302. Chapter 301: Despair! About to Break Out of the Cocoon!
Iwao Kuroiwa turned to look at everyone. He clenched his right fist and placed it on his chest, stating solemnly, "Ghoul Countermeasures Law, Article 13, Item 1: Ghoul Investigators must prioritize the safety of residents, and spare no sacrifice for this, even their own lives!"
None of the Investigators present spoke; instead, they silently placed their right fists on their chests.
"Move out!"
With grim determination, Iwao Kuroiwa activated his Quinque Armor in advance. Once his Kagune covered his body, he led everyone towards Tokyo's 11th Ward at the fastest speed!
"This show is getting more and more exciting. As an audience member, how could I be absent?" Roma Hoito, in her Kakuja form, watched their retreating figures and laughed excitedly.
...
Ten minutes later, Iwao Kuroiwa finally saw the monstrous behemoth lying in the ruins, its appearance grotesque.
Of course, what he could see was only a small part of the Dragon's torso, but even this small part was larger than an average house.
Looking out, the monster resembled a gigantic train built from flesh and blood, sprawling across the ground, stretching as far as the eye could see. Furthermore, incredibly sharp root-like appendages extended from around the train. Some of these appendages were plunged into the buildings on either side of the road, while others were inserted into the ground, with only a small section exposed to the air.
Facing the massive monster before them, almost everyone's eyes were filled with despair.
"Invincible, unstoppable." The moment he saw the Dragon, all the fighting spirit in Kousuke Marude's heart crumbled like the buildings by the roadside.
"What nonsense! It's just a moving mass of flesh and blood, I'm going to slaughter it today."
At this moment, Iwao Kuroiwa's eyes were completely crimson, like a Half-Kakuja who had gone berserk.
Although the armor could grant the user strength and defense far exceeding that of ordinary humans, it was ultimately made from Ghoul Kakuhou, making its performance extremely unstable. Over time, it would backfire on the user. Furthermore, to obtain even greater strength, one could only choose to further unleash the armor, but the consequence of doing so was increased backlash, causing significant injury to the user.
"You can't ruin a perfectly good show."
Roma Hoito, who appeared behind Iwao Kuroiwa, raised her arm and slapped down towards him.
Boom! The immense strength actually pressed Iwao Kuroiwa's whole body into the ground.
"Stop them, don't let them injury the Dragon."
Nimura Furuta, who appeared from who knows where, intended to personally take action and eliminate the strongest investigator on the field, Kishou Arima.
Facing the attacks from Nimura Furuta and Koshou, the white-haired Kishou Arima seemed somewhat at ease.
"Arima, you are a Half-Human just like us. Why don't we join forces and rule this world together after absorbing the Dragon's toxin?" Nimura Furuta, wearing an investigator uniform, attempted to win over Kishou Arima.
But what greeted him was only an extremely fast slash!
"As expected, he's a stubborn fellow." Nimura Furuta looked down at the knife wound on his chest, his expression turning extremely ugly.
Kishou Arima, holding the SSS-rank Owl Quinque, stood before the two and said softly, "Our positions are different. Right now, I just want to cut off your heads and resolve this crisis."
The Owl in his hand came from a nineteen-year-old Kuzen Yoshimura. Kuzen Yoshimura's arms, which were severed back then, were made into two Quinque weapons by the CCG. One is in Kishou Arima's hand, and the other is in Koshou's hand.
"Koshou, don't go easy on your former student." Nimura Furuta glanced at the V organization leader beside him and smiled sinisterly. "Are you telling me how to do my job?"
Suddenly, the ground beneath Koshou and the others began to shake violently. They stopped their actions almost simultaneously and looked towards the location of the Dragon in unison.
Boom! The Dragon, which was previously sprawled on the ground, actually began to roll over at this moment. Because some of its tentacles had already extended to other areas of Tokyo, like a plant with developed roots, its rolling caused a massive earthquake.
Amidst the roaring sound, countless debris surged out from the underground. The intense earthquake caused the remaining buildings to continuously crumble like melting snow, shaking down large amounts of dust. Rumble! Following this, the dust spread outwards like a collapsing avalanche.
In the blink of an eye, smoke filled the air, engulfing everyone present.
"What's happening?" Devil Ape Koma looked at the faintly churning massive figure in the smoke, somewhat puzzled. "Why does that so-called Dragon look like it's in great pain? Is it because it ate too many humans and got a stomachache?"
He mustered his courage and prepared to approach for a closer look.
But the next second, several worm-like tentacles opened their massive mouths and rushed towards Devil Ape Koma.
"Damn it!"
Devil Ape Koma, unable to dodge in time, subconsciously activated his Kagune to cover his upper body, thus avoiding being bitten in half by the tentacles. The tentacles, which had teeth similar to human teeth, continuously applied pressure. Under their terrifying strength, the Kagune Armor on Devil Ape Koma's body actually cracked open with several small fissures.
Crack... The fissures spread outwards, and it was estimated that they would completely shatter before long.
Swish! Kuzen Yoshimura, who had arrived, cut off the tentacle with a knife. After saving Devil Ape Koma, he didn't stop for a moment, quickly came before the Dragon, swung his knife, and forcefully cut an opening, then drilled inside.
The moment he drilled into the Dragon's body, the wound automatically healed shut.
"Store Manager!"
Devil Ape Koma wiped the blood from his face, leaped up fiercely, and came before the five-meter-tall flesh wall. He used all his strength and crashed into it like a cannonball. Bang! The next second, he was bounced back, heavily smashing into the ruins.
Meanwhile, the CCG investigators were being wantonly devoured by the tentacles. Kousuke Marude and a few others wanted to stop them, but found that even using their Quinque weapons, they couldn't injure the monster at all.
At this moment, despair was continuously spreading among them.
On the other side, Kuzen Yoshimura, who had drilled into the Dragon's body, was breaking through the flesh and blood tissue blocking his path while searching for Rize Kamishiro's trace.
"What is that?" He suddenly stopped.
Within the crimson flesh and blood, he saw black, wriggling "blood vessels". The appearance of these "blood vessels" was extremely abrupt. Kuzen Yoshimura observed them briefly and found that the flesh and blood tissue inserted by the "blood vessels" shriveled up at an astonishing speed, as if their nutrients had been drained.
"Could it be that these things, like parasites, are what's driving the monster mad?"
Kuzen Yoshimura followed the "blood vessels" all the way, and finally stepped into a cavity.
He saw a black cocoon rooted at the center of the cavity, expanding and contracting like an oval heart.
(end of chapter )