Ghoul King: Hail the King!

[Trafford]

Evening, 23rd December

Lucien was currently finishing adjusting his attire; he was wearing his white attire, which was typical for the Aeon House. Today was a day when was a banquet of the Tsukiyama Family, and Lucien was going there together with Itori.

He wasn't going to participate alone in that banquet, and he was also talking with him Zelilios and Darkwalker as his bodyguards. In addition, Darkwalker was taking three of his most loyal and powerful men to the banquet.

Zelilios was also wearing the attire of the Aeon House, almost the same as the one Lucien is wearing. On the contrary, Zelilios was wearing a pitch-black suit from Armani.

Itori was wearing similar attire to Lucien, attire for the Aeon House but the version for the females. It was almost the same as the male model, only in some parts of the attire; it was rather revealing and slightly erotic.

"Zelilios, you would be guarding Itori at the event. If I am not with her, you are her shadow. The same goes for you, Darkwalker, and your men, but you will be doing guard for both of them to chase away annoying people."

After that, everybody got into the car and left the mansion for the estate of the Tsukiyama Family.

****

At the Tsukiyama Family estate, many luxurious cars were already gathering, and many people in expensive suits were going here and there. Women were wearing even more expensive dresses from various globally known fashion designers, and jewelry pieces were attracting attention everywhere.

Suddenly a convoy of cars came to the Tsukiyama Family estate. All cars in convoy were Hummers; in the middle was a Hummer limousine, and before and after it were two Hummer H3. They stopped before the estate, and several bodyguards came out of the cars, around fifteen people.

All of them were clothed in pitch-black suits and were guarding the cars.

They were attracting the attention of all people here. Even though people here were from a high-class society, compared to Lucien, that was like heaven and earth.

Suddenly from the limousine, the middle-aged man, Darkwalker, exited and opened the door for Lucien and company.

Then, Lucien, Itori, and Zelilios exited the limousine, attracting the attention of many because of their pure white attire and otherworldly appearances. Lucien and Itori were walking hand in hand, with Zelilios following closely after them.

This meant that he had had a somewhat lower social status compared to those two, but still higher than the rest of the people because of the identical clothing.

"It is a pleasure of the Tsukiyama Family to welcome you here, Lord Aeon."

Said an attractive young woman wearing a butler uniform. Her name of Matsumae, and she was the General Manager of the Tsukiyama Group.

"Miss Matsumae, I thank you for your invitation."

Said Lucien; after that, he followed her into the estate. Zelilios, Darkwalker, and three others were closely following behind them. Matsumae brought them to the Music Room in the mansion, which was a very large hall where people could dance, and the hall could accommodate up to a hundred people.

The decoration of the mansion was more European style than Japanese style. This was something like a trend among rich people in Japan. In the Music Room, many people were already talking, and many more were still coming.

All people here were ghouls and could feel that bloodthirsty aura from the Zelilios that was scaring them away. Many of them were curious about Matsumae leading people, but they looked dangerous. Nobody was brave enough to risk his life.

"Master, Lord Aeon arrived."

Said Matsumae to the elegant older man with a well-groomed mustache. He was wearing finely-tailored clothing and small-rimmed and circular-framed glasses. From the look, he looked exactly like a person from the higher class of society.

Tsukiyama Mirumo immediately looked to the side and saw there Lucien, together with Itori, in luxurious white attire, and also their group of bodyguards with Zelilios as their leader and Darkwalker and his people.

"It is my very pleasure to welcome you here, Lord Lucien Etras di Aeon."

"Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Tsukiyama."

Said Tsukiyama Mirumo to Lucien as they shook hands. After all three of them sat down at the sofas. The place where they were sitting was a little special in the Music Room, as it was on a heightened pedestal, as it was saying there were only the most important people.

Zelilios was standing together with Darkwalker and other bodyguards behind Lucien. There were also some other servants of the Tsukiyama Family who were standing here and acting as the bodyguards for the Tsukiyama Mirumo.

"Lord Aeon, I must thank yours for that warning you gave us. You have saved many of our lives because of this. Now that CCG would be under huge suppression from the government and various conglomerates. Thanks to this, it would be much easier for the Aogiri Tree to do their thing, am I right?"

Said Tsukiyama Mirumo as he looked at Lucien, sitting comfortably on the sofa and hugging Itori close to him.

"Yes, you are right, Mr. Tsukiyama. You know, the change would come; in a few years, the world we know would undergo huge changes. One-Eyed King would return, and soon war between ghouls and men would happen once again."

Said Lucien after short consideration of what to say. It was true that the One-Eyed King would return, and there would be war, but it was necessary to achieve the new world.

But the greatest change won't be the appearance of the One-Eyed King, but something else, something more terrifying and more horrible than ghouls.

Demons.

 

[Trafford]

But that wouldn't be much of a problem as long as ghouls got stronger.

"One-Eyed King, you say?"

Asked Tsukiyama Mirumo with a surprised voice, Lucien. Talks about the One-Eyed King were very well known in the ghoul world, and the One-Eyed King was a symbol of the revolution and freedom for the ghouls. They believed that the One-Eyed King would lead them to gain freedom from humans.

"Yes, One-Eyed King. He would return in the future and lead the flag of liberty for the ghouls. Then there would be a war between the CCG and the forces of the One-Eyed King. I am personally waiting for that moment, maybe soon or maybe not. The Washuu Clan is my true aim; they need to be eradicated properly from the world of the living."

Explained Lucien to Tsukiyama Mirumo.

The return of the One-Eyed King would be a decisive moment for the ghoul kind, but for Lucien, it was not a big deal because the One-Eyed King was nothing more than just an empty symbol to him, not a real Ghoul King.

"Very interesting. I hope that there would be some possibility for cooperation between the Tsukiyama Family and your cause."

Lucien smiled hearing this, as this was also one of his goals. Tsukiyama Family had huge financial power and had branches in almost every part of the industry. Now he could gain reliable support and partner in the fortification of the 24th Ward.

"You know, Mr. Tsukiyama, I have one plan. Very special one and we could call it even a secret one. Are you aware of the 24th Ward?"

Asked Lucien with a lower voice. His question surprised Tsukiyama Mirumo to some extent, as the 24th Ward was something like an urban legend. Almost every ghoul has heard about that place where even ghoul investigators won't stop.

It was something like safe heaven for all ghouls. The only bad thing about living in the 24th Ward was the lack of food, and it was rather complicated to get there if you didn't have an exact map of the route.

"Who didn't? The 24th Ward is a very famous place, but sadly nowadays, it is nothing more than a pile of ruins and destroyed buildings. I can't ask, what are your interests in that place?"

Everyone knew that the 24th Ward was, but as the Tsukiyama Mirumo said. Maybe in the past, 24th Ward was a more magnificent place, and it wasn't just a pile of stones and destruction, but that was during the rule of the Underground King.

Nowadays, it is just ruins and nothing more, nothing less.

"Reconstruction of the 24th Ward and turning the entire 24th Ward into the Fortress City. My people have already started fortifying and reconstructing the 24th Ward, but that is not enough. We lack reliable and trustworthy construction workers and architects. As you already know, the Aogiri Tree has headquarters on the 24th, and I am closely working with them to achieve my goal, which is the eradication of the Washuu Clan. I hope the Tsukiyama Family can help me to solve this problem."

When the Tsukiyama Mirumo heard that, he was deeply shocked. Someone wanted to reconstruct the entire Ward, the 24th Ward, and turn it into the fortress city. It sounded like some outrageous plan. It seemed impossible and too unrealistic, but everything could be done with enough will.

"Hmm, this thing isn't impossible. With the cooperation of the Tsukiyama Family and your forces, it could be done with some effort. I would help you the best I can, but as for the payment, I don't want money but rather a want entire district in the newly reconstructed 24th. Also, some minor thing, but that would be a talk at another time."

To Lucien, this requirement wasn't that bad.

Tsukiyama Family would be basically reconstructing the entire 24th Ward by themselves only with the help of the ghouls of the Aogiri Tree; they would have to do a lot of the work and also provide part of the materials required for the reconstruction and the fortification.

"Very good; I would come to discuss the details with you at another, more appropriate time, not today. You won't regret, of course, the district in the newly reconstructed 24th Ward would be yours, but the Tsukiyama Family would be responsible for the security of the district."

Said Lucien to the Tsukiyama Mirumo. The district would be entirely their own responsibility, be it security or be it other things. Tsukiyama Family would be the true little royal family of that place then.

Tsukiyama Mirumo smiled and nodded his head. He was very happy to receive the whole district as payment for his help on the 24th

Ward. One must know that the 24th Ward was many times bigger than other wards.

"How do you like the banquet?"

Questioned Tsukiyama Mirumo after they ended their conversation about the fortification and reconstruction of the 24th Ward. Lucien frowned a little, hearing this question because he didn't like banquets or similar things. He preferred cultivating in some silent place or training in kenjutsu or taking the first spot, fighting and leading wars.

"Too bothersome. Noise is everywhere, and, personally, I'm not too fond of these kinds of gatherings. I prefer training in silence, pursuing the way of the sword, or fighting against strong foes. If it weren't for your personal invitation and for the fact that I have wanted to meet you, I would have stayed at home."

Lucien answered honestly.

He really didn't like any events that were noisy or something. He always preferred the silent place where he could practice with katana or read books.

Training seemed a much better option.

Now Itori was listening to their talk for almost the whole hour, and she was getting rather bored with it. Then she looked at various couples dancing, and then she used her top-secret weapon, puppy eyes at Lucien.

"No."

 

[Trafford]

Even though she knew that Lucien would answer no, she still tried it. When he really responded no, she didn't give up on her little dream to dance with him, and she continued pestering him until Lucien reluctantly agreed to dance, even though he wasn't good at it.

"Only one dance."

Said Lucien with a tired voice after approximately fifteen minutes of constant attacks from Itori's side. Then she returned to normal form, with a delighted expression on her face, as she had achieved what she wanted.

After that, Lucien stood up, and like a proper gentleman, he asked Itori for the dance. To this, Tsukiyama Mirumo clapped with his hands; all people stooped dancing and made a space for Lucien and Itori.

Even though Lucien came from an aristocratic Household, he wasn't accustomed to banquets or similar events because he always spent time training and never cared about this. He knew some basic dances and knew how not to fall.

Itori was much better at this than him.

When they came to the dancing parquet, they bowed to each other, as this was the beginning of the formal dance, and started dancing, traditionally Walz. Lucien didn't know any other dance besides this one. They danced for around ten full minutes until it was already time to end the dance, and the dance ended with a kiss.

After that came to huge applause, and Lucien with Itori returned to their place, where Tsukiyama Mirumo was already waiting for them. He smiled faintly as he observed the entire event and Lucien's and Itori's dance.

"I would like to compliment your dancing, but you are really not the best dancer, Lord Aeon."

Said Tsukiyama Mirumo when he saw Lucien sitting down. Lucien only smiled a little, as he knew that the words of the Tsukiyama Mirumo were true; he was a bad dancer, maybe slightly bad at most.

"I know, but as long as my fianceé is happy, then so be it."

Answered Lucien as he looked at Itori, who had a pleased expression on her face after the dance with Lucien. Apparently, for her, it was a delightful thing to dance with him.

Compared to her, he didn't think about dancing as a happy event as he knew that he did not like doing anything which made him look bad or idiotic.

"Then I must congratulate you on your engagement, Lord Aeon. I wish you happiness only."

Lucien nodded his head, hearing this, and returned to his previous thing, talking with Itori about various mischievous things. After some time, Lucien got bored with it and wanted to return to his estate and go to sleep or train. They spent another two hours at the Tsukiyama Family's banquet before finally returning to Lucien's estate.

For him, most priorities were training and cultivating, and he devoted most of his free time, or to be more exact, he devoted most of his time to training and getting stronger.

"Mr. Tsukiyama, I thank you for your invitation, and I am very happy about our collaboration on the reconstruction and fortification of the 24th Ward. This evening was very fruitful for me, and I hope our cooperation will last long and will be exceptional."

Lucien stated; as he stood up and looked at the Tsukiyama Murimo, it was already time to go. Itori also stood up, and Zelilios, with Darkwalker and the rest of the bodyguards, reacted immediately and came to them.

In truth, their only priority was the safety of the Itori and not Lucien.

Compared to him, Itori was significantly weaker, and in times of emergency, she would need some protection. For example, some figures on the level of the Grand Elder of the Washuu Clan, Washuu Tsunekashi.

"It was an honor on my side. Then I would be awaiting you to discuss our cooperation closer."

Said Tsukiyama Murimo to Lucien as he gestured to the Matsumae to lead Lucien and his company out. Lucien faintly nodded his head at Tsukiyama Murimu before following Matsumae out of the estate.

They got into the cars, and the convoy left the estate of the Tsukiyama Family and returned to Lucien's estate. Fortunately, both estates were in the 21st Ward, which was the Ward, where many rich people owned some mansion or estate.

Actually, Lucien's estate was only twenty minutes or so from the estate of the Tsukiyama Family.

After they got back, the first thing Lucien did was go to the shower, and then he waited for Itori in the living room, as they would be watching TV together. Tomorrow would be Christmas Eve, and Lucien was planning something special.

Even though he knew that nothing like a true god or something like that didn't exist, only Akashic Records could be close to that existence; Christmas gave off a very nice and warm feeling.

He was planning to give Itori some nice presents and spend the entire day with her.

He had already ordered Darkwalker to bring here one giant and the perfect Christmas tree he could find. He was already tasked with decorating the entire mansion with Christmas decorations. On the other hand, Lucien would be making dinner.

Demon meat.

It was a very special ingredient, and eating it could raise RC Level.

On Blood Island only thing that people ate there was the meat of demons and nothing else.

Lucien was a rather good cook. He noticed that his cooking was getting better and better, so he wanted to cook for somebody, and he chose to cook for Itori on Christmas Eve.

After twenty minutes of waiting for her, Itori finally came down from the shower, clothed in pajamas and sat down beside him, and started watching some movies.

 

[Trafford]

24th December, Anteiku, 20th Ward

Currently, Lucien and Itori are together at the Anteiku cafe, as the entire mansion is undergoing some changes in decoration because Christmas is here. So Lucien took Itori to stroll through the City during the time decoration of the manor would be done.

The mood in the Anteiku cafe wasn't the best one, as could be seen on certain people's faces. Especially Touka, which had a furious expression from time to time. The main reason behind this was that Kaneki Ken joined the Aogiri Tree and left the Anteiku.

Lucien and Itori were sitting at the table next to the window. Both of them watched the snow falling and covering the entire City. Even though it was City and not some mountains or forests, it still created a fascinating and romantic atmosphere.

"Lucien-san, I if can ask, what is your relationship with Itori-san?"

Questioned Touka after Lucien and Itori stood and were already leaving the Anteiku cafe. She only asked because they were holding hands, and it was rather surprising that he would be in the relationship with Itori as she wasn't a type for one, at least in her opinion.

"She is my fianceé."

Answered Lucien swiftly, which gave Touka shock, and also her face twitched a little, but soon she returned to normal, smiled, and congratulated them.

"Congratulation, Lucien-san."

"Thank you, Touka-san."

Thanked Lucien after she congratulated him, and he didn't miss the slight change in her expression when she heard that Itori was his fianceé.

Then they left the Anteiku and went to the 14th Ward, where the Helter Skelter Bar was located as Itori wanted to take something from the Helter Skelter Bar, as she would be spending most of her time at Lucien's estate.

It was rather understandable because she had already started living there.

***

After they reached the Helter Skelter Bar, Lucien said that he must go somewhere and left Itori at the bar, saying he would return after two hours or so. The place he went was none other than a local branch of Tiffany, the most famous and luxurious jewelry seller around.

Lucien ordered the custom-made necklace for Itori as a present for Christmas. It cost him several tens of millions of dollars. It was made from pure gold, diamonds, and various very rare materials.

Lucien waited for some of his mercenaries to take him there as he was already bored and tired of walking and running.

He had an arranged meeting with the manager of the Japanese branch of Tiffany. After twenty minutes, he was already there, together with four mercenaries following him. Lucien called four of them because Itori had many things that would need to move, and he wanted to use manpower that was lazying around in his estate.

In reality, those mercenaries were doing almost nothing; they were just guarding an object, sparring, training or playing cards, watching tv, or other things.

Lucien then met with the manager and inspected the necklace. It was bought under the name of one of the companies under the Aeon House for more than thirty million dollars. Very pricy, but so be it.

Soon all this money would be worth nothing when the Demon Invasion occurred; then, previous values would turn to dust in a split of several seconds.

It was also because of this the entire Aeon House planned to spend all their money to buy resources and some useful things.

The necklace itself was in the design of antique, and it looked lovely and dignified at first look. Lucien ordered his subordinates to take the case, where the necklace was stored, and then they left the Tiffany store.

When they arrived at the Helter Skelter Bar, Itori already had her things packed up, and the only thing which remained was to load them into the car. This was swiftly done by mercenaries here; they took all her thing, and they returned to the estate after taking it all.

***

The entire estate was already decorated with Christmas decorations. Strictly speaking, the decoration was composed of a huge and beautiful Christmas tree, festive dressing, and some other minor things. Everything was done perfectly, according to Lucien's instructions.

When Itori saw that, she was thrilled as it was apparent that Lucien was doing everything for her only. He was doing all of this because he loved her and wanted her to be happy.

"Go watch TV or read some books; there is some important information about certain topics. I am going to cook our dinner, which will be the meat of the powerful and rare demon."

Said Lucien immediately after they returned to the estate. He sent Itori to do some things as he would be cooking the demon's meat.

Itori nodded her head and went to read through those books, as she knew what they were about. Lucien then went to cook the meat of the demon. He spent several hours cooking it as it was very hard to prepare, but the effects and taste of the demon meat were incomparable to animals of the Low Stars.

Lucien was cooking meat of the Demonic Drake, which was a subclass of Demonic Dragon. The weakest of them is around 5 Stars strong.

Soon it would be already evening, and dinner would be already ready. The snow was already falling, the sky was dark, and the lights of the City were creating a fascinating atmosphere. Lucien looked through the window and saw that atmosphere and knew that he should go to change soon.

Dinner was already on the table and both Lucien and Itori sat down and looked at each other for a short time. Lucien went to change himself into formal clothes as they were having a traditional dinner. Itori also changed into formal clothes; both of them were wearing the typical white attire of the Aeon House.

 

[Trafford]

"Sooo, what is our dinner this time, my dear?"

Itori asked as she looked at the excellently arranged steak from Demon Drake before her. It looked very beautiful and delicious just from one look.

This was something that Lucien cooked for her, so she was very happy. She also knew that the meat of the stronger species could increase their RC Level; because of this, Itori had a very high RC Level.

Already more than ten thousand, as this was Lucien's achievement. He constantly gave her blood essences refined from demons and fused with his own blood.

"Demon Drake."

Answered Lucien honestly.

Itori already knew about many demons, but she didn't finish reading the entire book about demons and so, so she didn't know every demon there.

"What is Demon Drake?"

Asked Itori hearing his answer. She didn't know about Demon Drake. Lucien smiled faintly and recalled everything he knew about Demon Drake.

"Demon Drake is demonized drake in reality. Drakes are subspecies of the real Dragon Race, and thus they are many times weaker. Demon Drake isn't that strong creature, and fortunately, when it crossed through the portal and arrived at our world, it was already wounded, so grandfather managed to kill it quickly. Demon Drakes are rather small, only three meters in height and five meters in length; even though they have wings, they can't fly for a long time or can't fly at all."

Drakes weren't that rare, and in every realm where were dragons, you would find drakes for sure. Adult Drake has strength around 4th Star to 5th Star strong.

Only a minority of them could reach the 6th Star or higher, as it highly depends on their bloodline. Drakes are subspecies of dragons, and dragons are the originators of their bloodline.

That means they can't reach higher ranks as their bloodline originators.

After they finished eating the Demon Drake's meat, Lucien took Itori to the Christmas tree, where several cases already awaited her. She was surprised to see this and also eager to know what presents she would get.

"Open that small one first."

Lucien said as he pointed at the smaller package under the giant Christmas tree. It was decently packed and looked tiny compared to other packages. Itori took the little package and unpacked it. Beneath the wrapping paper, there was a steel box with the words Tiffany on it.

Her eyes shined when she saw it and immediately opened it.

Inside the box was the necklace; it had an ancient design and was lined with diamonds with one blood ruby in the middle of it. The entire necklace was made of pure gold, and it looked extremely beautiful. Lucien then took it from her hands and wrapped it around her neck.

To this, Itori gave him one very passionate long kiss before she returned back to reality from her endless happiness.

"Thank you very much; it's sooooo beautiful."

Lucien nodded and then proceeded to unpack the rest of the packages there. Besides the necklace, Lucien also gave her a bunch of blood essences and some old books on martial arts that suited her.

These books were the ones he got from the Ancestral Shrine of the Shi Xue Clan.

Itori quickly looked at all those blood essences shining there with bloody red color and also an ancient-looking book, which was named 'Basic of the Martial', the book was talking about basic martial arts and was used to create a foundation, a firm one for the cultivator.

"Do you like it?"

Questioned Lucien in a gentle voice as he pulled Itori into an embrace.

She almost had tears in the corners of her eyes as she looked at all of the presents from him. Itori started passionately kissing Lucien on his lips. After a short period of kissing, she started to undress until she was totally naked. Lucien admired her beauty, and he, too started to undress.

Soon, only sounds of pleasure and moans were echoing through the estate. Fortunately, the entire estate was empty, so no one would see or hear them. Curtains and sunblinds were covering the windows, so even from the outside, nobody could look inside the room.

***

25th December, the next day morning, Lucien's estate

Both Lucien and Itori were lying naked on the floor of the living room, covered only by a simple fur blanket. Lucien was the one who woke up first, and he looked at Itori, who was sleeping beside him. There was a bit of blood stain on the blanket from yesterday's night activity.

Lucien silently stood and clothed himself in the simple black kimono with a golden dragon pattern, the same golden dragon pattern as was the flag of the Wandenreich.

He went to the kitchen to make some coffee for himself and for Itori. After the coffee was made, he took the two cups together with him and returned to the living room.

Itori was already up, and she was covering herself with the fur blanket as she looked at Lucien with a blissful smile on her face. Lucien gave her one cup of coffee, sat beside her, and sipped from his cup of coffee.

"How is it?"

Asked Lucien about his coffee; he knew that he wasn't very good at making coffee, but at least he tried to make it.

"Good, but you were better."

Answered Itori as she licked her lips seductively.

When Lucien saw this, he immediately took her as they were going to do the deed again. Once again, moans were going through the entire estate, with the source of them being the living room.

 

[Trafford]

Several days passed since Christmas, and New Year's Eve was coming. Currently was snowing heavily, and Lucien was spending time training in his kenjutsu. Training here was much better than training outside as there was a much more silent environment, and it gave a more peaceful feeling.

When he wasn't training in kenjutsu, he was refining blood essences from the corpses of killed ghouls or those bones and remains he obtained from the Cochlea Detention Center from the disposal room.

Currently, he had a huge amount of blood essences thanks to the number of ghoul corpses and remains. Lucien spent more than three whole days refining those bones and remains of the ghouls from the disposal room of the Cochlea Detention Center.

Originally there were small mountains from those bones and remains of ghouls; Lucien refined all of them to several hundred blood essences.

***

Itori was currently reading some books and drinking blood wine during it.

She was in the library of the estate, which was rather big and full of various books that Lucien had placed there. As she was reading the books, somebody suddenly knocked at the door and hurriedly entered.

The person who entered was one of the mercenaries guarding the estate. Currently, more than forty people are guarding the entire estate. Even though most of them were in the smaller house, only half of them were active on duty, and the other half had free time.

"Madam, some young girl named Kirishima Touka came here, saying that she wanted to meet Lord Aeon. She is currently waiting at the gate with several men guarding over her."

Reported the mercenary who came here. One must admit that the security here was top-notch. The entire complex was under the watch of cameras, detectors of movement, and other gadgets all the time. Besides that, it was under the constant watch of more than twenty ghoul mercenaries all the time.

Itori was surprised that Touka had come here, but she knew that Lucien had offered her help and that he would train her a little.

"Escort her to the living room; Lucien will return soon."

Said Itori as she continued reading her book and sipping the blood wine. She won't be going to meet Touka as Lucien probably knew that somebody was here and would return soon.

***

Touka was currently standing at the checkpoint, which was a small building at the gate leading to Lucien's estate, and was under the constant watch of four ghoul mercenaries. During the time here, some of the mercenaries even reached S-Rated thanks to Lucien and the blood essences he gave them occasionally.

Soon, the mercenary who departed to the mansion returned and came to her.

"You can go to the mansion; the Lord will return soon and see you. You two escort her to the living room and then return."

As he pointed at two mercenaries, they then departed together with Touka, leading her to the estate. When they entered the estate, she was shocked to see such a luxurious mansion. Everything here looked too expensive, and even some things looked like antiques.

She was led to the living room; there were a beautiful Christmas tree and Christmas decoration. She sat down on the leather sofa and waited patiently for Lucien to come as soon after Lucien came here as she was told.

"Welcome to my estate, Touka-san. So what brings you here? Heeeeyyyy, bring us some coffee."

Lucien said jovially as he welcomed her here. Then he screamed to one of the mercenaries to bring some coffee for both of them.

"Thank you. I would like to request two things from you, Lucien. As you said previously, could you please train me? I wish to be stronger; as currently as I am, I can't do anything."

Said Touka as she bowed her head down. Lucien mentioned last time that he would help her to get stronger and agreed that he would train her. Soon after, somebody came and delivered two cups of freshly made coffee for them.

"As I said, of course, I would do my best to help you. So from today, came to my estate every day to train. If I am not available, then my most trusted subordinate would train you, but now I have much of free time."

Answered Lucien, to which Touka became happy because Lucien would train her. Even Yoshimura admitted in secrecy that he was no match for him. It was something like an instinct to know if someone was stronger than you.

In truth, many species as demons, devils, vampires, and other similar races, were very good at this thing.

"And what is the second thing? You mentioned you had one more thing you wanted to ask?"

And now the second topic came to the surface, even though Lucien already knew what she would ask for. It was very apparent, as it wasn't some secret, that he was collaborating with the Aogiri Tree, but in reality, the entire Aogiri Tree was just a pawn on his chessboard.

"Yes, Kaneki Ken. He has joined the Aogiri Tree; perhaps you could please bring him back?"

Touka was one of the people that was very against the fact that the Kaneki Ken joined the Aogiri Tree. Even her brother was a member of the organization, but many, especially those from the Anteiku, strongly disagreed with the methods used by the Aogiri Tree.

"It was his own choice to join the Aogiri Tree, and with this, I can't help you much, maximally I can keep an eye on him, but that's all, Touka-san. Your friend has joined the Aogiri Tree in order to seek power and change or he had some other reasons for joining the Aogiri Tree that I don't know. So I would advise you only one thing, leave him be for the time being. He would return when he would be ready."

Everything was part of the plan; he wasn't going to let Kaneki Ken go from the Aogiri Tree as he would be very useful in the organization.

Even though Touka was rather disappointed by his words, she knew that there was nothing she could do about it, and as Lucien said, she could only wait.

"Now that we are ready come with me to the training room. I would like to see your abilities and what you can do."

 

[Trafford]

The training room was usually empty as the only person who trained here was Lucien or Zelilios. And as Zelilios was today somewhere in the city, probably hunting and killing some ghoul investigators for fun, it was guaranteed today it would be empty.

"Go and change into the training attire. There is already one prepared for you."

Lucien ordered as he pointed at the little box where specially created training attire was stored.

It was the same attire that Noble Ghouls were using during training and sparring on Blood Island.

She was changed rather quickly and arrived at the training room, where Lucien was already waiting for her, too clothed in the same training attire.

Lucien scanned her entire figure, and he noticed that she was somewhat attractive.

Even though she was only seventeen years old, her figure was many times better than the rest of her peers. Touka noticed that Lucine was literary staring at her, to which she had a slight blush on her face.

"Now, we could start. The first thing you need to do is to attack me with all your power, but without the use of the kagune or turning on your kakugan. I want to see your base power without any boost or something."

Touka nodded her head as she rushed at Lucien and kicked him with full power. She was best at kicking, and her punching skills weren't that bad, at least for ordinary ghouls. Lucien caught her kick with his right hand as he chuckled.

"Your power could be barely passable if you fight against humans. Now show me your kakugan and attack."

Then Touka turned on her kakugan and congealed her kagune. She had a Ukaku-type kagune and managed to congeal only one wing. The second was incomparably smaller, as it couldn't even be called a wing.

"Hmm, incomplete one."

Commented Lucien when he saw her ukaku wing. She would probably need several years to develop complete wings until the second wing is properly grown. Fortunately, with this, Lucien could help her by letting her eat some of the blood essences infused with his blood.

"Attack."

Commanded Lucien as Touka started shooting those crystals generated by her ukaku kagune at Lucien. In his eyes, they were so weak that he was blocking them with his body only. He was already on in later Stars, so blocking crystals generated by an ordinary ghoul is nothing to him.

Lucien observed how she was attacking and her battle style, if we could call it that. It was unrefined, and the only thing she could do was kick and punch, nothing more. The use of her kagune was bad at best. After a short time, he already had some opinions and how to train her.

"You could stop."

Both of them stopped and sat down on the ground. Lucien then started thinking about what to say about her strength, which was almost non-existent. Fortunately for her, Lucien would be able to enhance her strength greatly.

"I am going to search for suitable martial arts for you to train in. You need to be able to attack and defend effectively and not only kick and punch as you see fit."

After that, he departed for around ten minutes.

Then he returned with some book on martial arts which perfectly suited her. He gave her the book and explained everything she needed to know about that.

Then he took out a small glass vial filled with blood-red beads and blood essences and gave them to Touka.

"Eat one of those each day after training. They would help you to increase your RC Level by much, and thus your kagune would be many times stronger. Your RC Level is pitifully low."

The only way for ordinary ghouls to increase their RC Level by some significant amount was by eating other ghouls, but apparently, Touka never practiced cannibalism. When RC Level is very low, then the kagune is smaller and weaker. Still, with the help of the blood essences, her RC Level would increase significantly. After some time, she may even develop Kakuja.

"What are those?"

Asked Touka after Lucien handed her the vial with the blood essences.

"They are called blood essences; they are used to increase RC Level and also in the long term you would develop Kakuja."

She was shocked to the core, hearing that something like the blood essences existed because they could increase the RC Leven and even help you to develop the Kakuja. This was something totally unheard of for an ordinary ghoul; it was closer to magic or something like that.

"And also drink this; after that, your kagune will be completely developed. I have seen that your kagune is still in the phase of growth, probably because of your low RC Level, so this could help you close that distance and also enhance your entire strength."

He said after giving her one vial filled with his blood.

ňBlood of the Noble Ghoul had very magical effects on ordinary ghouls. He already gave one vial to Arima to stop his blinding process and improve his health more, so he could still hold on. Unfortunately, because he was a half-human, it won't be that useful to him in the long term.

Compared to him, Touka was different as she was a pure-blooded ghoul. The effect of blood from the Nobler Ghoul would have huge meaning, either in the short-term or the long-term.

When she saw that vial of blood, even though she didn't know what it was, she felt a very strong attraction toward the blood of the Ghoul King. Like it was something natural, a natural reaction.

"It would help me complete the growth of my kagune for real?"

She was aware of the fact that her kagune was still underdeveloped because her RC Level was low, but now it could be solved by drinking one bottle of blood. She didn't know why, but she trusted Lucien even though she couldn't answer that.

 

[Trafford]

"Don't worry; this would certainly help you, and your kagune would be completed in no time."

Lucien said as he watched Touka holding a crimson red vial with his blood.

She examined the vial with his blood like some child who found a new toy on the street. It was very interesting, and also, the attraction she felt toward his blood was getting stronger and stronger.

"Drink it and digest it. You should do it here for digestion as you need a safe environment. When you are done, we will continue our training. Here, even the Washuu Clan won't dare to invade, let alone those maggots from the Commission of Counter Ghoul."

Touka was rather stunned when she heard that even the CCG wouldn't dare to invade his place, but what confused her was why he mentioned the Washuu Clan. From knowledge she knew, the Washuu Clan were humans that specialized in combating ghouls.

They weren't anything special compared to the rest of the ghoul investigators; besides, they had more advanced battle techniques and some knowledge about ghouls.

"Washuu Clan? You mean those humans that are controlling the entire CCG?"

Questioned Touka in hopes that Lucien would clarify his statement.

"H-Humans, hahaha, that's funny."

He laughed out loud when he heard that she called the Washuu Clan humans. They were many things, but to call them humans was funny. In reality, they were just a bunch of hypocrites.

"What is so funny about it? They are humans, are they not?"

Asked Touka with confusion and a weird expression on her face as she couldn't comprehend his behavior and weird aura when she mentioned the Washuu Clan.

"So, he didn't tell you anything about them? Old man Yoshimura."

Apparently, even members of the Anteiku Cafe or so-called Anteiku Faction, as Lucien named it, didn't even have any idea about the Washuu Clan being the clan of pure-blooded ghouls that infiltrated the human society for centuries and were manipulating and controlling everything out there.

They were deeply rooted and couldn't be destroyed easily through normal means, as cancer could be removed only by force.

"I should tell you one thing; this isn't something you should know with your pitiful strength. That old man probably had reasons why he didn't tell you about them, and I would not like to put you in danger. Knowing this information could easily lead to your death, my dear. Are you really sure you want to know this?"

Lucien explained to her that knowing the truth about the Washuu Clan could easily lead to misfortune and even to death. Some things were rather dangerous to know, especially those that were about the Washuu Clan in this world. Agents of the Vasuki were very good at assassinating their targets and so.

Touka was a bit lost in her thoughts before nodding her head in agreement.

She was rather curious about real identity when Lucien mentioned them now, as he also had a somewhat mysterious origin in her eyes. Even old man Yoshimura said that he knew many things that common ghouls didn't.

"So where should we start? Hmm, yes. In reality, the Washuu Clan is just a clan of ghouls."

Said Lucien with a casual voice to Touka, to which she gained expression like a hit with thunder. This news was too shocking and too unbelievable to her. The Washuu Clan, protectors of humanity in Japan, fighters against ghouls for centuries, were actually ghouls all the time.

It was a really huge eye-opening for her.

Actually, only a very few people knew about this. From the Aogiri Tree, only Eto, Tatara, and Noro knew about the Washuu Clan being ghouls. From the Anteiku, only old man Yoshimura was aware of that fact, and from the Commission of Counter Ghoul, of course, nobody knew about it besides members of the Washuu Clan, which worked as executives of the CCG.

"How is that even possible? That's too unrealistic; how could be the so-called shield of humanity a ghoul clan?"

She questioned this news, as confused much as a person could be, as this news was too unbelievable for her.

"Easily. They started infiltrating human society hundreds of years ago. When there didn't even exist some technology that could distinguish a human from a ghoul, and for a long time won't even exist. Thus they had a perfect opportunity for their infiltration, as they didn't have any problems. Soon, with their power and money, they gained a stable foothold in the country and started infiltrating the government and Imperial Court of the Emperor in the Meiji Era. They achieved glorious merits in the war against the old Shogunate, in the civil war. Afterward, they began exterminating ghouls and had great results; as they wouldn't, they were one of them. Soon, the name Washuu was connected with banishing evil human-eating creatures known as ghouls. When their power grew up enough, CCG was established by the end of the 19th Century. From then, their power grew even more as they gained a very powerful tool to manipulate the public."

Lucien briefly explained why the Washuu Clan was able to infiltrate japan so effectively and obtain huge political power. Plainly said, they had a perfect opportunity and no enemy in their plan to infiltrate human society.

Touka digested the knowledge about the Washuu Clan with great shock. To think, the Washuu Clan was planning it centuries ago, and their infiltration was something in the long term.

"Oh, and don't tell this to anybody and also pretend you know nothing about this topic, even from that old man. As I said before, you having this kind of knowledge is too dangerous for you with your current pitiful strength."

He then stood up and walked away, leaving Touka alone in the training room.

She was staring at his fading image in the distance as she returned to repeating the moves he taught her today. She was determined to be strong because, from his word, she knew that her strength was almost non-existent.

 

[Trafford]

1st of January, 1 Year ASBI

24th Ward

Works began at the entire 24th Ward; some exits were already sealed and others are being sealed just now. Many people were working here and there, renovating strategic buildings to improve the situation of the 24th Ward.

The first thing needed to do was to seal all exits leading to the 24th Ward and leave only a few of them, of course, fortified and good defendable places.

Lucien was surprised at how fast had the works on the 24th Ward begun, but soon he stopped admiring the beauty and thinking about the future of the 24th Ward and went away. He went to the special place, which served as the training field for the executives of the Aogiri Tree.

This was something constructed by Kamishiro Matasaka after he joined the Aogiri Tree, as he started training some ghouls of the Aogiri Tree in his martial arts and way of fighting.

There was a young man with white hair training in the training field. The moment he saw Lucien, he stopped training and bowed deeply to Lucien.

"Sensei."

Kaneki Ken, compared to the weakling and half-ass he was in the past, the current him was much more useful and better. At least to Lucien, because to some extent, he had the same methods, the same amount of cruelty to enemies, and calm composure in everything.

Under Lucien's influence, Kaneki also turned to the person he wished to get stronger and be able to protect everybody with supreme strength.

Philosophy taught by Lucien Etras di Aeon.

"We could start now."

He stated neutrally as he turned on his kakugan and went to spar with Kaneki. He rarely fought using his tails, as using kagune katana was far more convenient to him, as him being a samurai and follower of the way of the sword.

Both of them materialized four kagune tails and started fighting each other. Soon the result was clear as Kaneki was beaten almost to death, lying powerlessly on the ground. Lucien looked at him from the side as he commented.

"Are you aware of your mistakes, or do I need to point them out?"

Questioned Lucien with a bored voice.

"No need, Sensei, I would properly meditate about my mistakes during the day, and we could continue tomorrow."

Answered Kaneki from the hole in the ground to Lucien, who faintly smiled upon hearing this. Then he came to Kaneki, helping him, stood up, and gave him two blood essences to eat. After each training, or we could say beating, Lucien would also give him some blood essences to eat to increase his RC Level and strengthen his kagune.

Kaneki's RC Level was around 977 or so after that surgery by Kano Akihiro, but now it was slowly increasing. Now it was a bit more than one thousand or so. Lucien was giving him more potent blood essences to increase his RC Level faster.

"Go to Kamishiro Matasaka to learn martial arts from him. In some things, especially human martial arts, he is a master and better than me. I will only teach you how to fight with kagune and if you want, I could teach you Kenjutsu."

Said Lucien to Kaneki after a short tough.

He never planned to teach Kaneki some martial arts as he wasn't a master of it, but when it came to the Kamishiro Matasaka, that was a different story. Kamishiro Matasaka was the master of the most known martial arts created in this world, and he spent his entire life training and improving his martial arts.

Kaneki bowed to Lucien again, and Lucien went to visit Arima, who was currently discussing something with Eto. When he was already on his way, he took out a glass vial that was filled with blood essences and tossed it to Kaneki.

"Eat them and digest them properly, your RC Level will increase faster, and when you would eat another ghoul, cannibalizing, you wouldn't lose your mind and go berserk."

After that, he exited the training grounds and went to the meeting place, where Arima and Eto were already discussing some things about the reconstruction of the 24th Ward.

"Arima-san, Eto."

Lucien greeted them the moment he entered the room and saw Arima with his classical expressionless face and Eto, who was sitting on the chair with a mischievous expression as if she was thinking about something weird, probably.

Her mental state wasn't the best one, but still better than some other ghouls. Lucien sat down at his place, which was already prepared for him as he joined the discussion.

They talked about the reconstruction of the 24th Ward and the fortification of the place. The next topic was cooperation between the Aogiri Tree and the Tsukiyama Family in this project. In return, they would give the Tsukiyama Family one whole district of the reconstructed 24th Ward as their property.

Tsukiyama Family was one of the main reasons why the work started so soon, as Tsukiyama Mirumo was very decisive in doing this, and as soon as his conversation with Lucien ended, he personally visited the 24th Ward to discuss cooperation with Eto.

"Arima-san, how is your eyesight these days?"

Asked Lucin with a smile on his face. Last time, he gave Arima a vial filled with his blood because it would stop the process of decay of his body, as he was a half-breed, and also stop losing his eyesight.

"Much better; I can finally use both of my eyes to full again; thank you, Lucien-san."

Answered Arima to Lucien.

When he drank the blood from that vial Lucien gave him, he was very surprised to see it completely cured his eyes, and now he could function normally once again. It even greatly improved his body, and his strength grew by a significant amount.

"That's good to hear, Arima-san."

After that, they returned to the previous conversation regarding upcoming events, works, and many other topics, which ended only five hours later when both Arima and Lucien left the 24th Ward to return to their own things.

 

[Trafford]

Panta rhei and time were an exception to this statement. Six months went by from the 11th Ward Battle and the Cochlea Raid. Most of the time, Lucien spent training and refining his kenjutsu because it was becoming increasingly important to him.

He felt that he was finally becoming One with the Sword. Even though he attained the rank of the Samurai in the past, he didn't have real-time to refine his techniques and everything properly. So now, he spent the entire half year refining his kenjutsu to a much higher level.

Even though he was still far from the Samurai Master Realm, he was confident to fight any other samurai whose kenjutsu attained the Samurai Realm.

The only thing which was somewhat sad was the fact, during these months he was training his kenjutsu, he wasn't properly eating blood essences, and so he increased his RC Level only by a few thousand.

At most, five or so, which was rather bad when one knows about the number of blood essences in his Cross Crest.

His everyday routine would be morning training and coffee, maybe morning sex with Itori. Then he would spend the entire day training and refining his kenjutsu, sparring with Itori. Afternoon, Touka would visit almost every day to train, and Lucien would guide her through the basics of combat and the usage of kagune.

Then in the evening, he would go somewhere with Itori to have fun, either hunting for ghoul investigators or going to watch movies. At night, activities for adults and sleep. Repeating this every day leads to a happy life and good power.

Another important piece of news came from Blood Island stating that Lucien's younger sister, Artemia Etras di Aeon was born and was a strong little healthy baby girl. The situation on Blood Island was becoming more and more chaotic as fights with demons were more and more intense.

Last month when Touka was visiting this place, she was taking sneak glances at him more and more, with rather a weird expression. When Lucien noticed that, the first thing that came to his mind was if she hadn't fallen for him.

It wasn't so surprising that this happened, he was a handsome man, and to her, he was a helping and also caring person, many times she came to him not only for training but also to talk with him about her problems and he listened to all what she wanted to say.

He never told her that he noticed that as if waiting for her confession, but Lucien was somewhat confused deep inside. He was confused by his own emotions for her as he couldn't decide what to do with her. The same was going for Eto, as she seemingly was coming to her own end, as her mental state was worsening.

Lucien talked to her only a few times in the last half year, but every time they talked, he noticed her state was worsening, and he couldn't do anything about it.

When things came to Touka, she was cold on the outside, but inside she was a very warm person, and she was in need of someone who would love her. He was aware that soon, he would need to make his decision, but as he was a person of rational thinking and a follower of cruel logic, there was a clear answer to this question...

Lucien was currently in the training room, sitting cross-legged with one katana at his legs. His eyes were closed, and he was meditating about the way of the sword.

How to become one with the sword; in times like this, he totally forgot the problems he had in life and completely devoted his attention to the one thing, the Way of the Sword.

In the entire estate was a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere ruling. Mercenaries were training, playing cards, or watching TV. Some of them were even doing their jobs, but Lucien didn't care. As long as nothing happened. On top of that, now, after a half year, most of the mercenaries reached the S-Rate, so even though they weren't doing anything, they would still be able to detect the intruders.

Zelilios spent most of his time in the training room on the estate. Most of his day was filled with training spear mastery or reading some books. Currently, even though Itori was at the estate, Lucien quickly went to find her to do some certain activity that was needed for him.

She was in the garden, sitting with a cup of coffee and reading a book. Lucien silently sneaked at her and hugged her from behind, but his hands didn't stop there and were going to certain parts of her body. Then he whispered to her ears with a silent voice.

"Itori-chan, please."

Itori shook her head and looked at Lucien.

"Hmm."

Then both of them went away to the bedroom, where a sweet time awaited full of pleasure and moans. It took around two hours for the activity to end, and then, the silence was the only thing in the entire estate.

***

Lucien and Itoir were lying on the bed, both naked, only covered by a simple blanket. Itori was lying on his chest as she looked at Lucien, whose eyes were closed, probably thinking about something important.

"Lucien, what will you do about that girl? She always steals glances at you, and she is very interested. Probably you are her first love."

Said Itori with a light laugh as she went close to him and kissed his lips. Lucien didn't say anything and just looked at Itori with a loving expression. He was still thinking about various, but when Itori mentioned that topic again, his thoughts went back to that problem.

What to do about that.

Maybe he would go visit Anteiku later to talk with Touka about this. He was aware that she probably wouldn't start the conversation about this because, deep inside, she was just another shy teenage girl that had a cold cover.

So it would be his responsibility to start talking about this.

 

[Trafford]

"I don't know for now, probably wait to see if her feeling is something deep or are just superficial. Originally I wanted to take even Eto with me. Still, seeing her mental state deteriorating every day would be impossible, I see, but my feelings for her were just from pure physical attraction, nothing too deep."

Lucien explained to Itori his current situation.

It was the same with Itori because, at first, he was attracted to her mainly physically, but after some time, he developed deep feelings of love for her, and now he couldn't even imagine his life without her. She already became an irreplaceable part of him.

Itori tilted her head, not knowing what to say to his explanation. On the one side, she was happy, as she won't have any rivals, but on the other side, she was a bit sad, as Lucien was sad because all of this was happening.

***

Lucien went to the training field to find Zelilios, who was as always, training in his spear. Zelilios spent almost all his time training his spear mastery or doing other activities to increase his strength and power. The only purpose of the Sternritter was to get stronger and be able to protect the Empire from its enemies.

"Zelilios, come here for now."

Said Lucien, after he observed Zelilios training his spearmanship for around half an hour. Zelilios stopped and then came to Lucien, giving him a light bow.

"How much time do we have before the portal on Blood Island expands too much for us to handle?"

Questioned Lucien after a short time.

"Unknown, several years at best."

Answered Zelilios to Lucien, to which he frowned lightly.

"Your Highness, I have something more to report. From our spies in the Vasuki, we have found that Kano Akihiro is close to the finishing process of ghoulification. After reporting this to the Emperor, the order was given to kill Kano Akihiro and secure his research. Soon we would have the location of one of his laboratories which we could raid."

Lucien was rather displeased with the fact he must go search after Kano. That man was very good at hiding and not leaving traces after his move. He knew that killing him was something he must do, and he was too dangerous to leave him to do as he pleased.

On top of that, he would then obtain his research on the ghoulification, which could be used to create ghouls, but not like in this world, but rather mindless flesh eaters that would devour everything in their path.

Wandenreich could give good use to them in the future. Especially when they would want to exterminate the population of some planet, then the upgraded virus would be the best option.

After a short talk with Zelilios, Lucien left the manor and went to the 24th Ward to check on the reconstruction and fortification of the 24th Ward.

***

July, Year 1 ASBI, 24th Ward

Lucien arrived at the 24th Ward and was very pleased seeing all those works. The entire ward looked totally different compared to the past. All hidden exits that led to the 24th Ward were now sealed, and only a few of them were left.

Those who were left were guarded non-stop by the Aogiri Tree, and each of them was under was of the SS-Rated ghoul. Now thanks to Lucien's help, the Aogiri Tree had more than 10 SS-Rated ghouls, which was an astonishing number.

More than a thousand people were working on the reconstruction, and one must say that this force was extremely formidable because the physique of the ghoul is many times stronger than the physique of a human; they could work more and aren't that tired.

Thanks to this, they managed to remove many half-destroyed buildings and ruins from the existence of the 24th Ward. Many of those were now replaced with guardian towers, outposts, and many others.

The main focus of the renovation was the outer circle of the ward, where the exits were located; the inner circle was still as it was before.

Lucien was already ready to start the second part of his plan, which was to use the Aogiri Tree against the Washuu Clan and the Vasuki to hunt them down. Now the Aogiri Tree was many times stronger compared to the past; it was a perfect opportunity.

For example, Tatara was already at SSS-Rate, which was a bit scheme from Lucien, as he started to give him blood essences infused with his blood, thus changing his view of him and also creating something like natural loyalty.

One must know that if normal ghouls eat a lot of blood of the Noble Ghoul, they would naturally listen to him, but the number of blood must be around one or two liters.

Even with Lucien's strong regeneration, it took around a year to produce enough blood. He knew that Tatara was eternally loyal to the One-Eyed King, Arima Kishou, so this would change it bit by bit.

As he observed the 24th Ward, he knew it wouldn't take long before the works would be completed. At most, the entire ward would be completely renovated and fortified in two years. Afterward, he went to the place where Eto was staying and found her talking to some of her subordinates.

They hastily left the moment they saw him, and Lucien and Eto started talking about the state of the 24th Ward and the process of the reconstruction and fortification.

After finishing the talks with Eto, she returned to her own responsibilities and managed the works on the 24th Ward, and Lucien returned to the surface. Before that, he checked on Kaneki Ken and how he was doing with training, and then he left.

 

[Trafford]

20th Ward, Anteiku Cafe, July 1st, Year 1 ASBI

After Lucien left the 24th Ward and proper control and observation of the Ward and reconstruction work on it, he went to the 20th Ward to visit Anteiku Cafe, which he would visit once a week. He would always check on Touka and how she was doing in her work and talk a bit with old man Yoshimura.

Talking with an old man Yoshimura was interesting to experience as he was a wise old man who could give advice and good on top of that.

He knew that soon the Owl Suppression Operation would come, but not so soon, as not the Commission of Counter Ghoul was severely weakened due to Lucien's schemes.

He entered the Anteiku Cafe, and as now it was already afternoon, Touka was also present. Along with old man Yoshimura who looked the same as always and Irimi. Lucien sat at the bar opposite an old man Yoshimura so he could talk to him.

"Hello, Mr. Yoshimura."

Greeted Lucien politely when he sat down at the bar. Old man Yoshimura automatically started making coffee for him the moment he sat down.

"Good day to you, Mr. Aeon."

Greeted Yoshimura back as he finished making his coffee for him. Lucien then thanked for the coffee and already sensed the mesmerizing aroma of the coffee.

"Last month, the CCG was rather silent, Mr. Aeon. Don't you think so?"

Questioned old mand Yoshimura with his eyes closed as he cleaned some cups which were dirty from coffee.

Lucien chuckled hearing this, as he knew the reason for silence from the side of Commission of COutner Ghoul. He was behind that huge massacre of several hundred people from the CCG and also the death of several high-ranking ghoul investigators.

"Yes, they are. I know that soon, they will act, and they have already chosen their target, and if you agree to one condition of mine, I will help you as best I can."

Old man Yoshimura narrowed his eyes slightly, hearing his statement as he also had some bad feelings about this. He knew the exact reason behind Lucien's words. He was a very experienced person, a survivor.

He was indirectly saying that the next target of the CCG would be the Anteiku faction because the CCG needed some achievement after that bloodshed. Also, in the eyes of the Commission, the Anteiku faction was weakest of all.

Strictly speaking, this statement wasn't false.

The Aogiri Tree, which had Eto, who was an SSS+-Rated Owl, and now she was also stronger. Next, there were Noro and Tatara; both were reclassified as SSS-Rated individuals, many SS-Rated ghouls, and a huge number of S-Rated ghouls.

It is huge compared to the past, but they had around twenty S-rated ghouls and around six or so SS-Rated ones for sure.

Compared to that, the Anetiku faction was severely lacking in combat strength. Only SSS-Rated ghoul was an old man Yoshimura, who wasn't in the best condition as he was already old. They had only two SS-Rated individuals, and those were Koma Enji and Irimi Kaya.

Plus, Kirishima Touka could rival the strength of an SS-Rated ghoul, but only those weaker ones.

"So speak, what is your condition."

Said Yoshimura after thinking for a while. He was a person who deeply cared about his people, and even Lucien admired him to some extent as a rather good leader.

"Simple. As you have already noticed, that girl Touka has developed some emotions for me. I only want to know if they are something deeper or if it is just superficial. If you are able to answer this, I will guarantee that no one of your people will come to harm. You have my word as a member of the Aeon House."

This was the only thing Lucien wanted from the old man Yoshimura. He only wanted to know if her feeling for him were real or not. It would be easier for him to make a decision in the future and not hurt her.

"Hmm, give me a few days."

Hearing this answer, Lucien nodded his head and continued drinking his coffee. He was satisfied with this as Yoshimura would do the hard work for him.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Yoshimura."

He thanked him for his effort.

"I also have a question for you then. How do you feel about her?"

This question came out of nowhere and even caught Lucien by surprise bit. He still needed some time to sort it out, but he knew that it was possible for him to love her in the future and was also unsure of his own feelings and emotions for her.

Even though she was a cold person o the outside, it was mainly towards unknown people; she was a very good person.

Yoshimura also asked this for a reason because he cared deeply for Touka.

He always wished for Touka to live a life of a regular human girl without the hardships of the ghoul life. He always lectured her to be careful and cared for her safety, despite the annoyance it would cause her if he constantly reminded her to take care of herself.

This all caused her to see him as a father-like figure.

"I don't know myself. I only know that I have some feelings for her, but I am not sure what they are."

Lucien answered honestly.

Afterward, he stayed in the Anteiku Cafe for some time before leaving for his estate, where Itori was already waiting. He also needs to go training because he felt that he needed to improve his Kenjutsu as much as possible.

 

[Trafford]

In the following days, he arranged a meeting with Arima Kishou to talk about some parts of the plans and also his actions against the Washuu Clan and Vasuki organization. These things would be very important in the future when Lucien would start the operation that would signal the end of the Washuu Clan and its hegemony over Japan.

Also, one of the most important topics would be a discussion about the "Sasaki Haise Project" and if the project itself is something necessary or it could be dropped. Lucien was strongly against the "Sasaki Haise Project" as he deemed it totally useless and time-killing.

He had only two years left in this world, and completion of the "Sasaki Haise Project" would probably take around three to four years. Lucien didn't have that much time, so he was going to talk to Arima and convince him to abandon this project.

He was more inclined to teach Kaneki Ken himself, and also Arima could teach him to create the One-Eyed King as soon as possible. Another thing was that he wanted to see if he could recruit Arima Kishou after the end of their plans.

He was aware that his goal was to create a new future for the ghouls and humans alike, and after that was blank. For Lucien and Wandenreich, someone of his caliber would have huge uses.

Recruiting people with huge talent and potential is a very good thing. Lucien found only one person similar to him, and that was Tatara. He would also be a very good Stermritter.

Currently, there were only three positions occupied, not counting the position of the Grandmaster of the Sternritter.

Lucien arrived at his estate, and the first thing he did was go to see Itori if she was in the mood to have some "fun". To his luck and good fortune, when he arrived at his estate and found Itori, she was in an excellent mood, and they had a very good time together, much fun.

***

After a few days, a certain place in the underground tunnels.

Lucien already came to the pre-arranged place to meet Arima Kishiou. It was the place where they frequently met if they had a thing to discuss together. It had wide space, so from time to time, they would also spar and fight against each other to test out their strength and abilities.

In the latest spar they had together, Lucien was already caught up to the Strongest Investigator, White Reaper Arima Kishou. During the seasons of sparring, Lucien was only using his Kenjutsu and nothing more, as he wanted to rely purely on his techniques to defeat Arima.

Lucien was sitting in a cross-legged position as he was waiting for Arima, who would be arriving every minute. This place was rather secluded from the rest of the underground tunnels and spaces; only with a key could one access it.

Arima Kishou was using it to train or to meet with some individuals that he had to meet in absolute secret.

Soon Arima Kishou arrived at the place with a serious expression, as always. He also wore his white attire of ghoul investigator and had with him only one quinque today.

"Hello, Arima-san"

Greeted him, Lucien, as he opened his eyes and stood up from the meditative position he was in. They shook hands before going to discuss anything. Over time, Lucien and Arima developed some sort of friendship if you could call it that.

He was meeting with Arima relatively often, more often than with Eto last months.

"Arima-san, I have wanted to discuss the 'Sasaki Haise Project' with you."

Lucien started the topic right away as he didn't like going around it, and both he and Arima were people of fewer words.

"Do you want to cancel it?"

Questioned Arima out of thin air.

Lucien smiled hearing this as he knew that Arima was aware of the fact, that he wouldn't call him without any valid reason. He would call for a meeting only if he wanted to discuss something important, but it also happened a few times he called him without reason.

Arima was a bit angry because he was interrupting his duties as a ghoul investigator, but deep inside, he was happy because he had a friend.

"Yes. The problem is mainly on my site. I can only remain here for two years, and the completion of the 'Sasaki Haise Project' would take around three to four years probably. I don't have that much time, so I propose we should completely abandon the project. The main idea behind the 'Sasaki Haise Project' is only that you want to teach him some things, but that you could even know as I could help you with that. Another thing is also that the entire project isn't that important to the creation of the new One-Eyed King. The most important facts are only a few. Creating an idol from him by letting him achieve something great and another point is the extermination of the Washuu Clan, which would be my personal responsibility."

Lucien explained his reasons for canceling the "Sasaki Haise Project" because the time was not enough for that. Also, he thought the "Sasaki Hiase Project" was useless in the creation of a One-Eyed King.

Arima was in deep thought after hearing this, as it would change his plans in many parts. Even though he wasn't fond of canceling the "Sasaki Haise Project", now there wasn't any other alternative as Lucien's time here was shortening.

He was aware that the "Sasaki Haise Project" was something for more than two years. Completion of the project in four years could be considered very good.

"As you wish, then. We will abandon the 'Sasaki Haise Project'; with you there, he doesn't need any of my teachings, but try to teach him how to be a good leader. He would need that for sure as a king."

Stated Arima after some time thinking about Lucien's proposal.

 

[Trafford]

Arima himself wasn't too fond of canceling the "Sasaki Haise Project" that was carefully planned and should be soon executed, but now he didn't have any other choice. Just to cancel it, but that won't change the rest of the plan.

The plan itself was the death of the Strongest Investigator, White Reaper Arima Kishou, at the hands of the new One-Eyed King, which would give him fame and bring many ghouls to his side to create an army that could stand against the entire force of the Commission of Counter Ghoul.

Besides that, Lucien also had plans for Arima as he wanted to convince him to join him after his death which could be easily faked.

"Arima-san, what would you say if I had an opportunity for you? You know our homeland, we could give great use for somebody of your caliber. After your death, you could begin a new life there without anything holding you back and grow more powerful."

He said, which eventually caught Arima's attention.

The thing which caught his attention wasn't that part that said he could grow more powerful but rather the part which mentioned he could begin a whole new life without anything holding him back. This was one of his wishes, and now somebody could even fulfill this wish of his.

Lucien's aim was to get Arima into the Sternritter to become one of the knights. He would grow insanely powerful after undergoing the Awakening process, and also he was a great combatant with plenty of experience.

He could also teach the younger generation various techniques to fight.

"Is that true what you say? Could I really start a new life there without anything?"

Asked Arima skeptically. It sounded too good to be a reality.

"Yes, but there are a few things I need to say to you at first, and then you will decide what to do yourself. Actually, those aren't any bad things, just some minor detail, and many would be greatly beneficial for you."

Said Lucien with a happy voice.

He knew that Arima was standing at some kind of boundary in his decision, and even he wasn't sure what to do. Lucien was aware that he was very rational, so when he used logic, he could easily convince him to join.

"Say."

Only one word, but it was enough for Lucien.

"So there are mainly two things that you would need to do. The first one is to undergo the Awakening ritual that would turn you to the Noble Ghoul as me and my kind. And don't worry, you don't have to eat human meat; in reality, none of us eat humans as it isn't that beneficial to us. The second one is that you would become Sternritter N.04, which protects the Wandenreich; your responsibilities would be protecting the Empire in the future and teaching the younger generation of ghoulkind to fight as you have great combat experiences. If you want to ask anything, then feel free."

Arima was processing the pieces of information in his head after hearing what Lucien said, and he now had plenty of questions.

"I have questions. The first one is what exactly is the Noble Ghoul. For the second one, you said I would grow many times more powerful, explain, please. The third one is about protecting the Empire again; please explain."

Fortunately, Arima had only three questions for him, which made Lucien rather happy because he wasn't a fan of long talks and explanations.

"So where to start, hmm. I will give you some general knowledge first."

After finishing the entire explanation, it took more than half an hour for Arima to digest everything completely and sort out his mind to conclude. After another twenty minutes of waiting for Lucien spent in meditation, Arima finally decided.

"So do you agree Arima Kishou become the Noble Ghoul, Sternritter N0.4 of the Wandenreich and begin a whole new life?"

Lucien asked in dominating voice befitting that of the Emperor.

"I hereby agree to become Noble Ghoul, Sternritter N0.4 of the Wandenreich and I swear to protect the Wandenreich in exchange for the new life you promised me."

Lucien now felt like Devil as they were a race that was tricking people into contracts with them, stealing their souls, and gaining power from it. Weird, but he achieved what he needed and obtained Arima Kishou for the Wandenreich.

"Good, very good; now we have only a few years before this world is turned into an apocalyptic shithole. Come, I will tell you everything you would need to know about upcoming events and your duties."

 

[Trafford]

After finishing everything with Arima Kishou that Lucien wanted to discuss, he returned back to his estate only to hear rather bad news. It was mainly about a certain person named Kano Akihiro and special order from his father to exterminate this person promptly.

Apparently, someone found a secret research facility that belonged to the Kano Akihiro and it was located beneath the Yasuhisa Mansion, which is the property of the Commission of Counter Ghoul.

From the report given to him by Zelilios, Kano was working there for a rather long time, researching the ghoulification process of how to turn ordinary humans into ghouls.

Lucien then turned to Zelilios, who was standing behind him all the time as he was reading the report about Kano's underground laboratory.

"Who found out about the existence of this facility?"

Asked Lucien with a rather angry voice as he finished reading the report itself.

"Evidently, Aogiri Tree itself. Kano is closely related to the Vasuki organization and, thus, the Washuu Clan itself. They found about the existence of this underground lab by accident when they were spying on the assistant of Kano."

Answered Zelilios swiftly, seeing that His Highness was clearly very angry now.

"Aogiri Tree would want to raid that lab, and we will join. We must capture Kano Akihiro by any means and kill him. Also, another priority is securing his research of his; something like that cannot fall into the hands of the Washuu Clan. Either it would be ours or destroyed for all eternity. Contact Aogiri Tree and tell them I agree to raid it."

Said Lucien as he stood up and walked away from the study room. He went to his room, where Itori was already waiting for him, clothed in a very provocative way. She was lying on the huge king-sized bed and reading some book that Lucien had given her.

She was very eager to learn new things; now she was aware that they would be entering the much vaster world, and she was totally lacking information. Even though Lucien and his people didn't have all pieces of information, they still had a decent amount of it.

"What is honey? You look angry."

Said Itori as she stood up and hugged Lucien closely. Her breasts weren't covered, and she looked like some kind of succubus.

"Aogiri Tree found the underground lab which belongs to the Kano Akihiro, and my father ordered me to kill him at any cost. Also, I must secure his research on the ghoulification if possible. Aogiri Tree is planning to raid that lab in a few days, so Zelilios and I would be going with them."

Itori knew about Kano and his attempts to create artificial ghouls; he even succeeded with an experiment named Kaneki Ken, who was turned into an One-Eyed Artificial Ghoul some time ago.

It was vastly known in the underworld that Kano was a human that researched ghouls to the extreme and was creating artificial ghouls. Also, that some mysterious organization funded him was something like a public secret.

"When will the raid occur?"

Questioned Itori with a concerned voice, as she knew that Kano was a very cunning person and probably that the entire underground lab would be a huge trap for his pursuers just to do some damage to them. Either the Vasuki orchestrated it and the Washuu Clan or Kano acted on his own.

"The sooner, the better. We don't have enough time to sit and wait for the miracle. We must act quickly and swiftly. I would go meet with Eto to decide the exact strategy on the raid and people that would participate in this operation."

Said Lucien as he prepared to go to the 24th Ward and discuss the upcoming operation with Eto.

As he was already leaving, Itori came to him and kissed Lucien on his lips in a very passionate kiss that lasted for minutes. When they finally separated from each other, both of them had lust written all over their faces, and thus Lucien concluded the fact that the meeting could wait one more hour.

***

24th Ward

"So, now is the question of the day. Who would participate in the 'Raid on the Kano's Lab Operation'?"

Asked Lucien with a happy voice as he scanned through the room he was in. Eto was already sitting behind a huge wooden table and reading some books. There were also several high-ranking executives of the Aogiri Tree, namely Noro and Tatara.

"From the Aogiri Tree, two people would participate, as you and your Knight would also. Ayato and Kaneki, both of them are around SS-Rate, so it would be good."

Said Eto, and Lucien only nodded his head. Going only with four people is rather good; they would need to keep it low and not draw attention.

Afterward, they discussed the plan for the raid and other things, such as potential confrontation with the Vasuki or the Commission of Counter Ghoul, which would probably come true as they would also come to investigate the lab. Vasuki would be there to clear the mess after Kano for sure.

From the Commission of Counter Ghoul, there would probably be one Special-Class Ghoul Investigator participating in this operation as the squad leader. Lucien didn't know who it would be, but CCG didn't have a lot Special-Class Ghoul Investigators, and now that one of them was killed during the last operation.

Vasuki would try to cover up the whole thing from shadows, which was understandable as they supported Kano from the dark. Lucien didn't even dare to think who they would send, but he faintly felt it would be someone strong.

Even though they suffered heavy losses, Kano's research was essential for the Washuu Clan, so they would try to recover it for all costs.

And lastly, there was Lucien with Sternritter N0.3 Zelilios, together with his chess pieces from the Aogiri Tree. His only goal was to kill Kano, and maybe if they had time to recover his research of his. If he couldn't recover it, his father said it would also be good to destroy it.

 

[Trafford]

21st Ward, Lucien's estate, Tokyo.

After Lucien returned from the 24th Ward to his estate in the 21st Ward, he went to his bedroom, where Itori was already waiting for him in very erotic clothing as they engaged in a long night of pleasure and moans.

After the deed was finished and time for fun was over, Lucien decided to prepare for the raid on the Kano's Underground Lab that would happen very, very soon.

***

The next day, deep night, Yasuhisa Mansion ( property of the Commission of Counter Ghoul )

Lucien stood hidden in the dark together with two people clothed in black combat clothes; one was wearing a traditional eyepatch mask and another black rabbit mask. Then there was a man clothed in battle armor, that was, of course, Sternritter N0.3 Zelilios.

"The mansion is empty; probably only in the underground lab would be some people. Eyepatch and Black Rabbit would kill everybody that entrest the lab, either from CCG or some other organization. Zelilios and I would search for Kano and kill him. To be careful; that rat is very good at hiding and playing dirty tricks."

Lucien was clothed in his battle attire and wearing the bloody-white hollow mask, exactly as his title was Hollow Shinigami. He gave everybody exact instructions on what to do and when. Apparently, CCG wasn't still here as they would arrive only when the mansion was breached and Vasuki would do the same. Only in the shadows, contrary to the CCG.

Seeing everybody nodding their heads in agreement, Lucien nodded too and gave his approval to the start of the operation. All four of them ran to the mansion; what was surprising was that there weren't any kind of alarms or anything, as the estate was completely defenseless.

***

They quickly found the underground lab entrance and then divided their forces into two teams. Lucien and Zelilios were on one team, and another one was Kaneki and Ayato.

Lucien and Zelilios entered the underground through the huge elevator, which led them several tens of meters under the ground. One must admit that they really make sure that the underground lab is hidden really well.

Though, the lack of security was something that was making worry in Lucien's head as he was smelling the trap.

No, he wasn't smelling a trap.

This was the trap.

When they exited the elevator, they were in the huge spacious room filled with containers holding bodies of either humans, ghouls, or some hybrid. All bodies were in perfect condition, even though Lucien didn't know if they were dead or alive. Here was the place where Kano Akihiro was performing his ghoulification experiments.

Lucien's orders were complete extermination, leaving no one alive as it was the safest thing they could do. Thus this applied to the experimental subjects of the Kano. Lucien looked at Zelilios before saying anything as he created several kagune daggers and controlled them through his telekinesis to destroy all those experimental subjects.

Then he collected the bodies of the dead into his Cross Crest before continuing the search of this facility.

"Kill everything you see. Orders are complete extermination. When were are done, place as many explosives here as you can. If possible, we need to destroy this laboratory so the Washuu Clan or anyone else won't have anything from this."

Said Lucien as he handed Zelilios new explosives that were extremely strong. Destroying this lab was something like an optional target, but it would be preferable if it succeeded.

Lucien and Zelilios carefully examined all corners of the lab, but they couldn't find anything useful at all. Apparently, they weren't even close to the heart of the facility. Lucien hoped Kano would be here and he could kill him as it would make things easier many times.

***

Outside of the Yasuhisa Mansion

There stood a group of people in typical white cloaks of the CCG. Leading them was Kuroiwa Iwao, Special-Class Ghoul Investigator, who apparently healed from his injuries that he sustained some time ago.

Besides him were also two notable ghoul investigators, Amon Koutarou, a very tall, handsome young man with black hair and teal eyes.

His distinctive eyebrows are curved at the end. Due to his constant, vigorous training, he has an extremely athletic and muscular build. Currently, First-Class Ghoul Investigator wielding the Doujima 1/2 quinque, koukaku-type that takes the form of a club with a big handle, suited mainly for two-handed users.

Another one was a woman, Mado Akira, a gorgeous young woman with pale blonde hair and purple eyes. She braided her hairstyle and wore a neutral expression on her face.

She was the daughter of the Mado Kureo, a ghoul investigator who went a bit crazy after a certain event and was a First-Class Ghoul Investigator.

Besides the three of them, there were two four other ghoul investigators, clothed in the same fashion and holding suitcases with their quinques. Most of them were lower ranked and were much weaker because the main combat strength of the team was, of course, Kuroiwa and then Amon with Mado, but alas, in every team is needed for cannon fodder.

Meanwhile, Kuroiwa observed the mansion and thought about some kind of plan for an attack.

"We must be careful; the report from the HQ said that several ghouls of the Aogiri Tree entered the mansion. Our mission is to search and kill all those that entered. Call for reinforcements if you find an enemy you can't defeat immediately."

Ordered Kuriowa as they also entered the Yasuhisa Mansion. Nobody knew that from a distance, hidden in the dark, several people wearing long black coats with hats and holding katanas were observing them as they were walking on the way to the Yasuhisa Mansion.

Empire and its pawn Aogiri, Vasuki, and CCG. All teams were here, and not everyone could leave this playground alive.

 

[Trafford]

Yasuhisa Mansion, Commission of Counter Ghoul Team

"One last thing that I must inform you all about. This operation must be a 100% success. CCG lost too much during the 11th Ward Battle and also with the raid on the Cochlea Prison. Now we are under very heavy pressure from the public and the government. We need to show some positive results so our situation would ease up."

Explained Kuroiwa to the rest of his team as they walked through the corridors of the Yasuhisa Mansion, searching for something. They didn't know that this was an underground lab in reality.

Nowadays, the CCG is in a very bad situation. Mainly thanks to the Lucien and Tsukiyama families.

After Lucien finished the deal with Tsukiyama Mirumo and informed him about the poor state of the CCG, the man took action, and the whole Tsukiyama Conglomerate started pressuring the CCG through their own connections with the government and the Prime Minister, who was a personal acquaintance of the Tsukiyama Mirumo.

This action led to the lowering of funds for the Commission of Counter Ghoul by a significant amount. Also, it lowered the number of recruits that were recruited monthly, but still, it didn't do critical damage to the Washuu Clan.

They were indeed worthy of their history, being a clan that existed for centuries.

All members of the team nodded their heads and continued the search of the Yasuhisa Mansion. Sadly, at least for them, they only found the entrance to the elevator a good while later. It was hidden very well, so it was rather hard to find if you were only an ordinary human.

"Prepare your quinques. Nobody knows what is hidden down there."

All members of the team, including Kuroiwa himself, took out their quinques and readied themselves for the battle that would be coming. After a short preparation, they entered the elevator, which took them deep under the ground, where the laboratory was located and where everything would take place.

***

Meanwhile, Lucien and Zelilios were also searching for something notable, and as they were searching for their targets, they were also placing explosives everywhere, literary everywhere, to blow this lab up to the air.

How one great man said, "Art is an explosion!", and it was certainly the truth. That beauty if something exploded and created a huge baaang and fire, was really something.

"Your Highness, how long would be here in this world?"

Asked Zelilios in a quiet voice as they walked through one corridor side by side.

"???"

After walking for another ten minutes, Lucien and Zelilios finally arrived at the main lab, where Kano should be, probably at least. Both of them readied themselves and prepared for the fight.

After they entered the room, there were already people waiting for them. Apparently relaxed, grey-haired Kano Akihiro, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and carrying a fan.

Beside him were two of his loyal subjects/experiments, identical twin sisters Yasuhisas.

Both of them were artificial one-eyed ghouls.

Yasuhisa Kurona and Ysuhisa Nashiro. Both of them were standing behind him and guarding him; meanwhile, Kano had a relaxed expression and was probably thinking about something else than the situation he was in.

Yasuhisa Kurona's kakugan was in her left eye with a small dark mark beneath it. Her usual outfit was a long black cloak with a hood. On top of the hood were two white circles resembling an eye. Her ghoul mask was a simple black-and-white vertical-striped mask with a hole in the left eye.

Yasuhisa Nashiro's kakugan was in her right eye with a small dark mark beneath it. Nashiro had medium-length white hair with bluntly chopped bangs.

Her predominant outfit was a long white cloak with one sleeve on the right arm with a symbol similar to an eye on the hood. Her ghoul mask was a simple black-and-white horizontal-striped mask with a hole in the right eye.

 

[Trafford]

"Welcome here, Mr. Aeon. I was waiting for you to visit me at my humble abode. I hope that you have liked your short excursion through my personal laboratory, but I fear it must end now."

Said Kano at the moment when Lucien and Zelilios entered the room and several agents of the Vasuki organization appeared holding their katanas in their hands and aiming at the duo of Lucien and Zelilios, ready to fight to the death.

Meanwhile, both of his loyal pet experiments, Kuro and Shiro, readied their own Kagune, both of them were of the Rinkaku-Type.

Lucien only smiled seeing this, and he was also secretly surprised that the Vasuki and Washuu Clan still had some manpower to spare to let them die to him. Truly they had deep reserves, but sadly most of them were only ordinary cannon fodders without any real combat strength. Especially now that Lucien was many times stronger compared to the past.

"I must thank Mr. Kano for his great work, but sadly I have my orders to kill you, and your ghoulification research is to be either obtained or destroyed."

Said Lucien to Kano and Kano only smiled hearing this; he was aware that he couldn't fight against him, so the only logical thing he could do was to...

"Kuro, Shiro! Stall him as many as possible, so I can escape."

Kano screamed as he grabbed a book-like object and started running to the closest emergency exit door. Kuro and Shiro were shocked by his order as he was just ordering them to let themselves be killed so he could escape with his precious little research.

"Mr. Kano, I wish you nice in the underworld; say hello to the Granny Meng."

Said Lucien in a calm voice as he congealed his kakugan; both of his eyes where the iris turned red, and the sclera black with red veins across the eye and into the skin around the eye.

In a split of the second, he congealed several kagune daggers and shot them through telekinesis at Kano, killing him in one hit. Even though his "mad genius", he was still nothing more than an ordinary human without any strength or training.

Both Kuro and Shiro, together with Vasuki agents, were stupified by the course of action and didn't know what to do. Zelilios congealed his kagune spear and disposed of all Vasuki agents in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, there were only six of them, so they were killed rather fast.

The only people remaining alive were Kuro and Shiro, who Lucien decided spare as they were also victims of Kano's experiments. Now that he had practically abandoned them for his own life and research, they were very conflicted deep inside and started to understand that for Kano, they were just disposable paws that could be sacrificed in times of need.

"Let them be. They were nothing more than his pawns. Hey, you two, escape quickly and go to the 24th Ward to the Aogiri Tree if you want. Say that Lord Aeon sends you, and they will give you everything you need."

After he said that to them, Lucien started searching through the lab to find something usable. The only thing he found was the notebook on the ghoulification process filled with Kano's research.

Lucien stored it in his Cross Crest and then planted some explosives here.

Meanwhile, Kuro and Shiro recovered from the shock and started running to the 24th Ward, as Lucien said to them. It was only safe heaven in the entire Japan that could protect them as the strength of the Aogiri Tree grew exponentially.

"Zelilios, did you find something useful besides failure projects and experiments on the ghoulification process?"

Questioned Lucien after they left the Kano lab and searched through the rest of the complex. Of course, they also planted some explosives along the way so the whole underground lab, together with Yasuhisa Mansion, could go up into the air.

"Nothing useful found. There were just some notes about the next ideas for the ghoulification process and that it was a new means of evolution for him."

Answered Zelilios as he held his kagune spear over his shoulders. As they walked through the corridors, suddenly, they heard sounds of fighting between some people, probably CCG and the Aoigiri Tree finally found each other, and the fight started.

"Come, Zelilios, we are going to watch the fight. Maybe there would be some fun, and we could also kill some of those dogs."

Said Lucien s they both sped up and went to the place where the confrontation between the Aogiri Tree and Commission of Counter Ghoul was taking place.

They came there in the shadows and started watching the event. Both Ayato and Kaneki were completely surrounded by several ghoul investigators holding their quinques in their hands and in combat stances.

Special-Class Ghoul Investigator Kuroiwa led them; behind him were Akira Mado and Kotarou Amon. Ayato and Kaneki were also in the combat-ready position, with their kagune already out and ready to kill at any moment.

"Kill the rest, leaving only three of them, so the game is fair, then take one for yourself. I would be watching from here."

Lucien ordered to Zelilios, who bowed slightly and then rushed at ghoul investigators surrounding Ayato and Kaneki. As he was going at them from behind, nobody was aware of the attack, and when it came, it was too late. With only a few precise slashes with his spear, he swiftly killed every ghoul investigator besides Mado Akira, Kotarou Amon, and Kuroiwa Iwao.

Blood splashed high as throats were severed with one swing. The Kagune spear of 4th Star Noble Ghoul was really something to fear.

As Lucine was watching the beautiful dance from the shadows, he silently clapped with his hands as a sign of applause for Zelilios as he killed those cannon fodder ghoul investigators. Not talking about skills; even by a single punch, he could have killed them, as Zelilios is already at the 4th Star.

 

[Trafford]

When the dust or we should rather say, the blood settled and the remaining three ghoul investigators realized that the new mighty enemy had appeared, they were shocked and also greatly disturbed.

Now they had to fight against one more, probably an SS-Rated ghoul, maybe even stronger.

Zelilios appeared beside Akira Mado in a split of the second and with one hand, he grabbed her and then disappeared together with her.

Now only ones remaining here were Kuroiwa Iwao and Kotarou Amon, who were going to fight against their enemy duo consisting of Kaneki Ken and Kirishima Ayaoto, both SS-Rated ghouls, extremely proficient in combat and also, with pretty good cooperation.

The first one to break this deadly silence was Ayato, who started shooting tens of crystals from his Ukaku Wings at Kotarou Amon and Kuroiwa Iwao; both of them were defending rather easily, but as they were distracted and their attention was elsewhere, another attack came.

Kaneki Ken, called Eyepatch, attacked Kotarou Amon with all his kagune tails. This attack was the strong one, and Kotarou Amon tried to defend himself, but sadly he was not strong enough and was shotted away several meters, eventually coughing a lot of fresh blood and nearly fainting from the pain.

As soon as Kuroiwa saw that Amon was nearly killed in the once precise attack, he tried to come to him and help, but his attempt was futile as Ayato was shooting more and more crystal kagune projectiles at him to keep them away.

With some hardships, Amon managed to stand, but Kaneki was already before him, and with one kick to the stomach, Amon fell unconscious, and now only Kuroiwa was in the battle with Ayato.

Kaneki really didn't want to kill Amon because of his own reasons.

Kaneki, after dealing with Kotarou Amon, rushed to help Ayato in hopes of killing the Special-Class Ghoul Investigator, which would be huge merit for an entire Aogiri Tree as the Special-Class Ghoul Investigators are sitting on the top of the pyramid in the Commission of Counter Ghoul.

At least, on the outside, they were.

Then Kuroiwa and Kaneki started fighting against each other, with Kuroiwa holding a slight advantage sometimes and then Kaneki holding the advantage afterward. Kuroiwa was more experienced in combat, and he was also in his quinque Arata, so his physical abilities were greatly enhanced, but with a huge price.

On the other side, Kaneki was still physically stronger than Kuroiwa even with his Arata quinque, and also, his reflexes were much better.

Kaneki was also more agile as he had no problem evading Kuroiwa's butcher knife-looking quinque Kuroiwa Special which was an S-Rated quinque. As they were fighting, Lucien enjoyed watching this fight from the shadows.

After several minutes of fighting against Kuroiwa, Ayato and Kaneki finally managed to gain the upper hand and started to force him back. Lucien then yawned, seeing that, and turned his attention to another part of the story: the fight between Zelilios and Mado Akira.

In reality, it wasn't a fight as Zelilios was just evading all of her attacks because he didn't want to kill a woman, truly a knight. Zelilios was even using his kagune or kagune spear; instead, he just stood there, and either he defected the attacks of the quinque using his bare hands, or he just evaded with ease.

After several minutes, something was heard throughout the whole place. It came like thunder from the clear sky.

Booooom.

A loud explosion was heard through the whole underground lab of the Yasuhisa Mansion. Apparently, one Magitek Explosive Bomb exploded a good time before it should. What to say more, they were prototypes.

Lucien then stood up and started to run to the closest exit.

Soon enough, Kaneki and Ayato stopped their fight against Kuroiwa, who was already exhausted, and started running to some exit. Same with Zelilios; he even took Mado Akira with him after he knocked her unconscious. After one of the explosives exploded, next came a chain reaction, and they were exploding one after another.

The whole Underground Lab was falling down, and even the elevator was already destroyed. So the only thing was various hidden secret paths that were leading out of place. With the partial destruction of various parts of the underground lab, many of these hidden secret paths were now nicely visible and Lucien and others used them in their escape.

***

Some distance from the Yasuhisa Mansion

Lucien and Zelilios stood together, side by side, on a small hill with a good view of the Yasuhisa Mansion that was burning in flames. Even the area around the Yasuhisa Mansion looked like hell on earth, with flames spurting out of the ground and illuminating the whole Ward.

"Hmm, the biggest part should still come."

Said Lucien as he observed the burning Yasuhisa Mansion and admired the beauty of ever-destroying flames.

He was talking about the biggest explosive they placed there. It would explode every second, and when it explodes, it will take with its a diameter of several tens of meters.

Several seconds after, they saw a giant explosion that was high, maybe even thirty meters, and the whole mansion and its surrounding area ceased existing. The explosion destroyed the whole neighborhood, and who knows how many people have died now. Lucien didn't care; why should he? He accomplished his mission perfectly.

Kano is dead, underground lab and his research are destroyed.

They even killed some ghoul investigators, and with a huge probability, even Kotarou Amon and Kuroiwa Iwao are dead. Lucien hoped that Kirishima Ayato and Kaneki Ken survived, but they should, as they started running the second when the first explosion was heard.

Afterward, Lucien looked behind him and saw Mado Akira lying unconscious on the ground. He didn't know why Zelilios had saved her, but probably not entirely out of his Chivalry Codex.

 

[Trafford]

"Why did you save her? "

Asked Lucien in a curious voice, he observed the beautiful flames devouring everything around; the entire area around the Yasuhisa Mansion was turned into the Realm of Flames.

Sometimes there would be a small occasional explosion that was an addition to the raging flames beneath the heaven.

"I don't know, Your Highness."

Answered Zelilios in a low voice as he also stared at still exploding Yasuhisa Mansion and the surrounding area. Who knows who died there? Maybe even Kuroiwa and the rest of them didn't survive those explosions and raging flames.

Maybe with some luck, Kirishima Ayato and Kaneki Ken survived, but probably yes, as Lucien told them that tonight there would be huge fireworks.

Lucien observed him before turning to continue to watch the fireworks; he admired the beauty of the flame and explosion. After ten minutes of watching, he turned around to walk away, but before that, he turned to Zelilios and with a serious face said.

"She is your responsibility. You take care of her and persuade her. If she accepts, it is again your responsibility to take care of her and make enough contribution to get acess to the Sacred Blood Crystal and process of turning her into Noble Ghoul."

After Lucien said that, Zelilios bowed in gratitude

***

After returning to the manor, Lucien went to his room to get a hot shower as he was all sweaty from the latest adventure. Those flames were too intense, and there were extremely hot thanks to them.

He had worked a bit today and also disposed of Kano, and at least he was sure that Special-Class Ghoul Investigator Kuroiwa Iwao had died in those explosions down there, so the current mission could be considered a huge success.

The only thing he wanted to do for now was to sleep and relax as he was tired. More than anything, he was exhausted from those explosions' immense heat and noise.

Meanwhile, Zelilios took Akira to his room and let her sleep; during her sleep, he also took a shower, changed, and then slept on the couch in the room. He wasn't aware why exactly he saved the human woman in front of him, but what happened, happened.

He was pretty happy that His Highness the Crown Prince didn't kill her out of anything; instead, he gave her his responsibility to him as his own responsibility.

***

Several hours later

After sleeping for several hours, Mado Akira finally started showing signs of a slow awakening. She at first only opened one of her eyes weakly and then the second one. Before anything, she sat on the bed and held her head, which hurt.

'Where am I? This room looks like from some fantasy book.'

She said to herself as she observed luxurious-looking furniture; many things were ornamented with gold, and on the walls were various beautiful paintings of people she didn't recognize, but they were clothed in very fancy clothes, and most of them were holding some sort of weapon.

"Awake?"

Asked the voice out of nowhere. Akira was surprised at first, but gradually she calmed down and started looking for the source of the voice.

Then she saw a very handsome black-haired man clothed in a luxurious-looking white outfit created from several components. He wore a white suit with a long coat, tight high boots, and a white waistcoat; overall the man was giving out the presence of an aristocrat.

"And you are?"

Questioned Akira in a calm voice as she observed the man before her, not sure about what to do.

"Zelilios, Sternritter N03 of Wandenreich, currently acting as the personal knight of his Highness, Crown Prince Lucien Etras di Aeon."

Introduced Zelilios himself as he gave out even a traditional salute.

Akira was surprised at first that the man before saved her because she had never heard anything like Wandenreich or anything he said to her. Even though she was shocked inside, she tried to keep calm as much as possible and tried to sort out all those chaotic thoughts in her head.

"What are you?"

Asked Akira after some time of thinking and observing Zelilios, who was comfortably sitting on the sofa in front of her.

Like her, he was also observing Akira and watching her every movement or expression. Watching her expression was rather a hard task because even now, she barely changed it by an inch.

"Noble Ghoul, we are like ghouls but evolutionary we are on a much higher level. For example, we are stronger, live longer, don't need to eat humans to survive, and many other things. Wandenreich is a country located on the Blood Island in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle, or as you, humans call it, one of the world's mysteries."

Then Zelilios slowly explained some minor things about Noble Ghouls and Wandenreich as he talked about it and answered all her questions. She was shocked to hear that there existed such powerful ghouls, alas in hiding in the dark, but she was also surprised by the fact of how different they were from ordinary ghouls.

For example, the fact that they can't get crazy even if they consumed other ghouls and all these things; when she asked about it, Zelilios showed her Blood Essences and told her how they were getting RC Cells from other ghouls as it was barbaric to consume other ghouls or some creatures in a manner consuming their flesh.

 

[Trafford]

"What happened to my team?"

Questioned Akira; after some time, they talked about various things, effectively switching the topic to a less comfortable one. Zelilios smiled sadly as he looked at her face, though now she was showing a bit of emotion, mainly sadness.

"Probably dead, all of them. You know, that place was a laboratory belonging to Kano Akihiro, the doctor that was researching a process called Ghoulification Process, which is basically turning humans into ghouls. He is already dead, but he managed to reach rather disturbing results. He managed to turn the pure-blooded human into an artificial one-yed ghoul."

Zelilios stated to Akira after a short time of silence, which wasn't that comfortable feeling. She looked like him like she had seen a ghost right now, and then she started looking down at her bed, probably thinking about something.

"Why would you want someone to turn humans into ghouls? You should know it. Right?"

Zelilios smiled and started thinking about how much he could tell, thinking about what he already told her about himself being the Noble Ghoul and also the fact she couldn't escape from the mansion, he decided to tell some things about Kano and, of course, the most critical information, the truth about the Washuu Clan.

"Dunno, probably some orders and plots from the Washuu Clan."

Said Zelilios causally as he continued watching Akira; she didn't miss the word and emphasis on the word Washuu Clan.

She was surprised that he mentioned the Washuu Clan, as they were creators of the Commission of Counter Ghoul and also could be called protectors of humanity in entire Japan. They had been protecting humans from ghouls for whole centuries already.

"The Washuu Clan is actually the clan of pure-blooded ghouls."

After this sentence was finished, Akira felt like she was struck by thunder or, more to be precise, some kind of thunder tribulation. Information about the Washuu Clan being ghouls was too much on her. Probably not only her but also every other human.

"How?"

She asked in a rather sad voice, feeling betrayed.

Why not? Both of her parents were ghoul investigators, and she also devoted her whole life to it. Her mother died when fighting for the CCG, which were basically watchdogs of the Washuu Clan and her father died not long ago.

Now she felt that all of her efforts were totally for nothing, useless.

"How should I now? They blended into human society several hundred years, and now we have the result. They are deeply rooted in human society and can't be removed so easily now. My tip is that they are trying to get more power and are trying to control humans from behind; because of this, they created the Commission of Counter Ghoul, so they got a better position in controlling humans. Thanks to that, they got a huge deal of political and military power and, of course, a constant source of food."

Akira started then thinking about various things she had heard now, especially about the Washuu Clan and other things that Zelilios had told her today. Then they talked about various things, mainly about some things about ghouls and some minor details about him.

***

Lucien was currently in his room in the Charles Patricius: Our Transient Glory and was resting after this day. After laying on the bed for two hours or so, he decided to go increase his RC rating to reach the 5th-Star, as he had already spent a long time at the 4th-Star.

He was already long enough at the 4th-Star, and he felt he had stabilized his foundation enough, so it was the right time. He had calculated that when he reached 5th-Star now.

Afterward, he brought out several tens of bloody red beads, the highest quality blood essences, and started them refining one by one. At first, one was very fast to digest, and his RC Level was increasing with lightning speed.

As he was nearing the required RC Level border, he started showing signs of lowering digestion speed. Instead, Lucien took out more Blood Essences and ate them like they were candies. Two hours later, he finally reached the threshold required for the breakthrough.

He took out one drop of blood from the Royal Blood Crystal and ate it together with several blood essences. The moment he ate that all, he felt a huge energy surge through his whole body, and all of his bones, muscles, tissues, and cells were undergoing massive strengthening and evolution.

There were several notable changes he felt now. One of them was that he felt another type of kagune in his body; to be more concrete, he had Ukaku-Type Kagune now.

He turned on his kakugan and unleashed his kagune wings. They were beautiful, with a wingspan of over three meters or so. They looked like some kind of crystals in bloody red and black color, creating a very wonderful sight.

Even though his wings looked like some piece of art, in reality, they were an extremely deadly tool to kill enemies. Now he had one more long-distance weapon without the need to create kagune daggers out of his Rinkaku.

Even though creating kagune daggers and controlling them through his telekinesis was very effective, he practically gave up on any other form of combat. Still, now he had Ukaku wings; he could just create a shower of kagune crystal projectiles and shoot them at the enemy until they die.

He even had now two permanent Rinaku Tails, which could be used in a fight at any time. His combat style would become more diverse and more unpredictable. Now that he had reached the 5th-Star, he knew that he had only a small amount of time before they would leave this world.

Now that Lucien was finished thinking about other things and, more importantly he finished experimenting with his new strength, especially those Ukaku Wings, he decided to check out his record to see the changes on it.

As Lucien observed the results and tested them, he decided it was time to go back to his estate to have some time with his beautiful and now also horny fianceé. Time was shortening, and there were only two years left before leaving this world, so everything must be prepared perfectly.

Lucien even planned that after a year, he would raid the ancestral home of the Washuu Clan, slaughtering the whole clan.

 

[Trafford]

24th Ward, Underground Fortification, One month later.

One month was spent from the Raid on the Yasuhisa Mansion, and now everything seemed to be very tranquil and peaceful. Commission of Counter Ghoul released the death of several ghoul investigators, including the First-Class Ghoul Investigator Kotarou Amon and also Special Class Ghoul Investigator Kuroiwa Iwao.

Now, they were weakened by a significant amount, counting in the losses in the 11th Ward Suppression Operation, or rather an 11th Ward Depression Operation, where they also lost one Special-Class Ghoul Investigator and several other high-ranking members of the CCG, they laid for low.

After Lucien reported everything to his father, he got a very important and also disturbing message from him that he only had around one year and something, before they would leave as the situation on Blood Island wasn't looking good.

Even though they were killing demons more and more effectively, the portal to the Abyss, or whatever it was, was constantly expanding, and soon stronger demons would emerge. Fortunately, now only demons coming out were maximally 4th-Star ones, so it was okay for now.

Lucien looked at the 24th Ward fortifications and was very satisfied with the progress itself. Now it looked many times better compared to the past, where everything looked like ruins, and it was only ruins and nothing more.

After controlling the 24th Ward, he returned to his estate in the 21st Ward and found out only a guest was waiting for him there. As usual, his diligent student girl, Touka, was already waiting for him for today's training. She even learned to smile more compared to the past and her usual indifferent cold expression.

After they trained for several hours, around two or three per day, she returned to the Anteiku Cafe, and Lucien went to Itori for some adult activities. After spending some innate time with his soon-to-be wife, he returned to his training as usual.

And thus, Lucien started eating his remaining blood essences like candies. One after another, they were eaten and absorbed by the RC Cells inside his body. Even though his RC Level wasn't increasing almost at all, his foundation was becoming stronger and stronger with each blood essence absorbed.

This also meant his combat prowess would become stronger.

After spending more than one month stabilizing his foundation, he reached a good level; even though it wasn't perfect, he needed more time to reach perfect stabilization of his foundation.

Even his RC Level increased from the RC Level: 76,789 to the RC Level: 85,971.

Afterward, Lucien decided to spend most of his time training with his Ukaku Wings to learn how to fly proficiently. He knew only how to shoot crystalized projectiles at his enemy and nothing more.

Learning to fly with his wings would be rather hard initially, but he was confident he could learn it soon enough.

He also needed to train in his Kenjutsu to improve his skills with Katana, as he felt that soon it would not be enough.

And like that, Lucien started his long season of constant training, either it was training in the Kenjutsu or training with his Ukaku Wings or Telekinesis. He needed to be prepared for the future because the strong devoured the weak and became stronger. Sometimes strong devoured others strong if they were a bit stronger.

During that time, Lucien ate almost all of the blood essences he had stored and finally stabilized his foundation, and his combat prowess reached another new level. He learned how to fly with his Ukaku Wings, and it was a wonderful thing to fly in the night sky and admire the stars in the dark sky.

More importantly, he needed to learn to use his wings in the most efficient way available. Especially during flight, he needed to be able to fight at his maximum. This alone would take some time to adapt to the new fighting style.

The next time he came out of his seclusion/training, he would personally slaughter the whole Washuu Clan and then return to the Blood Island.

***

One year and several months later, Blood Island, The manor of the Aeon Family, Study Room.

Lucien was standing there with his father, discussing the most important topic this day, preparation for the inevitable Apocalypse that loomed over the Earth like the sword of Damocles.

"Hmm, the situation down there isn't looking that good ."

Said Lucien's father, Asmodeus as he looked at his son.

"I will return to Tokyo and slaughter the Washuu Clan; then I will immediately return to the Blood Island so we can start the evacuation of the Island."

Asmodeus nodded, hearing this, and then he started thinking about something.

"Bring your wife to the Blood Island immediately, together with those two who would be new Sternritter so that we could start the Awakening ritual for them. And also, take one more Sternritter with you, so no accidents happen."

Lucien nodded before saying to his father.

"Okay, I will send Itori here after a week or so."

During this year and something, many things happened. One of the most notable ones was that he finally found out that the feeling that girl Touka had for him was just a combination of admiration and many other things, but it could hardly be called love.

Though who knows what will happen in the future?

Also, another thing that happened was that he also got something he excepted some time ago, that he would marry another girl; to be precise, she was the daughter of the Patriarch of the Dracul Clan and Dante's younger sister.

It was something needed to bond both houses together as one. He had known Seira from the time he was a little kid, and he was always fond of her; maybe if he had never left Blood Island, he would have ended up marrying only her.

Lucien was rather happy about this marriage because it was better to marry someone he knew, and they even had feelings for each other than to marry a stranger. By this marriage, they would be consolidating the position of both families, and Imperial Family would have a trace of blood inside them from the Dracul House, which was given the title of Royal Family, even though nobody would be doing their duties.

These vampires were interested only in their research, magic, and other things.

"I would go to ee Seira now, and I will take Arseahr with me."

Said Lucien. He needed to see his new fianceé as he didn't saw Seira for several years. She was also a quiet girl, enjoying his company, and sometimes she tagged along with him everywhere he went.

He decided he would take Arseahr with him as an additional fighter, as nobody knows what could go wrong. He was very surprised about the Washuu Clan's strength when he fought against their Grand Elder, so it was better to have some insurance than nothing than all.

Arseahr was Sternritter N0.1, currently strongest only below Sternritter Grandmaster Nalthos.

Arseahr was also a swordsman like Lucien, but he didn't use the Katana or practice Kenjutsu; nevertheless, he was a very talented and strong swordsman like Lucien, and he often fought and trained together when there was an opportunity.

"Good, three months is the maximum; we don't have much time, and the time, when the stronger demons would emerge, isn't that far. Even though your grandfather managed to reach 7th-Star, with that luck, he managed to kill a few of the Demon Nobles, which apparently had some strong bloodline is a miracle itself, so be fast as you can."

Said Asmodeus as he looked through the window at the training soldiers.

 

[Trafford]

Blood Island, Courtyard, Mansion of Sternritter N0.1 Arseahr

Arseahr was a rather tall man in his thirties, clothed in typical white attire that all Noble Ghouls were wearing; only his was more decorated with some minor decorations and symbols. He had long blonde hair reaching almost to his waist.

He was holding his sword, which looked like a typical European sword. A bit different from Lucien's katana. Arseahr spent most of his free time training in his sword, always trying to reach the peak. You know that the Sternritter didn't have anything else to do other than training.

"Arseahr!"

Screamed Lucien the moment he entered the courtyard, looking a the Arseahr, who was in the middle of his training. Arseahr then stopped his training and looked at Lucien, who had just now come to his little peaceful training ground, screaming and creating a ruckus.

"Your Highness, Crown Prince."

Said Arseahr as he looked at Lucien and then they both shook hands at the sigh of greeting.

Not every Sternritter was formal with him. For example, Commander Nalthos called him "kid", because he used to train him when he was younger or with Arseahr; he also had a very friendly relationship as they used to spar with each other almost every day.

"I have been a long time; my friend has it?"

Laughed Lucien as they finished their greeting after a long time. Arseahr also smiled because he was also happy that he finally saw a friend after several years.

"Yes, yes, it was. Why have you come to visit me and, as usual, with that noisy attitude of yours."

Said Arseahr with a small smile as he looked at Lucien, and then both of them sat down behind the small table which was near, and soon, servants brought them some black tea, which was Arseahr's favorite.

"So, could you already tell me why you have come here?"

Lucien sipped his black tea, put down the cup, and looked at Arseahr with not so relaxed expression now.

"As you know, soon enough, the entire world would be overrun by Demons and this Island is not an exception to that rule. Before that, we need to annihilate the whole Washuu Clan. You know, I already have Zelilios at Tokyo keeping guard for them, but last time I fought against their Grand Elder, his strength was already around the 4th-Star and comparable to SS-Rated Ghoul. I don't want a risk anything this time, so I have asked for some backup."

Arseahr nodded upon hearing this and secretly chuckled inside as he saw that Lucien was cautious and scheming as ever. Everyone knew that even he himself would be enough, but he insisted on bringing two Sternritter on the 5th-Star as well.

"Also, I need to see Seira; it was decided that I would marry her to solidify the pact of creation of the Wandenreich. I haven't seen her for a long time; she would be happy to see me again. I only hope that she didn't turn like most of her kind. Locked in their towers all the time."

Lucien stated with worry in his voice as he mentioned the last part of the speech.

Most of the vampires of Blood Island just spend most of their lives locked in their castles or towers, researching god knows what. He only hoped that Seira wouldn't be like that, they are already enough vampires like that.

"Don't worry, from what I have heard, she took enough from her mother, and she rather enjoys fighting rather than researching, but her brother is... another of his kind."

Both of them laughed at mentioning Dante.

"Yes, he is. He was always like that; with that, his annoying attitude, he would bring you to madness one day, but still, he was pretty strong, and he always was. And his research about blood magic is best among the whole race."

They talked about many things that happened on Blood Island during these past years and, most importantly, what everything changed with researching new technologies that could be effective during the Apocalypse.

How it changed the whole race also, Arseahr talked a bit about the structure of the Wandenreich and that Lucien's plans created a very good impression at the upper echelons of the nation.

"Ooh, I heard that you have managed to recruit two new people that would become Sternritter later on. They must be pretty talented if they caught your eye."

Noted Arseahr after he thought about two new recruits to the Sternritter. Namely Tatara and Arima Kisho. They weren't officially named as the Sternritter because they still didn't undergo the Awakening Ritual, but soon they would be new Sternritter N0.4 and N0.5.

 

[Trafford]

"Yes, they are both of them. The first one is named Tatara; an ordinary ghoul considered one of the strongest ghouls. He is an extremely talented martial artist and fighter who created even some basic martial arts for ghouls by himself. He is Bikaku-Type, and combined with his martial arts, he was a pretty strong opponent even for me when I still didn't reach the 4th-Star. He trained many kinds of martial arts and created many new ones."

Lucien noted about Tatara, the remnant ghoul of the ghoul organization Chi She Lian was a pretty strong opponent for every human out there. Arseahr was surprised to see Lucien praise someone as he knew that he had very high standards.

It also caused some satisfaction in him, as no one among the Sternritter was a martial artist. All of them were using weapons to fight rather than using their fists or legs. Even using kagune was becoming rare, as they focused more on weapons and using kagune already was only in surprise attacks or during times of need.

"Second one is Arima Kisho. He is something that could be called a weapon master as he is able to wield practically any weapon to some extent; even though he is master of none, his fighting style is pretty unpredictable, thanks to that. The only weapon he is master, if I could call it mastery, is some kind of weird lance/sword hybrid. Also, he is a battle genius, able to learn during the battle and adapt to every enemy's fighting style after analyzing it a bit."

Arima and Tatara would be great additions to the Sternritter as both of them were very talented and after Awakening Ritual, which would enhance their innate talents and strength, their abilities would only grow with time.

After some time and with enough resources, especially the blood essences, which they had plenty of due to the increasing activity of the Demons on Earth, they would for sure reach the 5th-Star and probably even higher.

"Good, at least there would be fun with new members joining. It was becoming boring with only four of us and Nalthos."

Arseahr told to him, to which Lucien just chuckled inside as he knew the personalities of both Arima and Tatara well. Both of them were very quiet people who rarely spoke a word and just focused on what they were doing.

Mainly combat and training.

"I would be going already to see how Seira is doing and discuss some things with her. After I have finished that matter, we will depart for the Tokyo."

Then Lucien stood up and went to the place where Seira was living, which was either some tower or castle.

***

When Lucien arrived at the side of Blood Island where vampires were staying, he was very surprised to see that again. He was talking about various Magic Towers that were here; they were practically everywhere. Some of them were even destroyed due to experiments; we could say more dangerous and explosive ones.

He admired some of those towers, how beautifully they looked and how they still weren't destroyed by some mad experiment. Especially now, where every second vampire was experimenting with creating energy weapons based on the Demon Cores obtained from the stronger Demons, which contained the Psionic Energy.

That would often go wrong and create, how should we say it... boom. From what Lucien heard, they even started to regulate the number of people researching this.

Soon, he started to walk to the castle, which was owned by the Patriarch of the Dracul Clan, the castle itself was a very large place, surrounded by several very tall Magic Towers, apparently creating some kind of protective formation around the castle. What was or we could say wasn't that surprising; the whole area was almost devoid of any life, and there were only a few guards at the entrance of the castle.

Most of the security was based on various magic formations, arrays, and inscriptions around the place and engraved on the castle walls and Magic Towers. Sometimes as Lucien looked at relaxed vampires, he cursed at them.

Apparently out there in some worlds, Vampires were one of the ruling species and were a combat race. On the contrary here, even though these ones were very strong, they were most researchers, scientists, and masters in various things like alchemy, science, and others.

Soon, when the guard saw him, they bowed to him and then led him to the castle when. Lucien started to wait for Seira as he started strolling through the hall where he was waiting.

Evidently, everyone was in seclusion doing something, either training or researching.

Even though Noble Ghouls did most fights and only a minority of Vampires joined the army, most of them were responsible for the creation of technological advancements of the Wandenreich.

Lucien admired various paintings on the walls and other art that were displayed there for the visitors to see. Many of them were very old because those paintings were even from several centuries ago.

Soon enough, as Lucien was already getting bored of the waiting, doors opened, revealing the person Lucien hadn't seen for several years and the one that would also become his wife with Itori.

 

[Trafford]

Seira was a gorgeous girl in her teens; she had pale skin and silver hair similar to Lucien's own. Her hair was long, almost reaching her waist, and she wore an elegant black robe in which she looked very attractive. Her eyes were scarlet red in contrast to Lucien's light purple eyes.

"Hi Seira; it has been a long time."

Said Lucien as he came to her and hugged her close, to which he received one sharp slap on his face and angry glare from her. Of course, he knew why he got slapped and why she was angry at him.

He didn't see her for several years and even found another girl for himself, and both of them were aware of feeling for each other; it was just that nobody said anything as it could become weird. They knew each other from childhood and often played together when they were little.

"I am sorry that I didn't see you during these several years, but I will do everything I can to make it up to you."

She didn't say anything, but Lucien could hear a few silent sobs as she cuddled to his chest silently, not letting go at any cost.

"You know, Seira, even though neither one of us ever said something, you know very well that I always had feelings for you..."

Whispered Lucien in a low voice, to which Seira tightened the grip she had over him and nodded her head, with a small tear of happiness appearing in the corners of her eyes.

Then they left to a more suitable place to discuss various topics, especially Lucien about how she was doing all these years, and basically Seira was asking him the same. She was very curious about her other rival, and Lucien briefly talked about Itori.

One must admit that Seira and Itori were total opposites.

Seira was a silent person, who preferred silence and peace, rarely talked and was always elegant and just as a noble lady would be. On the contrary, Itori was talkative and very cheerful, and she enjoyed either teasing people or pranking them. They would be an exciting combination when they met.

"So, where is that noisy fool now? Under normal circumstances, he would be already here together with some genial ideas to create something, in which, in most cases, that something would end either exploding or trying to kill him."

Seira laughed a bit with her hand covering her mouth as an ideal lady would do. Lucien was, of course, referring to her elder brother Dante. She knew that sentence, trying to kill us, was referring to one special case when Dante was experimenting with old summoning magic that he found in the library and "borrowed".

In the end, they summoned an unknown creature that attacked the moment when it saw it was summoned somewhere. Fortunately, the summoning circle malfunctioned several seconds after, and both of them were only injured, not dead.

"Brother is in the seclusion cultivating to the higher level to reach the 5th-Star using a modified version of your race's RC Star Evolution Method. He either is trying to reach the rank or has already reached it, and he is stabilizing his cultivation base. After that, he would probably be doing some experiments with blood magic as his cultivation would allow him to research more things now, and some experiments that father forbade him because his strength was insufficient would be now allowed."

She explained to him the situation at hand.

"Soo... what do you think about our upcoming marriage, Seira?"

Seira blushed a little, but then she recovered to her normal, almost expressionless face as she looked seriously at Lucien.

"That we are lucky because we have a feeling for each other. I am very well aware that this marriage is something that is necessary for the functioning of the Wandenreich because it would be the union of our families and the creation of something higher. As the saying goes, blood is thicker than water."

Lucien nodded his head in agreement, as this marriage between them would consolidate the power in the Wandenreich completely. Now there would be a more important bonding between both families than alliance, and that would be bong by blood.

"Yes, I agree. Oh, and how many of your people would be joining the military? Their blood control and blood magic abilities would be very useful in combat against a huge number of enemies."

Asked Lucien in a serious voice, to which Seira lowered her head slightly as she new not even half of her people would join the army as most would just remain locked in towers.

"Around 40% of the population would join. Most of them still prefer remaining in the research field or experimenting. Most of the people joining are younger ones that have no patience to spend most of their time locked in their towers."

 

[Trafford]

Explained Seira how things were with vampires joining the military to Lucien. He was a bit surprised because he expected around only 20% of the entire race to join the army, but double that number, 40% was better than his initial expectations.

"How is your progress in the Scythe Ars?"

Asked Lucien about her martial arts. Seira was a very talented Scythe user and it could be said that she was one of the best in the whole Wandenreich; though she didn't have, there weren't a lot of people who used Scythe, only several of them.

His grandfather Azrael was one of them, but sadly he was the type of person who could be said to be a terrible teacher. He was awful at teaching others and could only give basic instructions.

"Good, I am making steady progress with the Scythe Arts; the only thing I lack is some real technique, but still mastering the art's basics is a higher priority for me for now."

Answered Seira to his question, to which Lucien nodded his head in agreement, as he was also aware of the fact that there isn't practically any high-level scythe technique to learn for her.

Even though he himself didn't have any good sword art which suited him and his sword, but he had hope for himself as he heard that in the vaults of the Washuu Clan, they had some superior Kenjutsu Technique, but they didn't use it because of unknown reasons.

"Do you want a spar?"

Seira then nodded as she agreed to his request, and then both of them stood up and went to the training area, which was used as a sparring and training place. It was a very nice and wide space that could be used to fight.

Even though Lucien wasn't wearing his usual battle attire and was clothed in his normal clothes, he didn't mind. Even though it could get dirty as they were pure white in color, he was confident in his strength so he wouldn't be injured or something.

He sensed that Seira was only at 4th-Star and also, she wasn't that huge a training and battle maniac as Lucien, who spent most of her time training of fighting practically.

Soon, Seira returned, clothed in black battle attire, in which she looked absolutely stunning because the attire itself was in slim style and because she looked even more erotic than usual. She immediately noticed his gaze aimed at her curves and her body, to which she blushed slightly, but she focused on the spar, and her eyes started glowing in light red color, and her weapon appeared beside her.

The Scythe itself was bigger than her, almost two meters in height, and the blade looked incredibly shard and dangerous. It was a pitch black colored scythe with minor gold patterns around the blade.

She took the battle stance and waited for Lucien to congeal his own weapon to fight.

Lucien, like a gentleman, turned on his kakugan too, and congealed his kagune katana and held it in his right hand.

"Ladies first."

Siad Lucien in a polite voice as he took a battle stance and prepared to perform Iaijutsu, which was a technique in which one would draw katana at very high speed and strike as fast as possible and then sheath the sword back.

Seira then looked at him and, in a split second, appeared before him, slashing at him with her Scythe. Lucien chuckled, and with thunderous speed, he drew out his katana, which collided with the Scythe, creating sparks in the air.

Because the force behind the impact was greater than Seira anticipated, she almost fell back, and this used Lucien to his advantage and he appeared behind her with his katana on her neck.

"Good, but you should combine your other abilities with your Scythe Arts to create a better element of surprise, and also, you could enhance your combat prowess."

Lucien told her as he still held his katana at her neck, only to notice that several blood orbs appeared around him and were flying at him with the speed of light. Apparently, she immediately put his advice into practice.

Lucien thought about using his other kagune, Ukaku, to counter the attack, but he didn't want to be too hard on her as he already was superior to her in speed, strength, and endurance because of his superior cultivation base.

He defended against orbs with his katana, and in the meantime, Seira managed to escape from the range of his sword and was at a safe distance from him. The blood orbs ferociously attacked Lucien from all sides, and they were too fast; Lucien smiled at this because, for him, this was rather good training.

Seira now decided to use long-distance attacks to fight against Lucien as she noticed that she lost to him in close combat because of large disparities in physical capabilities. To deal with an opponent who was physically stronger was better to attack from a safe distance, and more to say, Scythe wasn't a weapon for close combat.

Still, rather something in the middle between long-range and close combat as the Scythe itself was a huge weapon and was rather unpractical in close combat.

It took several minutes for Lucien to destroy those blood orbs as they were rather hard and pretty, though. Their attack power was also rather high, and one could conclude that they were good means of long-ranged attacks.

The moment he finished disposing of the last blood orb, Seira, who was preparing to strike him, finished her preparations and her Scythe was coated in her blood energy.

She rushed at Lucien at top speed and slashed at him with her Scythe with her full power.

 

[Trafford]

Seeing her Scythe being covered in blood energy, he did the same with his kagune katana, and in an instant, he covered the entire katana in his psionic energy. Then he rushed at Seira with lightning speed and in a second, when their weapons collided, the winner was already chosen.

Lucien was standing beside her, with his katana on her neck, and Seira was looking blankly a the fact that her most prized technique failed like nothing and she missed her target. Lucien admitted the fact that the attack of her Scythe covered in the blood energy was dangerous; he could be seriously injured, if not being far stronger.

Blood Energy is a special type of energy that Vampires could cultivate. Especially those of the Noble Lineage had great talents in cultivating the Blood Energy as shown today.

Even though Seira was only something over fifteen years old, she could already perform basic attacks with blood energy and attained some basic manipulation of it.

This was a huge advantage of the noble heritage of blood. Sadly because she didn't train long enough and her control and reserves of Blood Energy weren't that big, she couldn't use it in every attack and could it only a few items during the fight.

Vampires were also dual attributed, but contrary to Noble Ghouls, they didn't need to wait for a higher stage of Star Classification to unlock their potential and obtain supernatural energy.

Seira was a 4th-Star Vampire according to the Star Classification.

"It was a good spar, but you need to work more on your techniques and of course, try to reach higher Stars or you will be suppressed. Your Blood Energy is low, so reaching the 5th-Star should be your top priority for now."

Lucien stated to her about her situation.

Her biggest advantage over other people was that she could cultivate the Blood Energy now, without waiting to reach the 7th-Star where the Noble Ghouls should develop Psionic Potential and become Espers.

Then after their spar was finished, Lucien spent the rest of the day with Seira and day talked about many minor things. He told her that in short span of time the Apocalypse would begun, and they would need to evacuate to the already pre-prepared 23rd Ward in Tokyo.

"Seira, my dear little vampire, we will see each other after two-three months, after I am done with all my duties in Tokyo."

Said Lucien as he hugged Seura close to him and she hugged him affectionately back, seeming not to let go.

"Nn. Be careful."

Seira whispered to Lucien in a gentle voice as she kept on hugging him.

=============================================

After leaving Seira's home, Lucien first went back home to check if somebody was home, but apparently everyone was at the front lines. Only his little sister was home together, with his mother keeping her company.

Little Artemia was a beautiful and cute baby girl who was very lively, so his mother had lots of work with her. His mother was happy that she had a new child who she could cuddle and who she hoped wouldn't turn like Lucien.

She didn't want her daughter to be another training and battle maniac.

"I can't wait to meet your other wife besides Seira, it's a pity that she would be spending whole months in the Awakening Ritual..."

Said his mother, Selene to him as they were both sitting in the room where Artemia was sleeping peacefully. He was having a small chat with his mother before leaving for Tokyo to complete the last thing he had to.

"Don't worry, mom, from now, time is becoming relative; ten years, a hundred or thousand would be soon only numbers and nothing more for our race and for our glorious empire."

While Vampires were innately long-lived species and were presumed to be ageless, from all research conducted, the Noble Ghouls were not; they lived a few centuries maximally before passing on. Though this started to change as the preliminary research on those who practiced the RC Star Method increased their lifespan tremendously.

"Father said to send Itori already to the Blood Island so I can start with the last phase of the plan and directly raid the Washuu Clan and slaughter it all. Still, I had to be careful; even though they lacked any form of the method, their Grand Elder managed to reach the strength level of 4th-Star."

Explained Lucien the current situation and the last thing he must do before leaving this world for good. He only hoped that he would be able to loot some treasures after the annihilation of the Washuu Clan; they were a clan with several hundred years of history, so they should have good things in their vaults.

Especially some Kenjutsu techniques as they specialized in using katana; maybe it would be a real truth that they had Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū hidden deep in their vaults.

Be it truth or not, about the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū, Lucien was very eager to go immediately go to slaughter the Washuu Clan to search for the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū Technique as it was practically the pinnacle of the Kenjutsu Techniques developed by far.

Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū contained several other fields of Kenjutsu in it, for example, Battōjutsu, which is the predecessor of the Iaido, but more suited for killing compared to the Iaido.

Soon, he would obtain this technique and enhance his combat prowess to a whole new level. He knew that his Kenjutsu skills weren't that good because he lacked some technique to train in, and he only practiced basic movements.

Yet, in regards to basic movements, he had no opponents in these, but sadly the lack of technique was limiting him significantly in the long term.

"I would be going to get Arseahr and the to the Tokyo."

Said Lucien to his mother, to which she nodded her head, and then Lucien stood up and left his estate. He went to the Arseahr's estate to took him together with him to Tokyo so they could finish the job.

=============================================

As they were on the plane, Lucien checked on record through The Game to see the changes that happened during this year and something of constant training and stabilization of his powerbase.

[Name: Lucien Etras di Aeon

Race: Ghoul King (25%)

RC Type: Rinkaku

RC Level: 85,971.

Unique State: Kakuja V4

- Kakuja V1: Left hand - body armor, right hand - kagune katana

- Kakuja V2: Entire body armor without a mask, kagune katana

- Kakuja V3: Entire body armor with the mask, another armor layer (extra thin), kagune katana

- Kakuja V4: Entire body armor with the mask, another armor layer (extra thin), kagune katana, Rinkaku Tails

Star Rank: 5th

***

Esper Ability: Telekinesis - Alpha]

=============================================

Even though he just now reached the 5th-Star not long time ago, his combat prowess was enough to rival even those of the 6th-Star rather easily, especially coupled with the Kakuja, which was developed to the extreme, and his Esper Ability - Telekinesis Alpha.

Of course, the most notable thing was that his Evolution was slowly increasing, already reaching 25%. THe process was very slow, but each percentage of increasement brought with it great power to him.

 

[Trafford]

When Lucien returned to Tokyo, the first place he went to was his estate to tell Itori to pack her things up so he could be sent her to Blood Island because the time for the Apocalypse was nearing, and there were many things that they needed to do in that short span of time.

"My dear wife, when you arrive at the Blood Island, you will be immediately swarmed up by my mother, so good luck, and also, from now everywhere you will go, you will be guarded by several knights and also some female attendants."

Said Lucien to Itori after he arrived at his estate; there were many things that he needed to tell her, especially that from now on, she couldn't even leave without the whole ceremony guarding her.

It was typically composed of two Knights, a squad of soldiers and female attendants.

This was all because she was the wife of the Crown Prince of the Wandenreich. If she were to be pregnant with a child, she would be guarded by Sternritter all-time non-stop.

Such strict rules about guards and so on were mainly because she still wasn't Noble Ghoul and, more importantly, her fighting strength was in reality, equal to zero. While Itori was an S-Rated Ghoul, without the proper passive benefits brought by the RC Star Method, it would be hard for her to fight against Demons on the same level as her effectively.

Even his mother was constantly guarded by someone and to hone; she hated it as she couldn't do whatever she wanted.

Still, she spent most of her time on the frontlines in Blood Island because she was one of the few 6th-Star experts of the Wandenreich and was not that far from the 7th-Star. This was an advantage that came with age, which Lucien didn't really have.

"Yes, yes."

Nodded Itori with her head, and then she went to pack up all the things she would take with her to Blood Island; even though she didn't have many things to take with her, it would still take some time to prepare everything.

As she went to pack up her belongings, Lucien went to the courtyard to find his loyal mercenary subordinate, codenamed Darkwalker to give him the final instructions about the mission. After a short time of walking through the estate, he finally found Darkwalker in the training ground together with several other mercenaries.

"Attack and slaughter as many of branches of Commission of Counter Ghoul, a month from now exactly. Especially kill all ghoul investigators, personnel of the CCG, and everyone related in the 20th Ward to lure the whole Commission there."

Lucien's plan was simple, and he also wanted enjoy it by creating mess and chaos. He wanted to lure out as many of ghoul investigators as possible, so he ordered Darkwalker and his mercenaries to kill every ghoul investigator in 20th Ward systematically.

This was Ward was a bit special, as he knew that if the Commission of Counter Ghoul came there in big numbers, then Anteiku Cafe would also move, though he didn't care about Anteiku, but rather about old man Yoshimura, the Owl. He would be a good distraction.

=============================================

Toyko, Lucien's Mansion.

Mado Akira was currently at the training compound of the mansion, sparring with Zelilios with the new sword he gave her. It was one of the ancient katanas that Lucien obtained in the ruins of the Shi Xue Clan, and because Akira didn't have a suitable weapon, he gave her one of those katanas.

They were many times better than those lousy quinques.

During this one year and something, many things happened in Akira's life. The first one was that she was saved by Zelilios from certain death in the Yasuhisa Mansion and started living in the private mansion in Tokyo.

She learned many things about Noble Ghouls and also about Wandenreich.

She often trained with Zelilios because, as he said that she was his own responsibility, and apparently, the man she knew as Crown Prince of the Wandenreich, Lucien Etras di Aeon didn't care that she was practically living here.

Actually together with Zelilios, they were creating a perfect duo, as both of them rarely talked and all the time focused on doing something. For Zelilios, it was training his spearmanship, and for Akira, it was collecting various weapons.

Here in the mansion in Tokyo, the only person who she could talk to was, in reality, only Zelilios as he spent most of his time here, either training or reading.

"You are getting better and better, Akira, even though I think this sword doesn't suit you too much. Perhaps some other type would be better?"

Said Zelilios as they finished their sparring season, and both of them went to sit down and get some rest. Zelilios in reality, used to spar a lot with Akira; there were several reasons for that, but the main ones were that Akira wanted to learn how to fight more effectively against her enemies and improve herself.

And Zelilios enjoyed the spars with her and held some affection for Akira as she was an attractive and very intelligent woman.

"Did you think about the matter I mentioned the last time?"

Questioned Zelilios as he looked at Akira with certain uncertainty in his eyes.

The topic they talked about the last time was very sensitive, especially for humans.

As Lucien told Zelilios when he saved Akira, he didn't care about the reason, she was his own responsibility, whatever he saved her for, but if he wanted to take her with him, she must become the Noble Ghoul without question.

 

[Trafford]

One month went fast as water, and soon, the time when the operation codenamed "Final Act" would commence. Lucien's future wife, Itori was already on Blood Island, she was there already one month, and even though she feared that she would be unwelcome, it wasn't that bad.

She managed to befriend Lucien's mother, Selene, who told many things about Lucien when he was still a child. Besides that, she spent most of her time training in the arts of her chosen weapon.

She chose daggers, and she was practically training every day. As she heard from Lucien that nobody would respect her even though she had status. You could say that Wandenreich was somehow like a jungle where only the strong deserved respect.

Even though it wasn't as bad as she had originally expected. Life there was very comfortable besides that training. She spent the rest of her time learning many things, which we could call a common sense of the Wandenreich and of course, she was preparing for the Awakening Process, only mentally tough.

She would be unconscious during those ten years that would Sacred Devourification Process take.

=============================================

Giving up one's humanity has many reasons. What exactly was the definition of humanity? Was it feelings? Morals? Race?

When Akira was spending time with Zelilios, both of them started growing closer to each other as time went by. Even after several months spent together, she noticed that she wasn't that reserved around him and even started enjoying his company.

For Zelilios, Sternritter N0.3, it was the same. So, as the time was slowly coming to the deadline, he proposed her a certain idea. An idea about becoming the Noble Ghoul as it was possible if he amassed enough contributions and also blood essences.

Even though blood essences weren't that important, the most important was a contribution or getting personal permission from someone high-ranking enough, and only three people in the whole Wandenreich had the power to do something with the Royal Blood Crystal.

Elder of the Empire, Protector Azrael Etras di Aeon, then the next one was the current Emperor of the Wandenreich, Asmodeus Etras di Aeon and then the last person was, of course, the Crown Prince of the Wandenreich, Lucien Etras di Aeon.

What was a huge and nice surprise to Zelilios was that Akira agreed to become the Noble Ghoul, even though she didn't tell him the reason. Afterward, he needed permission to use the Royal Blood Crystal.

The most optimal choice would be to go to Lucien, as it came out as true. Lucien agreed to his request but told him that when the Apocalypse began, he would have an opportunity to repay his debt.

=============================================

When the first operation started, nobody knew what was going on. It happened like thunder from the clear sky hitting the earth and destroying everything around it. This was the exact result of Lucien's orders when he ordered his subordinates to start systematically killing every ghoul investigator in the 20th Ward.

The whole Commission of Counter Ghoul was totally caught unprepared and to that more than half of their ghoul investigators were killed in the span of one week. The most terrifying thing was, of course, the attack on the Commission of Counter Ghoul's 20th Ward Branch Office, which served as headquarters for all ghoul investigators in the 20th Ward.

This attack happened exactly after seven days. Seven days from the day Lucien gave his order to create chaos in the 20th Ward. On the seventh day, several masked people attacked the Commission of Counter Ghoul's 20th Ward Branch Office.

The main attackers were Sternritter N0.1 Arseahr and Sternritter N0.3 Zelilios, together with some mercenaries and also, of course, some cannon fodder of the Aogiri Tree.

They attacked ruthlessly and quickly, as fast as lightning, slaughtering every living soul in the Commission of Counter Ghoul's 20th Ward Branch Office together with. They managed to kill even the whole high command of the Branch Office, which was good as they escaped first when something happened.

Among those killed were, for example, Branch Director, Kamemoch and Special-Class Ghoul Investigator Hōji Kōsuke, formerly Associate Special-Class Ghoul Investigator, but was promoted as some Special Classes were killed by Lucien and his schemes.

Tatara personally killed Hōji Kōsuke and his heart was ripped out of his body while he was alive. This was something that Lucien gave Tatara as a reward for agreeing to be Sternritter, to which Tatara already agreed.

He held a huge grudge against Hōji Kōsuke; as mentioned ghoul investigator was sent to China to help Chinese ghoul investigators exterminate the ghoul organization Chi She Lian, a group Tatara belonged to before joining Aogiri.

He killed several of Tatara's friends and used their kakuhou to make quinques. Now he was killed by the most brutal and deserving way.

During the attack, they even mined the whole place and blew the whole Commission of Counter Ghoul's 20th Ward Branch Office into the air, creating a such huge explosion that could be seen from the whole Tokyo.

Lucien's plans were an immediate success as he got information that the CCG was planning to exterminate all ghouls in the 20th Ward and would be sending most of their forces to do the work. Including several Special-Class Ghoul Investigators, excluding the Arima Kishō, who would remain in the HQ to guard it.

Now only the last thing remained to do. He only needed to wait for CCG to strike back at ghouls in the 20th Ward, and then he could use his pawns, the Aogiri Tree, to start the direct war with the Commission of Counter Ghoul.

Then he could attack the estate of the Washuu Clan together with his Sternritters, Arseahr, and Zelilios, thus finally completing the mission codenamed the "Final Act". After that, he would take Tatara and Arima Kishō with him back to the Empire and finally leave this world for the far wider world.

 

[Trafford]

As Lucien expected, the Commission of Counter Ghoul had a lot of work to prepare for the retaliation attack against the ghouls in the 20th Ward. The whole CCG was in huge turmoil, and of course, in a hurry to create a suppression plan and gain back at least a small part of their already crumbled image.

During the last years, the public image of the Commission of Counter Ghoul became very terrible, and the entire organization was weakened by a significant amount. Many of their forces were killed in action, counting also several high-ranking members as Associate Special-Class Ghoul Investigators and Special-Class Ghoul Investigators.

Lucien's schemes were very productive and gave beautiful results for him. Of course, this operation codenamed "Final Act" wasn't an exception. From what Lucien knew, CCG was amassing forces to strike back at the ghouls in the 20th Ward and that was with the intention of total extermination of every ghoul.

Now, he needed to only prepare his pawns for the final bait, the Aogiri Tree. They were strengthened by a huge amount; they now had several SS-Rated ghouls and many of S-Rated ones. This was a very nice result, in which Lucien invested only a bit of effort and a small number of his resources.

=============================================

Lucien then met with the Sternritter, numbers N0.1 Arseahr and N0.3 Zelilios, to discuss the next and final steps of the plan, "Final Act". All three of them were at Lucien's estate in the 21st Ward. His contract with mercenaries was already finished, and all of them went for the next job.

"When the battle for the 20th Ward starts, all of us will go to the estate of the Washuu Clan and kill every living being there and blow the entire place to the air. Afterward, we will go immediately to Blood Island as there is already nothing useful here for us. I will extract future Wandenreich, Arima Kishō and Tatara after the battle has ended."

Both Sternritter, Arseahr and Zelilios nodded their heads in agreement with Lucien's plan, as there was nothing to add. They had an absolute advantage over their enemies regarding strength as they all practiced RC Star Evolution Method.

"After we arrive at Blood Island, we would join the frontlines as father sends the message that the number of Greater Demons is constantly increasing and also, that would be a good opportunity to obtain more resources for refining blood essences. Also, Zelilios brought that weapon to the Arima and said to him that when the battle of the 20th Ward starts, he could kill every Washuu Clan member or everyone related to the Vasuki in the HQ of the CCG."

Zelilios nodded; hearing his orders, he grabbed the katana on the table and then left the meeting room. Arima Kishō had also received orders from Lucien.

He only had a simple one, during the battle of the 20th Ward and Lucien's rampage over the estate of the Washuu Clan, he had to kill every Washuu clansman or agent of the Vasuki in the HQ of the CCG. Especially it was Washuu Yoshitoki, son of the current patriarch of the Washuu Clan, Washuu Tsuneyoshi.

Then there was also a son of the Washuu Yoshitoki, Washuu Matsuri, who served as the Special-Class Ghoul Investigator, but he rarely left the HQ of the CCG or his mansion at the estate of the Washuu Clan so he would be disposed of either by Lucien or Arima Kishō.

Even though Washuu Yoshitoki wasn't a really bad person, from what Lucien heard, debt needs to be paid in blood and not even one member of the Washuu blood can be spared.

"Arseahr, you will go to the HQ of the Vasuki organization and paint it in blood; that will be your mission during the time Zelilios and I raid the estate of the Washuu Clan."

Even though the Vasuki were only dogs of the Washuu, many of their agents held the blood of the Washuu, so they needed to be purged completely. Arseahr nodded his head and then he left the meeting room and Lucien returned to training his way of sword.

=============================================

Lucien spent several hours training his Kenjutsu and then when he finished his daily training routine, he went to walk through the city of Tokyo, maybe for the last time. He went to the 20th Ward as that Ward looked now totally different compared to its looks in the future when the operation "Final Act" is over.

As he walked through the sunny summer days, he went to the place he hadn't visited for some time already.

Anteiku Cafe was right before him; he wasn't there for more than one year as he was cultivating, training, and stabilizing his foundations; he broke through to the 5th-Star.

As he looked at the Anteiku Cafe, he noticed that nothing had changed about the small cafe, which was run by ghouls, rather strong ones at that. Some memories that he didn't want to remember were already up and creating havoc in his mind.

They weren't bad memories, no, only those memories made him a bit sad about what happened with some people, or to be more precise, about what happened with one person.

About that Lucien already knew that she was beyond hope when he looked at how crazy she became. Crazy isn't as crazy; he was talking about a person who was losing rational thinking because even he was called a lunatic often...