The mantis-man had clearly realized things were going south.
The instant the infernal flas inside Ataneya fully erupted, real fear finally surfaced in its compound eyes.
That power wasn't just strong—it carried sothing that made it instinctively recoil.
Power from The Infernal Abyss.
It jerked backward.
Its razor limbs gouged deep tracks into the ground, and the air screeched with friction as it retreated at high speed.
Almost at the sa ti, its energy flared.
A deep-blue frost aura blasted out from the gaps in its carapace. The energy condensed in midair, countless tiny ice crystals gathering into a single, churning mass.
In the blink of an eye, a gigantic ice sphere ford in the sky.
It was nearly a hundred feet across, its surface covered in sharp ice spikes, with a vortex of extre cold spinning inside.
The mantis-man let out a furious roar.
It whipped its forelimbs and hurled the massive ice sphere forward.
The ice ball spun at terrifying speed, dragging a stream of lethal, subzero wind as it smashed toward Ataneya. Frost spread instantly along its path. Even nearby buildings flashed over with ice in a heartbeat.
The attack really was frightening.
But just as the ice sphere was about to reach Ataneya—
A blinding white bolt tore in from the side.
It was like a spear that split the sky.
BOOM—!
White lightning slamd into the ice sphere head-on.
Extre cold and thunder collided violently. In the next instant, the massive ice ball shattered like glass.
Countless ice crystals exploded outward, turning into a glittering rain of fragnts.
The mantis-man froze on the spot.
It snapped its head toward where the lightning had co from.
Ethan stood there.
White electricity flowed lazily around him, calm as a tide.
That aura made the mantis-man understand sothing imdiately.
Its compound eyes widened.
"White lightning…" Its voice warped with shock. "You actually control the Infernal Abyss's white thunder?!"
But it didn't get to finish.
Ataneya was already in its face.
She moved like a red afterimage.
The next second, her palm settled lightly on the mantis-man's shoulder.
It looked simple.
But the force inside it was terrifying.
Ataneya's infernal flas detonated completely.
Deep-red power erupted from her like a volcano, flooding straight into the mantis-man's body.
BOOM—!
Its body ripped apart in an instant.
It didn't even have ti to scream. The entire fra was blown into countless chunks, scattering through the air.
But at the mont it collapsed, a crystalline energy core rose from the debris.
A deep-blue crystal.
Cold air spilled from it in steady waves.
Ethan rushed in almost at the sa ti.
He lifted a hand fast. A white lightning barrier wrapped around the core, stabilizing it before it could dissipate.
Then he reached out and caught the crystal in his palm.
It was an incredibly pure energy core.
Inside it, the power of infernal frost flowed slowly, quiet and lethal.
The corner of Ethan's mouth lifted.
"Would be a damn sha to waste sothing like this."
Just as he put the core away, a heavy tremor rolled in again from the distance.
Rumble—rumble—!
The sound was like a storm closing in.
Ethan looked up.
On the far horizon, a huge mass of people appeared.
There were a lot of them—so many they ford a dense, moving line as they headed for the city.
But when Ethan got a clearer look, he paused, thrown off.
They looked miserable.
Their clothes were torn to rags. They were gaunt, half-starved, and a lot of them could barely stay on their feet. One person was outright collapsed on the ground, being dragged along by others.
Their auras weren't strong.
If anything, they were frighteningly weak.
Yet their expressions were burning with fury.
When they reached the base of the wall, soone finally couldn't hold it in anymore and scread up at the city.
"Xarathos! Get your ass out here!"
The shout carried rage that had been crushed down for far too long.
"You said you'd grant us power!" another person bellowed. "We mined for you, worked for you—and you never once kept your promise!"
"You don't give us strength, you just keep bleeding us dry!"
A young man's voice turned sharp with hatred.
"You even took our kids!"
"Even if we have to die today—"
"We're tearing that tyrant to pieces!"
The crowd's fury surged in waves, their shouts echoing off the empty wall.
Ethan stood there for a mont, genuinely blank.
He hadn't expected a whole group of people to show up—rebels, openly opposing The Nexaris Overlord Xarathos.
He drew a slow breath.
Then his figure flickered.
In the next second, he was already in front of the crowd.
Instantly, the people tensed, wary.
Ethan raised a hand, signaling for quiet.
"Xarathos is dead."
His voice wasn't loud, but it reached every ear clearly.
"I killed him."
The air went silent.
Everyone froze.
Ethan continued.
"From now on, this place doesn't belong to Nexaris anymore."
His eyes swept across them.
"It belongs to ."
"And as for you…"
"Who are you?"
The crowd stayed quiet for a mont.
Then an older man slowly stepped forward.
He was painfully thin, but his eyes were still clear.
He looked Ethan up and down.
After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke.
"The Nexaris Overlord Xarathos was powerful beyond imagining."
"How did you defeat him?"
Ethan didn't explain.
He simply raised his hand.
The next instant, white lightning appeared in his palm.
The mont that power surfaced, the air around them started to shake violently.
Thunder rolled and coiled in his grasp—
A force so intense it was hard to look at directly.
The crowd sucked in a collective breath.
The old man's body began to tremble with emotion.
Tears welled in his eyes.
"Heaven finally opened its eyes…" he whispered.
"That tyrant… he's finally dead."
"We're… free. We're finally free."
Ethan walked up to him.
He set a hand on the old man's shoulder.
And only then did Ethan truly feel just how weak these people were.
Their auras were almost dried up.
Ethan frowned.
"You look half-dead."
He pointed toward the city gate.
"Get inside first. Rest."
The old man froze.
He'd been sure Ethan would keep enslaving them, the sa way Xarathos had.
But now—
This guy was telling them to enter the city.
For a mont, the old man didn't even know how to respond.
He stared, hesitant, at that breathtaking, towering capital.
"That place…" His voice carried raw unease. "People like us… we've never been allowed in."
Before he could finish, Ethan lifted a hand lightly.
The next instant, he pulled a massive sack out of his spatial storage. The mont he opened it, a thick energy scent spilled into the air.
It was filled with all kinds of energy ore.
Refined, processed—every piece giving off a soft but steady glow, like sealed energy cores waiting to be used.
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