The night wind howled softly, carrying the moon deeper into the latter half of the night.
Phaga and Ellen quietly slipped away from Blazewood, arriving atop a towering sand dune. Lying on the sand, they tilted their heads to listen to Burnice's still-energetic voice drifting faintly from the town in the distance, gazing at the Hollow suspended above the bright moon.
"Burnice really has endless energy," Ellen murmured. "When I passed by earlier, I even saw little Corin about to collapse from exhaustion."
She hugged Phaga's arm. A Shark Thiren's stamina was about as long-lasting as a certain kind of battery. As the night dragged toward the small hours, fatigue finally caught up with her. Her eyes struggled to stay open, and her words grew slurred.
Phaga's expression softened. He gently stroked Ellen's hair, then removed his butler's coat and draped it over her.
Catching the unique charm of her half-asleep profile, Phaga blanked for a moment before letting out a quiet laugh. He lowered his head and kissed her cheek, lifting it again after a pause and speaking softly:
"Burnice is just a stamina monster. You and Corin aren't. Get some sleep. We've got real work tomorrow."
After the kiss, the corners of Ellen's lips visibly curved upward. Her expression relaxed, and she clung to him even tighter, as if trying to melt into his body.
Once Ellen had settled, Phaga planned to stay a little longer and enjoy the breeze before heading back.
To be honest, he didn't really understand why they were holding a carnival—and one that consumed so many resources at that.
Fuel drinks, milk, juice. beef, chicken, goose—take as much as you wanted.
All Outer Ring generators were running at full output, with the petroleum industry supplying energy nonstop.
There were even refugees who had taken resources they'd brought out from the city and set up stalls along the streets: swim rings, hula hoops, roses, red bean buns…
Oh. Even cotton candy—the same kind Phaga had bought earlier.
Sugar was a strategic resource, wasn't it? And they were selling it?
But…
Phaga lay back on the sand again, listening to Burnice's unhinged singing drifting over from afar.
As he listened, a thought surfaced—
This kind of life, where living is fine and dying doesn't really matter, didn't seem so bad either.
Whatever. No point thinking too much.
"Hup!"
Phaga did a sit-up on the spot, brushed the sand off himself, and stood.
He knelt on one knee, slid one arm around Ellen's shoulders and the other beneath her knees, and carefully lifted her up, heading away from Blazewood.
Blazewood was too noisy. Ellen wouldn't sleep well there.
He'd already parked the class monitor's off-road vehicle out in the outskirts earlier, planning to sleep in the car with Ellen for the night.
Sleep early. There was real work to do tomorrow.
Not long ago, Yanagi had sent a message in the group chat.
She said that Hollows near the Outer Ring were showing abnormal expansion.
According to the White Star Institute's analysis, this was because the Shiyu Towers monitoring the Outer Ring Hollows had abandoned their detection duties under vampire society control, allowing Hollow hazards to worsen unchecked.
Their aim was to use the Hollows to restrain the remaining human forces, gaining a greater advantage in the coming war.
The White Star Institute's conclusion was simple: eliminate Ethereals themselves and curb the spread of Hollow disasters.
Which honestly sounded like the kind of correct-but-useless answer given when no better solution came to mind.
"Anyway… let's get up early tomorrow."
Phaga pressed the car key. The off-road vehicle's lights flashed, and the doors unlocked.
Carrying Ellen forward, he braced her lightly with his knee, freeing one hand to open the door.
He reached for the handle—
Boom!
A massive fireball erupted in an instant. Heat slammed into him as the once-silent night sky exploded with a deafening roar, smoke and dust billowing upward.
Whoosh!
A sharp tearing sound cut through the air as something fell from the sky.
It stared blankly at the vampire who, in a split second, had spread his wings to shield the person he loved. Then it grinned, its eyes burning hotter.
[Long time no see… Oh, my apologies. I only possess the combat experience you shared with Black Phaga, along with his memories. Strictly speaking, we've never actually met.]
[But that doesn't matter. It doesn't stop me from saying this—]
[Long time no see, Creator.]
...
[ALERT! ALERT!]
[Vampire society launching a nighttime assault. All units, assemble!]
[Repeat, all units asse—]
Bang!
A vampire cloaked head to toe flicked his wrist, launching an ice spike that smashed the loudspeaker in front of Blazewood. He lifted his foot and stomped it to pieces.
"According to biological rhythms, these people should've been asleep by now."
His tone was flat, but his movements were vicious.
Even after crushing the speaker, he ground it further into fragments, then kicked the debris away.
At that moment, the cloaked vampire seemed almost redeemed. The only exposed part of him—his eyes—finally relaxed, as though venting all his pent-up irritation.
"Begin the operation. By mathematical estimates, that damned Sun Demon will crawl out of the ground in two hours."
He spoke casually, naturally assuming the role of leader.
But just as he was about to step forward, a pale hand stopped him.
He turned—and saw a young woman, strikingly beautiful yet icy in expression.
Her dark hair fell like a waterfall, loosely gathered behind her head. She wore a tight black bodysuit that outlined her figure with sharp precision. Her skin was pale, and the look between her brows bore an uncanny resemblance to Phaga—at least six parts alike.
She brushed her hair aside. Wings symbolizing her vampire identity unfurled instantly as she spoke lazily:
"Bern, your body just recovered. Leading the team would be better left to me."
Bern shot her a cold glance. Under the dim streetlights, the surrounding vampires could see clearly—the left half of his face was completely rotted away, an unmistakable mass of decay.
Vampire vitality really was terrifying. Even with that much flesh gone, his bodily functions seemed unaffected.
Under Bern's stare, the languid woman shifted her gaze toward the depths of an alley in Blazewood and spoke slowly:
"Besides… it looks like this human force isn't completely unprepared. At the very least, their main combat power didn't all run off to sleep."
As her words fell, a pair of fox ears emerged unhurriedly from the darkness.
When he fully stepped into the light, Hoshimi Miyabi's right ear twitched slightly. He spoke calmly:
"Yanagi said that given how vindictive your vampire society is, if you took a loss this afternoon, you wouldn't wait until tomorrow morning. So I didn't sleep. I deliberately trained in 'staying awake and waiting for the vampire society to come knocking.'"
"Training complete. As a reward, I'll kill every single one of you—one blade at a time."
The languid woman laughed softly, shaking her head.
She casually swept her gaze around.
Reflected clearly in her crimson pupils were the figures of powerful individuals hidden in the darkness.
They held their breath, ready to strike at any moment—just waiting for Hoshimi Miyabi to make the first move.
She didn't care.
A joke, really. Just a pack of stray dogs driven out of New Eridu. Choosing a nighttime ambush was already showing restraint.
Otherwise, she would've come in the afternoon—broad daylight.
She rolled her neck once and spoke lightly:
"Hello, the youngest Void Hunter in history. My name is Misha. Mm… Phaga's biological sister. Currently the strongest in the vampire society."
"I hope you… don't disappoint me."
Bang!
The moment her words ended, Misha launched forward like a cannonball, moving so fast only afterimages remained.