Third Person's POV
And just as he had hoped, their reactions were exactly as he expected.
There were no screams or sobs, but silent tears welled in their eyes as they clenched their fists tightly.
Their bodies trembled not from fear, but from the seed of resolve beginning to sprout inside them.
He nodded to himself and his lips tightened as he had achieved his objective.
Turning inward, Ethan focused on the injuries again.
He froze the foul blood and pus with his frost and then shattered it into black powder that scattered into the wind.
With slow, controlled effort, he summoned his soul sense and carefully traced it through the damaged areas of his body.
He winced as arcs of wild lightning crackled against the probing strands of his soul sense.
Each sharp and shocking jolt was like being branded anew, but he pushed through and soon ticulously mapped the extent of the infection.
They had now spread across his hands… his neck… and so parts of his torso.
The core damage had nested deep and had entrenched itself in places where his mana channels intersected.
The situation at the mont for him was grim, as the dark lightning born from that Sky Realm monster was far more resilient than anything he had dealt with before.
His own dark mana, which had overwheld most of his foes, faltered here.
Every attempt at corrosion was t with stubborn resistance as the two energies clashed like rival beasts, and in the bitter process, the lightning refused to yield.
It was superior in quality, denser, and more domineering than his mana.
The only reason Ethan hadn't already lost those body parts was because his own darkness held ho advantage within his body.
Using that advantage, he suppressed them to small spots and restricted them from spreading further and causing havoc in his body.
Looking at his state, his expression darkened as the full scope of danger hit him.
If he were to force and purge the dark lightning out now with the full force of his darkness and icy mana combined, it could destabilize, lash out violently, and annihilate the mana channels in his neck and hands.
They could be destroyed in an instant.
A cold sweat began to bead on his forehead, and the air around him chilled even further as the icy energy in his body started to spiral a bit out of control due to his tumultuous emotions.
Ethan inhaled sharply and tried to calm down while the seriousness of his situation sank in like a dagger to the gut.
Despite having stood his ground against the Sky Realm demon knight Telor, it was only now, in the aftermath, that the true weight of that clash settled upon him.
Now he understood what it ant to face soone truly from the Sky Realm.
It was not just their presence, attacks, higher quality of their mana, and fighting experience, but also the lingering mana traces they left behind.
And now, the extraction was proving to be more difficult than he had anticipated.
He could have tried to force it out, but he knew that the consequences following it would have been equally severe and that route almost would have certainly ended with him being crippled, at least temporarily.
The re thought of being handicapped for several days until he could et Master Nyx stirred a vexing frustration in his chest.
A dull ache fueled by the unwelco possibility of helplessness, however brief it might be throbbed at his temple.
Ethan exhaled slowly through his nose and his brows drawn into a tight frown, but he soon reined in the rising discontent.
This was the first ti, he was facing such a situation of a potential disability in both of his lives.
A disabled person was different from an injured person, as the injured one could heal and bounce back, though it couldn't be seen with the disabled one.
But Ethan reminded himself at the sa ti that his situation was not too severe and he wasn't truly vulnerable.
On the contrary, he still possessed formidable strength, a set of well-guarded trump cards, and above all, the silent yet terrifying presence of the old blood slave, the very one the little duchess had placed by his and the girls' side.
The night remained cold and heavy while the trees outside rustled faintly in the wind, and Ethan's mind drifted toward the possible combat scenarios he might soon face.
Soon, they stepped onto the last grass planes again and left the forest behind their wake, while Ethan remained deep in thought all this while.
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully, and he started analyzing countless outcos, strategies, and contingencies, he could employ when a sudden chirp broke the stillness of the night like a blade slicing through silk.
He blinked and looked down as a flicker of surprise flashed across his face.
From within the folds of his loose sleeve, a small black head poked out with its feathers sleek and ruffled from movent.
A second later, a tiny form erged fully, it was Bolt, the baby Shadow Storm Eagle, who had been dormant and hibernating quietly since the ti of its birth by clinging to his arm like a baby koala and feeding faintly on the currents of his dark mana.
In the eight or nine days since their last interaction, Bolt's appearance had subtly changed.
His once faint black feathers had deepened into a rich, velvety darkness that no longer simply shimred, but was absorbed.
Light around him bent inward slightly and was consud by the quiet vortex of the bird's evolving form.
He no longer reflected the world, but he devoured it, piece by piece.
The little bird tilted its head, and its sharp yellowish-golden eyes instantly locked onto Ethan's crimson ones.
It tilted its head cutely while looking into his eyes and face.
There was no fear in that gaze, but only warmth, joy, and sothing deeper like a fierce and primal connection.
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