Five minutes later, inside the unfinished shell of the construction site's half-built, abandoned tower—
"Mmph… mmphhh…"
Hearing the drunk man's muffled whimpering, Hojo Yoru glanced at him, walked over, and shoved the wad of cloth in the man's mouth even deeper. Smiling lightly, he said:
"Make another sound and I'll kill you. Either way, they'll write it off as collateral damage from a ghoul cleanup. No one will care."
Terror flooded the drunk man's eyes. He immediately went dead silent.
"That's more like it."
Hojo patted his shoulder as if rewarding good behavior, then turned to Asuna.
"Like I said—this whole area is basically a perfect hunting ground for ghouls. Big, open, nobody patrols, nobody checks, and normal people don't wander in. A place this good would never belong to some average ghoul. That woman was at most a follower. The one who truly controls this hunting ground—the strong one—hasn't shown up yet."
Asuna bit her lip and nodded, worry clouding her eyes.
"Then when you fight them… please be careful."
Just like investigators, ghouls also had rankings based on strength.
The lowest was D-class, basically the equivalent of a human infant—no combat ability at all. C-class was the kind ordinary people couldn't handle, but still considered weak among ghouls.
The ukaku ghoul from earlier—as well as Matsuo Satoshi and the two companions he'd brought before—were all B-class.
If you fought them alone, they could cause investigators some trouble… but not that much. The kind of ghoul you get mad at—briefly—and then move on.
But anything above that was a different world entirely.
B-class and below were prey that investigators could reliably eliminate—targets that shouldn't be allowed to escape. A-class was the first real dividing line: ghouls that could fight investigators head-on, then still have the power to escape—or even kill them.
Once a ghoul reached S-class, it meant combat ability on par with an Upper-Grade Investigator.
And that comparison came with a critical caveat: because of a ghoul's physique and regenerative ability, even if their "strength rating" matched an Upper-Grade, they were far more troublesome to actually deal with.
Investigators were flesh and blood humans. Their margin for error was nothing like a ghoul's.
As for SS-class and SSS-class…
Those were basically legendary monsters.
Even Bachikawa Tadashi—a quasi–Special Class investigator, one of the Bureau's top combat assets—couldn't be considered equal to an SS-class ghoul in a straight comparison.
And that, more than anything, was why a faction among the Bureau's higher-ups wanted to pursue "devil power" experimentation.
"Relax."
Facing Asuna's anxiety, Hojo simply smiled.
"I'm in a hurry, but I'll still stay calm."
Asuna frowned, confused.
"What are you in a hurry for?"
"My Ouroboros is starving."
"Huh? Didn't it just eat?"
"Eating something at that level doesn't do much anymore."
Hojo shook his head, explaining in a flat, matter-of-fact tone.
"It's like experience diminishing returns. I'm way stronger than ordinary ghouls. With my current stats, eating them only gives tiny improvements. Unless I gorge on a lot of them, the gain won't be noticeable."
Asuna nodded slowly—half understanding—then hesitated, and asked:
"If that's the case… why didn't you leave the ghoul's body for the Bureau? Don't they need raw materials to make quinques?"
Hojo countered as if it were obvious.
"First, that wasn't part of my agreement with them. If I hand over ghoul remains this time, they'll start treating it like one of my obligations. Then later, if I run into a strong ghoul and swallow it without leaving a corpse, they'll get annoyed at me for 'not fulfilling my duties.'"
That reasoning was airtight, and Asuna immediately understood it.
But then Hojo's tone shifted, and he added with a grin:
"Besides—chewing gum has no nutrition either, and tons of people still love it. It's just fun."
…
Two hours later, still within the construction site—
"What the hell is she doing?"
A young man in a crisp white suit—with slicked-back, gelled hair—looked around, his overall vibe like a professional host. He kept dialing his companion's number, but all he got was the automated message:
This phone is powered off.
"Didn't she text me saying she'd caught prey…? Don't tell me she couldn't hold back and ate everything herself…"
As he muttered to himself, a voice came from the darkness—cold, emotionless.
"Stop looking. Your companion's already been eaten by me."
"Hm?"
Hojo Yoru stepped out of the shadows.
The young man narrowed his eyes, and his pupils instantly shifted into that black-and-red ghoul hue.
"Eaten by you? So you came onto my turf to cannibalize, huh? But—"
His mouth curled into a near-mad smile.
From deep inside the derelict building, Asuna was watching through binoculars.
She thought, He's about to deploy his kagune. Which type is it?
But what happened next threw her completely off balance.
The man opened his mouth—his teeth elongating into sharp fangs.
His cheeks and eye sockets hollowed inward.
A pair of batlike wings burst through his clothes.
His fingernails extended and warped into blade-like talons.
"Vampire?!"
Even though Asuna hadn't personally studied the Bureau's files in detail, his silhouette was so distinct that the word surfaced instantly: vampire.
Clearly, the vampires in this world weren't elegant, beautiful near-humans with mysterious melancholy.
They were the classic kind—monsters with ghastly faces and savage fangs.
Asuna went blank.
Who would've thought the ghoul's "companion" wasn't another ghoul, but a vampire?
She stared at Hojo, worry rising in her hazel eyes.
What now?
She knew Hojo had never fought a vampire before. Sure, he'd gotten intel from the Ghoul Countermeasures Bureau and understood the basics…
But knowledge wasn't the same as real combat experience.
Could this be dangerous?
"Oh. A vampire."
Hojo sounded casual, but his expression hardened. His posture dropped, his body coiling low—completely ready to fight.
"Feeling fear now?"
The vampire didn't rush in. Instead, it waved its claws in mockery.
"Even if we both feed on humans, don't lump me in with you lowly—"
Hojo cut him off softly.
"Go, Ouroboros."
"…"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 135)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter67)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter85)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 60
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 65
From Junkman to Wasteland 50
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 35
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 40
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 37
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