"The number of Ethereals... has clearly dropped a lot, and the size of Hollow Zero is also shrinking. That meteor just now—that must've been summoned by Father." Watching the drastically reduced numbers ahead and the meteors continuously slamming into the inside of Hollow Zero, Zhong Ling immediately realized that Zhong Yan had made his move.
A large-scale attack like Tengai Shinsei could indeed be massively effective in clearing out Ethereals. But expecting it to wipe them all out? That was nothing more than a fool's dream.
"Those big ones… they'll be coming soon." Zhong Ling's gaze locked firmly on the distant space rift. He knew damn well that the hidden giant and supergiant Ethereals would be making their move any moment now.
Roar!
Sure enough, a piercing beastly shriek echoed out, and a massive figure slowly emerged from the rift. The pressure radiating from its body dwarfed the ordinary Ethereals by orders of magnitude.
It was a giant Ethereal.
And behind it, more giant Ethereals emerged—these beasts, rarely seen even once in normal times, were now pouring out of the rift in groups.
Just one glance at such a scene could instill fear deep into anyone's core.
"Time to start taking this seriously." With the appearance of the giants, Zhong Ling's expression hardened significantly.
Beneath his mask, the three black tomoe embedded in his pupils began to spin rapidly, transforming into a blade-shaped Sharingan—within its edge, several flower petals faintly outlined the shape of a rose.
Two different shapes in one eye—this was the mark of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
In the future, Zhong Ling and Zhong Xi had transplanted each other's eyes. As for Zhong Lan, he'd burned out his eyes completely, since activating his Dōjutsu always came at the cost of his sight. His vision had been gone from the moment Zhong Ling arrived.
"Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi!"
The instant the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was activated, Zhong Ling unleashed his ocular technique, manipulating Amaterasu's black flames to form a wall of fire in front of him, aiming to block off the incoming Ethereal army.
However, that wall of fire could only stop weaker Ethereals. Against upper-level and giant ones, it barely posed any threat.
Even if the black flames would never extinguish, it still took time to burn them down.
Roar!
Suddenly, one giant Ethereal tore through the wall of fire and lunged at Zhong Ling, radiating pure rage.
Without the phasing ability, Zhong Ling couldn't face enemies like this with the same calm as Zhong Yan.
"Susanoo!"
In the next instant, purple energy surged around him, quickly forming a skeletal frame. From its back, a massive skeletal hand extended, intercepting the charging giant Ethereal.
Susanoo continued evolving. In just seconds, it transformed into the Tengu form, growing significantly larger.
"Come on, I don't care how many of you there are—I'm not letting any of you through!"
...
"Purple? If I remember right, the one Zhong Yan summoned before was blue, wasn't it?"
The moment Zhong Ling summoned his Susanoo, everyone at the Victoria Housekeeping manor noticed something was off.
They'd seen Zhong Yan use Susanoo multiple times, and his had always been deep blue. So why the hell was this one purple?
Could it be that different colors of Susanoo had different abilities?
Nobody had an answer to that yet. Only Anby kept staring unblinking at the figure on the screen, as if trying to see through the television, the mask—everything.
While Zhong Ling was unleashing his power, in other parts of New Eridu, space nodes began to produce entire armies of giant Ethereals.
That scene alone completely shocked the demoralized Security Officers. Under the sheer pressure of such monstrous enemies, many threw down their weapons and fled.
However, during times like these, specialized units were always deployed to deal with deserters. Under threat, those fleeing were forced to return and keep fighting.
That wasn't what Zhao Anmen wanted to see.
"Giant Ethereal armies? That's impossible!" The moment he received the report, Zhao Anmen couldn't believe it.
Just one giant Ethereal from a rift was enough to give the entire Investigation Association a headache for days. An entire army of them?
That kind of pressure… even he would feel powerless and terrified facing it head-on.
He knew clearly—even if the combat power of those Ethereals had been reduced while crossing over—they were still far beyond what his Security Officers could handle.
Uchiha had already stepped in and was holding down most of the front-line pressure. There was no way Zhao Anmen could expect him to spare strength elsewhere now.
His mind raced, and he quickly issued an order: "Relay the command. Tell everyone to fall back fifty kilometers. The defensive structures in that area are at least partially complete. Once they pull back, they can use the fortifications to hold off the Ethereal army."
"But… those structures are only partially finished. Are we really going to push this through half-baked? It might be a complete waste of a critical defense line." The Security Officer delivering the report hesitated, clearly unsure.
Hearing that, Zhao Anmen exploded with rage, shouting, "What's more important—those defenses or the lives of my men?! You expect Security Officers with ether pistols to hold off that many giant Ethereals?!"
The Public Security Bureau and the Hollow Special Operations were two very different entities. One was tasked with maintaining city order; the other, with Hollow exploration.
Naturally, the equipment gap between the two was massive—sky and earth.
Security Officers could handle regular Ethereals without much trouble, but against giants? Their weapons were practically useless.
Those fortifications, half-finished as they were, were still far better than running in with ether pistols.
"I… I understand. I'll issue the order now." Seeing Zhao Anmen's fury, the Security Officer didn't dare say another word. He turned to leave and pass on the command.
But just as he reached the exit of the command tent, he stopped in his tracks—and his face lit up with joy.
"Commander—Commander! Reinforcements from the Hollow Special Operations have arrived!"
Hearing that, Zhao Anmen jumped to his feet. Moments later, Hoshimi Miyabi walked into the tent, dressed in uniform.
"Section Chief Hoshimi Miyabi of Hollow Special Operations Section Six, under orders from above, has brought reinforcements to resist the Ethereal army."
"Much appreciated. Security Officer, pull your troops back from the front line."