After Hoshimi Miyabi left with Harumasa and Soukaku, Tsukishiro Yanagi immediately issued an order to halt and rest.
Section 6 was the central force for this region's investigation. With three members absent and only Yanagi remaining, it was too risky to continue advancing.
Therefore, the best choice now was to stop and wait—at least until Hoshimi Miyabi and the others returned.
Fortunately, the Phaethon siblings were in this sector's investigation team, meaning they were in no immediate danger. Zhong Yan, still hidden in the shadows to protect them, had no intention of intervening.
With Hoshimi Miyabi's strength as a Void Hunter-class, dealing with a few colossal Ethereals shouldn't be a problem. It was only a matter of time before they returned.
However, just because Yanagi was willing to wait didn't mean the other investigators were as patient.
This was Hollow Zero, after all—the most dangerous zone in all of New Eridu. Even setting aside the roaming Ethereals, just staying too long in this place could risk ether corruption.
Anyone would be anxious under such circumstances.
But there was nothing they could do. Everyone had signed up voluntarily. Without Tsukishiro Yanagi's authorization, they couldn't even return to Scott Outpost.
All they could do was wait.
But the uneasy calm was quickly shattered by a sudden sound in the distance.
Yanagi was the first to react. She stepped forward, grabbed her detection device, and was horrified to see the local ether concentration spiking at a rate visible to the naked eye.
At the same time, her comms earpiece filled with distress signals from other sectors.
It seemed that Hollow Zero was undergoing a large-scale anomaly.
As for the source—there was no doubt it came from deep within Hollow Zero.
"Could something from the hollow depths have noticed our operation?" Yanagi adjusted her glasses, already forming a grim hypothesis. But now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
She raised her voice and shouted to all the investigators present, "Everyone, stay alert! Fall back along the path we came! Do not advance further!"
Yanagi knew clearly—the sweep operation was most likely a failure now. The best outcome would be to minimize casualties by getting everyone out safely.
Such a decision wasn't really within the authority of a deputy commander. But to prevent unnecessary death, she would take full responsibility if necessary.
"It's... It's Nineveh! Calling Section 6! Requesting immediate support!"
That scream over the comms made Yanagi freeze mid-step.
She stood there stunned, barely believing what she'd just heard.
Nineveh? That monstrous flower that had tormented them for so long? Wasn't it supposed to have been destroyed by Uchiha? Why was it still appearing?
Yanagi's mind raced. As she was lost in thought, a distant structure suddenly collapsed under an immense force.
The thunderous crash instantly drew everyone's attention. As they looked up, they saw an enormous Ethereal slowly approaching.
The ether energy radiating from its body was so powerful it visibly heightened the local ether activity. It was this surge that had triggered the earlier detection spikes.
"This level of ether energy... it's even stronger than Nineveh. What is this thing? There's nothing about it in the archives..." Yanagi's voice trembled. As the colossal Ethereal emerged, the oppressive ether field around them rapidly intensified.
Some of the lower-resistance investigators were already struggling to breathe under the pressure.
"This is bad. The hollow nodes are reconstructing. If this keeps up, no one will make it out." Yanagi soon realized in horror that as ether activity increased, the once-stable hollow nodes—their only escape routes—were now warping.
And no one knew what was behind the newly reconstructed nodes. They might even transport them straight to Hollow Zero's innermost zone.
If that happened, survival would be next to impossible.
"Everyone, now! Drop all gear! Evacuate through any node that hasn't been reconstructed yet!" Yanagi finally issued a desperate command, unsure if it would even help.
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a distant building, Zhong Yan silently watched the colossal Ethereal lumber closer—still taking no action.
Because he knew this wasn't the only one.
All nine operational sectors had come under simultaneous attack from colossal Ethereals—beings even Void Hunters had to approach with caution. How could ordinary investigators possibly handle them?
And soon, the casualties began piling up.
Due to the disruption of previously stable spatial nodes caused by the Ethereals, nearly everyone who tried to escape through them perished.
Only a small number of elite personnel managed to survive—by retracing their exact entry path—they narrowly returned to Scott Outpost.
But they were the rare few.
The vast majority, including Belle and Wise, were now trapped inside Hollow Zero.
Even with the support of an AI as advanced as Fairy, it couldn't calculate a guaranteed escape route in real time.
As for the agents who were supposed to protect them—once their rope-net functions failed, they fled immediately, abandoning the siblings without hesitation.
Left helpless, the brother and sister were forced to move slowly through the crowd, eventually getting separated in the chaos.
The only silver lining was that their comm systems still worked. At least they could still hear each other.
"Belle, I had Fairy analyze the nodes with the highest chance of survival. If we want to escape, this is the only option," came Wise's voice through Belle's earpiece as she was jostled by the fleeing crowd.
Upon hearing this, Belle's eyes flashed with determination.
There was no other way.
Behind her, a massive Ethereal was rampaging through the buildings. Any investigators who lagged behind were crushed into dust, and the monster was drawing closer by the second.
Seeing this, Belle hesitated no longer. Breaking away from the crowd, she followed Fairy's directions and dove through one of the unknown destination nodes.