17 Chapter 15: One Eyed Owl 1

Ray stared at the man and activated his Quinque that changed to a four pronged sword thing with a guard above the handle. Didn't look like a blade at all as the weapon didn't have a sharp edge.

"This is my Quinque, Narukami II. A mass produced version of the original." The man shared some information about his weapon.

Ray knew from the name itself that the weapon had something to do with electricity. He also saw occasional discharge of lightning from the weapon itself.

"Fuck this." Ray said and threw a potion at the Hunter and turned to his tail and ran.

The man shoots a lightning bolt at the potion that explodes into a cloud of freezing vapor and turns anything it touches into ice. But because it exploded away from him, he was unaffected and turned into a blur with a single stride.

Ray, who was busy running, turned to his back to see his killer suddenly disappear and when he looked back to his front, a lightning bolt exploded on his face and electrocuted him into an intense spasm. Then he saw a kick that he couldn't defend against as his body refused to listen. He was sent flying 50 meters away and crashed into a wall.

Ray heard footsteps coming closer to him as he forced his body to pick itself up quickly but he was a bit late and a hand firmly gripped his hair and pulled him up.

"Where did all your strength go? If this is the best that you can do. Then it is rather unfortunate." The man tightens his grip on his Quinque that starts to form lightning that progressively gets stronger as each seconds pass.

Ray struggled the best he could, trying to break free from the iron grip on his hair. But he cannot overpower his killer. With only one charge that regenerated. Ray cast [Illusion] on his opponent as his last attempt of struggle and it worked. The grip loosened briefly when Ray broke free and released his Kagune to attack his opponent as he lost his weapon when electrocuted.

The man seems to be affected by the Illusion momentarily only and regained control immediately to parry the Kagune and backstepped.

Ray took out the Recharge scroll and read the incantation to regain three charges. Once again used [Shadow Clone]. One went to retrieve his blade that he dropped and another one stayed with him to attack his opponent. He fought back fiercely with his clone. Stabbing, lunging, parry, smash and anything he could to overpower his opponent with a flurry of attacks to not give time to his opponent to charge up his lightning bolt attack.

When his other clone brought back his blade. Ray casted [Ensnare], causing the concrete floor to turn into fluid and constrict his opponent's legs. Then using his last charge to cast [Assassination], delivering a coup de grace, a decapitating strike.

*Clang*

When he felt his blade hit a solid object instead of cutting into flesh, Ray opened his eyes wide to see if his opponent could sense his move and blocked his coup de grace with Narukami II. The clone that fought with him previously also went missing, meaning it was killed.

Effortlessly, his opponent freed his legs from the concrete which made Ray's eyes bulged.

"Are you even human?" Ray couldn't help but ask and the man for the first time smirked before replying. "I wonder."

Then using Narukami II like a bat, swung it at Ray who quickly blocked it with his blade and caused another loud klink from the sound of metal hitting metal. The strength behind the swing sent Ray back, skidding a few meters before stopping.

Yeah, no way in hell this guy is a human to overpower a Ghoul that easily. The only logical answer is either his opponent is a Ghoul or using some kind of ability. The first was crossed out because his nose can confirm the smell of the person is not Ghoul. For the second theory, Ray cannot confirm.

The man stabbed Narukami II on the ground and started to unbutton his coat? Then he picked back Narukami II.

"Time for round two." The man said.

In that instance, Ray sensed something different. Something had changed about his opponent. Like a sword that finally unsheathed itself.

Without a warning, an explosion of sonic boom took Ray by surprise and saw in slow motion, Narukami II in its deactivated form covered by electric discharge swinging down at him. In a panic, Ray brought his blade up to block along with his Kagune. But he was still slow and the Quinque hit his left shoulder with a sickening crunch of bones breaking and then his ribs before the momentum sent him crashing down into the ground and causing wide spiderweb cracks on the concrete floor.

Before Ray had any chance to regenerate and recover, he heard the accursed sound of electric sparks. The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness is something stabbing his abdomen and a powerful current wrecking his body.

———

Hiding on the roof is a girl with a red hood and body wrapped fully in bandages. She left her cover and walked close to the man.

"So, what do you think?" She asked with curiosity.

"Hard to assess. He relied more on his weapon than his Kagune. But his technique is not bad for someone that is self-taught and had a month and a half to learn. Given enough time and training, he will become a great opponent to behold." The man replied.

"Hmn… which version of clones were you again?"

"Third."

"Third? So, around 60% of the original's power." The girl muttered for a moment while looking at Ray's unconscious face.

"Alright. Let's wrap this up then." The girl said and transformed into a monstrous white creature with one black orb as eyes. She picked Ray up and swallowed him whole and attacked the man.

The white haired man didn't say anything and defended but purposely let himself get injured. They 'fight' a bit more until the man looks almost at the verge of dying before she leaves. The man picks himself up while using Narukami II like a crutch and also leaves.

Only person left on the scene is Layla who arrived at the moment when the bandaged girl turned into the One Eyed Owl and hid on the roof in horror as the monster swallowed Ray whole before fighting the white haired man.

Layla was in disbelief and shock that she forgot that Ray didn't actually die yet because if he did, the summoning spell would be dispelled. She later returned to Akira and the others to inform them of the news which left the group in grief and in denial for Hinami.

———

Returning to her headquarters in Ota district, the One Eyed Owl stuck her arm down her throat and pulled out Ray who was covered in sticky fluid. Then she reverted into her human form.

She casually dragged Ray by his leg into a barren room that was messy with piles of books around a desk that was filled with papers and a plain bed. He undressed Ray which was covered with he saliva when pulled out her stomach and then dropped him on her bed.

"A one of a kind Ghoul even the Washuu coveted. Only Ghoul in existence can use magic and even share it with others." The bandaged girl muttered while slowly peeling off the bandages to reveal a green hair on her head and green eyes when her red one disappeared.

She then looked at Ray's abdomen where he was stabbed and saw a pink flesh which means he already regenerated. Considering the wound was caused by a Rank-S Rated Quinque, for him to heal in less than two minutes means his RC cells must be quite strong to destroy the RC cells from Narukami II that invaded and damaged his body.

Out of curiosity, she takes Ray's blade that somehow can injure Ghoul and makes a small cut on his arm. She waited for five seconds and his wound already started to heal. For an injury to heal that fast without consciously causing it is considered quite fast.

Feeling bored already, she turned her attention to the blade. No doubt the blade isn't a Quinque by any stretch. It's a real metal and usually to forge a blade, steel will be used. Ghoul is impervious to steel which raises a question in her mind. How can this blade cut through a Ghoul's flesh?

She observed and tried to inspect the blade with many methods but couldn't figure it out until she noticed the blade was actually glowing very faintly. Even in this very dim room that only has a table lamp as the light source can overpower the glow. So, she closed the table lamp before looking at the blade again and surely. She was right. The blade was faintly glowing in purple light. She quickly concluded it was magic.

She took out a stainless steel scissor from the desk drawer and tried cutting it with the blade. It cuts like a hot knife through the butter.

Another experiment was conducted as he partially released her Kakuja and formed a spike Ukaku which she tried to cut with the blade. When not using any strength to force the blade to cut, it struggled but when she swung the blade with some strength, it cut decently.

If she were to rate the blade, she would give it a solid S- rank which is quite a high rating considering even Rank B Quinque will be treasured by most Hunters and Agents.

If Ray can turn a common weapon into a weapon capable of injuring Ghoul, she cannot imagine the consequences for the Ghoul race. Ray is literally a goose that lays golden eggs if it falls into the Washuu clan's hand.

Enough of the investigation, she put away the blade from his arm's reach in case he woke up and did some work on her manuscript for her novel before going to sleep on the same bed as Ray since there's only one bed in the room.

—————

(Author note below.)

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~Author Note~

Hear me out a bit. I was doing some research on Eto Yoshimura and learned that she and Arima were on the same boat, working for a world where Ghoul and humans can live together in peace. This led to Kaneki becoming the One Eyed King. At the same time, Eto is an enemy against V and Washuu clan. So, meaning Eto will be invaluable to Ray in the long run because want it or not, he is now a target of the Washuu clan and they are dead set on getting him for his ability to use and give magic power.

Basically, Eto is a love interest candidate + mentor because she is a better Ghoul than Ray and can teach him in regard to Kagune and Ghoul's power.

So far in the story, the love interest candidate is Hinami(in five more years) and Layla. But Layla is an elf, a race with a long lifespan and she is conscious about that life span matter that makes her hesitate to take the next step knowing that she will outlive Ray and their potential childrens. For an elf that can live thousands of years, a hundred years is just a fleeting moment and she is young, barely even a hundred years old.

In short, we have three love interest candidates. Hinami, Layla and Eto for now. In the future Rize might be included but I haven't figured out how to include her yet.

Before anyone tries to crucify and burn me like a heretic, I am announcing to you all that this fic will not have harem. Or at least, that is what I am aiming towards.

Also, Kaneki of coz doesn't exist in this AU or should I include him? All of the main cast in the original anime like Anteiku is not focused on.