"Kurona, that Ghoul is clearly on her last legs... why aren't they attacking?"
Yasuhisa Nashiro cupped her small face in her hands, asking curiously.
Yasuhisa Kurona stared blankly at the scene, her gaze fixed on the middle-aged female Ghoul locked in the cage ahead. Her voice was calm and emotionless:
"Because they're afraid and trying to avoid the fight. After all, escaping successfully still counts as passing."
Uesugi Ryu wasn't really paying attention to the live-action escape performance unfolding. Instead, he turned to look at the Yasuhisa sisters beside him.
With a playful tone, he said, "I'll take the point. A mad dog like that is too dangerous."
Kurona turned her head to look at Uesugi Ryu. His flippant tone made her frown slightly, she felt like he was underestimating them.
She didn't reply. Instead, she took Nashiro's hand and responded coolly, "No need. Nashiro and I won't lose to you."
Nashiro nodded in agreement, clearly sharing her sister's sentiment.
Uesugi Ryu smiled without saying more. Chicken sauce method, huh? It really works.
Soon, the three of them entered the room. The moment they stepped inside, the cage containing the female Ghoul unlocked with a mechanical hiss.
Surprisingly, the Ghoul didn't attack immediately as expected. Instead, she remained standing in place, her crimson kakugan eyes fixed on the Quinques in the humans' hands.
After a few seconds of tense silence, the Ghoul seemed to reach a conclusion in her mind. She abruptly shifted her gaze away from the tall and broad-shouldered Uesugi Ryu, who stood well over 1.8 meters tall, and locked onto the petite sisters beside him.
Clearly, in her mind, the two delicate-looking girls were easier targets than the imposing Uesugi Ryu.
With a sudden burst of speed, she lunged toward the sisters.
Yasuhisa Kurona raised her Quinque defensively and managed, barely, to block the Ghoul's attack. Even in her weakened state, the Ghoul's strength far surpassed that of the slender young girl.
Yasuhisa Nashiro seized the opportunity and swung her blade at the Ghoul's back, the sisters worked in perfect tandem.
A flash of madness flickered across the Ghoul's face. She knew full well that being captured and brought here meant there was no way out. Even if she survived today, she would only face endless torment, dying now or later was merely a matter of timing.
The overwhelming hunger crashed down on her like a tidal wave, pushing her toward the edge of insanity as her blood-red kakugan gleamed with a desperate resolve.
She completely ignored the attack from behind. With a scream of rage, she exploded with raw power, heedless of her hands being shredded by the sharp Quinque.
Nashiro panicked. She pressed forward with all her strength, desperately trying to stop the Ghoul from hurting her sister.
Even Kurona, whose face was usually expressionless, showed a rare glimpse of fear as she instinctively began to retreat.
Outside the cage, Tokage Goumasa scratched his bald head in irritation and quickly pressed a button on his remote.
Kurona tried her best to back away, but the Ghoul refused to let go of her weapon. Using it as leverage, she lunged forward again.
She bared her cracked, bark-like lips, revealing two rows of sharp teeth, and viciously sank them toward Yasuhisa Kurona's shoulder.
Nashiro, realizing the danger, hastily raised her blade and aimed it at the Ghoul's head to stop her from taking a bite.
From a distance, Uesugi Ryu smirked faintly. Even a mosquito's leg is still meat, an opportunity for personal gain left untouched is a fool's mistake.
Tokage Goumasa didn't scare him.
Uesugi Ryu stomped down hard on the ground and surged forward like a bullet.
In less than half a second, he closed the gap and delivered a brutal kick to the Ghoul's abdomen.
Boom!
The Ghoul was launched through the air. At the same moment, her clothes tore under the force.
She rolled violently across the ground and came to a stop only after several full rotations. Blood sprayed from her mouth, dark clots mixed with the fresh red.
A kick delivered at high speed like that wasn't something a starving Ghoul could take easily. While Uesugi Ryu's strength stat was only B-rank, his speed more than made up for it.
Without pause, he flung his Poison Wasp dagger. The blade flew in a straight line, piercing the Ghoul's eye socket and embedding itself precisely into her skull.
Only then did the control collar on her neck react belatedly, glowing red as a violent current surged through her.
The Ghoul's body convulsed grotesquely under the electricity.
Kurona's clothes had been torn at the shoulder, revealing a stretch of pale skin with a shallow but clear bite mark.
Nashiro had frozen for a moment, but once she saw her sister was unharmed, she instantly dove forward and embraced her.
"Kurona! Are you okay?"
Kurona clutched her shoulder, clearly shaken as the disgusting sensation of those teeth still lingered in her mind.
[You have slain a B-Grade Ghoul]
[Talent Activated: Soul Devour. Permanently increased Mana by 4 points.]
Uesugi Ryu crouched and pulled the Poison Wasp blade from the Ghoul's skull. As he turned away, he brushed a finger against the corpse.
[+4 Energy Points]
[Current Energy: 42/100]
Uesugi Ryu couldn't help but frown at the low value.
"Tch... what a weakling. But then again, she hadn't eaten in ages. Her RC level probably dropped so low she couldn't even produce a kagune."
It wasn't like he had deliberately waited for the perfect moment to pull off a heroic rescue.
If the Yasuhisa sisters didn't want outside help, he had no problem watching from the sidelines. He was always going to land the final blow anyway.
Still, things had gone off-script, and it gave him a legitimate reason to kill the Ghoul.
After all, saving a classmate made for a perfect excuse, even Tokage Goumasa couldn't easily punish him for that.
Uesugi Ryu didn't check on Yasuhisa Kurona. He simply glanced outward, locking eyes with Tokage Goumasa.
The instructor's face was expressionless, the twisted smile from earlier completely gone.
"...Thank you. About earlier..."
Kurona finally came to her senses. She walked over to Uesugi Ryu and lowered her voice, offering a quiet thanks.
He waved a hand dismissively. "No need."
"Ghouls can't be understood through logic. Protecting yourself is more important than trying to kill them. Most so-called opportunities to attack are traps the enemy leaves intentionally."
"If you can't even ensure your own safety, you're not ready to be an Investigator."
With that, Uesugi Ryu turned and walked away, his sharp parting words hanging in the air.