Again, came that sensation of being bound and then released—that strange, skin-prickling feeling like pressing your face through a sheet of cling film.
When his vision cleared, Ignis realized he was standing on a six-lane road. The ground was littered with ether crystals piercing through the asphalt, overturned vehicles lying in chaos. Looking around, he found they were on an elevated highway.
Ignis turned his head to check on the others. Anby stood protectively in front of Kevin, chainsaw sword in hand, alert and ready. The hired Proxy—that dark-blue figure called Anyu—was waving at them from some distance ahead.
"I thought you weren't coming in," Anyu called, his tone carrying a hint of mockery. "I was about to leave on my own."
"Cut the chatter. Where do we go?" Ignis's voice was curt; he had no patience for this man's noise—nothing good ever came out of his mouth.
The Proxy lowered his gaze to check the direction on his tablet, glanced around, then pointed to the right side of the highway.
"See that stadium?"
Everyone turned to look—a stadium with a chunk of its outer wall broken away, revealing the plastic running track and the long-dead grass of the football field within.
"According to the signal I tracked, the item you're looking for is in there," Anyu said, turning back toward the road. "Follow the highway. There's an exit ramp ahead."
Ignis walked to the guardrail and peered down—about twenty meters. He could make the jump himself, but the impact would be too much for the others.
"You're not seriously thinking of jumping, are you?" Anyu remarked when he saw Ignis glance downward. "Bad idea. Both sides of this overpass are riddled with rifts. If you fall, who knows where you'll end up. Just stay on the road."
Ignis couldn't help but think, these rifts sure know how to pick their spots—waiting for idiots to jump, huh? Who'd even use them?
There was no alternative route. Uncomfortable as it was, the only choice left was to move forward.
After a few steps, they came upon a stretch of road choked with overturned cars. The auto-systems in Ignis's power armor immediately flagged numerous footprints on the ground—nonhuman, fresh.
So, this Anyu did have some skill. The ethereal activity here was intense—a bad sign. For the escorts, that meant trouble; protecting two civilians would be difficult.
"The road's blocked. Looks like the Hollow Disaster hit right during rush hour," Anyu muttered, his mouth never idle since they entered.
Anby ignored him. Ignis, leading the way, had already grown tired of his babbling. He boasted endlessly about his past missions and the dangerous Ethereals he'd faced, enough to make Kevin nervous and pale.
Even Anby couldn't take it anymore and told him to quiet down, not to unsettle the client or provoke ether contamination.
"I'll clear the way," Ignis said as he saw Kevin down his second anti-corrosion dose. The man clearly had poor ether aptitude—he couldn't stay long.
The Salamander charged his gauntlets; arcs of electricity crackled across his fists.
"Your power armor comes with built-in weapons?" Anyu came closer, curious. "I thought it was just a pair of flamers."
Ignoring the chatterbox, Ignis activated the disintegration field and began breaking apart the tangled mass of vehicles.
Occasionally, in the twisted wrecks, he saw skeletal remains encrusted with crystals—victims of the collapse or of ether corrosion, trapped and unable to escape.
Kevin gagged and vomited on the spot. The others didn't even flinch—they'd seen worse.
Unfortunately, the noise drew attention. The Hollow's true denizens—Ethereals—began to emerge.
Dozens of them climbed over the abandoned cars, shrieking. Among them, at least seventeen or eighteen Alpecas stood at a distance, taking aim to spit condensed liquid ether at the living.
Ignis wished his partners were Billy or Nicole—they'd have wiped those ranged pests in seconds.
But most of the Ethereals were close-combat types: Tyrfings with blade-arms, Metro Goblins wielding twisted makeshift weapons, several Hatis prowling the flanks. His helmet marked over fifty targets.
Even if activity in this Hollow had risen, this was excessive.
Seeing the horde surge forward, Kevin nearly fainted. Fortunately, Anby reacted instantly, pulling him behind a wrecked car for cover.
There were too many enemies for Anby to handle alone. Ignis had to draw their attention.
"Stay back!" he barked to Anyu, then charged toward the thickest cluster of Ethereals.
"FOR THE EMPEROR!" Ignis roared, his vox-amplified battle cry echoing through the Hollow, drawing most of the monsters to him.
The three-meter-tall giant, weighing over a ton, barreled forward—the wrecks he had once stepped carefully over now flew aside like toys.
Ethereals leapt at him, but they were far too slow. Ignis's twin fists struck like hammers of fire, reducing them to ash. Then he noticed a group of enemies gathering along a narrow lane between cars—a perfect firing line.
He turned, raised both gauntlets, and unleashed twin jets of flame—two blazing dragons sweeping through the horde.
The inferno consumed them, their crystalline bodies melting in the heat.
His HUD flared red—incoming projectiles. Ignis sidestepped, narrowly avoiding a barrage of acid ether from the Alpecas. He barely regained his stance when a black, green-lined Hati lunged at him.
The beast—feline, massive—opened its maw of crystal fangs, the dark core in its throat swirling like a miniature black hole.
It timed its strike perfectly. Against a normal human, it would've been fatal. But Ignis was no mere man—his enhanced Astartes body and power armor granted him inhuman reflexes.
He struck midair with a single, field-charged punch—the creature disintegrated before it landed.
Seeing their comrade vaporized, the other Hatis hesitated, circling warily at the edge of the fight.
Ignis split his attention toward Anby—the girl was locked in melee with several Ethereals.
The chainsaw sword in her hands buzzed viciously, the rotating teeth tearing through the Tyrfing's blade-arm with ease.
Anby blinked, momentarily surprised by the weapon's power.
Then, understanding its potential, she parried another strike, shattered her foe's weapon, and swung horizontally.
There was brief resistance—then a shriek of tearing crystal as the Ethereal was ripped in half.
Now aware of her weapon's deadly efficiency, Anby's movements grew bold and fluid.
Each swing was accompanied by the snarling roar of the blade biting through flesh and crystal like a hot knife through butter.
A metallic clang behind her—she spun just in time. A Hati lunged.
Unflinching, Anby gripped the sword with both hands, lifting it into a defensive guard—the serrated edge facing forward.
Her arms shuddered from the impact, sparks flying—and the beast split cleanly in two, collapsing beside her.
Seeing Anby holding her own, Ignis turned back to the fray. He needed to eliminate the Alpecas first, then deal with the rest.
Smashing a few nearby Ethereals into shards, he launched forward, crushing the wreckage underfoot as he charged toward the ranged attackers.
Grabbing a broken car frame, he hurled it like a missile, knocking a Hati clean off the overpass.
The armored giant tore through the enemy line, raised his flamers, and unleashed purging fire.
The Alpecas' fragile bodies were engulfed, burning away under the ether-fueled flames.
Kevin and Anyu watched in stunned silence. When the Ethereals appeared, they had already pictured their own funerals—but the two warriors before them fought like demigods, not a single enemy slipping past.
Especially the giant—using a Hati as a weapon, sweeping through the horde like a living storm.
"So, the Cunning Hares are really that strong?" Kevin murmured to himself. "Maybe I underpaid them..."
Anyu swallowed hard as he stared at Anby's roaring chainsword. He couldn't even imagine what that would do to a human body—"blood and guts" sounded almost poetic by comparison.
Ignis slammed the last Hati to the ground, delivering one final, gentle punch—granting it death's sweet embrace. His HUD cleared—all targets neutralized.
Releasing his fists, he powered down the disintegration field and joined Anby in regrouping with the others.
"Area secure. No immediate threats," Ignis reported, turning to Anyu. "You were right—the Hollow's activity is abnormally high. That wave of Ethereals wasn't random."
"I told you, I've got some skill," Anyu said, brushing the dust off his coat, a smug grin on his face. "Let's move on."