"What exactly is this thing?"
Everyone was puzzled, but looking at the giant cocoons emitting an ominous aura, they knew it definitely wasn't anything good.
But if they really wanted to do something, Twiggy and the others didn't know what the right move was. If they rashly broke the giant cocoon and caused Geno to get hurt, the loss would outweigh the gain.
"However, it's a good thing that most of the Ethereals were absorbed by these two guys. The situation now isn't as urgent."
Originally, the few of them stayed behind to resolve these Ethereals and stop the Hollow's expansion. Now that the Ethereals were absorbed, it saved them quite a bit of time.
"No, the situation isn't as simple as you think."
Twiggy frowned as she looked at the two giant cocoons. Based on her understanding of Hollows, such a situation wouldn't cause the Hollow's expansion to stop, but rather...
"This is bad! Signs of a Hollow have already started appearing on Sixth Street!"
Belle's voice was incomparably panicked. Just at this moment, large and small spatial distortions had already begun to appear on the streets of Sixth Street; this was the precursor to a Hollow forming.
"According to Fairy's calculations, the Hollow will fully form in less than twenty minutes."
Twiggy revealed an expression that said 'just as I expected'. Although the Ethereals had disappeared, the Ether energy contained within them hadn't dissipated along with them; instead, it was absorbed by the giant cocoons.
In other words, the two Ethereals, including Geno, had absorbed all the Ether energy along with the Filth. They were about to become true Warlord-class Ethereals.
"If my calculations are correct, in less than a minute, these two cocoons should hatch. Huh? Where did you guys go?"
Coming back to her senses, Twiggy realized that the people beside her were gone, and Belle's voice came from behind her.
"What are you still explaining over there! That thing is about to explode!"
It turned out that during Twiggy's explanation, the giant cocoons had already begun to expand violently. Everyone had noticed this point; only Twiggy alone remained dazed on the spot.
Seeing this, although Twiggy felt somewhat awkward, she honestly walked over to the group's side, observing the situation of the giant cocoons.
After breaking free from the illusion, Geno found himself locked in a pitch-black space. He tentatively groped around, realizing this should be an enclosed space formed by the Filth.
At the same time, massive amounts of Filth energy poured continuously from all directions into his body.
'The current me should be able to master the power of this Filth and won't be bewildered by it again.'
Clenching his fist, Geno actively began to absorb this Filth, accelerating his speed of breaking out of the cocoon.
One minute later, with only a crack sound heard, the Filth wrapping Geno split open a crack, and a sharp claw emerged from within.
Immediately following was a crackling sound of shattering. The entire giant cocoon burst open, and thick Filth condensed into liquid splashed everywhere.
Geno, however, had no time to care about these details at the moment; he was examining the changes that had occurred in his body.
At this moment, Geno was in Ethereal mode, his whole body wrapped in Ether crystal armor.
Not only that, the Filth absorbed by Geno had condensed into streaks of strange, blood-red patterns on his armor, adding a few degrees of dangerous aura.
The biggest change, however, had to be the Ether Core that was originally exposed on the outside. At this moment, it had been transferred to the interior of his body, safely protected. As for the position of his head, a complete cranium had truly been generated.
And the twin horns generated by the Filth grew on his forehead, looking like an evil ghost descending, Satan incarnate.
Squeezing his fist, Geno felt the continuous stream of Ether energy in his body, feeling only that he was now terrifyingly strong.
"This is... strength! This is POWER!!"
Geno stood high above, looking down at the earth from a branch formed by the Filth.
"Now, I lack nothing! Ouch! Σ(⊙▽⊙"a"
A stone flew from who knows where and smashed onto his head. Turning to look, he only saw Twiggy standing there with a gloomy face, roaring at him.
"What are you spacing out for! If you're fine, hurry up and finish off that guy opposite you! A Hollow has already started generating outside!"
"Oh."
This was his Twiggy.
The familiar feeling warmed Geno's heart. Immediately after, he spread his large hand, condensing a heavy cross-blade.
The heavy sword had also undergone changes under the influence of the Filth. Not only had it become broader and sharper, but a trace of Filth aura also flowed along the blade's body. It went without saying that getting cut by this thing would absolutely not feel good.
Instantly flashing forward, Geno raised the heavy sword high and slashed toward the Dullahan's giant cocoon, which had not yet completed its evolution.
In an instant, a massive amount of Filth burst out from the cocoon, corroding the surrounding damaged mecha wreckage to nothing in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this scene, Twiggy and the others secretly rejoiced that they hadn't acted rashly; otherwise, they would probably have turned into a pool of thick water by now.
And with the shattering of the giant cocoon, the Dullahan inside also broke free.
The Dullahan had also completed the Filth evolution at this moment, except compared to Geno, its changes were much smaller. Aside from the Ether crystals on its body becoming more active, even its own Core hadn't been completely hidden, only half the gap being covered.
Being able to perfectly hide one's own weakness was a basic requirement to become a Warlord-class Ethereal.
From this, it seemed the Dullahan probably couldn't beat the current Geno.
"Take this! Thanatos Assault!"
His figure flashed past in an instant; the teleportation skill of Thanatos had already been mastered to perfection by Geno.
Immediately after, the heavy cross-sword stabbed toward the Dullahan's Core, the force so great that the sound of air being torn apart could faintly be heard.
Clang!
The sound of the great shield colliding with the heavy sword made the ears of those around them ache, and Geno himself was stunned for a moment.
Geno, who originally thought this move would directly send the Dullahan to its grave, hadn't expected the Dullahan to actually recover its senses, raising its shield to block this killing move.
"Buzz!"
The Dullahan's Core fluctuated violently. It seemed it couldn't fully control the power of the Filth yet; turbid red energy erupted, and the resulting shockwave knocked Geno away.
Afterward, the Dullahan raised its arm blade and charged toward Geno, launching a fierce attack.
Why would Geno be afraid? At this moment, he was incomparably confident. Even if he ran into the Dead End Butcher again, he wouldn't be afraid at all. He decisively swung his sword to counterattack.
The weapons of both sides collided, wrestling with each other. Geno, whose evolution was more complete, naturally suppressed the Dullahan, the heavy cross-sword inching closer to the Dullahan's position bit by bit.
Realizing it wasn't Geno's match in a frontal assault, the Dullahan decisively made the same decision as before.
It abruptly retracted its force, then turned around, wanting to slip away again.
However, this time Geno wouldn't give it such a chance.
Flashing again, Geno's figure abruptly appeared in front of the Dullahan.
Teleportation without a cooldown meant he could do whatever he wanted like this.
——————————
Good news: Going premium tomorrow.
Bad news: My dear readers might all run away (crying to death) (I'm pretending).
____
👻🔥Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Group chat of the Dead
✅ New releases are dropping, plus get exclusive content & updates.
✅ Help us unlock community rewards:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 140 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters of ALL STORIES!