Ellen's pupils flickered as she swallowed hard. It was the first time she had ever seen Phaga so tense—his expression wary, eyes darting nervously around them. He was so focused that he didn't even realize how tightly his hand pressed over Ellen's lips.
Ellen only frowned slightly, offering no resistance. Her gaze followed the direction of Phaga's stare.
But a wall blocked her view. Beyond it, she could only see a stretch of azure sky, from which a thin black line suddenly appeared on the horizon. It crept forward like the vanguard clearing the path for a sovereign, inch by inch consuming the blue above, turning everything it touched into lifeless stillness.
Distorted... horrifying... twisted...
Light faltered at its edge, yet the world didn't plunge into instant darkness. Instead, it was being stripped away—bit by bit, piece by piece.
Ruby instinctively backed away, her wide eyes filled with fear. Even though she'd clamped her hands over her mouth the instant Phaga's warning rang out, a pitiful whimper still escaped her throat.
Suddenly, her foot caught on a piece of rubble and she fell hard to the ground. Pain shot through her leg as a sharp stone tore through her jeans, leaving a shallow gash on her thigh where beads of blood began to well up.
But Ruby didn't cry. She was too terrified even to remember how. Staring blankly at the strange phenomenon on the horizon, her mind went white. She hadn't even seen the one responsible for all this—yet no one blamed her. Or rather, no one even noticed her.
Ruby had fallen right at Clover's feet, but Clover didn't see her. Her eyes were fixed on the data pad in her hands as she muttered under her breath:
"One beep indicates an active reaction... two beeps, significant activity... three beeps, intense activity..."
Her pupils suddenly contracted. If she remembered correctly, the pad had just beeped four times! Normally, three beeps already meant a Notorious Ethereal. Four beeps could only mean one thing...
"Four beeps... It can only be her... But this is the outer perimeter of Hollow Zero..." Clover murmured.
Hearing the whisper, Phaga's taut nerves snapped. She turned sharply, demanding,
"Her? Who?"
"It's—"
Sssst!
Clover barely got a word out before black smoke burst from her data pad. A harsh crackling sounded from within as the Ether activity overloaded the device. Every component screamed under the strain—then, boom! The pad exploded, spewing thick black smoke.
At that same instant, Phaga seemed to sense something. His hand dropped from Ellen's mouth to her shoulder. Ellen's eyes widened in shock. Before she could react, Phaga pulled her behind him and twisted his body, kicking Clover away. The force sent both Clover and Ruby tumbling across the ground like rolling gourds.
Everyone stared at Phaga in stunned confusion.
The next second, the wall beside them shattered with a thunderous crack! Bricks and debris came crashing down. Phaga turned, snapping open his parasol to shield Ellen beneath it.
As soon as the danger passed, he didn't stop to check if she was alright. He looked back immediately—
A pink [Core], wrapped in petal-like ethereal matter, had appeared right before him. A massive hand emerged from behind the petals, reaching straight for him.
Phaga's eyes sharpened. Without even shrugging off his coat, he unfurled his wings. His butler uniform tore apart as he grabbed Ellen and shot into the air.
Only then did he catch sight of the creature's true form—
A colossal Ethereal, at least fifty meters long, with the shape of a woman. Legless yet floating gracefully, her figure was both alluring and terrifying, her gown rippling like silk in the air. Even by human standards, she was stunningly beautiful.
But Phaga had no time to admire her. The Ethereal lifted her [Core], gazing at him with lifeless eyes.
It felt as if a sledgehammer slammed into his chest. A crushing wave of Etheric pressure surged toward him, suffocating him. Sweat rolled down his rigid face in heavy drops.
Hiss—
The giant Ethereal let out a strange sound and swung her arm. Phaga saw that her earlier probing swipe, though it had missed, had gouged a massive pit into the ground. An entire concrete slab crumbled to dust in her grasp. With another motion, countless fragments of stone hurtled toward him like a storm!
Phaga's pupils contracted. Without hesitation, he grabbed Ellen tighter and shouted,
"Go! Don't worry about me!"
He hurled her toward Ruby's direction, then quickly lowered his parasol as the barrage struck.
The stones clattered against him as a massive shadow loomed overhead. Phaga folded his umbrella and drew his sword in one motion, slashing down.
Clang!
The blade met a pink fist and stopped dead against it. Phaga's pupils tightened—so hard!
A split second later, overwhelming force burst from the impact, followed by a deafening boom. Phaga was sent flying backward, skidding dozens of meters through the air before he managed to steady himself.
"Tsk!"
He clicked his tongue in frustration, eyes locked on the massive Ethereal. His right arm hung broken, regenerating rapidly as he forced blood to flow into it.
"What a ridiculous monster... Is this really the strength an Ethereal can reach?" he muttered.
As a vampire, Phaga's physical power far exceeded that of humans. Even among Ethereals, those who could surpass him numbered less than a handful. Foremost among them was the Dead End Butcher from the Dead End Hollow. Yet even that ruler of the Hollow was nothing compared to the monstrous being before him.
He had a creeping sense that if he had taken that blow on the ground, he'd already be pulp. Fortunately, being in the air gave him space to disperse the force. Losing one arm to avoid certain death—worth it.
A few breaths later, his right arm finished regenerating. Though still weak, it would hold. But intact or not, it changed little—just the difference between fleeing gracefully or pathetically.
Phaga narrowed his eyes, glancing down at where he'd thrown Ellen earlier. The spot was empty. She was gone.
He let out a bitter chuckle. Reason told him he should be relieved—but for some reason, a faint loneliness stirred in his chest.
"No... focus."
He shook his head sharply, banishing every stray thought. Staring at the tip of his blade, he pointed it toward the colossal Ethereal.
"First, I need to find a way to survive her."