Check out my new translation!
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This Hollow's darkness seemed to possess a strange force capable of blocking out any sensory systems. Even a Space Marine like Ignis, with his heavily enhanced sensory organs, could not fully break through it.
Ignis' Fire-Sight, though a benign mutation, failed to pierce the fog here. He could see traces of heat radiation, but he could not track anything through it. The only conclusion Salamander could draw was that they were surrounded by some sinister presence. Whatever it was hidden within the darkness and the mist, and neither Lyman's Ear nor enhanced olfactory or gustatory senses could provide any meaningful information.
This sensation made Ignis distinctly uncomfortable. It was the first time he had encountered such an abrupt contraction of his sensory range. While he wasn't rendered deaf or blind, his detection could now only extend to a very small radius around himself.
As they walked deeper from the entrance, the outside light was quickly swallowed whole. Salamander ignited the lighter of his flamethrower to use as illumination. Yet within this darkness and fog, the faint glow could barely light the ground directly beneath their feet.
"Ballet Twins Hollow has been trapped for a long time..." Wise's voice suddenly came from within Eous' body, startling everyone. "The internal lighting installations can't hold on anymore. Our ability to perceive the path ahead is limited. Be careful."
Anby glanced at Eous. The Bangboo was just as confused, then turned to Salamander's tiny flame. "Turning off the lights and lighting a candle… that's exactly Nicole's style."
Who in the world burns Secondary Converted Mil-Grade Fuel as a candle? This stuff costs far more than electricity.
Ignis was about to complain, but Nekomata chimed in first. "Is it to save money or to hypnotize yourself?"
"Billy, can you see farther out here?" The Salamander didn't want to join that conversation and instead questioned Billy. He wanted to know whether this high-performance combat robot's targeting systems were being limited like his own.
"So, you can't see either?" Billy gripped his twin pistols, somewhat tense. "My visual targeting and all other targeting functions are affected. The effective distance is extremely short."
"That confirms my suspicion—this Hollow is interfering with our sensory capabilities. Organic or mechanical, all sensory systems are being suppressed." Ignis scanned the surroundings with caution. Countless heat traces circled around them, but anything slightly farther away became impossibly blurry before dissolving into the darkness.
Eous led the group forward carefully. Within their restricted field of view, they could see the edge of a hall where numerous statues made of brass or similarly colored metals were displayed.
"I'm getting the creeps..." Nekomata hugged herself, visibly nervous.
The statues were draped in white cloths, their heads severed at the lips, exposing an unnaturally large, pitch-black mouth. Their thin metal arms stretched out from both sides of the cloth, looking extremely rigid. Salamander had seen many types of statues before, and statues usually held some commemorative purpose. But these looked unsettling and meaningless—thin, shadow-like figures covered in white fabric with no lower bodies.
"These statues?" Anby squinted, her finger pulling the trigger of her chainsword. The machine-spirit within the weapon roared awake.
"They look like something straight out of a horror film… feels like they'll start moving any second." Eous stared at them with morbid curiosity. This small space held more than ten statues arranged on both sides.
"Is this the Ballet Twins Hollow's mascot? Why are there so many?" Salamander couldn't figure it out. He reached out and brought the igniter closer to the statue's metal shell to see it more clearly.
"Who would choose such an ugly mascot? Aren't they afraid of scaring customers?" Belle's complaint echoed from inside Eous' body.
Suddenly, the statues' mouths emitted a faint glow. Their brass arms snapped forward, revealing thin, razor-sharp blades as their entire bodies floated into the air.
Ignis seized one instantly and tore off its mask, revealing an Ethereal core beneath.
"They really moved!" Nekomata's fur practically exploded, though she still used her short blade to deflect the monster lunging at her.
"Don't panic. They're Ethereal." Salamander unleashed a stream of flame at the floating Ethereal around them, turning them into falling torches. Using the firelight, he showed everyone the creature's true form.
Anby's chainsword roared violently. Two Ethereal floated toward her and then surged forward with sudden acceleration, the blades on their arms stabbing straight for her throat. The girl didn't flinch. Her electric pack began charging, blue arcs flickering across the sword. She struck sideways at the enemy's blade. The destructive force of a melee weapon is concentrated along its edge; clashing head-on is all about strength, and Anby might not win that contest. But striking from the side—where the enemy's force is dispersed—could cripple their attack effectively.
With a sharp crack, the floating Ethereal's motion skewed. The surge of current froze it, dropping it limp to the floor.
The second nearly succeeded. It lunged forward just as Anby dispersed the first strike, leaving her no time to defend. But Billy arrived in time—his rapid volley punched bullets through the mask's gaps, shattering the core.
"Bullseye!" Billy crossed his wrists in a dramatic gesture like a gunslinger from an action game.
His showboating ended instantly as two Ethereal surged toward him from behind, arm-blades gleaming in the firelight.
Two thunderous shots rang out—dense steel pellets burst forth in a plume of flame. The Dragon's Breath shells passed right beside Billy without harming him. The two Ethereal, however, were shredded instantly. The burning pellets streaked like fire-meteors through the dark fog and vanished.
"I didn't get hit, right?" Billy checked his arm nervously. His red jacket with the wild-boar emblem on the back meant a lot to him—he didn't want even a scratch on it.
"You're fine. I calculated the spread. The shells weren't going to touch you." Ignis reholstered the autocannon at his waist. With Nekomata and Anby fighting in close quarters now, firing canister-shells was no longer feasible.
Anby's chainsword kept howling as the white-haired girl split down her third Ethereal. She had already noticed their structures were extremely fragile—one light strike could tear them in half. But their ability to float and accelerate in short bursts still made them troublesome.
She intercepted an Ethereal's charge and tried sweeping its legs with a whip-kick, but its body distorted and vanished into thin air. Just as Anby registered her disbelief, the creature reappeared behind her, blade poised to strike.
A massive hand emerged from the darkness, crushing the Ethereal mid-air. Ignis activated the disintegration field, reducing the fragile creature to scattered debris in a heartbeat.
"They can teleport." Anby scanned the surroundings warily, but no more enemies remained.
Once Ignis entered melee with his power fist, these small creatures couldn't last more than a few exchanges. Their high speed might work against ordinary people, but against an Adeptus Astartes, they were insignificant. Even without the disintegration field, the enhanced speed and impact of a power fist required no second strike against such flimsy Ethereal.
"No more left?" Billy kept his guns raised, but beyond the now-empty statue pedestals, nothing else was visible.
"Clear for now." Anby released the chainsword's trigger. Its roar died, and silence returned.
"Were they waiting for us? Or just ambushing anyone who enters?" Nekomata kicked a piece of debris still not fully dissipated. "This place is seriously unsettling. Proxy, let's find Rain and get out."
"Yeah… I feel the same." Eous moved forward into a corridor.
The corridor wasn't wide. Salamander nearly blocked half the space, leaving very little room to maneuver. But this was also convenient—he only needed to aim the autocannon forward. Whatever appeared would be reduced to fragments under the dense rain of canister shells.
"Such a narrow passage… feels like something could spring out at any moment." Anby reached out and brushed her fingers along the walls. "There's no cover here. It's the perfect place for an ambush."
Her comment made everyone uneasy, but she was right. If anything launched an ambush here, there would be no protection from any direction. Then again, Ethereal shouldn't possess that kind of intelligence. And if statues suddenly appeared here, it'd be far too obvious—no one would fall for something that blatant.
The corridor felt endlessly long, made even more unsettling by their limited visibility. Due to the spatial distortion inherent to a Hollow, its length might not be normal—possibly extended or entering some kind of rift.
"Is this building really that big? Why do I feel like we've been walking forever?" Nekomata looked back, only to see the faint flame swallowed instantly by the boundless dark.
"Something's definitely strange." Eous also turned around. "The Hollow data here is too outdated. Its internal structure must have changed already. We need to gather more environmental data and analyze it before we can determine the correct route."
"Since a moment ago, I've been feeling a chill at my back..." Billy's frame trembled. "Can someone check what's behind me?"
Everyone turned.
A floating Ethereal was pressed right against Billy's back. It extended its brass-colored arm and shoved him lightly—sending the robot straight into the wall where he vanished.
"It's a rift!" Belle's shout came just as Anby's chainsword roared—but the strike cleaved only air. The Ethereal retreated quickly into the darkness, disappearing. Ignis wanted to fire, but Anby and the others blocked his firing line, forcing him to watch the thing retreat into the shadows.
"We can't leave him. Move!" Phaethon's Bangboo dove headfirst into the rift that swallowed Billy, and the others followed.
After a violent surge of spinning disorientation, they found Billy sitting on the ground, rubbing his backside.
"Manager! Everyone!" The robot sounded like he was about to cry. "I thought we were separated forever!"
"Don't worry. The Cunning Hares never leave anyone behind." Anby walked over and helped Billy to his feet.
"Wait! Look over there!" Nekomata pointed to the side.
Two Bangboo statues—one standing, one toppled—rested there. Even in the darkness, they could see moonlight shining in through a doorway.
"Did we… return to the entrance?" Billy could hardly believe it.
"Seems they're not too welcoming of our visit." Ignis surveyed the surroundings. It was indeed the entrance they came through. The heat signatures in the area had increased—and all of them came from Ethereal, judging by their patterns.
Although they could leave simply by turning back, Rain was still inside. Not only did she carry the Belobog Heavy Industries data drive, but she also held the coordinates of the Lion's Nest he'd obtained from Jane Doe. Whether for fulfilling Nicole's assignment or carrying out his own need to eradicate the followers of Khorne, Rain had to be rescued.
But in their current state, they needed to think this through carefully. This place was far too strange—they needed better preparation, at the very least more illumination. They were practically blind in this darkness.
"Do we fall back? Or push on?" Salamander asked.
"During that spatial transfer, I gathered some Hollow characteristic data." Belle's voice brought renewed hope. "Hold on, let me compute…"
Symbols flickered rapidly across Eous' facial display—likely the HDD System back at the Proxy's home running high-speed calculations. The others stayed silent, guarding the surroundings. The ink-black darkness, the lingering fog, the Ethereal that could appear from nowhere—all of it strained their nerves.
Fortunately, the legendary Proxy Phaethon lived up to her reputation; soon, there was news.
"Good. I've extracted some data—I can start mapping the route." Belle's voice sounded excited. "If we continue gathering and calculating as we move, we should be able to get a full grasp of the surrounding Hollow environment."
"Manager! You're amazing!" Billy bounced with excitement.
"Good. Then prepare to move out." Salamander stepped forward. "No telling what condition Rain is in. If she can still send messages, then she hasn't turned into an Ethereal yet."
"Don't worry—we'll get her out." Nekomata reached up and patted the giant's waist. "The Cunning Hares are experts in Hollow work. We never disappoint."
Just… sometimes the cargo does get damaged.
Ignis muttered that quietly to himself.