"Haha, I think it's the one who should be careful."
Zane chuckled twice, his gaze lifting with a hint of curiosity.
From the very beginning, he'd had some control over his Ether energy—and now that control had only grown stronger.
In other words, if he wanted to, the detectors meant to identify Etherials wouldn't work on him. He could even pass for a strange-looking, ordinary Etherial.
He had also been keeping his Etheric activity fully suppressed. Even under Fairy's scans, he barely gave anything away.
Yet, this core Etherial hadn't attacked him directly.
Maybe Etherials didn't judge strength based on Ether activity?
But that was the problem—he didn't actually know.
"I really don't feel like a normal Etherial."
With the military's actions in mind, maybe there were still secrets about him he hadn't uncovered. He wasn't so carefree as to forget the question of how he became an Etherial in the first place.
"There's some trash around—leave it to you guys."
As Zane spoke, Nicole and the others noticed Etherials starting to emerge from the corners of the surrounding ruins. They immediately prepared for battle.
They might not be able to handle the core one, but these others? No problem.
Zane shifted his back foot slightly, then launched forward with explosive force. The flat street beneath cracked like a spiderweb from the impact.
He shot forward like a blade, streaking across the ground with blinding speed. His afterimages trailed behind him, making him look like he was flying.
Halfway toward the core Etherial, Zane raised his hand. Ether energy gathered, crystallizing into a long spear-shaped weapon, pitch black with a cold glint.
"Let's see... how this one does!"
The next moment, as Zane focused entirely on channeling his power, searing flames erupted from the Ether spear. Red fire coiled around it like serpents, writhing and snapping.
"Looks like my control is better than I thought. I can fuse elemental power into my attacks with some effort."
He glanced at the weapon in his hand, then locked eyes on the rapidly approaching core Etherial.
"Flame Spear—Pierce!"
Suddenly, Zane halted, feet planted firmly one behind the other. His upper body arched back into a powerful crescent.
He looked like a fully drawn bow—while the spear in his hands was the arrow ready to fire!
In the next instant, with explosive force, the spear shot forward. The flames trailing behind it formed a blazing dragon with bared fangs.
Whoosh—
The spear drove straight into the core Etherial's body. It was too big to dodge in time.
In the blink of an eye, crimson flames burst out from where it struck, engulfing nearly a third of the creature's massive form.
Its densely packed spindly legs spasmed violently. The entire body writhed across the building it clung to, thrashing in pain.
"So... Etherials can feel pain?"
Zane was surprised. In all his past encounters, he'd never seen one react like this.
Maybe high-level Etherials could actually experience pain?
"Still, pain or not—this ends here."
His glowing blue eyes narrowed as he closed in on the building, landing beside the massive Etherial.
Zane raised his right hand and leapt into the air.
Frost coated his fist.
Then—he struck down hard!
BOOM!!!
The deafening sound caught Hare's House's attention. Nicole looked over and saw the huge Etherial bending into a U-shape, its body slammed deep into the commercial building.
Chunks of shattered concrete flew everywhere. Already destabilized by Ether energy, the structure began to crumble.
Another crash followed.
Then, with a massive rumble, the multi-story building collapsed entirely. Dust exploded outward, sweeping building debris in every direction.
As they watched the dust-covered wreckage, the three members of Hare's House knew—everything there was reduced to rubble.
"How strong is he, really..."
Nicole fired a casual Ether blast at a nearby Etherial, her eyes fixed on the smoke-shrouded center of the battlefield in awe.
The power Zane showed when he dealt with the military mechs last time wasn't even close to this.
"Nicole, let's move out of here. Otherwise, we might get caught in the aftermath—and this spot's just drawing more of those Etherials in."
Belle, piloting Eous, suggested calmly.
Nicole nodded, then waved for Anby and Billy to follow her toward the edge of the core zone.
Eous trailed behind the group, and of course, didn't forget to bring Panta along.
Panta, for his part, wasn't scared at all. He watched the battlefield with pure excitement, dancing in place.
"Mm-nuh-nuh! (Boss is amazing!)"
Still, he knew he wasn't strong enough to fight. Even if he wanted to jump in, he didn't. He simply stuck close to Eous, not wanting to drag Zane down.
Belle looked at him, thinking back to the story she never got to finish—about Zane and this Bangboo.
Despite his adorable colors and goofy personality, this Bangboo clearly wasn't ordinary. At the very least, his resistance to Ether corrosion was stronger than even Eous's.
He'd been in the Hollow with Zane far longer than the record endurance for any Bangboo.
Soon, Hare's House and the two Bangboo moved away from the fight, but still stayed close enough to observe the battlefield.
With their position change, fewer Etherials came after them, easing the pressure significantly.
"This is incredible. If not for the confidentiality clause, I'd be shouting this mission from the rooftops to make Hare's House famous,"
Nicole said quietly as the smoke began to clear and the building vanished completely.
A thought crept into her mind—if she recorded this battle, wouldn't it be worth a fortune?
Etherial versus Etherial, both incredibly powerful—it was sure to be a hit.
Too bad. Zane's involvement had to stay confidential. It was in the contract, and she wasn't the type to break her word.
"Zane doesn't seem to have it easy against this one."
Anby, who had been watching intently, spoke up, drawing everyone's attention.
As she said, Zane had the upper hand, but it wasn't the one-sided dominance he showed in earlier fights.
"This is a Hollow's core Etherial. Of course it's strong—this is normal,"
Belle added. The others agreed—there was no questioning a core Etherial's power.