...
A flicker of excitement lit up the officer's eyes. He was clearly looking forward to what came next.
The Sceptre Army—unlike other chaotic military divisions—answered only to the highest commander. They were the elite of the elite.
Joining the Sceptre Army was the dream of many soldiers.
...
"Waaah!"
Bang!
Billy twisted aside with agile reflexes, narrowly dodging a charging Ethereal before stumbling back a few steps and exhaling in relief.
Getting crushed by something that big? That'd be the end of his old mechanical body.
Behind him, the Ether-born creature dissipated into a shimmering stream of energy. Billy's gaze moved to the dark figure ahead—Zane.
Anby had already sheathed her knife and was walking back, looking fairly relaxed.
The closer they got to the Hollow's core, the stronger the Ethereals became. But since meeting up with Zane, Hare's House hadn't had to lift a finger.
"It's wild… unprocessed Ether just being absorbed directly like that," Nicole murmured, eyes fixed on the colorful flow of energy swirling toward Zane. She watched with fascination.
She reached out and gently touched the stream with a fingertip. It wavered but quickly stabilized again.
From what she knew, raw Ether needed to go through special processing before it was usable—and even then, there were all sorts of safety measures. Nothing this direct or convenient.
Her own weapon ran on Ether, after all.
"Nicole, he's an Ethereal. Obviously, he doesn't process Ether the same way we do."
Eous walked beside her in small steps, Belle's voice coming through clearly.
Belle hadn't been entirely sure Zane was an Ethereal at first, but after their reunion and asking him directly, she'd gotten a solid confirmation.
"Fair point," Nicole nodded. Then her eyes drifted to Panta.
Scooting a little closer, she flashed a mischievous smile and leaned in with a whisper.
"Hey, little Bangboo… tell me about your boss, would you? You've been with him a while, right? You must know so much. I'm curious!"
"Mm? (Boss stuff?)"
Panta tilted his head at her, the dark circles under his eyes looking extra confused. He scratched his head.
Nicole gave him a look, then turned back to Eous.
"Proxy, translation please!"
She didn't speak Bangboo—and didn't hang out with them enough to even fake it.
"Hmm? (Translate what?)"
Eous turned toward her, voice full of innocent confusion.
Nicole's face froze.
Wait... was this another system reset? Was Eous's link down again?
No… that was clearly Belle's voice.
Realization dawned. Belle was messing with her.
"Proxy! You did that on purpose!"
Nicole spun around and huffed, pretending to be mad. Belle sighed and gave in.
"Alright, alright—I'll translate."
Truth was, she was just as curious. After all, her original commission had been to investigate Zane.
And as for Nicole being "mad"? Please. Belle knew her too well. If Nicole got angry that easily, she wouldn't be Nicole.
Anby cast a glance over, clearly interested but keeping her distance.
Billy, meanwhile, had discovered a limited edition Star Emblem Knights pin badge and was now fully locked into "Maximum Star Emblem Detection Mode."
...
"Belle, what's the next move?"
Zane casually crushed an Ethereal core and looked ahead at the four spatial rifts, then turned back toward the group.
Seeing Nicole and Belle huddled around Panta, he raised an eyebrow.
"What are you all doing?"
The navigator slacking off—unacceptable.
"Coming, coming!"
Belle immediately had Eous scurry over in quick little steps. With Fairy handling the calculations and scans, Belle was enjoying a lighter workload than usual.
If it had been earlier, she wouldn't have had the time to act as Nicole's translator.
Meanwhile, Panta was mid-monologue, proudly recounting the time he and his boss took down a powerful Ethereal hiding in a high-rise. The little guy was on a roll.
But now that Belle had gone ahead, there was no one left to interpret.
Nicole frowned, straining to follow the nonstop Bangboo chatter, relying solely on tone and expression to try and guess what he was saying.
"From here, just a bit farther ahead lies the zone with the highest detected Ether activity."
"That's likely where the Hollow's core Ethereal is."
Zane gave a small nod. Anby and Billy caught up. Eous stepped into the rift first, the rest following close behind.
Zane remained at the rear. Before stepping in, he cast one last glance back—his eyes gleaming slightly.
Then he stepped forward and disappeared through the rift.
...
Moments after the last of them vanished, two figures emerged from the direction they'd come.
"Senior, based on the traces, looks like they entered the spatial rift."
"According to support device data, that rift most likely leads to the Hollow's core."
Zhu Yuan's expression was grave. She and Qingyi had kept their distance to avoid being noticed, so they still didn't know exactly who they were dealing with.
But what they did know—from the battle traces along the way—was that these people were incredibly strong. Strong enough to handle high-tier Ethereals with ease.
Who were they? And what were they planning?
If Nicole knew Zhu Yuan had lumped Hare's House into the mysterious "who-are-they" group, she'd be wagging her invisible tail with pride.
"Should we keep going, Senior?"
"Forget it. No support, no report, just the two of us? Pushing further isn't investigating anymore—it's suicide."
Qingyi shook her head.
She could handle it, but Zhu Yuan still had family. Just yesterday, she'd tasted Zhu Yuan's mom's homemade buns—there was no way she was risking her life now.
"In that case, Senior, you go request support from the military. I'll stake out here. They can't stay in the core forever."
Zhu Yuan thought it through, voice calm and composed.
She had Qingyi return because her mobility was much higher, while Zhu Yuan had the stronger combat power—ideal for staying behind and reacting in case of emergency.
"Fair enough."
Qingyi nodded. It was the best option given the situation—and giving up wasn't even on the table with Zhu Yuan.
With the plan settled, Qingyi turned and made her way to the nearest stronghold.
Zhu Yuan found a concealed spot and tucked herself away, keeping watch while waiting for backup.
...
Cretan Hollow — Core Region
"Nicole Boss... why is it so quiet here…"