The reinforcements from the Hollow Special Operations arrived, immediately taking over command from Zhao Anmen and ordering all the Security Officers to retreat and rest.
Upon learning they could finally return to rest, all the Security Officers on the front lines fighting the Ethereal Army revealed expressions of pure joy.
Only those who had personally endured the brutality of this battle truly understood how cruel it was—and how miraculous it was to have survived.
With command off his shoulders, Zhao Anmen also felt a huge weight lifted. The intense command responsibilities over the past day had left him mentally and physically exhausted, and now he finally had the chance to rest.
However, with such a major incident occurring in New Eridu, Zhao Anmen, as the highest-ranking official in the Public Security Bureau, couldn't just stay on the sidelines. Sending his subordinates to calm the masses—this kind of surface-level task—was something he still had to do.
Meanwhile, within Hollow Zero.
Gazing out at the ravaged land and the now drastically reduced Ethereal Army, the Overlord's mood was difficult to describe.
It couldn't believe that just moments ago, an uncountable number of meteors had rained down one after another.
While the attack hadn't caused it personal harm, its Ethereal underlings had suffered devastating casualties.
Casualties among Ethereals below the giant-class exceeded a staggering 90%.
With their numbers decimated, the ether activity in Hollow Zero had noticeably declined—its very size visibly shrinking.
It seemed this plan to invade New Eridu was going to fail before it had even properly begun.
Fortunately, it had managed to send out the giant-class Ethereals in time. That meant those humans outside would suffer immense losses trying to resist them.
And beyond the giant-class, it still had the ultra-giant Exaltists.
There weren't many of those—fewer than a hundred in total.
But any single ultra-giant Ethereal was worth dozens, even hundreds, of giant-class ones.
They were its final trump card. If the giant-class army fell, it would dispatch the ultra-giants into New Eridu.
Victory or defeat hinged on this.
But just as it was thinking this, a black-flame-wrapped arrow suddenly tore through the air, slamming into one of the ultra-giant Ethereals with thunderous force.
The Ethereal let out a piercing shriek. Though the arrow didn't kill it outright, it inflicted serious damage.
The inextinguishable black flames would continue to burn its body until death.
Stunned, the Overlord looked up, only to see a figure over 500 meters tall—taller even than itself—suspended in the sky.
Within the crystal embedded in its brow stood a lone figure—Zhong Yan, the one who had earlier unleashed the devastating Tengai Shinsei upon Hollow Zero.
To him, the Ethereals attacking New Eridu were mere distractions—all of them were under the control of this Overlord.
If the Overlord were destroyed, the remaining Ethereals in Hollow Zero would be no threat.
And if the ultra-giants were eliminated as well, the scale of Hollow Zero would shrink to an unprecedented level.
"So, this is our final battle," the Overlord muttered, raising its head and locking eyes with Zhong Yan inside the colossal Susanoo.
Having reached such a level, even an Ethereal could develop intelligence and learn the languages of other species—so it speaking wasn't surprising.
"Honestly, I should thank those Exaltists. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have been able to wipe out your allies in one sweep. Now that they're gone, once I eliminate you, the crisis in New Eridu will be over."
Zhong Yan's voice was cold. With his Rinnegan awakened, he had no fear of the towering creature before him.
His Susanoo now stood over 500 meters tall—perhaps even taller than his opponent.
With a size advantage alone, let alone power, the odds were in his favor.
In all of New Eridu, this creature was likely the only one worthy of facing Zhong Yan at full strength.
With that thought, he stopped hesitating. Pressing his palms together, the Rinnegan beneath his mask began to emit a ghostly glow.
"Chibaku Tensei!"
The ground below cracked as if being drawn by an invisible force, splintering into countless fragments and rising into the sky.
Everything nearby was pulled upward by this immense suction—including the Ethereals on the ground—becoming fused with the forming meteor.
The force was so strong that even giant-class Ethereals couldn't resist. Only the Overlord and a few ultra-giants could barely hold their ground.
After this clearing technique, Zhong Yan immediately controlled the gathered rock mass and hurled it straight at the Overlord.
In response, the Overlord casually raised its arm and smashed it apart with a single punch.
The boulder burst into a rain of fragments—if any Ethereals had remained on the ground, they would've been crushed instantly.
"Change of plans. All of you, attack New Eridu! I want that city obliterated!" Sensing Zhong Yan's overwhelming presence, the Overlord immediately commanded its ultra-giants to advance and destroy the city.
The moment the order was given, the ultra-giant Ethereals passed through the spatial node and vanished from Hollow Zero.
Seeing this, Zhong Yan quickly split into multiple shadow clones, each activating their own Susanoo to intercept.
Since the clones siphoned power from the original, each of their Susanoo forms shrank to around 100 meters.
Though these wouldn't pose any threat to the Overlord, they were more than enough to deal with the ultra-giants.
Thus, in a series of reckless, self-sacrificial assaults, the ultra-giant Ethereals were swiftly wiped out—nearly half were destroyed in just minutes.
Enraged by the sight, the Overlord lashed out, swinging a claw at the real Zhong Yan hovering in the sky.
But Zhong Yan knew he couldn't go head-to-head, so he activated Kamui and vanished into the Kamui dimension just in time.
The Overlord's attack struck nothing but air.
And when it turned to deal with the remaining shadow clones, it realized Zhong Yan had withdrawn them too after completing his objective.
He had toyed with the Overlord like a monkey.