CHAPTER 704: KNEEL BEFORE ME

Elira’s pupils contracted in a flash. With a sharp cry, she lunged forward, yanking White Butterfly to her side—

But the centipede’s gaze snapped to her in the same instant.

And then—

A low, thunderous rumble rolled in from deep within the desert.

At first, it was just a faint tremor, like something massive slithering beneath the surface.

But within seconds, the entire sea of sand began to quake.

Cracks split open like serpents, winding and branching across the dunes, stretching all the way to the horizon.

Then the sand exploded.

Hundreds—no, thousands—of massive centipedes burst from the ground.

Their bodies were sheathed in black chitin, each segment etched with glowing runes that shimmered like a living script crawling across their armored hides.

The air grew heavy with their presence—oppressive, suffocating. These weren’t ordinary beasts. They were something else entirely—monsters straddling the line between living creatures and rune-forged constructs.

Ethan’s eyes flicked to his data panel. His stomach dropped.

"So many... all of them Tier 19?!"

And worse—at the front of the swarm, one colossal centipede pulsed with energy readings that spiked into early Tier 20.

"Shit!"

He cursed and immediately fell back.

"All units—defensive formation! Protect Elira!"

But the centipedes moved fast—unnaturally fast.

They writhed and coiled around Elira in thick, overlapping layers, like they were guarding some sacred offering.

From their gaping mandibles oozed a silver-black fluid, and the air filled with a sharp, corrosive stench.

Ethan’s chest tightened.

That energy signature... it was devour-type.

If even one of them got close to Elira, her energy would be drained dry in under ten minutes.

"Kill them!"

Ethan roared.

In an instant, the sky lit up with fire.

The Emerald Castle legion unleashed their assault—arrows, spell circles, and mana beams laced together into a blazing net of destruction.

The desert boiled. The air warped with heat. Explosions rang out in rapid succession.

But the centipedes didn’t falter.

Their runes pulsed with eerie light, and with each flicker, waves of energy rippled outward, swallowing chunks of the incoming attacks.

A few broke through the line entirely—one lunged and clamped down on a centaur warrior, severing him clean at the waist.

Blood sprayed across the sand, only to be instantly absorbed.

The battle surged into chaos.

Screams and shockwaves filled the air, drowning out everything else.

Ethan raised his blade high, channeling energy into a single, devastating strike.

A golden arc of light swept across the dunes.

The largest centipede shrieked—a piercing, metallic wail—as its runes flickered out one by one. Then its body split down the middle, cleaved clean in two.

That blow broke something.

The rest of the swarm, suddenly leaderless, lost their coordination. They scattered.

Minutes later, the dust began to settle.

Silence fell over the battlefield.

Charred husks littered the sand, and the air reeked of scorched chitin and ozone.

Ethan touched down lightly, boots sinking into the scorched sand as he scanned the battlefield.

Victory had come at a brutal cost. Over a hundred Centaur warriors lay scattered across the dunes, their armor still hissing with residual heat.

He stood in silence for a moment, brow furrowed.

"This desert... something’s wrong."

His gaze lifted toward the shimmering waves of heat rippling across the horizon.

"We need to get out. Now. No one knows what else is buried under this damn place."

Fwoosh—

Just as Ethan opened his mouth to give the retreat order, the sky shuddered.

Not from wind.

It was the air itself—space—tearing open like fabric under strain.

A searing pulse of energy plummeted from above, kicking up a cyclone of sand and light.

Then, slowly, something massive began to emerge.

A scorpion.

Its armored shell gleamed with a dark golden sheen under the sun, its stinger pitch-black and dripping venom that shimmered like liquid frost.

But what stopped everyone cold was what unfurled behind it—

Six pairs of wings, thin as gossamer, vibrating gently in the wind and scattering silver dust like falling stars.

Not insect wings.

Fairy wings.

Ethan’s breath caught.

That energy... it didn’t belong here. It didn’t belong anywhere near here. It felt like something that had torn through dimensions just to arrive.

"Well, well," the scorpion creature rumbled, voice low and metallic, like steel grinding on stone. "Didn’t expect the rats under the sand to still be breathing."

It tilted its head, tail twitching lazily.

"But this saves me the trouble of hunting you down. I’ll just send you all straight to Inferno."

Ethan instantly summoned his system panel.

Lines of data flickered across the interface.

Venomwing Scorpion Lord

Tier: 21 (Mid-Stage)

Bloodline Composition: Skyfiend × Scorpion × Fairy (Fusion Stable)

Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

Each of those bloodlines on its own was a catastrophe. This thing had fused all three—and done it cleanly?

That should’ve been impossible.

Especially those Fairy wings—

They were etched with ancient runes, glowing so fiercely they hurt to look at. The energy radiating off them was stronger than Andona’s.

This thing wasn’t just powerful. It was a walking apocalypse.

Ethan raised his head slowly, voice calm and even. "You’re a lord of the Sky Citadel? Which floor?"

The scorpion let out a low, mocking laugh.

"Twentieth."

It lifted one claw, and a blood-red rune spun into existence above its palm, pulsing with a terrifying energy.

"I didn’t plan to waste time," it said, voice like gravel dragged across metal. "But you lot... you’re interesting."

It tilted the rune toward them.

"So here’s a better offer—take this mark into your body. Become my vassals. I’ll station you on the first floor of Sky Citadel."

Its wings fluttered, scattering more of that glittering dust.

"No one will dare touch you again."

For a heartbeat, the world froze.

The heat vanished. The sand hung motionless in the air. No one moved.

The warriors of Emerald Castle exchanged glances.

Their eyes said it all—disdain, quiet and sharp.

To them, there was only one ruler worth following: Ethan.

The rest? Just tougher prey.

Ethan stared at the blood rune.

Then, without a word, he raised his hand.

Crack—!

A golden energy sphere shot through the air and slammed into the rune.

It shattered instantly, bursting into a thousand shards of bloodlight that dissolved into nothing.

Ethan’s voice dropped, cold and razor-sharp. "I’ve got a counteroffer."

He hovered in the air, eyes glowing with the golden light of Dragon God power.

"Kneel. Swear fealty to me."

His tone didn’t rise. It didn’t need to.

"Maybe then, I’ll let you live."

For a moment, silence.

Then the sky detonated.

The Venomwing Scorpion Lord let out a roar of fury.

All twelve wings snapped open at once.

Runes blazed across their surface in a frenzy, and a sandstorm exploded outward, blotting out the sun.

...