CHAPTER 534: SHE GOT AWAY?

CRACK! CRACK!

In an instant, the power surrounding the Dark Sovereign began to collapse. Her entire body started to shatter violently, as if she were being erased from existence. But Ethan saw through it right away...

She was trying to escape.

"Where do you think you’re going?"

"Sacred Realm!"

Ethan immediately unleashed the power of his Sacred Realm. In a flash, the energy sealed off every possible escape route, trapping the Dark Sovereign completely within its bounds.

Seeing this, the Dark Sovereign’s expression twisted into something monstrous.

"You want to kill me? Fine! Then let’s die together!"

"Darkheart Detonation!"

BOOM!

No one expected it—she actually chose to self-destruct!

"Shit!" Ethan’s face changed drastically. But just then, Elira suddenly stepped forward, appearing right in front of the terrifying explosion of energy.

With a sharp motion of her hand—

A dark sphere, swirling with a mix of magical forces, surged forward—

And swallowed the explosion whole.

"Master, are you okay?"

"My Lord?!"

Cicero, Seraphina, Ataneya, and Andona all rushed to Ethan’s side.

But Ethan just shook his head, his brow furrowed as he looked toward Elira, who stood not far away.

"She got away?"

"Yeah..." Elira nodded calmly. "Looks like she had a backup plan. Her soul didn’t vanish with the explosion. She must’ve escaped. Not bad—she came prepared."

Ethan let out a long sigh.

So she really did get away, huh?

"Ugh, whatever..."

He shook his head again. After all, the Dark Sovereign was originally an SSS-class threat. The only reason she was weaker now was because she’d been injured. It made sense that she’d be hard to kill. If she’d gone down too easily, it would’ve cheapened the whole idea of an SSS-class Crimson Ultimate villain.

And that? That just wasn’t realistic.

"Huh?"

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Ethan spotted something unexpected.

Right where the Dark Sovereign had self-destructed, there was a charred, tattered piece of armor—jet black and cracked all over. But on closer inspection, it was unmistakably hers.

"She left this behind?"

Ethan hurried over and picked it up, a flicker of excitement in his eyes.

"Her body was blown to bits—of course she couldn’t take it with her," Elira said casually, glancing at it. "Still... that armor’s not bad."

"Really?" Ethan grinned and nodded, stashing it away. Then he turned to the rest of the battlefield.

"Alright, finish it. Wipe out the remaining forces—leave no one behind."

With that, Cicero, Seraphina, Ataneya, and Andona sprang into action, sweeping through the area and eliminating every last remnant of the Dark Sovereign’s army.

Not long after—

Victory was theirs.

It was finally over.

"It’s really over, huh..." Ethan murmured to himself.

Thinking back on everything that had happened—it all felt like a dream.

He’d actually managed to defeat a monster like the Dark Sovereign?

Unbelievable. It felt surreal.

Sure, it was a bit of a letdown that she’d escaped in the end, but still—this was a massive win. Not perfect, but damn close.

And honestly? That was more than enough.

"Master, should we keep pushing forward?" Seraphina asked, her eyes gleaming with a wild intensity. Out of everyone, she’d gained the most from this campaign—her level had skyrocketed, and the rewards she’d earned had reached a peak.

If they kept going, she might even break through to SS-class.

She was itching for more.

But Ethan looked around at his team.

Many were injured. Everyone was exhausted.

They needed rest.

Besides, the Dark Sovereign had fled deeper into the dungeon—into territory none of them had explored.

Who knew what kind of monsters lurked down there?

And what if they ran into something even stronger than the Dark Sovereign?

What then?

The world was full of unknown horrors.

And honestly, creatures at that level could still pose a serious threat—even to them.

They had to be careful.

With that in mind, Ethan shook his head.

"Seraphina, we’re putting things on hold for now. We’ve done enough. It’s time to rest and regroup. Let’s head back."

He clapped her on the shoulder, then gave the order.

"...Alright," Seraphina said reluctantly. She clearly wasn’t ready to stop, but when Ethan gave a command, they all followed it. No one else had any objections either.

And so, not long after—

They left the dungeon behind.

And returned to their stronghold—Emerald Castle.

The moment Ethan stepped foot back into Emerald Castle, he wasted no time.

He immediately pulled up his system interface and dove headfirst into a frenzy of recruitment—soldiers, heroes, anything and everything he could summon.

Thanks to all the leveling up he’d done recently, the number of heroes he could call upon had increased significantly. And the stockpile of Creature Dwellings he’d accumulated? Massive. More than enough to push his power to the next tier.

But more importantly—

The Dark Sovereign had escaped.

And there was no way in hell she was going to let this go. She’d be back. Sooner or later, she’d come roaring back for revenge.

Which meant Ethan had to be ready.

He had to prepare. Build. Fortify.

No more surprises.

...

The next stretch of time passed in relative peace. Everyone stayed within the safety of Emerald Castle, resting, recovering, and getting their gear in order. It was a rare moment of calm—and they made the most of it.

During this downtime, they also managed to recruit a whole new wave of elite units.

From the Citadel of Shadows dungeon world came terrifying new troops: Divine Angels, Angels of Death, Shadow Foxes, Primordial Tide Sirens... Just hearing the names was enough to send chills down your spine—and they lived up to the hype.

All of them were Tier 14.

Hidden, specialized units. Incredibly powerful.

As Ethan summoned more and more of these elite forces, the strength of Emerald Castle surged to new heights.

So, he took the time to sit down and carefully go over everything he had—every soldier, every asset, every inch of territory under his control.

Here’s what it looked like now:

Main Castle: Emerald Castle

Core Territory: Sylvanwood

Vassal Territories: Stellamaris Kingdom, Crimsonstar Kingdom, Gemspire Kingdom, the Dark Sovereign’s former palace, and the entire Dark World

Resource Sites: Multiple gold mines, all six basic resource nodes in abundance

Special Resource Nodes: Magic Pattern Vein (Level 2)

Creature Dwellings:

Dragon Cliff (Green Dragon) ×10

Sacred Tree (Ancient War Tree) ×10

Behemoth Lair ×10

Gem Dragon Grotto ×20

Kirin Sea Temple ×50

Plus a wide range of Tier 1–12 Creature Dwellings

Standard Troops:

Tier 14 Mythic Units:

Gold Dragons ×5,200

Sacred Kirins ×2,000

Ancient Behemoths ×300

Tier 13 Legendary Units:

Green Dragons ×8,900

Gem Dragons ×5,000

Behemoths ×1,700

Kirins ×6,500

Ancient War Trees ×500

Arcane Colossi ×4,800

Tier 11–12 Units: 130,000+

Additional Tier 1–10 units: countless

That was the original Emerald Castle force.

Now, on top of that, he’d added:

Ataneya

Andona

Namyanna

Divine Angels ×1,000

Angels of Death ×1,000

Primordial Tide Sirens ×2,000

Shadow Foxes ×2,000

And of course—

The most powerful of them all wasn’t even an army.

It was Elira.

An SSS-class Crimson Ultimate Hero.

She didn’t command any troops—yet. She was still a one-woman army. But everyone in Emerald Castle knew the truth:

Aside from Ethan himself, Elira was the most dangerous person in the entire realm.

The strongest.

The most untouchable.

And definitely the last person you’d ever want to piss off.

...