Seeing Phaga's face pale as paper, Nicole quickly tossed aside her briefcase and rushed to the front. Kneeling down before him, she helped Ellen lift Phaga up and said urgently,
"Take mine first—same deal as before, a hundred thousand!"
With Nicole's help, Ellen instinctively followed her lead in supporting Phaga, but before she knew it, Nicole had both hands on Phaga's cheeks, guiding his head toward her shoulder.
Ellen's brow twitched. It took her a moment to process what Nicole had just said, her narrowed eyes flashing with a dangerous glint as she asked coldly,
"A hundred thousand? What 'deal'!?"
Wait—who even was this woman again?
Phaga had mentioned her before... Nicole, from Cunning Hares?
And that "one hundred thousand" sounded suspiciously like—
Seeing Ellen's expression grow darker by the second, Nicole panicked. She pressed Phaga harder against her shoulder—gotta earn the money first!—and then scrambled to explain, "You see... last time Phaga soloed the Dead End Butcher, he got really badly injured, so he drank my blood. Paid me a hundred thousand dennies!"
"Oh, I see."
Ellen didn't bother dwelling on Phaga's past feeding habits. Compared to a half-dead vampire, she much preferred him full of energy.
Besides, with such a powerful enemy still out there, Ellen's strength was needed on the battlefield. Blood-sharing could wait until after the crisis was over—she wasn't about to play blood donor right now.
Still, Nineveh was far too strong. A head-on fight was suicide.
Ellen turned her head. Ruby, clearly thinking the same thing, perked up eagerly, hoping Ellen would call her name.
But Ellen skipped right over her and looked straight at Eous instead, asking softly,
"Proxy, can you find us a route to escape?"
Ruby's lips immediately puckered into a pout. She crossed her arms with a huff, cheeks puffed in irritation.
"What's that supposed to mean? Phaga shows up and suddenly I'm forgotten! Don't forget, I'm the one who found him in the first place!"
And, surprisingly, she wasn't wrong.
Just ten minutes earlier, when Ellen had seen Phaga flying for his life with Nineveh hot on his tail, Ruby had been calmly studying her carrot.
Half an hour later, with nothing to show for it, she'd been scratching her head and stomping around in frustration—until she accidentally stumbled into a spatial rift.
One crisis hadn't even been resolved, and another had already begun. Phaga's situation was dire, and now Ruby was missing too. Ellen had nearly lost her mind.
But credit where it was due—Ruby really did have a gift for finding weird things.
It wasn't long before she crawled back out of that rift... dragging a Bangboo with her.
Eous blinked, locking eyes with Ellen in mutual disbelief.
Just moments ago, Eous had been hiding quietly in a basement with the Cunning Hares, barely daring to breathe—only for Ruby to come crashing down right on top of it.
The Cunning Hares were stunned. Before they could even react, Ruby had snatched Eous away and bolted, forcing them to chase all the way here—nearly fighting in the process.
Thankfully, Eous and Ellen knew each other, clearing up the misunderstanding. With Belle and Wise supporting from behind, Ellen was able to use the spatial rift precisely to pull Phaga to safety.
"So, what now? That way, Proxy?"
Ellen gazed through the shattered floor-to-ceiling window toward the distant Nineveh. The Netherflames around her neck were shrinking rapidly. It wouldn't be long before they burned out completely.
"Hollow Zero's spatial layout shifts fast. I'll need to recalculate."
Eous responded immediately. Behind him, Belle was already hammering at the keyboard, mapping nearby rifts with lightning speed.
"Fairy! Analyze Nineveh's pursuit patterns during Phaga's escape. Find the escape route with the highest survival probability!"
[Fairy: Processing...]
[Fairy: Analysis complete. Response: No matter which route the Master chooses, the final probability of escape is—zero.]
"What!?"
Belle's eyes went wide. She slammed her palm against the desk.
"Fairy, that's not funny!"
[Fairy: Master, you always assume I'm joking during critical moments.]
"Then what? Did Nineveh stick a radar on us or something!?"
[Fairy: Master is indeed perceptive—worthy of commanding New Eridu's most advanced AI.]
"Enough with the flattery. What exactly do you mean by 'radar'?"
[Fairy: Unclear.]
"You—!"
Belle was so angry she could barely speak. Her chest rose and fell as she fought to steady herself. Finally, she exhaled sharply and snapped,
"I pay your damn electric bills every month, and you can't even calculate winning lottery numbers!"
[Fairy: Lotteries are a sociological issue, not a mathematical one. Besides, even after insulting me, you'll still obediently pay next month's bill.]
"You...!—Eh? Phaga, you're awake?"
Belle had been seconds away from rolling up her sleeves, but stopped when she noticed Phaga stirring, his lips moving faintly.
Out of respect, she held her temper—for now.
Phaga, still weak, released Nicole's shoulder. She collapsed immediately.
The Nekomata's eyes narrowed. Spotting an opening, she bumped Anby aside with her hips, sliding forward to catch Nicole before she hit the ground. Nicole's eyes were spinning with stars before she went limp again.
Seeing this, the Nekomata glared daggers at Phaga.
"Hey, vampire! How much blood did you drink!?"
"About three hundred thousand. I'll transfer the payment through Inter-Knot later."
Phaga wiped the corner of his mouth, stood, and staggered slightly. Ellen hurried to his side, supporting him.
"You sure you're okay? Need to drink a little more?" she asked, worry softening her voice.
"I'm fine. The... floor just feels really... floor-y today."
Ellen frowned. Phaga instantly realized how ridiculous that sounded and tried to change the subject, forcing a casual tone.
It didn't help.
Ellen quietly stepped closer, her soft body brushing against his back. The warmth didn't comfort him; even without turning, he could feel her breath on his neck. Her fingertip traced lazy circles across his back—and every so often, the faint graze of her teeth.
"Cough! Ellen, focus! We've got business to discuss! My Netherflames won't last much longer!"
Phaga stiffened, coughing twice to divert her attention. Ellen gave a low humph and stepped aside
He let out a long breath, then frowned.
"Proxy, you said earlier—that Ethereal is called Nineveh, right? During my escape, I kept changing routes, but it always found me. No matter where I went, it caught up. I couldn't shake it."
"I didn't have time to think then. But now that I've calmed down... I realized something."
He turned his gaze toward the back of the room. Everyone followed his line of sight—to Kunmutu.
"Oh! I get it!"
While Ellen hesitated and Ruby, Clover, and the Cunning Hares still looked confused, Belle was the first to react.
As a Legendary Proxy, sharp observation and memory were second nature to her. She clapped her hands together.
"I remember now! Kunmutu was contaminated before—the W-Engine developed Ether attributes, and its concentration was extremely high! Nineveh must have been tracking that!"
Beside her, Clover—ever the soldier—snapped her fingers as realization dawned.
"No wonder she found us even when we were hiding! She wasn't chasing us—she was chasing Kunmutu!"
"Exactly. Nineveh isn't a single Ethereal—it's a collective. It probably mistook Kunmutu for another high-Ether-reactive Ethereal... and wanted to recruit it into the Nineveh Family!"