"This thing…"
Before Nineveh's fan-like palm could even close in, Phaga was already struck by a crushing pressure head-on. If he didn't evade, at least a couple of bones would snap right here.
Yet in the face of such danger, Phaga showed no panic at all. Not only was there no fear—he actually curled his lips into a grin, clenched his teeth, and a sharp light flared in his eyes.
"On an ordinary day, I wouldn't mind trading blows with you."
"But unfortunately, I don't have that kind of free time right now. I'm going for a speedrun… my apologies!"
Boom!
The instant his words fell, Phaga advanced instead of retreating. He slammed his foot into the ground, stamping out a crater deep enough to swallow a person, and hurled himself forward.
He hadn't even spread his wings yet, and he had already crossed more than half the distance between himself and Nineveh.
[…What?!]
Nineveh was stunned. She had never imagined that after such a short time apart, Phaga's combat strength would have soared so far beyond what it had been at their last meeting.
She tried to defend herself.
But the old force had already been spent, and the new force had yet to gather. The massive hand she had already swung could not be retracted in time. With no other choice, she lifted her skirt-like form, attempting to use the [Core] beneath it to draw in Ether and fire an ether beam first, forcing Phaga back.
However, just as Phaga was once again caught by gravity and his speed slowed for a brief moment, a pair of wings abruptly appeared in the sky.
Nineveh stared blankly.
She vaguely remembered that when she first met Phaga, his wings had been barely ten meters long.
But now, upon seeing him again, those wings seemed to blot out the heavens.
As she lifted her head, Nineveh suddenly felt as though she were completely enveloped by Phaga's shadow, unable to break free at all.
Wait… was Phaga getting closer?
Hiss—he really was getting closer!
Boom!
[Hiss!]
Nineveh let out a shrill scream as the [Core] she used as her head was stomped straight into the ground by Phaga from hundreds of meters in the air.
The sheer terror of the impact detonated with a deafening roar. The shockwave blasted outward, slamming directly into the surrounding high-rises.
The buildings shook violently, their existence like a flickering flame in the wind—swaying, faltering, life hanging by a single fragile thread.
But then, as Phaga brought his foot down once more, another thunderous crash rang out.
At last, the buildings could no longer hold. They collapsed in total ruin, crashing down as the backlash kicked up clouds of dust that surged several stories high.
Nineveh shuddered—but she did not manage to take flight.
It wasn't just the tens of tons of dust, rubble, and shattered walls weighing down on her back. It was also Phaga's foot, planted squarely atop Nineveh's [Core].
Purple-red flames burned across the sole of his foot. Once Nineveh's [Core] ignited, the fire spread downward along her neck without restraint.
Skirt-like eyes, a pair of delicate small hands, fan-sized palms, a bud-like lower body, and beneath it all, the enormous [Core]—the corroding flames raged wildly!
Nineveh felt all the strength throughout her body being drained away, transformed into fuel for the corroding flames, taken and consumed at will.
Phaga remained silent, gazing deeply at Nineveh without uttering a single word.
Black slowly walked over, one hand still covering the swollen redness on his cheek. When his eyes flicked toward Nineveh, he ground his teeth in anger.
[Damn it… I didn't react in time and actually got slapped by this thing!]
[Good thing the Creator kicked her to pieces in one shot. Otherwise, today would've been a real problem.]
After speaking, Black shot Phaga an exaggerated wink.
But Phaga merely glanced at him before lowering his head again.
Seeing this, Black didn't get annoyed—perhaps he was already used to it. He lowered his head as well, staring at the motionless Nineveh on the ground, and asked softly,
[Creator… are you going to kill her?]
"No. Killing her wouldn't achieve our objective. On the contrary, it would only make Hollow Zero more stable."
Phaga shook his head lightly. In that instant, his eyes turned blood-red.
Black immediately noticed the change and frowned.
[Creator, you…]
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
Phaga waved his hand, signaling Black not to be concerned.
Unbeknownst to him, at that very moment, two streams of blood tears—so dark they were nearly black—slid down from his eyes.
Black's worry deepened instantly. Yet seeing that Phaga was in the middle of something critical, his hand—already halfway raised—froze in midair, afraid to interrupt.
His throat tightened. The unspoken words were swallowed back down, and his hand slowly withdrew.
Phaga noticed none of this. He calmly wiped away the blood tears, then lifted his foot from Nineveh's head.
Seeing that she showed no signs of movement, Phaga finally relaxed. He sat down cross-legged on the ground and placed his palm on Nineveh's [Core].
Black followed suit, sitting down cross-legged beside him.
When he saw Phaga place his hand on Nineveh's head, he did the same, resting his own hand there as well.
After a moment, Phaga spoke softly.
"As the dominant force on the outskirts of Hollow Zero, if Nineveh were to go on a rampage, the Ether activity of Hollow Zero would become violently unstable as well."
"And because Nineveh herself is powerful enough, even if the Hollow crisis were to expand beyond our expectations, her strength alone would be enough to deter other Ethereals to a certain extent—forcefully slamming the brakes on the Hollow's expansion."
"In other words, controlling Nineveh is the shortest path to peace…"
[That's not a shortcut—that's a bottomless abyss!]
Black understood instantly. He yanked his hand back as if he were afraid that if he moved any slower, some wild beast would leap out and bite him.
He roared, loudly challenging Phaga's decision.
[Creator, are you planning to turn Nineveh into your retainer?!]
[Have you even considered that Nineveh is a symbiotic Ethereal?! She isn't a single individual—she's a collective!]
[Once you send your consciousness into Nineveh's body, you won't be facing the weakness of a single 'her'—you'll be facing the tidal roar of 'them'!]
[Hundreds—thousands—of mosquito-like voices buzzing nonstop in your ears! You'll go insane!]
[No—you will definitely go insane!]
[And when that happens, what are we supposed to do—tch, Big Shark… damn it, I really don't want to say her name… Ellen, your Little Fish Snack—how is she supposed to face a you that's already fused with Nineveh?!]
In his desperation to stop Phaga, Black even dragged Ellen into it.
He grabbed Phaga's arm, trying to haul him up and drag him as far away from Nineveh as possible—the farther, the better.
If he'd known from the start that this was Phaga's plan, Black felt he should've knocked him out cold the moment they entered the Hollow.
At least then, the Creator would still be alive.
What kind of shortcut was this?
To Black, it looked like two mountains slowly drawing closer together.
On the surface, it seemed like a simple hop would land you on the other peak.
But only after leaping did you realize how vicious the freezing winds between them were—winds that would hurl you straight down into a bottomless abyss, never to climb out again.
Yet Black failed to pull Phaga up.
Phaga remained seated on the ground, legs crossed, eyes tightly shut. Blood tears streamed endlessly as his body leaned forward, four sharp fangs sinking deep into Nineveh's flesh.
Black froze.
A moment later, his face flushed crimson, the feeling in his chest as unbearable as watching the Creator being intimate with Big Shark.
[Damn it… this lunatic!]
[Absolutely insane!]
[Even more incomprehensible than Old Bai wearing red underwear!]
After cursing, Black climbed onto Nineveh's body. He clamped both hands around her neck, his sharp fingertips digging deeply into her flesh.
He tilted his head back, his eyes flickering between light and shadow, as though negotiating with some unseen existence.
Then he suddenly roared,
[GHOST—ENTER MY HUSK!]