Chapter 284: 284: Want the Strength to Protect Your Family?

At the same time, Mado and Amon followed the clues to Hinami’s home.

Looking at the battered building in front of them, both men grew visibly serious.

They took out their quinques, special weapons made from ghoul kakuhou, and prepared for the fight ahead.

Quinques were unique weapons used by CCG investigators.

Their materials came from the kakuhou inside ghouls, and their forms varied depending on the type of kagune they were made from.

Generally speaking, ukaku were mostly processed into ranged weapons capable of firing kagune projectiles or energy attacks.

Koukaku, because of its weight and hardness, was usually made into swords, other heavy weapons, or armor.

Rinkaku, with its flexible structure, was often fashioned into unusual specialized weapons.

Bikaku, on the other hand, lacked both an overwhelming advantage and a fatal weakness, so it was commonly made into balanced weapons suitable for rookie investigators.

“Looks like we’re in for a tough fight,” Amon said grimly.

“Tch, tch. Look at this level of destruction. We’re dealing with at least an S-rated ghoul, maybe higher.”

Mado held his briefcase in one hand while slowly turning the wedding ring beneath his glove.

Suddenly, he looked behind him.

At some point, a man in a black coat had appeared behind them with both hands tucked into his pockets.

Mado reacted without hesitation. He pressed the activation switch on his weapon, and two brilliant kagune-like tails burst from the quinque, resembling the tails of some exotic beast. They instantly wrapped around the man’s upper body.

Ivan glanced down at the purple-red bikaku coiled around him and smiled faintly. With only a slight flex of his arms, he snapped them apart.

“Tell your director, Yoshitoki Washuu, that the Dragon will soon be born. Tell him to watch carefully.”

Ivan walked straight between the two men and casually placed a hand on Mado’s shoulder.

Crunck!

Mado’s right shoulder instantly collapsed, and half his body twisted sideways as he dropped heavily to one knee.

“Mado-san!”

Amon hurriedly caught Mado as blood leaked from the older investigator’s mouth.

“Cough… Ward 20 really does have plenty of big fish hiding underneath it.”

Mado coughed up blood and looked up at Ivan’s retreating back with a grin.

“I’m getting you out of here.”

Amon had never expected the fight to end so quickly.

One exchange was all it took for Mado to be critically injured. He had carried out countless missions with Mado, but the man in front of him was the only existence who had ever made him feel genuine dread.

…

Inside the house, as Hinami’s father roared in despair, the dust finally began to clear, revealing the monster’s true form.

Its humanoid body was covered in thick black armor. Its actual face was hidden beneath a helmet with the texture of cooled magma, while vicious black spikes protruded from all over its body.

Yet despite its terrifying appearance, it did not look bulky. Instead, there was something strangely elegant and fluid about its shape.

“…”

Ryoko Fueguchi said nothing. She pressed her lips together, stepped in front of Hinami, who was still wrapped in tentacles, and spread her arms wide to shield her daughter.

“Are you not afraid to die?”

A voice that sounded completely out of place suddenly came from behind the monster.

A man approached at an unhurried pace.

The creature lowered its head respectfully, stepped aside, and withdrew its tentacles.

For Rize Kamishiro to evolve into a Dragon through cannibalism, she needed more high-quality kakuhou, especially rinkaku.

Hinami, who possessed SS-rated potential, was the perfect source.

“Don’t worry. I mean you no harm.”

The smile on Ivan’s face looked unbelievably fake.

At least, that was how Hinami’s family saw it. They did not believe a single word he said, not even the punctuation.

“If you really mean us no harm, then leave us alone and get out of our home,” Ryoko said, watching him warily.

“Want to guess who I ran into on the way here?”

A large amount of black liquid flowed down Ivan’s back and rapidly formed into a throne.

Ivan sat down and smiled. “CCG investigators. Looks like they’ve already found your home. If I’m right, they came here because they wanted to pry information about Jason out of your husband. You should know how they operate…

“If you fall into their hands, what happens to you will be ten thousand times worse than what you’re dealing with now. Oh, and here’s a little secret…

“Jason only became that torture-loving lunatic after he was captured and thrown into a detention facility, where he endured unimaginable abuse until his mind finally broke. So, compared to them, don’t I seem remarkably kind?”

“I don’t know where Jason is. He never tells me where he goes.”

Hinami’s father had assumed Ivan had come here looking for Jason.

Truthfully, if he had known earlier that Jason had pissed off this many people, he would have left Ward 20 long ago and hidden somewhere remote.

“No, no. Jason is already dead. I killed him. I couldn’t care less where he was going.”

Ivan looked toward Hinami, who was curled up on the floor after returning to her human appearance, and spoke gently. “I only want you to understand one thing. Without absolute strength, you can’t protect what you want to protect.”

“This is a dark world. Ghouls eat humans, humans hunt ghouls, and sometimes ghouls even cannibalize each other. Running away forever solves nothing. Only strength can give you a truly peaceful life.”

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Ryoko asked with a frown.

“What I’m saying is… I can give you strength. I can make you far more powerful ghouls, powerful enough for your family to keep living happily together.”

“I agree. What do you need me to do?”

Hinami’s father forced his badly injured body upright and looked at Ivan sitting on the throne.

“You?”

Ivan smiled, then shook his head.

“You’re not qualified. Neither is your wife.”

“What are you planning to do to Hinami?! If you’ll leave her alone, I’ll accept any torture you want!”

Hinami’s father’s eyes were red, and his voice had gone hoarse.

“Torture? Don’t overthink it. I’m not some sick bastard like Jason. I only plan to raise your daughter into an SSS-rated ghoul, and when necessary, take a few kakuhou from her body.”

Ivan made no attempt to hide his intentions and stated his plan openly.

But after hearing that, Hinami’s father became even more agitated.

“If you want to kill Hinami, then just kill me right now! Otherwise, even if it costs me everything, I’ll stop you!”

“I understand. Normally, removing a ghoul’s kakuhou would kill them. But an SSS-rated ghoul doesn’t have just one kakuhou. Under normal circumstances, there should be at least six. If I only remove a few of them, the ghoul won’t die. At worst, she’ll just be weakened for a while.”