Phaga quickly tightened his grip on Lycaon's hand and accelerated upward, bringing them both into the airship. With Billy leading the way, the group soon reached the cockpit.
Without hesitation, Lycaon took the pilot's seat, his expression deep and focused as he stared ahead.
The magnificent black hole loomed directly before them, Ether Substance swirling around it in a near-gaseous haze—dark, oppressive, twisted.
Then, a quiet sigh of relief escaped Lycaon.
Good. They were still in time.
He closed his eyes, his large, furred hands moving into position on the control panel exactly as he remembered. After what felt like a long moment, he opened them again—every press, every pull, precise and efficient, almost mechanical in execution.
Before long, the airship gradually slowed, then shifted direction.
"Wooohoooo~~~!"
Billy practically squealed with excitement. Even with a mechanical body, he clasped both hands under his chin, face metaphorically flushed like a kid watching someone operate a giant machine.
"Amazing! I didn't think anyone unofficial in New Eridu could fly an airship!"
"It's just—waaay too incredible!"
In his enthusiasm, Billy grabbed Phaga by the shoulders, shaking him while pointing at Lycaon.
"Phaga, why're you so stiff? Isn't this incredible to you!?"
"Of course it's incredible. But do you really need to yell about it?"
After several bloody fights back-to-back, Phaga was exhausted. He just wanted to sit quietly and enjoy the scenery. He hadn't expected Billy to suddenly drag him around.
And fine—if he was going to get dragged like this, Phaga assumed his ghostly pale face would at least dampen Billy's enthusiasm. But no—the robot looked more thrilled than ever.
All that excitement… for this?
Phaga sighed, shot Billy a helpless look, and fought the urge to roll his eyes. If he weren't still technically on duty, he would've dropped the polite act entirely.
But Billy seemed completely oblivious to any hints of annoyance. He kept babbling excitedly, even circling behind Lycaon's chair to get a closer look.
"Sigh…"
Phaga exhaled again, stood up, and stepped toward the cockpit door.
The sound of footsteps actually managed to pierce Billy's excitement. He turned his head, blinking.
"Huh? Phaga, where're you going? There's no TV on the airship for watching Starlight Knight!"
The airship still had some distance before landing on the Ballet Tower roof. Where was Phaga headed?
"Restroom."
Phaga waved lazily and closed the cockpit door behind him.
Thud.
His legs nearly gave out. He leaned against the door, palm pressed weakly to the wall for support.
"Seriously… who watches cartoons on an airship?"
He pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, feeling the heat radiating from the recent battle.
Cold.
Freezing.
Like stepping straight into a frozen river in the dead of winter—bone-deep, biting cold.
A hollow weakness spread through his body. His mind grew heavy, drowsiness pulling at him.
"Just hold on… just a bit longer. Once we land, I'll find Ellen and take a bite."
"It'd be ridiculous for a vampire to faint from anemia and end up in the hospital."
Phaga held his stomach and forced his tired body to move toward the restroom. Washing his face came first.
The airship's layout was simple. The restroom was just past the cockpit, accessible through the crew lounge.
Clunk.
He pushed open the lounge door. Four restroom stalls came into view—the few the airship could afford.
Flying machinery treated space like gold. Luxury bathrooms? Impossible.
These stalls were barely more than narrow cubicles with a toilet and a faucet each.
Phaga tried the first door.
Hm? It wouldn't open.
He pushed harder. Still locked.
Weird. Someone inside?
He frowned. In his current weakened state, he couldn't activate Vampiric Sight.
Not that he needed to. There were four stalls—no way all of them were occupied.
He turned and tried the next one.
Locked as well.
Seriously? All of you need the bathroom at the same time?
Phaga's brow twitched as he silently cursed.
He remembered that the airship's original passengers had fallen unconscious. The root cause had been Perlman opening a box containing knockout gas.
If both stalls had people in them, then they'd been sitting on the toilet for a long, long time. Which meant…
No. Stop.
"Tsk… what am I even thinking?"
He shook his head sharply, clearing out the nonsense, and moved to the third stall.
Locked.
Phaga let out an incredulous laugh.
Creak—
Suddenly, a faint sound came from the fourth stall behind him.
A chill ran down his spine. His back prickled with needle-like tension.
His right hand flew back instantly, gripping the Kunmutu gun. The barrel locked onto the fourth stall door.
A young man stood there with both hands raised, the stall door closing behind him.
"Easy there, my friend."
Perhaps everyone in New Eridu was thick-skinned.
The young man looked down, clearly seeing the gun pointed at his chest. Yet he remained astonishingly calm, even extending his hand for a shake.
"Hello, I'm Kovei Kunmutu—attorney for the suspect, Mr. Perlman."
Kunmutu?
Vampire.
Phaga recognized it instantly. His expression turned frigid. He did not take the handshake.
Seeing his hand hanging awkwardly, Kovei pulled it back, visibly disappointed. He knew Phaga was sensitive regarding their kind.
Sure enough, less than a second later, Phaga demanded:
"You have ten seconds to think, then answer me. Why are you here—and why aren't you unconscious?"
Click.
A bullet chambered. Phaga's expression was deadly serious.
Kovei had no doubt—if his answer came out wrong, Phaga really would shoot.
He sighed helplessly. "I told you—I'm Mr. Perlman's defense attorney. Naturally, I'd be on the airship—"
"A wrong answer."
Bang.
Kovei flinched, covering his ringing ears. He glanced aside. The bullet hole behind him was just one centimeter from his skull.
Click-clack.
Another bullet chambered smoothly.
The crisp sound forced Kovei to turn back, facing Phaga's ghostly pale face.
"You seem pretty weak."
Phaga frowned, suspicion rising.
"Vampires regenerate well. There's no reason you'd fear firearms. Your reaction is excessive."
Kovei's mouth twitched. He slowly pushed himself upright along the stall door, gritting his teeth.
"Hey—so what if I'm scared of guns!? Plenty of normal people are scared of firearms, okay? Apologize to every noncombat civilian in the world, you jerk!"
He looked up at Phaga's pallid face.
"And you don't look great yourself. Drop the gun. I'm not even sure you could beat me right now."
Phaga's eyebrow rose. The muzzle lifted straight toward Kovei's head.
"Got a problem with that?"
"Nope!"
The moment the gun pointed upward, Kovei surrendered instantly, both hands in the air.
After a pause, he added carefully:
"It's just… the clan seems to have a bit of an issue with you."