CCG and the ghouls began their mid-range firefight. The ghouls of the Aogiri Tree had an obvious advantage—many of them were using their kagune as shields. These kagune shields had small openings that allowed them to shoot while still protecting themselves from bullets.
The casualties on the CCG side quickly mounted. In just five minutes of fighting, dozens of CCG combatants had been killed or wounded.
Inside the command vehicle, Marude Itsuki frowned as he observed the battle on the screens.
"Why aren't we gaining the upper hand in this shootout?" he demanded.
A deputy immediately responded, "The enemy's kagune shields are incredibly tough. They're very hard to deal with."
Marude let out a cold snort and stepped outside the command vehicle.
With a loud "bang," he kicked open the back door, ignoring the bullets whizzing around. Grabbing a gun from a nearby investigator, he aimed at the Aogiri Tree base and fired several bursts.
"Bang, bang bang…"
With each three-round burst, a ghoul fell dead inside the Aogiri Tree base.
Marude's terrifying marksmanship forced the ghouls to pull back behind cover, reducing their firepower significantly.
"Alright, now charge, you lot—"
Before Marude could finish his rallying cry, a familiar roar of an engine caught his attention.
He turned stiffly toward the source of the noise. Juuzou Suzuya was sitting on a brand-new motorcycle, revving the engine.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing with my motorcycle?" Marude shouted urgently.
Suzuya, grinning wildly, eyes squinted in glee, responded, "Just borrowing it for a bit."
With that, Suzuya revved the engine again and shot forward on the bike.
"Stop! Stop right there!!" Marude screamed.
Ignoring Marude's cries, Suzuya rode the motorcycle straight toward the Aogiri Tree stronghold.
"Wait! Stop! Wait—hey, hey—!"
Marude was practically incoherent at this point, his face twisted in frustration. Even from where he stood, Su Xiao could see tears welling up in Marude's eyes.
Su Xiao was baffled. Why would Marude bring a motorcycle on a mission? Was it for making a quick getaway in case things went south? Given Marude's personality, it wasn't entirely out of the question.
Suzuya sped up as he neared a ramp.
"Boom!"
There was a massive explosion as Marude's prized motorcycle was destroyed. Suzuya, using the momentum, jumped into the Aogiri Tree base and, after a wild spray of gunfire, wiped out all the ghouls manning the defensive positions.
The motorcycle's wreckage was scattered everywhere. Su Xiao saw Marude's tears flowing uncontrollably now.
"My limited-edition motorcycle..."
Marude sniffled, wiping the tears from his face.
Although Suzuya had destroyed his motorcycle, the same attack had also broken through the outer defenses of the Aogiri Tree base.
"Charge!"
With a hoarse, rage-fueled shout, Marude collapsed to his knees in exhaustion.
A swarm of CCG combatants rushed into the Aogiri Tree base.
"Marude, I'm heading to my designated post," Su Xiao said as he passed by the kneeling commander.
Marude, still on the ground, lifted his head to look at Su Xiao.
"I'm counting on you for the rear. Don't let any ghouls escape in the confusion. As you suggested earlier, I've deployed a bomb squad. They're using the main attack as cover to search for potential explosives."
Before the operation began, Su Xiao had warned Marude about the possibility of bombs being planted inside the Aogiri Tree base. The ghouls could draw the CCG forces into the base, then escape out the back while detonating explosives.
After hearing Su Xiao's suggestion, Marude hadn't hesitated to request a bomb squad from headquarters. As a battlefield commander, he was cautious about any potential threats, especially one as plausible as this.
In the original storyline, the Aogiri Tree had indeed planted bombs. Su Xiao was aware of this, and it was likely that the ghouls' contractor on the enemy side had also figured out that their explosives plan had been exposed.
With the bomb threat taken care of, the battle now came down to pure strength. The outcome would depend on both sides' abilities.
Su Xiao slowly made his way toward the rear of the Aogiri Tree base, away from the main fight.
He positioned himself near the back door, where the ghouls were likely to attempt their escape.
The night wind carried a faint scent of blood. Inside the base, gunfire and screams rang out, but the area around the back door was eerily quiet.
Su Xiao climbed onto a three-meter-high concrete beam, sitting down to wait in silence.
With his current physical abilities, a three-meter jump was no big deal. Well, maybe not no big deal—but only a moderate one.
For now, the back door was still quiet. There wouldn't be many ghouls fleeing just yet.
Then, faint footsteps approached. A ghoul was coming.
"Aha~ Looks like I've run into a tricky enemy," came a voice.
A ghoul wearing a pink top and sporting gold-rimmed sunglasses emerged from the darkness. Their appearance was flamboyant and androgynous, like a cross-dresser.
"Didn't expect an extra bonus here," the ghoul said.
Su Xiao leapt down from the beam, stretching his shoulders as he walked toward the ghoul with his Dragon Flash sword in hand.
"If I'm not mistaken, your name is Nico. An SS-rated ghoul, and a member of the Clowns."
Nico's expression changed at Su Xiao's words, the casual attitude vanishing.
"You know about the Clowns? I didn't plan on fighting you, but now I'll have to kill you."
Nico's eyes turned red, and a kagune sprouted from his lower spine. It was a tail-type, characteristic of a rinkaku ghoul.
According to the information Su Xiao had from the original story, Nico was quite powerful. Though officially ranked as an SS-class ghoul, his actual strength was likely much higher. Nico had an absurd regenerative ability—once even surviving having his stomach pierced by Yamori's hand, recovering rapidly afterward.
Nico kicked off his high heels, rushing at Su Xiao with surprising speed.
Su Xiao held his Dragon Flash in front of him, his eyes locked on Nico.
Within a few steps, Nico was in range, launching a high kick aimed at Su Xiao's head. Su Xiao dodged, shifting his head to the side and countering with a kick to Nico's stomach, sending him stumbling back.
Su Xiao hadn't drawn his sword yet—he was saving it for when Nico's kagune attacked.
Most ghouls, with a few exceptions, weren't particularly skilled in close combat. Their real danger came from their kagune.
Just as he expected, Nico's tail-like kagune lashed toward his neck after the kick.
Su Xiao gripped his Dragon Flash tightly with both hands, took a deep breath, and slashed at the kagune with full force.
"Shhhlick!"
Nico's kagune was severed in one clean strike, the tail flying off into the distance.
"Ah~!" Nico let out a trembling scream, his face contorted in a strange expression that bordered on ecstasy.
"That felt... amazing!"
Nico showed no signs of pain; instead, he lunged toward Su Xiao again, entirely unconcerned with his injuries.
Su Xiao ignored Nico's strange cries, swiftly delivering two more strikes with his Dragon Flash.
"Shhhlick, shhhlick!"
One of Nico's arms and a large portion of his shoulder were sliced off. Yet Su Xiao frowned—his strikes hadn't felt right, as though he hadn't been cutting through solid flesh, but something more liquid-like.
Nico took a few steps back, and his severed kagune began to regenerate. The arm and shoulder that had been cut off were pulled back by the kagune, and, with a grotesque squelching sound, were reattached.
In just moments, Nico had fully healed. His regenerative ability was nearly as absurd as Noro's.
"Again!" Nico cried out.
Su Xiao narrowed his eyes. Normal attacks wouldn't work on this ghoul.
A faint blue electric arc appeared along the blade of Dragon Flash. He had activated Azure Steel Shadow.
If normal strikes couldn't finish Nico, Su Xiao would burn his energy and use real damage to bring him down.
(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.