Elira narrowed her eyes,
and in an instant, a surge of overwhelming power burst from her body,
manifesting midair as a massive pair of Skytear Demon Moth wings.
The man across from her froze for a second, clearly caught off guard.
"No wonder you wiped out the Blood Legion of Seventy-Two. So, you’re a Skytear Demon Moth... Still, your power’s nothing compared to mine."
and a blood-red energy surged around him, forming the ghostly image of a colossal dragon in the sky.
Without warning, their powers collided—
the impact so intense it warped the space around them.
Over the past few days, Elira had absorbed enough energy to push herself into the mid-stage of Tier 17.
But the man didn’t show even a flicker of fear.
In fact, the force he unleashed was enough to go toe-to-toe with her.
"What the hell?!" Ethan and the others were jolted by the shockwaves,
rushing out in a panic.
But the moment they saw what was happening,
Elira was the strongest fighter in Emerald Castle—no question.
And now, out of nowhere, some stranger was going blow for blow with her?
Ethan immediately pulled up the man’s data panel.
Tier 17, mid-stage—same as Elira.
But his combat power... it might actually be a notch higher.
Still, Elira had absorbed the Bloodlust Core, and the aura radiating off her was vicious enough to close that gap.
But taking this guy down completely?
That wasn’t going to be easy.
Then Ethan spotted something on the system panel—
the name: one of the Blood Saints of Thirty-Six.
It clicked instantly.
This guy was here to avenge the Blood Legion of Seventy-Two.
And damn, he was way stronger than any of them.
Tier 17 mid-stage? That was no joke.
"But if you came alone..." Ethan’s eyes narrowed, his voice low and dangerous. "Then you just signed your own death warrant."
Energy surged around him like a storm,
and without a sound, he summoned a self-destruct Goblin that began creeping toward the two locked in combat.
Elira caught on immediately.
She gathered every ounce of her power into a single energy sphere,
hurled it at the man, and then launched herself backward.
a massive explosion ripped through the air.
The blast sent the man flying.
More Goblins crawled out from the twisted space around them,
latching onto the man with a death grip—
One after another, dozens of Goblins exploded in a chain of brutal, fiery blasts.
The man’s body was torn to shreds by the explosions—still alive, but barely. He had no strength left to fight back.
Elira didn’t hesitate. She seized the moment, shot forward, and with a single punch, shattered his skull.
Elira’s level officially broke through to mid-stage Tier 17.
If another one of the Blood Saints of Thirty-Six showed up now,
Elira could hold her own—
but only against one.
To truly stand toe-to-toe with them,
Emerald Castle still had a long way to go.
Ethan steadied his breathing, then locked onto a new target.
Not far from the Emerald Castle camp, there was a place marked as a Stronghold.
It looked like a rundown ruin from the outside,
but inside, it housed a powerful faction—
their top fighter was said to be at mid-stage Tier 17.
Rumor had it, though, that this top-tier warrior had been seriously injured in a previous battle,
and now could only fight at early-stage Tier 17.
With that intel in hand,
Ethan didn’t waste another second.
He rallied the full force of Emerald Castle and marched out in full strength.
But when they arrived—
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.
This wasn’t some crumbling stronghold.
It was a damn fortress.
The system map labeled it as Skyfang Castle,
and the aura pouring from it was absolutely suffocating—
a thick, oppressive Bloodlust Aura blanketed the entire sky.
Ethan took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm.
According to the system’s analysis, there weren’t any overwhelming powerhouses inside.
All they had to do was launch the attack.
He immediately deployed two hundred self-destruct Goblins.
These weren’t your average cannon fodder either—
every single one was SS-rank, Tier 16.
When they blew up, the damage was catastrophic.
The Goblins charged the castle gates and detonated one after another.
In no time, they blasted a massive hole in the wall.
But the noise had stirred the hornet’s nest.
From deep within the castle, a swarm of Bloodborne Dragons surged out,
hovering in the air, their power radiating like a tidal wave, crashing down from above.
The Emerald Castle army stormed through the breach.
After everything they’d been through, they were bloodthirsty and fearless.
The moment they entered the city, they unleashed everything they had,
clashing head-on with the Bloodborne Dragons in a brutal, no-holds-barred battle.
The power unleashed on both sides was insane—
but Emerald Castle had the edge.
They’d been building toward this moment, and it showed.
a monstrous surge of energy erupted from the heart of the castle.
A massive Bloodborne Dragon rose into the sky,
its eyes glowing with a deep, menacing red as it locked onto Ethan.
"What grudge do we even have? Why are you attacking us?"
Ethan let out a cold laugh. "You really have to ask?"
This was the Umbral Abyss.
Survival of the fittest.
No one needed a reason.
He didn’t waste another word.
Ethan launched himself into the air,
power crackling around him as he summoned a massive blade of energy—
and brought it crashing down.
The Bloodborne Dragon Sovereign narrowed his eyes.
He didn’t bother replying.
Instead, he gathered his strength and unleashed it in a sweeping wave,
meeting Ethan’s blade head-on.
The sky exploded with sound as their powers collided,
the shockwave blasting both of them backward.
When they finally steadied themselves,
Ethan’s heart was pounding.
there was no way this guy was only early-stage Tier 17.
He was full-on mid-stage.
The rumors were dead wrong.
But Ethan also knew that last attack had drained the dragon’s reserves.
and he could finish this.
then shot forward like lightning.
In a flash, he was right in front of the dragon’s chest.
A violent burst of energy exploded from Ethan’s strike,
sending the massive dragon flying, ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱
its body slamming into a nearby building with a thunderous crash.
Ethan’s eyes lit up with excitement.
But just as he was about to dive in for the kill—
a strange, eerie energy surged up from the ground.
With a low hum, it flowed straight into the Bloodborne Dragon’s body.
his wounds began to heal.
In seconds, he was back in the air,
hovering with renewed strength.
"You bastards... barging into my Skyfang Castle, attacking me without cause—
you’ll all pay for this. Every last one of you will become my nourishment."
The Bloodborne Dragon Sovereign was beyond furious.
He’d been trying to recover from his injuries,
avoiding conflict, staying quiet.
And now Ethan had brought the entire Emerald Castle army to his doorstep?
He was done playing nice.
Power surged from his body like a tidal wave,
and in his hands, a massive scythe began to form—
its aura dark, twisted, and terrifying.