Before long, Fairy's voice reached everyone's ears.
[Warning: An unidentified object of high Ether concentration is approaching at high speed!]
"What?!"
As Fairy's alarm rang out, Geno and the others turned their gazes toward the direction they had come from.
There, a pale figure was charging toward them at a speed the group could scarcely believe.
At the same moment, Geno and Trigger—both of whom possessed Ether Vision—cried out as one. "Run!" they both shouted.
In their eyes, the Ether aura radiating off that white monster was so thick it was suffocating.
"You all go, now! I'll hold it off!"
The thing was simply too fast; even fleeing at full strength, they couldn't shake its pursuit. That being so, he would be the one to buy them time.
Geno pushed Twiggy into Trigger's arms, then summoned his longsword and charged at the monster.
"I'm going too!"
Seeing this, Number 11 snatched up her weapon and followed.
Not to be outdone, Anby spun her twin blades, Gemina, and caught up to Number 11.
In a blink, all that remained here were Yanagi Tsukishiro—clutching Mole—Trigger, and a somewhat dazed Twiggy. "Geno!"
"Get out of here first. Trigger, you protect the target and fall back—I'll go help them."
Yanagi Tsukishiro made a swift judgment: Trigger would protect Twiggy and leave, while she went to help Geno, Anby, and the others stall for time.
"Keep heading in this direction. The Section Chief and the others are already on their way."
Hearing Yanagi Tsukishiro mention the Section Chief, Trigger caught on.
"The Section Chief?! You mean that Void Hunter is coming over too."
Yanagi Tsukishiro nodded, then gripped her longblade and gave chase as well.
Having received Yanagi Tsukishiro's affirmation, Trigger thought for a moment and made his decision.
"Manager, I'll trouble you to contact that Void Hunter lady for us—please have her hurry over here as fast as she can. We'll stall for as long as we possibly can." With that, Trigger hoisted his electromagnetic rifle and tore off in the direction the group had departed.
"?! They've gone…"
Watching everyone leave one after another, Eous felt a tangle of emotions; at a moment like this, the feeling that she alone could be of no help left her utterly powerless.
And beside her, Twiggy felt exactly the same.
"This body of mine—even if I'd gone along, I'd only have been one more burden."
Eous's ears twitched; she rolled over and comforted Twiggy.
"It's all right, Twiggy. Things will surely get better."
She knew Twiggy's physical condition—if anything, the fact that earlier she had even managed to infiltrate the rebel base together with Yanagi Tsukishiro had already exceeded their expectations.
Twiggy turned over and, watching Eous already beginning to try to reach Anti-Air Section Six, clenched her hand as if steeling herself for some resolve.
"I… I can't keep letting him protect me like this forever."
On the other side, Geno—already trading blows with the monster from the cocoon—was not in good shape at the moment. "Ungh! Mn..."
Longsword met sharp claws, a metallic clang ringing by his ear; then, in a contest of the very strength Geno took such pride in, he was brutally overpowered.
"Damn it! How is this thing so strong!"
Gritting his teeth, Geno forced himself to grapple with it, and right on his heels, Anby and Number 11's support was already in position.
"Flames! Heed my command!" "Thunder!"
Blue electricity and red flame wove together, bursting into violent sparks before Geno's eyes.
The sudden assault caught the pale monster off guard and drove it back.
Yet even so, neither of their attacks managed to leave a single wound on its body.
"Out of my way—do not interfere with my completing the Master's mission!"
The monster suddenly spoke, leaving everyone present stunned for a beat.
Then it stretched out its palm, dense Filth gathering within it, and a familiar light appeared before the group's eyes.
Firelight and thunder appeared once more—only this time the target of the attack was no longer the Sacrificial Ghost, but the few of them. "Look out!" Geno reacted first, tackling the other two to the ground.
The attack missed, kicking up a thick cloud of dust and smoke over the ruins behind them.
"Impossible—those are our moves."
"Mm. What's more, this thing's level of intelligence is completely different from the Ethereals we've encountered before."
This was the first time the two of them had come up against a monster like a Sacrificial Ghost, though Geno was already well accustomed to it.
"This one's a Sacrificial Ghost too—and stronger than every Sacrificial Ghost I've ever seen."
Geno knit his brow, the word 'wariness' carved deep into his face.
And whether or not it was just his imagination, Geno couldn't shake the sense that this monster carried an inexplicable familiarity.
As if it had been born for the sole purpose of meeting Geno.
"Geno, Anby!"
Trigger and Yanagi Tsukishiro reached the battlefield as well, and facing that extraordinary monster, Geno and the others let down their guard not one bit.
"Be careful—this thing can mimic our attacks."
"Understood. Our tactics will focus on stalling—the Section Chief and the others are already on their way."
Hearing Yanagi Tsukishiro's words, everyone's hearts eased considerably.
The Void Hunter, New Eridu's strongest fighting force, was about to come to their aid—there could be no better news than that.
"Its target is me. I'll draw its attention."
Geno volunteered of his own accord, taking on the job of pulling aggro.
Number 11 and Anby kept up their hit-and-run, tasked with covering Geno.
Meanwhile, Yanagi Tsukishiro and Trigger provided flanking support from one side.
Soon this hastily assembled squad began their first round of tactical coordination.
Geno charged at the very front, relying on his powerful physique to tangle with the enemy, while Anby and Number 11, working in tandem, helped Geno deal with its attacks.
Yanagi Tsukishiro and Trigger harassed it from time to time, assisting the trio's coordination.
Throughout, the five of them held to a strategy of buying time, leaving the Sacrificial Ghost unable to land any effective offense or break free of the battlefield. This left Dagalle thoroughly displeased.
Dagalle—that was this Sacrificial Ghost's name; more precisely, it was the name the soldier had borne in life, merely borrowed by the creature now.
So its full name ought to be Sacrificial Ghost · Dagalle.
Faced with the coordination of Geno's five, Dagalle could not stand the bother of it.
What the Master demanded of it was the person Geno—and what was needed was certainly not a dead corpse.
For that reason, its offensive had been holding back all along.
But at this very moment, Dagalle no longer wished to keep this up.
"Ants! Let me show you the Master's true power!"
With that, Dagalle held both hands out across his front, and a great mass of Filth came gushing from his hands; then, several familiar voices appeared before Geno and the others.
____
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