An Important Lead

The Iron Guards split into several groups. Twenty-four of them had entered this time.

Apart from the three Iron Guards who stayed behind to protect Eous, the others formed seven squads of three and spread out to investigate the distress signals in the Hollow.

The thrusters on their feet alone allowed the Iron Guards to cross obstacles and terrain most people could not, greatly improving their ability to travel through the Hollow.

With almost no need to climb stairs or take detours, one squad soon reached the nearest distress signal.

A Public Security officer and a young woman were cornered by several Ethereals. Fortunately, these were all ordinary, lower-tier Ethereals. The Iron Guards easily dealt with them and rescued the trapped people.

One squad, however, ran into a bit of trouble...

On the roof of an unfinished building, a group of Ethereals that could be classified as Corruption Complex types had cornered an Iron Guard squad and two trapped civilians.

The numerous "Greedy Hunters" among them fired fairly powerful Ether rays, continually striking the shields raised by two of the Iron Guards.

The remaining Iron Guard switched both hands into hand cannons and returned fire.

Meanwhile, the two men under their protection fearfully ducked back behind the crates where they had been hiding.

Being pinned down by enemy fire was not the biggest problem, though. The real problem was the Ethereal leading them, the "Bandit Corruption Complex: Frenzied Thug."

Ignoring the rays exchanged between the Iron Guards and the Ethereals that struck its body, it charged straight at the Iron Guards. Seeing this, the Iron Guard returning fire with hand cannons immediately switched his hands back to human form.

He leaped out of the other two Iron Guards' shields and charged toward the Ethereal, meeting the "Frenzied Thug" and its slashing blade head-on.

He swung his arm, colliding with its incoming arm blade, but his follow-up punch was blocked by both of its arms.

Just as the "Frenzied Thug" was about to swing its arm blades again, the Iron Guard caught it off guard by leaping up with a knee strike. The blow struck its head, which had fused with its helmet, leaving several cracks and briefly staggering it.

Still airborne, the Iron Guard raised both hands overhead, interlocked his fingers, and smashed them down. One of the horns on the "Frenzied Thug's" head was broken clean off.

After taking that heavy blow, the "Frenzied Thug" halted its retreat and hurriedly swung its arm blades in retaliation, but the Iron Guard dodged or blocked every strike.

Under the indiscriminate attacks of the surrounding "Greedy Hunters," the "Frenzied Thug" and the Iron Guard remained locked in combat, neither gaining the upper hand for the moment.

Meanwhile, the Iron Guards responsible for staying behind to protect the two men took advantage of the fact that most of the Ethereals' firepower was focused on the Iron Guard fighting the "Frenzied Thug" in the center...

"Aaaaaaah-!!!"

Each grabbed a panicking civilian and promptly jumped off the building. Then, amid the two men's screams, they plunged straight into a spatial rift hidden in midair.

Finally, they flew out of a wall inside a room. Fortunately, the Iron Guards reacted quickly. Before the new pull of gravity could slam them against the floor, they adjusted their positions and landed feetfirst, only shedding the momentum of their fall after leaving six-meter skid marks.

"Aaaah! Help, I don't want to die!..."

The mild-looking man kept his eyes squeezed shut, not daring to open them, shouting and screaming in his fear of heights. The other, roguish-looking man could not stand being carried bridal-style by an Iron Guard and had already gotten down.

He then walked over to the man afraid of heights, slapped him on the head, and said:

"Stop yelling! You'll draw the Ethereals over again."

After that slap on the head, the man looked around in bewilderment, then smiled awkwardly and asked the Iron Guard to put him down.

"Um, thank you. If you hadn't come, I don't know how much longer we could've stayed hidden," the roguish-looking man thanked the Iron Guards.

"Yeah, that scared me half to death just now, but at least we're safe. Thank you so much!" the mild-looking man said.

An Iron Guard said, "You're welcome, citizens. Rescuing people stranded in the Hollow is an incidental duty of our mission."

Another Iron Guard continued:

"However, we have something to ask you both. Have you seen this citizen? She is the priority rescue target of our current mission."

As he spoke, the Iron Guard handed the two a photograph he had produced from somewhere. It was a selfie Belle had taken while sitting on her sofa at home, complete with a beauty filter.

The mild-looking man took just one glance before replying, "Sorry, I haven't seen her."

The roguish-looking man said, "That's pretty half-hearted. Couldn't you at least pretend to think back?"

"Ah, how rude of me. I wasn't being half-hearted. I engrave every cute girl's face into my DNA." Pointing at the photo, he continued speaking to the roguish-looking man:

"Look, if I'd seen a girl this cute, I definitely wouldn't forget her. Not a chance."

Elsewhere, after watching everything through the Iron Guards, Wise's expression seemed to darken a little, and he even felt a slight urge to crawl through the internet connection.

The roguish-looking man snatched the photo away and returned it to the Iron Guard. "Sorry, looks like we can't help."

"It's all right. Don't worry about it. We will now escort you safely out of the Hollow," the Iron Guard said in a steady mechanical voice.

Just then, the Iron Guard who had been locked in combat with the Ethereals finally broke free of them. Following the same escape route they had taken moments earlier, he shot out of the wall.

He braced both feet and one hand against the floor to slow himself through friction, finally coming to a steady stop. The armor on his arms bore over a dozen shallow blade marks, and there were patches of chipped paint on his body.

His left hand still held an Ethereal arm fitted with an enormous arm blade. It clearly belonged to the "Frenzied Thug." The Iron Guard had forcibly torn it off while falling through the air with the "Frenzied Thug."

Before he and the "Frenzied Thug" could fall into the spatial rift together, the Iron Guard had kicked it more than five meters away, preventing it from falling in after him.

By the time the Iron Guard rejoined the squad, the arm in his grasp had already dissipated.

Now a party of three machines and two humans, they headed for the Hollow's exit along the route Fairy had calculated.

Meanwhile, back at the video store, Wise continued listening to Fairy's latest report with his brows tightly furrowed.

Fairy said, "Master, five Iron Guard squads have now located trapped people, eleven in total.

"Alert: one squad has reached the vicinity of a distress signal and come under attack by an upper-tier Ethereal. Engagement ongoing..."

Less than half an hour had passed since they entered the Hollow, making their search-and-rescue progress extremely efficient, but Wise still could not stop worrying about his sister's safety.

Belle had always been lucky, but hadn't her luck just turned bad enough to get her caught in a Hollow disaster? All he could do now was hope she could hold on until help arrived and that nothing would happen to her.

While Wise was lost in thought, one of the Iron Guards stationed by his side came in carrying coffee bought from Tin Master.

The Iron Guard set the coffee beside Wise's desk, then stood motionless nearby, awaiting orders again.

"Thank you."

Seeing the coffee brought over, Wise politely thanked him, then picked it up and took a sip.

But just as the coffee reached his throat, news of Belle finally arrived...

Fairy said, "Master, latest update: an Iron Guard squad has found an important lead on Assistant Number Two."

"Cough! Cough, cough..."

Overcome with excitement just as the coffee went down his throat, Wise accidentally choked. Seeing this, the Iron Guard beside him stepped forward and patted his back at low power, helping him feel a little better.

Elsewhere, an Iron Guard stood holding Belle's photo beside a timid high school girl who had provided a lead. Two other stranded civilians stood nearby.

A dozen or so meters away, two Iron Guards who had just finished dealing with an upper-tier Ethereal, a "Farbauti," were hurrying in the direction the timid high school girl had just indicated.