A chilling breeze swept in from behind as a bronze-hued Ethereal shot forward, its five fingers spread wide. Under the moonlight filtering through the central corridor, its claws gleamed with a cold, sinister light.
But before it could reach its target, it encountered an insurmountable barrier in its path.
Ellen's tail flicked sharply, striking the bronze Ethereal across the face before it could reach her back.
With just one hit, the Ethereal was stunned, spinning away like a kite with its string cut, its skull sent flying.
Seizing the moment, Ellen brought down her massive scissors. A terrifying chill spread instantly, blue-white light bursting forth as the blades slammed down.
Clang!
Boom!
The bronze Ethereal could never withstand such force. Faced with the icy edge of the giant scissors, its frail body was pierced clean through, collapsing like tofu under pressure.
The blade's impact struck the floor. Even its residual shock was too much to bear—the tiles cracked apart, spiderweb-like fractures spreading rapidly in every direction.
A moment later, Ellen pushed herself up on one hand, glaring fiercely at the automatic isolation barrier as it descended.
She hadn't forgotten Victoria Housekeeping's mission. Her legs tensed, and with a burst of strength, the floor beneath her shattered.
Bang!
Ellen shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
Eous nearly got blown away by the shockwave. In the instant before closing its eyes, it caught only a fleeting blur of black and white, too fast to make out.
But no matter how fast Ellen pushed herself, the half-second delay caused by the bronze Ethereal's interference stretched into an unbridgeable gulf.
In Ellen's vision, the metallic gleam of the steel door sank further and further, the moonlight spilling through the corridor swallowed by endless darkness.
Three seconds...
Two seconds...
One second...
Boom!
With a deafening crash, the automatic barrier sealed shut. Ellen hadn't made it in time.
"Tsk."
Clicking her tongue in frustration, Ellen hefted her massive scissors, ready to turn back and vent her anger on a few unlucky Ethereal.
But before she could, she saw the rest of Victoria Housekeeping approaching.
Phaga was the first to arrive, gliding down in front of her. After landing, he slipped his coat back on and asked quietly, "Didn't make it?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
Ellen puffed her cheeks and turned away, muttering, "Should've let you go instead. You run faster than me..."
"I'm only faster over long distances. In short bursts, I might not match you. If even you couldn't make it, there's no way I could."
To anyone else, it might have sounded like Phaga was comforting her—but Ellen knew better.
When Phaga subtly took her hand, he gave her palm a light squeeze.
Just as she narrowed her eyes at him in irritation, she suddenly felt something in her hand.
Looking down, she realized that at some point, Phaga had slipped a lollipop into her palm.
"Running low on energy, huh?"
Phaga tilted his head with a teasing look, then walked past her. As he passed, he added with a small grin,
"Watch your stamina. Otherwise, I might just have to carry you out of here."
With that, Phaga continued toward the automatic barrier. He stopped in front of it, tapping its surface lightly and listening to the dull echo to gauge its thickness.
After a brief pause, he turned and reported, "About ten centimeters thick. Steel. Still within the range I can cut through with one strike."
"Huh?"
Eous blinked in shock. "But isn't this your master's property? Is it really okay to just destroy it?"
Phaga rested a hand on his hip and smiled faintly. "It's fine. We'll just say the Ethereal did it."
Uh...
Eous scratched his head. After thinking about it for a moment... that actually sounded reasonable.
Lycaon's expression softened slightly, clearly intrigued by Phaga's suggestion. But after a moment's thought, he shook his head.
"No. A violent impact could trigger spatial fluctuations. That would likely invalidate all the spatial data we've collected so far."
[Fairy: Confirmed. Mr. Thiren Lycaon's assessment is accurate. If we proceed recklessly, the spatial data we've gathered may all be rendered void.]
[Fairy: All our previous efforts would vanish, just like the Master's long-lost 'Phaethon' account, forcing us to start from scratch. Subsequent path analysis would become exponentially more difficult.]
"You could've just said that plainly. No need to twist the knife..."
Eous was speechless. She really wanted to ask Fairy: Do you even remember whose fault it was that my [Phaethon] account disappeared?
But now wasn't the time to argue. There were more pressing matters at hand.
Eous turned around and looked up at Lycaon. "So, Lycaon, do you have any ideas?"
"I do."
Lycaon's tone was calm and assured as he gave a firm nod.
He crouched down and projected a schematic of the Ballet Tower's structure onto his data board.
"The Ballet Tower represents the lifelong efforts of the Ballet brothers. Its design accounted for every conceivable contingency."
"For instance, its autonomous power system."
"Unlike other buildings that lose power instantly when drawn into a Hollow, the Ballet Tower has its own dedicated energy source. Even after being trapped in the Hollow for over a decade, it's managed to maintain continuous power."
"Moreover, even if the autonomous system were destroyed, the tower also possesses an emergency power system for temporary energy needs."
As he spoke, Lycaon pressed his fist to the floor. The joint of his index finger protruded slightly, and using the brass knuckles strapped to his hand, he carved several words into the ground.
[Central Control Room]
[Emergency Power Room]
Once the words were etched, Lycaon tapped his finger against the floor and spoke in a low voice.
"The Ballet Tower is a twin-tower complex. It has two central control rooms and two emergency power rooms—one set for Tower A and another for Tower B."
"We'll need to reach the central control room first to reroute the circuit, switching the connection from the autonomous system to the emergency one. Then we'll head to the emergency power room to install the Ether batteries."
"That should restore power to Tower A and reopen the automatic isolation barrier."
[Such clear, flawless logic!]
Eous was quietly astonished, her gaze drifting to Lycaon's composed expression.
Not a hint of panic. Not a single argument among the team.
Every member of Victoria Housekeeping executed their roles with frightening precision. Even when errors occurred, no one blamed another—only reassurance and calm assessment followed.
Then someone level-headed would step up, analyze the situation, and present a rational plan.
Victoria Housekeeping... they were terrifyingly perfect.
Eous couldn't help but think back to the Cunning Hares—the team that still owed him money but often worked alongside him. A wave of emotion welled up.
If the Cunning Hares were in this situation, they'd probably be arguing nonstop until everything fell apart. Only then would they finally rally behind their trademark spirit of "Look to Me."
When facing an unbeatable Ethereal—
[Manager, think of something! Manager, help!]
When someone got hungry for ramen—
[Proxy, let me treat you to ramen! Of course, it's split-bill. Here, I've got a coupon.]
Waaah~~~
Far away from Lycaon's view, miles apart from Eous, Belle was already in tears.
Her cheeks were streaked with smudged makeup, mist clouding her eyes.
Through her blurred vision, she suddenly burst out crying.
Seeing her like that, Wise rushed over to ask what was wrong—but before he could speak, Belle threw her arms around him.
With strength seemingly beyond her size, she squeezed so hard Wise's bones creaked audibly.
"Waaah!!!"
"Bro, I finally found the right team!!!"