Zenless Zone Zero: I'am a Dullahan!

Suddenly, a chunk of rubble tumbled down, drawing everyone's attention. In the center of the monument, a pale arm burst out without warning!

"What the hell is that?! Is it an Ethereal?!"

Koleda's eyes widened. Beside her, Grace checked the tablet and said grimly,

"Not sure, but the Ether concentration it's emitting is off the charts!"

The next instant, the Sacrifice shot out of the monument, charging straight at Koleda!

But alone, it wasn't much of a threat. After just a few exchanges, it was crushed under the pile driver's foot.

"Proxy, you've seen plenty—what the heck is this thing?"

Anton instinctively turned to Belle. Hearing this, Eous leapt from Zane's arms, the laziness on her face instantly replaced with seriousness.

"From its appearance, it's not an Ethereal... but it's also not a standard corrupted human form…"

As Belle gave her assessment, Zane, who had been silent until now, fixed his eyes on the Sacrifice.

Looking at the mechanical device embedded in its head—clearly not Ether crystal—and the strange patterns etched into its body, Zane's eyes narrowed.

Mechanical control… mind-linked control… or born autonomous? The Sacrifices he'd seen were never the same.

No, maybe it wasn't controlled at all. That mechanism looked more like a part of its body—an integrated system…

Zane quietly analyzed it, while Billy, curious, leaned in to chat with Anton.

Just then, the Sacrifice suddenly raised its head!

It locked eyes with Eous. In front of the HDD system, Belle flinched. Something had hit her—she shut her eyes and instinctively covered them with a hand.

"Belle, what's wrong?"

Wise asked from the side, concerned.

Since he was only supporting, he wasn't aware of what just happened.

"What... is this thing…"

Belle slowly opened her eyes, shimmering with dazzling colors, a slight glint of moisture in them.

A brilliant light flashed through the air. The team instinctively backed away. Grace checked the tablet and bit her lip.

"Damn it, we lost the kids' signal—and the Ether level's still rising!"

"Everyone, stay sharp!"

Before the warning could finish, a loud boom erupted. A massive Ether crystal shattered, and a mechanical tentacle burst out!

In the next second, a giant mechanical monster tore through the crystals and lunged, forcing everyone to retreat.

"This thing ate the whole machine?!"

Anton stared at the massive creature ahead, feeling the pressure. He knew there was no avoiding a fight this time.

Across the battlefield, Zane's icy eyes locked onto the mechanical behemoth, though his focus wasn't on it.

He was trying to piece together what was happening inside the Hollow. Those people hidden in the shadows… had stayed hidden for far too long.

Suddenly, the ground beneath him gave way. A wave of weightlessness swept over him.

Instinctively, he tried to summon Ether crystals to anchor himself—but then voices echoed in his ears. He immediately dropped the idea.

In a blink, a spatial fissure swallowed him whole.

...

Back in the square, the battle had already begun. Billy provided covering fire. Nicole stepped back a few paces and shouted,

"Zane! What now?!"

"We—"

She turned to look—and froze.

Zane, who had just been beside her, was gone.

Her heart leapt into her throat.

Sure, they bickered a lot—but Nicole had no doubt. As long as Zane was around, nothing could go too wrong.

But now? At this critical moment? With that thing being so bizarre—

Where the hell was Zane?!

Where was Zane?!

Where was ZANE?!

"Uhnnuh! Uhnnuh! (Charge! Attack!)"

Watching Panta readying an Ether attack, Nicole snapped out of it. She pushed aside her worries and rushed to protect the Bangboo.

She could only hope now—that wherever Zane had been dragged off to, he'd come back soon.

...

Zane landed gently on solid ground. He took a moment to gauge the Ether concentration around him, then raised an eyebrow.

"The core zone?"

Just then, voices started shouting all around him.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?!"

"Surrender now or we'll open fire!"

Zane glanced around—mechs, armed troops, cannons... Nearly a hundred rebels had him surrounded.

"What are you all doing?" he asked calmly, genuinely curious.

The rebel leader didn't hesitate—she gave the order to fire.

In an instant, a storm of bullets and artillery came screaming his way.

Zane didn't flinch.

"So it's going to be like that, huh…"

Space rippled midair. Multiple elemental attacks took shape, swirling energy filling the air.

Around Zane, a thin shell of Ether crystals formed—blocking every attack effortlessly. He raised his hand, then slowly pressed it downward.

And as his palm descended, all the hostile attacks rained down with it.

Seconds later, brilliant blasts bloomed across the ground—

Like a sea of blooming Higanbana.

...

"So that's what's going on…"

The surroundings were wrecked. Not a single intact surface remained. Zane released his grip. A mech pilot, forcibly pulled from their cockpit, collapsed on the ground.

From them, Zane pieced together some answers.

"Tracking Sacrifices… and some special entity that can open spatial rifts... These guys are planning something major."

Zane narrowed his eyes and turned toward a certain direction.

That was where the mech pilot said the Hollow's internal operations base was—the camp led by whoever was calling the shots here.

Strangely, space within the core area was unusually stable. And Zane had gained enough spatial manipulation skill that he didn't need a Proxy's guidance.

He didn't waste time and made for the camp.

...

Some time later—

"Who are you? Where's your protective gear?"

The guard who stopped him barely finished his question before Zane hit him with a sleep package.

Moments later, Zane stepped into the enemy camp.

Two squads were in the middle of burning equipment and documents. When they spotted him, they prepared for combat—only for a freezing mist to sweep through.

One by one, they turned into ice sculptures.

The flames consuming the documents were also snuffed out.

Zane bent down and picked up a half-burned stack of files. His eyes scanned the pages.

"Research logs? I can't make heads or tails of most of this... but this experiment—"

His gaze sharpened. A cold aura filled the air.

He grabbed the rest of the files and flipped through them one by one, his expression growing colder with each page.

Finally, he let the documents fall from his hand.