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Outside Hollow Zero, at the outskirts of the Withering Garden.
Among the crumbling, war-torn ruins of collapsed buildings, several figures darted through like ghosts. Broken architecture and unstable debris posed no meaningful obstacle to them.
As they pressed deeper, drawing closer to where Nineveh was located, the concentration of special pollen—the kind that could trigger pollen allergies—gradually increased, making the air increasingly unsuitable for human life.
Correspondingly, more Ethereals gathered, drawn to the dense pollen.
It resembled a strictly stratified micro-society: the closer an Ethereal was to the core, the stronger it became—eerily similar to how Bringer had transformed into a Sacrifice.
At first, only a few scattered low-level Ethereals appeared, posing zero threat. Asaba Harumasa wiped them out with just a few arrows, not slowing the group even a fraction.
But now, two upper-level Ethereals sat entrenched with more than a dozen low-level ones, finally forming enough of a presence to delay their advance.
One upper-level Ethereal stood three meters tall, its entire body encased in black ether armor. In its left and right hands, respectively, were an ether-mutated shield and knight's sword—perfectly balanced for offense and defense.
The other was the same height but wore white light armor, a sweeping cape fluttering behind it. The enormous ether scimitar it wielded was dangerously sharp—an assassin type, always ready to deliver a fatal sneak attack.
It was the classic duo of Dullahan and Thanatos—names that had long terrorized countless Proxies.
Around them, over a dozen small fry crowded, both long-range and melee types, making them even harder to handle.
But to Sol's group, this was nothing more than an appetizer.
"I'll take them."
Miyabi narrowed her eyes, drew her cursed blade, and dashed forward.
Yanagi followed, ready to sync moon and star to swiftly clear the road.
King against king, general against general.
Sol's target today was Nineveh; these roadblock mobs would be handled by the others.
"No need. We agreed today is my demonstration."
Sol shook his head slightly. A pair of gold-red pistols appeared in his hands, and he pulled the triggers. "Today, I'm the lead actor. Before I exit the stage, just watch."
Two crimson-gold flame rounds shot out like lightning, trailing brilliant fire tails, streaking past Miyabi and Yanagi—who had taken the first step—and striking the targets with absolute precision.
Boom!
The rounds exploded instantly, blossoming into brilliant gold-red fire across the clearing—the most scorching flame.
The air warped under the heat, layers of searing waves sweeping outward.
As the fire expanded, both the shield-raising Dullahan and the blade-drawing Thanatos—along with their insignificant Ethereal underlings—were engulfed.
The Ethereal group had no time to react; they were swallowed whole by the fire.
Their twisted silhouettes froze in the flames, then vanished cleanly, as if erased by a rubber eraser.
The entire area the Ethereals had occupied turned gold-red. Apart from the flames, nothing remained.
When the fire finally dissipated after losing its targets, only intense heat and a crisp, charred ground showed it had ever existed.
"Incredible."
Harumasa lowered his reverse-blade bow, giving a thumbs-up despite himself.
Two fancy pistols, two tiny bullets, and an entire cluster of Ethereals wiped out—plus the surroundings obliterated.
How was this not excessive?
He had truly never seen such powerful handguns before.
Indeed, offering a moment of silence for those Ethereals had been absolutely appropriate.
"Those are the same two guns from before?"
Miyabi sheathed her blade and glanced at Sol, surprised.
She had seen them once in the training chamber, though at that time the main form wasn't the guns but the enormous sword formed by combining them. That sword had left a deep impression.
She didn't expect even the guns alone to be so terrifying.
Her beautiful eyes flickered; a guess took shape.
Sol said he would demonstrate [Edge of Taixuan], and then brought out this pair of pistols.
Next… that sword was probably about to reappear.
"That's right."
Sol smiled slightly and spoke calmly.
He crossed the two pistols, letting the twin gold-red gems embedded in their safeties touch and fuse.
Judgement of Shamash—Limiter Zero Output.
Sol murmured softly, "Shamash, unleash."
Instantly, the pistols melted and reshaped into a sword hilt, while molten-gold concentrated flame burst forward, condensing into a blade.
The blade looked as though it held infinite light and heat, radiating brilliance like a star.
As if all things before it would be equally destroyed.
"What an amazing sword!"
Soukaku covered her eyes, peeking through her fingers in awe.
She couldn't think of a better word—amazing was all she had.
Very amazing. More amazing than every other weapon.
"So, this is… the Judgement of Shamash?"
Miyabi also turned her head away, shielding her gaze from the dazzling blade that seemed to scorch even the sight itself.
The last time she saw it, the blade shone beautifully, but it had not been blinding.
Now, it felt like this was the sword's true form—its true, liberated power.
The giant blade's savagery was visible to the naked eye; its heat distorted the air, burning everything around with indiscriminate equality.
It certainly matched the name [Judgement of Shamash]—like the judgement of a fire god upon mortals.
"..."
Yanagi and Harumasa instinctively stepped farther from Sol, clearly scorched and uncomfortable.
Just the leaking aura alone left them disoriented, as though standing inside a furnace—feeling extinction and withering.
Only Miyabi and Soukaku, both ice attributes, felt slightly better.
At that moment, all four turned worried eyes toward Sol: "Are you okay?"
If they were suffering so much at the edge of its heat—
Then the one holding the blade must be enduring an unimaginable temperature.
What kind of damage was his hand taking?
"I'm fine, of course." Sol held the hilt with one hand and casually spun the blade. "Let's keep going."
Though the feeling was decent, it was still a bit short of what he wanted.
As expected, the Judgement of Shamash felt much better in its Cataclysm Form.
He steadied his emotions slightly, then smiled. "Miyabi, next, I'll demonstrate how to use the Soul-Devouring Blade."
"Alright."
Miyabi nodded lightly, though a trace of worry glimmered in her eyes.
Could such a dangerous weapon really be demonstrated so casually?