Thud!
Hum—
Phaga raised his blade and slashed straight down toward the Black-and-White Doll's head!
[Water Snake Baby, run!]
The Black-and-White Doll smacked the black-furred water snake on the head. The snake obeyed instantly, coiling upward to dodge Phaga's horizontal swing.
[Counterattack! Water Pressure Jet!]
The moment it escaped the strike, the doll issued a counter-command. The black-furred snake opened its jaws wide, lifting its head slightly to gather strength before slamming it down again.
A torrent of water burst forth, spraying across the room.
Phaga instinctively unfurled his wings but quickly remembered—the doll's "destruction" effect had made flight inefficient and risky. He immediately suppressed the urge and rolled to the ground, narrowly avoiding the initial surge.
Scrambling up, he began darting in circles as the black snake twisted its head, chasing him with the water stream but never quite hitting him.
Still, the attack wasn't without effect. Before long, water flooded the entire floor, rising to Phaga's ankles.
Growing impatient, the Black-and-White Doll suddenly turned its gaze on Ellen.
[Miss Shark, help me!]
Ellen's eyes flickered. She quickly gauged the distance between herself and the doll, mentally calculating how long it would take her to reach it.
No—she couldn't possibly get there faster than the doll could activate [Good-Evil Obliteration].
Then there was only one option left...
She glanced at Phaga's back as he circled the room, searching for an opening. Her grip on the giant scissors tightened as a plan began to form in her mind.
[Hey, Miss Shark! If you don't come help Big Sis soon, I'm going to start hating you again!]
Seeing Ellen hesitate, the Black-and-White Doll lifted its hand threateningly, its yin-yang face twisting into a scowl. The familiar, dreaded glow of [Good-Evil Obliteration] began to form.
"Tsk, fine—I'm coming!"
Ellen clicked her tongue, reluctantly popping a lollipop into her mouth before activating [Roaming Hunt] and dashing toward Phaga.
Clang!
She swung her giant scissors down in a clean arc. Phaga raised his blade to block, and both of them were knocked backward by the impact.
The shock stung Phaga's palm, but he'd gained a bit of distance from the water stream—whether that was good or bad was anyone's guess.
Without missing a beat, Ellen activated [Roaming Hunt] again. Tilting her head, she dodged the next jet of water and lunged toward Phaga once more.
Clang! Clang! Thud!
Steel clashed against steel, tail against umbrella.
In the shallow flood, Ellen moved like a predator in her element—swift, brutal, and unrelenting. Each charge was a blur of motion, each step freezing the surface beneath her into patches of ice.
The ice made her footing perfect for attack and, conveniently, gave Phaga a less exhausting field to move on.
Phaga flicked a glance at the doll's expression, then looked back with a faint smile.
"Not bad. You've improved since the last time. Usually, you'd be losing by now."
He paused deliberately. "Could it be that during practice, you just didn't have the right environment to show your full strength?"
Ellen's forehead instantly twitched. She knew he was provoking her on purpose—
but that didn't make her any less angry.
She suddenly stopped moving, glaring at him. "I'm starting to think I should actually hit you seriously."
A rare opportunity—there weren't many chances to bully Phaga.
After all, a Shark Thiren's stamina couldn't compare to a vampire's. It was like pitting a button battery against a nuclear reactor.
And to make it worse, the "reactor" cheated—draining her energy and recharging himself in moments.
Usually, she was the one being toyed with. But today? Today might finally be the shark's lucky day.
[Yes, yes! Go, Sharky! Mount that stinking vampire and trample him flat! Big Sis will give you a buff!]
The Black-and-White Doll didn't notice the change in the atmosphere. It just seemed thrilled by the spectacle—apparently, the person it mimicked in life loved to stir trouble.
It waved its hand gleefully and cast another buff on Ellen.
A warm surge coursed through Ellen's body. She blinked in surprise, staring at her hand.
An endless current of energy flowed within her—her kind's high energy consumption problem vanished in an instant.
With this power... she might really be able to—
Ellen clenched her fist and looked up at Phaga.
Phaga suddenly felt a chill. His whole body tensed as a strange premonition prickled at his senses.
This was going to get messy.
Thud!
Ellen stomped hard, water splashing in every direction. Her body shot forward like a torpedo.
From the spray, her frozen scissors burst out, spinning toward Phaga.
Clang!
He swung his blade upward, deflecting them. The scissors spun through the air, but Ellen caught them mid-flight and launched herself high, landing on the handle before diving straight down.
"Sharknami! Hah!"
Boom!
The entire building shook.
Water exploded upward, freezing midair before crashing down in shards that shattered into countless icy spikes spreading outward.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Phaga was fine—he slid backward and opened his umbrella, the ice shards bouncing harmlessly off.
The Black-and-White Doll wasn't so lucky. Its water-snake companion, being made of water, had almost no defense.
The storm of ice pierced straight through its form, forcing the doll to dive behind a pillar.
[My butt! My poor butt!]
It peeked out pitifully, shouting, [Miss Shark! We're on the same team! Could you at least aim properly?]
"Sorry. Area attack."
Ellen plucked the chewed-down lollipop stick from her mouth and tossed it aside.
She glanced toward Phaga and the doll, then added casually, "By the way, don't say I didn't warn you—Phaga's already behind you."
[What—?!]
The doll froze, a chill crawling up its spine. It ducked instinctively—just in time.
A blade sliced through the air where its head had been a moment ago. The doll shouted for its water snake to flee.
But Phaga had anticipated everything.
To truly land a satisfying blow, one had to strike at the opponent's foundation first.
His blade drove deep into the black water snake's tail.
In an instant, Nether Flames and Ether Crystals surged upward like swarming insects. Dark red and violet flared across its body, racing toward its head.
The snake convulsed, its liquid body pierced and solidified by the spreading crystals, flames consuming it whole.
Then, with a dull thud, it collapsed lifelessly onto the flooded floor.
The doll tumbled down, splashing into the water. Its fur was soaked and filthy.
It scrambled up again, glaring at Phaga with fury. [I'm filthy now... you bastard, I'll—]
Phaga waved a hand dismissively, interrupting without looking bothered.
"Please, you call yourself 'Big Sis'—can't you at least curse with some experience?"
"As the saying goes, travel a thousand miles, read ten thousand books. If you don't know how to curse properly, go learn in the streets."
He paused, smirking. "Oh—sorry, I forgot. You're an Ethereal. How pathetic—you can't even leave the Hollow."
"Then read some books—wait, no. The Ballet Tower doesn't even have a library."
"But come on, this Hollow isn't just the Tower! What are you, a Bound Spirit? Stuck haunting one place forever?"
"There must be libraries out there! And yet you're still squatting at home—go look, Bound Spirit!"
"It's not your fault you lack talent. But if you don't improve your cursing and still insist on insulting everyone, what will you do when someone out-curses you? How will you defend your reputation?"
"Huh? Tell me, Bound Spirit—what will you use to protect your so-called Ethereal pride? You can't even keep your old master safe! You're no better than a sewer rat!"
He'd barely started before it turned into a relentless tirade lasting several minutes.
The Black-and-White Doll froze, blinking blankly, its little mouth hanging open.
Then, realization—and rage. Its emotions spiked, the darkness spreading rapidly, swallowing the last traces of white.
Thud!
The doll dropped to its knees, half-submerged in water.
Phaga immediately stopped speaking. His crimson eyes gleamed—his Vampiric Sight revealed its Ether activity fluctuating violently.
[Ah!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!]
The doll screamed in agony. [Wait—no! I don't want to become that again!]
At that moment, Ellen stepped forward.
The splash of water drew the doll's attention. Its body trembled, pain wracking every fiber of its being. But it still found the strength to cry out:
[Miss Shark! Quickly—kill this vampire! Help me!]
"Sure."
Ellen answered casually, raising one long leg to stand protectively in front of the doll, facing Phaga.
"Perfect timing. I actually do want to hit him. The things he said to you just now included me too."
She crouched slightly, body taut like a spring ready to launch.
To the doll, it looked like she was preparing to charge.
Phaga, however, felt an uneasy chill. He sensed something off and stepped back slightly, raising his hands. "Come on, Ellen—"
"It's absolutely necessary!"
Ellen's expression was firm, her tone serious.
Then, in the next instant—
Thud!
Ellen swung her giant scissors backward, thrusting them straight into the Black-and-White Doll's chest.
Its eyes widened in disbelief.
"So," she said softly, "I'll have to bite you later. Otherwise, I won't be happy."
Ellen pulled out another lollipop, slipped it between her lips, and glanced briefly at Phaga. Crossing her arms, she huffed and turned away, leaving him with the sight of her faintly flushed profile.
"Hmph!"
After a second, she added another emphatic, "Hmph!"
[How… how could this…]
The doll's voice faded into a whisper as its entire body was consumed by darkness.
The black and white vanished.
Phase One—complete.