Cassian's throat bobbed with a hard swallow.

He could feel it—Ethan, in this moment…

His presence, his power, that overwhelming pressure radiating from the Dragon God bloodline—

It was all far beyond anything Cassian could match.

Even with four bloodlines fused inside him, he didn't stand a chance.

His eyes flicked sideways, a cold, sinister thought flashing through his mind.

"If that's how it is… then they can all die with me."

Slowly, he reached down to his waist and pulled out a silver whistle.

It had an ancient design, etched with intricate celestial runes that shimmered faintly.

He blew.

A sharp, piercing screech tore through the sky.

And then—

The heavens split open.

Cracks ripped across the sky like shattered glass, and from them, figures began to fall—one after another.

A dozen or more.

Their wings, scales, even the color of their dragon tails—nearly identical to Cassian's.

Each one bore the same chaotic fusion of four bloodlines:

Angel. Dragon. Skyfiend. Godblood.

When they landed, the ground cracked beneath their feet.

The air twisted with unstable energy, warping the space around them.

Ethan raised a hand, summoning his data panel.

A blue holographic screen flickered to life, lines of data scrolling rapidly.

[Anomalous Entities Detected ×13]

[Level: Tier 19 – Early Stage]

[Fusion Rate: 73%–79% (Unstable)]

He muttered under his breath, "So this is it… your 'kin army,' huh?"

Behind him, the warriors of Emerald Castle were already fired up, energy flaring around them, ready to charge.

But Ethan raised a hand—halting them.

His eyes never left Cassian. "You really think… these defective knockoffs are gonna save you from death?"

Cassian's face darkened.

He knew Ethan had seen right through him.

But he wasn't about to back down.

"Then let me show you what we're capable of!"

With a roar, his eighteen wings flared open again, blinding holy light exploding behind him.

"BOOM—!"

But the moment he took a single step forward—

Ethan vanished.

A split-second later—

CRACK!

A thunderous impact echoed through the air.

Ethan was suddenly right in front of him—

His fist punched straight through Cassian's chest.

"AAAH—!"

Cassian's body convulsed violently.

That power—the one they called the Dragon God's force—

It surged through Ethan's arm like a tidal wave, ripping into Cassian's core, draining his energy like a vortex.

Ethan's other hand shot forward,

Slamming through Cassian's back with surgical precision,

His fingers clamped around a glowing, rune-etched spinal cord.

Cassian's eyes went wide with terror.

"You… how did you know—"

"Your skeletal structure is unstable," Ethan said, his voice disturbingly calm. "The four bloodlines inside you—they're rejecting each other."

He tightened his grip.

"You forced them together by anchoring them to your spine. That makes it your fatal weakness."

CRACK—!

A sharp snap echoed through the air.

Cassian's body suddenly lost all support.

The energy inside him exploded outward, then scattered, dissolving into shimmering motes of light.

His once-mighty form collapsed in silence, crumbling to the ground.

All that remained were fragments of bone, crushed to ash in Ethan's hand.

…

The others—Cassian's so-called kin—froze in place, terror etched across their faces.

They'd just watched their leader get obliterated in a single strike.

No one dared move.

Ethan raised his arm, eyes cold and merciless.

"The spine. That's their weak point. Aim for it—hit them with everything you've got."

The warriors of Emerald Castle lit up with renewed energy, their morale surging.

Without hesitation, they unleashed their power and charged.

Sure, these things were Tier 19 monsters—but now that they knew the weak spot?

They weren't afraid anymore.

CRACK! SNAP!

The sound of bones shattering filled the air.

One by one, the twisted hybrids that had rained down from the sky were torn apart, their bodies ripped to pieces by focused, brutal strikes.

Ethan took a deep breath, then shot upward like a missile, blasting through the spatial barriers between the twelfth and thirteenth layers of the Sky Citadel.

He broke through them all in one go.

The thirteenth layer wasn't what he expected.

There were no golden palaces, no towering spires—just a vast, empty void stretching out in every direction.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap…

His footsteps echoed through the silence, bouncing off unseen walls, multiplying into a chorus of ghostly sounds.

The rest of the Emerald Castle forces followed close behind, one after another.

They stopped short when they saw the place.

After the opulence of the twelfth layer, they'd expected something even grander up here. A throne room, maybe. A temple. Anything.

But there was nothing.

Not even a trace of power in the air.

"Seriously? We fought our way up here for… this? Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?"

"Maybe this isn't the thirteenth layer at all. Could be some kind of pocket dimension…"

…

Just as the murmurs of doubt began to spread, the clouds in the distance started to churn violently.

A massive shadow emerged, framed by lightning and thunder.

It tore through the sky, trailing a long, burning tail as it dove straight toward them.

The air trembled.

VMMMM—!

At first, it looked like a dragon—huge, majestic, terrifying.

But as it neared, its scales and wings dissolved into radiant particles, swirling together into a humanoid form.

A woman.

She hovered above the battlefield, her figure sinuous and striking, her presence overwhelming.

Ethan's instincts screamed at him. He stepped back, fingers twitching as he summoned his data panel.

[Lysera]

Tier 20 – Early Stage

Even her aura made the air ripple.

"Well, well," Lysera said with a smile, raising one delicate hand. Her voice was soft—almost sweet—but it carried the weight of a thousand blades. "Didn't think a bunch of mutts like you would make it this far."

She tilted her head, eyes gleaming.

"But this is where it ends."

A golden orb of energy bloomed in her palm, so bright it hurt to look at. Space itself cracked around her, shards of light orbiting her like a storm.

Ethan didn't flinch.

He spun, gathering his own power—dark, dense, and pulsing with raw force.

A black energy sphere formed in his hand, thrumming with chaotic energy.

He hurled it.

BOOM—!

The two forces collided midair.

The shockwave shattered stone, split the sky, and sent waves of pressure rolling across the battlefield.

But Lysera's power was stronger.

Her golden energy began to swallow Ethan's attack, inch by inch, pushing it back toward him.

But—Ethan's gaze didn't waver.

He suddenly stepped back a few paces, murmuring an incantation in a language no one recognized. The words were ancient, guttural, and carried a weight that made the air itself shudder.

A strange, ancient energy erupted from within him—deep, cold, and primal.

The space around him twisted into a vortex, warping like a black hole.

In his hand, a spear began to form—gold and black intertwining along its shaft, dragon-shaped runes coiling around it like they were alive, whispering in a voice only the dead could hear.

Lysera's expression finally changed.

Her pupils contracted. For the first time, fear flickered across her face.

"No… that's impossible… That's—Dragon God power?! How could you possibly—"

She didn't get to finish.

The spear tore through the air.

In that instant, time seemed to freeze. The weapon carved a golden-black arc through the sky, like a dragon awakened from slumber, roaring straight toward Lysera's heart.

She tried to summon a barrier, to gather her energy—but it shattered like glass.

The spear punched through her chest and slammed her into the ground with a thunderous impact.

THUD!

Ethan walked toward her slowly, his voice low, laced with a cold, mocking edge.

"How's that feel?"

He gripped the spear with both hands, channeling every ounce of energy he had into it.

BOOM—!!

A massive explosion erupted from the impact point. Lysera's body disintegrated, torn apart into countless fragments of light that scattered into the wind like ash.

Gone.

This was the power Ethan could unleash only when fused with Idra.

Separated, they were strong.

Together? They were something else entirely.

But even now, Ethan didn't let his guard down. His eyes scanned the surroundings, sharp and alert.

Then—rumble…

The ground beneath him began to quake.

Figures burst up from below, clawing their way out of the earth.

They looked similar to Lysera—same draconic features, same twisted elegance—but they weren't quite the same species.

They were dragons, or at least… they used to be.

The energy radiating off them was wild, unstable, and violent.

Ethan's brow furrowed.

He studied them for a split second—then launched himself forward without hesitation.

Because these things weren't alive.

Not really.

They were corpses—reanimated by Lysera's blood.

And now that she was gone, her blood had seeped into the ground, awakening more of them.

The warriors of Emerald Castle saw it too—and they knew this wasn't over.

With a roar, they unleashed their power and charged into the fray.

But these things were a nightmare to kill.

Every time one fell, its blood soaked into the earth—and moments later, more of them would rise.

Same faces. Same bodies. Same rage.

...