The army convoy stretched out in long, winding lines. But just before reaching the New Eridu boundary marker, it suddenly split.
The once-uniform formation broke into three columns. In the center, the lead armored vehicle extended its cannon barrel.
The convoy thundered forward, each rotation of the tires shaking the ground like an approaching quake.
The pinhole camera embedded in the boundary marker might as well have tried to go unnoticed—but there was no hiding it.
It lifted into view, its lens catching the cold light of the autumn air. No. 11 frowned, her gaze snapping to the glint.
She wasn't foolish enough to mistake it for something harmless. Raising her binoculars, she studied it for a moment.
"It's a pinhole camera. The vampire clans already know we're here."
She lowered the binoculars and spoke quietly from the passenger seat.
"Then we say hello with a round?" the driver asked.
"Mhm."
No. 11 gave a slight nod, voice calm. "Since they already know we're here, it'd be rude not to greet them. Fire."
Boom!
At her order, the driver grinned, popped a hidden latch, and slammed his fist down.
The cannon on the armored vehicle spat fire. Two rockets launched at once, tracing clean arcs through the sky before smashing into the distant ground.
"No mines. Push!"
With rockets clearing the way and no secondary explosions following, No. 11's eyes flashed—she immediately judged there were no mines ahead and boldly ordered the convoy forward.
[All units, all units, listen up.]
[No mines ahead. No mines ahead. Full speed—advance. Artillery, blanket the ground!]
[Tell the vampire clans… we're back!]
The driver grabbed the radio and roared into it like he was trying to blow out every eardrum on the channel.
And his comrades didn't hold back either. Like they were venting the rage of nearly being deafened by their own teammate straight onto the vampire clans, artillery fire erupted across the sky, indiscriminately hammering buildings throughout New Eridu.
Smoke billowed instantly. Structures collapsed amid waves of shrieking, grinding destruction.
Eous climbed up from Ellen's legs, knocking the black-and-white doll off in the process.
Before the doll could explode in anger, a low, shaken voice came through Eous—Belle's.
"The artillery… it's so loud. That direction is Sixth Street. That's where my brother and I lived… my second home… and now it's all gone…"
Hearing the sorrow spilling out of Eous, the black-and-white doll lost any urge to curse. Instead, it patted Eous on the shoulder, trying to comfort him.
[Ah, stuff like that happens. Bad luck comes and goes. Look on the bright side—your brother reacted fast. He was one of the first to evacuate from the city, and he brought all your assets out with him, didn't he?]
[When this is over, with what you two can do, getting back on your feet will be easy.]
"You're right…"
Eous shot the doll a sidelong look, then sat back down on Ellen's legs.
Ellen's expression softened. She reached out, wanting to rub Eous's ears—
But the next second, Eous blurted out, "But my brother forgot to bring the IOUs Nicole owes from the safe! That's a huge amount of money!"
Ellen's hand froze midair. She blinked twice, her mouth twitching.
"Proxy… what did you just say?"
Only Nicole, up in the driver's seat, looked like she'd been injected with adrenaline. Even while driving, she craned her neck back with a thrilled grin. One look at Eous's dejected face told her it was true, and she burst into laughter.
"Long live the vampire clans!!!"
For the first time in her life, Nicole thought the vampire clans were all wonderful people.
If even Wise forgot to bring the IOUs, then that meant other creditors probably forgot theirs too!
There's always a way out—Cunning Hares' finances finally won't be in the red this month!!!
But Eous couldn't let it go. The thought of Nicole getting away with it lit a fire in him. He sprang forward in a single leap—so fast that even Ellen flinched.
"Nicole! I'm going to strangle you!"
"Stop it, I'm driving." Nicole swatted him away without even looking. "Proxy, if you're bored, go play with Nekomata… Nekomata, hold Proxy for me."
"Got it, meow!"
"Ahhh, damn it! Nekomata, let go! I'll punch Nicole first! When the war's over, I'll treat you to mackerel!"
"No can do, meow. Nicole's treated me to mackerel before, meow. Even if we split the bill (whispering)… Proxy's offer is a giant empty promise, meow!"
"I—"
Eous went rigid with fury, but this body's fighting ability was honestly pathetic. He hammered Nekomata with a flurry of tiny punches, but she just laughed, completely unfazed.
Phaga couldn't help laughing at the chaos. Then the radio on his belt vibrated. He picked it up and spoke quietly:
[Hello?]
[Phaga, it's No. 11.]
[What is it?]
[We've already pushed into New Eridu. The vampire clans have deployed mixed-blood vampires to intercept us.]
No. 11 stayed tucked behind a wall corner, peeking out to read the situation. A mixed-blood vampire's rocket slammed close enough to force her back, but she kept talking.
[No purebloods?]
[Not in broad daylight. They don't dare show themselves. But that's not the point—we split here.]
[…Understood.]
What was coming had to come.
Phaga went silent for a moment, then looked to Nicole. "Nicole. Left turn ahead—we break off from the army and head to [Warehouse No. 1]."
"Roger!"
Nicole was in a strangely good mood. Even though what they were doing was practically a death run, she wore a bright smile.
The truck slipped away from the back of the convoy and changed course, quietly peeling off while the mixed-blood vampires were tied down by the army.
Not long after, more than thirty trucks behind Nicole followed the turn as well, clinging tightly to her headlights without the slightest deviation.
"Proxy, enough messing around. Time to work."
Phaga turned toward Eous.
"Got it. This is nothing!"
Eous swore it confidently.
Far away in the Outer Ring, Belle swept her hair back and slammed her palm on the table. For once, she wasn't being stingy like she'd learned from Nicole—she was downright lavish.
"Fairy, deduct whatever you want for this month's electricity. Five times? Fifty? Five hundred—doesn't matter!"
"Fairy, show me your limit!"
"Hack every single camera in all of New Eridu—right now!"
"And bill everything to the New Eridu mayor!"
[Fairy: Shocked. I have never seen such a generous master. I feel like singing a song.]
[Fairy: Fairy, Fairy, GO! GO!]
In an instant, every generator in the Outer Ring seemed to freeze for a beat—then erupted into a unified roar.
They snapped out of "retirement mode" and into full gallop.
Combined with the generators the army had brought out from the city—thousands of units in total—their surface temperatures shot past eighty degrees in seconds, white steam curling from their casings.
For a moment, they looked like machines being pushed beyond their limits.
And that overload—no, Fairy—gathered the terrifying energy, converted it into raw processing power, and used Eous as the conduit to inject it straight into New Eridu's communications network.
In a heartbeat, New Eridu's network felt like it had been invaded by a cybernetic Cthulhu—shaking the entire system the instant it set foot inside.
Even the vampire clans—who controlled the entirety of New Eridu's Shiyu Tower and, in theory, could track every breeze and tremor in the city—were startled.
They tried desperately to break through.
But like a true Cthulhu, it could not be stared at, could not be observed, could not be described, could not be defined—
No matter what they did, in the short term, they had no answer.
The Outer Ring's coalition had launched its first strike against the vampire clans:
Information Warfare.
And the Outer Ring won—completely.
Phaga opened his laptop. Fairy had already pulled every nearby surveillance feed onto the screen, tracking all suspicious figures and their every move.
He stared at the display, watching every tiny ripple of activity through the sway of the truck, and let out a quiet sigh.
"There are plenty of places in the city with food…"
He lifted his eyes slightly, as if looking through the screen and into the city itself.
"So, vampire clans—do you know which one we're heading for?"