Ethan was just about to trigger another system scan—
But the little girl had already stepped up to the man.
No shouting.
No punches.
She simply raised her hand and gently placed it on his shoulder.
In that instant—
The world went still.
No explosions.
No energy shockwaves.
It was like the entire realm held its breath.
Then Ethan saw it.
Not with his eyes.
But with sothing deeper—an instinctive, almost primal perception.
The man's power was being stripped away.
Forcefully. Irrevocably.
Energy, laws, even his very presence—
And along with it, a blurry but unmistakable outline of his soul—ripped clean from his body.
The next mont—
The man froze.
His skin turned ashen, muscles petrified.
Hairline cracks spread across his body like dry earth in a drought.
Crack.
His entire form shattered like a weathered statue, crumbling into dust.
Not even a trace remained.
The girl pulled her hand back, beaming with innocent delight.
She skipped over to Ethan, cupping the stolen power into a smooth, glowing orb and holding it out with both hands.
"Daddy, look!"
"This energy's so clean!"
"I brought it back just for you."
Ethan sucked in a sharp breath.
Hiss—
For the first ti, he truly understood sothing.
If one day, this child regained all her mories—
If she rembered who she really was—
Then the man she now called "Daddy"…
Would he also, in so quiet mont, be stripped of everything just as easily?
He forced himself to stay calm and took the energy orb from her hands.
"Ahem… Lily."
The na slipped out before he could stop it.
Like it had been waiting in his subconscious all along.
"We've been traveling a long ti. You must be tired."
"Let take you to your room to rest, okay?"
He half-expected her to hesitate.
But instead, her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands.
"Yay! So my na's Lily!"
"Then I'm going to bed now!"
She turned to leave, then paused and added seriously:
"If any more of those weirdos show up—"
"Daddy, make sure to call , okay?"
"I'll take all their power and give it to you as a present."
Her voice was soft and sweet.
But the words sent a chill down everyone's spine.
Only after Lily's small figure disappeared down the corridor did Erald Castle seem to breathe again.
That's when everyone realized—they were drenched in cold sweat.
Feylora was the first to rush to Ethan's side, lowering her voice.
"Master… that little girl. Where did you bring her from?"
"You didn't actually… I an, out there…"
Ethan rolled his eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous."
"She's the one you ntioned before—the ruler of that world."
"As for why she's like this now… I don't know."
He paused, voice dropping.
"But one thing's certain—"
"She's going to grow up."
"And when that happens… if she ends up on the other side…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Feylora understood anyway.
She imdiately issued orders to station the most trusted squad outside Lily's room.
To the rest of the castle, only one thing was said:
—That's the Lord's daughter.
Once everything was in place, Ethan didn't linger.
He headed straight for the underground research lab.
The place was brightly lit, humming with activity. Every scientist was working at full throttle—no one dared slack off.
The mont they saw Ethan, they rushed to bring him to a massive glass containnt chamber.
"Lord Ethan," one of them said, barely containing his excitent, "the composite Powered Combat Armor you requested—"
"We've made a breakthrough."
Inside the chamber, a brand-new suit of armor floated in suspension.
Its design was far more intricate than anything before, with a multi-layered fusion structure that looked like it had been woven from power itself.
"This armor can synchronize the energy signatures of you, Idra, and Auri," the lead scientist explained. "In combat, it amplifies your combined output exponentially."
"All weapon systems are integrated as auxiliary modules and will auto-deploy as needed."
Their eyes glead with sothing close to fanaticism.
…
Ethan couldn't help it—his fists clenched.
It had been a long ti since he'd felt this kind of anticipation.
Resources were never the problem. What he lacked was gear that could actually keep up with his power level.
And this—this armor was practically built for him.
According to the simulations, once fully stabilized, it could multiply the user's base power by a factor of five.
At theoretical peak output, it could push combat capability to Tier 31.
That was the kind of number that could flip a battlefield.
Ethan stepped forward instinctively, eyes locked on the still-unsealed armor like he was ready to climb into it right then and there.
But before he could get too close, several core researchers stepped in to block him.
"The energy stabilization loop hasn't passed closed-cycle testing yet," the lead scientist said, voice tight. "If the output surges, it could trigger a catastrophic feedback loop. If you wear it now, the risk is extrely high."
Ethan paused.
Then slowly pulled his hand back.
Reason won out over impulse.
He gave a small nod and turned to check the other prototype weapon modules.
But just then—
A deep, resonant boom rolled across the sky above Erald Castle.
It wasn't thunder.
It was the sound of sothing massive—so enormous energy body—compressing space itself.
The air grew heavy in an instant.
And then, a wave of overwhelming pressure surged outward like a rising tide.
BOOM—!
RUMBLE—
Ethan's pupils contracted sharply.
This wasn't the signature of a lone powerhouse.
Only a full-scale high-tier army could generate this kind of spatial pressure.
He didn't waste another second.
His body flashed into lightning, shooting out of the control platform and rising into the sky.
From above, through the outer energy barrier, he saw it clearly—
A vast army was advancing on Erald Castle in tight, deliberate formation. Warships and energy matrices locked together like a moving continent of steel.
The alarms blared across the entire fortress.
Sky Fortresses launched from every sector, their cores glowing with blue-white light as they entered combat mode.
As the standoff escalated, a single figure stepped forward from the enemy ranks.
A tall, elegant woman.
Twenty pairs of golden wings unfurled behind her, each feather shimring with condensed light. With every subtle movent, the air rippled around her.
A golden gem was embedded in the center of her forehead, like a third eye, radiating a cold, analytical glow.
"How interesting," she said, her voice clear and lodic—like a hymn echoing through a cathedral, but laced with condescension.
"A low-tier Plane World, hoarding this much energy."
Her gaze swept across the sky defenses, lips curling into a faint smile.
"Leaving this kind of power in your hands is a waste. Better to hand it over—let the Vorgar Empire take control."
The air turned icy.
Before her words had even fully faded, soone in the defense array snapped.
A high-density energy sphere launched from the fortress, trailing a blazing white tail as it shot toward her.
The woman's expression darkened.
Her previously restrained aura exploded outward.
Terrifying energy gathered behind her, compressing and shaping—
Until a massive sword of light began to form.
Judgnt Sword.
It stretched across the sky like a divine chasm carved from pure radiance. Even before it fell, the surrounding space had already begun to warp.
"If you refuse to cooperate—refuse to surrender—"
"Then this negotiation ends in judgnt."
Just as the Judgnt Sword locked onto its target—
A calm, steady voice rang out from above Erald Castle.
"You're far too full of yourself."
A flicker of light.
Andona appeared in the sky without a sound.
Holy energy surged around her—pure, ancient, and absolute. The pressure of an Angel King radiated from her like an invisible crown.
Dozens of radiant swords floated into formation at her side, layered like a throne of light suspended in the air.
The woman across from her froze for a mont.
She could feel it clearly—this wasn't the power of a high-tier angel.
This was royal-tier essence. King-level authority.
Shock quickly gave way to greed.
"To think a place this remote still holds the legacy of an Angel King…"
Her eyes burned with possessive hunger.
"Then I definitely can't leave empty-handed."
The Judgnt Sword dropped.
Andona didn't flinch.
She raised her hand.
The holy sword array surged forward, a flood of light crashing upward to et the descending blade.
BOOM—!!
The two forces collided midair, unleashing a blinding white explosion.
Shockwaves rippled outward in rings, slamming into the outer energy barrier. Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface, threatening to shatter at any mont.
The sky itself looked like it was being torn apart.
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