The air suddenly seemed to congeal. Silence fell over the scene in an instant—so complete that even the usually lively Nineveh didn't dare speak. Her gaze lingered on the floor between the two of them, lips pressed tightly together.
The anticipation in Misha's eyes slowly cooled. The warmth faded from her gaze, her hopeful smile freezing mid-breath as her heartbeat quickened and anger surged up from deep within.
[You heartless bastard! I'm your own sister!]
Misha's teeth ground together with an audible crunch. Her small fists clenched tight, cutting through the air with a sharp whistle.
Phaga's heart jolted. He instinctively shifted aside, and before Misha could adjust her strike, her punch smashed into the broken wall Phaga had been leaning against.
The wall collapsed on impact, reduced to flying dust by a single blow.
Phaga raised a brow and muttered to himself, "That's incredible… How did I not notice she had this kind of brute strength when she was fighting Ethereals earlier?"
[Aaaagh!!! I'm so mad! That settles it—I'm going to beat you until you start acting like a proper big brother!"]
Fuming, Misha swung the scythe up onto her shoulder.
In the next instant, she used the momentum to spin the scythe around her shoulder, her arm dropping to seize the long handle and yank upward—
It didn't move.
"Haah…"
Phaga let out a soft sigh, calmly pinching the blade between two fingers. No matter how hard Misha strained, the scythe didn't budge in the slightest.
[Damn it! Why are you so strong?!]
Misha snarled, furious to the point of grinding her teeth.
"Of course I am. I snuck an Arlaune on the way back—ate more than you did," Phaga said with a shrug, spouting nonsense. Then he flicked his wrist and sent the scythe flying aside with one hand.
Caught off guard, Misha overcommitted and was nearly dragged along with it.
Phaga seized the opening, stepped in, and rapped her on the head with a sharp knock. A large bump immediately swelled up.
[W–Waaah… that hurts!]
Misha crouched down, whimpering softly.
Seeing this, Nineveh quietly drifted over.
Misha suddenly felt a warm, broad hand settle on her shoulder. She looked up and immediately saw that round, eerie [Nucleus], while a bright, cheerful female voice resonated through the air:
[Let me see… there, there, it's fine. It's just that the Creator doesn't always know how to hold back. Honestly, I still clearly remember him using himself like a human bomb and slamming straight into me. Completely outrageous!]
Nineveh planted her hands on her hips, looking genuinely indignant.
But in the next moment, her expression shifted as if struck by inspiration. Lowering her voice, she asked,
[By the way, Misha—now that all the Elders are gone, you're the one with the most authority, right?]
[Mm…]
Misha hugged her knees. The moment she thought of the Elders' deaths, her expression dimmed, the light draining from her eyes.
Unlike Phaga, Misha had truly grown up within the clan and held deep respect for every single Elder.
Seeing this, Nineveh didn't avoid the subject. Instead, her tone grew animated and resolute:
[Then doesn't that mean you have the authority to bring the Creator back into the clan?]
Huh?
Misha turned to Nineveh, puzzled.
Bring him back… for what?
For his combat strength?
Nineveh clearly caught the confusion in Misha's eyes and immediately unveiled what she clearly believed to be her brilliance:
[Think about it this way. Your status in the clan is equivalent to an Elder's—the highest authority there is. If you bring the Creator back, wouldn't he have to listen to you on major matters?]
[And doesn't life's biggest decision count as a major matter? When the Creator gets engaged to the Big Shark, you just grab his household register and refuse to let go. I guarantee he won't be able to do a thing about it!]
Uh…
Misha fell silent.
After a long while, she asked weakly, [What if he hits me?]
[You may have different fathers, but you share the same genetic set—only your sex chromosomes differ. You're his biological sister in every physiological sense. Do you really think he'd beat you to death?]
Nineveh leaned in, poking Misha's shoulder with her elbow. Her [Nucleus] flared brightly, red and yellow light flashing in smug triumph.
Misha's mouth twitched. She swatted Nineveh's arm away in irritation and snapped, [So it won't hurt you if I get hit, huh? Get lost!]
[Get lost! What a terrible idea!]
"Yeah. That plan's absolute garbage."
Phaga turned his back, wiping the sweat from his forehead. The moment Misha rejected Nineveh's proposal, he let out a long sigh of relief.
It had to be said—Black really did understand him.
If Misha clung to the household register and refused to let go, Phaga couldn't exactly beat her up, could he?
Otherwise, by the next day, rumors would be flying everywhere. Not just Ellen—even Corin would start looking at him differently.
"W–Well… um… even if the rumors say Mr. Phaga might be… I believe that can't be true! Yes, it definitely isn't!"
Ahhh!!!
Phaga felt like his head was about to split open.
Just imagining Corin stammering those words, turning her head aside like a frightened quail, unable to meet his eyes, was enough to drive him insane.
Honestly, Black's methods might have been crude and ridiculous—but they worked.
"Still, there's one thing I want to ask."
Phaga patted Nineveh on the shoulder to shoo her away, then crouched beside Misha, curiosity plain in his voice.
"If all our other genes are the same, why are our sex chromosomes different?"
[Because according to genetics, egg cells carry free DNA beyond their chromosomes, giving them a higher probability than male Phaga of passing on superior genes.]
Misha shot him a sidelong glance, as if mocking him for forgetting something so basic.
"I just didn't expect the reason to be that straightforward."
Phaga was left momentarily speechless. He brushed himself off and stood.
"Alright. We've rested enough. Get ready—we're continuing to stabilize Hollow Zero."
[Fine… what's the plan, exactly?]
"Push straight into the Hollow. See an Ethereal, kill an Ethereal."
[Tsk. Simple enough—but what if we hit something we can't handle? Have you thought about how we're getting out? We don't have a Proxy or any Investigators here. That Black guy's head is full of GHOSTs meant for infiltration—completely useless for this. Once we go in, we might never make it back out.]
"…"
Phaga fell silent for a long time.
Finally, he tilted his head back and let out a slow breath.
"…I don't know."
"We'll take it one step at a time."
...
Outside Hollow Zero.
Sunlight bathed the ruins in warmth. Humans and vampires sat together within a single encampment, with no elaborate preparations—just circles of people seated on the ground.
Yanagi glanced at Miyabi beside her. Miyabi gave a slight nod. Only then did Yanagi stand, facing the gathered crowd as she spoke calmly and clearly:
"Everyone, before Phaga entered Hollow Zero, he eliminated the aging former mayor, removing the greatest threat facing both human and vampire societies."
"At present, all forces loyal to the former mayor have been apprehended in the Outer Ring by our leader, Miss Lucy. Their authority has been fully reclaimed and now belongs to HAND."
"Now, I, Yanagi, on behalf of HAND and all human factions, formally extend a peace agreement to the vampire society. Let us work together to build New Eridu."
With that, she clasped the agreement in both hands, bowed deeply, and presented it forward.
Mrs. Meilin rose as well, returning the bow. She accepted the document with both hands, signed her name, and stamped it with the seal of the vampire society. Her expression was solemn, her tone respectful:
"The vampire society acknowledges all wrongs committed during the war and is willing to cooperate with humanity in the years to come—gathering together in peace."