Before long, Aogiri Tree, led by Uchiha Byakuya, stormed the second defensive line of the Labyrinth organization.
The kakuja officer who had fled earlier was nowhere to be seen.
Without any commanding officers present, the strongest ghouls guarding the second defensive line were only at the S+ level.
This time, Byakuya didn't even need to step in; Yoshimura Eto alone was more than enough to slaughter her way through.
Before long, the second defensive line was completely shattered.
Byakuya took this opportunity to rest, allowing his RC cells and ocular energy to recover naturally. At the same time, he allocated his remaining attribute points.
[Ding! Attribute points successfully assigned!]
[Physicality +5]
[RC Cell Value +200]
[Attribute Points -250]
[Current Attribute Points: 30]
Now, Byakuya could maintain the initial form of Susanoo for a while longer.
Most of the ghouls guarding the second defensive line had either been killed or recruited into Aogiri Tree.
According to the intelligence gathered from these "prisoners," their next target was Labyrinth's main headquarters.
Labyrinth Headquarters.
"This is bad! The four of them… they're probably done for."
The kakuja officer who had fled earlier had finally made it back to Labyrinth's base, now reverted to his normal form.
The "four" he was referring to, of course, were the other officers who had been left behind.
Right now, he was reporting to none other than Labyrinth's King, Takeshi Ishikari.
"Arai… you're the only one who made it back?"
Ishikari's voice was deep and heavy.
"A lot of our subordinates have retreated to the second defensive line, but I doubt it'll hold for long. That 'One-Eyed King' from Aogiri Tree, his abilities are terrifying!"
Arai's tone was urgent.
As for the fact that he had abandoned his comrades and fled? He conveniently left that part out.
Ishikari, however, wasn't concerned with that right now. What mattered to him was this so-called "One-Eyed King."
"Just how powerful is he that you were all completely helpless against him?"
If it had only been the "One-Eyed Owl," Ishikari would have felt confident in his chances.
But with this mysterious "One-Eyed King" thrown into the mix, and given how badly the battle was going, he was beginning to feel uneasy.
"He…"
Arai was just about to describe Uchiha Byakuya's bizarre abilities when suddenly, a subordinate burst into the room.
"King! Bad news! The second defensive line has been breached; Aogiri Tree is advancing toward us!"
"Enough! We fight!"
Ishikari shot to his feet, his expression dark and grim.
Though their base had an escape route, as the King of Labyrinth, he had his pride.
He would rather die in battle than cower and live in disgrace.
With that, Ishikari led his forces outside the base to confront Aogiri Tree.
The moment he stepped out, his eyes landed on the One-Eyed Owl.
Eto Yoshimura had remained in her full kakuja form the entire time.
Ishikari's brows furrowed slightly, he hadn't expected the "One-Eyed Owl" to have grown this massive.
And standing beside her was a ghoul wearing a red tiger mask, with a single eye exposed beneath it.
This must be Aogiri Tree's true ruler; the One-Eyed King.
Without wasting any words, Eto lunged straight at Ishikari.
Ishikari Takeshi's pupils contracted sharply, he immediately entered his kakuja form.
A massive humanoid kakuja emerged, roughly the same size as the One-Eyed Owl.
His entire body was covered in dark red kagune, and several agonized human faces were embedded across his flesh, ghouls he had cannibalized in the past.
The moment his transformation was complete, he and Eto engaged in an all-out brawl.
Pure brute force.
A battle of raw power; whose attacks were stronger and whose regeneration was faster.
None of the surrounding ghouls dared to intervene, and Byakuya wasn't in any rush to make a move either.
Arai, the second kakuja of Labyrinth, appeared to be on high alert, watching for threats from Aogiri Tree.
But in reality; at the exact moment when both Eto and Ishikari had sustained a certain level of damage, Arai suddenly sprang into action!
However, his target was not Eto, his supposed enemy.
It was Ishikari Takeshi.
Without even entering kakuja form, Arai launched a surprise attack on Ishikari using only his Bikaku kagune.
A direct ambush from behind, aimed precisely at the most vulnerable spot; his kakuhou.
For this kind of sneak attack, using only a kagune was actually faster, if he transformed into a kakuja, the extra time needed might give away his intent and cause the ambush to fail.
Ishikari's focus was entirely on the One-Eyed Owl.
He never even considered the possibility that Arai would betray him, but just as Arai's kagune was about to pierce Ishikari's back-
Byakuya suddenly appeared behind him, blocking the attack.
"What?!"
Seeing the One-Eyed King suddenly materialize in front of him, Arai had no time to stop, his kagune was already in motion, about to stab straight into Byakuya.
This was not his intention, he had meant to attack Ishikari, hoping to prove his "loyalty" to Aogiri Tree.
Because he knew there was no chance that Labyrinth could defeat the One-Eyed King.
Continuing to fight was nothing but suicide.
But just before his kagune could pierce Byakuya's abdomen, a chain shot out from inside Byakuya's sleeve, intercepting the strike midair.
"This should be over now..."
The moment Byakuya spoke, two spatial vortexes manifested.
One vortex severed Arai's kagune at its base while the other ripped apart Ishikari's kakuja armor as if it were merely a scrap of paper.
"Gahhh!!"
Arai screamed in agony. His kakuhou had been partially torn apart as well.
With his kakuja armor shattered, Ishikari finally spun around; his face twisted with horror.
He had no idea when the One-Eyed King had even gotten behind him.
And worse; he had no clue what kind of ability had just suddenly destroyed his kakuja armor.
All he knew was that he had absolutely no chance of winning this.
"...I lost."
Ishikari was surprisingly decisive.
He didn't struggle pointlessly. He simply reverted from his kakuja form, accepting his defeat.
At the same time, he finally realized that Arai had intended to betray him.
But at this point, that hardly mattered anymore.
From Aogiri Tree's side, none of the ghouls were truly seeing this ability for the first time.
And yet, they still couldn't help but feel shocked.
They were immensely relieved that they had sided with Aogiri Tree instead of making an enemy out of this kind of monster.
As for Labyrinth's ghouls?
They were completely dumbfounded.
Arai's sudden betrayal had already caught them off guard.
But now, after seeing Byakuya's otherworldly power, their brains simply shut down.
Their two strongest kakujas had been taken out instantly?
What the hell was this?
How were they even supposed to fight this?!