"Mm… strawberry."
Ellen instinctively held the lollipop between her lips, the sweet flavor spreading across her tongue.
Only now did she finally snap back from the overwhelming scene she'd just witnessed.
Still, Sol had just shoved candy into her mouth without asking. Even if it was her favorite flavor, it felt a little forward.
She wanted to scold him. But when the words reached her lips, all that came out was a dazed—
"Thank you."
The image of Sol's punch was still vivid in her mind. After witnessing that, she couldn't bring herself to say anything harsh.
It was too awe-inspiring—not fear, but genuine reverence.
She didn't even dare raise her voice, as though afraid to disturb him.
Even if Sol looked relaxed and easygoing, nothing like that awe-inspiring [Odin]—
—he had crushed Odin to dust with a single punch. That godlike aura had passed naturally onto him.
"You're welcome."
Sol smiled faintly, a touch of emotion in his eyes.
He still preferred the cool, laid-back, yet inwardly kind Ellen he knew, and hoped she'd recover quickly.
"…."
Hearing Sol's reply, Ellen realized he still spoke the same as always.
With the strawberry lollipop suddenly in her mouth, and her bangs carefully smoothed into place, she knew—Sol was still the same mischievous man who liked teasing people.
Perhaps godlike majesty and everyday warmth weren't opposites. To friends, he was kind; to foes, unmatched in power.
The divine pressure he had exuded when crushing Odin melted away, letting her breathe easier.
Her expression softened as she said with complicated emotion: "You really are a monster."
"That hurts. I was hoping for a flattering title, something like 'Bane of Hollows,'" Sol teased.
He was amused at how quickly Ellen had recovered her composure.
"Fine then—Bane of Hollows," Ellen mumbled around the lollipop. "If you threw a hundred punches, you'd probably destroy all of New Eridu's Hollows."
Half a Hollow with one punch—even for a Companion Hollow, it was staggering.
If he threw just ten punches a day, the city's Hollows wouldn't last.
"You exaggerate. I'm not that weak," Sol said with a grin, shaking his head.
Two hundred thousand horsepower Magnetic Field Rotation was no more than the strength of a "Little Boy" or a "Fat Man"—wiping out ten Hollows with one punch was hardly any effort.
The real problem was disorientation inside a Hollow. If he went all out in the wrong direction, he might accidentally blast New Eridu to rubble. That would be… troublesome.
"You're incredible!"
What else could Ellen say? She could only raise a thumb in surrender.
If wiping out half a Hollow was "weak," then what did that make Victoria Housekeeping? Chickens?
Still, his words made her secretly wary. She didn't think Sol was joking—and that was terrifying.
—
Meanwhile, Von Lycaon and Rina stood frozen, staring at the barren expanse before them.
This was worse than ruins. The devastation stretched thousands of meters, disappearing beyond sight.
They even saw another Hollow's barrier quiver, shrinking drastically.
Clearly, the aftershock of Sol's punch had killed countless Ethereals there too.
But… just where had that punch landed?
Von Lycaon turned, staring at Sol with a look like he'd seen a ghost.
That towering, godlike monster, so suffocatingly terrifying—had been obliterated with ease.
When Odin charged on his horse, brimming with power, he had seemed an insurmountable foe, someone who might at least force Sol to struggle.
But Sol had simply thrown one punch.
And the thirty-meter fusion giant shattered into scraps, destroyed by the mere shockwave before it even reached them.
Horrifying. Too horrifying.
Worse—the same punch had obliterated half of X-83 Hollow!
It was unbelievable, beyond reason.
That kind of strength was already beyond their comprehension.
They had thought killing two Elite Ethereals was Sol's limit. But that had only been the warm-up.
Just how much power was he still hiding?
In hindsight, their earlier suspicions about Sol being connected to "the other side" seemed laughable.
If one man could erase half a Hollow with a fist, even New Eridu itself might not be safe before him.
"Mr. Mercer… you've truly… opened my eyes."
After struggling for words, Von Lycaon could only manage that much.
He had wanted to praise him with dazzling eloquence, but his mind was blank. No matter how he strained, this single line was all he could produce.
In truth, another word fit his feelings better. It just wasn't proper for a butler.
Holy shit! Von Lycaon screamed inwardly.
"Thanks for the compliment."
Sol closed his eyes with a smile, graciously accepting.
"Mr. Mercer, the commission is complete. Perhaps we could find a suitable place to talk in peace?" Rina suggested with a smile.
The process had been unexpected, but the monster was dead all the same.
Their mission of probing Sol's identity and recording intelligence was done.
Now, it was time to build rapport.
"Hold on. Just now, I sensed a few acquaintances nearby. I'll greet them first."
Sol had picked up a few familiar presences in the electromagnetic field—friends from Section Six. It had been days since they'd last met.
Though this time he was working an illegal commission, meeting official operatives was a little awkward.
But the Hollow Special Operations usually ignored minor Hollow criminals like Proxies, so he wasn't too worried.
Besides, if he remembered right, he had a promise with Miyabi.
"Very well."
Von Lycaon and the others complied without fuss, waiting quietly.
They already knew who Sol meant.
After all, those were their employer's special-recruited operatives—though unused, they had been backup support.
...
At that moment, in front of X-83 Hollow's shrinking barrier, Hoshimi Miyabi's team struggled to comprehend.
What had just happened?
They had watched a man punch apart a thirty-meter Ethereal—then half a Hollow crumbled.
Then the barrier had snapped shut, trapping them inside the reduced Hollow.
Asaba Harumasa rubbed his eyes. No sane person could believe this.
Even after seeing it with their own eyes, common sense screamed it was impossible.
"Incredible," Tsukishiro Yanagi said flatly—though inside, waves of shock raged.
The sight had been like a blockbuster from Ganga Films—so exaggerated it strained belief.
And yet it had unfolded right before them. She wondered grimly: could New Eridu itself survive such powerhouse?
"That… looked like Brother Sol."
The blue-skinned loli hefting her battle flag tilted her head uncertainly.
She didn't know the maids and the wolfman, but Sol was her friend, the one who had treated her to food. She couldn't mistake him.
"It was him. I'll never forget," Hoshimi Miyabi said firmly.
She could never forget the man who had defeated her. Defeat etched itself deeper than victory.
And beyond that, Sol was one of her few friends.
But doubt gnawed at her. Their duel hadn't been long ago—and their gap then hadn't been so great.
How could he have grown strong enough to obliterate half a Hollow in such a short time?
What kind of training could make that possible?
"Let's go ask him."
Her crimson eyes gleamed like blades as she moved toward the barrier.
"Yes—we need answers."
Asaba Harumasa exhaled with relief.
Not a rebel artillery battalion, not some terrifying enemy—just a friend, unexpectedly intervening.
The Ethereal was dead. Half the Hollow was gone. Their mission, basically complete.
No battle needed. What a blessing.
And so, the Section Six operatives crossed the Hollow's barrier—emerging before Sol and Von Lycaon's group.