While Iron Guard was attacking the observation post in the blasting zone...
Billy: "We did it! We're finally out!"
Billy stepped out of the carriage as he spoke. Nicole, Anby, and Eous followed behind him.
Nicole: "Damn it, breaking out of the carriage took too long. Nekomata, Perlman, and the others have already entered the Hollow!"
Wise also understood the gravity of the situation and hurriedly ordered Fairy:
"Fairy, give me Nekomata's location immediately."
Fairy: "The client's location has been observed. Based on her chosen route, the client is estimated to reach the Hollow exit in thirty minutes."
Billy: "Does that mean we can't stop Nekomata anymore?"
Nicole: "No, we can't stake the residents' rescue entirely on Nekomata alone!
Vision actually made a decision that treated human lives like dirt. Those vicious bastards won't be easy to deal with.
But now that the train plan has fallen through, how are we supposed to get the residents without Ether aptitude out?"
Wise offered a solution: "Maybe we could look at it another way? Have you heard the old saying, 'If the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain'?"
Belle immediately understood her brother: "I see. That's my brother for you. Your plan really puts our lives on the line, but it might be our only option now."
Nicole, however, hadn't understood the siblings and asked in confusion, "Huh? What do you mean?"
Belle explained to Nicole: "Nicole, the straight-line distance from Canvas Lane to New Eridu actually isn't that far. The expansion of the Dead End Hollow blocked the roads, forcing everyone to pass through the Hollow and greatly increasing the travel time.
If we can shrink the Hollow and expose the route inside it, the residents will be able to leave here in one go."
Billy: "Oh, right! That sounds promising! Dealing with Ethereals is our specialty!"
Anby: "But to shrink the Hollow significantly, we'd need to kill about three thousand Ethereals like the ones we just encountered."
Billy: "Pfft-"
Belle: "Under certain circumstances, though, the Ether activity of some giant individuals can reach or even exceed the equivalent of several thousand standard Ethereals.
You all know what that means, right? The 'Dead End Butcher.'"
Billy was startled and said something easily misunderstood: "That b-b-big... big guy? That's way too big for me, in every sense...
If anything goes wrong, I won't get to see my lovely Monica tomorrow night!"
Belle: "Yes, just the few of us definitely couldn't stand up to the Dead End Butcher. But don't forget, there's plenty of weaponry here that Vision delivered."
Wise: "Those tons of Ether explosives are ours for the taking."
Nicole: "I see, use explosives against the Dead End Butcher! Heh, all right. Just like you said, it really is a suicidal plan."
Belle: "But we're out of time. Let's do it!"
Just then, however, Fairy suddenly sounded an alarm: "Warning! System intrusion by an unknown entity. Currently..."
"No, you won't."
Before anyone could react, an abrupt voice cut into their communications channel. That same voice also came from behind Anby and Billy.
Immediately afterward, an indescribable pressure bore down on everyone except Nicole.
With their keen combat instincts, Anby and Billy swiftly turned, drawing blade and guns. They firmly shielded Nicole behind them, warily watching the two-meter-tall figure before them.
Anby said with complete seriousness, "Everyone, be careful."
Billy: "This feeling... this guy's no pushover."
Nicole froze in shock at the person who had suddenly appeared, while everyone else stared intently at the unidentified newcomer as though facing a formidable enemy.
After a brief fright, Wise and Belle hurriedly questioned Fairy.
Wise: "Fairy, what's going on? Fairy?"
Only after several seconds did Fairy respond: "My apologies, Master. The strength of the intrusion slightly exceeded that of my configured firewall. At present, only communications privileges have been lost.
Notice: if Master increases my power supply fivefold, Fairy is confident that control of the communications channel can be recovered."
Wise and Belle: "..."
Only now did Nicole seem to fully recover, hurriedly saying, "Wait, everyone, calm down. He isn't..."
"You really are bold."
But Huojin's voice, neither sorrowful nor pleased, interrupted Nicole, and he condensed a constantly trembling, pulsating black sphere in his left hand before his chest.
Over a dozen colorful circular lines floated around the sphere, giving it a somewhat eerie appearance.
Fairy: "Warning. Intense unidentified Ether fluctuations detected..."
Looking panicked, Nicole wanted to say something more, but the next second, the black sphere in Huojin's hand burst soundlessly. A translucent spherical barrier expanded outward from within it at tremendous speed.
In the blink of an eye, it enveloped everyone. The surrounding space seemed to be tinted a faint, translucent purple. The two bullets Billy had fired were also caught inside.
The bullets slowed the instant they were enveloped, so much that even the siblings could clearly see their trajectories and the ripples they made in the air as they flew.
The bullets grew slower and slower, finally coming to a complete halt when they reached Huojin, stopping steadily two centimeters before his eyes.
"Wh-what's going on?!"
Billy had wanted to pull the triggers again and put another two rounds into the stranger before him. But he discovered that after that transparent thing swept over his body, every movement became extraordinarily difficult.
Even his guns' cylinders had stopped turning, and he couldn't fire a single shot. Now it was as though he were submerged in a deep swamp.
Billy glanced at Anby and Nicole out of the corner of his eye and saw that they were just as immobilized as he was. Nicole and Anby couldn't even make a sound.
Seeing everything in Eous's field of vision freeze, Belle thought there was a network problem and hurriedly asked, "Nicole, Billy, Anby! What's happening over there? There seems to be something wrong with our signal."
Fairy: "Negative. The system indicates that the communications channel is still operating stably."
Wise: "No, the problem isn't on our end. That's actually what's happening over there with Nicole and the others. Nobody can move."
Still possessing Eous, Wise could also feel what Nicole and the others were experiencing: that mire-like resistance.
"Cunning Hares, honestly, I don't know what to say to you."
Speaking these baffling words, Huojin flicked away the bullets suspended in the air and slowly walked toward the group before him. His aura, like that of a demon god, enveloped everyone except Nicole.
"I've looked through all your files. Every one of you is anything but ordinary."
Huojin swept his arm, and Billy felt a powerful pulling force seize his body. His entire mechanical frame was dragged into the air off to one side by an invisible hand.
"Among all the people I've sent to the next life, you'd rank among the very special ones."
He walked up to Anby, who was still holding the blocking stance she'd taken before being immobilized. Huojin saw her tightly furrowed brows and resolute eyes. If she could move, she would already have slashed at him.
"These two are very good. Both have an air brimming with danger."
After speaking, Huojin swept his arm again. Despite Anby's utter unwillingness, that invisible force still dragged her away from in front of Nicole and into the air on the other side.
Anby's expression visibly grew panicked, because this extremely dangerous unidentified person had already reached Nicole and bent down.
Billy's tone also became more serious than ever: "What are you doing? Don't hurt her! Come at me instead!"
Wise: "Wait, you-hey, hey, hey-!"
Without letting Wise finish, Huojin swept his arm again, pulling Eous, who had been hiding while clutching Nicole's calf, into the air off to one side.
Then, ignoring every sound around him, Huojin cupped Nicole's face in both hands. As their eyes met, he released the restraints on Nicole and spoke in an uncharacteristically gentle tone:
"Nicole Demara, my daughter. Your father has come to see you."