Dimensional Kaguya Ōtsutsuki

When Akira Mado hurried to the entrance of the villa and pushed open the door, a thick, suffocating stench of blood assaulted her senses. The overwhelming odor nearly made her gag, catching her completely off guard. But when she took in the scene before her, her pupils contracted sharply in shock.

What greeted her eyes was a mountain of corpses, a grotesque pile formed by the lifeless bodies of countless ghouls. Some of the corpses were dismembered beyond recognition, their limbs and torsos scattered in gruesome disarray. Blood had long since soaked the ground, pooling into dark, viscous puddles, creating an eerie reflection under the dim lights.

Yet, what shocked Akira Mado even more was the familiar figure sitting atop the mound of bodies.

"Liuli?"

Her voice trembled with disbelief.

The once pristine uniform of Kaguya was now stained with blotches of dark red—unmistakably dried blood. Even her face bore traces of crimson splatter, adding to the chilling aura that surrounded her. She sat there, emotionless, her expression as cold as ice, exuding an overwhelming sense of intimidation. Her katana, still dripping with fresh blood, was casually plunged into the body beside her, as if it were nothing more than an afterthought.

Sensing Akira's presence, Kaguya lifted her head, her crimson eyes flashing with a fleeting yet unsettling glow—an eerie sight that sent chills down Akira's spine.

Akira Mado wiped her eyes, unwilling to believe the nightmare before her. But when she looked again, Kaguya was no longer there atop the corpse mountain.

Had she imagined it?

Before she could make sense of the situation, a light tap on her shoulder sent a jolt of terror through her body.

"Aah!"

Caught off guard, Akira screamed, her entire body trembling violently. Her foot slipped, and she fell hard onto the cold, bloodstained ground.

"Huh?"

A familiar voice echoed from the shadows, and under the pale moonlight, the figure of Kaguya emerged—her serene features looking completely out of place in the carnage around them.

"Why are you sitting on the ground?" Kaguya blinked curiously, tilting her head slightly.

"Y-you just…" Akira stammered, still shaken.

"Oh, you mean just now?" Kaguya paused thoughtfully before smiling lightly. "I walked over while you were rubbing your eyes."

"I'm not asking about that!" Akira pointed toward the massive pile of bodies in the distance, her voice shaky and disbelieving. "I'm talking about... them!"

Kaguya followed the direction of Akira's trembling finger, her expression calm and nonchalant.

"Oh, them?" she said casually, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. "I killed them."

"You... killed them?" Akira's eyes widened in disbelief.

The mountain of corpses towered several stories high, the bodies stacked in layers, grotesquely impressive in scale. From a quick glance, there had to be at least a hundred ghouls in that heap. And among them, Akira could even recognize a few familiar faces—infamous ghouls who were wanted by the CCG.

"Is there a problem?" Kaguya extended a hand toward Akira and effortlessly pulled her to her feet.

Akira stared at Kaguya, at her composed and indifferent demeanor, feeling utterly speechless.

Did Kaguya even realize the terrifying magnitude of what she'd just done?

The ghouls inside the villa weren't ordinary targets. Many of them were high-ranking, powerful beings with brutal combat prowess. Some were ranked SS, or even higher—threats that would have posed serious danger even to experienced CCG investigators.

And yet, this girl standing before her had wiped them all out single-handedly.

If Akira hadn't seen Kaguya in action before, during her battle with Rize Kamishiro and others, she would have thought it impossible. But now, faced with undeniable evidence, she had no choice but to believe it.

Upon hearing this, Akira Mado took a deep breath, calmed her emotions, and asked, "Did you see Mirumo Tsukiyama?"

"Mirumo Tsukiyama?" Kaguya widened her eyes and asked, "What's that?"

"He's not a 'what,'" Akira Mado said helplessly. "He's the head of the Tsukiyama family and the president of the Tsukiyama Group. Our objective in this raid was to capture this mastermind. There was even a portrait of him distributed earlier—didn't you see it?"

Mirumo Tsukiyama...

"So you didn't find him?" Akira Mado asked again.

Kaguya didn't respond immediately. She placed a delicate finger on her chin, furrowed her brows slightly, and seemed to be deep in thought.

"It's okay," Akira Mado said with a smile, trying to comfort her. "Big shots like him probably know how to hide well. Finding them isn't easy, so don't worry too much. We can always—"

"Are you talking about this?"

Kaguya suddenly interrupted, and out of nowhere, she held up a blood-dripping severed head in her hand. The face of the decapitated man was twisted in agony, eyes wide open in an eternal stare of rage and fear, while blood continued to drip from the exposed neck.

Akira Mado's eyes widened in shock, and for a moment, she was completely petrified.

...

In the command room.

"Special Class Marude, the ghouls inside the villa... have been completely wiped out!"

The voice of the intelligence officer crackled through the earpiece.

"Hmm, well done," Marude Itou tapped his fingers lightly on the table and said in a deep voice, "What about Mirumo Tsukiyama? Have we captured him?"

"There are no traces of him at the scene," the intelligence officer reported hesitantly. "We've searched the entire villa, but found no clues about his whereabouts. Our preliminary assessment suggests he may have already escaped."

"Tch, damn it! That slippery old fox," Marude slammed his fist onto the table in frustration.

"There's... also something else to report, but I'm not sure if I should."

The hesitation in the intelligence officer's voice was clear, as if he was unsure of how to phrase what he was about to say.

"Speak," Marude said, suppressing his irritation.

"Actually, when we first entered the villa, all the ghouls inside... had already been annihilated."

"Annihilated?" Marude was momentarily taken aback. "Who did it?"

The ghouls within the villa weren't just your average low-level nuisances. The Tsukiyama family housed several powerful S-ranked and even SS-ranked ghouls, supported by a well-equipped combat force. Taking down such an entrenched position would have required a substantial effort, even for a large-scale CCG operation.

It should have been a grueling battle, a long and costly struggle—how could they have all been taken out so quickly?

But when the intelligence officer uttered a single name, Marude's pupils shrank in shock.

...

"What? You're saying this guy isn't Mirumo Tsukiyama?" Kaguya blinked in surprise and asked.

"If I'm not mistaken," Akira Mado pinched her chin, scrutinizing the severed head carefully. "This shouldn't be him."

"What a pity," Kaguya said with a hint of regret. With a casual flick, she tossed the bloody head into the air. It spun a few times before landing with a thud on top of the mountain of corpses, strangely giving off an eerie sense of artistic composition.

"Next time, don't act so recklessly, got it?" Akira Mado walked over and pinched Kaguya's cheek with a slightly annoyed expression.

"Ah, I got it, I got it," Kaguya quickly surrendered.

"Honestly, you're already an adult, yet you're still acting like a child," Akira Mado muttered in exasperation.

"It's no big deal, really," Kaguya shrugged nonchalantly.

Just as Akira Mado was about to say something more, an urgent transmission came through her earpiece. The shocking news hit like a bombshell, making both Akira Mado and Kaguya widen their eyes in disbelief.

CCG headquarters had been breached.

When the CCG forces rushed back to their headquarters in haste, the scene before them left everyone in stunned silence.

The once towering, imposing headquarters had been reduced to a pile of rubble. The central building had been severed in half, leaving gaping wounds across the facility. Craters marred the ground, flames raged unchecked, and thick smoke billowed in the air. Bloodstains smeared the shattered walls and scorched earth, painting a picture of devastation beyond recognition.

Over three hundred CCG investigators and soldiers stationed at headquarters were almost entirely wiped out, with fewer than ten survivors, most of them gravely injured. From their fragmented accounts, the events leading up to the tragedy slowly came to light.

Not long after the main CCG force had departed for the Tsukiyama raid, a massive wave of ghouls launched a sudden and overwhelming assault on the headquarters. Attempts to contact the base were futile—communication had been entirely cut off, with even emergency phone lines disabled.

What was even more terrifying was that these ghouls were on an entirely different level from anything they'd encountered before. Every single one of them displayed extraordinary strength, reaching S and SS levels. Traditional anti-ghoul weaponry—custom kagune bullets, explosive rounds, and even heavy artillery—barely made a dent in them. Some of the ghouls even displayed shocking regenerative abilities, capable of recovering from wounds that should have been fatal.

Within the span of just an hour, the entire headquarters had been decimated. The massacre claimed the lives of countless personnel, including key officials. The Supreme Chairman and Yoshitoki Washuu were both killed in the attack. Only Yoshitoki Washuu's son, who had been on the front lines directing operations, escaped by sheer luck.

Kaguya, listening to the report, remained indifferent. In her mind, wars and massacres were nothing new. Death was an inevitable outcome, and she'd long grown numb to such things. However, the fact that CCG had been left completely vulnerable and suffered such a humiliating defeat did strike her as somewhat amusing.

Are these people idiots?

However, what followed made Kaguya frown deeply.

The ghouls who attacked CCG left a chilling mark—on the crumbling walls of the headquarters, they had scrawled the word "Akatsuki" in blood. This instantly pushed the "Akatsuki" organization into the eye of the storm.

With the heavy casualties suffered during this assault—many being colleagues, friends, or even family members—the hatred within CCG against "Akatsuki" soared to unprecedented levels, far surpassing their usual disdain for ghouls. The entire organization seethed with rage, and their thirst for vengeance grew ever stronger.

The sky was shrouded in gloom, thick dark clouds blotting out the blue expanse above. Heavy snowflakes drifted down, covering the icy tombstones.

This was CCG's cemetery, the resting place of investigators who had fought and died in the war against ghouls over the years. Their sacrifices were honored here, and today, countless mourners gathered to pay their respects.

Hundreds of investigators stood solemnly in front of the graves, their expressions filled with sorrow, eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"As one of the signatories of the peace treaty, Akatsuki has shamelessly broken the agreement between our sides, launching a cowardly surprise attack that caused devastating casualties. Their actions have inflicted irreparable wounds on humanity and shattered our mutual trust. Therefore, as the representative of mankind, CCG hereby officially declares the annulment of all previous agreements with Akatsuki and classifies them as our primary target. We will use blood to comfort the souls of the fallen!"

Marude Itsuki stood at the forefront, delivering a passionate and impassioned speech. His gaunt face twisted with anger and grief.

After all, being caught off guard and utterly humiliated by ghouls was a massive slap to CCG's face—one that had cost them dearly. Although the matter was being downplayed in the media, internally, CCG was reeling from the unprecedented losses. The fall of the CCG Headquarters, the death of the Supreme Chairman, and the failure to prevent it all was an unbearable disgrace they could not forgive.

Kaguya stood in the crowd, her expression dark, as if someone owed her a significant debt.

She was certain—this had nothing to do with her. It wasn't her doing, and she had no involvement in this attack whatsoever. She never had the intention of annihilating CCG, as doing so offered her no benefit. Controlling them was far more advantageous than destroying them.

But what angered her the most was that someone had the audacity to act in her name, committing such atrocities and framing her for it.

They're tired of living, aren't they?

Wasn't it good enough to stay alive? Why insist on seeking death?

Clearly, her prolonged silence had led some people to believe they could act with impunity. If that was the case, then it was time for them to experience true fear.

A chilling gleam flickered through Kaguya's eyes, vanishing in an instant.

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