It couldn't tell if those words were meant as an insult.
The monster's program failed to process the meaning — but it didn't matter. All it knew was that the enemy before it was unleashing a tremendously draining ability. That was enough.
All it had to do was hold out. With durability far beyond any human's, it was sure to…
BAM!
Phaga moved almost faster than sight. In an instant, he dove from above, a violent gust blasting the creature back. But before the monster could be sent flying far, a claw shot out from the swirling dust like a striking serpent, clamping tightly around its neck. Tremendous force surged through the grip.
The world spun wildly for the monster as weightlessness overtook its body.
"Seems you can't fly. Let me give you a taste!"
A voice echoed as the monster's gaze met the blue sky, white clouds drifting above—and the claw still tightening around its throat. Panic flashed in its eyes. The crater it had fallen from shrank beneath it as it was hurled toward the sky.
"ROAR!"
It bellowed, slashing its blade toward Phaga's arm! It wanted to flee—to return to solid ground. It wasn't built for the sky—not until it gained flight-capable machinery.
Whoosh!
The blade cut through the air with a sharp whistle.
Phaga sensed the strike coming and smiled faintly. Before the blow could land, he tightened his hold on the creature's wrist and hurled it skyward—then followed with a powerful kick that sent it even higher!
Thud!
The monster's spine took the hit, propelling it further into the heavens.
Phaga stopped flapping his wings, spread his arms wide, and hovered in the air, letting the wind carry him as he steadied himself.
The blood-soaked cloth around him unraveled, gathering into his left palm until it condensed into a large, shimmering droplet of blood.
He murmured softly, "Sorry… I used you, and now I have to turn you into fuel for my next move."
"But I've got no choice—the Little Fish Snack fund doesn't have enough blood left for me to drink."
Slowly, Phaga raised his left hand. His index finger nudged the blood droplet toward the monster that had begun falling back to earth.
"Blazing Sacrifice…" he whispered—then froze. "Huh?"
His pupils shrank sharply as three Ether Crystals suddenly came hurtling toward him. Far below, the monster swung its blade wildly, each slash launching three more Ether Crystals into the air.
Even while falling from the sky, it wasn't thinking of survival—it was still trying to kill Phaga!
"Should I call you dedicated? You're really earning every credit your creator spent on you."
Watching the Ether Crystals rain down like hail, Phaga let out a wry smile, opened his hand, and then clenched it into a fist.
The blood droplet burst outward at his command, scattering into a cloud of crimson motes that reformed into a sphere around him—an orb of liquid blood shielding his body.
Clang!
An Ether Crystal slammed into the sphere, leaving a brief dent before sliding off. Then another struck. And another. Two, three, ten, thirty—until the air was filled with a storm of falling shards.
Yet even under that onslaught, the sphere rippled but never broke. The scene was like hail striking a deep, still pond—no matter how fierce the storm, when it ended, the floating duckweed would remain, calm beneath the sunset.
"Finished?"
The rain of Ether Crystals ceased. A small opening formed in the sphere, revealing a single crimson eye within. Phaga gazed upward; the monster was exhausted. No matter how it swung, it couldn't conjure another crystal.
Its Ether activity was almost completely drained.
"Then…"
A faint grin tugged at Phaga's lips. The blood sphere dissolved into drifting red fragments that scattered through the air.
Before his wings lost strength entirely, he whispered,
"You may choose the most comfortable death pose."
With that, his wings fell slack, and he let himself drop toward the ground.
...
On the ground.
"Hey, hey! Left side! Too far—move right a bit… No, wait, maybe more to the left! Fairy, stop zoning out and calculate Phaga's landing point already!"
Eous barked orders while urging Fairy to hurry. Ahead, Anton and Big Ben had stripped off their jackets and tied them together, hoping to use them to slow Phaga's fall.
That was Fairy's idea. She'd explained that vampires possessed powerful regenerative abilities—as long as they weren't killed outright, they could recover from almost anything.
[Fairy: Reply. Master could also stand right here and serve as a cushion for Phaga.]
"Hey!!! Why didn't you say that earlier?!"
Eous glanced up at the rapidly falling Phaga and quickly jumped aside. Anton and Big Ben tightened their improvised cloth net and braced themselves.
But before Phaga could hit the ground, a dark figure leapt from the opposite side, caught him midair, rolled several times, and finally crashed down—absorbing the impact in a tangled tumble.
Huh? Someone beat us to it?
Eous, Anton, and Big Ben froze. They hadn't expected Ellen to intercept like that—let alone so dramatically!
"Hey, Proxy! Help us figure out where that monster's gonna land!"
From afar, Koleda waved from her seat in the prototype cockpit, steering it to lift the monument. If the monument could seal the monster, it should be able to kill it too.
"Oh, on it!"
Eous shook himself out of his daze and hurried over.
...
Meanwhile.
"Ow~~ That really hurts! Hey, Phaga—you still conscious?"
Ellen winced, barely able to open one eye, but her first concern was Phaga's condition.
"I'm fine. Just a scratch."
Phaga tried to grin, but the pain surging through him forced the smile back down. He hissed sharply through his teeth.
Seeing that, Ellen finally let out a breath of relief—but then puffed her cheeks in anger.
"A scratch again? Say that one more time and I'll smack you with my tail! Tell me the truth!"
Phaga couldn't help but laugh at her pout. He closed his eyes, etching her expression into his memory.
A few moments later, a dull thud echoed from across the devastated plaza. Phaga slowly opened his eyes again, feigning weakness as he said playfully,
"Ellen... I can barely stay awake. Please, Miss Ellen, grant me a little of your blood."
Ellen's eyes widened. Her face flushed crimson as she leaned back slightly, biting her lower lip. Wrapping one arm around his back, she seemed to be offering her neck—but in truth, she was just trying to hide her blush. Her lips trembled as she gave him a light punch on the chest.
Phaga leaned forward and bit gently into her pale neck—when a tiny, barely audible whisper reached his ears:
"Who told you to say it like that…"
...
"So it really wasn't an Ethereal. Even dead, it didn't vanish."
Eous poked the monster's head with a stick. When it didn't move, he decided it was probably dead.
A massive stone column from the monument had impaled it clean through the chest, leaving a gaping hole where its core should have been.
If that didn't kill it, nothing would.
"Come to think of it, Belobog Heavy Industries should be the ones taking this thing back, right?"
Eous turned, spotting Koleda nodding confidently.
"Of course. This is something my dad fought back in the day. I want to study it—at least find out exactly what he was up against."
"Fair enough."
Eous turned back and pointed at the weapons scattered on the ground.
"But we should at least return Phaga and Ellen's weapons, yeah?"
Since the monster's death, its equipment had detached and fallen away. But both Phaga's umbrella and Ellen's scissors were now faintly glowing with a purplish hue.
Grace checked her datapad, sighed, and said, "After being modified by the monster, both weapons' W-Engines were corrupted."
"Basically, they can now generate Ether Substance on their own—but they're uncontrollable. Unless you have extremely high resistance, the weapons will consume you."
The W-Engine—the weapon's energy core. Only weapons powered by W-Engines could unleash extraordinary effects—flames, frost, and more.
"Sigh…"
Eous exhaled. "For their own safety, maybe we should just toss them…"
"I think I can use them!"
Phaga, leaning on Ellen for support, stepped forward one slow, steady pace at a time.