Ti started flying by—
Days passed in a blur.
But during those few days, sothing strange ca to light:
Karnak had... vanished. Just like that. No warning, no trace.
"You still haven’t found Karnak?"
"Not yet..." Auremax frowned, clearly puzzled. "My Lord, I’ve searched high and low with the entire Gold Dragon army for days now, but there’s still no sign of him! What we did find, though, were several Ebonite Diamond Golem creature dwellings... Could sothing have happened to him?!"
"I don’t think so," Ethan said, shaking his head.
Karnak was one of his Hero Units. If he’d been in a fight—or worse, if he’d died—the system would’ve notified him imdiately. But there’d been nothing. No alerts, no ssages. So whatever happened, it probably wasn’t fatal.
Still, it was clear Karnak was stuck sowhere.
"Keep looking. He’s got to be around here sowhere. People don’t just vanish into thin air..."
Another day or two slipped by.
Then, finally, a lead.
Intheris, the Energy Elental hero, stumbled upon sothing while exploring the base of a long-dormant volcano. Deep beneath the dead mountain, he found a massive black pit—an abyss that seed to lead straight into the earth’s core.
"You found sothing?"
"Let’s go. Show ."
Ethan perked up instantly and led his forces straight to the site.
"Honored Lord," Intheris greeted him with a respectful bow, his voice echoing with elental energy. "I, Intheris of the Energy Elentals, offer you my deepest respect and blessings."
"No need for the formalities," Ethan waved him off. "What do you know about this place? Have you gone down there?"
"I’m afraid not, my Lord," Intheris admitted, looking a little embarrassed. "I tried to descend, but the pit is far too deep. Flying isn’t exactly my strong suit, so I had to turn back. I didn’t dare go any further."
"Master," Cicero suddenly spoke up, his voice low and alert. "There’s a trace of Karnak’s energy down there. Faint, but it’s definitely his."
"Seriously?" Ethan’s eyes lit up. "Cicero, I’m counting on you. Go check it out."
This place was a complete unknown, and Ethan didn’t want to take any chances. If Karnak really was trapped down there, Cicero was the best one to get him out.
"It would be my honor, Master," Cicero said with a grin. Then, without hesitation, he launched into the air, wings slicing through the wind. In a flash of dark green light, he dove into the black abyss like a streak of lightning—gone in the blink of an eye.
"Could this place be...?"
Ethan stared into the darkness, eyes narrowed, thoughts racing.
There was a flicker of hope in his gaze, mixed with a heavy dose of curiosity.
Monts passed.
Then, from the void, a shimr of green light sparked to life. Cicero erged, completely unhard—and clutched in his talons, dangling awkwardly but unmistakably alive, was a battered, dirt-covered figure Ethan knew all too well.
"Karnak! You were really down there this whole ti?!" Ethan exclaid, eyes wide with shock.
"My Lord, I’m sorry," Karnak said, looking thoroughly ashad and frustrated. "I was overconfident and reckless. I should’ve reported back to you the mont I sensed sothing strange."
"What’s down there?" Ethan asked, his tone sharpening.
"13th-Tier Legendary Units," Cicero cut in, his eyes gleaming with excitent. "Beneath that black pit, there’s a massive chanical gear-city. It’s guarded by a ton of Creature Dwellings—and every single one of them has the power level of 13th-Tier Legendary Units!"
The mont those words left Cicero’s mouth, Ethan’s eyes lit up like fireworks.
"Wait—Cicero, are you saying there’s a 13th-Tier Legendary Unit Creature Dwelling down there?!"
"Looks like it, yes!"
It wasn’t just Ethan who was stunned—Auremax, Elynn, and the others were all visibly shaken.
They knew exactly what that ant.
A 13th-Tier Legendary Unit Creature Dwelling wasn’t just rare—it was practically mythical. And now, to find one hidden in this Plane World?
Unbelievable.
"Dragon Cliff, Behemoth Lair, Sacred Tree... and now this Plane World has another one? Sylvanwood’s hiding all kinds of treasures," Ethan said, grinning from ear to ear. "This place is loaded!"
No one in their right mind would complain about having too many 13th-Tier Legendary Unit Dwellings.
The more, the better.
And right now, Ethan already had five under his control:
The Sacred Tree of the Ancient War Trees, the Gem Dragon Grotto, the Behemoth Lair, Dragon Cliff, and the Kirin Sea Temple.
If he could add this new one to the list...
That would make six.
Six different types of 13th-Tier Legendary Unit Creature Dwellings.
If word got out, even the emperors of the most powerful nations would lose their minds with envy. Normally, even the strongest kingdoms might only have one or two types—three, if they were absurdly lucky.
But six?
That was unheard of.
It wasn’t just a sign of power—it was a declaration.
In fact, from a certain perspective...
This ant that Erald Castle had already surpassed the level of traditional superpowers. They were no longer just a rising force—they were stepping into the realm of true faction-level dominance.
With that thought, Ethan didn’t waste another second.
He cut straight to the point.
"Cicero, can we take the guards? Shouldn’t be a problem, right?"
"We can take them. No problem at all," Cicero replied without hesitation.
"Then let’s go check it out!" Ethan said, fired up.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he surged forward, activating his Holy Armant into full battle mode and diving headfirst into the pitch-black abyss.
Seeing this, Elynn called out in alarm, "Prince Cicero, hurry and follow him—!"
"Relax, Elynn. He’s got ," Cicero said with a calm smile. In the next instant, he shimred in place, unleashing the power of his Sacred Realm. Then, with a burst of energy, he led the rest of the group down into the darkness after Ethan.
It took a while—longer than expected—but eventually, Ethan reached the bottom, erging on the other side of the abyss.
As he landed, he couldn’t help but mutter in awe, "No wonder we couldn’t find anything before... This place is buried so deep, it’s practically at the planet’s core!"
And then—
The scenery shifted.
Before them stood a colossal, floating black city of gears and machinery. The entire structure lood in the shadows, massive and imposing, built in the brutalist, ironclad style of the Fortress faction. The most striking feature, though, was the array of gears—so small, so massive, all different shapes—embedded into the city’s structure, lying dormant like they were part of a sleeping giant.
"This... this can’t be... the legendary Clockwork Citadel?!" Eldrin gasped, eyes wide.
"You recognize it?" Ethan asked quickly.
"I’m not entirely sure, My Lord," Eldrin said, still staring in disbelief. "But it looks a lot like it..."
"In the old days of the Seven Cities Alliance, there was a powerful archmage nad Cedryx—known as the Archmagus of chanica. He was the mastermind behind the ’Project Ascendant tal Golem’ and its lead architect."
Eldrin glanced around, his voice rising with excitent. "And the Clockwork Citadel... was said to be Cedryx’s most famous ga-laboratory!"
"My Lord, if this really is it, then this place could be..."
He trailed off, too overwheld to finish, practically trembling with excitent.
Ethan’s eyes glead. "Cicero, where are the Creature Dwelling guards?!"
"Inside the Clockwork Citadel," Cicero replied, descending toward the massive structure. "Follow , Master!"
Soon, they arrived at a series of enormous, pitch-black foundries—towering structures that pulsed with arcane energy. Around them, thick clouds of magical particles shimred in the air, dense and potent.
And surrounding those foundries were dozens of massive, jet-black constructs—creatures that looked like obsidian versions of Diamond Golems. They stood silently, motionless, as if in deep slumber.
Their bodies were made of flawless black diamond—sleek, compact, and impenetrable. Magical particles shimred visibly across their surfaces, even flickering within their cores, pulsing like a heartbeat of raw power.
"A completely new unit type... and yeah, no doubt about it—these are 13th-Tier Legendary Units," Ethan said, his voice low with awe.
His eyes sparkled with anticipation.
...
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