Earlier
"What was that?" Someone mutters as they saw a huge explosion and feels the powerful shockwave from a distance. The person is a tall anthropomorphic white-furred wolf with a long, fluffy tail, a pair of ears with black tips, wearing a butler uniform along with a pair of fingerless gloves, and having a pair of mechanical prosthetic legs.
"Did the explosive transported by the Vision Corporation get triggered and explode by a random Hollow Raider?" Another person says. It's a young girl with black hair and a long shark tail, wearing a maid uniform while holding a giant pair of scissors.
"It's very hard to tell, given our device keeps warning us about an increase in Hollow Activity," The wolf man says with a grimace.
"Oh, no. Corin," Another person speaks. She's a woman with long gray hair, wearing a maid's outfit. Floating next to her is a pair of customized Bangboo.
"Let us depart, we have to make sure she is alright," The man says as both maids nod in agreement before they start to search for Corin. It didn't take long for them to see Corin, but she was very far away from them.
To make it worse, someone they didn't recognize is running towards her. The wolf man growls instinctively before noticing a spike of Ether concentration from the opposite direction of the man. He turns, and his eyes widen in shock as he sees the Ethereal that's infamous in this particular Hollow, Dead End Butcher, got damaged so badly and even missing one of its arms, starts to enter its second form by growing a second pair of ears.
The wolf man hears Corin scream and turns to see the man who ran away scoop her like a sack of potatoes. He immediately rushes towards them while making sure his ears catch their conversation.
"W-wah! W-what is going on!?!?" Corin yells, which made Lycaon angry. "S-sir, please let me go!"
...he made a mental note to himself, teach Corin how to be more aggressive towards a kidnapper.
"If you want me to leave you alone with a giant, dangerous Ethereal who's going on its 2nd phase Boss battle, then you're crazier than you expect!" The stranger yells at Corin in disbelief.
...perhaps, he may have misjudged the young man. Still, he isn't getting scold-free for calling Corin crazy. He also wonders what this '2nd phase Boss battle'.
But, he didn't get the chance to think much about it as he saw the upgraded Dead End Butcher jump toward them. The man increases his pace; his heart grows anxious at the possibility of Corin getting injured. As he runs, he sees the young man shield Corin from harm multiple times.
He is unsure why he did it, but he considers himself in debt to that young man. But his priority is to get them to safety. Unfortunately, the Butcher sent them flying towards a random rift, much to the man's horror.
"NO!" The wolf man yells as he sees Corin flying into the rift along with the stranger, who looks half dead. Before he could reach it, the rift had closed, and the wolf man could only stare in shock and horror.
"No..." As the wolf man processed what he just saw, the maids arrived not long after and had seen everything. Both look horrified at everything while the Butcher roars.
"..." The wolf man raises his head and glances at the Ethereals with a pure, unadulterated rage bubbling in his chest as he snarls, ice forming on his legs, his pupil shrinks as it forms slits. Unknown to them, an unknown energy combines with the ice on his legs.
Without any warning, he charges.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Back with Cunning Hares
"Nah... (Boss...)" Slyboo mutters in concern as he looks at unconscious Caelus getting wrapped with bandages and cleaned up by the elderly people.
"How is he?" Nekomiya asks in concern.
"Surprisingly okay," A random elderly person with a missing arm says. "He loses a lot of blood, but he is alright. All the wounds on his body had closed, and his bruises had healed up."
"..." Anby heard this and frowned a bit, wondering how it was possible. She vaguely remembers her past, and technology or knowledge capable of bioengineering humans with regeneration that powerful has ever existed.
As for how she knows, it's a story for another time.
"Um, is he really a human?" Nekomiya asks fearfully.
"Let's not ask too many questions," Anby suggests with narrowed eyes. "It's not our place to ask such a question. And I hope you don't ask when he wakes up, because he doesn't have to tell us."
"Okay, okay, I was just curious," Nekomiya says, muttering the last part to herself.
"Did he encounter the Dead End Butcher itself?" Nicole mutters. "With how he easily cleared a horde of Ethereals, Dead End Butcher is the only thing that could leave him in that state."
"W-wah, is he that powerful?" They all turn towards the maid girl that Caelus had protected earlier, in they learn her name is Corin.
"Well, he is," Nicole says while crossing her arms. "The number of Ethereals he cleared alone is more than Anby and Billy did earlier before we fell here."
"No argument there,"/"That is true," Billy and Anby say in unison.
"...it's my fault..." Corin mutters while twirling her thumb, gaining everyone's attention. "He...he could've fought better if he wasn't busy protecting me..."
"...what is your relation with him?" Nicole asks while raising her eyebrow.
"I-I'm a nobody to him," Corin explains. "I...never met this man in my entire life until now. And yet...."
"...so he's a big softie..." Nicole mutters.
"Well, he did save Phil from the Hollow not long ago," Billy mentions. "And he admits how Phil and Caelus were just strangers who just happened to be neighbors."
"O-oh...." Corin mutters before looking at Caelus's unconscious form.
"I hear something from over here!" They all tensed up as they heard unfamiliar voices from one of the tunnels. Nicole, Anby, Billy, Nekomiya, and Corin brace themselves for an upcoming enemy. Much to their surprise, they were greeted with a group of Public Security Officers, and the most recognizable ones are Zhu Yuan and Qingyi.
All of them know Zhu Yuan as she is famous amongst the New Eridu Public Security, mostly due to the number of criminals admitting in Inter-Knot that they are willing to get captured if it's Zhu Yuan. There are some who think she's a very capable fighter.
"The Cunning Hares!?" Zhu Yuan instantly recognises the group of Hollow Raiders. The Cunning Hare is an infamous group known for the large number of complaints coming from the Inter-Knot users and how much of debt they haven't paid.
"Wait, civilians?" Qingyi mutters in surprise, while at the same time relieved that she follows her instinct to investigate. As she glances around the crowd, she notices a familiar figure lying unconscious. She takes a closer look before widening her eyes.
"Caelus!?!" Qingyi exclaims in shock, causing Zhu Yuan to glance at her senior before glancing around and finding him amongst the crowd.
"Wait, you guys know him!?" Nicole asks in disbelief.
"I was about to ask you guys the same question," Qingyi says as she raises her staff, her eyes glow blue as electricity and frost come from her staff. "What did you do to the boy?"
"Wait, don't fight!" A little girl walks between them and raises her hands to stop them.
"Girl, step aside, you might get hurt," Qingyi says.
"Please, don't. These people, they and the man you recognize, had saved me from the Dead End Butcher," The girl says as she tearfully looks at the short officer. "Please, don't fight....and help Mister Caelus..."
"...I suppose we have far important things to do, evacuate you all, along with helping Caelus." Upon hearing this, the entire citizens sigh in relief.
"Medics, make sure everyone's injury is treated!" Zhu Yuan commands.
"Yes, captain!" Some officers wearing full armor holding a bag of a first-aid kit, rush towards the crowd, while some of them guide them to form a proper line.
"Um, does anyone know what this is?" One officer asks while pointing at Caelus's lance strangely.
"It's Mister Caelus's weapon," The little girl answers innocently.
"...we might need to get this for investigation," The officer mutters before he attempts to pick it up, but it won't budge. "W-what the!?! Why is it so heavy!?!"
"Hey, focus on preparing for evacuation!" One officer scolds his teammate while checking for headcounts.
"Well, this is one of the times when I am glad Pubsec is here," Nicole says with a sigh of relief.
"You're not off the hook yet, Nicole of the Cunning Hares," Qingyi says with a frown. "My advice? Don't count the chicks before they hatch."
"...I have no idea what you're saying," Nicole says in a deadpan manner. Seth, who was amongst the crowd, looks wary towards Anby and Billy.
"...this is not what I expect," Seth mutters as he continues to glance at the duo.
"...why does he look like a parent trying to catch a child stealing cookies?" Billy asks, causing an indignant meow from Seth.
"He does look like that innocent and naive law-abiding officer from one movie I watched," Anby says as they both nod.
"You know I can hear you two loud and clear!" Seth exclaims in displeasure. Meanwhile, the little girl and Corin look at their saviour in concern, hoping he's gonna be okay.
"It's strange, he has lost a lot of blood, yet all his wounds have closed." One of the medics commented before shaking his head. "Never mind, we need an emergency blood transfusion. What type-!?"
"O," Qingyi says, remembering she once took a glimpse at his medical records. Everyone looks at her strangely. "What are you youngsters looking at? Get back to work!"
'Youngster?' The Cunning Hares, Nekomiya, and Corin thought with a strange look. Out of nowhere, they hear more footsteps from the tunnel.
"...we didn't send reinforcement down here." Zhu Yuan says with a frown, which triggers an alarm in everyone's head. From the tunnel, they saw a bunch of people wearing the PubSec armor walking out of the tunnel.
"O-officers?! What are you guys doing here?!" One of them exclaims in surprise.
"We should be asking you that," Qingyi says with a frown, raising her quarterstaff.
"Wait, they're the guys who stopped us from leaving!" The girl exclaims, and everyone instantly recognizes them as fakes.
"...you all shouldn't be here," The fake officer says coldly before raising his arm. Every fake officer raised their guns towards the crowd, while the PubSec officers shielded the citizens.
"You guys are out of your mind," Zhu Yuan says as she raises her gun. The Cunning Hares also raise their weapons along with Nekomiya and Corin.
"I suggest you should reconsider," The fake officer taunts, and everyone hears more guns being loaded. They look upward and grimace, seeing more fake officers pointing guns at them. "You guys are outnumbered."
Everyone feels frustrated and slightly helpless in their current situation. They are capable of getting rid of all of them, but the issues are the civilians. Every one of them is in the line of fire, and they could become casualties when the fight occurs.
"Is there a reason why you all are here?" Qingyi can't help but be curious. Since the civilians are in the explosive range, they could've just detonated and killed them all.
"We're simply here to keep them inside, and we're checking on them in case any of them get out," the fake officer says, a cruel smile hidden beneath its mask. "Who would've thought the Public Security would come here. So, we decided to finish the job, making sure no one here could get out."
"You bastard!" Seth yells in anger, unable to believe such a cruel person exists.
"So, a naive idiot is amongst your ranks," The fake officer mocks before raising his hand. "Kill them all,"
"No!" Everyone instantly moves, acting as shields for the civilians while the fake officers open fire. The same little girl saw this in horror before closing her eyes, clasping both of her hands as she prays for anyone to save them.
It was silent for a few moments, and the little girl opened her eyes before she gasped in surprise. All civilians, along with the PubSecs, Cunning Hares, and others, notice they are surrounded by a barrier made of flames. Everyone was surprised by the turn of events before noticing a pillar of flames coming from a distance.
As the flame clears, it reveals Caelus getting up, and a tinge of orange glows on the end of his hair. His hand reached for the lance, and instantly, the snow covering the lance melted away to reveal a glowing orange crystal blade, a black and gold hilt and handle, and flames erupting from the lance.
"W-what!?" The fake officer stammers in disbelief as Caelus pulls the lance from the ground and twirls it, causing a wave of flames to erupt and start melting away the fake officers' weapon. Everyone yells in pain as they drop the melting weapons.
Qingyi stares at the scene in disbelief, wondering what had just happened. One thing that Qingyi notices is that the energy reading from the boy is similar yet different from the frost power she somehow gained. All she could think was what in the world is going on.
"I suggest you bastards surrender," Caelus growls before glancing at the fake officers. "Or you'll feel the flames wielded by the cosmic god to forge an indestructible wall."
[Preservation (LVL 1): Unlocked!]
[Qlipoth, Aeon of Preservation, has gazed on you]
To be Continued