Hoshimi Miyabi moved first, stepping straight off the edge before descending. Her body tilted slightly as one foot touched the side of the towering skyscraper with effortless grace.
The spirit familiar beside her followed in sync, its faint blue glow shimmering as it moved, light and agile like flowing water.
The moment Miyabi's toe met the glass surface, a crystalline flower of ice bloomed instantly across the building's face—then shattered under her force.
As the shards scattered, her speed surged dramatically. She dove downward as though gravity itself no longer applied to her.
The other members of Section 6 followed close behind, but Miyabi still led the charge, the distance between her and the others widening with every passing second.
"Something's off."
Miyabi vaulted forward, landing squarely on the riverside railing. Her sharp eyes locked onto the expanding hollow in the water below as she murmured to herself.
As the Section Chief of Section 6, Hoshimi Miyabi was far from a reckless fighter who relied solely on strength. Quite the opposite—her childhood experiences had refined her instincts and sharpened her mind.
A good teacher could change everything.
Of course, the influence extended far beyond her personality—it shaped her thinking, her style, even her combat methods. Her sparring match with Qingyi had already revealed just where her martial arts originated...
"Section Chief, the Public Security Bureau is already evacuating the crowd. The people who set up the fireworks on the river left long ago, and the boats nearby were far enough that they weren't affected."
"So, for now, while the hollow appeared suddenly, it hasn't caused any major harm."
Footsteps approached. Tsukishiro Yanagi arrived a bit late, holding a small tablet in hand, with Harumasa and Soukaku following right behind her.
"This hollow's strange, Section Chief," Harumasa said, both hands resting on his sword hilt as he frowned at the sight. Since it hadn't yet caused significant damage, there was no reason to rush in recklessly.
"This is the first recorded case of a hollow appearing underwater. Plus, the city government planned this fireworks festival with clear objectives in mind—security should've been airtight."
"The signs of a hollow disaster might not always be obvious, but there are always some. There's no way they could have missed it entirely."
"If this hollow had erupted in the middle of the crowd... the casualties would've been unimaginable..."
The city government had been unreliable before—but that was before the trial. Even then, for an event of this scale, they wouldn't have skipped proper safety checks.
Unless it wasn't detectable at all.
Which only made this hollow even stranger.
After working in Section 6 for so long, Harumasa's sharpened instincts screamed that something wasn't right. The others felt it too. Even Soukaku's expression had grown serious.
"Let's stay on alert for now," Miyabi said quietly. "The military should be arriving soon to suppress the hollow. We'll—"
Before she could finish, the electronic device in Tsukishiro Yanagi's hands suddenly let out a piercing alarm.
The area around Section 6 was sparsely populated, and the sudden blare shattered the quiet night air.
"Section Chief! Situation change!"
Tsukishiro Yanagi's eyes widened as she read the data streaming across the screen, her expression tightening by the second.
"It's not just here. Across all of New Eridu—two... no, three, four, five... wait, more than that—this..."
On the tablet's display, red exclamation marks began flooding in, one after another. The danger warnings multiplied until the entire map glowed crimson.
For a moment, Yanagi froze, her mind blank. Her first instinct was that her equipment must have malfunctioned—there was no other explanation.
But then Harumasa's voice cut in sharply.
"Look over there!"
"That looks like another... hollow disaster!"
Following Harumasa's pointing finger, Tsukishiro Yanagi turned her gaze toward the distant cityscape. Amid the neon glow, a patch of spreading blackness was rapidly devouring the skyline.
"Then all of these..."
Tsukishiro Yanagi's eyes dropped back to her tablet, her voice trembling. Before anyone else could speak, she steadied her tone and reported,
"In the last ten minutes alone—including the one in the river—over twenty hollow disasters have erupted across New Eridu..."
Her words hit like a thunderclap.
For an instant, everyone froze, their minds refusing to accept what they'd heard.
Was this a nightmare?
But for trained professionals like them, that thought flickered and vanished just as quickly.
Once the truth sank in, all they could do was face it.
Even for the battle-hardened veterans of Section 6, the scope of this situation left them momentarily at a loss.
"Section Chief, we've got new orders," Tsukishiro Yanagi said, glancing down at the updated display. "We're being deployed to the Eldon District."
She studied the command for a moment and quickly understood why. The hollow there had erupted in a densely populated area—making it an immediate priority.
"Since orders are in, we should move—"
Miyabi nodded, ready to lead the team, but Tsukishiro Yanagi suddenly raised a hand to stop her.
"Section Chief, headquarters says you're to stay here and coordinate operations. You're not to accompany us."
Miyabi blinked, visibly surprised.
Just her? Alone?
While she had occasionally acted solo before, it made no sense to separate her now, not when all of Section 6 was already deployed together.
"They said your combat ability is the strongest among us, so you're to remain here and respond to any emergencies. According to the scans, this hollow has been classified as the most dangerous."
"The most dangerous?"
Miyabi frowned, turning her eyes toward the hollow in the river. Its expansion had already slowed considerably.
An underwater eruption... How could that possibly be the highest-risk one?
...