"Really...?"
Nekomata looked at Zane with disbelief. To her, he wasn't the type of person who would ever tell others about "bad things."
"Stop worrying over nothing..."
Zane waved his hand, feeling both amused and oddly warmed inside. Being cared for was still a strange sensation.
The experience inside the Hollow had been truly awful. Even without the terrifying corruption that would overwhelm an ordinary person, just the sheer discomfort alone would have been enough to break anyone.
If not for his own strong body, the pain would have been several times worse...
He casually pulled the little black cat into his arms, giving it a rough rub or two. The kitten protested weakly but was quickly subdued.
"Guess every creature has its natural weakness."
Beside him, Nekomata crossed his arms, chuckling softly as his gaze lingered on the little black cat.
After chatting for a moment, Nekomata returned to his work. Zane was just about to head over to the video store when the phone at Tanuki House suddenly rang.
He picked it up, and Shin's voice came through urgently.
"Zane! Get to the Elden District near Janus right now! Something's happening!"
Shin sounded unusually anxious. Zane raised an eyebrow, about to ask, but Shin quickly continued,
"A new Hollow has erupted—and it's huge! At least twice the size of a Cretan Hollow!"
"A new Hollow? You want me to subjugate it?"
Zane was intrigued. Subjugating Hollows required him to improve himself; only then could he expand the number of Hollows he could claim. Otherwise, it would be more efficient for him to simply clear Cores in Hollows every day rather than wasting effort elsewhere.
That said, after his last trip through a Hollow, while he hadn't gained anything material, his "spare space" had increased considerably thanks to his deeper understanding of Hollows.
So yes, he could subjugate it—but he had been saving his strength for Hollow Zero.
"No, that's not important. This Hollow is moving!"
"Any Hollow that erupts will expand..."
"It's not expanding!"
"It's moving! It's almost at the Janus District already!"
Zane's pupils contracted slightly. A Hollow that moves? But wasn't it said the existence above couldn't precisely control Hollows, only cause them to erupt?
If no one was controlling it, how could it move?
Could it be... the owner of those blood-red eyes...?
"Just get here. You'll have to see it with your own eyes. I can't explain."
"I'm taking the Falkenhayn Mercenary Troupe with me. Hurry."
Zane gave a short reply, hung up, and immediately prepared to leave.
But as he stepped outside, he saw Belle waving frantically before jogging up to him.
"Zane... Zane, listen..."
"The Elden District..."
She was panting, clearly out of shape. After all, most of her "exercise" came from possessing Eous, so rushing all the way here had left her winded.
"The moving Hollow? I already know."
Zane guessed what she wanted to say and spoke first. Belle looked surprised, then quickly added,
"Yes, but... my brother was on a commission inside the Hollow in Elden. After stepping out for a bit, he was right where the moving Hollow erupted. He got pulled inside."
She steadied her breathing, then raised her head, her expression serious.
"Zane, through Eous, Brother saw a person!"
She cut him off before he could respond.
"Not an ordinary person caught in the eruption—the cause of it! Someone triggered the Hollow!"
"Brother told me to tell you—the Hollow's movement is most likely caused by that same person!"
Zane narrowed his eyes at her words.
Someone triggered the Hollow's eruption?
Could it be... the one with the blood-red eyes?
No. If that being could control Hollows, it would have used Hollow Zero directly, not some newly-formed Hollow, and certainly not at this speed.
It had to be someone else.
"A Hollow eruption... and now a moving Hollow..."
Zane narrowed his eyes.
"Belle, do you have the trajectory of its movement?"
"Not right now. But Brother has Fairy tracking it."
"Good. Let's head to the video store."
"Huh? Shouldn't we go see the Hollow first?"
"It won't be too late to check after the store."
Zane's tone was calm, but his mind was already working.
Belle nodded and followed him back to the store.
...
"Zane, look here. This is Fairy's real-time tracking of the Hollow's path. The green is where it's already been; the red is the projected course."
Wise pointed at the screen and explained quietly.
"The projected endpoint..."
Zane focused on the display. He had already formed a suspicion, but Fairy's simulation confirmed it.
The moving Hollow's destination was Hollow Zero.
"Can you describe the person you saw?"
Zane asked, turning to Wise.
Wise thought for a moment before answering.
"It was chaotic. The Hollow's expansion created an Ether storm, and the colored halos made everything blurry. I could only see a figure standing at the center. The Hollow erupted around him."
"From his build, I'd say it was a man. He looked like he was suffering—like he was resisting something."
Wise lowered his head, recalling, then shook it with a helpless sigh.
"That's all I know. Zane, you need to be careful. That person might still be inside the Hollow. You should... go in and see."
"I will."
Zane nodded lightly.
"Wise, keep monitoring for any unexpected changes. Belle, use the HDD system to bring Eous and come with me."
"Got it!"
Belle nodded, and soon after, she and Zane set off toward the Hollow that had already entered the Janus District.
"This must be it..."
Through Eous, Belle scanned the surroundings, murmuring.
"It's just ahead," Zane said softly.
"Huh? Where? Where?"
Eous glanced around cluelessly, until Zane, slightly exasperated, picked her up and turned her to face forward.
Belle finally spotted the Hollow looming behind the high-rises, her eyes widening.
"It doesn't look that big..."
"That's because we're still far."
As Eous landed back on the ground, they saw Defense Force troops and armored vehicles in the distance, evacuating civilians along the Hollow's path. Its trajectory was clear—headed straight toward Hollow Zero.
"Shouldn't we move in?"
Belle asked, but Zane only shook his head, sitting casually on a nearby bench.
"Wait for it to come."
"I'll use this time to set things up..."
He waved his hand, summoning several small black spheres from the void. Belle tilted her head. She knew these were Hollows—Zane had once scared her with them, every time making her jump.
"What are you planning?"
She hopped onto the bench beside him, curiosity outweighing her unease.
"I don't know what's inside yet, so I'm preparing options."
"To stop it, subjugate it... or do nothing."
Belle nodded uncertainly. Her knowledge of Hollows was nowhere near Zane's.
As the black spheres zipped around, wisps of Ether flickered in and out before fading, hidden rather than absorbed into the world.
Belle instinctively looked back toward the Hollow and froze.
"W-wait, is it really that huge?!"
"It's coming right at us, Zane!"
"Wait—what the hell is that?!"
Panicked, she made Eous leap onto Zane, clinging to his arm like she wanted to crawl inside him.
Zane looked where she pointed. A massive, pitch-black Hollow was swallowing skyscrapers and streets like a rising wall.
The surface warped with writhing lines, twisting into the shape of a vast, grotesque human face.
But that face was unsettling—human yet not, evoking an instinctive sense of rejection.
Simply put, it was terrifying.
"This Hollow is... peculiar."
Zane raised an eyebrow. It hardly even looked like a Hollow anymore.
He stood. Belle, through Eous, still clung tightly to his clothes like a frightened sloth.
Zane sighed inwardly. That grotesque face had clearly shaken her badly.
"It's gone now."
The distortion lasted barely ten seconds before vanishing, the Hollow's surface returning to normal.
Almost like it had appeared just to frighten Belle.
But...
Maybe he had been noticed already. Whatever was behind that Hollow was obvious now.
"Any word from your brother?"
Zane pried her off. Belle steadied herself, then shook her head.
"In that case... get ready."
The moment he spoke, a black barrier swept over him, pulling Eous inside as well.
...
Inside, the Hollow had expanded greatly, but Ether storms still raged everywhere, just as Wise had described.
"Since it's moving, it probably hasn't had time to stabilize..."
Zane raised his hand. Streams of light gathered in his palm, twisted briefly, then slipped free and drifted away.
This Hollow was far safer than those he had entered before. Aside from the mysterious being at its core, there was little threat.
A hoarse sound echoed. Eous clung to Zane's leg. Zane reached out, seizing the Core of an Ethereal rushing at them, crushing it in his hand.
Ordinary Ethereal spawned at the Hollow's edge weren't even worth considering.
The body dissolved into streams of light, Ether flowing into Zane.
He had once planned to grow stronger by killing Ethereal, but after slaying a Core Ethereal and claiming a Hollow, that plan had become meaningless. Compared to the gains from Hollows themselves, hunting weak Ethereal wasn't even worth his time.
"Zane, Brother says the Hollow's core is heading this way. What do we do?"
With the immediate danger gone, Belle finally let go and asked.
"What else? We wait."
Zane's tone was calm as his eyes fixed on the immense power approaching from the Hollow's center.
"I came here partly to stop the Hollow from ravaging Janus. At the very least, we'll redirect it."
Ordinary people couldn't endure the Hollow's corruption.
He didn't know all the details yet—but that didn't matter.
Moments later, a massive storm loomed into view, its force whipping his long hair. His eyes shone as he stared into the multi-colored tempest, identical to the Ether storm left behind after the Black Coffin's strike within Hollow Zero.
Both caused by Ether energy buildup.
"In the eye of the storm..."
Zane finally confirmed that something truly abnormal waited at its center.
"Stay back."
He patted Eous lightly, signaling retreat, then stepped forward toward the raging storm.
The black sphere reappeared. Ether energy erupted, cloaking him in deep blue flames filled with crystalline ice.
And beneath that storm of flame and ice, a faint golden light began to stir.