The moment the distant sirens pierced the night, Touka Kirishima's body instantly tensed.
Her violet eyes scanned the alley entrance.
Red and blue emergency lights flashed between the buildings.
Powerful flashlights swept across the street.
She immediately began calculating possible escape routes.
"You should go."
Ren gently tapped her shoulder.
Touka turned sharply.
Her purple eyes locked onto his face.
A trace of disbelief appeared in them.
"What about you?"
Ren smiled calmly.
Someone had to stay.
His gaze moved past her toward the approaching figures at the alley entrance.
"To deal with our 'guests.'"
Touka stared at him for a moment.
Logic told her this was the correct choice.
Someone had to delay the Commission of Counter Ghoul investigators.
And the one standing before her—
Possessed terrifying power.
Yet something still felt strange.
He sounded too relaxed.
Too casual about staying behind.
Footsteps and shouted commands were already echoing closer.
There was no more time.
"…Don't die."
Touka's voice was short.
Dry.
She cast one final glance at him.
Then—
With a light push of her foot—
She disappeared into the darkness of the alley.
Her figure slipped between piles of construction debris and vanished silently into the shadows.
Ren watched her leave.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
The excitement burning in his chest grew stronger.
The slaughter from earlier had awakened something.
His blood felt hot.
Anticipation slowly spread through his mind.
He turned toward the alley entrance.
"How many?"
Inside his mind—
Carnage answered immediately.
[Two squads…]
[Six insects…]
A loudspeaker crackled from outside.
"Attention! Person inside the alley!"
"Drop your weapon immediately!"
"Surrender now!"
Several flashlight beams tore through the darkness.
They illuminated the horrific scene.
Blood pools.
Corpses.
And the lone figure standing among them.
Inside Ren's mind—
Carnage whispered eagerly.
[Now…]
[Our turn…]
"Don't take too long."
Ren spoke quietly.
The transformation began instantly.
Crimson liquid erupted from his body.
Like a fountain of boiling blood.
Within seconds—
His human shape disappeared.
The monstrous crimson symbiote reformed.
A towering creature composed entirely of living scarlet fluid.
Two pale eyes stared at the investigators.
The CCG squad froze.
Their faces drained of color.
"Monster—!"
One investigator screamed.
"Open fire!!"
Gunfire exploded through the alley.
Bullets slammed into Carnage's body.
But the crimson liquid simply absorbed them.
The monster moved.
Two tentacles shot forward like giant serpents.
They wrapped around two investigators instantly.
One man's neck snapped with a sickening crack.
The other's arm bone shattered under the crushing pressure.
Their bodies collapsed immediately.
Another crimson tendril speared forward.
It pierced straight through a third investigator's chest.
The force launched him backward into the wall.
Blood and fragments of tissue burst outward.
The largest tentacle swung sideways like a battering ram.
It smashed directly into the quinque shield raised by another investigator.
The impact sent both man and shield flying.
He slammed violently against the wall.
Bones shattered.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
The final two investigators panicked.
They tried to retreat.
One shouted into his communicator.
"Requesting backup—!"
But they were too slow.
Thin crimson tendrils shot forward.
Like spears.
They pierced through their throats.
Their wrists.
Their hearts.
The communicators fell to the ground and shattered.
Both investigators collapsed within seconds.
Silence returned to the alley.
Only the weak groans of dying bodies remained.
And the steady dripping of blood.
Carnage stood in the center of the carnage.
Its tentacles slowly retracted back into the liquid body.
Like serpents returning to a nest.
Two pale eyes scanned the scene.
Almost admiring the destruction.
Among the fallen investigators—
One was still alive.
A young rookie.
His leg was trapped beneath shattered debris.
He stared in horror at the dead bodies around him.
He tried desperately to pull his leg free.
But it wouldn't move.
A crimson tentacle slid silently across the ground.
It wrapped around his ankle.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
The tendril crept upward.
Around his calf.
His knee.
His waist.
Finally—
It coiled around his neck.
"N-no…"
The rookie investigator's voice trembled.
Carnage slowly lifted him into the air.
His terrified face was pulled closer.
Closer to those empty pale eyes.
Warm blood dripped from the tentacles onto his face.
Inside the monster—
Carnage whispered with greedy satisfaction.
[Fear…]
[Delicious…]
But then—
Ren's consciousness pushed forward again.
Through Carnage's eyes—
He looked directly at the young investigator's despairing face.
The tentacle slowly tightened.
The rookie's pleas became broken choking sounds.
His eyes rolled upward.
His tongue slipped out uncontrollably.
His face turned dark blue from suffocation.
Time seemed to stretch.
In the bloody silence of the alley—
Only two sounds remained.
The faint gurgling of tightening tendrils.
And the dying man's fading breaths.
Those pale eyes watched coldly—
As life slowly disappeared.