In the outskirts at dusk, it was still sweltering due to the season.
Yuno Gasai followed Sen Getsusa, walking through the woods as if taking a stroll.
A pale bone mask covered her face, and her light pink hair was hidden within a large hood. Even looking from a close distance, one couldn't clearly identify the girl's silhouette.
The face hidden under the mask was full of smiles, but from outside the mask, it looked exceptionally cold, stern, and mystery.
Hmm... it looks a bit like a mystery organization now.
This mask was specially customized by Yuno—
A head-and-face piece like a giant spider's mandibles, paired with a hood that hid everything in the dark of night; amidst the eerie mystery, it was actually a bit cute.
This made Sen Getsusa incredibly jealous... Isn't it too cool?
It's just too cool!
I want one too!
Deliberately ignoring the Filter she possessed, the girl began to pester Yuno Gasai with non-stop muttering.
"Clearly such a cool mask..."
"You only made one..."
"Am I someone who cares about money..."
"Mask, mask, mask..."
Blah blah blah.
Yuno Gasai looked at the sulking girl with amusement, "My dear female tycoon, I don't have the Ability to hide my identity."
"When going out for operations, I must hide my identity."
"This is a necessity, right? What are you so jealous about?"
Sen Getsusa pursed her lips in dissatisfaction and ignored her.
"You clearly have an Ability? I'm the one who should be envious of Tsukisa."
"What are you getting angry about..."
Still ignoring her.
Yuno Gasai chuckled. Seeing no other way, she had to tap the mask on her face, making a thumping sound:
"Fine... then, what kind does Tsukisa want?"
Her long black hair swirled in the air as the girl hopped around happily, her crescent-moon eyes full of laughter on her stunning face.
"Haha! I knew it!" Sen Getsusa ran over: "I want..."
"Eh, so you're a spider?"
The girl thought for a moment: "Then I..."
"How about a praying mantis or a centipede?"
"They're pretty cute, right?"
Yuno Gasai's expression was complicated: "No, you don't have to be the same as me..."
"What kind of small animals does Tsukisa like?"
Sen Getsusa hugged Yuno Gasai's arm, her words like stones being fired continuously from a slingshot.
"Tiger? Cat? Cow? Or... deer?"
Counting off the animals in the zoo, the two girls talked and laughed, stepping into the dimness as the Moonlight fell like a curtain.
"I think Her Majesty should have a reindeer one." Arrietty sat on her shoulder, having a great time playing with Sen Getsusa's earlobe.
"Shh—"
Flap, flap—
A Crow flew past.
On a nearby highway, a tragic murder case was brewing.
No, 'brewing' might not be quite accurate.
One should say, it was currently in progress.
"Dad... please..."
The girl's legs had been severed at the base. In their place, some honey was being smeared on the wounds; she looked like a human born without legs, with golden honey flowing beneath her.
The scrawny man was unshaven, with two dark circles under his eyes and messy hair.
His mental state didn't seem very good.
Straining to drag the girl out of the back seat of the car, the man also fell beside the highway. On the silent, deserted highway, even if an occasional vehicle sped past, no one would notice the tragedy behind the car.
The legless girl struggled, her ten fingers firmly grasping the asphalt road, her fingernails peeling back, lines of blood flowing across the coarse road surface.
The car shook a few times.
Two men stepped out of the vehicle.
Three people carried the young girl and carelessly tossed her into the wild field beside the highway.
"Is this the last one?"
The scrawny man didn't care about his daughter's wails; he pondered gloomily, his long, thin tongue licking his cracked lips.
"Your daughter, my daughter, they're gone, all gone."
"The one Miyamoto-kun mentioned, is she okay?"
The tall man also had lifeless eyes and heavy dark circles; when he opened his mouth, his yellow, uneven teeth were even more disgusting.
"I don't know... I only heard he has a daughter..."
"Tomorrow, should I ask him out...?"
"Not enough to eat! Not enough to eat!"
The three men were planning something unknown, but in the grass, the half-bodied girl understood all too well.
She was not the last victim.
If the daughter was gone... weren't there other girls?
Clenching the blood-stained soil in her palm, the girl had never hated herself so much—crawl! Move!
Golden honey seeped into the girl's upper body through her wounds... gradually, she became more and more dazed.
Like a hallucination, she suddenly saw three flickering figures staring at her expressionlessly.
Her father looked down at her, smiling, saliva dripping down from between his blackish-yellow teeth—
Splashing on her face, chin, and chest... Delicious... So delicious... Where were her fingers?
Crunch, crunch... What about her chest?
Gulp, gulp... A delicious feast—
Sen Getsusa, leaning against a nearby tree trunk, suddenly patted Yuno Gasai's shoulder and struck a pose that was hard to look at.
"It's time!"
"Go! Yuno Spider-ko!"
Yuno Gasai, wearing a mask:...—Although she wasn't much better herself, most of the time, she still wanted to give this Naughty Sen a few hard bites with her teeth.
Rolling her shoulders, Yuno Gasai waded through the waist-high grass, pushed it aside, and picked up that giant fire axe, heading straight for the three men who were eating.
"I told you it was a waste of money..."
Folding her arms, Sen Getsusa rolled her eyes: "Why learn Kendo..."
"In the end, she still uses an axe..."
"Spendthrift girl..."
The girl, completely lacking self-awareness, swept her million-dollar women's shoes through the mud while complaining about the other being a spendthrift.
By her ear, Arrietty sniffed with her little nose.
"I smell a strange scent... Queen."
"Enemies... many of them."
Sen Getsusa twitched her little ears.
Clang, clang.
The sound of metal clashing and rubbing against each other.
"Queen..." Arrietty nimbly swung from Sen Getsusa's hair, deftly climbing to the top of the girl's head, sitting in the thick black hair, and shielding her eyes with her hand to look into the distance.
"Many people seem to be approaching."
"We should go."
The Little Sprite pulled hard on a strand of hair on Sen Getsusa's head, like a game of tug-of-war, her whole little body leaning back, cheeks bulging with effort.
"Let's go, let's go."
The girl shook her head, pinched the back of Arrietty's clothes with her fingertips, and lifted her down.
"No need."
"I probably know who it is."
"Let's see how Yuno Spider-ko's battle is going first."
Sen Getsusa finished speaking and turned to gaze in the direction of Yuno's back.
In her vision, the curtain spread out as soft as silk.
[Ghoul:
[Humans infected by some kind of chaos.]
[Not being Ritualists, they have a hunting style unique to the weak.]
[Pack hunting, devouring in large gulps.]
[As the number of humans consumed increases, the body will gradually distance itself from the human species and slowly mutate toward mythological creatures.]
[Origin Point level Ghouls begin to grow tough hide, becoming immune to most melee weapon attacks.]
[After reaching Super-Sequence, these creatures belonging to the Chaos Faction will evolve excellent hearing, allowing them to accurately hunt their locked-on prey even in the long night.]
[Judgment level Ghouls will officially shed their human identity and transform into mythological creatures.]
[At that point, they will be immune to most low-intensity elemental attacks.]
[And possess the Ability to preliminarily manipulate mystery.]
[Energy Level: Lv0 · Contactee]
"Ah, small fry."
Leaning under the tree, Sen Getsusa yawned.
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