After crossing dozens of old tenement blocks, Sol and his group slowed their pace.
"We've reached the outskirts of the Goethe Grand Theater," Von Lycaon murmured, his voice low as if afraid of disturbing some dreadful presence. "We're about to come face-to-face with that terrifying Ethereal."
"This was once the Goethe Grand Theater?" Rina gazed at the scene with faint sorrow. "Hollows destroy all that is beautiful."
The Goethe Grand Theater—once the pinnacle of Old Eridu's arts. Every time Rina had read about it in books or seen it in recordings, her heart had longed to be there.
Now, that sacred hall of art was nothing but ruins.
A few broken marble columns leaned precariously in the rubble, their intricate carvings still whispering of past splendor.
"To level an entire complex like this, that Ethereal must be unimaginably strong."
Ellen wasn't so sentimental. She simply felt stunned at the scale of the destruction.
Within a radius of a kilometer lay only empty space—no tall buildings left standing.
This had once been the playground of the wealthy, with grand and opulent structures for entertainment. Now it was nothing but rubble scattered across the ground, with the occasional lone column jutting upward.
The devastation was no less than the chaos Sol himself had wrought earlier.
What kind of battle had once taken place here?
"According to records, not a single person survived in X-83 Hollow," Von Lycaon said, turning solemnly to Sol. "At the time of Hollow Zero's outbreak, such a tragedy wasn't unusual. Everyone thought this was just another disastrous Hollow catastrophe."
Having reached their final destination—and after Sol had proven he could not possibly be one of the "rats"—Von Lycaon chose to speak frankly.
"So? And it wasn't?"
Sol raised a brow, mildly surprised.
"The truth of that day is beyond recovery. But current investigations suggest this was no ordinary Hollow event," Von Lycaon replied. "It appears that before the Hollow's eruption, someone planted a creature here—known as a Sacrifice."
"When the Hollow suddenly broke out, the Sacrifice fused with the Security Bureau's heavy combat mechs, slaughtering every last person inside the Hollow's range. No one survived."
"That fusion monster was far more dangerous than any Notorious Ethereal," Rina added gravely. "Perhaps influenced by the performance being staged at the time, it took on a form resembling the All-Father of myth—Odin."
"To those who perished here, it truly appeared as mighty and terrifying as [Odin] himself."
"Sacrifice… Odin?" A smile tugged at Sol's lips. "Now things are getting interesting."
He had thought he might have been mistaken, but it turned out he was right about the Sacrifice.
And a fusion monster with the form of Odin? That, he wanted to see with his own eyes.
By then, they had crossed into the theater's heart.
Steps rose layer upon layer toward a massive stage.
The stage was smooth and spotless, barely scarred, still retaining its magnificence from decades ago.
In stark contrast, the buildings outside had been flattened to the ground. It stood apart like a lofty divine throne.
Around the throne lay ruins; above it shone light from the heavens.
At the stage's center stood a towering giant, awe-inspiring, a steel-forged eight-legged steed at its side.
Beneath the sun, his figure loomed as godlike.
In his hand was a tungsten-wound spear, and from his lone scarlet eye poured an icy gaze. His body gleamed with solar brilliance, fused from dozens of combat mechs in perfect unity, as if it had always been meant to be.
Divinity itself seemed to fill the air.
As Sol and the others ascended the steps, it felt less like approaching an enemy and more like worshipers coming before a god.
"Odin—!"
Von Lycaon uttered the name, every fiber of his body tensed to the breaking point.
No title could be more fitting. It demanded reverence, forced submission.
Such was the unbridgeable gulf of power—and Odin made no effort to conceal it.
At a single glance, Von Lycaon knew this was beyond anything Victoria Housekeeping could handle.
Regret gnawed at him. Had he known the gap was so vast, he never would have brought them here to become a burden on Sol.
Rina and Ellen felt the same. Under that blazing red eye, it was as if their very fates were pierced through.
Only Corin seemed most at home—gripping her chainsaw, trembling, yet itching to offer herself to death.
Too terrifying. So, terrifying it drove her toward surrender.
—Then Odin stirred.
Standing tall in the sunlight, he mounted the eight-legged steed and thundered toward them like a storm.
In his hand, the god-spear crackled with lightning.
The thirty-meter titan swung the weapon, swift as a lightning bolt, heavy as a meteor.
"Hh—!"
Ellen's breath caught. The crushing pressure forced her into overclock mode, yet even so she still felt death looming.
"Parlor tricks. Let's see how much skill this fake god actually has." Sol sneered, mocking the oncoming giant.
Only then did Ellen remember—the monster at her side was no less terrifying.
A wave of safety washed over her, loosening her breath.
So then—what would he do?
Ellen watched, eyes wide.
Sol clenched his fist. Magnetic Field Rotation enveloped his hand like a gauntlet—and he punched.
Two hundred thousand horsepower of magnetic force roared forth.
The blast wave formed instantly, surging ahead, unstoppable.
It began as a simple fist. But once unleashed, it became a hurricane.
Boom!
The towering god upon his steed disintegrated in an instant beneath the boundless storm.
Armor forged of heavy mech alloys shredded like paper, scattered as fragments in the raging tide.
"Is that a God? Is that all?"
Sol curled his lip.
The once-pristine grand stage shattered, leaving only the floor beneath Sol's feet intact.
Then the destruction spread—first to buildings a kilometer away, then ten kilometers.
Everything, everything—reduced to powder.
And then—
BOOM!
Half the Hollow before Sol erupted, tearing open to the outside world. Fresh air rushed in.
Behind them, the other half of the Hollow's barrier shrank rapidly, collapsing until only a third of X-83 Hollow remained.
"Fresh air—we're outside the Hollow?"
Von Lycaon's fur bristled forward in the gale, his mind dazed as if in a dream.
Rina froze in place, her elegant face stricken with shock.
Corin stopped trembling altogether, stunned into stillness.
Ellen's bangs whipped wildly across her forehead, her lips parted in speechless awe.
Sol considered a moment, then pulled a lollipop from his system pack and slipped it between Ellen's lips. With his free hand, he smoothed her hair neatly back into place.