"Hurry! Otherwise, we're all going to end up here," Ling said suddenly.

"The Ethereals in this Hollow have all been swallowed by it; look, there's a steady stream of Ethereals still gathering around it." Ling, controlling Eous, pointed toward the center area where a dense mass was walking into a chasm that looked like an abyss.

"Ah! Boss Nicole, let's retreat quickly!" Billy shouted upon seeing this horrifying scene.

"Phaethon! It's up to you," Nicole said to Ling.

Ling nodded. "This way, follow me. The preliminary route has been calculated!"

"I'll carry you; you just need to give directions. It'll be faster that way," Anby said as she picked up Eous, knowing that Eous's speed would be significantly reduced with those short legs.

"Enter through the fissure on the left!" Ling said from Anby's arms, pointing to the fissure on the left.

The group didn't hesitate and ran to the left together. "Right!" Ling shouted again just as they exited the fissure.

"Stop! The Hollow's layout has shifted, and the fissure path has changed. I need to recalculate," Ling shouted.

The group stopped, but the area of the Hollow that had been free of Ethereals was now becoming dangerous.

Several fissures formed, and Ethereals began to emerge from them one by one.

"Roar~" A series of roars echoed. An army was pressing in; in the front were three Dullahans, their massive bodies like moving fortresses. They held long tower shields in their left hands and sharp long blades in their right. Their upper bodies were broad and sturdy, with a large amount of Aether crystals gushing wildly from their rear shoulders, emitting a dangerous aura. Behind them followed a group of Satyrs and Hatis.

"Get ready to fight! Protect Phaethon!" Nicole shouted loudly.

Anby took a step forward, took a deep breath, and her eyes instantly became as sharp as a hawk's. In the special backpack behind her, the combat engine let out a low rumble, driving a powerful current to flow across the straight blade in her hand.

"Anby, attack!" She let out a low shout and dashed toward the nearest Dullahan like a streak of silver lightning.

To her left, Billy was already crouching behind a ruin barricade, holding a modified heavy dual-pistol in each hand—the gun bodies were wrapped in dark patterns, and the muzzles gleamed with cold light. These were the high-power models specially customized after they had sufficient funds a while ago. At this moment, the muzzles were steadily aimed at another Dullahan trying to flank them, his finger on the Trigger, ready to provide support at any moment.

Nicole leapt lightly across the top of a broken wall, firing Aether shells from her weapon at the distant Satyrs, clearing the flank threat for Anby.

The Dullahan closest to Anby sensed her attack and quickly raised its tower shield to defend. Anby didn't flinch in the slightest; the straight blade in her hand, carrying a fierce current, slashed against the shield. A "zzzt" sound of electricity rang out, and the Dullahan's arm trembled slightly, clearly affected by the current.

Taking advantage of this brief gap, Anby pivoted and quickly circled to the side of the Dullahan, landing four consecutive slashes like a storm, leaving behind wounds crackling with electricity.

Just then, the Dullahan locked onto by Billy suddenly swung its blade at the barricade. Amidst the flying debris, Billy suddenly stood up, pulled the Triggers of both guns simultaneously, and "Bang! Bang!" two loud explosions erupted. Two specialized armor-piercing rounds accurately struck the Dullahan's long blade, not only knocking it off course but also piercing the upper Aether crystal on its shoulder armor, with the shattered crystal powder scattering in the air blast.

"Watch out behind you!" Nicole's shout suddenly came. Anby had just dodged the sweep from the Dullahan in front of her when she saw the third Dullahan's long blade was already inches away, and the Aether energy around it was boiling violently.

At the critical moment, Nicole fired an Aether shell at the Dullahan, forcing it to change its attack trajectory. Fortunately, the aura erupted by the Dullahan only grazed the corner of Anby's clothes, but it shook the ground, creating a half-meter-deep crack. Anby flexibly adjusted her posture in the air, and upon landing, she plunged her straight blade into the ground to slow her backward momentum.

At this moment, the three Dullahans had surrounded them in a triangular formation, while the Satyrs and Hatis in the distance were rushing toward Eous— "Boss Nicole, pin down the Satyrs!" Billy shouted in a low voice, firing both guns left and right. Bullets exploded into small pits on the ground, and blue smoke trailed along the bullet marks, forming a trench that forced back the few Hatis charging in the front. Two Hatis couldn't dodge in time, were hit in the legs by the bullets, and stumbled to the ground.

Nicole, meanwhile, fired Aether shells at the group of Satyrs. The group of Satyrs and Hatis were immediately forced back. "Ling, stay hidden!" Nicole shouted to Ling, who was nearby and had no combat ability.

Anby, taking advantage of the gap while the Dullahan adjusted its formation, rushed toward the nearest Dullahan again. Remembering the weakness she had discovered earlier, the moment the Dullahan raised its long blade to charge up, she suddenly lowered her body and slid to its feet, stabbing her straight blade, crackling with electricity, fiercely into the Dullahan's knee joint. The sound of shattering Aether crystals rang out, and the Dullahan, losing its balance, knelt on one knee.

"Now's the time!" Billy seized the opportunity, aiming his dual pistols rapidly at the Dullahan's chest. "Bang, bang, bang!" In the series of gunshots, the armor-piercing rounds penetrated the Dullahan's armor one after another, triggering a chain reaction of explosions inside its body, and the Dullahan's massive frame crashed to the ground.

The other two Dullahans, seeing this, roared and lunged forward. Anby quickly retreated, standing back-to-back with Billy. Nicole also arrived in time, using her Aether impact cannon to block the Dullahan's first attack.

"Coordinated attack!" Anby shouted, her straight blade carving an arc of electric light, drawing the Dullahan's attention; Billy circled behind the Dullahan, aiming his dual pistols at the joint gap in its nape, and two bullets struck precisely, causing Aether energy to instantly leak from the wound; Nicole took the opportunity to fire a few shells at the Dullahan's arm, preventing it from swinging its blade.

The three worked with tacit understanding, tearing several openings in the Dullahan's armor within just a few seconds, with Aether energy continuously leaking from the wounds.

As the battle continued, Anby gradually felt the drain on her stamina and the effects of Aether erosion; her breathing began to quicken, and her consciousness became slightly hazy.

"Calculation complete! Quick, jump down here!" Ling, hiding to the side, shouted to the three of them.

Hearing Ling's voice, the three did not hesitate and jumped down under the broken bridge to the side, their absolute trust in each other evident.

"Whew, we're safe!" Nicole patted her chest and sat on the ground without a shred of decorum. Billy shook his dual pistols to clear away the residual smoke and leaned against the broken wall with Anby, gasping for breath to recover their stamina.

"That was close; we almost got taken out there," Ling said from the side.

"Yeah, it's a good thing you, Phaethon, locked onto the spatial fissure at the critical moment," Nicole said, nodding.

"The exit is not far ahead; get ready to head out," Ling said to the three.

After resting for another half hour, just as the three stood up to follow Ling and evacuate the Hollow, a spatial fissure suddenly appeared before them, and the group immediately became tense again. They had no strength left to fight another round with the Ethereals.