretending to be incapacitated by her wounds while secretly gathering her strength.
The prediction was correct.
Even as Eto squeezed out the last of her energy to activate her Kagune, she could feel that Kasuka had read her every intention.
Am I going to die here...?
No matter how she analyzed the situation, the conclusion was the same: one of the blades in Kasuka's hands would end her life.
Kasuka claimed to be interested in her, but the look in her eyes was not that of someone who intended to show mercy.
As the reality of death set in, a storm of fragmented thoughts clouded her mind.
No. I don't want to die. Dad. Am I dying here? What happened to him? I want to see him. It hurts. My body is so heavy. I'm sleepy. I'm hungry. Dad. I want to live. I... I... I...!
"...!"
She squeezed her eyes shut in a moment of despair, then snapped them open with lightning speed.
Just as Koma had found an escape route by shifting his focus away from her eyes, Eto found a desperate means of survival the moment she stopped relying on her sight.
Her sense of smell. It had caught something.
Can I really use this?
Hesitation flickered within her.
It was fear. Like a die cast into the air, she had no way of knowing what the result would be, or if she could even survive the outcome.
Then, a memory of a voice echoed in her mind.
—None of them are the right answer. But none of them are wrong either.
The words Koma had told her. That in any choice, there is no right or wrong, only the result.
Eto hardened her resolve.
She might regret this action one day, but she would regret dying here even more.
Then there was only one option: to soar!
Until she could cast everything aside!
Fwoooooooosh!!!!
The [Ukaku], fueled by the last of her strength, erupted from Eto's shoulders like a pillar of fire.
The heat was intense enough to illuminate the darkness. Kasuka's expression flushed with excitement at the unexpected surge of power.
She looked like a young girl watching fireworks bloom across a midnight sky.
"You're beautiful, you know."
But the girlish wonder vanished in an instant.
Gripping her Quinques, Kasuka returned to her role as an investigator tasked with exterminating the enemy. Her personal fondness for Eto was separate from the reality that if she didn't fight seriously, she would be killed.
She charged headlong into the Kagune that threatened to swallow her whole.
"...?!"
For the first time, a look of genuine confusion crossed Kasuka's face.
And that expression was instantly obliterated by a deafening explosion.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-BOOOOM!!!!!!!
The wall, taking the full force of the Kagune, cracked and collapsed.
A thick cloud of dust choked the area, but as it slowly settled, a figure emerged from the wreckage.
"I don't understand. If you had used that strike on me, you might have actually had a chance..."
As the dust cleared, Kasuka turned around with a look of utter disbelief.
"...You used all that just to escape?"
Eto lay collapsed in the massive hole torn through the wall.
She had avoided the direct clash with Kasuka, choosing instead to smash the wall behind her.
She had tried to slip past Kasuka in the chaos, but she had exhausted every last shred of her strength. Kasuka did not miss her sluggish movements.
Kasuka considered beheading her on the spot, but changed her mind, striking the back of Eto's head with the hilt of her blade instead. Blood began to pool beneath Eto's skull.
"Did I expect too much from you...?"
Kasuka couldn't hide her disappointment. She had hoped for something truly extraordinary, but Eto had failed to deliver.
Though she found Eto irritating, she respected the fact that the Ghoul had tried to kill her until the very end, and thus, she spared her life.
"Still, you're definitely hiding something. It'll be more fun to lock you in Cochlea and find out slowly."
As she muttered this, Kasuka stepped toward the fallen Ghoul.
Creak... Creak...
A faint sound.
The sound of something being torn apart.
The moment she heard it, the hair on the back of Kasuka's neck stood on end.
An inexplicable chill washed over her as she looked down at Eto.
Eto remained motionless.
Except for one thing: the corner of her mouth.
Creak…! Ssshhk…!
As the dust finally vanished, the exact spot where Eto had fallen became clear.
She was lying on top of a corpse.
Though the head was missing, the clothing made it obvious that this was a Ghoul who had fallen victim to cannibalism.
Eto had collapsed directly onto the remains of her own kind.
Don't tell me the reason she attacked this specific spot was...!?
Realizing the situation, Kasuka lunged, hurling her rapier toward Eto's back.
But she was too late.
Kaaang!!
The rapier hit an invisible wall of force and was violently repelled.
Feeling a jarring pain that threatened to tear her grip, Kasuka leaped back.
Sssssss...
It was like watching a flower bloom.
A single petal unfurled from Eto's shoulder, fluttering in the air. But as if that were not enough, her body began to tremble.
Not enough. This isn't enough.
It's nowhere near enough to take flight.
Sssssssssss...!!
Then, a second petal bloomed.
A pair of Kagune unfurled to her sides like the wings of a great bird.
For a fleeting second, Kasuka found the sight beautiful.
But that sentiment was erased in the next heartbeat.
Eto rose from the ground, tilting her head back to stare at Kasuka.
The blanket covering her face slipped away, revealing half of her [Kakugan] glowing intensely in the dark.
Eto revealed half her face.
"Hah-hah♪"
She was laughing.
Like an innocent child.