Reactions beyond the boundary

On the Hollow Zero front line, at Coste Outpost, the Municipal Government had established a temporary command center.

Lacking Void Hunter-level combat power, Meflor had mobilized the bulk of the Hollow Investigation Association, H.A.N.D., and the Defense Force units aligned with the Municipal Government.

As a muffled boom rolled in from the combat zone, the ether signals on the command center's monitoring screens rapidly faded... The observers froze for several seconds before reporting.

"Nineveh... Nineveh's ether reaction is weakening! The readings have dropped below the threshold!"

"Confirming signal... Confirmed! Nineveh has been eliminated!"

After the observer's voice rang out through the command center, the room first fell silent, then erupted in cheers. The tension that had weighed on everyone for who knew how many days finally burst.

After all, the target of this operation had been Nineveh, the highest-level Ethereal publicly known to date... This was New Eridu's greatest victory against the Hollows since the fall of the Old Capital.

Among the rank-and-file soldiers who knew nothing of the inside story, quite a few had begun to believe that humanity could defeat the Hollows.

And yet... While some rejoiced, others worried.

Inside the command room, the Municipal Government's senior officials wore grim expressions as they stared at the casualty figures flashing on the screen. The casualty ratio for this operation was worse than in any previous Hollow operation.

The strategy had been devised based on experience from previous operations to suppress Nineveh.

But in this battle, Nineveh's combat strength had far exceeded the projected standard for a level-six Ethereal!

Seven minutes into the battle, Nineveh's coordinated swarm assault had torn two vanguard teams apart. By the end, the participating forces had suffered devastating losses, with nearly a quarter wiped out.

Against just one Nineveh, without Void Hunter-level combat power to