Just as both sides met and were about to begin fighting, Kaiko slowly walked out from behind the men in black.
"One Eyed Owl, we were just worrying about not being able to find you. I didn't expect you to deliver yourself to us.
And Kuzen, you were lucky enough to escape last time. This time, I'll personally send you on your way."
As soon as Kaiko finished speaking, the Quinque in his hand unfolded. It was identical to the Owl used by Arima Kishou.
This was the SSS rated Quinque Owl, crafted from the two kagune arms that had been cut off from the manager by Arima Kishou. There were two in total.
Kaiko and Arima Kishou each had one. It could be said to be the strongest Quinque in the CCG.
Now that Carnage was not present, Kaiko was truly arrogant beyond measure.
He did not take the so called One Eyed Owl seriously at all.
Yoshimura Eto and Manager Yoshimura looked at the members of V before them, killing intent surging in their eyes. They were the culprits who had caused the death of their mother and wife.
"Kaiko, today we will settle this once and for all." Manager Yoshimura's deep voice came from beneath his kagune mask.
Fearing that Kaiko might harm Eto, Manager Yoshimura charged directly at him.
"Hmph. I'll settle you right now, Kuzen." Kaiko snorted coldly and swung the massive Owl in a horizontal slash.
With a loud clang, he forced Manager Yoshimura back.
Eto naturally would not stand by and watch. With a roar, four kagune arms thrust toward Kaiko from tricky angles.
Kaiko's strength was formidable. Wielding this SSS rated Quinque, his combat power approached that of Arima Kishou.
With a sidestep, he easily dodged Eto's ambush, then reversed his grip and struck upward, severing two of her kagune arms.
Eto retreated two quick steps in pain. Because her kakuhou had not been damaged, the two kagune arms regenerated in the blink of an eye.
Though aged, Manager Yoshimura was rich in combat experience. His attacks were fierce and cunning, every strike aimed at Kaiko's vital points.
After regenerating her kagune arms, Eto resumed the father and daughter assault on Kaiko.
As expected of the leader of V, facing two Owls alone, he did not fall behind. In fact, he faintly showed signs of suppressing them.
Kaiko's subordinates also wanted to enter the fray to help him deal with the two Owls.
But the gap was too great. Their intervention would mean little. A single hit would severely wound them.
So they chose not to add to the chaos and instead moved to eliminate the other ghouls first before coming back to assist their leader.
Kaiko pressed the button on his Quinque. The entire weapon began to hum.
With a fierce swing, countless kagune spikes shot toward the father and daughter like a storm.
The attack came too suddenly. There was no time to dodge. Manager Yoshimura immediately stepped in front of Eto.
His two kagune arms swung frantically. The sound of constant clashing rang out.
He blocked the vast majority of the attack. Though he was struck several times, none were fatal.
"Eto, are you alright?"
From his voice, it was clear that blocking that strike had not been easy.
Eto looked at her father standing in front of her and was deeply moved.
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end only responded with a muffled "Mm."
The red glow around her kagune intensified. Kagune spikes far larger than those of an ordinary ukaku shot wildly toward Kaiko.
Kaiko was startled by the attack and quickly threw himself to the side, barely dodging it.
Though he avoided the strike, his face was exceptionally grim. Today, the two Owls had to be eliminated.
Using their kakuhou to create several more powerful Quinque, he would deal with Carnage slowly afterward.
...
Shadows surged in from all directions like a tide, surrounding the remaining four tightly.
The numbers of V were indeed not to be underestimated. Even if not everyone possessed Special Class level strength, they were far from mere fodder.
Facing the siege, Noro did not even change posture. His head merely tilted with a crack.
Behind him, a gigantic maw like an abyss suddenly opened in the form of a kagune, indiscriminately devouring everything around it.
Where that enormous mouth passed, limbs flew and blood splattered. Anyone brushed by it would at best lose arms or legs, at worst die on the spot.
He had once been an old acquaintance of Manager Yoshimura and Eto's childhood guardian. After being killed by V, he was forcibly "revived" by Eto using her own kakuhou, becoming this monster like being with only faint consciousness and near immortality.
For a moment, V's men in black were entangled by this regenerating, unkillable creature, caught in a dilemma.
On another side, Kamishiro Matasaka did not even use his kagune. He planted his feet firmly and relied solely on martial arts to meet the enemy.
Where his fists and kicks landed, bones shattered. Anyone struck had their bodies twisted and collapsed to the ground.
The men in black attempted to surround him, yet could not even touch the hem of his clothes.
Kamishiro Matasaka's strength was such that, aside from facing Kaiko, no one else here was his match.
In the original story, his death had been far too abrupt, dispatched in just a few moves by Arima Kishou.
On Tatara's side, as he watched the many men in black closing in, his eyes narrowed.
Suddenly, blue flames enveloped his entire body, as if he had ignited himself.
As the flames dissipated, a giant clad in metallic, armor like plating appeared.
On both shoulders were enormous cylindrical kagune structures resembling flamethrowers.
Tatara's kakuja form, according to Hōji Kousuke in the anime, should resemble his elder brother Yan quite closely.
Kakuja forms are shaped by one's inner thoughts. His appearance likely reflected the depth of his longing for his brother.
Tatara looked at the dense encirclement. It suited his intentions perfectly.
From the opening in his face, a roar erupted as a thick stream of blue flames blasted outward, sweeping toward the men in black. The scorching temperature distorted the air itself.
The blue flames were terrifying. Touching them meant death. Once burned, nothing remained but ashes.
Although immensely powerful, it had a fatal weakness.
The flames were not fast. V's men were no rabble. They quickly discovered this flaw.
The previously tight encirclement instantly scattered. Everyone maintained a certain distance, ensuring that when the flames came, they had enough space to dodge.
Once this weakness was exposed, Tatara effectively became a walking iron can.
If he could not burn them and lacked speed, he could only remain entangled with the men in black.
Rize, however, was the most composed among them.
She moved through the enemy ranks as if taking a stroll. Her four rinkaku swept like the ribbons of a reaper, harvesting lives with each casual motion.
The men in black quickly realized her strength far exceeded their expectations. They stopped engaging directly and attempted to widen the distance to wear her down.
But Rize was not Tatara. Widening the distance meant nothing against her.
Only when combat power was relatively equal would distance matter.
A sick smile curved her lips. Planting her four rinkaku into the ground, she pushed off with force.
In the blink of an eye, the distance that had just been created vanished.
What followed was a one sided slaughter, accompanied by Rize's delighted laughter.