After Belle passed through the spatial node before her, her vision instantly blurred.
When her sight returned to normal, she found herself in an entirely unknown area.
Thankfully, her connection with Fairy remained intact—this meant she had more time to escape.
Unfortunately, the place she arrived in wasn't exactly ideal.
"Master, you are currently located in an uncharted zone not yet accessed by the Hollow Investigative Association. Based on calculations, you have a 30% chance of escape, a 20% chance of being corrupted into an Ethereal, and a 50% chance—"
Fairy was still analyzing the data, but upon hearing she had only a 30% chance of escaping, Belle quickly interrupted, "Enough, don't say another word!"
She dropped into a crouch, covering her head in despair as her emotions plummeted.
She had already been emotionally torn up because of Zhong Yan. She finally had a chance to distract herself with a mission—only for everything to fall apart again.
How was she supposed to make it back now? Could Fairy's calculations really lead her to safety?
Overwhelmed by the flood of doubts, Belle was at her breaking point.
"Warning: A cluster of Ethereals is converging on your location. Recommend immediate retreat via the nearest stable spatial node."
Fairy's sudden alert snapped Belle out of her daze. She looked up and saw the Ethereals moving in her direction as if drawn by some unknown force.
Realizing the danger, she quickly tried to locate an exit node.
But before she could act, an arrow shot past her face, barely grazing her ear. The overwhelming sense of impending death buckled her knees, and she collapsed.
In the distance, a Thanatos had set its sights on her. The arrow was its doing.
With its target now paralyzed, the next shot would undoubtedly end her life.
But just as the Thanatos raised its bow for the final blow, the space in front of it suddenly distorted without warning.
A hand reached out from the vortex and yanked it in instantly.
The sudden intervention made Belle freeze in place—but she quickly understood.
She had been saved.
Moments later, the warped space reappeared—this time, Zhong Yan stepped out.
As for the Thanatos, once pulled from the hollow, its body disintegrated instantly. There was no need to even finish it off.
The moment Belle saw Zhong Yan, a surge of deep sadness overwhelmed her.
Or perhaps it was all the suppressed feelings she had bottled up finally spilling over.
Trying her best to hold back tears, Belle let out a soft scoff, turning her head away. Her voice was choked. "Why did you come here? My brother told you, didn't he? Ugh, I told him not to tell you..."
"If I hadn't come, who knows if you'd have made it back alive? This was way too dangerous. And you didn't even think to bring me with you?" Zhong Yan's eyes narrowed, clearly displeased with her decision.
But Belle, still overwhelmed with emotion, didn't care about his concern. Her voice trembled as she nearly broke into tears. "Why do you care? Go back to them, okay? Just leave me alone!"
Her words were laced with bitterness, pouring out as if she wanted to push him away with everything she had. Seeing the tears she could no longer hold back, Zhong Yan's heart ached.
He stepped forward, reaching out to wipe her tears—only for Belle to slap his hand away.
Still, Zhong Yan didn't stop. He moved forward again, trying once more to brush away her tears.
This time, Belle didn't resist.
Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was because her bottled-up emotions had finally become unbearable.
And then she broke down.
She cried—loudly. So loudly that even nearby Ethereals began to notice and stir.
But Zhong Yan didn't care. He activated Kamui, pulling Belle into the Kamui dimension, removing her from danger entirely.
"I thought you didn't want me anymore..." Belle buried her face deep into Zhong Yan's chest, unable to voice the heartbreak she'd carried for so long.
Zhong Yan would never understand how devastated she had felt when she learned about Anby and Ellen's pregnancies.
At that time, she had hoped—even if Zhong Yan had pushed her down in frustration, it would have been better than silence. But he didn't. He chose to say nothing.
So, Belle had felt abandoned. Or worse—replaced.
She tried to pull away, to emotionally distance herself from him. But in the end, it didn't work.
The moment Zhong Yan appeared and saved her, she knew: she was his. For life.
No matter how she struggled, she would never escape him.
In that moment of emotional surrender, she took the initiative—pressing her lips to his without permission.
And Zhong Yan didn't resist her boldness. In fact, he responded with just as much passion.
What he didn't expect, however, was that Belle wanted more.
When she pushed him down to the ground, Zhong Yan realized just how serious she was.
And even then—he still didn't refuse her.
Incidentally, Kamui's dimension wasn't empty. Airi and the two captured members of the Twelve Shields were also inside.
Whether or not they witnessed what happened… remained a mystery.
...
While the two were entangled in the Kamui dimension, elsewhere in Hollow Zero—
"Fairy, still no signal from Belle?" Wise had escaped the danger zone using a spatial node marked by Fairy. Fortunately, it led to a tunnel connected to a secondary hollow.
That meant he was, for now, safe. With Fairy plotting the next leg of his journey, he'd be back in New Eridu soon.
But one problem remained—he couldn't reach Belle.
She was his only family in this world. If he lost her… he'd fall apart.
So, he kept trying, using Fairy's help to reestablish contact—but nothing worked.
Still, Wise wasn't reckless enough to go back into Hollow Zero to search for her.
He needed help.
And the best person to turn to was Zhong Yan.
As a Uchiha, his strength allowed him to move through Hollow Zero unhindered.