Check out my new translation!
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The body of an Ethereal was composed of ether crystals, and these monsters could activate their own ether energy to absorb and use the ether within a Hollow, strengthening and repairing themselves. This gray-white ballerina was no exception. Ignis had gravely injured it in their brief clash, yet it restored the damage in an instant.
"Proxy, stay somewhere safe." Von Lycaon's tone remained flat, as though the appearance of such a monster was nothing unusual to him.
His greaves vented a surge of gas as he launched a high sweeping kick from the side toward the creature's head. At the same time, the Salamander did not sit idle—golden light faded from his fist, the disintegration field activated, and he hammered straight toward the Ethereal's chest.
Facing attacks from two directions, the tall Ethereal twisted its waist; its blade-like legs slid backwards like sharpened ice skates, and with a sudden arching bend—almost like a steel-board bridge—it narrowly avoided both strikes. Even as it retreated, Corin had already blocked the escape route, the petite maid yanking up her massive long-handled sawblade as the shrieking blade carved toward its head.
The Ethereal let out a low, hollow laugh—half mockery at Corin's audacity, half applause for her seamless timing. It pushed off with its left leg, then lifted and extended its torso in parallel, spinning around with immense waist strength.
Even as an Ethereal, the gray-white ballerina's obsession with dance had not diminished. This advanced maneuver was effortless for its transformed body. Its razor limbs slammed against Corin's circular saw as it spun, sparks bursting in dazzling showers.
Though Corin was strong, the centrifugal force of the Ethereal's spin still sent her skidding backward. The small maid cast Von Lycaon an apologetic look; the Wolf-Thiren nodded slightly, indicating she had done well.
Corin's sawblade swing delayed the creature by less than two seconds—but for an Adeptus Astartes, that was more than enough. Ignis moved fast, seizing the Ethereal's left leg—the one it used for attacking and balance. Blue disintegration fields clashed violently against the Ethereal's ether-radiation field, arcing with electricity. With a single lift of the giant's arm, the gray-white ballerina was hoisted up, and the Son of Vulkan slammed it to the ground once more.
But this time, its leg slipped free from Ignis's grasp. The Ethereal twisted midair, spinning lightly as it landed. During the turn, it executed two full whip-spin motions, preventing Von Lycaon from rushing in.
As the only ranged firepower within Victoria Housekeeping Co, Rina directed her Bangboo—Drusilla and Anastella—forward. The two Bangboo orbited the Ethereal, blue arcs of electricity forming between them. With a wave of Rina's hand, the arcs intensified, a surge of current blasting into the Ethereal's torso. Yet this lethal voltage—enough to carbonize a human instantly—seemed insufficient against the gray-white dancer.
Its movements paused, but it showed neither injury nor sluggishness. Clearly, this Ethereal possessed extremely high resistance to electricity.
Von Lycaon refused to let this creature target Rina, who excelled far more at ranged support than close combat. Using his running momentum, his greaves vented a burst of gas, propelling him into a flying kick midair. The Ethereal's head snapped toward him like a wind-up clock. It lifted its blade-leg to meet his strike head-on.
While its attention shifted, Ellen—who had been knocked away earlier—found her chance. The great shark lunged from the shadows, expression dark; for the first time, Ignis saw this usually lazy girl reveal a predatory glare. She spread open her iron jaws, aiming directly for the creature's head.
With two sharp clangs, the Ethereal's blade-leg blocked Von Lycaon's kick—but Ellen's jaws sheared off its head. The headless body collapsed and sat motionless on the ground.
The severed head rolled a few times across the floor, disappearing into the shadows.
"What a truly formidable foe—an elegant yet deadly dancer." Von Lycaon looked down at the Ethereal's body, remarking calmly.
"Boss! Remember to give me a raise! Today's job is way too exhausting." Ellen rested her massive shears on her shoulder without a shred of concern for her image.
Von Lycaon's spirits, only just recovering, tightened again as he frowned. "Ellen."
The girl instantly straightened her posture, pouting.
But… was that Ethereal really dead?
Ignis felt something was wrong. Normally, a defeated Ethereal's body would gradually dissolve into the air. Could such powerful variants behave differently? When he defeated the Dead End Butcher, he'd been knocked unconscious by the final explosion's shockwave and hadn't witnessed the result.
Seeing Von Lycaon and Ellen beginning to argue again while Corin shrank back uneasily, Rina realized it was her cue to mediate. Activating her mag-lift boots, she started toward them—when her peripheral vision caught the Ethereal's corpse. Her pupils widened.
It wasn't dead!
The headless Ethereal rose, lifting its blade-leg high. Von Lycaon stood with his back to it; although he heard the rush of air, it was already too late. Ellen saw it but was too far to intercept—she could only reach out to try pulling Von Lycaon back. Corin, eyes shut tight, charged with her chainsaw raised.
At that moment, Ignis acted. His power gauntlet crackled with snapping electricity as it smashed into the Ethereal's torso. His fist—larger than the headless dancer's entire chest—sent it hurtling into the shadows.
"A lapse in vigilance." Von Lycaon spoke with calm anger, the elegant wolf showing his irritation for the first time.
From within the darkness came a screeching metal scrape. The cursed thing was still alive! Ignis knew he had thrown his full strength into that punch—enough to dent a tank's armor plate, and with the disintegration field added, even a Leman Russ's main armor should have been punched through.
Damn these Ethereals… their toughness defies reason. His power gauntlets always struggled against highly active Ethereals.
When the creature reappeared, its entire combat style had changed. Its blade-legs were like ice skates, sliding across the well-maintained floors of the Ballet Twins Hollow, carving deep grooves. It had retrieved its severed head, though it seemed unable to align it properly; it sat crooked on its neck, making the thing even more disturbing.
Von Lycaon examined the gouges on the ground, his expression dark. The monster danced a grotesque ice ballet, spinning and leaping in and out of the shadows, testing everyone's patience.
"Seems it wants to invite us to share a private dance." For the first time, Von Lycaon showed his fangs as he spoke, white vapor leaving the wolf's muzzle.
The Ethereal's movements shifted again—it spun toward them, the serrated blades on its skirt flinging outward under centrifugal force. Ignis stepped forward, activating the Iron Halo. A pale blue shield manifested before the armored giant, blocking the ether-crystal projectiles.
Von Lycaon was amazed—those blades had embedded easily into the surrounding walls, yet against the Iron Halo, they simply clattered to the floor.
The gray-white ballerina had already reached them. Its blade-leg lifted high, straight and sharp, preparing to cleave down onto Ignis. Its speed was great—but an Adeptus Astartes was faster. the Salamander's punch was so swift even Von Lycaon couldn't see it. With a detonating impact, the Ethereal was blasted away once more.
When it landed again, one of its blade-legs had snapped clean off, leaving it barely able to stand. Its crooked head stared at the Salamander, and for the first time, Ignis saw confusion on an Ethereal's face.
No one intended to give it another chance to regenerate. The group rushed in, weapons swinging, smashing the creature's body nearly to pieces.
Yet even then, the Ethereal did not vanish. Its shattered form lit with dazzling specks of light, radiant ether surging outward in a massive burst, forcing everyone to retreat to avoid the blast.
When the intense ether radiation faded, the gray-white dancer once again stood before them.
"This guest truly is enthusiastic, more than willing to dance with us…" Von Lycaon adjusted his collar, slightly disheveled from the earlier battle, eyes narrowing.
It began spinning again as it lunged toward the group, though this time its speed was noticeably slower.
"Even if its movements have dulled, its stamina is nothing to take lightly," Rina said as she waved her hand, sending Drusilla and Anastella flying forward.
Compared to a frontal assault, Ellen excelled at striking when the enemy was distracted. The shark-girl jumped back a step, sprinted, and began circling behind the Ethereal.
The Salamander was growing increasingly irritated—just how tough was this thing? Even after so many attacks, they still hadn't located its core and thus couldn't destroy it outright by conventional means.
But they could not abandon the fight. Rain was ahead, along with clues to the Mountain Lion Gang's hideout. No matter what, they could not be stopped here.
The Son of Vulkan let out a battle cry: "For the Emperor!" He raised his flamethrower, unleashing a torrent of blazing fire upon the Ethereal. Sticky ether Fuel coated the ballerina's body under compressed gas pressure, turning it into a burning torch. The Salamander charged through the burning curtain, closing in on the Ethereal, raising both massive palms to strike it with a double blow—not to the ears, but to its torso.
A thunderous boom followed as the disintegration field clashed again with the ether-radiation field, popping like bursting beans. Under immense force, the Ethereal's body shattered, scattering in fragments across the floor.
"That should keep it from standing up again." The Salamander was panting now—this creature was truly troublesome.
But before he finished speaking, the fragments began to move, reassembling within only a few breaths.
"Enough already!" Ignis hurled another punch, but the Ethereal slipped aside with swift agility.
"Hey! Look over here!" From within Eous's body came Belle's voice, the Bangboo holding Rain's music player. She pressed play, and that sorrowful, pleading violin melody started again.
The gray-white ballerina was immediately captivated by the sound. Bangboo hopped over to the railing and tossed the music player down below. The Ethereal bolted after it at astonishing speed, ignoring everyone in its path—even Eous, who had tossed the device.
Like a professional diver, it leapt off the floor's edge, diving after the falling player. But midair, a spatial rift suddenly opened and swallowed both it and the device whole.
"Whew… good thing there was a Hollow Rift below." Eous, speaking in sync with Belle, wiped imaginary sweat from its brow and leaned over the railing. "It was actually attracted by music…"
"Looks like someone is trying to use an Ethereal against us," Von Lycaon approached the Bangboo.
"Was it Rain?" Belle tried to guess who would do such a thing.
"Impossible. Why would she stop someone coming to help her? Unless that blank message she sent was a trap? A lure to kill Nicole—or anyone connected to her?" Ignis considered the possibility. But Rain looked like just a little girl—would she have such intricate schemes?
As he pondered, his enhanced hearing picked up the ignition of some device, followed by the roar of propellant.
The Salamander looked up—more than a dozen rockets were already flying toward them.
Eous froze in place. Ignis rushed forward in three massive strides, activating the Iron Halo shield in front of it. Several rockets slammed into the pale blue barrier; their kinetic force and heat were completely blocked. Through Eous's viewpoint, Belle witnessed the incredible sight.
But the Salamander had only managed to protect Eous—several rockets were still headed for the Victoria Housekeeping Co. members. The great shark burst from the shadows at high speed, charging straight toward the incoming rockets. Her shears bisected the missiles midair, detonating them behind her. The shark-girl sliced apart several rockets in succession, preventing a devastating spread of fire upon her companions.
Then she charged directly toward the source of the rockets—this wasn't automated; someone had to be controlling it. As the furious shark approached, the men in combat uniforms panicked, threw their launchers aside, and began fleeing.
"Ellen, leave one awake—" Von Lycaon tried to warn her, but before he could finish, several screams echoed. He could only shake his head helplessly.
When everyone caught up, five men lay unconscious on the ground, knocked out cold. Ellen leaned against the wall, resting.
Seeing the scene, Von Lycaon sighed. Eous approached: "There were others inside the building besides us… Who are they?" Through Bangboo vision, it saw Ellen walking toward it, but just as she was about to speak, the shark-girl suddenly toppled sideways. Fortunately, Rina caught her in time.
Belle's voice cracked in fear: "Ellen, what happened? Stay with us!"
But Rina remained calm, gesturing for the Proxy not to panic. "It's fine, it's fine. She just fell asleep."
The maid commander turned Ellen's face—indeed, she was simply sleeping, even lightly snoring.
"Looks like these guys won't be waking up anytime soon." Ignis looked at the unconscious men. "Let's take them outside and question them."
Although he had more direct methods, this was not the place. Doing anything gruesome in front of so many people would only cause unnecessary panic—and the Salamanders disliked such methods anyway.
If the men woke up and refused to talk, and even memory-retrieval techniques failed… then, and only then, would he consider the last resort.
Though he hated it.