Eous raced around the legs of a Farbauti Ethereal with Anby at his side. With his newfound speed from being liberated from the mental strain of the HDD, he could contribute far more than sneak attacks and distractions.

Rushing in towards its legs, he struck the Farbauti with three concussive punches.

Its poise faltered from the hits; its body beginning to toss and turn as He and Billy raced around throwing out their projectiles at blurring speeds.

Anby and Nicole leapt up with their arms latched before Nicole flung Anby down in a streak of lightning to slash right into the Farbauti's chest.

It slid back, grinding its fists against the concrete before using its leverage to leap far into the air in attempt to crush the four.

"Scatter!" Nicole shouted.

The four rushed away from the blast zone, but its landing shockwave sent them skidding further back than anticipated.

Eous rushed in first, far too eager to find out what he was truly capable of. He reeled back his fist just as the Farbauti did the same, confidence brimming from his form.

Billy flinched in shock. "Woah! Eous, I don't think that's a good idea!"

"Nah, this is an easy-" Eous slid to a stop and thrust his fist towards the hulk of crystal with a grunt. With a loud clap, his glowing fist struck first and sent the Farbauti staggering back. "Parry!"

Amidst Nicole and Billy's disbelief, Anby lunged forward. "Now's our chance."

She zipped forward in a steam of light before slashing through the Farbauti's torso, cleaving a solid chunk out of its body.

Billy raced after her while simultaneously shooting precise shots at its core, before flipping overhead and landing a solid charge-shot to its back. With its posture in shambles, it could only look up after Eous gave Nicole a skyward boost.

With a blast of Ether she shot straight through its core and watched it fade to dust before Billy and Eous caught her.

"Phew! That was far easier than normal! Eous, you've got some moves!" Billy cheered.

"It's impressive how quickly you've grasped your abilities." Anby added.

"Well, I don't know, I was kinda just winging it." He chuckled and played with his hood.

"Didn't know you had that kinda firepower in you. How did you grow such adaptability?" Nicole wondered.

"Well. I don't actually know. A year back, Belle and Wise found me after I got trapped in a Hollow. I honestly wouldn't have known I was in one if it wasn't for watching an Ether crystal form before my eyes. I was in there for about a week, kinda just eating the food from a convenience store since I hadn't been able to find my way." He hummed for a second before rubbing his nape.

"When they found me, they told me I was corrupted from what the Bangboo was seeing, but I had felt fine. I think by then I was starting to get some blue patches of skin, so I see why they thought so. But I've never felt better in a Hollow."

"Clearly, if you can move like this in here. It's a unique gift." Nicole smirked.

"You're like a protagonist who has conquered the darkness and uses it for justice." Anby said with a twinkle in her eye.

"I don't know what hero where's a get-up like this." He gestured to his outfit with a chuckle.

"Don't think like that- You're super iconic! We all know how notorious the Hollow Proxy Phaethon is!" Billy pat his back reassuringly.

"Say, why don't you take the mask off? Isn't it a bit difficult to fight with?" Nicole wondered.

"Well, not really- we gotta hide!" He suddenly tensed up and began ushering the three behind a freight car. They jogged upon his command and leant against the cold steel anxiously as they peeked out from shortest to tallest.

As if he had sensed them, a Hollow Investigation Squad began to stomp through the Hollow in all their Ether Resistant Gear and Equipment. Most of the PubSec guards held stun batons or rifles while the researchers used metal detectors for resources.

"Woah. You really can sense things..." Billy murmured in awe.

"Kinda. We should get outta here- small detour needed now though." Eous began sneaking away and gestured the others to follow.

•

Eous happily trot along the Cretean Hollow with a big grin as the Cunning Hares followed. Suddenly, the humming from his mask began to pick up before he heard a click.

"Eous? Eous? Can you hear us?" Belle asked.

"Phaethon? You guys are finally back online?" Nicole grabbed his face and stared into the mask's eyes.

"Yeah, we're back. Had a run in with someone wanting their hands on that strongbox of yours..." Wise replied.

"The guy had the gall to hack our system and threaten us. But we got rid of them at the cost of our Proxy Account." Belle revealed.

"What?! Isn't that a big deal?" Billy asked in disbelief.

"While Phaethon is a big deal on the Inter-Knot, the face of our operations is still Eous. I'm sure people will still recognize Phaethon through him." Wise surmised.

"It seems your reputation proceeds you." Anby pat Eous' shoulder with a thin smile.

"Wait, if someone was after the password in that flash drive, then the Red Fang gang didn't snatch the strongbox for themselves... They're also working a commission for someone." Nicole deducted.

"Yikes. This is getting more and more complicated." Eous wagged his head in annoyance.

"I assumed this gig was a simple stolen goods job, but it's just another scumbag sticking their nose in other people's business. I'm never trusting another agent again!" She whined.

"Charge double and pass it to the next guy." Eous suggested with a shrug.

Nicole nodded her head rapidly. "Absolutely! We're ditching this like a hot potato!" She declared.

"How are you feeling, Eous? The sync not to stressful?" Belle asked.

Eous glanced at the Cunning Hares before looking down at his hand. He tried to call back that power he displayed before, but the Ether dancing along his palm wasn't even half has strong.

"Yeah, I'm good." He hesitantly replied.

"Let us know if it gets to be too much. For now, we keep moving." Wise urged.

•

"Found it!" Anby declared, her eyes spotting the steel box on the floor of a part of the abandoned station.

"It's our lucky day!" Billy exclaimed with finger guns to Anby.

Nicole trot over in glee, more the elated to find her commission would finally be completed with this back in her hands.

Billy followed suit, as Eous spotted something else nestled between Ether crystals. It was a simple katana, but it seemed it had been corrupted from being stuck in the crystals

As he removed it from the jagged sheathe it had found itself in, he suddenly felt a tense pressure coming from behind Anby.

He and Anby turned to see the Dullahan appear from seemingly thin air with its bladed arm reeled back.

Anby was swift to draw her sword and block, being forced to skid back as it applied pressure. It shoved her blade up and knocked her aside with its shield to Billy and Nicole.

"Tch. It's our lucky day..." Billy repeated sarcastically.

Nicole grit her teeth and drew her Ether Cannon briefcase with a glare. "That's MY strongbox!"

"Wise, Belle, you two mind lowering the sync rate?" Eous slid over to the three and held up his new crystal katana with determination.

"What? Why would we do that now of all times?" Belle wondered.

Wise went quiet in thought, before understanding. "We'll drop the connection to a two-second time lag. That should free up some of your strain, right?"

Eous felt his body lighten as the Dullahan scrapped its sword against the tiles below.

Similar to its core and artillery, Eous began to emit a thin prismatic aura- a semblance of the power he held before the HDD reconnected.

"You guys ready?!" Billy asked spinning out his pistols.

"Charging in." Anby exclaimed.

"Right behind you!" Eous rushed after her in a blur.

The two nearly disappeared from sight along with the Dullahan. Billy was quick to dart his eyes around to find an opening between the dance of sparks that began to erupt from around the station square.

Nicole staggered, trying to keep up with the fight but all she could see was blurs of black, green and orange.

"Uh... Wh-Where do we shoot?!" She stammered.

"Shoot when I shoot, Boss, we've got this!" Billy spun around his pistols before spotting the dirt and dust begin to pick up in the center of the square.

"There!"

With a precise double-blast, Billy nailed the Dullahan in its side just in time for Eous to slash down with his Crystal sword.

The Dullahan staggered back and rounded its shield to block Abby's flank, but was shot in its side from a blast of Nicole's Ether cannon.

It crashed into the wall but quickly rebounded and rushed at the ranged duo with a powerful lunge.

Billy and Nicole stumbled back in shock at the speed, but Eous suddenly blitzed forward and intercepted it with an uppercut.

Anby was shocked that he had achieved speed even beyond her own, forced to follow him up with a falling slash to its injured torso.

She rolled into a slide before racing around in a bolt of lighting to slash at its sturdy shield and get it off of Billy and Nicole.

It spun on its heel and released a wave of Ether at the four, but Eous spun and combat it with his own from the sudden idea.

The blades of ether clashed and caused a vibrant mist and vapor to rain throughout the station.

Eous sheathed the katana as his prismatic aura began to fluctuate and pulse.

From the mist, the Dullahan dragged its blade through the floor and swiped it upward to blast an array of ether crystals at the party.

Nicole and Billy slid forward and blasted the projectiles to dust, but this was simply a front to draw them closer.

Anby appeared ahead of them just in time to clash with the Dullahan, but its strength began to rise similarly to Eous. The Ether in the hollow was beginning to rise, and their condition would deteriorate the longer they stayed.

This small smidge of a boost gave the Dullahan the edge to knock Anby away and into a railing.

Before the Dullahan could act on its created opportunity, Eous rushed forward with his fist reeled back in a spark of light.

The Dullahan blocked the attack with its shield, but it was obliterated in turn, leaving only a mangled left arm.

Retaliating with his expended form, it earned a clean slash across Eous' face, taking out his mask's right eye.

"Gah!" Eous crashed against the ground and held his face, feeling a cold stream of blood leak down his face.

"Eous!" Nicole screamed in worry.

Billy turned to Anby with a glare as she glanced at him. "Let's end this."

With a roar of determination, Billy raced forward in a burst of speed that surpassed Anby's- racing around the Dullahan and littering dozens of bullets into its body with afterimages following suit.

The Dullahan was staggering around from each bullet, sending it into a twirl of disarray before a bolt of lightning struck it from below.

Anby spun around and slashed back down with another lash of lightning that cut the Dullahan in two.

Its body faded away as Anby landed, but she and Billy were quick to rush over to Nicole and Eous.

She was trying her best to stop the bleeding but they didn't have much in terms of medical supplies.

"Eou-Eous! Are you- you- you- okay?!" Belle shouted from his torn mask. The comm device inside wasn't damaged, but some of the circuits were, so it'd take time for the mask to stabilize.

Eous could only wince and pray that he hadn't lost his eye, since the adrenaline had yet to where off due to his power in the Hollow.

With his powers on the flux and the mask in even worse wear, Eous could feel a migraine far more powerful than anything he'd ever experienced before.

"I feel... suffocated..." He muttered in Nicole's arms. He removed his hand from his eye to reveal fiery orange irises.

"Nicole, take off- ma-mask immediately!" Wise shouted.

She wasted no time in removing his hood and then his mask. She positioned herself to allow his head to rest on her thighs.

"Billy, grab the strongbox! What's inside is probably the only thing that can settle his Ether tension."

"Ether tension?" Anby muttered in confusion, ignoring Billy's scrambling.

"It's a phenomenon the hacker explained. It's a theory that a build up of enough Ether can either create a Hollow like normal, or combust if trapped. We cannot let the latter happen." Belle explained.

"Manager, this is just a data chip! What do we do now?!" Billy panicked holding the 1cm chip.

"This going to sound really insane, but put it in his mouth." Wise ordered.

The three paused and grew disgusted. Before they could even protest, Belle shouted: "Just do it!"

Nicole snatched the chip from Billy and opened Eous' mouth. She placed it on his tongue and lifted his jaw before she heard him gulp.

Eous' eyes flashed blue instead of orange for a brief moment, before he suddenly felt rejuvenated.

"Hello, partner." A monotonous voice greeted.

The four spotted a small holographic figure by his shoulder. A winged woman hovered in resemblance to a pixie.

"I am a type III general AI equipped with sequential integration. Development code: Fairy."