"From now on… I'll call you [Devouring Flame]."
Phaga murmured under his breath, suspended in midair as he stared at the purplish-red energy mass in his hand for a long moment.
"A new anomaly?"
Another voice drifted over from the distance. Phaga turned to look.
It was Bern, his eyes fixed on the flame-like, illusory sphere in Phaga's palm, unable to tear himself away.
By common understanding, whether human or vampire, the only W-Engine anomalies their kind could reliably master were five: Fire, Ice, Electric, Physical, and Ether.
Yet the youngest Void Hunter in history—Hoshimi Miyabi, daughter of the current head of the Hoshimi family—wielded a fusion of ice and flame: [Frostflame].
That power alone had propelled her to the level of a Void Hunter.
And now, right before Bern's eyes, he was witnessing the birth of a second fusion anomaly.
The sight nearly drove him mad with excitement.
"I don't have the right to research the one in the clan, but you— you I have to take back with me. To hell with the plan!"
In this moment, even someone as cold and detached as Bern found his thoughts completely seized by Phaga. He unconsciously licked his lips, then beat his wings hard and shot straight toward him.
So consumed by excitement was he that he forgot how effortlessly Phaga had just torn through his blood cloud.
And now, it happened again.
Phaga raised a single finger. Though it was his first time using it, some instinct deep within guided him, letting him command [Devouring Flame] as naturally as moving his own arm.
A spark flickered at his fingertip. Slowly, he traced a purplish-red circle in the air.
The instant the circle was complete, it glimmered faintly. With less than half a second of charging, it suddenly unleashed a beam of light—ten times wider than the circle itself.
Bern was swallowed whole, without even a scream.
"I—… wait, this thing drains me way too fast!"
The beam had lasted barely a second, yet Phaga already felt dizzy, his head spinning.
It was just like Ellen after she burned through all her energy—no matter how hard she tried to stay awake, exhaustion would eventually drag her into sleep.
"I have to… before I pass out…"
Gritting his teeth, Phaga forced the beam downward, sweeping it toward the vampires below.
In an instant, the vampires who had been surrounding No. 11 and Ellen erupted into chaos. As the beam crept closer, the ground it touched seemed to melt into a viscous slurry, giving off a scorching stench. They scattered in every direction, dodging at the strangest angles.
At the same time, Phaga kept guiding the beam.
The beam pursued relentlessly, and Phaga's control grew sharper, faster. Those vampires who couldn't make sense of what was happening—or couldn't react in time—were inevitably caught.
They didn't even manage a scream before being consumed by the light of [Devouring Flame], their bodies reduced to ash in an instant, leaving only wisps of black smoke.
"Run—retreat!"
At last, one of them broke, shrieking in panic as it fled for the sky.
They shot toward the multicolored clouds, the ethereals following close behind, shoving one another as they fled the area at top speed.
Seeing them go, Phaga finally let out a breath, his eyes locked on their retreating figures.
When even the edges of their cloaks were beyond reach, he gave a faint, satisfied smile. Then, closing his eyes, he lost consciousness—and began to fall from the sky.
"Phaga! Tsk—Nicole, lend me your shoulder!"
"Sure—wait, Ellen, what are you—ah!!!"
Before Nicole could even process what was happening, Ellen had already completed the run-up for [Roaming Hunt], planting a foot on Nicole's shoulder and launching herself upward.
Still not high enough.
Ellen stretched out as far as she could, but Phaga was still dropping past her reach, dragged downward by gravity.
She clenched her teeth and shouted, "Little Black-White!"
"Coming…" The Black-White Doll replied in a resigned voice as it floated upward beneath her.
Ellen kicked off the doll's head and leapt again—
This time, she intercepted Phaga mid-fall. She wrapped her arms around his body, her tail pressing tightly against his wings.
The moment she leaned against his chest, relief washed over her. A small smile curved her lips, though she couldn't help biting the infuriating idiot in front of her.
"Honestly… pushing yourself this far. You're burning up."
Ellen knew that as a vampire, Phaga could burn his own blood to amplify his power.
Once he did, his body temperature would keep rising.
Judging by how he felt now, she guessed he might already be pushing fifty-five degrees.
He'd looked incredibly impressive fighting Bern, even creating a new anomaly right in front of everyone.
But now she understood—he must have already been using [Crimson Overdrive] back then.
"Idiot. The hospital isn't even open right now. Without me, where do you think you're going to get blood?"
As she spoke, Ellen closed her eyes.
In the rushing wind of their fall, she bit her tongue, slender arms tightening around Phaga's neck.
Breath met breath. Their racing hearts drew closer.
When four soft lips touched, a thin line of blood slid across Phaga's mouth.
Perhaps from the pressure of the wind, Ellen's face flushed red. She pressed closer, her tail tight against his back, her arms holding him even more firmly, a faint white glow spreading from her body.
Phaga responded.
Though still unconscious, his arms instinctively wrapped around Ellen's waist, his wings folding over her long legs.
In that instant, frost spread from the base of Ellen's tail, slowly expanding outward.
Bit by bit, it formed into a massive block of solid ice, completely encasing both of them.
Thud!
The ice struck the ground.
No. 11, Harumasa, Nicole, Nekomata, and the Black-White Doll all hurried over.
"So… how are we supposed to get them back?"
"Why not just smash the ice? Look at that capitalist—sleeping and hugging his girl while I'm stuck with endless work and overtime. No way, make Phaga get up and walk!"
"Hey, hey, wait! What if we hurt them? Ellen still hasn't paid me for stepping on me earlier!"
"Uh… Nicole, is money really the issue right now? But isn't our truck still in the city? By now it should've arrived, right? You think so, Little Black-White?"
[Don't call me Little Black-White! Address me as Lord Black-White Doll]
[But… the signal jamming in the city seems to be gone. My phone can actually connect to the city's base stations now.]