A chill crept through Ethan’s chest, sharp and sudden. The octopus’s devouring force pressed down on him like a mountain, heavier than anything he’d ever faced—but he didn’t panic.
Yes, the creature’s power was overwhelming. Even in his fused state, he couldn’t match it head-on. But then, a flicker of mory surfaced—just monts ago, almost without thinking, he’d sliced through several of its tentacles like they were nothing.
Its strength was monstrous, but its body... not so much.
A thought struck him like lightning. "Its energy is terrifying, but its flesh is weak."
Without wasting a second, Ethan activated the system and ran a rapid scan of the creature’s physical structure.
The results ca back almost instantly, and he exhaled in relief. Just as he’d hoped—the octopus’s body was far more fragile than its power suggested. It was a glass cannon: imnse energy, but a body that couldn’t take a hit.
"This is my opening," he thought, a plan already forming.
"Hold on a mont, Auri, Idra," he murmured, voice low and steady. In the next breath, he released them from within his body, letting them drift free into the air. Then he vanished, cloaking himself in silence as he crept toward the beast.
A deep, resonant hum pulsed through the battlefield.
The octopus roared again, its fury boiling over. Power surged from its core in wild, chaotic waves, flooding the space around it. The very air trembled with its rage, the battlefield warping under the weight of its wrath.
And that devouring force—it was growing more violent by the second, like it ant to swallow the entire world whole.
But just as the creature seed certain of its victory, Ethan struck.
He appeared behind it in a blink, silent as a shadow, power coiling in his palm. Then—he unleashed it.
The blast hit like a thunderclap, slamming into the octopus’s back and tearing through its flesh. Skin split open with a wet, sickening rip, and a chunk of raw, bleeding at was ripped free.
The creature scread.
A shrill, piercing shriek tore through the air, echoing across the battlefield. Its massive body convulsed, shuddering under the weight of sudden, searing pain.
Tentacles flailed wildly, lashing out in every direction. It thrashed, desperate to shake him off—but the agony and fury had shattered its focus.
Ethan’s eyes lit with a fierce gleam. He’d been right. The body was the weak point.
All that power, but no foundation to hold it. Without a durable vessel, even the strongest energy would collapse in on itself.
He was lucky he’d noticed in ti.
"Well then," he muttered, a cold grin tugging at his lips, "I’m not letting you off that easy."
No hesitation. He surged forward, power roaring through him like a flood. Blow after blow rained down, each one heavier than the last, hamring into the octopus’s body.
The creature couldn’t take it. Its flesh buckled, split, and finally—under one final, deafening explosion—it tore apart completely, its massive form ripped clean in two.
A wave of raw, uncontained energy burst from the corpse, flooding the battlefield in a blinding surge. It was wild, hungry, and unmoored—ready to consu anything in its path.
Ethan staggered back, panting hard, then leapt clear of the wreckage. "Now!" he barked. "Get over here—drain every last drop of its power!"
The others didn’t need to be told twice. They rushed in, surrounding the remains, greedily absorbing the energy pouring from the shattered body.
Namyanna was the most ravenous of all. The octopus had stolen her strength before—now she was taking it back with a vengeance, drawing in the power like she ant to reclaim every ounce and then so.
Ti slipped by. No one spoke. They were too focused, too consud by the rush of energy.
At last, the final traces of power faded. The octopus was empty.
The warriors of Erald Castle stood taller now, their strength restored, their eyes sharper, their spirits reignited.
Ethan let out a long breath, surveying the group. They looked better—stronger. That gave him room to think.
This plane was strange. It didn’t seem particularly special, but he could feel it—the dinsional walls here were thick, stable. It would be a good place to rest, to regroup without interference from the outside.
Still, he had no intention of staying long.
He turned the thought over in his mind, then nodded to himself. "We’ll leave part of the Erald Castle force here to recover," he said quietly. "But I’m taking Auri and Idra with . We’re moving on—there are other planes to find."
He knew what had to be done.
The army was scattered, fragnted across dinsions. Each soldier was powerful, yes—but spread too thin, they were vulnerable.
They had to regroup. Only by uniting their strength could they face what was coming next.
"This scattered ss won’t do," Ethan muttered under his breath. "We need everyone back together—fast."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
He’d already crossed more planes than he could count, carved open space-ti with tunnel after tunnel, until finally—finally—he’d pulled the entire Erald Castle army back into a single dinsional pocket.
But ti hadn’t been kind.
The long stretch of battles and relentless pursuit had taken its toll. Their numbers had been slashed to less than half.
Still, what remained was no ragtag force. These survivors had grown stronger—sharper. Their Tier levels had surged, their power honed by fire and blood. What stood before him now was a hardened elite, a force forged for the trials ahead.
...
Ethan sat alone in a clearing where birdsong drifted through the air and wildflowers swayed in the breeze. The peace around him clashed almost cruelly with the pressure coiled tight in his chest.
He inhaled deeply, drawing in the ambient energy, trying to patch the hollowed-out places inside him where power had been burned away.
As he absorbed the flow, his mind turned to strategy—what ca next, and how to survive it.
Just as his Tier energy neared another breakthrough, the sky above him shimred.
A subtle ripple, like heat over stone—then a figure tore through the dinsional veil and hovered in the air.
Crack. Crack. Crack...
The sound of space twisting echoed like bones snapping under pressure. The sky itself seed to groan, buckling under the force of sothing it couldn’t contain.
Then it hit.
A massive sphere of energy coalesced in the air, dense and furious, and ca crashing down toward Ethan like a teor.
His pupils dilated. He hadn’t sensed the ambush coming—whoever this was, they’d struck with surgical timing, giving him no room to react.
No ti to think. No way to run.
He launched upward in a blur.
Wings burst from his back, vast and radiant, trailing arcs of raw power. In the sa motion, he summoned a thick energy barrier, slamming it into place just as the attack landed.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The impact rocked the sky. Shockwaves rippled outward, distorting the air, making the heavens themselves tremble.
Ethan held his ground, but his heart pounded. That hit had been no bluff. Whoever this was, they were strong—strong enough to gather that much force in a blink.
Then—reinforcents.
Two figures burst from a nearby spatial rift, their arrival like twin storms crashing into the battlefield.
Elira and Ataneya.
Their power exploded outward the mont they appeared, wild and unrelenting, slamming into the enemy from both sides.
The attacker faltered, clearly caught off guard. Panic flickered across their face.
They spun, trying to tear open a dinsional escape route, desperate to flee the sudden onslaught.
...
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