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Ordinary Ethereals were mere toys for Dragredder. To provide any semblance of a challenge, the Hollow needed to produce something far more substantial. The strongest entities present were undoubtedly the three Durahans—high-level Ethereals with enough intelligence to coordinate their strikes. In any other circumstance, such a trio would have been a catastrophic turning point for a Public Security Bureau squad.
Qingyi scratched her blue hair, her mechanical processors struggling to categorize the scene. She had expected a blockbuster battle, something worthy of popcorn and a front-row seat. Instead, she was witnessing a one-sided massacre.
The three Durahans had bravely charged the crimson dragon, and then... there was no "then." The largest of them was snatched mid-air, its crystalline torso being systematically crushed in Dragredder's massive maw. The second was ensnared by the dragon's coiling body; as the beast constricted with several tons of pressure, the "black hole" core in the Durahan's head began to fracture and hiss.
As for the third, its treatment was arguably worse. Dragredder was "playing" with it using the Drag Saber tail-blade. It was a simple, sadistic game: if the blade connected, a limb fell off. If it missed, it just meant the Durahan had been fast enough to earn another few seconds of existence.
The scene was Dragredder 1v3, and it was eating while it fought. The tail-blade struck the Durahan's armor with a rhythmic clack-clack-clack, like a blacksmith hammering cold iron. The one in its mouth was almost entirely consumed, and the one being crushed had long since ceased to function.
"I'm actually a little terrified right now," Qingyi admitted sincerely. Her programming covered how to neutralize Ethereals, but it said nothing about how to handle a prehistoric engine of cruelty and ferocity. She looked at the red knight standing nearby, wondering what kind of man could possibly be the master of such a beast.
Zhu Yuan wanted to speak, but the words died in her throat. If this "Rider" were an enemy, she would have fought to the death without hesitation. But in this grey area, where he was clearly a third party obliterating the city's enemies, she found herself stuck. She lacked the conviction to attack a potential ally, yet her duty as an officer made her wary of such uncontrolled power.
Meanwhile, Kenji was busy cleaning up the stragglers around the Substitute Cloth. Most Ethereals had been drawn toward Dragredder like moths to a flame, but a few stubborn ones still surrounded his double. Kenji stepped in, his armored fists shattering crystalline carapaces with every strike.
Once the area was clear, Kenji gave the Substitute Cloth a quick nod of approval before walking toward Zhu Yuan. He stopped exactly six meters away—close enough to talk, far enough to not be a threat.
"What's the objective this time?" Kenji asked.
His voice, filtered through the Ryuki mask, sounded strange but oddly grounded. Zhu Yuan blinked, momentarily taken aback by his directness. He sounded like an investigator asking for a status report.
"We're here for a rescue mission," she replied. In her urgency, she decided that whether the Rider was a "good person" or a "suspicious entity" didn't matter. If he could help save the workers, the PSB's star officer was pragmatic enough to take the win.
"Can you locate them?"
"I have a PSB short-range transmitter," Zhu Yuan explained quickly. "Remote scans from outside the Hollow are failing due to the interference, but at this range, my gear acts as a high-fidelity radar for human life signs. We just need to cover enough ground."
"Understood."
Kenji turned toward Dragredder, who was still batting a headless Durahan around with its tail. "Stop playing. We have work to do."
At his command, Dragredder shook its head and spat out a mangled, metallic leg. Qingyi's eyelids twitched. A high-level elite had been reduced to a literal snack. She wondered briefly if the dragon was prone to indigestion.
The dragon uncoiled, releasing the second Durahan only to incinerate it instantly with a point-blank Dragon Breath. With one final, casual flick of its tail-blade, it cleaved the third—now missing most of its limbs—cleanly in half. The three elites were gone without so much as a ripple.
Dragredder landed on all fours, crouching low. Kenji stepped onto its back and looked back at Zhu Yuan.
"Get on."
Zhu Yuan hesitated. Part of her was certain that the moment she stepped up, the beast would twist its neck and swallow her whole. But she looked at the ticking clock on her HUD—the victims' Ether corrosion levels were rising. She pushed her fear aside and stepped onto the dragon's scales, standing firm beside Kenji.
Dragredder surged upward, ascending diagonally into the dark, swirling sky of the Hollow. From the air, the search was infinitely more efficient.
Zhu Yuan proved her mettle; despite standing on the back of a flying predator, her hands never shook as she adjusted her earpiece, monitoring the pings from her radar.
The dragon circled the sector once. Zhu Yuan's eyes sharpened. "Found one! Second signal detected... and the third! All three are accounted for." She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
The victims, however, were having a much worse time. They had survived the initial Hollow manifestation and avoided the Ethereals, only to see a massive red dragon descending from the clouds. Before they could even scream, the beast reached down with its claws, snatching them up and carrying them into the sky. Two of them fainted instantly; the third simply screamed until his lungs gave out.
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