Ihei Byakuya used up all the system points he had accumulated earlier in one go, adding 10 points to the [Strength] attribute.
With the bonus from these 10 points, Byakuya's overall strength immediately increased greatly.
At the instant the point allocation was completed, Ihei Byakuya slashed once again at [Pumpkin Head]'s Bikaku kagune, and this time he precisely struck the spot that had just been injured and had not yet fully healed.
Coupled with his greatly increased strength, he finally cut off a section of [Pumpkin Head]'s kagune this time.
[Pumpkin Head] did not mind this at all. The part that had been cut off would regenerate very quickly, and the remaining portion could still be used.
She swung the remaining thick and powerful half of her Bikaku and violently whipped it toward Ihei Byakuya.
Seeing the half-length Bikaku sweeping toward him, Byakuya immediately leapt into the air.
The Bikaku that failed to hit Byakuya smashed into the nearby wall.
"Boom!"
The reinforced concrete wall collapsed with a loud crash, clearly showing just how powerful [Pumpkin Head]'s Bikaku strike was.
At this moment, the street punks were all standing there dumbfounded. The ones who had been shouting arrogantly just moments ago were now completely obedient.
Where would they have ever seen a scene like this? A battle between a ghoul investigator and a ghoul was, in their eyes, simply gods fighting gods.
Especially since Ihei Byakuya was not an ordinary investigator, and [Pumpkin Head] was not an ordinary ghoul either.
The most intuitive example was that single sweeping strike of [Pumpkin Head]'s Bikaku that directly destroyed an entire wall. If that hit them, would it not result in comminuted fractures all over their bodies...?
At this moment, Ihei Byakuya, who had leapt over the Bikaku, was moving straight toward [Pumpkin Head].
"...?!"
[Pumpkin Head] was immediately startled, seemingly not expecting Ihei Byakuya to dare to initiate close-quarters combat with her.
As a Bikaku-type ghoul, she possessed excellent close-combat skills. A ghoul investigator should have understood this point very well...
What surprised her even more was that Ihei Byakuya did not even use his Quinque, but instead directly threw a punch at her.
Under the pumpkin headgear, Uruka Minami immediately felt that Ihei-san had gone crazy. A human engaging in close-range hand-to-hand combat with a ghoul was simply seeking death.
At this moment, Uruka Minami once again controlled her Bikaku and swung it toward Ihei Byakuya. At such a close distance, she believed it was almost guaranteed to hit.
Her plan was to spare Ihei-san's life after beating him until he was unable to fight. She did not want to kill him. Their interactions over the past few days had been quite pleasant. It was just a pity...
Although Ihei-san's identity was that of a ghoul investigator, after being beaten into serious injury, he would likely be recalled by the CCG to recuperate, and would probably withdraw from school as well.
Moreover, her identity had not been discovered by Ihei-san.
But the fact that the CCG had specially sent an investigator to her school meant they had probably already discovered something. If such a situation occurred again, she would no longer show mercy...
Uruka Minami seemed to believe victory was already in her grasp, and she had even thought through how to deal with Ihei-san afterward.
However, before her Bikaku could retract and strike Ihei Byakuya, Byakuya's punch had already been unleashed.
"Crack--"
A sound as if space itself had shattered rang out. Byakuya's punch produced an air quake, and cracks instantly appeared in the space in front of his fist.
Uruka Minami, who had never witnessed the power of the Gura Gura no Mi, could not react in time at all, and took the air quake head-on without any defense.
"It appeared again, that strange ability..."
Not far away, Yoshimura Eto immediately murmured.
Her gaze had never left Byakuya.
She stuck close to Byakuya not only because of his identity as a CCG investigator and a Sunlit Garden half-human, but also because this strange ability had piqued her interest.
It felt even more fantastical than the power of ghouls. Could it be that the Washuu Clan's long-term practice of breeding hybrids between humans and ghouls had resulted in some kind of mutation...?
In the next instant, Uruka Minami was blasted away by an unknown and terrifying force, her entire body suffering intense damage from the shock.
The flying Uruka Minami not only smashed through a wall, but also rolled several times before finally coming to a stop.
This was not enough to directly kill an A-plus level ghoul, because a ghoul's physical durability was already terrifying, and they also possessed powerful regenerative abilities.
But Uruka Minami definitely did not feel good either. Her body, which had been shaken into complete internal disarray, would require some time to regenerate.
"Crack..."
At this moment, the pumpkin headgear on Uruka Minami's head shattered into pieces and scattered across the ground.
This was bad!
Realizing that her appearance was about to be exposed, Uruka Minami did not even care about her bodily injuries anymore and staggered away in a desperate escape.
If her true face were seen by Ihei Byakuya, then the entire CCG would know her appearance and also know that she was a student at Seishin High-school.
The CCG would definitely mobilize even more force to hunt her down, and from then on there would be no place for her in human society...
Although severely injured, Uruka Minami still had the strength to escape.
She had already been blasted far away to begin with, and now it was even easier for her to flee.
"..."
Watching Uruka Minami disappear from the rooftops in just a few bounds, Ihei Byakuya did not intend to pursue her to the end.
First, he really could not catch up. Second, leaving Uruka Minami alive was still useful...
For example, keeping her alive meant he could still farm more system points. Killing her outright would actually bring little benefit.
[Ding! The host defeated the A-plus level ghoul [Pumpkin Head] and obtained a reward: System Points 3!]
As Uruka Minami escaped, Ihei Byakuya also triggered the system's judgment and received the reward.
At this moment, he looked at his own fist.
He could clearly feel that the power of his air quake punch just now had increased quite a bit. This was likely related to adding points to his [Strength] attribute, and in addition, his repeated use of the Gura Gura no Mi ability was equivalent to increasing his proficiency...
After that, Ihei Byakuya walked toward the spot where [Pumpkin Head] had fallen heavily injured.
Not only were there fragments of the pumpkin headgear left here, but also some torn pieces of fabric, and even a single shoe...
These were all things worth collecting, since they were "equipment" dropped from the mission target [Pumpkin Head].
Especially that shoe with a length of 22 centimeters. If it were brought back to the CCG, it would likely narrow down the suspect range very quickly.
[Ding! The host collected items left behind by [Pumpkin Head]. The Hidden side quest has made new progress. Reward obtained: System Points 1!]
After packing these items away, Ihei Byakuya turned and left.
However, the moment he turned around, he saw that the street punks were still standing there in a daze, all wearing expressions as if asking "Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing here?"
"Why are you still standing there dumbly? Are you waiting for me to see when you decide something among yourselves?"
Ihei Byakuya spoke calmly.
Only then did the street punks suddenly snap back to their senses.
"No, no!"
"We are leaving right now! We will get lost immediately!"
"..."
One by one, they shook their heads like rattles and then scrambled away in a panic.
The powerful strength Ihei Byakuya had just displayed had completely frightened them.
They also guiltily understood what it meant that they had been fighting here earlier, and they were terrified that this mysterious youth might casually deal with them as well.