I am a female swordsman.

It's no wonder that Sato Ni-chan felt incompetent when facing the underworld.

Everyone in the CCG knows that in the 20th ward, [Sword Demon] single-handedly fought two extremely dangerous S-rank ghouls, killing one and severely injuring the other. And that doesn't even include the multiple A-rank ghouls that Yomi and her partner killed during the Crow Hunt.

In comparison, Sato Ni-san's record is truly pathetic...

Just as Huang Quan had predicted, a certain number of ghouls poured into the fire station due to the explosion and collapse.

There were even some investigators who didn't have time to retreat!

A gunshot rang out from somewhere in the fire escape, and a brutal and fierce battle erupted once again in this relatively small and confined space. Blood dripped intermittently from the zigzagging staircase, blood from both humans and ghouls, creating a chaotic and gruesome scene.

"This place is a meat grinder!"

Holding the Feathered Khunk, Sato and the others kept providing cover as they moved forward, wishing they could pull the trigger to death!

Battles were erupting almost everywhere, in all directions, especially on the two collapsed floors. It was clear that ghouls had fought each other for survival space! Although Aogiri Tree and Scopus were both ghouls, they were only in an employer-employee relationship. If a life-or-death crisis really occurred, they would definitely prioritize their own survival.

"Did they all squeeze in? We miscalculated a bit."

The sharp, cold light of the sword flashed repeatedly in the dimly lit stairwell. The flowing sword light was like a deadly venomous snake weaving back and forth among the dense ghouls, reaping lives that caught them off guard!

Huang Quan dealt with the five ghouls in front of her in one go, but was forced to retreat two steps by more ghouls crowding in. In this narrow and chaotic terrain, even with her considerable swordsmanship, she could hardly use it to its full potential. She simply couldn't quickly break through the numerous obstacles to reach the 21st floor. Time was ticking away, and tense sweat began to seep from Huang Quan's body. She glanced up and down briefly and then made a decisive decision.

"Second Sato."

He shook the single-edged longsword in his hand, and the thick blood on it fell to the ground like raindrops.

"Charge forward! I'll clear the way. Don't worry about what's behind you, take another route!"

"understand!"

This place has become a meat grinder. Both sides, blinded by bloodlust, have lost their reason and will eventually turn into the same kind of monster if they stay in this place for too long.

Huang Quan took a deep breath.

Accompanied by an astonishing roar, a fleeting, chilling sword shadow surged forth, its mighty force like a tidal wave crashing down, causing the ghouls in front to let out painful cries. This was Huang Quan's rudimentary application of energy transfer, which he had learned without a teacher while exploring swordsmanship techniques.

The sword shadows, though not entirely fatal, were sharp and unbearable to behold, whistling past them. Like a thousand cuts, they were subjected to torture that made it impossible for them to control themselves, and they all fell to the ground, letting out miserable howls.

The cold glint of light and the feathered guns conveniently finished off the helpless victims!

Using the chilling sword light that Huang Quan unleashed in that instant, the group that had temporarily broken through the obstacles in front of them quickly escaped the meat grinder-like hellish scene and arrived at the 14th floor.

A scene of utter devastation!

The entire 14th floor was now riddled with holes, with ruins everywhere, and a chilling wind blew in through the shattered glass walls.

As soon as Huang Quan stepped onto this level, a blood-stained scale suddenly shot towards him!

Huang Quan's eyes sharpened as his murderous intent was aroused. His longsword gleamed with a cold, eerie light. His steel-cutting blade, which struck later, deflected the ghoul's thrust with a sharp slap. Then, the bright blade pierced through the attacker in an instant, taking his life in one strike!

"Come on!"

Ghouls have even appeared on the 14th floor...

Huang Quan kicked the corpse still hanging on the sword away. If they didn't use the fire escape, there was only one way to get upstairs quickly in this situation.

"Go to the outer edges!!"

The investigators who subconsciously followed Huang Quan's steps failed to immediately realize what walking on the outer edge meant. Sato and the others watched as Huang Quan leaped over the shattered glass wall, and their faces turned pale!

The so-called "going to the outer edge" means going up from the outer edge of the building!

Upon reaching the 14th floor, Huang Quan specifically looked around at the surrounding glass walls, which were almost entirely shattered by the impact of the explosion. There had been collapses on the 12th and 13th floors as well, so it was reasonable to assume that the outer glass walls of the higher floors should also have been destroyed by the blast.

So, the highly skilled and daring Huang Quan decided to climb directly from the outer edge to the 21st floor!

Looking down from the 14th floor, his legs trembled and he felt dizzy. Sato Ni, pale-faced, stared at Huang Quan, his lips trembling. He thought the suggestion was insane!

Chapter Ninety-Three: Arriving at the 20th Floor

Looking down from an extremely high floor, and even outside the building itself, the intense feeling of weightlessness and dizziness made Huang Quan tighten his grip on the longsword that was deeply embedded in the outer edge of the wall.

Having experienced it firsthand, she found herself somewhat admiring of herself.

The feeling, akin to walking on a tightrope over an abyss, sent a chill down her spine. A single misstep could send her plummeting from the 14th floor. Huang Quan briefly imagined the fall; from that height, unless she switched to her [Demon Contractor] class and drew her Serpent's Belly Sword, she would undoubtedly be reduced to mincemeat…

Yellow Springs Sauce?

Unable to suppress the strange thoughts that crossed his mind, Huang Quan couldn't help but smile slightly. After calming down a bit, he found a foothold and nimbly sheathed his sword, quickly climbing upwards!

With a narrow escape, Huang Quan moved with the agility of a flying goose, stepping on the recessed footholds on the outer layer, and soared to the 15th floor as if riding a sword.

Just as she had expected.

The glass walls along the outer edges of the floors in the 11th district were shattered by the violent explosion, making it easy to quickly climb over the floors by passing through the outer edges.

With a light touch, Huang Quan, who was half-crouched on the ground, immediately looked up to be on guard.

It was pitch black and eerily quiet all around. The emergency lights were also destroyed, and the remaining bloodstains and bullet holes told of a fierce battle between doves and ghouls that had also taken place on the 15th floor. Judging from the ghoul corpses lying on the ground not far away, it was clear that the doves, who had fought while retreating, had emerged victorious.

In Huang Quan's perception, there were no more ghouls nearby.

They untied the rope from their hands, tied it securely, and then used the rope to pull themselves back to the 14th floor. Huang Quan's daring action made Sato and his team, who remained on the 14th floor, twitch their eyelids wildly. Looking into Huang Quan's earnest, scarlet eyes, Sato gritted out a single word through clenched teeth!

"climb!"

Having had experience climbing the outer edge once before, Huang Quan didn't climb the rope with Sato's team. She first stayed on the 14th floor with Sato Ni-deng to prevent any accidents. After half of the people had gone up, she lightly leaped back to the 15th floor, while Sato Ni-deng, holding the Feathered Kunke, was the last to go up.

Thanks to Yomi's advance scouting and the recent explosion, most of the ghouls were still fighting each other in the safe fire escape, and the fighting did not spread to most areas on the upper floors.

Repeating this process, Huang Quan and Sato Ban quickly climbed to the 20th floor!

There was still a slight mishap during that time.

The outer glass wall of the 20th floor wasn't shattered by the shockwave of the explosion; it was merely covered in shocking cracks. It was only after Huang Quan smashed the glass wall with the hilt of his sword that everyone was able to successfully reach the 20th floor.

"That's really impressive!"

"Indeed, as expected of Lord Sword Demon!"

The members of Sato's team, who had climbed up from below, expressed their sincere admiration for Yomi. The scene of Yomi effortlessly shattering the glass wall mid-air was truly impressive. To dare to do something like that outside a building where the wind was raging, and to do so with such composure and calmness—they knew they could never do it!

Upon hearing this, Huang Quan's serene and beautiful face twitched slightly. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, the rapid and dense footsteps coming from both sides of the outer edge of the area immediately put her on guard.

"Is it a ghoul?"

The other side issued a tense shout and stopped in a distance, with the dark muzzles of white dove guns locked on both sides.

"Wait! Please don't shoot, I'm Sato!"

"Uh... Sato?! What's wrong with you? How did you get to the 20th floor?" The lead investigator raised his hand to signal his comrades not to fire. He happened to know Sato Ni-chan and had initially thought that ghouls had invaded the 20th floor from the outside. The misunderstanding was quickly cleared up; the lead investigator was a young man.

He and Sato Ni were classmates before.

His gaze lingered on Huang Quan from time to time, as if he had some guesses. When he learned from Sato that she was one of the leaders of the [Crow] team that was providing support this time, namely [Sword Demon] Huang Quan, he showed a look of ecstatic joy.

"That's great! That monster is charging upwards. With your help, we can definitely stop it from below!"

SS-rank ghoul, [Tatara]!

The situation at the branch had deteriorated to a critical point.

While the collapsed floors did hinder and kill many of the Aogiri Tree ghouls, they didn't inflict significant damage on the higher-level ghouls. Led by Tatara, a key member of Aogiri Tree, the enemy began their unstoppable advance, and the command post of Marude Special Command was organizing a full-scale resistance.

Unfortunately, without an investigator to oversee the situation, they could only watch helplessly as Tatara continued to break through their defenses!

The 11th District Command Post is in imminent danger!

Currently, no scattered White Dove teams have managed to break through the chaotic, hellish scene below and successfully return here to regroup and fight, except for Huang Quan and Sato's team.

Their daring climb up the outer edge of the building provided some immediate relief.

They pinned their hopes on Huang Quan being able to stop the SS-class ghouls.

Although the CCG's data states that the entire [Crow] squad is required to defeat an SS-rank ghoul, Sword Demon is, after all, facing two S-rank ghouls alone. Even if he can't defeat them, he can at least delay them. Currently, in the 11th Division, disregarding seniority and purely based on battle record, only Sword Demon Yomi is capable of undertaking this dangerous and arduous mission.

After hearing this, Huang Quan immediately estimated the time.

Mado Kureo's task for her was to delay for 30 minutes, preserve the command structure of Area 11 as much as possible, and lay the foundation for subsequent encirclement and annihilation.

At least twenty minutes had passed, so if they could delay for another ten minutes or so, Mado's team's reinforcements would arrive. The reinforcements from the other two teams were about the same. Yomi's thoughts raced. Looking at the leader's expectant yet pleading eyes, she silently nodded!

'An SS-rank ghoul, huh? Come to think of it, I've never fought a ghoul of that rank before...'

Huang Quan's scarlet, sharp eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of ruthless intent to cut others flickering within them!

To be precise, Yomi had fought against an SS-rank ghoul. In CCG data, [Black Dog] was classified as SS-rank, but the opponent was clearly not at his peak and was so weak that he was barely even S-rank.

"Please take me with you!"

Seeing Huang Quan's resolute departure, Sato Ni quickly spoke up.

"Thank you for your tremendous help. The enemy is an SS-rank ghoul, and I was able to lend a hand!" Sato Ni-chan pleaded earnestly, brandishing his Quinque. Just seeing Yomi San-rank filled him with power; even someone as incompetent as him could be so strong.

Chapter Ninety-Four Execution

District 11, Floor 19.

"Stop him!"

"Don't panic, maintain suppressive fire...!"

"Damn it, it's completely ineffective!!"

In the 19th-floor lobby, multiple groups of investigators, providing cross-support, stared intently at the enemy—that terrifying figure! With short white hair and a tall stature, his agile tail hilt seemed to possess its own will as it swept and lashed out at the dense crossfire, perfectly blocking the investigators' shots!

SS-rank ghoul, Tatara, suspected ghoul.

Krug type, tail Krug.

His battle record is unknown, but in the CCG's database, he is a dangerous target that must be dispatched to expel and suppress him once he appears!

Since the start of the battle in Area 11, this terrifying ghoul has rarely made a move, but every time he does, it inflicts enormous damage on the investigators on the front lines! From the 1st floor to the 19th floor, several ordinary classes have been wiped out by this guy. If it weren't for the fact that racial wars show no mercy, the CCG might have already been defeated!

Even without a complete rout, a drop in morale is inevitable!

"It's really in the way."

Tatara watched indifferently as the flock of white doves tried to block their own path, his brow furrowing slightly. Although the investigators had little impact on him, their sheer number and fearless blocking his way still annoyed him.

It takes way too much time to step on ants...

The exaggeratedly swung tail kagune became even more ferocious due to its owner's agitated mood. In the hall illuminated by gunfire, the investigators were astonished to see Tatara's kagune suddenly swell several times its original size, completely protecting him, and a ferocious killing intent instantly enveloped everyone!