The Youth in White and the Terrifying Power

Haoze suddenly turned around, leaping backward to open up some distance.

Before him stood a refined and delicate youth in white, smiling gently at him, seemingly with no intention of fighting.

Even without looking at the mark between his brows, Haoze knew the youth in white before him was a highly powerful Gurongi.

“So you are also pursuing the so-called Ultimate Darkness.”

“Are you not?”

“I have no interest in any Ultimate Darkness. Besides, what exactly is the Ultimate Darkness?”

Facing the youth in white at such close range, every fiber of Haoze's body screamed in warning.

He thought to himself that after his power had surged, his rash pursuit was truly reckless.

However, since they could talk, regardless of the purpose, Haoze wouldn't carelessly start a fight.

“The ultimate power that envelops all darkness.”

Haoze was left in a fog, but he roughly understood that the Ultimate Darkness was a highly terrifying power. But why did the Gurongi before him say he was also pursuing it?

Could it be because...

Sensing something, Haoze pulled out the spirit stone he hadn't had time to swallow from his pocket.

“Is it because of this? By relying on this, you are pursuing the so-called Ultimate Power?”

“Geburon. You absorb Geburon, so you too are qualified to pursue the Ultimate Darkness. I look forward to the final battle.”

Leaving behind a meaningful sentence, the youth in white took a step to the side and vanished behind a tree.

Haoze rushed forward, only to find no trace of the youth in white behind the tree.

“Teleportation?”

What a troublesome existence.

The joy of eliminating the Gurongi hiding in Nagano Prefecture vanished completely. As expected, there were extremely powerful figures within the Gurongi clan who had yet to make their move.

A sense of urgency welled up in Haoze's heart. He called the police officers of the Nagano Prefecture Police, then rode the TRCS-2000 back to Tokyo.

“Ichijo, there's something I must tell you.”

Ichijo Kaoru rarely saw Haoze with such a serious expression. His heart skipped a beat, and an uneasy feeling washed over him.

The two walked into the office deep within the workspace of the Unidentified Lifeform Search Department. Ichijo Kaoru looked at Haoze.

“Haoze, what happened?”

Haoze frowned, the image of the youth in white constantly flashing in his mind.

“Ichijo, the situation has reversed. The current state of affairs is not as optimistic as you think. I met a Gurongi in Nagano Prefecture. Even in human form, he exerted immense pressure on me. Furthermore, he seems to possess an ability similar to teleportation.”

“What! Teleportation?”

The Gurongi that had appeared before, except for the Rose Gurongi who could disappear strangely in a flurry of rose petals, all had traceable physical movements that followed basic biological rules.

But teleportation... this was a bit beyond the norm.

However, Haoze added uncertainly, “But it could also be that his speed is too fast and his movements are too stealthy for me to detect. But what is certain is that his power far exceeds any Gurongi we've seen so far.”

Next, Haoze told Ichijo Kaoru about the Ultimate Darkness.

Ichijo Kaoru frowned in deep thought upon hearing this.

After a long pause, he murmured, “Shuichi once said that the Gurongi clan seem to be biological weapons. After Godai put on that belt, he became not much different from them. As his power increases and continues to develop, he might also turn into something like a Gurongi.”

“Ultimate Darkness... Will it be a biological weapon with terrifying power that knows only slaughter...”

No one could provide an answer. Haoze was not one to sit and wait for death. Now that the youth in white had appeared, such a powerful enemy, he wanted to increase his power once more, no matter what.

Furthermore, the youth's words, “you too are qualified to pursue the Ultimate Darkness,” bothered him immensely.

Because there was no concrete photographic evidence, Ichijo Kaoru could only vaguely mention to the higher-ups the need to be vigilant against the strong members of the Gurongi clan.

But the smooth cleanup operations prior had made the police department's higher-ups not care too much about this matter.

In their view, although the Gurongi that had appeared so far were powerful, they all fell within a certain limit of power, and their numbers were scarce, so there was absolutely no need to worry excessively.

Ichijo Kaoru could only sigh helplessly at this, secretly stepping up the search for the youth in white.

Wanting to increase his power, Haoze participated in every battle against the Gurongi that appeared in the Tokyo area afterward.

There was a clear gap between his power and these Gurongi. With Yusuke Godai's assistance, they were easily dealt with, allowing him to harvest Geburon.

However, Ichijo Kaoru was highly worried about this. He feared that if Haoze kept absorbing them like this, he would eventually turn into something like a Gurongi.

But once Haoze made up his mind, he wouldn't easily change it. Because of this, the two had their first argument.

Yusuke Godai looked at the two of them turning their backs on each other in anger and chimed in, “Mr. Haoze, leave the battles to me from now on.”

Haoze turned to look at Yusuke Godai, his gaze resting on his abdomen.

“Godai, I have reason to suspect that the spirit stone in your belt and the Geburon in the Gurongi's belts are the same type of substance. Your power is also constantly increasing. If this continues, won't you also turn into something like a Gurongi?”

Yusuke Godai was temporarily speechless at this question.

“My body, I know it best.”

Leaving this sentence behind, Haoze turned and walked away, leaving Yusuke Godai and Ichijo Kaoru with worried faces.

“That guy...”

Ichijo Kaoru was very angry, but in his heart, he had already accepted Haoze as his comrade; he wouldn't give up on him easily.

At the same time, there was Yusuke Godai. Although his situation looked slightly better, just as Haoze said, if his power continued to increase and he grew accustomed to fighting, would he really not turn into an existence like a Gurongi?

That was an unknown.

The conflict between Haoze and Ichijo Kaoru remained unresolved.

A new Gurongi appeared. Haoze still rushed to the front lines, seizing and absorbing the Geburon, which further enhanced his power.

At the same time, Haoze's methods of killing enemies unconsciously grew more and more brutal, making Ichijo Kaoru, who was also at the scene, repeatedly frown.

During this time, Jean excavated some strange fragments engraved with ancient characters at Mount Kuro. These fragments also matched the fragment in the drawer of Professor Natsume's room.

Once all the fragments were excavated, they miraculously assembled themselves, turning into an object resembling a giant beetle.

For safety reasons, Jean decided to transport these assembled fragments to the Tokyo Police Department.

However, during transport, the stone beetle statue broke through the truck's cargo hold on its own and flew off to parts unknown.

Ichijo Kaoru was once again too busy to worry about Haoze's side.

On a cruise ship, Haoze followed a Gurongi in human form onto the deck.

This was the Shark Gurongi, who was conducting a hunting game. To Haoze, they were no strangers; after all, not a few Gurongi had died by his hands.

“Human, you are my first target.”

Before the Shark Gurongi could say any more harsh words, Haoze had already charged at him.

The battle ended very quickly. Recently, Haoze had been in a very irritable mood, so his methods were exceptionally brutal.

The passengers on the cruise ship trembled in fear, hiding behind cover and watching Haoze in terror.

Haoze completely ignored these gazes, stepped forward, and ripped the belt off the Shark Gurongi's body with one hand.