Chapter 81: Arima, You Bastard

Slowly lift the left foot, avoiding the unconscious sweep of a ghoul’s kagune.

The wind tugs at Su Xiao’s pant leg; the tip of the eyeless ghoul’s kagune lightly brushes against it.

“Riiip~.”

The pant leg tears open. Su Xiao frowns—these things are strong, and their kagunes are unnaturally sharp.

Su Xiao continues moving forward without reaction; with his mental fortitude, even worse situations would leave him calm.

As Su Xiao reached the midpoint of his path, Yuna slipped through the dangerous zone, weaving between the eyeless ghouls.

Arima Kishou and Yuna stood before the opposite corridor, thumbs pressed on their kagune’s activation buttons, ready to support Su Xiao at any moment.

After their earlier battle, Su Xiao knew neither was a liability—otherwise he wouldn’t have been covering the rear.

Yuna crouched low, her black hair hanging over her shoulders, carefully observing every movement of the eyeless ghouls for Su Xiao.

Suddenly, one of Yuna’s hands rose while the other pressed her index and middle fingers together against her palm.

The gesture meant “stop.”

Su Xiao immediately noticed Yuna’s signal.

Yuna pointed to the two eyeless ghouls ahead of Su Xiao—they were facing away from him, so he couldn’t see their movements.

Yuna gestured to the side, indicating Su Xiao should change route.

Su Xiao hesitated only briefly, choosing another path. Now all three were on the same team; from the distance between Arima Kishou and Yuna, it was clear they wouldn’t abandon him.

A few steps later, Su Xiao realized the two eyeless ghouls Yuna had pointed out were fully awake, their heads swaying left and right, as if sensing something faintly.

Su Xiao pressed forward, shielded by Arima Kishou and Yuna, successfully advancing over one hundred and eighty meters—victory was within reach.

“Boom, boom~~.”

Heavy footsteps echoed from behind.

All three faces paled—the eyeless ghouls drawn away had returned.

Su Xiao no longer cared about exposure; he accelerated under the cover of the thundering footsteps.

Seconds later, Su Xiao cleared the danger zone and rejoined the others.

The booming footsteps had roused the ghouls in the open area.

Yuna gave a victory signal—but at that exact moment, a ghoul appeared behind her.

It was a normal ghoul, female, around thirty years old.

A ghoul appearing in Zone 24 was routine—they’d encountered this scenario over a dozen times—but now, at this moment, her appearance left the three utterly frustrated.

Su Xiao’s trio immediately locked onto the female ghoul, their gaze brimming with lethal intent.

“White Death!”

The female ghoul, upon seeing Arima Kishou, gritted her teeth and spat out the words.

Su Xiao knew trouble was coming—he drew Zhanlong Flash, adjusted his grip, and hurled it with full force.

The female ghoul grinned wildly—she saw the eyeless ghouls.

She lived in Zone 24; she recognized those “beasts.”

“Aaaaaa!!”

A scream tore through the corridor.

“Pthss.”

“Boom.”

Su Xiao’s blade and Arima Kishou’s golden energy sphere arrived simultaneously.

The female ghoul was first pierced through by Zhanlong Flash, then reduced to charred ash, collapsing dead.

But it was too late—the scream had alerted the eyeless ghouls. Including those returning from the depths, there were at least five hundred of them.

Dozens of eyes, encased in gray hard shells, stared fixedly toward Su Xiao and the others.

In that instant, all surrounding sounds vanished.

Su Xiao turned his head stiffly—and upon seeing the eyeless ghouls rising en masse, his scalp prickled, a chill surging from his soles, racing up his spine to his skull.

Facing this many eyeless ghouls at once meant certain death!

“Roar~!”

Roars merged into one continuous wave as the eyeless ghouls lunged forward on all fours.

Before they reached them, the three had already sprinted ahead; as they passed the female ghoul’s corpse, Su Xiao snatched Zhanlong Flash with one hand.

“Boom, boom…”

A cloud of dust erupted behind them as the eyeless ghouls charged like beasts on all fours.

These eyeless ghouls moved with astonishing speed, running on limbs and using their tail kagunes for balance.

Normal ghouls walked upright even in combat—but these eyeless ghouls were pure beasts, their tail kagunes perfectly replacing tails.

Su Xiao and the others no longer looked back—they fled for their lives.

Su Xiao’s agility stat was 13—he was fast—but even so, the eyeless ghouls were slowly closing in.

“This won’t work—we’ll be caught eventually.”

Arima Kishou ran at full speed yet remained calm.

After passing a straight corridor, two forked paths appeared ahead.

“Baiye, you take the left, I’ll take the right. You lead Yuna forward—I’ll hold them off.”

Previously, Su Xiao had covered the rear—now Arima Kishou volunteered to do it.

“Hope you live.”

Su Xiao nodded at Arima Kishou—he wasn’t the type to hesitate.

Arima Kishou stopped, halting before one of the forked paths.

Su Xiao and Yuna dashed into the other forked path; just before entering, Yuna shouted.

“Arima, survive!”

With that, she sprinted into the forked path.

“Crash.”

A collision echoed behind them. Su Xiao turned—his exit was now completely sealed.

It was Arima Kishou’s kagune, “Ixa”—a kagune capable of reshaping at will.

“Bang, bang…”

Repeated impacts followed—likely the eyeless ghouls hurling themselves against the “Ixa” wall.

“Ixa” was sturdy, yes—but it couldn’t withstand this kind of assault.

After Su Xiao ran a distance, a thunderous crash came from behind—the “Ixa” wall shattered.

Roughly fifty to sixty eyeless ghouls poured into the corridor, charging viciously after Su Xiao and Yuna.

Su Xiao ignored them and kept running.

After several minutes, Su Xiao suddenly stopped—Yuna crashed into his back.

“Why… aren’t… you… running?”

Yuna was gasping for breath—the prior battle and this desperate flight were far from easy.

If their speed were recorded, they’d have shattered the world’s sprinting records.

“If we keep running, we’ll exhaust our strength—we can’t outrun these beasts.”

Su Xiao stood firm, blade in hand, as the dozens of eyeless ghouls closed in rapidly.

“I’ll cover you—take this kagune.”

Yuna tossed Su Xiao a kagune. He paused, then pressed its activation button.

It was his first time using a kagune.

“Click~.”

A silver-white metal case snapped open; the kagune inside expanded rapidly upon contact with air, wrapping around his upper body.

This wasn’t a weapon kagune—it was armor. Su Xiao had seen this before.

In the original story, Shinohara Kuki used this armor kagune—it was called “Shin,” recently developed by the CCG.

A black-and-blue kagune armor encased Su Xiao’s upper body. It was heavy, but its defense was formidable.

As Su Xiao donned “Shin,” the Cycle Paradise system prompted him.

【You have equipped the kagune “Shin.” Strength +3, Agility -3, Defense +2, Movement Speed reduced by 30%. (Temporary status. Bonuses or penalties vanish upon unequipping “Shin.”)】

With “Shin” combined with his sword techniques, Su Xiao’s frontline combat power increased by at least double.

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