Ellen had just presented a disturbingly valid point.
After all, how could they possibly investigate an area that's been wiped off the map?
"... Lord Lycaon, what shall we do?"
The Wolf Thiren was honestly at a loss for words.
"Hah~ What can we do? There's no way to contact the Master while we're in the Hollow, and we can't exactly leave Master Illya in Zone A17 to go ask..."
Rina frowned.
"So?"
"Trust the Master's judgement, Rina. There must be some reason why he commissioned Master Illya specifically."
The Head Maid of Victoria Housekeeping let out a sigh.
"Then what of the investigation?"
Lycaon shook his head lightly.
"We shall simply adapt as we always do. Victoria Housekeeping will not be hindered by a mere explosion."
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While Lycaon and the others were discussing the possible hindrances to their investigation, Illya had encountered a rather annoying issue.
As he ventured deeper into Zone A17, or the Lost Void, he started to feel a rather familiar Ether disturbance-
"Is that the.. Dark Wall?"
Illya let out a sigh.
There was an agreement between Void Hunters that required them to report all matters related to the Dark Wall to the others.
Illya had neither the time nor the means to contact the rest of the Hunters, including the newer additions to their roster, and it wasn't possible to drop the mission altogether because of this setback.
Thankfully, due to the target of this subjugation mission, Illya had a solution.
Geppetto lingered near the deeper levels of Zone A17, near the Lost Void, and ordinarily wouldn't venture very far out unless it had a reason.
Illya was going to give it a reason.
Most Ethereals of Geppettos' level want the same thing: to move out of the depths of Hollow Zero to an outer area hollow.
And how do they do that?
By increasing the Ether levels in their area to set the stage for their "descent".
So what was Illya going to do?
Well, he was going to increase the Ether concentration in the area and fish the big ol' Ethereal out of its den.
The Hunter inhaled deeply, feeling the Ether particles in the air.
Stretching out both of his arms, Illya began to gather the particles, concentrating them into a sphere that lay between his palms.
The air around him began to distort subtly as more and more Ether was gathered into the sphere, and soon, it began to grow in size.
Unfortunately, despite the rather enormous amount of Ether Particles Illya had gathered, it still wasn't enough to reach the threshold for Geppettos' descent.
Realizing this, Illya began to expand his range outwards, collecting particles from Zone A16, A18, and A19.
Streams of chromatic black began to flow towards Illya, his form resembling more of a swirling cyclone of black than an actual humanoid.
Illya fed those rivers of Ether particles into the sphere, making it grow until it was nearly as big as him.
The sheer density of the Etheric particles concentrated within the comparatively tiny space made the sphere emit a faint but tangible gravitational pull, causing nearby rubble to shift ever so slightly.
This, Illya deemed, would be more than enough to entice the massive Ethereal, and it seemed like he was right.
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In the distance, a shiver shot down a certain Hoshimi's spine.
"... Chief?"
Yanagi, the Deputy Chief of Section 6, shot a questioning look in her superiors' direction.
Miyabi's ears twitched as she gazed off into the depths of Hollow Zero.
Before Yanagi or the other members of Section 6 could even react, the youngest documented Void Hunter in New Eridu shot off into the distance without a word.
"CHIEF!!!!!"
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A massive shadow was cast over Illya as the visage of Geppetto drifted overhead.
The Ethereal's distinctive posture felt rather unsettling, and its core harbored a terrifyingly immense amount of violent etheric energy, one that felt so tangibly real it would frighten even the most hardened of individuals.
Out of the corner of his eye, Illya could see the figures of a few Ethereals gathering amidst the rubble, their metaphorical stares boring into his being.
Needless to say, Illya was quite outnumbered.
Geppetto drifted downwards, its attention held solely by the etheric sphere in Illya's possession, the massive ethereal's desire clear despite its inability to emote.
Slamming its palms on the ground, Geppetto let out an ear-shattering roar that shattered the silence blanketing Zone A17.
Illya's expression remained unchanged, the cloak covering his upper body fluttering in the wind. (A/N: We see the fit, gng T-T)
As soon as Geppetto made its presence known, Illya began to release his hold on the Ether in the sphere, letting the particles drift back into the air-
After all, now that the target was in front of him, the bait was no longer needed.
The area around him began to darken as the Ether sphere collapsed, the particles flowing out in a torrential wave.
Geppetto showed some indication of bewilderment; its large head tilted in obvious confusion.
While the massive Ethereal was trying to figure out what Illya was trying to do, the Hunter was staring off into the distance, specifically at the roof of a ruined building.
'Are they still not there?'
A small frown tugged at the corner of his lips.
Geppetto let out a low growl, commanding a few ethereals to circle the Hunter.
'Huh. From what I remember, Lycaon was a pretty fast guy and Rina was no slouch either... Was that Ellen girl slowing them down? Wait, no, she's a Shark Thiren- If anything, she'll be the fastest one among them...'
Illya stood still as he got lost in his thoughts, clearly paying zero mind to the danger surrounding him.
One of the ethereals circling Illya, a Dullahan, closed on the stationary hunter, its blade streaking towards his neck.
Illya didn't even blink.
CLANG
The Dullahan tilted its head in confusion; the feeling transmitted through the blade felt far too solid to be flesh, yet the fact that its blade had hit Illya's neck was undeniable.
Illya's gaze flickered towards the blade.
Shrugging it off, the Hunter returned his gaze to the buildings, more specifically, to the faint blue glow illuminating the sky.
'Oh, there it is.'
Illya turned to the Dullahan in front of him and then at Geppetto.
"Say, would you happen to know what happens when you split an Ether atom?"
The Ethereals looked at him in confusion.
"You see, the nucleus of an Ether atom has an immense number of protons and Neutrons. Far more than Uranium and Plutonium, in fact."
Illya cleared his throat as he gathered some of the residual ether particles from his earlier stunt.
"When you split an atom of the Uranium or Plutonium variety, it begins to emit gamma rays and release energy, becoming lighter in the process. Ether Atoms similarly release energy when they are split, but because of the larger number of fundamental particles composing the atom, it in turn releases far more energy than Uranium or Plutonium could ever hope to produce."
The Ethereals surrounding him began to attack his body ferociously as he monologued, but Illya didn't pay them any mind as he kept talking.
"The neutrons inside a split atomic nucleus will escape as a result of the fission, triggering a chain reaction in which the escaping neutrons will split the other atomic nuclei around it. As the reaction continues, the atomic mass will become critical, and then supercritical, triggering an explosion that could quite literally level cities."
Illya allowed a tiny trickle of ether to enter his body.
"The fission of Uranium and Plutonium atoms can trigger a devastating explosion, one that could probably level a significant portion of New Eridu.... So what do you think an explosion utilizing the fission of Etheric atoms could do?"
Geppetto let out a massive roar, the Ethereal feeling the utterly cataclysmic force building in Illya's comparatively small body.
Inside Illya's body, the tiny stream of etheric energy he had absorbed began to multiply continuously, the energy so incredibly dense that it literally formed a black chromatic aura around his figure.
The blades and fangs of the ethereals around him disintegrated as they met the dense force coating him; the immense etheric energy Illya was emitting destabilized the latent ether in the atmosphere.
Geppetto let out another cry; however, this one echoed with a rather terrified cadence.
The massive ethereal shot up into the air in an attempt to escape the promised devastation, but the grin on Illya's face foretold the inevitable outcome.
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"Chief!! Where are you going?!"
Yanagi, Harumasa, and Soukaku, who were frantically running after Miyabi, called out in confusion.
The Void Hunter was rushing forward with a reckless abandon uncharacteristic of her usually composed demenour, an indication of just how baffling this situation was.
Section 6 crossed into Zone A16 and was on a direct course of Zone A17, but suddenly, the Chief that they were currently chasing frantically froze in her tracks.
Finally catching up with Miyabi, the rest of Section 6 caught their breath.
Yanagi's gaze flickered towards the Void Hunter's face, capturing in her eyes the unexpected expression blanketing Miyabi's face:
Utter shock.
"... Miyabi?"
Sokaku and Harumasa were both put on guard by both the change in address and the lingering unease in their Deputy Chief's tone.
Miyabi hurriedly turned towards the others, her eyes brimming with urgency.
"RUN!"
A flash lit up the entirety of Zone A17, nearly blinding them despite being an entire zone away.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
A pillar of fire shot up into the area, a giant mushroom cloud brushing against the sky.
The young Hunter of Calamity stared at the calamity in front of her, her eyes trembling.
Section 6 turned tail and sprinted as fast as they possibly could.
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Lycaon stared off into the distance, the barrel of the flaregun in his grasp still smoking as their surroundings lit up in hues of blue.
Victoria Housekeeping had just launched the flare Illya had given them into the air and was now waiting for the Void Hunter to begin his part of the operation.
Ellen, who was lounging on a loose bit of rubble vaguely resembling a seat, turned to Rina.
"So how long are we supposed to wait for?"
The Shark Thiren unwrapped another piece of candy and popped it into her mouth.
Rina shrugged.
"Neither Lycaon nor I have had the privilege of witnessing Master Illya's might. This is just as new to you as it is to us."
Ellen frowned.
"I thought you'd taken a few jobs from this guy before?"
Lycaon shot Victoria Housekeeping's combat specialist a sharp look.
"Ellen-"
Unfortunately for Lycaon and rather fortunately for Ellen, his scolding was cut short by a blinding light.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Despite currently lingering around the outer edge of Zone A16, they were still close enough in proximity to feel the shockwave.
Victoria Housekeeping took cover behind some nearby rubble, their usually prim and proper clothing disheveled.
Ellen, caught quite off guard, accidentally dropped the candy in her mouth.
Coughing into her mouth, Rina tapped Lycaon on the shoulder.
"... Lord Lycaon? How exactly are we going to explain this to the Master...?"
A rare look of indignation spread across the Wolf Thiren's face.
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(A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed!
Quick note, I changed the explosion radius I gave in the previous chapter because I realized that using the Tsar bomb as a reference was a bit illogical, and toned it down by an order of magnitude.
Other than that, I tried my best to stay on theme with ZZZ's scientific power system with Illya's abilities, and I hope that my explanation of fission was accurate enough to satisfy.
Keep in mind, I did a very surface-level study of the principles of a nuclear bomb, so if I got some stuff wrong, feel free to comment and clear up any of my misconceptions.
With that out of the way, if you're currently enjoying the story, add it to your collection and drop a few comments so I can get a bit of feedback!
See you guys in the next chapter!)