Sol Mercer and Anby approached the Ethereal horde and saw that most of the creatures were lizard-type grunts.

Their skin was a mottled mix of green and black, and their limbs were muscular and powerful. Their mouths brimmed with two rows of sharp teeth. Even without slimy drool, they still looked terrifying.

Visually, they were quite uniform—only minor differences in size could be noted.

Typically, you couldn't determine an Ethereal's threat level just by appearance.

But considering this group consisted of common lizard-types and none appeared to be notably developed, a rough assessment was possible.

"These Ethereals are roughly between Level 1 (Sb) and Level 3 S). No high-threat individuals detected."

Anby examined them closely and gave her conclusion.

"Looks like a bunch of Sb."

Sol Mercer chuckled casually.

Level 1 Ethereals were nicknamed Antimony-class, the chemical symbol for which was (sb). In other words, most of these were Sb—easy pickings. (Humorous.)

"You're still joking at a time like this?" Eous, with its camera lens active, sounded exasperated and called out loudly, "A few of them are coming your way—watch out!"

"Let's go."

Anby gripped her Thunder Blade tightly and charged the oncoming Ethereals head-on.

With a crackle of electricity, two Ethereals lost their core-bearing heads in a clean sweep.

"Damn, that's fierce."

Sol Mercer whistled in admiration and drew his dual pistols, firing at the incoming Tyrfings.

He pulled the trigger at a speed that pushed the guns to their mechanical limits.

Gunfire erupted, bright muzzle flashes lighting up the space.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The white Ivory, with its submachine gun fire rate, spat out twelve bullets per second. Every three bullets shattered one Ethereal core.

The black Ebony, with the pace of a standard handgun, fired three bullets per second—each shot shattering a core.

Both guns fired in tandem.

In just a single exchange, seven Ethereals dropped.

Adding in Anby's kills, eight were down within one second.

However, the death of their kind did not instill fear in the Ethereals.

If anything, even more of them turned their attention to Sol Mercer and Anby.

They charged with blood-curdling screeches, using powerful limbs and razor claws as their fiercest weapons.

Over a hundred Ethereals surged like a tidal wave, surrounding Sol Mercer and Anby in an instant.

"Tch! No matter how many times I see it, it still looks terrifying!"

Hiding in the shadows, Eous trembled like a rubber ball, body quivering with fear.

Even after watching them fend off an Ethereal horde yesterday, witnessing this fresh wave of a hundred was still terrifying.

It was hard to imagine that just two people were facing this nightmare.

Yet in the eye of the storm, Sol Mercer and Anby were perfectly calm.

They stood back-to-back, one meter apart.

There's an old saying—entrust your back to someone you trust, and your chances of survival skyrocket.

Anby faced the onslaught head-on, slashing precisely with her Thunder Blade.

Her strikes were sharp and efficient, injuring the Ethereals even as she defended.

Behind her, Sol Mercer was even more impressive. Bright muzzle flashes erupted as Ethereal cores burst one after another.

Even without aim assist, his real-world performance was practically no different from having it on.

Every second, six Ethereals dropped.

Sol Mercer not only kept track of his own field, but also watched Anby's back, providing cover fire as needed.

Because Eous was recording, he even went through the motions of reloading a few times—just to avoid exposing his infinite ammo secret. He didn't want that old man watching the footage to accuse him of cheating.

Truth be told, having Anby at his side helped a lot with efficiency.

He could focus entirely on shooting—no need to dodge or worry.

Two minutes later, all 146 Ethereals lay dead.

Sol Mercer reached out his hand to Anby with a smile. "We worked well together. Would've been a lot harder without you."

Clap!

Anby returned the high five and looked into Sol Mercer's eyes. "You're reliable too."

Fighting alongside Sol Mercer felt like having an entire squad providing covering fire.

His attacks always came a split-second before danger struck—either repelling or killing whatever was about to hit her.

His battlefield awareness and shooting accuracy were leagues beyond even Billy, the elite firepower-type battle unit.

It was like—even in the face of 140+ Ethereals—Sol Mercer never broke a sweat.

On the side, Eous stared wide-eyed. "Whoa! Are you serious?!"

She hadn't expected them to take down over a hundred Ethereals in two minutes. Faster even than the last time when they'd faced just eighty.

There were fewer allies now… yet the cleanup was even quicker.

Two minutes for 140+ kills… at this pace, clearing the Hollow didn't seem so impossible after all.

Could she really be witnessing the birth of a Void Hunter?

"Proxy, come help us gather the Ethereal core fragments."

Sol Mercer waved toward the stunned Eous.

Since Belle was filming, he refrained from calling her "Belle" to avoid exposing her identity.

"Oh… okay."

Belle agreed in a daze, still too shocked to remember that this wasn't supposed to be a Proxy's job.

A few minutes later, the two and one Bangboo finished collecting all the core fragments and moved on to the next high-density Ethereal zone.

"Sol Mercer, you just killed all those Ethereals—how many bullets do you have left?"

Eous looked up, asking curiously.

"About two hundred or so."

Sol Mercer thought for a moment and gave a number.

He wasn't carrying a backpack—just a small ammo pouch. Thirty magazines with fifteen rounds each was the absolute max.

He had just fired over two hundred rounds, so having two hundred left sounded plausible.

Any more than that, and he'd risk exposing his unlimited ammo secret.

Belle considered for a moment and said, "If you only have that much left, we should head somewhere with fewer Ethereals."

Sol Mercer: "No need. Let's find another large group."

"But… your ammo might not last."

Eous sounded worried.

Two hundred rounds might work fine for one-shot kills on people—but for Ethereals, that wasn't quite enough.

"It's fine. I've got a blade too."

Sol Mercer patted the Raiga hanging at his waist and spoke with confidence, catching Eous mid-stare.

He wasn't just good with guns—All-Weapon Mastery and tenfold physical capability weren't just for show.

"…Alright then."

Eous nodded glumly.

Anby glanced at Sol Mercer, curiosity piqued. His gunplay was already incredible—could his swordsmanship be just as strong?

She looked forward to seeing it.

And she wondered—what kind of performance Raiga, the weapon she gifted him, would deliver in Sol Mercer's hands.

***

T/N: Due to popular demand (me being casually being peer pressured), has now changed/retconned the MC's name to "Sol Mercer" :))