ZZZ: A Hunter's District Zero!

"Hard to say? Why? Weren’t they having a pretty easy time when they teamed up to take down that lone Level 5 Ethereal?"

Seeing Belle’s growing confusion, the neckless Bangboo she was controlling tilted its body, mimicking a head tilt. Its two long ears drooped to the side, and its blinking eyes revealed a deep hunger for the truth.

The already energetic Belle always became even more lively when piloting the Bangboo, habitually striking cute poses, even though she always claimed she was just pretending to be a Bangboo.

But in Andrew’s eyes, this was just her letting loose because no one else knew there was a person inside.

She even kept up the habit around Andrew, who knew perfectly well she was the one at the controls.

Still, it’s pretty cute, isn’t it?

Not keeping Belle waiting, Andrew immediately explained:

"Remember what I said before? This leader’s Ether level is likely higher than five. And more importantly, its true form isn’t an Armored Hati, but something unknown."

Andrew watched the squad below fighting the leader using tactics meant for an Armored Hati and said:

"So, their target was never a Level 5 Armored Hati Ethereal, but a Level 6 unknown Ethereal. The lack of intel caught them off guard, and the qualitative leap in power between a Level 5 and a Level 6 Ethereal is huge. Even though that team leader is pretty capable, her squad members don’t have what it takes to handle a monster of this level. A lack of intel on the target... it’s fatal."

Aside from his first seven days hunting in this world, Andrew had never been troubled by a lack of intelligence.

Back when he was a hunter, Alma would meticulously organize all the intel before every hunt. Now, as a Proxy, he had Belle, who was practically an Ethereal encyclopedia. Those seven painful days of hunting had deeply ingrained the importance of information in Andrew’s mind.

Listening to Andrew’s explanation, Belle gradually understood everything. Out of her trust in Andrew, she didn’t doubt him for a second. Looking down at the battlefield again, she couldn’t help but start to worry for the ones fighting below.

"Andrew, if you jumped in right now, could you save all of them?"

Looking at Belle’s expectant gaze, Andrew first nodded, then shook his head.

"I could, but I wouldn’t advise it."

After a few seconds of internal conflict, Belle was no longer anxious. She settled back down securely on Andrew’s shoulder guard.

"Mmm... if you say so, Andrew, then I trust your judgment."

This actually stunned Andrew, who had been preparing an explanation. He looked at Belle, a little surprised.

"I thought you’d try to persuade me a little more."

"Because I know you’re not the kind of person who’d stand by and watch people die, Andrew. Besides, if you were, you wouldn’t be sitting here waiting and explaining everything to me, right?"

Looking at Belle, Andrew couldn’t help but smile. Even though he’d come to yet another new world, his luck was as good as ever. First, there was his master, the Sapphire Star, and now there were Belle and Wise. He always managed to meet exceptional companions.

With a violent roar, the situation on the battlefield changed rapidly as the Ethereal revealed its true form.

Unlike Andrew, who had anticipated this, the Silver Squad on the battlefield below saw something that utterly shocked them. After successfully shattering the Hati’s armor and leaving it temporarily incapacitated, they were just about to press their advantage with an all-out attack when it happened:

The Hati-type Ethereal, which had collapsed limply to the ground, suddenly began to dissolve, transforming into a monster made of a chaotically dark, black liquid.

This state lasted only for a moment before its previously small volume began to expand rapidly.

At the same time, the monster’s liquid body began to reshape itself frantically—bones, muscles, scales, claws. A creature incredibly familiar to Andrew appeared before his eyes.

It was only half the size of the original, and the wings on its back were visibly smaller, but even at half-size, its body length was an astonishing 16 meters.

Though the team leader, Anby, reacted with incredible speed and launched an immediate attack, the Ethereal’s reconstruction was simply too fast.

The girl’s blade was as fast as lightning—no, not like lightning. Wreathed in crackling electricity, it was lightning!

But in the face of a reshaping process that seemed to turn back time itself, and a body that was still immense even at half its size, the girl’s attack was laughably like child’s play.

Her dual blades clashed against the scales. There was no expected cut, no wound—just a single white crack left on the metallic, tri-colored scales of green, black, and red.

Staring at the crack, a flash of panic crossed Anby’s eyes. Though she hadn’t used her full strength in her haste, she had put in at least sixty or seventy percent.

And yet, an attack like that couldn’t even fully break through its scales.

The attack having failed, Anby immediately retreated, dodging a sweeping claw and back-flipping several times to land beside Twiggy.

She looked at Twiggy, the only one in the squad with a scanner, and asked quickly:

"Twiggy, what intel do you have on this Ethereal?"

Twiggy glanced at the dragon-like Ethereal, which stood motionless, looking down on them from its great height. She then looked at the scanner in her hand and spoke rapidly:

"Nothing, Captain. I’ve never seen that liquid-form Ethereal in the military’s database. But the dragon-form Ethereal..."

At this point, Twiggy paused, and when she looked at Anby again, a bitter expression appeared on her face.

"Captain, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

Before Anby could answer, Twiggy continued on her own.

"The good news is, compared to the original specimen on record, the one we’re facing is a degraded version in every way, and it’s only Level 6. The bad news is, even as a degraded Level 6, we have zero chance of winning."

Looking at her squadmates, who were still in formation but had bitter looks on their faces, Anby was stunned for a few seconds by the sudden, devastating news.

Run. Leave. Retreat. The words churned in Anby’s chest, but she couldn’t say them.

A mission accepted by the Silver Squad must be completed at all costs, even if that cost is their lives.

This was something every member of the Silver Squad knew, let alone their captain, Anby.

The mission is absolute. The mission must be completed. Even if you’re down to your last breath, if you have to puke, you do it on the way to completing the mission. This was the directive drilled into every member of the Silver Squad from birth.

So, it was impossible. Retreating, running away—these were things they couldn’t do, weren’t allowed to do.

’Looks like even if I give it my all, I can only save one of my sisters on this suicide mission... A life for a life. Seems fitting enough.’

Anby twisted her left wrist, instantly switching to a reverse grip on her longsword. She walked slowly to the front of the formation, the face of her youngest sister, Soldier 11,, flashing through her mind.

’I hope you can live on, for all of us.’

She planted her feet, pointing her longsword straight at the massive dragon. The faces of her comrades reflected on the mirror-like blade; the bitterness was gone, replaced by pure resolve.

"Silver Squad, Anti-Ethereal Formation TW-AN Type 2! Engage!"

-

Hello! Walnut here! Or... Miku Dayo in this case heheh...

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