Chapter 286: 286: Facing the One-Eyed Owl!

Pfft.

Rize Kamishiro actually lowered her head and started laughing.

But there was something bleak and furious mixed into the sound.

"Hahaha... hahahahaha..."

As the laughter continued, she slowly raised her head.

At some point, two trails of tears had already run down her face.

Her laughter grew louder.

More unhinged.

Looking at Rize trembling beside him, she no longer seemed like the ghoul once called the "strongest newcomer" by the leader of Ward 11.

Nor did she look like the Binge Eater who had slaughtered her way through the entire ward alone.

And she certainly did not look like the cruel, merciless Rize Kamishiro who treated life as something she could casually trample underfoot.

Right now, she was simply a woman who had learned the truth and found herself crushed by it.

Powerless.

Furious.

Desperate.

"You can come out now, Ms. Sen Takatsuki. Eavesdropping on other people's conversations is rather rude."

Ivan stood at the corner of the alley and looked ahead.

A girl in a light brown coat stepped into view.

She had long, messy dark-green hair and a sweet-looking face.

She studied Ivan with open curiosity, as if trying to see straight through him.

After a while, she shook her head.

She truly had no memory of him.

Yet this man knew about her father.

He even knew the origins of the Washuu family in detail.

It was far too mysterious.

Almost as if he were some creator standing above the world, with no secret capable of escaping him.

"So what should I call you?" Ivan asked with a smile. "Sen Takatsuki? The One-Eyed King? Or Eto Yoshimura?"

"Sen Takatsuki. I like that name better."

That answer told Ivan all he needed to know.

The rift between Eto Yoshimura and her father, Yoshimura, clearly had not disappeared.

"So, what does the great leader of Aogiri Tree, the One-Eyed Owl herself, want with me?"

Ivan sounded genuinely interested.

"I heard your plan just now," Sen Takatsuki said. "I have the locations of a large number of ghouls. They belong neither to Aogiri Tree nor Anteiku. They're predators scattered throughout Tokyo who constantly break the feeding rules."

She continued calmly.

"If that still isn't enough, I also have a map showing CCG detention facilities and bases across multiple wards. Their numbers should be more than enough to help you complete your plan."

"So you want to make a deal with me, just like Yoshimura did?"

Ivan smiled.

"I'm interested in what you're offering. Tell me your conditions."

"One."

Sen Takatsuki raised her right hand and held up one finger.

"Fight me. If you can beat me, join Aogiri Tree. I'll give you the position of leader, on the condition that you're not allowed to harm any member of Aogiri Tree."

Having grown up within Aogiri Tree, she had long since come to see some of its members as family.

Or rather, Aogiri Tree itself was her real home.

"So you want me to become Aogiri Tree's babysitter."

Ivan gave a faint laugh.

"Sorry, but taking care of other people isn't really my habit."

His smile sharpened.

"But I can agree to the first part. I've been curious about the strength of the so-called strongest ghoul, the One-Eyed Owl."

There was something dangerous and vicious mixed into his expression now.

"You're free to refuse," Sen Takatsuki said. "But if you can't beat me, don't blame me when I eat you piece by piece."

The corners of her mouth split all the way toward her ears, revealing two rows of horrifyingly sharp teeth.

"Two. If you're lucky enough not to get eaten by me, then you'll help me slaughter the entire V organization, along with the Washuu family behind them."

"That's easy enough. I happen to need them for my own plan anyway."

At that moment, Rize suddenly spoke from the side.

"Help me rescue Shachi, and wipe out every member of the Washuu family."

She paused.

"Except Souta Washuu-Furuta."

By now, Rize had regained her usual composure.

Ivan could understand why she wanted Shachi rescued.

After Souta Washuu-Furuta released Rize years ago and she escaped from the Washuu family's isolation facility, she was taken in by Shachi, the leader of Ward 6 at the time. The surname Kamishiro had been given to her by him, and Rize had come to see Shachi as her father.

Later, during a CCG suppression operation, Shachi was captured and imprisoned in the ghoul detention center in Ward 23.

That facility had another famous name.

Cochlea.

"You're sure you want to spare Souta Washuu-Furuta?" Ivan asked. "He was the one who planned the steel-beam incident."

"That's impossible! It was an accident!"

Ivan watched Rize's expression shift from shock, to disbelief, and finally back to cold composure.

"You're right. A few steel beams shouldn't have been enough to knock me unconscious back then. If I had to guess, someone tampered with them."

"The person behind it coated the beams with Rc suppressants," Ivan explained helpfully. "They suppressed your kagune regeneration and temporarily reduced you to something close to an ordinary human."

"Why would he do that?"

Rize's voice turned icy.

She could not understand why Furuta, her childhood companion, would try to kill her.

"What other reason could there be? Possessive bullshit. Knock you unconscious, lock you in a cage, and turn you into a lover who belonged only to him."

After answering question after question, Ivan was starting to get tired of talking.

He rolled his neck, then looked toward Sen Takatsuki.

"Now, let's change locations."

"Right here is fine."

Sen Takatsuki vanished. SWOOSH!

When she appeared again, claws tearing through the air were already coming straight for Ivan's face.

So fast!

Rize's pupils widened slightly.

"With your current strength, you're not qualified to get involved in this fight."

Another Ivan grabbed Rize, stomped hard enough to launch himself into the air, and rapidly carried her away from the battlefield.

Clang!

Ivan transformed both hands into blades more than a meter long and crossed them in front of himself.

Steel-like claws slammed into the blades with a deafening impact.

In the next instant, Sen Takatsuki appeared behind him almost like she had teleported.

By then, her body had already transformed into a monster made of kagune.

There was still a rough humanoid shape, but only barely.

Her body stood more than three meters tall.

Red ukaku resembling a bird's crest spread from her back. On both sides of her bone-like head were three pairs of long, curved slits, while a single black circular eye sat in the center of her face.

Four sharp kagune also extended from her shoulders.

Beneath them were slim white arms, each ending in fingers sharp as talons, capable of tearing through steel with ease.

"You think an attack like that is enough to kill me?"

Ivan spun around and brought one blade down with full force.

Boom!

Both of them were thrown backward at the same time.

Ivan crashed straight through a wall beside the alley, blowing open a huge gap.

Dust filled the area.

The noise was so loud that nearby civilians thought there had been an explosion.

"Losing my powers really is inconvenient."

Ivan slowly straightened himself.

Then he smiled.

"But that's fine. A one-sided fight would be boring anyway."

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