"Follow me. The Cinder Lake is just ahead."
Caesar took the lead, guiding Clorinde and Billy through a stretch of derelict ruins left behind from a bygone era.
Even before reaching the lake, Caesar could already feel the scorching heat radiating from up ahead.
Her expression grew increasingly grim.
She had been to the Lake of Fire before and knew that the Ether concentration and activity around the Cinder Lake were far higher than elsewhere—extremely dangerous.
But right now, the Ether levels around them were unnaturally high.
The pressure was overwhelming.
Even Caesar's breathing had grown rapid.
She suspected something had gone wrong—Pompey, Lucius, and the others from The Vanquishers hadn't destroyed the Ether crystals above the lake. Something unexpected must have happened.
As Caesar made her way past more crumbling ruins, the burning lake finally came into view.
A lone figure lay collapsed on the ground.
Judging by the clothes, it was Pompey, the leader of The Vanquishers.
Billy was shocked. "Big Sis, look over there! Isn't that Pompey, the leader of The Vanquishers? Where are the others? Where's Lucius? Mors?"
The moment Caesar spotted Pompey, her eyes narrowed. Her heart sank.
Just as she feared—something had gone terribly wrong at the lake.
She quickly jumped off her motorcycle and sprinted toward him. "Uncle Pompey! Hang in there! What happened?!"
But when she reached him and turned over his weakened body—
Pompey's face was completely covered in pitch-black Ether crystals. A clear sign of extreme Ether corrosion—high concentration, high activity. It was already very advanced.
Before Caesar could make sense of it, Billy shouted, panicked.
"Big Sis! This is bad—really bad! We're screwed…"
Caesar's expression hardened. "What happened?"
Billy yelled, "There's Ether crystals everywhere! They're sealing off the entire Cinder Lake!"
Hearing that, Caesar's face darkened. She was just about to act—but then glanced down at Pompey lying on the ground.
She gritted her teeth and chose to get him out first.
Pompey suddenly pushed her hand away. "Caesar… Don't worry about me. It was Lucius… he betrayed me… ambushed you…"
He was barely clinging to consciousness, his voice frail and broken.
Even so, he stubbornly endured the Ether tearing through his body.
"I'll get you out first—" Caesar said urgently.
But Pompey cut her off, teeth clenched. "There's no time… Caesar, listen to me. The Cinder Lake… I'm leaving it to you… Become a Overlord. Become a hero…"
As he spoke, the Ether within him surged violently.
Agonizing pain tore through his body.
One after another, jagged Ether crystals burst from within him, piercing his flesh.
Pompey howled in torment.
A torrent of Ether energy gathered toward him, forming a high-density, high-activity Ether vortex around his body.
It lifted him into the air.
One... two... three...
More Ether crystals burst from within, impaling him further.
Within seconds, Pompey—the former leader of The Vanquishers—was completely encased in jagged Ether crystals, like a massive, spiked beast radiating terrifying Ether energy...
Caesar, Billy, Clorinde, and Belle all looked on in shock.
This was the sign of a high-tier Ethereal being born.
Clorinde immediately drew her weapon, tense as she stared at the massive black crystal formation in the sky.
She didn't know exactly what was happening...
But the oppressive aura coming from that colossal cluster made it clear—it was an immensely powerful enemy.
The black crystal structure suddenly gleamed with prismatic light.
A sword-like object burst forth, slamming into the ground—and to their surprise, it turned out to be a motorcycle.
Before anyone could react—
The blade-like Ether motorcycle charged straight at them.
Caesar shouted, "Clorinde! Billy! Watch out! Proxy, find somewhere safe to hide!"
As the Ether motorcycle barreled toward them, Caesar raised her shield in a hurry.
The impact sent her skidding back four or five meters before she could stop herself.
The Ether motorcycle, blocked by Caesar's shield, turned and lunged at Billy.
Naturally, Billy wasn't about to take it head-on.
He leapt into the air, firing several shots midair to repel the Ether motorcycle, narrowly dodging its attack.
Next, it was Clorinde's turn.
She unsheathed her sword, pointed it forward, and with a swift flick as it made contact, deflected the Ether motorcycle's assault.
Caesar shouted, "Watch out, it's coming around again—"
The Ether motorcycle didn't strike again. Instead, it began spinning around the massive Ether crystal high above—faster and faster...
Until it stirred up a full-blown Ether storm.
The enormous crystal seemed to reach its limit.
It exploded in a blinding blast, kicking up dense smoke and shockwaves that sent Caesar, Billy, and Clorinde all flying back several meters.
Caesar looked ahead through the smoke—
And saw a towering, three-meter-high high-tier Ethereal standing at the center. There was no longer any trace of Pompey.
The Ether motorcycle sped to the side of the Ethereal.
It grabbed the bike, mounted it, and charged straight at Caesar, Clorinde, and Billy.
Faced with such a fearsome foe—
Caesar glanced at the burning lake behind her, then at what Pompey had become. Her face twisted with urgency. "Uncle Pompey… I'm sorry—"
With sword in one hand and shield in the other, she charged straight toward the high-tier Ethereal.
"Clorinde, Billy, let's go! We don't have time—let's finish this quickly!"
Clorinde's eyes sharpened. She gripped her sword and darted forward.
Billy didn't hesitate either, joining the fight. "Big Sis, just like old times—I'll keep it busy with bullets, you go for the weak points…"