Chapter 9 «22nd Ward Conflict»

The days passed without any problem.

Ken has mostly relaxed these days. He did not wander around like a madman as previously as he was doing.

Ken understood one thing; he has to enjoy the world. Even though he's on a mission, that doesn't mean he has to complete it as soon as possible. [Sora] hasn't said anything about this and therefore, this means he can take his time and enjoy this world.

Precisely for this reason at this moment, he is on the sofa enjoying a beautiful sunny day while watching television.

It would be perfect for a walk outside, but what he heard on television caught his attention and not a little. This is because the information that was being transmitted at the time was about a person very familiar to him.

Then, bringing the body forward, he carefully observed the news on the television.

"This morning the corpses of two young men aged 20 and 23 respectively were found on Waseda-dori Ave. Their bodies, according to police, were brutally torn to pieces with missing pieces, probably eaten by the person responsible for the accident, the ghoul dubbed by the CCG as "Binge Eater".

Please let us remind you to pay attention while walking the streets, especially when you are alone or in a small number of people, not to enter alleys, especially at night.

The next news is about a fire ... "

Ken has not listened to the next news, what interests him at the moment is only the news of this case. For this reason, taking the remote control, he muted the TV.

The fact that the two young men are dead does not interest him at all. He is not a Samaritan; he only helps people who he believes need his help or that he wishes to help personally. What interests him is the fact that this attack was carried out by the ghoul known as the "Binge Eater" or whoever is unfamiliar with this name, another may probably be familiar, Rize Kamishiro.

Her attacks are always subject to extreme violence, with only a few pieces missing from the victims' bodies. Simply put, Rize enjoys killing humans; she has never hunted for starvation.

Ken was silent for a few minutes and then got up from the sofa. This time he will go to the 22nd district to find some information. He decided to go to 22 because he feels a strange reaction inside him as if he could find something interesting in that place.

"Luckily this house is far from that hunting area," Ken said as he left the house, only this time he was no longer Ken but a boy with white hair and red eyes.

Ken for this 'journey' in the 22nd district has decided to go as an Accelerator. He feels that his instinct is not so reliable, and for this reason, he wants to be safe. After all, of the three 'heroes' he has taken, with the current physical strength he possesses, Accelerator is the strongest when it comes to defence.

Through Accelerator's calculations, Ken clearly understood that only SSS-grade ghouls could do anything against his transformation and defence. This is because their destructive force is superior to any other ghoul, and therefore, even the calculations that Ken has to make are more than any other ghoul when it comes to defence.

Only that calculating such attacks, with his current physical strength, cannot be done too many times. The difference between an SS-grade ghoul and an SSS-grade ghoul is staggering.

Ken would escape unharmed even if an SS-grade ghoul attacked him for hours. On the other hand, should an SSS-grade ghoul attack, Ken believes he won't last too long. But even if his defence can't last too long, that doesn't mean he doesn't have the skills to fight these ghouls.

Accelerator is not considered the strongest esper in the world for a random reason, it is his strength that earned him that place, and it is with his strength that he defends it.

Also, even if Accelerator fails at some point, he still has an ace up his sleeve for this world, and he wouldn't hesitate to reveal it if the situation calls for it.

So, putting the hood of his sweatshirt on his head, Ken left the house completely and then went to the station where he took a train to the 22nd district.

...

As soon as he came out, what Ken observed was an area not too different from that of the 20th district, perhaps where they differed the most were the streets and liveliness. If the 20th district was mostly skyscrapers or tall buildings, the 22nd district is more traditional, a bit like a small rural town, certainly more welcoming than the cold and serious 20th district.

Ken started following his instincts. The same instinct that tells him that in this place he can find a trace of the petal or so he believes, but the same instinct that has warned him of the imminent danger he will face.

The area where he hears some spiritual call is in the direction of a hidden alley on the side of a road.

Ken's mouth twitched, he can't understand this situation. Does he have some strange fate with these alleys? Whenever something happens, it has to happen in one of these places.

Without thinking twice, he set foot inside. His ears immediately heard a noise coming and going leaving some metallic sounds in the air.

"Bingo ~" Ken smiled. His eyes made a kind of glint as soon as he heard the sounds.

The situation he faced can be described in one simple word, battle—a battle between the CCG and the ghouls.

Ken didn't pay much attention to it up until that point, but as soon as he looked carefully at every single ghoul mask, his expression became serious. If those were all, then Ken wouldn't care.

But the vision of a certain man in the ranks of the GCC paralyzed him, not so much with fear but because he felt it, he felt it clearly and loudly, that man has what he needs, that man has the missing petal.

As soon as he saw him, it is as if lightning had fallen from a clear sky without any turbulence.

Yet Ken immediately hesitated. If the man were a normal person or someone he can deal with, Ken would not hesitate to attack, the petal is in front of him after all, only ten meters and he can get out of this world.

But that person is by no means normal. If in some worlds there are 'monsters' that far surpass the others, then the man before him is one of these 'monsters.'

Kishou Arima, as well as the One-Eyed King, the White Reaper, the ultimate challenge of this world. His strength is such that no ghoul would want to face him, not even those of the SSS class. If this is not considered a 'monster', then Ken does not know what can be considered as such in this world.

Every single investigator was stunned to see a teenager enter this alley. Nobody expected it.

Immediately an investigator yelled at Ken without taking his eyes off the ghouls in front of him.

"Go away! Run!"

The ghoul positioned in front immediately attacked the investigator with the Koukaku.

The investigator placed what looked like a sword but with some pulsating vein in front of him to parry the blow.

The ghoul under that mask showed a smile.

The blow did not come at all. The detective immediately turned around. He cannot believe that the ghoul has headed in the direction of the "innocent spectator".

In less than two seconds, the ghoul arrived behind Ken and, with his Kagune, he aimed at Ken's head.

"Eheh, we laugh last, don't we, investigator?" the ghoul chuckled looking at the detective's twisted face.

While all this was going on, the others couldn't do anything, each of them was busy with one or more ghouls, they couldn't look away for even a second. The only one who still had an effortless expression in all of this was Kishou Arima.

His eyes were impassive as he defended the attacks of the ghouls around him with his 'spear'. But one eye is projected in Ken's direction. Arima feels in his soul like a strange bond with that boy. But that didn't make him distracted for a second. He continued to parry the attacks of the ghouls.

Just then, a voice without any waves in it reached the ears of the ghoul who took Ken hostage.

"What would you want to do with this toy against me, huh worm?"