That being the case, he didn't mind waiting for a while.
"I just hope I don't have to wait too long..."
"I'm not very patient."
Zane wasn't going to sit idly by. If it dragged on, he would act directly and destroy the culprit behind the Hollow expansion.
Though the Cretan Hollows weren't a major threat, the safety of Nicole and the others mattered far more.
The surroundings grew quiet. Apart from the pained cries of the researchers, there was no other sound.
As time slowly passed, a strange noise suddenly rang out—clear and attention-grabbing.
Zane straightened up, his eyes deepening to a darker blue.
Heartbeats?
Coming from inside the eggshell?
Sounded like a powerful creature was about to be born...
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound grew sharper and louder.
A protrusion became increasingly visible on the eggshell.
Zane stood up, realization dawning.
"So it wasn't a heartbeat..."
"It's the sound of the shell cracking..."
Crack—
With a sharp crack, the massive eggshell—five or six layers thick—shattered in half, fragments flying in all directions.
A towering figure came into Zane's view.
A gray-white humanoid creature, its lower body seemingly swallowed by a massive python, dragged a thick, long tail behind it.
Its tail, black and covered in Ether crystals, shimmered with flowing lights. Sharp spikes jutted out along it, and a glowing core shone at the tip.
Lamia's human upper body and beast-like lower body were grotesquely disproportionate, making it seem to Zane like a small human piloting a massive body.
And the lower body wasn't just a snake's form—it had two pairs of giant legs. Seeing the strange creature, Zane suddenly thought of something similar.
A Plesiosaurus.
Though a Plesiosaurus looked far better than this thing.
Lamia seemed to notice Zane too. It spread its human arms wide and let out a roar.
As it stepped out of the eggshell, a terrified voice suddenly rang out.
"Wait, no!"
Plop—
One of Lamia's massive feet landed squarely on the head of a prone researcher.
Red and white splattered everywhere. Zane waved a hand in distaste.
"Big guy, do you realize you just crushed your own father?"
In a sense, that wasn't wrong.
Lamia didn't grasp Zane's words. It simply roared at him, venting its hostility.
Lowering his hand, Zane stretched his body. The Ether crystal throne behind him gradually dissipated into a stream of light.
"Let's see what you've got."
"That guy hyped you up—I hope you're actually a challenge."
Boom!
The ground cracked as a sonic boom burst forth. Zane's figure shot forward, appearing before Lamia in an instant.
With the momentum of his charge, he threw a punch!
A deafening impact echoed, shockwaves spreading outward. Lamia's massive body tilted back uncontrollably, crashing heavily to the ground.
Lamia lay there, growling, but now it sounded more like a pained wail than a display of strength.
Struggling to rise, its pale body twisted awkwardly, lurching forward and back in an uncoordinated motion.
Standing on the ground, Zane watched Lamia. He could feel the fear radiating from it.
This thing was afraid of him.
"I've waited long enough. Don't tell me you're just trash... what a waste of my excitement and expectations..."
Zane slowly approached Lamia, twisting one wrist with the other hand, his tone unsettled.
At least show some fight, like the Dead End Butcher!
Even if you can't win, you should still fight.
As he finished speaking, Lamia struggled for a few more seconds before going berserk. Its front legs stomped the ground violently as crystalline spikes shot up one after another.
Zane nimbly leapt into the air, landing steadily atop one of the crystalline spikes, his posture tall and firm.
He raised one hand to the side, blue Ether energy rapidly condensing in the air to form a massive ice crystal greatsword.
Zane charged toward Lamia again. Swinging the ice sword mid-air, he unleashed a blast of cold air before slashing straight toward Lamia.
Lamia naturally wouldn't sit there waiting to die, but its enormous body made dodging impossible. It could only gather Ether energy in front of itself, forming a wall of Ether crystals.
Bang! The sword struck the crystal wall, sinking deep, but with its momentum spent, it didn't penetrate further.
Seeing Lamia block the attack, Zane calmly regarded the giant ice sword embedded in the thick crystal wall. He turned and threw a punch.
A massive force surged into the hilt, driving the sword forward instantly. It pierced through the Ether crystals and struck Lamia directly in the midsection.
But it wasn't over yet. Zane turned, gripping the hilt one-handed. Ether energy surged into his arms and the greatsword as he twisted it to the side.
A tremendous force erupted. Empowered by Ether energy, the sharp blade ground through the Ether crystals and cleaved through Lamia's body.
With nothing left to block it, the ice sword flew out and embedded itself in the ground. Lamia, by then, was cleanly sliced in half.
The core at the tip of its tail quickly dimmed. Its massive body crashed to the ground, while the upper half—along with part of its lower body—also fell heavily.
It wasn't dead yet. Using its arms, it clawed at the ground, dragging its mangled body forward like a severed snake head.
"Sacrificial Ghost... this is the first time I've actually seen one."
Zane approached the gray humanoid creature, observing it with curiosity. He silently watched as it crawled away.
"Quite a strong life force and will to survive."
Zane raised a hand. Naturally, he had no intention of letting the thing go, and without the means to study it, he might as well erase it outright.
He aimed his palm at the Sacrificial Ghost and spoke softly.
"Come here."
In front of the Sacrificial Ghost, the space fluctuated, distorted, and expanded. The creature was pushed directly in front of Zane by the shifting space.
It looked as though it had been sucked over.
Zane nodded slightly. Not bad for an initial use of spatial power—promising potential.
He grabbed the Sacrificial Ghost's head one-handed, lifting it like a baby chick.
Looking at the dense clusters of colorful crystal pillars on its back and the device on its head, Zane made a few guesses.
Artificial beings were bound to be unstable. These devices were probably humanity's means of controlling them...
Too bad that guy had been crushed from the start.
"Still, trash is trash..."
Zane shook his head and was about to crush the creature when a sudden sense of danger flared.
A black shadow rapidly expanded in his view.
The next second, struck by a massive force, Zane was sent flying.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of buildings were smashed to pieces as Zane crashed through them, finally slamming into a seven- or eight-story building. The massive impact brought the building down with a thunderous crash.
The collapsing structure buried Zane beneath it, sending up a towering cloud of dust.
...