What is the difference between humans and Ghouls?
Physical abilities that differ by species, the predatory organ known as the [Kagune], and a Ghoul's insatiable appetite for human flesh.
There are many differences, but the fundamental one is singular.
RC cells.
Both humans and Ghouls possess RC cells, but the amount they carry differs to an extreme degree.
Humans possess only a small quantity and cannot utilize them, while Ghouls can accumulate and manipulate RC cells through the consumption of human flesh.
RC cells were essentially a universal biological tool.
Depending on their density and structure, they could possess a flexibility greater than rubber or a hardness that easily surpassed that of teeth.
They could heal the body in an instant and, at times, be manifested as lethal weapons.
A Ghoul's overwhelming physical strength, their [Kagune], and their regenerative abilities all stemmed from these RC cells.
The utility of RC cells did not stop there. Ghouls with higher concentrations of these cells tended to maintain an appearance far younger than their actual age.
According to one scientist's research, enzymes generated by RC cells were found to extend the telomeres of DNA linked to lifespan. Based on this, the researcher claimed that these cells held the secret to eternal youth and immortality.
But even RC cells, which seemed capable of anything, had a limit.
Hair loss.
While RC cells could instantly repair physical trauma, baldness was the exception.
This was because the loss of hair was treated as a genetic factor rather than physical damage. Consequently, even the so-called "universal cells" could not revive hair follicles that had naturally perished.
Therefore, any Ghoul showing signs of thinning hair had to exercise extreme caution.
Because once it's gone, regret comes too late.
"...You get it now, right? We can recover in an instant whether we're stabbed or shot, but not our hair! Ghouls born with weak follicles are finished once they start balding! Don't you dare touch it!"
"It's fine. Nothing will happen. As long as you all quietly take me to where the other three are. Hey! Don't move! Do you really want to see this still-decent head of hair turn into Heihachi's?"
"You vile bastard!! Even some insane Investigator who grins while ripping out a Ghoul's organs would be a saint compared to you!!"
A bizarre standoff was unfolding.
Several Ghouls were gathered in the sewer passage, surrounding a single human.
The human was severely injured—someone a single Ghoul could have easily subdued, let alone a whole group.
And yet, they were all hesitating, unable to make a move against him.
It was because that human was gripping Katsura's hair.
That single grip left Katsura paralyzed, like a lion with its groin seized. It wasn't obvious yet, but if he lost any more hair, he would cross a river from which there was no return.
It was a ridiculous situation, but they were dead serious.
Katsura, his scalp held hostage, was glaring at them with a look that promised a slow death if any of them did something foolish that resulted in his hair being ripped out.
Because of this, they were wasting precious time instead of seizing the perfect opportunity to escape Arima.
Nomiya shouted in frustration.
"Damn it! Do we really have to go this far?! We already said we'd get you out alive! Why do you insist on going to where that monster is!? How do you even plan to fight him!"
At those words, Koma spoke, his grip on the hair remaining firm.
"I can't tell you. If I did, you'd just dismiss it as nonsense."
"Damn it! So you're admitting you're going to do something so absurd it sounds like nonsense! How the hell am I supposed to let you go after hearing that!!"
Koma's expression shifted to one of regret.
In trying to brush them off, he had effectively confessed that he intended to do something dangerous enough to warrant such a dismissal.
As he pondered how to persuade them, Koma looked at their faces.
Their eyes shone with a fierce determination; they were absolutely unwilling to let Koma walk into Arima's path.
It wasn't merely because of their leader's orders.
While that played a part, most of them no longer viewed Koma as a stranger.
Had they formed some inexplicable bond while enduring the same hardships?
Koma let out a hollow laugh.
"Does fighting that guy really seem that stupid and foolish to you?"
"Of course it does!"
"Well, that's been the case for everything up until now, hasn't it?"
"...What?"
"From the moment this sewer was sealed and we were surrounded by Investigators, to the appearance of a Kakuja, the intrusions, the melee, and the desperate escape through the waterways—how many ridiculous situations have we already survived? Honestly, it wouldn't have been strange if half of us had died. I've prepared myself countless times to be among those who didn't make it."
Looking at the stunned Ghouls one by one, Koma continued.
"And yet, here we are. Alive. I don't know what kind of divine luck is on our side today, but nobody has died on the way here. At this point, don't you want to be a little greedier?"
"Greedier?"
"The greed of going back without losing a single person."
...!
A silent stir rippled through the group.
Who wouldn't want that?
Living in such a brutal reality, how many people had they lost despite praying for their survival?
They knew that stories where everyone survives and finds happiness existed only in fairy tales.
They had lost countless people in the past, and as long as they lived in this world, they would lose more in the future. But for today, just for today, that was enough.
They wanted to return without losing a comrade, a leader, or someone precious.
Koma's wish aligned perfectly with their own.
"There's only one step left. The ending is within reach if we can just overcome the obstacle called Arima Kishou. How could we not be greedy? And I've found a possibility—a way to blow that guy away. We have to try it, don't we?"
Koma looked at the Ghouls, seeking their agreement.
"...Why are you going this far for us?"
Katsura asked. He no longer had the mental capacity to worry about his hair.
"You're a human. A complete stranger. We're Ghouls. We've never looked kindly on humans. We kill to survive, kill to eat, and some of us have killed simply because someone was an annoyance. That's just how our world works."
"What are you getting at? That you're actually bad people? Should I play the shonen protagonist and tell you I believe in the goodness of your hearts? I don't believe in original goodness or original evil. That's all bullshit. No one is born the same, whether human or Ghoul. But I do believe people can change. And if you die, you lose the chance to change."
Koma's voice grew thick with emotion, as if he were tired of wasting time on explanations.
"There's only one thing I want. Just one day where I can drink a cup of coffee, watch a variety show with my daughter, and laugh without a heavy burden on my heart. But if I try to laugh while remembering the lives I abandoned, I don't think I could ever truly be happy. Especially if those were lives I could have saved."
Grip.
As if steeling his resolve, Koma tightened his hold on the hair.
Feeling the sharp tug at the roots, Katsura's entire body tensed.
Koma looked at the Ghouls and declared, "I've made my decision. I'm going to take down that overpowered brat. What about you? Will you leave your leader and a young girl behind just to ensure your own survival? Or will you throw yourselves into the fire for a chance at the best possible ending? Choose."
"..."
Faced with this sudden crossroads, no one dared to speak.
Finally, Nomiya, who had been deep in thought, opened his mouth.
"We..."
"For the record, if you choose the former, I'll turn this bastard's head into a Shaolin monk's."
"SO IT IS JUST BLACKMAIL AFTER ALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!"
In the end, it all came back to the hair.
***
Crack...
"..."
A crack splintered across the Quinque blade, right through the center of the edge.
Fragments crumbled and fell to the ground, vanishing like sand. Where the blade had been, there was now only a void.
The Quinque had finally broken.
Sword-type weapons possess immense cutting power, but their lateral durability is low, making them prone to snapping or bending.
Eto, well aware of this weakness, had relentlessly targeted the side of the blade.
Throughout the fierce clash, she had used small bursts of [Ukaku] like a blowtorch to heat the metal, compromising its structural integrity. By the time Arima realized what was happening, it was irreversible.
Only a small section remained—barely the length of two palms. With the reach of his only weapon drastically reduced, Arima's combat effectiveness had been significantly diminished.
However, this loss of power did not necessarily mean he was in danger.
Because the battle was already over.
"Ku, cough!!"
"Ghk...!!"
Enji, who had pressured Arima with an infuriating close-quarters assault, now rolled on the floor with both arms severed.
His side was torn open, some of his internal organs spilling out. He slammed his forehead against the ground, struggling to push himself up, but his body refused to obey.
Kaya, who had distracted Arima with her frantic mobility, had both legs cut off.
She tried to fire [Ukaku] bullets to keep him at bay, but her wings collapsed and vanished before they could even form. She had completely exhausted her energy.
And then there was Eto.
She sat on the floor like a doll with its strings cut.
She was motionless. It was unclear if she was even conscious.
The amount of blood pouring from the stab wounds across her body and neck was staggering; she looked more like a sculpture of blood than a person.
Something like a horn jutted out from her bowed head.
It was the blade.
The broken fragment of the Quinque had been driven into Eto's head.
In the final moment of the fight, they had clashed at such close range that their bodies nearly overlapped.
The Quinque snapped at the limit of its endurance, and Eto, sensing a final opportunity, had lunged past the breaking blade toward Arima's face.
Her sharpened nails were a fraction of a second away from gouging out Arima's eyes.
But in that moment, Eto made a fatal mistake.
So focused on her target, she failed to track the trajectory of the broken blade flying out of her field of vision.
As Arima leaned back to evade her nails, he whipped his leg out like a lash, kicking the broken blade upward.
With the precision of a circus act, the spinning blade shot vertically, propelled by the tip of Arima's foot.
By the time Eto realized what was happening, it was too late. Her momentum, accelerated for the killing blow, could not be stopped.
The rising blade pierced her head.
That was all.
It was over.
"...So this was all there was."
Arima muttered, looking down at the motionless Eto.
"Nothing changed. Nothing was special. Is this what a complete half-Ghoul is? Just another common Ghoul."
Arima let out a deep sigh.
It was a sound of disappointment rather than fatigue.
He stepped toward Eto.
He had seen Ghouls survive head wounds before, stubbornly clinging to life. To ensure the end, he intended to decapitate her.
"Eto! Wake up! If you lose consciousness now, you're really dead!"
Kaya screamed, but Eto remained unresponsive.
As Arima approached the corpse-like girl and drew the remaining half of his Quinque back over his shoulder to strike,
"...!"
Arima's expression suddenly hardened.
Tap!
He kicked off the ground, leaping backward.
It was the first time Arima had ever shown a defensive instinct, having previously met every attack with a chilling, unwavering counter.
Enji and Kaya watched in confusion.
Eto still hadn't moved. Her body was lifeless, and the blade remained embedded in her skull.
Yet, for some reason, Arima had stopped his advance.
His gaze on Eto shifted subtly.
"This is..."
Immediately after muttering those words, Arima leaped again.
Not toward Eto, but to the left.
A massive chunk of rock crashed down exactly where he had been standing a moment before.
BOOOOM!!!
"Damn it! Missed!!"
A voice echoed from the side.
Though only one voice spoke, there were multiple sets of footsteps.
Enji and Kaya turned, their expressions freezing.
The intruders were their own subordinates—the very ones ordered to escape with Koma. They appeared now, carrying Koma on their backs.
Enji, coughing up blood, roared in a fit of rage.
"Katsura, you bastarddddddddddddd!!!!!!!!!! Did my order to escape go in through your ass!??!!?!!"
"Well, you see, boss! It couldn't be helped! He took my hair hostage...!"
"Shut up!!!! Want me to peel your scalp off with your hair still attached!?"
"Hiiiiiik!!!"
Katsura turned pale, instinctively clutching his hair.
Meanwhile, Nomiya, who had also disobeyed orders, was shivering under Kaya's glacial stare.
"S-sorry, sis! I just couldn't leave this human behind... A-and he seemed to have a plan...!"
"..............."
"P-please just yell at me, sis! This silence is too scary!!!"
While the leaders' contrasting rages left Katsura and Nomiya trembling, Koma slid off the back of his subordinates and rushed toward Eto.
"Eto!!"
Koma was horrified by Eto's condition; she looked far worse than he had imagined.
As he ran toward her, Arima, standing a short distance away, spoke calmly.
"I wouldn't approach her if I were you."
"Shut up!! I'll settle the score with you later!!"
Ignoring Arima, Koma reached Eto and checked her injuries.
She was covered in blood, her body a wreck. The most alarming sight was the blade embedded in her forehead.
However, as he looked closer, Koma felt a flicker of relief. The blade hadn't penetrated as deeply as it seemed.
Eto's mask had acted as a primary shield.
Thanks to that, the blade appeared to have stopped at the skull, failing to reach the brain.
"Thank god. But what is this mask? I've never seen it before... Huh?"
Koma's body suddenly stiffened.
Throb!
A reaction flared in the scar on his right arm.
It was a sensation that only occurred when he felt the gaze of a Ghoul viewing him as prey.
But that was impossible. There was no one here looking at him that way.
Enji and Kaya, and even the subordinates—who had initially viewed him as food—had developed a bond through their shared struggle. That predatory hunger was gone.
It wasn't them. And Arima, being human, wouldn't suddenly develop a taste for flesh.
That left only one possibility.
"...Eto?"
As if responding to his voice, Eto's head slowly lifted.
"Hahha♡"
Eto was laughing.
Half of her face was obscured by the mask. While the mask had saved her from the blade, it had come with a price.
The moment Koma realized something was horribly wrong, Eto's mouth opened wide and lunged at him.
CRUNCH!!!
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