"Seems like they're multiplying!"
Billy glanced back as he ran, the number of Ethereals chasing them was enough to make his skin crawl.
"Someone once recorded a clip of an Ethereal running out of a Hollow and wrecking everything in sight—I remember we watched it together!"
Anby was sprinting when the scenery around her suddenly warped, and she found herself back on a skybridge.
"How did I end up here again?"
Ignis stopped in his tracks, turned, and smashed the nearest Ethereals into a mess of fragments.
"The inside of a Hollow is always like this. Without someone to guide you, you'll be lost in here forever!"
Billy spun around, drew his pistol, and fired a rapid burst—several Ethereals collapsed.
"They're coming from the other side too!"
Anby swung her blade, slicing a Tyrfing clean in half.
"So, we have to jump again?"
The Salamander grabbed one of the Ethereals and hurled it back into the pursuing horde, flattening several of them.
"Jump! No other choice!"
Billy emptied his cylinder, grabbed the bridge railing, and leapt—somersaulting as he dropped. Anby followed right after.
"Fine. You two, get clear!"
Ignis kicked aside another Ethereal closing in, then vaulted over the railing.
His one-ton frame slammed into the ground with a thunderous boom, leaving a fresh crater—at least the fifth one today.
"My god, you almost flattened me!" Billy slapped the Salamander's armored shin, just a few centimeters from his head. "Watch your step, big guy!"
Ignis didn't respond to the joker. His focus was on the skybridge above, where two swarms of Ethereals were colliding. He calculated how best to thin their numbers.
"So many of them..." Billy reloaded quickly. "I'm burning through ammo past quota—there goes my bonus..."
"They're jumping down!" Anby drew her sword again, eyes sharp. Several Ethereals broke free from the chaos above, gripping the rail as they prepared to leap.
Target locked. Firing angle calculated. With two muffled thumps, Ignis launched the last pair of grenades.
Fire and shockwaves tore through the horde, shredding the unarmored Ethereals. These small, agile enemies were exactly the kind the Aggressor Squads had fought most often.
A few lucky ones were merely blown off the bridge—but before they could recover, the giant's massive fist came down, crushing them into wet pulp.
"Explosives always do the trick." Billy lowered his weapon. "Wish Nicole could've packed us some, though."
"Given our monthly deficit, I'd say that's impossible." Anby shot a glance at the Salamander. "Normally we don't attract this many enemies either."
"Alright, I admit I'm not exactly quiet." Ignis stayed alert, the Lyman's Ear implant picking up faint movement.
The Ethereal corpses on the bridge hadn't even dissipated yet when new ones began to appear.
"They're back? Just how many are there!?" Billy flipped open his revolver's cylinder and checked his remaining rounds. "Running low!"
"Do we keep moving?" Ignis turned toward Anby.
"We can't let them catch up. If we get surrounded, we're done for." Anby watched as more Ethereals jumped down. "Incoming—get ready!"
Several Ethereals landed hard, some wielding makeshift weapons like bent lampposts, others were Tyrfings.
The Salamander prepared to charge, powered fists ready to crush his foes—when he heard something roll past his feet.
Small metallic spheres clattered across the floor. As Ignis frowned—Anby said we didn't have explosives...—the spheres detonated.
No shrapnel, no real concussive force, just a cloud of thick smoke.
Anby and Billy coughed violently, waving their hands to clear the air.
Ignis switched to Fire-Sight, tracking the heat signatures of Ethereals through the smoke and swiftly eliminating them.
"Wait! That wasn't me!"
Billy raised his hands as Anby glared daggers at him, her whole frame stiff with irritation.
"Hey! You three!"
A high-pitched, chirpy voice called out from the corner of a train car. "Over here!"
A small, round creature waddled into view—its body rocked side to side, long rabbit-like ears twitching, one black and one white.
Its "face" was just two glowing circles. Judging from its heat pattern, Ignis deduced it was mechanical.
Phaethon's Bangboo. Eous.
A new kind of automaton? Looks very different from Billy...
"Come on, big guy!" Billy waved his arm at the Salamander near the train.
Ignis followed, glancing back briefly. The Ethereals hadn't pursued—perhaps the smoke contained some special compound that disrupted them.
"I thought Nicole said there'd only be two of you."
The small robot scanned the group, finally looking up—way up—at the towering three-meter giant.
"A talking Bangboo... wearing a scarf..." Anby muttered to Billy, hand half-covering her face.
Billy frowned in thought, then his optic sensors widened.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He pointed dramatically at the tiny machine. "You're—"
"'Phaethon!'"
Anby and Billy said it in unison.
The little robot placed its hands on its hips proudly, basking in their admiration—until Ignis reached down and lifted it up effortlessly.
"Remarkable little thing. Is it fully autonomous, or remotely controlled?" Ignis examined it closely, curiosity in his voice.
During his service to the Imperium, he'd seen similar devices—cherubim and servo skulls.
The former: sacred constructs of the Adeptus Mechanicus—bio-grown drones shaped like infants.
The latter: flying skulls bound with cables, servos, and anti-grav units.
Ignis had often fought alongside them—receiving targeting data, reconnaissance, and ammunition resupply—but their grotesque appearance had always been... unsettling.
Flying mechanical infants and metal-clad skulls—either was a haunting sight.
Compared to those, this chibi rabbit-like machine was almost pleasant—cute, even—and surprisingly squishy to the touch.
"In theory, Bangboos are autonomous semi-intelligent units," Anby explained as the giant poked curiously at Phaethon's Bangboo. "But Phaethon developed a unique method to let people directly connect and control them."
"Most Proxies can only guide Bangboos—or themselves—through Hollows using pre-calculated route maps," Billy added, setting the Bangboo back on the floor. "But Phaethon can compute paths in real time."
"Ah... I thought I was about to get dismantled." The little robot sighed with relief. "Praise me all you want, but I still expect payment!"
"This isn't a great spot to chat. Follow me!"
With a hop, the Bangboo bumped into the side of a train car and vanished in a ripple.
"So, there's a rift this close..." Billy followed immediately.
"Phaethon's reliable. Nicole must've paid a lot for her help," said Anby before stepping through the ripple and disappearing too.
Ignis went last. He reached out—his hand vanished midair as if wrapped in invisible energy.
He flexed his fingers, confirming they were intact, and stepped forward.
His balance faltered momentarily. When he regained it, he realized he was now standing on a deserted platform.
Unlike the one where he'd fought the corrupted Dullahan, this place showed no signs of life—only a thick layer of dust.
"No trace of any Ethereal," Anby said, scanning the area and listening intently.
Indeed, Ignis's Fire-Sight detected no heat signatures, and his Lyman's Ear heard nothing but their own breathing.
"Thank the stars, I thought my hydraulics were going to give out," Billy groaned, stretching. "My spine assembly's about to dislodge."
"I propose a short rest. Permission, Proxy?" Anby crouched to ask Phaethon.
"I'm already lying down!" The little robot flopped onto its side, propping its tiny head up with a stubby arm. "Eous needs a tune-up anyway, so I'll nap for a bit."
"I'll keep watch. Rest." Ignis volunteered, his enhanced body showing no sign of fatigue.
"Man, that was close," Billy muttered, sitting heavily. "First that Red Fang Gang guy mutates into some monster... then a whole swarm of Ethereals chasing us. If not for you, boss, we'd be toast."
From Billy's words, Ignis gathered that these two were familiar with the operator behind this small robot—a Proxy.
Cretan Hollow. Proxy. The words stirred an old memory—of a myth from ancient Terra.
A labyrinth on Crete. A minotaur slain by a hero guided by a thread of fate.
Ignis found himself wondering what kind of world lay beyond this Hollow. They had machines, they mentioned "tokusatsu," and used terms like store manager.
At least it wasn't primitive. He'd once served on a feudal world—where knights ruled serfs and fought Orks with swords and shields.
They named their Hollow "Cretan" and called their guides "Proxies." In some sense, the mythology had survived, transformed.
Perhaps... a parallel version of Terra. Ignis mused silently. Once I escape this Hollow, I'll learn more about this world.
The Son of Vulkan had just set himself a new mission.