Su Xiao carefully lifted his left foot, narrowly avoiding a stray attack from a ghoul's kagune.
A gust of wind lifted his pant leg as the tip of the eyeless ghoul's kagune lightly grazed it.
Rip.
His pants tore, and Su Xiao frowned. These creatures were not only strong, but their kagune were incredibly sharp.
Unfazed, Su Xiao continued to move forward. His mental fortitude allowed him to remain calm even in more perilous situations.
By the time Su Xiao had crossed halfway through the dangerous area, Yuna had already made it to safety, having carefully navigated through the gaps between the numerous eyeless ghouls.
Arima Kishou and Yuna stood on the opposite side of the passageway, their thumbs poised on the activation switches of their quinques, ready to assist Su Xiao if needed.
Having already fought together, Su Xiao knew neither of them were incompetent, so he had no concerns about leaving them behind while he brought up the rear.
Yuna crouched low, her long black hair falling over her shoulders as she carefully watched the movements of the eyeless ghouls, monitoring their every action.
Suddenly, Yuna raised one hand, and with the other, she brought her index and middle fingers together, tapping her palm—a signal to stop.
Su Xiao immediately noticed Yuna's gesture.
She pointed at two eyeless ghouls in front of Su Xiao. They had their backs turned to him, so he couldn't see their movements clearly.
Yuna pointed to a different path, indicating for Su Xiao to take another route.
Without much hesitation, Su Xiao chose the alternate path. The three of them were in this together, and he could tell from the distance Arima and Yuna maintained that they weren't planning to abandon him.
A few steps later, Su Xiao saw that the two eyeless ghouls Yuna had pointed out were indeed awake, their heads swaying from side to side as though they had sensed something.
Continuing forward cautiously, Su Xiao, under the cover of Arima and Yuna, managed to make it nearly 180 meters through the area. Victory was close.
Thud, thud…
The sound of heavy footsteps came from behind.
The trio's faces turned pale. The eyeless ghouls that had been distracted earlier were returning.
Su Xiao could no longer afford to remain stealthy. Using the cover of the ghouls' own footsteps, he sped up.
Within seconds, Su Xiao successfully crossed the danger zone and regrouped with the others.
The rumbling footsteps from behind stirred the eyeless ghouls on the open ground into a frenzy.
Yuna raised her hand in victory, but at that very moment, a female ghoul appeared behind her.
The ghoul looked normal, female, about thirty years old.
Encountering ghouls in the 24th Ward was common, and the three had already faced this situation more than a dozen times. But the timing of this ghoul's appearance couldn't have been worse.
The trio immediately fixed their killing intent on the female ghoul.
"White Reaper!"
Upon seeing Arima Kishou, the female ghoul growled through gritted teeth.
Su Xiao knew things were about to go wrong. He quickly pulled out Dragon Flash, adjusted his grip, and threw it with all his might.
The female ghoul, smiling maniacally, had noticed the eyeless ghouls.
Having lived in the 24th Ward, she recognized the danger of these "beasts."
"Ahhhh!!!"
A piercing scream echoed through the passage.
Thud!
Crack!
Su Xiao's sword and Arima's golden electric projectile arrived simultaneously.
The female ghoul was first impaled by Dragon Flash and then electrocuted to a crisp, collapsing lifelessly.
But it was too late. The scream had already alerted the eyeless ghouls. With the returning group added, there were now over five hundred of them.
Dozens of pairs of gray, shell-covered eyes were fixed on the trio.
In that moment, everything fell into eerie silence.
Su Xiao stiffened, turning his head slowly. When he saw the hundreds of eyeless ghouls all standing and staring at them, his scalp tingled. A chill shot from his feet up his spine, all the way to his head.
Facing this many eyeless ghouls at once was certain death.
Roar!
A chorus of howls erupted as the eyeless ghouls, now moving on all fours, charged toward the three.
By this point, the trio had already started running. As they passed by the female ghoul's body, Su Xiao grabbed Dragon Flash with one hand.
Boom, boom…
Clouds of dust rose behind them as the eyeless ghouls, moving on all fours like beasts, chased after them. Their speed was incredible, using their tail-like kagune to maintain balance.
Ordinary ghouls might fight upright, but these eyeless ones behaved like wild animals, their tail kagune perfectly replacing tails.
The three had no time to look back, fleeing for their lives.
Despite Su Xiao's agility being at 13 points, making him quite fast, the eyeless ghouls were still slowly closing the distance.
"This won't work—we'll get caught sooner or later."
Despite running at full speed, Arima Kishou remained calm.
After passing through a straight corridor, two branching paths appeared ahead.
"White Night, you go left, I'll go right. Take Yuna and go, I'll hold them off."
Su Xiao had brought up the rear earlier, but now Arima was volunteering to stay behind.
"Good luck."
Su Xiao nodded at Arima. He wasn't the kind of person to hesitate in situations like this.
Arima came to a stop at one of the junctions, while Su Xiao and Yuna rushed into the other passage. Just before entering, Yuna shouted back.
"Arima, make sure you survive!"
After shouting, Yuna dashed into the passage.
Boom!
A crashing sound came from behind. Su Xiao turned his head and saw the entrance behind him had been firmly sealed.
It was Arima's quinque, IXA, which could change forms at will.
Thud, thud…
The sound of constant impacts echoed from behind. It seemed the eyeless ghouls were smashing into the wall created by IXA.
While IXA was sturdy, it wouldn't hold against such continuous blows.
After Su Xiao had run some distance, a loud bang echoed from behind as the wall created by IXA shattered.
Around fifty or sixty eyeless ghouls poured into the passage, viciously pursuing Su Xiao and Yuna.
Su Xiao ignored them and kept moving forward.
After a few minutes of running, Su Xiao suddenly stopped, causing Yuna to crash into his back.
"Why… did you stop?"
Yuna was gasping for breath, clearly exhausted from the earlier battle and now this desperate flight.
If their speed had been recorded, they would have broken world sprinting records.
"If we keep running, we'll exhaust ourselves. We can't outrun these beasts."
Su Xiao stood firm with his sword, ready for the coming fight as dozens of eyeless ghouls rapidly closed in.
"I'll cover you… Here, use this quinque."
Yuna tossed Su Xiao a quinque. He hesitated briefly before activating it.
This was his first time using a quinque.
Click.
The silver metal box popped open, and the quinque inside began expanding as it made contact with the air, quickly wrapping itself around Su Xiao's upper body.
This was not a weapon-type quinque, but an armor-type. Su Xiao had seen this type before.
In the original story, Kureo Mado used this kind of armor quinque. It was called Shin, a recent development by the CCG.
The blackish-blue quinque armor wrapped around Su Xiao's torso. It was a bit heavy, but its defensive capabilities were impressive.
As soon as Su Xiao donned Arata, Reincarnation Paradise provided a notification:
[You have equipped the quinque "Arata." Strength +3, Agility -3, Defense +2, Movement speed reduced by 30%. (Temporary status. Effects will disappear once "Arata" is removed.)]
With this quinque enhancing Su Xiao's swordsmanship, his ability to hold the line in battle had at least doubled.
(End of Chapter)
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Translator's Note :- I am Not that familiar with a lot of the fictional worlds mentioned in the story. So if I make a mistake naming something please correct me by writing a paragraph comment on the mistake. Thank you.