"Damn it, run! Khors's secret weapon is completely useless!"
Nicole shrieked as she yanked Anby along and bolted sideways.
What she didn't realize was that a bald pureblood vampire had already closed in behind her. Razor-sharp claws, keen as blades, slashed straight toward Nicole's head.
Luckily, Nicole's reactions were fast. Before the claws even reached her, a wave of fetid wind hit her face. She skidded to a sudden stop—but with headlights that big, stopping cleanly was easier said than done. Her body pitched forward, completely out of control.
Nicole windmilled her arms like a frantic bird, desperately flapping. The air she stirred finally countered her momentum, and at the very last moment, she managed to steady herself.
She didn't even have time to feel relieved before an icy claw blade abruptly forced its way into her vision. The cold gleam reflected off it made her heart jolt, and she swallowed hard.
She lifted her head and looked up at the bald vampire's face—thick slabs of muscle, a brutal expression, and even a knife scar carved across it.
Nicole wracked her brain and still couldn't understand how a race famed for elegance could produce someone like this.
After digging through her vocabulary for far too long, she finally found something she could say. Forcing a smile, she blurted out, "Mr. Vampire, your hairstyle looks great!"
The bald vampire froze, instinctively reaching up to touch the two lonely, curled strands clinging to his scalp.
"Really? You actually think so?"
Mocked by his own kind for years and even forbidden from going out so he wouldn't embarrass the clan, the bald vampire thought he'd finally met someone with discerning taste. His eyes lit up.
He was just about to gently twirl those two precious strands and bask in the admiration—
Snap.
The two delicate curls, like fragile flowers, broke clean off with a crisp sound.
The bald vampire stared blankly as he lowered his hand. The two innocent curls lay quietly in his palm, lifeless.
Pfft!
Nicole failed to hold it in and burst out laughing. She immediately clapped a hand over her mouth—but it was already too late.
When she looked up, she was met with the bald vampire's face twisted in rage.
"You dare laugh at me?! Die!"
He roared and swung a claw at her. The fan-like palm tore through the air, and even before it landed, a wave of sweaty stench slammed straight into Nicole's nose.
She grimaced hard, leaning back to dodge while snapping irritably, "Jeez, it was just a laugh! Anby!"
Whoosh!
A flash of electricity—Anby appeared in front of Nicole in an instant. Her twin blades crossed to block as she lashed out with a kick, blasting the bald vampire back several steps. Arcs of electricity crawled over his body, his abdomen scorched black.
"This happened because Nicole laughed," Anby stated calmly, as sharp and direct as ever.
Nicole immediately puffed out her cheeks. "That's not true! I usually have great self-control! It's just that he was way too funny, so I—Anby, behind you!"
Her voice shot up in panic as she pointed shakily behind Anby.
Anby reacted at once, snapping her blade up to guard her neck.
Clang!
Grrk—grrk—
The bald vampire had lunged in without warning, his four fangs clamping down on Anby's blade, grinding against the metal.
Anby frowned and instantly channeled electricity through the blade.
Awooo—
Aaaagh!!!
The bald vampire howled in agony, his tongue completely numbed by the shock.
Even so, he refused to retreat. His entire body convulsed from the pain, yet he still forced himself forward.
Anby felt it at once—heat surging beneath her feet. The moment she stepped back instinctively, the asphalt exploded as a roaring pillar of flame burst upward. A wave of scorching heat grazed her nose and slammed into her face.
She retreated again, heart pounding.
But before she could catch her breath, the bald vampire charged straight through the flames, jaws split wide. For some reason, his entire body was now wreathed in fire.
Beneath the flames, faint black patterns were visible across his skin.
This was Khors's secret weapon—designed specifically to counter vampires. Once struck, it could restrict the movements of a pureblood vampire.
But just as Misha herself had said—
They didn't care.
It just meant paying a higher price.
Snap.
Nicole suddenly stepped forward and jammed her briefcase straight into the bald vampire's mouth.
His eyes flew wide in shock.
Anby seized the opening. One blade plunged into his abdomen, the other pierced straight through his heart.
Nicole let go. Anby followed through, shoving him hard to the ground. She stomped down and twisted the blade in her hand—once, twice, again and again—grinding mercilessly inside his heart until it was nothing but pulp.
Only after the bald vampire went completely still did Anby pull the blade free, wiping the blood off on his clothes.
"What a lunatic! Charging straight through fire like that! And he was insanely strong. If you hadn't reacted in time, Anby, I wouldn't have been able to handle him on my own."
Nicole complained through clenched teeth, then looked down at the deep bite marks on her briefcase with visible heartbreak.
That was the last one she had. No backups.
Seriously—sure, it was a cheap find from the secondhand market, but couldn't they have made it a little sturdier?
If it can't even last a hundred years, why charge me five hundred Dennies?
Although… come to think of it…
Five bullets alone probably cost more than five hundred Dennies…
After cleaning her blades, Anby gave a small nod and said quietly, "Yeah. He was strange. I clearly hit him, but it didn't seem to affect him at all."
She stared at the twin blades in her hands, doubt creeping in.
Misha using her own blood to neutralize the effects on other vampires was one thing—but a pureblood vampire doing it to himself?
That was hard to believe.
"Hey, could you two stop chatting already?! And especially you, Miss Military Uniform—get over here and help!"
Seeing Nicole and Anby actually finding time to talk, Harumasa—who'd been stuck in nonstop overtime—couldn't help but feel a flicker of envy… cough, cough—no, contempt. Pure, unfiltered contempt.
Determined to drag them back onto the right track, Harumasa vented bitterly, "Are these guys even trying to win? They're already using [Crimson Overdrive]—wahhh! Miss Military Uniform, hurry up! This guy's way too strong!"
Anby immediately moved in. Both blades thrust forward at once, knocking aside the enemy vampire's clawed strike. She followed up with a flourish in midair, and in an instant, a dense net of lightning spread out and crashed down over the vampire.
The vampire raised an eyebrow and immediately retreated to a distance.
Harumasa finally got a brief moment to breathe.
"Perfect. Miss Military Uniform, hold them off for a bit. I'm taking a short break."
As he spoke, Harumasa shut his eyes and pretended to nap, his breathing long and steady.
But he hadn't rested for more than a moment before Nicole shook him awake.
"Hey, don't even think about resting yet! Get back to work! At the very least, explain what [Crimson Overdrive] actually is!"
Nicole shook him hard. Realizing rest was off the table, Harumasa gave a helpless, wry smile. "What else could it be? A last-ditch, life-burning move."
"I just don't get it. Even if the vampires win this war, so what? They'll have wiped out their own forces!"
By the end, Harumasa couldn't help muttering quietly, "By the way… where did Phaga go? I haven't seen him this whole time."
"No idea. Black Phaga's gone too."
Nicole replied, then tossed her gaze back toward the battlefield.
Miyabi and Billy were locked in a standoff with Misha. Tens of thousands of pureblood vampires were pressing the human forces until they could barely lift their heads—and that wasn't even counting the half-blood vampires supporting them.
Even with Khors bringing out his secret weapon, the situation could still only be described as a [predetermined defeat].
If nothing unexpected happened, humanity was guaranteed to lose this battle. How many troops could still be withdrawn was anyone's guess.
For now, Nicole's side was the only area under relatively less pressure.
Thinking of that, Nicole couldn't help glancing toward Ellen and sighing in amazement. "A Shark Thiren going all-out is terrifying… All of us combined haven't killed as many vampires as Ellen has by herself!"
Harumasa glanced over, then shut his eyes again and sighed toward the sky. "She's straight-up cheating."
To fight this battle, Ellen had even brought along the Black-White Doll.
With Little Black-White constantly replenishing her stamina, Ellen's fighting style bordered on madness. She didn't hold back at all—by the time she killed one vampire, she could spin out ten Shark Tornadoes.
After a single exchange, the asphalt road was carved full of scissor marks.
Nicole nodded in agreement, arms crossed. "True enough… but she should be about done resting, right? We should move up too—eh? Why's Ellen pulling back?"
In just the short time Nicole and Harumasa were talking, Ellen had already slipped back from the front lines. She was drenched in sweat, her hair plastered to her skin, exhaustion written clearly across her face.
[I can't anymore… I'm done… not a single drop left…]
Just as Nicole and Harumasa assumed Ellen was completely spent, another black-and-white toy bear crawled out from behind her.
It barely made it over Ellen's shoulder before losing its grip, tumbling headfirst to the ground and planting its face lovingly into the earth.
And just like that—no back pain, no weak legs. Wherever it fell was clearly a fine place to lie down and sleep a bit longer.
The Doll shakily raised one tiny hand. Its brain was too battered by exhaustion to function properly, eyes rolled white as it let out a weak, pitiful cry:
[I really can't go on… let me sleep for a bit… when I wake up, I'll… I'll just sleep a bit more…]
Ellen clicked her tongue in disgust. "Tch, useless."
"I thought you'd be helpful. Then I could… I could…"
"…have the upper hand fighting Phaga."
The last part came out so quietly that Ellen even turned her face aside.
But her face was already red enough that Nicole and Harumasa couldn't tell—and they didn't hear what she muttered either.
The Doll, however, was not having it.
It flipped over in outrage, shouting, [Who are you calling useless?! Put the battlefield inside a Hollow and I'd finish it in minutes—]
[Huh? Why do I feel like my power went up a bit?]
The Doll looked itself over in confusion. Without realizing it, it had somehow regained enough strength to do a sit-up and prop itself upright.
It blinked, lifted its head, and stared straight at Ellen.
Ellen narrowed her eyes. "What's going on with you? Were you messing with me earlier?"
Black-White Doll: [No way, Miss Shark! How would I dare? Even Hollow Zero exploding is more likely than me dropping the ball!]
The air suddenly went cold.
Ellen, Nicole, Harumasa—and one doll—all stared at each other, shock plain in their eyes.
It couldn't be…
"Huff… huff… finally found you guys!"
Heavy breathing came from behind them. The three immediately turned to see No. 11, bent over and panting.
"Zero Hollow… something's wrong," she said between breaths. "The pureblood vampires have proposed a temporary ceasefire… and full cooperation."
"What?!"
Three people and one doll froze on the spot. No one had expected something to go wrong with Hollow Zero in the middle of the battle.
"Run! Nineveh has come out of the Hollow!"
A half-blood vampire stood atop a high point, waving a flag and shouting through a megaphone that amplified his voice.
The entire battlefield fell silent.
Not because the megaphone was loud—but because countless strangling vines and skeletal bees suddenly manifested out of thin air, leaving everyone stunned.
But what truly left them dumbstruck was this—
Behind the TOPS headquarters building, Nineveh's colossal form drifted into view. With a single hand, she uprooted the entire building and hurled it into the distance.
Boom!
The building crashed down, smashing straight into the vampire missile vehicle!
Nineveh had truly emerged from Hollow Zero.