Now only Kaiko remained from V Organization.

He had to face Yoshimura, Eto, Tatara, and Noro alone—a completely different situation from before.

And there was still "Madara" lurking in the shadows. For him, this was a dead end.

Though Kaiko was in despair, he hadn't given up fighting.

Under the group assault, he was forced back again and again until he hit a dead end with nowhere left to retreat.

"Kuzen! Do you really have to be this ruthless?!"

Kaiko screamed at Yoshimura in panic.

"..."

Yoshimura had no words.

When V Organization forced him to kill Ukina with his own hands, had they ever thought about not being so ruthless?

Though he could see that Kaiko was only saying such brainless things because he feared death.

Tatara unleashed his high-temperature flames directly at Kaiko.

Kaiko scrambled to dodge.

While he was evading, Yoshimura found an opening and severed Kaiko's right arm—the one holding "Kuzen."

A half-human without a Quinque was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered before ghouls.

Even Arima Kishou, without a Quinque, could at most fend off ordinary ghouls. Facing SSS-rated ghouls like Yoshimura and Eto without a powerful Quinque was essentially impossible.

Of course, the transmigrator Amaha Byakuya was the exception.

Kaiko reacted quickly despite his shock, immediately reaching with his remaining left hand to grab the Quinque that had fallen alongside his right arm.

But Eto wouldn't give him that chance. She instantly severed his left hand as well.

Now both of Kaiko's hands were gone. He was completely defenseless.

"Kehehe~"

"How pathetic~"

"How laughable~"

"..."

The kagune covering the One-Eyed Owl erupted into mocking laughter, all deriding Kaiko.

She pinned Kaiko down with one kagune arm, rendering him immobile, while her other arm began to torture him.

"Hey~ mister, left leg skewer or right leg skewer... which do you think tastes better~?"

Eto sneered at Kaiko.

Kaiko couldn't possibly answer such a question. He could only struggle frantically.

But a half-human's strength, without external aid, couldn't compare to a kakuja's. The size difference alone was overwhelming.

No matter how Kaiko struggled, he couldn't break free from the One-Eyed Owl's grip.

"You don't know either? What a shame. I'll just have to taste them myself to find out~"

What followed was Eto's vengeful torture of Kaiko.

Starting with his left leg—far more brutal than what she'd done to Shinohara. She sliced off thin strips of flesh one by one.

Then she skewered these slices on the tip of her kagune arm before stuffing them into her mouth.

"AAAAHH—!!!"

Accompanied by Kaiko's agonized screams, Eto began the same lingchi-like torture on his right leg.

The right leg met the same fate as the left—sliced thin, skewered, and eaten.

The cruelest part was... as a half-human, Kaiko's physical resilience far exceeded Shinohara's. Even if he wanted to pass out, it wasn't easy.

Thus, Kaiko remained fully conscious throughout, his face contorted in agony, features twisted, screaming in unbearable pain.

Yoshimura merely watched from the side. He couldn't bring himself to do what Eto was doing.

Having avenged Ukina today was enough for him.

Byakuya didn't watch Eto's torture of Kaiko continuously. He was more concerned about the half-human children in the Sunlit Garden.

Those children, raised and confined in the Sunlit Garden, had no Quinques. No matter how strong their bodies were, they couldn't fight ghouls.

Though Byakuya had already ordered Aogiri Tree not to harm innocents—specifically referring to those innocent half-human children—

Aogiri Tree's internal discipline was poor. Neither Eto nor Tatara really managed organizational discipline, so Byakuya remained somewhat worried.

He went to check on the half-human children.

His concerns proved justified. Inside one building, some half-human children had banded together to resist the invading Aogiri ghouls. The ghouls had grown impatient and were about to make examples of them to force submission.

Byakuya witnessed this scene.

He flickered before the leading ghoul and grabbed the top of his skull, hoisting him up with tremendous force.

"The King..."

The ghoul was terrified.

His expression twisted in pain and fear—Byakuya was about to crush his skull with one hand.

The other ghouls present immediately dropped to one knee, bowing to Byakuya. Knowing they'd transgressed, they didn't dare breathe heavily.

Byakuya didn't waste words on them. He casually tossed aside the ghoul he'd been holding.

"We won't harm you. There's no need to resist. Once we're done, we'll leave."

Looking at those half-human children—their expressions brave but eyes betraying fear—Byakuya left only these words before leading the other ghouls away.

Most of these children were under ten years old. Those in their teens were already capable of operating independently.

They hadn't believed Byakuya's words at first, but watching him lead all the ghouls away, they finally exhaled in slight relief.

They still didn't dare let their guard down completely. Who knew if those ghouls might return? They all stayed hidden, not daring to move.

...

[Ding! Host has expanded "Akatsuki" Organization to 200 members. Reward: 200 Fusion Points!]

[Ding! Host has expanded "Akatsuki" Organization to 300 members. Reward: 300 Fusion Points!]

[Ding! Host has expanded "Akatsuki" Organization to 500 members. Reward: 500 Fusion Points!]

[Ding! Host has expanded "Akatsuki" Organization to 1000 members. Reward: 1000 Fusion Points!]

[Ding! Host led "Akatsuki" Organization to successfully eliminate V Organization members. Reward: 500 Fusion Points!]

This operation netted Byakuya a total of 2,500 Fusion Points.

The Akatsuki expansion alone yielded 2,000 points—naturally because Aogiri Tree had merged in. With over a thousand members, Aogiri Tree instantly brought Akatsuki's roster to over a thousand.

Meanwhile, Kaiko had been reduced to a limbless torso by Eto's torture. Both arms and legs were gone, and even his chest and abdomen had been carved open and churned into paste.

Only his head remained relatively intact.

Only then did Kaiko finally lose consciousness, already in critical condition.

But in the next moment, the One-Eyed Owl crushed his head beneath her foot.

Kaiko was dead.

"Is it over?"

Byakuya appeared before Yoshimura and Eto. "Let's go, before Arima is forced to bring reinforcements..."

Though Arima's true allegiance was with Aogiri Tree, it wasn't time to openly break with the Washuu Clan yet. Arima still had to lead a team to the Sunlit Garden to "support" V Organization.

"Mm."

Eto's kakuja form had already dissipated. The bandage-wrapped human figure stepped out from the kakuja shell.

...

Shortly after Byakuya and all of Aogiri Tree departed the Sunlit Garden.

Arima arrived with Squad Zero, including Byakuya's Wood Clone.

Seeing the black-clad V Organization corpses littering the ground—especially Kaiko's gruesome remains—Arima's expression remained unchanged.

Not just Arima. Shio Ihei and the others showed no reaction either.

The Sunlit Garden had raised these half-humans as emotionless killing machines. While they could interact normally with people in daily life, they felt nothing when faced with such carnage.

Only Koori Ui showed a visible reaction. Not fear or discomfort—just that the deaths were too gruesome and the scene too horrific for any normal person to stay calm.

"Seems we arrived too late."

Hairu commented flatly.

"That body over there should be Lord Kaiko, right? I never expected even Lord Kaiko to..."

Shio was surprised.

Lord Kaiko had once been Arima's master. To die so miserably at ghoul hands...

"Aogiri Tree alone couldn't have done this. 'Madara' was probably here too..."

Ui analyzed gravely.

"Those marks over there! They look like what 'Madara' left during the Owl Suppression!"

Yusa Arima pointed at several massive sword gouges in the ground.

They clearly weren't made by any normal ghoul.

"Let's check for survivors first."

Rikai Souzu suggested.

They quickly located all the Sunlit Garden children—all alive, not even injured.

Based on the children's accounts, they confirmed that "Madara" had led all of Aogiri Tree in attacking the Sunlit Garden and killed every V Organization member, including Kaiko.

Squad Zero immediately reported the incident to CCG headquarters.

Yoshitoki Washuu, who had still been at the reception banquet, rushed back to handle the matter.

For CCG's human investigators, this was Aogiri Tree attacking an unfamiliar location—a major incident of Aogiri's provocation.

But for the Washuu Clan, this was an unprecedented existential crisis.

V Organization's annihilation meant the Washuu had lost their elite shadow force. Only Arima and Furuta Nimura, who hadn't been at the Sunlit Garden, remained.

No one cared about Furuta, a mere logistics person. And Arima was aging, with only a few years left to live.

The Washuu Clan was in panic.

They had always relied on the CCG in the light and V Organization in the shadows. V Organization was no less important than the CCG itself.

And the Washuu themselves, having eaten corpse flesh for generations and never fighting personally, were weak despite being natural-born kakuja.

This was why, in the original story's later stages, Furuta had been able to lead the Clowns to annihilate the entire Washuu Clan.

To address this existential crisis, Chairman Tsuneyoshi Washuu urgently summoned Arima and Byakuya...

...

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