Standing on top of the rubble, Ignis and the others saw a massive number of Ethereals gathered near a section of demolished ruins.
The automated system of his power armor immediately began marking enemies, and in an extremely short time, the number of marked targets exceeded two hundred. Including the waves they had already cleared earlier, this meant that the total number of Ethereals in this area had already surpassed five hundred.
"See? Told you I wasn't wrong." Billy drew his twin pistols and readied himself for combat.
"Even though there are a lot of them, there aren't many high-grade Ethereals, and their overall activity level is very low. This is strange." Nicole observed the aimlessly wandering mass of Ethereals with a puzzled expression.
Anby frowned, thinking for a moment. "Nicole, you remember before I fought the Dead End Butcher, I mentioned we needed to reduce the scale of the Hollow and eliminate three thousand Ethereals? In the 'Carrot' data provided by Belobog Heavy Industries, there are seven points like this. If each of them has clusters this large…"
"Then we really are cutting down the Hollow's scale, nya." Nekomata exclaimed in disbelief. "Over three thousand—how long is this going to take us to finish this commission?"
Ignis noticed something on the ground. His visor immediately magnified it. They were discarded tools, left behind when the Ethereals attacked while Belobog Heavy Industries' workers were still on site.
"This density is seriously off."
Nicole opened the case-mounted cannon. "We need to clear this place first, then see if we can find any valuable clues. Something feels wrong behind this. What kind of construction work would attract this many Ethereals?"
"Understood!" the members of the Cunning Hares responded to their leader's command.
They split their formation into front and rear sections. Anby, Ignis, and Nekomata took the first line, forming a triangle with Ignis at the apex. Billy and Nicole stood behind the triangle, providing fire support and ready to strike at any approaching enemy.
Salamander loaded a drum of subcaliber armor-piercing rounds, then knelt on one knee, aiming at a Dullahan standing motionless. Its activity level was extremely low, and the ether crystals on its body were a basic dark green, without the gray armored plating.
Ignis pressed the trigger. The subcaliber round blasted from the barrel and struck the Dullahan's head directly.
Because Salamander's position was higher, the round pierced through the Dullahan's core, then diagonally tore through its chest and ripped a huge wound across its lower back. This high-value target among the Ethereals slowly collapsed and began to dissipate into the air.
The cannon blast immediately drew the attention of the Ethereal horde, which now surged like an enraged swarm toward the Cunning Hares. Ignis used the pre-marked HUD targets to begin precise elimination of the high-grade Ethereals. The roar of the autocannon repeated with each shot, each representing a Hatti or another Ethereal being torn apart into shards.
Although there were more than two hundred Ethereals, the number of high-grade ones was small. Ignis methodically eliminated them one by one, then switched to shotgun rounds in preparation for the surging horde.
The HUD displayed the distances of the Ethereal masses. Salamander stepped forward a few paces, turning the W-Engine to full power. "For The Emperor!"
The deafening battle roar made Nekomata cover her ears, the sound assaulting her highly sensitive hearing and making her head spin.
The Ethereals were drawn by this roar, most charging directly at Ignis. Salamander observed them entering the hundred-meter range, then pressed the trigger.
A storm of iron rained down again, but this time it was more than just steel. He had recently commissioned Markus to make Dragon's Breath canister rounds for the autocannon, adding mil-grade ether fuel that was even more potent than what Ignis normally used.
The barrel erupted in several meters of flames. Steel balls, superheated by the high-energy fuel, deformed and slammed into the Ethereals. If they struck vulnerable spots, the target was disintegrated instantly. Those that survived the impact were set ablaze, the ether crystals igniting into flames.
Even steel would melt at this temperature, and the Ethereals wailed as they turned to dust in the fire.
"Burn, xenos!"
Ignis stood at the forefront, the autocannon an extension of his will. The Son of Vulkan's fire roared out with precise aim, melting through clusters of enemies with molten metal and scorching flames.
The special Dragon's Breath rounds were devastating, leaving almost no Ethereal able to cross the barrier of fire and iron. Clumped targets were eliminated quickly, while isolated individuals were deemed unworthy of wasting ammunition.
The remaining isolated Ethereals became the target of the Cunning Hares' other members.
Billy fired twin pistols, taking out two Alpecas trying to spit liquefied ether at Ignis. Nicole fired a shell, shattering a Tyrfing.
The robot found this combat somewhat boring; the enemies were too weak, or rather, Salamander was doing the bulk of the work. Their safety was ensured, but it left the others feeling somewhat useless.
Although he knew Ignis wouldn't mind, Billy still hoped for a moment to shine; otherwise, all the glory went to the giant. Compared to Anby and Nekomata, Billy and Nicole at least could eliminate some targets, whereas the two close-combat vanguards had little to do.
With overwhelming ranged fire, the close-combat vanguards became idle.
Yet they were content. Anby started tapping rhythmically on her thigh, and Nekomata rifled through the rubble, looking for anything valuable.
Nicole watched, both amused and exasperated. The battle had become easy, which was good for the Cunning Hares, but ammunition expenditure had skyrocketed.
Although Ignis could afford to pay for his ammo personally, Nicole always insisted on reimbursing him. Every time she saw the invoice, she wanted to kick Markus and his mirrored shades.
This time, however, the reward was unusually high. Belobog Heavy Industries had offered a hefty price, mainly due to the massive number of Ethereals. The stated purpose was to investigate the reason for their aggregation and produce a report for the Defense Force or the Public Security.
But Ignis' reconnaissance method was straightforward: test them with firepower. One blast to see their strength, and the reason for their congregation could wait.
Sighing, the Cunning Hares' leader aimed at a lone Metro Goblin and blasted it to pieces. Damn it, why are there so many of them? This isn't normal.
Suddenly, Nicole felt a gust behind her ear as Billy rushed up and shoved her aside.
"Boss, get down!"
Spinning wildly, she rolled just in time as a concentrated mass of ether slammed into the spot she had been standing.
If Billy hadn't warned me, I would have been hit, she thought, watching ether crystals begin forming on her body.
A memory of a girl from her childhood, once corrupted by ether, flashed before her, filling her with fear.
A long, thin shadow was entangled with Billy, its single arm ending in a crescent-shaped blade—it was an Ethereal called Thanatos.
Unlike the other Ethereals, this Thanatos was silver-white, its activity far higher than the previous clustered Ethereals. It was clearly the leader of this group. Possessing a certain level of intelligence, it knew a frontal assault against Ignis' firepower would be futile, so it opted to ambush Billy and Nicole from behind.
Although Billy frequently used pistols, his close-quarters combat abilities were actually formidable. His body was reinforced with solid superalloy materials, making his punches and kicks far from trivial. Thanatos tried to shred Billy with a flurry of slashes, but the robot's computation module immediately simulated its attack patterns. Billy dodged a series of strikes along the blade while simultaneously firing multiple shots at Thanatos' relatively fragile body, injecting several explosive rounds.
Luckily, the bullet caliber was small, and the ether explosives inside had limited destructive power. The explosions only tore a few gaps in Thanatos' body, causing its already thin armor to crack and peel off.
But the true finishing move was yet to come.
Billy flipped backward to dodge Thanatos' sweeping crescent blade, spinning his pistols back into his jacket holsters. Upon landing, he continuously avoided a series of chops, and after one downward slash, he immediately stomped on Thanatos' hand with his left foot.
"Now it's my turn!" Billy proclaimed loudly. "This strike is for the honor of the Starlight Knights!"
With a snap kick of his right leg, he struck the Ethereal's torso at the armor breach. The superalloy body, combined with the power from his reactor, sent Thanatos' torso flying apart.
The problem was that Ethereals weren't human, nor were they kaiju from tokusatsu—they wouldn't die from this level of damage. And because Billy's right foot was lodged in the gap of the torso, he ended up suspended upside down.
Thanatos, unable to throw this extra weight off, twisted its body with only one specialized crescent arm, trying to fling Billy free. Meanwhile, the robot began screaming.
"Help! Anby! Nekomata! Boss! Somebody save me!"
Nicole had the cannon ready but dared not fire. The two were stacked together, and her aim wasn't precise enough to guarantee a direct hit on Thanatos' core.
Anby, at that moment, was engaged with two Metro Goblins, her chainsword roaring as it cleaved one in two. Nekomata couldn't help laughing at the absurd sight of Billy.
"What are you doing, nya?"
The Thiren immediately rushed toward Billy. Fortunately, the robot was solid and agile; even hanging on the Ethereal, it tried to resist and dodge. For a moment, Thanatos was at a loss.
Several times, Thanatos tried to teleport to another location, but its ability couldn't support moving with such extra weight. Billy, being a heavy metal robot, was extremely dense.
As Thanatos grew impatient, Nekomata delivered a flying kick to its back. She had originally aimed for the Ethereal's head, but its writhing movements caused a slight miss.
No matter. After landing, Nekomata leapt again, her greaves reinforced to enhance her jumping capability. This time, she vaulted directly onto Thanatos' shoulder, her twin blades aimed at its core.
With one hanging on its body and another crouching on its shoulder, Thanatos had a faintly motorbike-like appearance reminiscent of an Eastern nation's design. But this bike wasn't obedient; it thrashed wildly, swinging the crescent blade toward Nekomata's head.
Nekomata leaned back to evade the strike, and Billy kicked hard into Thanatos' chest with the other leg, destabilizing it. The Ethereal flailed like a storm-tossed tree with two mischievous monkeys on top, rocking violently, its body thrashing like a mouse on a live wire.
"Nekomata! Stop playing around!" Billy dodged a crescent swipe aimed at his head, shouting toward her.
"I know, nya!" Nekomata replied, not wanting to play, but this thing seemed tireless. Just staying on it was hard enough, leaving no way to strike.
Nicole watched the two troublemakers, feeling a headache coming on. Without Ignis, how could this mission be completed?
Finally, Anby solved the immediate problem. She charged over in a few steps, her chainsword roaring as it cut through Thanatos' body, rescuing the two.
It would have been better if she hadn't used the electrical discharge.
After Ignis cleared the remaining Ethereals, he turned to see Nekomata with her hair frizzed, struggling to suppress a laugh. Billy lay sprawled on the ground, temporarily immobilized as the shock restarted part of his systems; he'd need a moment before moving again.
"Everyone, I've made a discovery," Ignis said, pulling a small flashlight-like device from his back.