Ethan stepped forward and gripped the man's throat.
"I don't care who used to own this world."
His voice was calm. Flat. But ironclad.
"From this mont on—"
"It belongs to ."
As the last word left him, his power surged. It poured down his arm and into Malvorn's body like a lightning strike.
BOOM!
The man's form shattered from the inside out, breaking into fragnts of luminous energy that scattered into the air like sparks in the wind.
Only then did Ethan finally breathe.
The fight had given him a clear answer—
That man had been infused with a trace of Primordial Force.
There was no doubt.
Malvorn had been this world's true "master."
And now?
He was gone.
But the change didn't end there.
From the distant sky ca a strange humming sound.
A massive bird-like creature winged past overhead, cutting a sharp spiral through the air before retreating quickly into the clouds.
Then—
The forest erupted.
Howls rose up from deep within the woods—dozens, then hundreds.
Figures burst from the treeline, flooding into the clearing... only to grind to a halt the mont they locked eyes on Ethan.
A long, tense silence hung over the field.
Then—an explosion of noise.
"He's dead?! Malvorn's dead?!"
"That bastard's finally gone! After all this ti!"
"Serves him right! Should've died a hundred tis over!"
"Couldn't even leave a body behind? Damn—we didn't even get to kick it!"
Ethan blinked, taken aback.
He hadn't expected the hatred to run this deep.
Clearly, Malvorn hadn't been a "benevolent ruler" to the locals.
As the crowd surged closer, Ethan stepped lightly forward, keeping a warm smile on his face—but behind his back, energy quietly built in his hand.
"You all… natives of this world?" he asked.
From the crowd, one figure slowly stepped out.
It looked like a baboon—only oversized, weathered… and with three eyes.
Its presence was steady, grounded in a way that tugged at the world itself. This wasn't so rank-and-file monster.
This thing was old. Important.
And it spoke.
"Judging by your aura," it said, voice deep and asured, "you don't belong to this realm."
"You entered from outside."
"I'll ask you plainly—why did you kill Malvorn?"
Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly.
Not everyone here was cheering.
This one didn't seem angry. But it wasn't celebrating either.
Definitely a different camp.
Ethan took a mont, then turned toward what little remained of Malvorn's broken body.
"We didn't co here by choice," he said evenly.
"A spatial storm dragged us in. Not long after we landed, that guy sicced a monster on us. Tried to kill us on sight."
He shrugged. "We defended ourselves. The fact that he died so fast? Honestly, that's on him. Looks like he wasn't as strong as he thought."
The three-eyed baboon followed Ethan's gaze to the remains.
Its wrinkled, weathered face twisted—not in grief, but in visible, unfiltered contempt.
"Hmph."
"This... really is sothing Malvorn would do."
It snorted, scoffing with the weight of long-held disgust.
"He got a piece of the world's authority and thought that gave him the right to run wild. Summoning beasts, preying on outsiders… it was always just a matter of ti."
But then its voice shifted—low and tense.
"But you… you've also done sothing incredibly foolish."
Ethan's expression tensed slightly.
"Killing him, you an?"
The old beast nodded slowly.
"You've just kicked a hornet's nest."
"Malvorn had a brother."
"Malreth."
The mont the na fell, the cheering behind them dropped off—like soone had hit mute.
Ethan caught it instantly. Every ear had gone still.
"His brother's that strong, huh?" he said, calm but focused.
The old baboon didn't answer right away.
Instead, it reached into the rough folds of its robe and pulled out a blood-red crystal—shaped like a small mountain, with natural veins running across its glossy surface.
With the press of a clawed finger, a projection shimred to life above it.
The image wasn't clear, but the presence leaking from the figure it showed was unmistakable—oppressive, commanding.
"Malreth," the old baboon said darkly.
"He carries the blood of eight powerful races in his body."
"Right now, he's undergoing a trial in the Dragonspire Range."
Its third eye lifted, locking onto Ethan—and for the first ti, its voice wasn't neutral. It carried a clear, sharp warning.
"If he cos back…"
"You won't survive."
Ethan followed the direction the creature had gestured toward.
In the distance stood a vast, staggering range of mountains, stretching from horizon to horizon. The peaks shimred with a divine golden glow—so pure it looked like they'd been forged from solidified energy.
That power—
It pulsed. Ancient, clean, and endlessly strong.
"That mountain range…" Ethan narrowed his eyes, studying it. "It's the core of this world, isn't it?"
The old baboon frowned slightly and shook its head.
Tapping the crimson crystal again, it brought up a full projection of the world—a floating, three-dinsional map assembled in light.
"Not quite."
It pointed beyond the golden range to sothing further, deeper.
"The true Primordial Core of this world lies in the Fairy Mountains."
A hazy, edge-of-the-map region ca into view—wreathed in mist and danger. Like even the map was hesitant to go further.
"But no one's ever entered that place," the old primate said with a grim smile.
"Anyone who gets near it… is lted down by its power."
As the words left its mouth—
"Fairy?!"
Auri's eyes lit up like twin suns. She practically bounced on her toes.
"There are Fairies there?! Really?!"
The baboon glanced at her, then slowly shook its head.
"No one knows," it said flatly. "All we know is that what's inside… doesn't obey our understanding of this world."
Ethan's chest tightened slightly.
It sounded too familiar.
The way the Fairy Mountains were described—compared to the magical mine beneath Erald Castle—it felt like the sa phenonon. The sa type of force.
He pressed for more details about this world while he could, before finally nodding.
Then, without hesitation, he turned—with Idra and Auri flanking him—and set off in the direction of the Dragonspire Range.
—Waiting for Malreth to co to them was pointless.
If he really was that strong, then it was better to find out what kind of trial he was facing now… and what kind of threat they were dealing with.
They walked for an unknowable stretch of ti.
And then, finally, they reached the base of the Dragonspire Range.
All three stopped at once.
From within the vast mountains, run-off golden energy flowed outward like a river made of light. It wasn't symbolic—it was real. Tangible.
It swept over them.
And in the space of a breath, their minds were sharpened, their spirits lifted, their bodies suddenly alight with focus.
This wasn't normal energy.
It was—
Pure Dragon God force.
User Comments
0 comments from readers