"Who would've thought Amaha was a shooting prodigy? That shot he just took apparently dropped the enemy sniper team's leader."
The tide was turning, and Marude's expression brightened considerably. Watching Byakuya maintain his position trained on Building 1's upper floors, taking occasional shots, he couldn't help but exclaim to Koori Ui.
"I actually wasn't aware of that either..."
Ui offered an awkward smile.
"Really? He's quite modest then. And a versatile genius at that."
Marude stroked his chin thoughtfully.
At that moment, Byakuya kept his scope fixed on Building 1's elevated positions. The moment any Aogiri Tree sniper dared show their head, he'd put a bullet through it.
Under his near-perfect accuracy, Aogiri's sniper team was rendered completely ineffective.
With that, the CCG finally breached Building 1 successfully. Byakuya set down his sniper rifle—now it was time for the Ward 11 Special Countermeasures Unit to make their entrance. Only investigators wielding Quinques could engage ghouls at close quarters.
First Class Investigator Take Hirako, Rank 1 Investigator Koutarou Amon, Associate Special Class Investigator Senzou Chino, and others were already locked in combat with ghouls in Building 1.
Byakuya, Ui, and the rest followed the original plan, advancing into another building.
Eventually, all forces would converge for a combined assault on Aogiri Tree's command center in the deepest section.
"Suzuya's wandered off somewhere alone again. I hope he doesn't run into any Aogiri executives..."
Juuzou Suzuya had apparently gone off on his own, prompting Shinohara to voice his concern.
...
[Ding! Host defeated a "B-rated ghoul." Reward: 5 Fusion Points!]
[Ding! Host defeated a "B-rated ghoul." Reward: 5 Fusion Points!]
[...]
The battle raged from night through to the following day, and Byakuya had already driven off quite a few ghouls.
With numerous ghouls occupying each building, the CCG had only managed to secure Buildings 1, 2, and 4 by this point.
Moreover, they'd only encountered one Aogiri executive so far—Ayato Kirishima.
An extremely fast ukaku-type ghoul. Even when spotted, he was nearly impossible to catch.
"Something feels off. So far, only one of the other teams has encountered an executive. We haven't seen the Bin Brothers or any of the other executives."
Shinohara sensed something was wrong.
"The ones we've faced have mostly been B-rated or lower. There's no way Aogiri Tree's fighting force is this weak."
Amon chimed in.
By now, half of the Ward 11 Special Countermeasures Unit had assembled.
Shinohara, Kuroiwa, Hirako, Kureo Mado, and Koutarou Amon.
"Could the other executives and stronger ghouls all be gathered at the enemy command center?"
Kuroiwa suggested.
"Let's not worry about that for now. We'll find out once we breach the command center."
Just as Shinohara was about to head toward Building 5—the one closest to the command center—a towering figure blocked their path at the floor's entrance.
"...!!"
Shinohara and Kuroiwa, who had both fought the One-Eyed Owl before, felt a distant, familiar dread wash over them at the sight of that silhouette. Their eyes went wide.
Mado's expression twisted into something feral, his hand trembling around his Quinque case.
"STOP!!"
Kuroiwa immediately bellowed to everyone behind him.
"Special Class Kuroiwa?!"
"What's happening?"
The entire team was bewildered.
Besides Kuroiwa, only Shinohara and Mado understood what they were facing.
"That thing... why is it here..."
Shinohara muttered in disbelief.
"Shinohara-san, what's going on?"
Amon couldn't help but ask.
"It's the Owl... The SSS-rated One-Eyed Owl. The 'natural disaster' that appeared ten years ago..."
Shinohara's voice was grave, his expression severe.
Ten years ago, the One-Eyed Owl had first appeared.
Special Class Investigator Mikito Urie of Ward 3 was killed by a mysterious ghoul. The unknown ghoul was temporarily designated "X" and preliminarily rated S-class due to its overwhelming power that surpassed even a Special Class investigator.
A month after the Ward 3 incident, "X" launched a large-scale assault on the Ward 2 CCG branch, inflicting massive casualties. Its threat level was subsequently raised from S to SS.
"X's" appearance was also revealed during the Ward 2 attack. Based on its form, the CCG renamed it "Owl." It possessed approximately six to eight kakuhou, confirming it as a kakuja. Since the Owl only had a single kakugan, it was also called the "One-Eyed Owl."
Later, the Owl led multiple ghouls in an assault on Cochlea in Ward 23, prompting another upgrade to SSS-rated.
Following that, the Owl and its gang launched a second attack on Ward 2. At that time, Kuroiwa—then a First Class investigator—dealt a critical blow to the Owl's kakuhou.
But when the Owl returned for a third attack on Ward 2, it came alone—and was even stronger than before. Faced with the Owl's overwhelming power, the entire CCG was helpless. It wasn't until the then-nineteen-year-old Rank 2 Investigator Kishou Arima entered the battle that the tide finally turned.
At that time, Arima had just been personally promoted by Chief Washuu from Rank 3 to Rank 2. Despite his youth, he wielded Special Class investigators' Quinques with masterful skill.
(Author's Note: Yes, the anime changed this part too. In the manga, Arima borrowed a Special Class investigator's Quinque and only managed to fight the manager to a standstill ten years ago—not crushing him with two B-rated Quinques. After the grueling battle, the manager lost two kakuhou and fled. Simply put, if the manager had been willing to eat while fighting, he could have soloed the entire CCG back then. Only Arima and the Washuu family could have stopped him.)
With its kakuhou wounded again, the Owl vanished and hadn't been heard from since.
What the CCG didn't know was that the Owl that attacked Ward 2 the third time wasn't the same one from before. Yoshimura had charged into Ward 2 alone to protect his daughter, diverting the Washuu's attention and making them believe he was the same One-Eyed Owl from before. He knew that if the Washuu discovered Eto's identity as a natural-born half-ghoul, they would pursue her relentlessly.
This explained why the Owl in the third Ward 2 attack was so much stronger than before—at that time, Eto hadn't fully developed yet, so naturally she wasn't as powerful as the battle-hardened, near-peak manager. Counting back the timeline, the middle-aged manager of over twenty years ago would have been in his true prime before aging set in.
Back then, Eto hadn't yet assumed her current monstrous form but rather resembled the Non-Killing Owl's appearance. More precisely, the manager had altered his kakuja form to perfectly mimic his daughter's appearance at the time—all to protect her.
The sudden appearance of the One-Eyed Owl, which had vanished for ten years, was something Shinohara and Kuroiwa had never anticipated.
Though Mado had finally encountered the enemy he'd dreamed of tearing apart for countless nights, he found he still lacked the absolute courage to face it. His trembling hands were born not only of agitation—the One-Eyed Owl's oppressive presence struck an uncontrollable terror into his heart.
"Shinohara..."
Kuroiwa caught Shinohara's eye, silently signaling him to watch Mado and prevent any reckless action.
They both knew the Owl had killed Mado's wife—but if hatred clouded his judgment, nothing good would come of it.
Ten years ago, Mado had been too afraid to face the Owl during its third assault on Ward 2. This time, he wouldn't retreat as he had back then.
"OWL!!!"
...
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