Purple—everywhere, layers upon layers of purple in countless shades…
Phaga opened his eyes, casting his gaze into Nineveh's inner world for the first time.
Ether crystals formed a vast, networked structure like bones and tendons, while accumulated Ether material clung between them like layers of skin.
Phaga drifted forward soundlessly. He lifted his hand and gently tore open a strip of [Membrane]. Not far ahead, flames surged skyward, forming what looked like a towering wall of fire.
The wall of fire towered more than three hundred meters high. Its churning flames formed something like the gaping fangs of a colossal beast, poised to strike.
As that massive presence bore down on them, Phaga felt as though it could lunge at any moment—devouring every last trace of Ether within Nineveh and reducing it all to nothing.
But Phaga knew it wouldn't.
Because this was his own Devouring Flame.
Though Devouring Flame inherited the predatory, bone-stripping nature of Nether Flame and Ether alike—never satisfied until it had consumed everything—without Phaga's command, it would not dare cross the line.
"Good child," Phaga said softly. "Once we're out, I'll find you something else to burn."
He pressed his palm gently toward the void, his expression relaxing into calm.
For reasons unknown, a breeze suddenly swept through the silent purple space, carrying with it a warm, comforting heat. Like a well-behaved child clinging to an adult's hand, it brushed against Phaga's fingers. Unable to help himself, he pinched it lightly—his fingers sank into it like cotton.
Phaga was mildly surprised.
But moments later, the warmth turned mischievous. Like a playful child, it snapped off a fragment of Nineveh's Ether crystal beside Phaga, caught the same breeze it had arrived on, and fled as if in escape.
It returned to the wall of fire.
Phaga watched clearly as that fragment of Nineveh's Ether crystal burned within the flames.
The fire seemed delighted. Flames danced excitedly around it before quietly retreating once more, standing still like a true wall, no longer interfering with anything Phaga did afterward.
"This thing…"
Phaga shook his head and chuckled, withdrawing his gaze. He turned instead to the small patch beneath his feet—the last remaining sliver of territory Nineveh had left, just enough to anchor his consciousness and keep it from dissipating.
Suddenly, Phaga looked again at the [Membrane] he had torn off. From the moment he touched it, he had sensed that it wasn't simple.
Sure enough, as he examined it more closely, a grotesque eye abruptly opened on the surface.
Phaga's eyelids twitched violently. He bit down hard on his lower lip, pain flaring sharply as he forced himself to suppress the instinct to tear the [Membrane] apart on the spot.
"Are you Nineveh?" he asked quietly. Because of the bite, his voice carried a faint metallic tang of blood.
[I am a part of us.]
An aged voice, like that of an old crone, came from the eye.
"A part? Then the others…"
Phaga let out a soft laugh. Suddenly sensing something, he snapped his head up and swept his gaze across the space.
At some point, every membrane, every Ether crystal— even the ground beneath his feet—had sprouted identical eyes, all opening at once.
The eyes twitched intermittently.
A wave of dizziness slammed into Phaga's mind like a sledgehammer.
A solemn voice sounded behind him:
[Vampire, you are bold. You had the chance to kill us, yet you chose to try to control us instead? Delusional.]
[Heehee, he's no vampire. Did you smell him? Mm~~~ the scent of our kind. Just tainted with the stench of humans. Like a half-finished product—tempered halfway by the Hollow before giving up.]
[Hmm… how should I put it? Sister isn't very optimistic about a child like this.]
A sultry voice followed immediately after, dripping with mockery and disdain toward Phaga.
The moment it fell silent, a violent soul shock slammed straight into him.
Phaga nearly spat blood. His mind went blank, the splitting dizziness making him feel as though his skull were about to crack open.
[Poor thing… a child not favored by the Hollow…]
A voice full of false pity chimed in.
[Why don't we turn him into one of our family?]
[Agreed!]
[I agree!]
[Welcome to the Nineveh family, sweet child.]
[Mm, well… since everyone says so… family comes first, after all. Sister doesn't like you much, but once you're family, be sure to come visit often and deepen our bond, okay?]
[Yes, deepen our bond.]
[Deepen…]
[Join us.]
[Abandon the mortal world and join the great Nineveh.]
[Abandon… join…]
[Join…]
[…]
"Damn, you're loud."
Phaga pushed himself upright with one hand. His face twitched with phantom pain, eyelids spasming as he barely managed to keep one eye open.
The next moment, he forced the pain down, folded his legs, and sat cross-legged. His palms split open on their own, blood flowing freely as he pressed them firmly to the ground.
Phaga bared his teeth in a strained grin.
"Me merging into you is too much trouble. How about you merge into me instead?"
In an instant, blood seeped into the ground.
The massive eye beneath the floor trembled violently in terror as it watched Phaga's blood spread outward, forming lines of crimson that crept in every direction.
Gradually, the blood patterns covered the entire floor, then climbed onto the [Membrane] and the Ether crystals that formed the [Bones].
[Stop him!]
A shrill scream erupted from beneath the ground, hysterical and frantic.
[Do it now! Kill him! He cannot be allowed to continue!]
[Agreed!]
[Mm… I was thinking of accepting him earlier, but since the family agrees, let's kill him.]
[Kill him!]
[Kill him!]
[Let him die!]
[Die!]
[Die!]
Die!
Suddenly, a blade-cold sensation pierced straight into Phaga's heart.
His eyes flew wide open as he spat out a mouthful of blood, coughing uncontrollably.
At the same time, the blood patterns—already spread more than halfway—came to a sudden halt.
In the next instant, they collapsed back like a roller coaster dragged down from its peak, all progress wiped away, leaving only a small circle around Phaga.
Nineveh's suppression intensified. Endless murmurs and whispers tore at Phaga's soul, each second an agony so intense it made him want to peel off his own skin, snap every bone, and squeeze his soul and organs dry.
Suddenly, Phaga roared,
"Don't come any closer!"
Outside Nineveh's inner world, the Devouring Flame wall froze in place.
Though it seemed to sense Phaga's dire situation, its towering form bent forward tensely, as if it might charge in the next second and burn Nineveh to nothing.
To be honest, when the Devouring Flame nearly surged in, Nineveh was genuinely frightened—even the pressure she was exerting on Phaga eased noticeably.
Only when Phaga immediately stopped the flame did Nineveh finally breathe a sigh of relief.
[Oh my, I thought you meant me. Turns out you were talking about the Devouring Flame outside. You gave me quite a scare—I almost thought the Creator truly hated me.]
A light, floating voice suddenly drifted in from an unknown corner.
Nineveh became alert at once. Hundreds—thousands—of eyes snapped toward the source.
What was going on!?
How did this rust-scented thing get in here!?
[What, surprised?]
Black chuckled, eyes half-lidded, hands on his hips, pride written all over his face.
[Do you even understand the value of top-tier artificial intelligence?]
[By the way, after GHOST started following me, it's only been supplying massive computational power to sustain my reverence for the Creator. This is the first time it's gone back to its old job—husk entry.]
[It was a bit rusty and almost failed to get in. Luckily, all of your attention was on the Creator—otherwise, today would've been a real problem.]
[As expected—my Creator is invincible under heaven!]
As soon as he finished speaking, Black turned toward Phaga and gave a big thumbs-up.
[Creator, leave dealing with Nineveh to me. You just focus on continuing the conversion!]
[I refuse to believe a mere Ethereal can beat me in a battle of computing power!]
Phaga forced a smile, something aligning with complexity flickering at the corner of his mouth. He shook his head.
"You're inexplicably reliable in the weirdest situations."
"But fine…"
His eyes hardened with resolve. He clenched his teeth, wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, and declared arrogantly,
"Today, Nineveh—captured."
Before long, blood patterns once again filled the entire space.
In the real world, the [Core] atop Nineveh's head flashed with light. She struggled to rise from the ground, sliced two openings into her own body, and shoved both Phaga and Black inside.
Moments later, Nineveh lifted into the air, her form drifting gracefully as she flew toward the unknown depths of the Hollow.