"Help! I'm just chasing down a bunch of rebels—so why do I run into this kind of thing every single time I enter a Hollow?!"
Ruby wailed as she fled through an unnamed Hollow, tears streaming down her face as she ran for her life. She didn't dare look back. She was terrified that even a split-second of hesitation would let the Arlaune chasing her land an Ether bullet straight into her back and send her off to reincarnate on the spot.
If it were just Arlaune, it wouldn't be so bad—the Black-and-White Doll could handle that.
But behind Ruby surged a tide of Ethereals, thousands strong. Named ones, unnamed ones, dozens upon dozens of different types—well over a hundred kinds in total.
And every single one of them looked like they'd been designed on a whim. Compared to this grotesque horde, an Ethereal like Arlaune—who at least looked vaguely like a flower—counted as downright cute.
[There's no helping it. There are too many Ethereals. If it were just Black-and-White Doll Lord, this wouldn't be a problem. Given time, I could grind them all down.]
[But dragging you along changes things. When Ether attacks start flooding in like this, even Black-and-White Doll Lord can't keep you safe.]
Ruby had a small backpack on her back, and sitting inside it was the doll.
It tugged the zipper open and craned its head backward. Floating on either side of its body were two water snakes, one black and one white.
Under the doll's command, the snakes tirelessly sprayed jets of water behind them. Unfortunately, the Ethereals were far too numerous. No matter how hard the snakes worked, it was little more than a drop in the bucket, and more Ethereals quickly closed in.
The doll spread its hands helplessly.
[That's it! Even Black-and-White Doll Lord is out of ideas. So run! The faster you run, the closer you'll get to your dream of becoming a Legendary Investigator!]
"I'm sorry for being such a burden!"
Ruby cried miserably, flailing as she ran.
"I'm sorry! Next time I go into a Hollow, even if I have to cling to Ellen's tail and lick her legs for three minutes, I'll beg her to come with me!"
[Then you might as well drag that stinky vampire along too. Even though he reeked and stole my Miss Shark, he can eat Ethereals now. Unless you completely overpower him, the more Ethereals there are, the happier he gets.]
[Even though he smells so bad my dear Corin respects him for some reason, his cooking is actually decent. And good cooking really matters on long journeys. Mm. Even if he still stinks.]
Seeing that wiping out the pursuing Ethereals was impossible, the Black-and-White Doll simply propped itself up with its hands, adopting an air of utter resignation.
"Hey, you two—ugh!"
Lighter's forehead veins throbbed violently. He took a deep breath, but it did nothing to calm the turmoil inside him.
Even with his normally good temper, he was right on the edge of losing it. The Outer Ring's friendly greeting almost manifested from his clenched right fist.
Then, suddenly, his eyes widened.
He'd forgotten something important.
They were in the Outer Ring.
The very sandy Outer Ring.
That deep breath he'd just taken—he hadn't taken any precautions at all. He'd inhaled a mouthful of grit, and his mood instantly shot past the boiling point, like when Bernice once asked him for an autograph and he thought she was a fan—only to find out she wanted to resell them in bulk.
Lighter snapped.
Carefully controlling his strength, he rapped Ruby on the head and shouted, "If you're leaning on my shoulder, then don't move around! If the Ethereals catch up, we're both done for!"
Ruby cried out in pain, squeezing her eyes shut, her voice trembling.
"That hurts! I'm sorry—ah!"
Before she could finish, a cluster of Ether lasers pierced straight through the water curtain formed by the snakes.
Lighter ducked instantly, bracing one hand on the ground as he glanced back out of the corner of his eye. His brow furrowed.
This Hollow had likely once been part of an Outer Ring commercial district. The alleys crisscrossed in all directions.
Through shattered windows and broken storefronts, he could see Ethereals darting from building to building, slipping from one street to another in an instant.
All of these were blind spots the water snakes couldn't cover.
If this kept up, they would definitely be caught.
No—this wouldn't work.
Lighter clenched his teeth. He'd made his decision.
"Hey, Legendary Investigator!"
Without turning back, he shouted while running.
"Calculate a route with fewer Ethereals. Even if it takes us farther from the spatial rift out of the Hollow, that's fine!"
"W-What? Change routes?"
Ruby's face went pale. She hurriedly pulled out her data pad, its screen packed with so many tangled lines it made her dizzy just looking at it.
She had downloaded spatial data from several data pylons when they first entered the Hollow.
But she was still just a trainee Investigator!
Path calculation wasn't something she could do instantly. Earlier, when Lighter had been carrying her through swarms of Ethereals, she'd barely managed to guess an escape route through sheer luck.
And now he wanted her to calculate one again…
Maybe it'd be faster to turn around and blow up with the Ethereals together. Honestly, that seemed more realistic.
"Ahhh! This is such a pain!"
Ruby grabbed her hair in frustration. The more flustered she got, the blanker her mind became. Data refused to stick. Formulas blurred into nonsense.
Calculate? Calculate my ass!
"This way!"
Acting on pure instinct, Ruby pointed decisively down a path.
Lighter looked—and froze.
That street was packed with buildings. Any room could have an Ethereal suddenly leap out and drop straight down on them.
By all logic, charging into that street while carrying Ruby and the Black-and-White Doll was like delivering food to predators—meat carrying bread, with unrecyclable trash strapped on behind.
Except the Doll wasn't edible.
Lighter and Ruby, on the other hand, were premium cuts.
"…You sure?"
Lighter hesitated, his running pace slowing.
The choice was absurd. He couldn't bring himself to commit so easily.
But while Lighter hesitated, the Ethereals did not.
The slightest slowdown was enough. Ethereals surged in from all sides, overwhelming even the water snakes' defenses.
[Seriously, why are you two so slow?! If you die, Miss Shark will beat me up too!]
Despite the humans being in mortal danger, the doll was the most proactive of them all. Its short hands snapped together.
The water snakes' eyes flashed. They stopped firing water entirely and coiled back in. The white snake grabbed Ruby, the black snake seized Lighter, and together they shot toward the route Ruby had indicated.
[Honestly—every time, Black-and-White Doll Lord has to do everything!]
The Doll floated up, keeping pace with the snakes.
Ruby's face was twisted by wind pressure, but she forced a smile and raised a shaky thumbs-up.
"Th-thanks… Little Black-and-White…"
The Doll immediately turned its face away, crossing its arms.
[Tch! Call me Black-and-White Doll Lord! If I didn't value my freedom, I'd have thrown you both back into the Hollow already!]
"Yes, yes," Ruby replied weakly, trying to reach out and pat its head.
The Doll caught the motion out of the corner of its eye.
[So childish.]
Still, it obediently floated over and let Ruby rub its head. Its eyes, honest to a fault, narrowed comfortably into slits.
Lighter didn't comment, but years of honed combat instinct made him look up.
His pupils shrank.
"Dodge!"
The doll snapped its eyes open. Without even lifting its head, it shoved the white snake's large head aside and used the recoil to drift backward.
The next instant, a Frenzied Brute dropped from above, twin blades flashing cold light as it passed between Ruby and the Doll.
If the Doll hadn't pushed her away just then, Ruby would have been dead.
[Tch. This route really is too dangerous!]
There was no relief in surviving that close call. Looking ahead, the road stretched on endlessly, impossibly long.
Who knew how many Ethereals might come crashing down from above before they reached the end?
[Black-and-white water snakes—fly upward!]
In the crisis, the Doll had an idea. If they gained altitude, the Ethereals' advantage of leaping from buildings would vanish completely.
The water snakes obeyed, surging straight into the sky.
Soon, they rose higher than the surrounding buildings.
Just like that, the terrifying ambushes stopped.
Even if an Ethereal tried jumping from the ceiling and flashing mid-air, it couldn't reach them anymore. Gravity would catch it and smash it into the ground below.
[Nice. I really am a genius—ah! What the hell?!]
The danger of aerial ambush had barely passed when thousands of Ether lasers suddenly rained down.
Earlier, the short-legged but long-range Ethereals led by Arlaune had been blocked by buildings and couldn't get a clear shot.
But now that the Doll had flown above the rooftops, there was nothing stopping them.
The Ether barrage hit all at once. Even the water snakes couldn't withstand it. With a final cry, they shattered into scattered points of light.
"Ah—help! Little Black-and-White, save me!"
With the snakes gone, Ruby and the others immediately lost their lift. Gravity seized them, and they began to fall, about to follow Thanatos' example.
[Wait, Ruby! I'm coming—damn it!]
The Doll tried to move, but several Ethereals leapt down from rooftops and tangled it up.
Unable to break free, it shouted at Lighter instead.
[Hey! Handsome undefeated champion! Go save Ruby!]
Lighter raised an eyebrow and spread his hands.
"I appreciate the compliment, but praising me a hundred times won't give me wings. Let's die together."
"Ah—why?! Do you need wings? Who even has wings?!"
Ruby sobbed, tears and snot streaming together.
Then, suddenly, she remembered someone.
She screamed at the top of her lungs:
"Phaga! Save me!"
"I'll trade you Ellen's childhood photos!"
Would that even work?
Lighter let out a quiet sigh and closed his eyes.
Finding anyone inside a Hollow was nearly impossible.
Even Phaga—
…Wait.
The light vanished.
The sunlight he could feel even with his eyes closed suddenly disappeared, as if something massive had blocked it.
Could it be—
Lighter snapped his eyes open.
The first thing he saw was a pair of dark crimson wings blotting out the sky. Scarlet eyes looked down at him—then shifted aside, a little awkwardly.
"Ahem. Let's be clear," a voice said calmly. "Saving a life matters more than any grand gesture."