The hiss of compressed air, the crash of heavy fists shattering carapaces, the dull thud of a short blade piercing through cores.
Ollie crouched behind the wall, trembling at the sounds. He prayed desperately—Lord, please let no Ethereal leak through, please let no Ethereal leak through.
In reality, apart from the heat and noise, nothing else slipped past. The two hired Hollow Raiders were consummate professionals—at least, when it came to combat.
The chaos didn't last long. After one furious roar from the giant, silence reclaimed the room.
"All done, meow." Nekomata called out, reaching to poke Ollie.
He jolted violently, spinning around to see that no Ethereal was left moving.
Residual ether fuel burned along the walls and floor, the air shimmering with heat. Ethereal fragments scattered across the ground, fading away into nothingness. The blast of hot air almost sent the coat-clad Ollie stumbling; sweat poured from him within seconds.
"Ah—so hot."
Nekomata fanned herself, beads of sweat glistening on her dusky skin. "Let's get out of here already, I think the fur on my tail's about to catch fire, meow."
"R-Right." Ollie wiped his brow, moving aside from the giant. "This way."
Once they exited the scorched room, Nekomata sighed in relief at the cool air hitting her face. The confined space had turned into an oven under Ignis's flamethrower. Thankfully, her animal traits weren't that developed—her mostly bare, human skin dissipated heat well. If she'd been fully furred, she might've passed out from heatstroke.
Still, in such tight quarters, the Flamestorm Gauntlet truly was a weapon of mass destruction. The ether fuel ignited everything, and struggling targets spread the blaze further—dragging the entire horde into a furnace of torment.
They reached another corridor leading upward. This one was even less complete, but a sealed door blocked the way ahead.
"The survey data shows a switch behind this door." Ollie checked his tablet. "Miss Nekomata, could you try to find another route around?"
Other than the door and the short wall segments beside it, the rest of the path was open. Nekomata leaned halfway out over the railing to gauge the distance.
"With a running start, I could probably jump it…" she muttered, squinting down—ten-plus stories below. Even with nine lives, that was not a fall worth testing.
"Go on—Ignis, use Destruction Fist!" Phaethon's voice came through Eous's speaker.
Ignis chuckled, motioning for Ollie to step away from the door. His power fist hummed as electric arcs danced across its surface—the disintegration field was primed.
"Oh, right—the big guy can just break it. Why bother with switches?" Nekomata smacked her forehead, realizing belatedly.
For Phaethon, this was only the second time she'd seen Ignis tear through one of these reinforced security doors. Just like before, the impact shook the structure—the thick metal slab and its electronic lock system were pulverized into debris with a single thunderous blow.
"There. Done." Ignis gripped what remained of the door, wrenched it free from its frame, and casually flung it aside down the hall. When he turned, Ollie was staring, jaw nearly hitting the floor.
"Let's move, Mr. Ollie. The faster we finish this survey, the less likely you are to run into Ethereals." Nekomata nudged his leg with her boot.
"A-Ah… right…" Ollie blinked himself back to reality. Peering down the corridor, he saw the fallen door lying far below. He felt like he was dreaming—one punch, one pull, and that massive multi-lock blast door was simply gone.
"This way…" he murmured, stepping through the now-open path. Wind howled through the unfinished high-rise, unhindered by walls. Nekomata stretched, letting the cool gusts blow away the last of the stifling heat.
"We're close to the endpoint," Ollie said, the sweat on his forehead drying in the breeze. He was glad he'd brought a thick coat—with the alternating heat and cold, he'd have caught a cold otherwise.
"This area should be safe," he muttered, eyes glued to his tablet—and promptly bumped into something solid.
"Oi…" Nekomata whispered.
Blinking, Ollie looked up—right into a lump of black-green ether crystal studded with scraps of building material.
As he tried to step around it, the crystal shuddered and rose upright.
"WAAAHHH!" Ollie unleashed a scream worthy of an opera tenor, legs kicking so fast Ignis could almost see afterimages.
"How the hell did an Ethereal suddenly appear here?!" Ollie dove behind Nekomata. "Please—take it down!"
Ignis wanted to quip that it had been there the whole time—Ollie had just been too busy staring at his tablet.
Still, a client's order was a client's order.
Fortunately, it was a low-activity dormant Ethereal. Ignis charged forward, both fists swinging—BOOM, BOOM!—his power gauntlets reduced it to fragments within seconds.
"That's why you shouldn't walk while staring down," Nekomata sighed. "All right, it's done. Where to next?"
Peeking cautiously from behind her, Ollie confirmed the creature's remains had already dissipated before stepping out again.
"Scared me half to death…" he muttered, patting his chest to calm himself. "Let's see—last area ahead. Through that corridor."
Ignis realized now that the structure was a massive residential complex—four interconnected units linked by corridors. It had been under final construction when the Hollow swallowed it whole.
The last unit was completely open—nothing but floor slabs and supporting columns. On the floor, Ignis spotted something odd: a nest-like structure woven from rebar and glowing ether filaments.
Around it clustered at least two or three dozen Ethereals.
"Quite a few of them," the Proxy observed. "Looks like they were drawn here by the active ether crystal. What's the plan? Force our way through?"
"I-I'll just… wait here until you're done," Ollie stammered, already backing away.
"Ugh, why are there always so many of them?" Nekomata grumbled, her short blade already in hand.
The swarm was tightly packed around the "nest." Mostly small types. Ignis's hand brushed over the grenades on his chest—this was the perfect time to test one.
"Hold up. Let me handle this." Ignis pulled free a large, steel-bead-filled fragmentation grenade. After yanking the pin, he lobbed the skull-sized device with a calculated arc.
Enhanced muscle servos and powered-armor systems coordinated perfectly—optimal angle, optimal detonation timing. The grenade exploded midair above the horde.
Five kilos of ether explosive packed with steel beads burst in a metallic storm, like a Dreadnought's fragmentation cannon had fired from above. A rain of molten shrapnel tore through the Ethereal mob, punching holes clean through their bodies.
"You built that in your own room?" Nekomata gawked. She'd known he'd stuffed the thing with explosives, but not that it would be this powerful. His workshop was stacked with at least two or three dozen of those—if one chain detonated, it'd be catastrophic.
"Decent power," Ignis noted calmly. "Though only for soft targets. Wait—what's that?"
Despite the blast, the nest remained intact. A transparent shell of light had flared around it, blocking fire, shockwaves, and shrapnel alike. When the explosion faded, the barrier dissolved—steel beads clattered harmlessly inside.
A nest? With a shield? That's not right.
Unease prickled through Ignis. Without hesitation, he rushed forward.
But the nest was empty—no blue feathers, no chirping hatchlings, and no divine mark of the Emperor burning on his cheek. Of course, within a Hollow corrupted by ether, no ordinary bird could exist.
What lay inside, however, stunned him—a gleaming golden piece of metal, circular, with radiant spikes symbolizing light.
An Iron Halo?
Ignis's heart leapt. He had no idea how such a relic ended up here, but it was a plug-and-play system—fully compatible with his power armor.
That egg-shell barrier earlier—it must've been the Halo's field. Interesting.
The Salamander reached down and picked up the relic—only to hear the sudden flap of enormous wings.
A massive Ethereal in the shape of a bird dived toward him—likely a corvid before corruption. It must have kept its nesting instincts, drawn by the Iron Halo's shine, building its lair around it.
But Ignis had no intention of surrendering the relic. If such a gift found its way into his hands, surely it was the Emperor's will.
Eyeing the creature's dense silver-gray ether crystal plating, Ignis wondered how it could even fly. Then he pulled out a ten-kilogram anti-armor grenade.
Under the overwhelming strength of an original-forged Space Marine, the bird-Ethereal couldn't possibly dodge. The shaped-charge grenade struck squarely, and with ten kilos of explosive under a copper cone, the blast ripped through its core—the creature exploded into fragments.
Before the shockwave could engulf him, the Iron Halo flared again, forming a barrier that shielded Ignis completely.
A fine relic indeed, Ignis thought silently, deeply pleased.