Back in the Outer Ring—several hours earlier…
"The vampire clan has betrayed us? What does that mean?"
Phaga and Ellen were both stunned.
In fact, they had run into Yanagi several hours earlier.
After Phaga wiped out the rebels of the Eighth Division, he had learned by chance that the Seventh Division was preparing to return as reinforcements, while the Ninth Division was actively plundering the Outer Ring.
After some consideration, Phaga decided to leave the Ninth Division to Lucy, the newly risen overlord of the Outer Ring, while keeping the Seventh Division for himself and Ellen to deal with.
It was precisely during the operation to eliminate the Seventh Division that Phaga and Ellen encountered Yanagi.
At the time, Phaga was killing with abandon. The Seventh Division had no combat power on the Void Hunter level, and no one could stop him from tearing through them.
The problem was that the battlefield was not inside a hollow, but out in the open wilderness, with no barriers in sight.
The rebels slammed the accelerator and fled the moment they had an opening. Even with Ellen flooring the [Roaming Hunter] hard enough to throw sparks from her heels, there was no way to catch them all. Slippery sardines kept wriggling free from the jaws of a great shark.
They were armed. If allowed to escape, there was no telling how much harm they might cause elsewhere.
But they simply couldn't catch them.
Just as Phaga and Ellen were both at a loss, Yanagi appeared out of nowhere.
She led Hollow Special Operations, Section 1 and completely sealed off the battlefield. Heavy artillery formed an iron wall around the perimeter, while in the center, explosions blossomed one after another like fireworks.
Relying on a vampire's innate bloodlust, Phaga self-detonated again and again. The rebels were utterly incapable of forming any effective counteroffensive.
Even when they tried to flee, they could not break through the defensive lines organized by Yanagi. The deserters were forced back time and time again.
In the end, in less than two hours, the fighting was over—a one-sided massacre.
But now, Yanagi showed no trace of triumph from that victory. Instead, her eyes were heavy with fatigue, every movement steeped in worry.
At last, she let out a long sigh and said in a low voice, "It's complicated. Let me start from the beginning… May I ride in your off-road vehicle? Please take me to see the current overlord of the Outer Ring. I need to discuss something with her. I'll explain everything to you on the way. Please."
Phaga and Ellen exchanged a look and nodded.
Phaga then turned to the Class President.
The Class President understood at once and nodded back. "I'll drive."
Before long, the Class President returned with the off-road vehicle.
Phaga took the passenger seat. Yanagi, Ruby, and Ellen got into the back in turn. Lighter mounted his motorcycle.
As the engine roared to life, Yanagi continued.
"Just yesterday, the city's upper leadership and TOPS completely fell out. The city deployed its military, while TOPS spent money to hire rebels and fearless hollow raiders."
Ruby tilted her head slightly. "Then the city's side should've won pretty quickly, right?"
"Yes," Yanagi replied, nodding. Her fingers curled together as she recalled, "We won very quickly."
"It wasn't just the gap in equipment and training. Something also went wrong inside the rebel ranks. Three of their divisions failed to arrive on the battlefield as promised, which gave us a huge opening."
"We advanced like a tidal wave. Even while shackled by the 'protect civilians' mandate, we achieved a decisive victory. Good news poured in from every corner of New Eridu where military flags were planted. Surrendering rebels dropped to their knees and smashed their foreheads to the ground."
"Later, when TOPS was pushed to the brink and had no other options, they released more than three hundred Sacrifice that were still in the experimental stage."
"They went berserk, attacking everything indiscriminately. Buildings collapsed, civilians suffered, and hundreds—thousands—of soldiers were exposed to the Sacrifice's attacks… But we still had Section Chief Hoshimi Miyabi."
"At the most critical moment, she cut straight into the battlefield. With a single flash of ghostly blue light, at least a third of the Sacrifice were frozen into ice sculptures. Their flesh and frames burned fiercely inside the solid ice."
When she spoke of Miyabi, Yanagi's expression lifted with pride.
Like a mother reminiscing about an accomplished daughter, her entire demeanor changed the moment she spoke of her.
Her eyes shone as she went on and on, unable to stop herself.
"Ya is incredibly strong—truly strong! Her ears are vivid and lovely, her face exquisitely beautiful. Her body is soft and delicate, her shyness is insincere, her—"
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Ruby hurriedly cut her off, blurting out, "What's going on here? None of that has anything to do with combat strength, does it?!"
"Ahem. Sorry. I got carried away," Yanagi said, coughing lightly.
She composed herself and continued, "In short, if TOPS's only trump card was Sacrifice, then Section Chief Miyabi was more than capable of suppressing them completely. There was no doubt about it."
"But—"
When she said the word "but," Yanagi clenched her teeth. What followed was saturated with anger.
"The vampire clan that defected from TOPS and helped spark this war had already been making small moves from the very beginning. But with our Section 6 keeping a close eye on them, they never had the chance to act."
"Even after Miyabi was forced onto the battlefield, Asaba and I continued monitoring the vampire clan together, watching their every move."
"But who could have imagined it… who could have imagined that a mutiny would suddenly break out within the military?"
"Tens of thousands of soldiers who were supposed to reinforce the front lines and strike the rebels suddenly turned their weapons on their own comrades."
"The rebels seized the opportunity to counterattack. Aside from the battlefield where Hoshimi Miyabi was holding the line against the Sacrifice—and gradually gaining the upper hand—every other front in New Eridu fell into complete disadvantage. We were on the verge of collapse."
"That's why Asaba and I had no choice but to join the fighting ourselves, each leading units from Hollow Special Operations, Section 1. Only then did we barely stabilize the situation."
After listening for so long, Ellen frowned slightly. "From what you're saying… this mutiny was caused by the vampire clan?"
"Yes. It was them." Yanagi nodded, but frustration crept onto her face. "Because the vampire clan had always been operating under our surveillance, we didn't suspect them at first. We thought instead that some general had been corrupted by TOPS's money."
"So later, we shifted tactics—using the military as support, with Hollow Special Operations as the main force. After regrouping, we engaged the rebels again…"
At that point, Yanagi suddenly fell silent, jaw clenched, saying nothing for a long while.
Ruby patted her shoulder and gently nudged her arm. "Um… Miss Yanagi?"
"I'm fine," Yanagi said, shaking her head.
But her dejected expression said otherwise.
She forced herself to continue, eyes flashing with a harsh light as her fingers dug deep into the seat. The Class President, watching through the rearview mirror, felt his heart twist.
My seat… That's real leather.
At last, Yanagi exhaled deeply and relaxed her grip, leaving four deep puncture marks behind. As if she had resigned herself to it, she said hollowly:
"In the end, while we were locked in a bitter fight with the rebels, the vampire clan—left unchecked—suddenly emerged and joined the battle."
"Each of them was accompanied by a Sacrifice, far stronger than those used by TOPS. We collapsed almost instantly. Even most of New Eridu's Shiyu Towers were seized by the vampire clan."
The Shiyu Towers… under vampire control?
Phaga's eyes widened in sudden realization.
No wonder the ether concentration in that hollow earlier had been abnormally high. So that was it.
That meant it wasn't just that one hollow. All the hollows in the Outer Ring had likely lost Shiyu Tower regulation, causing ether levels to spike across the board.
Screech—
The Class President hit the brakes, and the off-road vehicle slowly came to a stop.
"We're here," he said quietly.
Everyone looked out the window and realized they had arrived at the administrative compound of the Sons of Calydon.
Phaga opened the door and stepped out. Before he could even look up, the gentlest, most adorable being in the world came running toward him with a cheerful patter of footsteps and slammed straight into his arms.
"Mr. Phaga!"
Little Corin called his name excitedly, lifting her head from his chest to look up at him.
For a moment, the Class President's mouth twitched uncontrollably, jealousy practically dripping from the corners of his eyes.
Phaga said nothing. He gently patted Corin's head and smiled. "Take us to Lucy. We have something very important to discuss."
...