CHAPTER 689: THE EATER BECOMES THE EATEN

The energy being funneled into Caedor’s body through the vines was relentless—an endless torrent of stolen power, feeding him, evolving him.

"You making it here," Caedor said, his voice low and venomous, "means the army I sent out has been completely wiped out..."

He sneered, eyes glowing with contempt. "Useless trash. Every last one of them."

Then he looked down at Ethan and the others, a twisted grin spreading across his face. "I’ll admit, I didn’t expect you outsiders to be this strong. If I’d known, I would’ve planted more vines where you were fighting. Could’ve drained even more power from you."

Ethan’s brow furrowed, his whole body tense. There was something deeply wrong about what he was seeing. Caedor wasn’t just powerful—he was on the verge of something else entirely.

He was evolving.

Not just his racial traits, but his level, his very essence.

Ethan quickly pulled up Caedor’s data panel—and his heart sank.

He was one step away from Tier 19.

If Caedor completed that evolution, it would be over. Not just for Ethan, but for everyone in Emerald Castle. There’d be no stopping him.

Breathe.

Ethan took a sharp inhale, then vanished in a flash of light—whoosh!—reappearing right in front of Caedor, aiming to strike before it was too late.

But the moment he got close, he was slammed back by an invisible force. Caedor’s protective aura was like a wall of steel, effortlessly repelling him.

"You really thought you could touch me?" Caedor scoffed. "You think these vines are just for show? Right now, I’m too busy absorbing power to deal with you... but once I’m done?"

He chuckled darkly. "You’ll be nothing but a dried-up husk."

Ethan’s breathing grew ragged. For the first time, real fear crept into his eyes. He turned around—and saw the palace doors had sealed shut behind them.

They were trapped.

The entire Emerald Castle army was locked inside with a monster who was moments away from becoming unstoppable.

And once Caedor was done feeding, he’d drain them all dry.

But Ethan wasn’t the kind of man to sit around and wait to die.

He quickly scanned Caedor’s data again, desperate to find a weakness—anything.

But there was nothing.

No flaws. No vulnerabilities.

The vines extending from Caedor’s body were impervious to blades, fire, ice—everything. And they could stretch for miles, siphoning energy from entire battlefields.

"Shit..."

"What the hell do we do now?" Ethan muttered, panic rising in his chest.

This was it. A death trap. No way out. No hope.

He was about to spiral when something clicked in his mind—he remembered.

Feylora.

Back during the earlier chaos, she’d ripped one of the vines clean off.

Just as he turned to ask her about it—

He saw her.

Feylora had already sprinted forward, throwing herself at one of the massive vines. She wrapped her arms around it and began draining it, her body glowing with a strange, pulsing energy.

"Feylora!" Ethan shouted, startled. He rushed to her side and grabbed her arm, trying to pull her away.

But the moment he touched her, a surge of raw power shot into his body.

His eyes widened.

Feylora’s expression twisted—half pain, half ecstasy. "Master... when I tore off that vine earlier, I realized something. I can absorb it. I can actually take in its energy."

Ethan’s shock turned to excitement. He pressed his palm against the vine, trying to do the same—but the moment he made contact, the energy inside lashed out, blasting him backward.

He hit the ground hard, gritting his teeth.

It didn’t work for him.

But it worked for her.

He paused, thinking fast.

Then he stood up and shouted, "Everyone! Link your power together—channel it through me!"

The soldiers looked confused, but they obeyed without hesitation. One by one, they reached out, connecting their energy to Ethan’s.

He clenched his fists, eyes locked on Feylora and the vine.

If he couldn’t absorb it himself, then he’d become the conduit.

The moment Ethan gave the order, he gripped Feylora’s hand tightly and unleashed every ounce of his energy, turning himself into a conduit.

WHOOOSH!

The soldiers of Emerald Castle didn’t hesitate. One after another, they reached out and grabbed onto Ethan, forming a living chain of power.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

A surge of energy rushed through them all. They could feel it—raw, potent power flooding into their bodies, pushing their strength higher, their levels climbing with every second.

And then—

Caedor’s eyes snapped open.

His expression twisted into something between disbelief and horror.

"No... No, that’s impossible! How are you absorbing my power?!"

But Ethan and Feylora didn’t even look at him. They just kept going, ramping up the absorption.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

The massive vines around them began to wither—visibly, rapidly—shriveling into dry husks as their energy was siphoned away. The surrounding air trembled as more and more power was pulled toward them, drawn in by the overwhelming force of their combined absorption.

"No! This can’t be happening!" Caedor roared, panic creeping into his voice.

He tried to fight back, summoning more vines from across the palace, lashing them toward the Emerald Castle army in a desperate attempt to break the chain.

But the moment those vines got close, something strange happened.

Instead of attacking, they hesitated—then began pouring their energy into the soldiers as well.

Caedor’s eyes widened in horror.

The vines... recognized them.

They’d been partially assimilated. The moment they absorbed the first wave of energy, the vines had started treating them as kin. As part of the system.

They wouldn’t attack their own.

The throne room turned into a surreal scene—Caedor, the self-proclaimed king, surrounded by his own power, watching helplessly as it was devoured by the very people he meant to destroy.

All of it—his carefully laid plan, his years of preparation—was unraveling before his eyes.

These vines weren’t even native to the Kazzan Empire. He’d found them elsewhere, in some forgotten ruin, and fused them into his body to create a living network of energy siphons. His grand strategy had been to wage war on multiple fronts, stretch the vines across the battlefields, and feed on the chaos.

As long as the fighting continued, he’d grow stronger.

He’d evolve.

He’d reach Tier 19.

And once he did, he could summon new, more powerful subordinates—creatures no one could stand against.

But he never imagined someone else could tap into the vines.

He never imagined they could steal his evolution.

And now?

Now it was too late to stop it.

He gritted his teeth and tried to pull in more energy from the other battlefields, desperate to force his breakthrough before it was all gone.

If he could just evolve—just once—he could wipe them all out in an instant.

He didn’t even need to move. His body was still locked in place, wrapped in the vines. But once he hit Tier 19, he wouldn’t need to lift a finger.

He’d become a god.

But then—

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The energy around the Emerald Castle army exploded upward. One after another, soldiers began breaking through their limits.

Elira’s aura flared like a sun, her power surging as she shattered the barrier into Tier 18 peak.

Others followed.

The entire army was leveling up—fast.

Caedor’s face twisted in disbelief.

This wasn’t just a setback. This was a disaster.

The power he’d spent years collecting... was being stolen right out from under him.

And worst of all?

His own Tier hadn’t budged.

Still stuck at the peak of Tier 18.

No progress.

In fact... it was slipping.

He could feel it.

The energy he’d been hoarding was being drained faster than he could replenish it.

...