Ethan's face froze.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

His jaw clenched instinctively.

"System, are you seriously trying to get me killed here?"

But before he could even finish the thought—

From the heart of the light pillar, a new sound rose.

A chorus of hissing.

The sand began to move.

Blood-red beetles crawled out from the glowing core, spilling down in waves.

Their wings beat the air with a sickening buzz that made the skin crawl.

Thousands of them.

Each one glowed with a crimson spark, their carapaces thick and metallic, glinting like polished iron as they swarmed forward in a suffocating tide.

Shff! Shff! Shff! Shff! Shff—

The sound of wings filled the air as the swarm surged toward them.

The soldiers of Emerald Castle barely had time to react before the screaming began.

Spears shattered. Spellblades cracked. Energy blasts fizzled on contact.

"Skkkreee—!"

One warrior's chest was torn open, blood spraying—and in the next instant, a beetle burrowed straight into the wound.

His skin bulged, split, and burst. Flesh and blood sprayed in arcs, catching the sunlight with a sick, glistening sheen.

Ethan gritted his teeth.

That sound—the wet, crunching, squelching—pounded in his ears like nails driven into his skull.

"Fall back!" he barked.

Seraphina rushed to his side, her light-shield flaring to life.

"Master, we have to go! These things aren't natural!"

But even as she spoke, the shield began to crackle.

A high-pitched screech rang out as the beetles' mandibles clamped down.

The barrier lit up with fractures, as if a thousand tiny saws were gnawing through it.

"Their armor's too strong…" Ethan muttered.

Then he noticed something.

Every time blood hit the sand, the swarm shifted.

Redirected.

Drawn.

Blood.

They were hunting blood.

And not just any blood—powerful blood. Blood with lineage.

Ethan's breath caught.

Then he inhaled deeply, steadying himself.

His eyes turned cold. Focused.

"I know what to do."

He raised his hand—

And before anyone could stop him, he slashed his own wrist.

A sharp line of red burst forth.

The scent hit the air—thick, hot, laced with the pulse of something ancient and potent.

The battlefield changed in an instant.

Vmmm—

The swarm froze.

Then, with a deafening roar of wings, they turned.

All of them.

The entire tide of beetles shrieked and surged, drawn like iron to a magnet—

And hurled themselves at Ethan.

"Father!!"

Idra's scream tore through the wind.

She lunged forward—but an invisible force shoved her back.

Ethan stood alone at the heart of the desert, golden sigils blooming across his skin like firebrands. Blood dripped from his wrist, tracing a burning symbol into the sand.

He looked up, smiling faintly.

"Come on, then."

And then—

BOOM!!

The Dragon God Force erupted.

A pillar of light shot skyward, fire and storm entwined in a roaring column. The swarm of beetles surged toward him—and were crushed mid-flight, bursting into clouds of blood mist.

The sky rained crimson shards, thousands of them, dissolving into streams of energy that flowed straight into Ethan's body.

He could feel it—cold, pure, and dangerously addictive.

"Hah—hahahahaha!"

He threw his head back and laughed, wild joy in his voice.

"I get it now! Their hunger for blood makes them drop their guard—when they're drenched in it, their shells soften!"

The soldiers of Emerald Castle froze.

Then, one by one, his laughter lit a fire in their chests.

They slashed their wrists, letting blood spill freely.

The scent of it spread across the desert like a war drum.

The beetles came in droves, drawn like moths to flame—

And were shattered the moment they got close, torn apart by the energy backlash.

Boom—!

Boom—!

Boom—!

The explosions came in waves.

Blood and light wove together, turning the desert into a dark red inferno.

The beetles' bodies, their energy, their flesh—all of it was absorbed into the soldiers, fueling new strength, new evolution.

System chimes rang out in the air, one after another:

Ding!

Congratulations, Player Valkarion—your Celestial Dragon bloodline has evolved!

Ding!

Your Aqua Kirin bloodline has evolved!

Ding!

Emerald Castle legion overall power increased by 17.2%!

Waves of energy rippled outward.

The sky blazed. The desert trembled.

And slowly—finally—the battlefield began to breathe again.

When the last beetle crumbled into ash and fell from the sky, silence returned.

The wind stopped.

The air was thick with the scent of blood, hot and heavy like steam.

Ethan drifted back to the ground, the sand beneath him soaked red, casting a warped reflection of his silhouette.

Around him, a faint aura shimmered—light clinging to his form like mist.

He looked out over the sea of blood-tinged light, chest heaving, heart pounding.

This wasn't a disaster.

It was a gift.

The power of every devoured beetle was flooding into him.

As the energy surged, a layer of pale gold armor began to form across his skin—thin as scales, but so dense he could feel the hum of power vibrating through it.

This wasn't ordinary defense.

Each plate of armor breathed—drawing in energy, pulsing with life.

With every inhale and exhale, light flickered across its surface.

It was alive.

"This is… reinforced armor layer?" Ethan murmured.

He turned—and blinked in surprise.

The same golden armor shimmered across the entire Emerald Castle legion.

The soldiers stared at one another, stunned, then grinning with disbelief.

They could feel it too—their strength still climbing, still evolving.

But before the awe could settle—

Vmmm—vmmm—vmmm—

The ground began to tremble again.

From deep within the desert, a new force stirred—vast, thick, and ancient.

Ethan looked up.

Above the blood-red sky, that power was being drawn toward a single, invisible point.

It coalesced into a massive ring of light—

And slammed against the translucent barrier that still sealed the desert.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Shockwaves rippled outward in rings.

But the barrier didn't break.

It didn't even crack.

It only shimmered—like water disturbed by a stone.

Ethan's brow furrowed, deep lines cutting across his face.

"What the hell…?"

They'd slaughtered thousands of those things. The battlefield was soaked in blood and energy. And yet—the barrier still held.

His gaze shifted, locking onto the towering pillar of light not far away.

It was still pulsing.

Brighter now. Stronger.

Like a heart—waking up.

Realization hit him like a slap.

"The barrier's power… it's coming from that."

He drew a sharp breath, then stepped forward.

One step. Two.

Toward the pillar.

"Master!" Elira's voice rang out behind him, sharp with warning.

But he just lifted a hand, waving her off without turning.

He reached out with his right hand.

Fingers stretched toward the blinding light.

And the moment his fingertips touched it—

BOOM!!!

It was like the entire desert convulsed.

A violent backlash exploded from the pillar, slamming into him with the force of a collapsing mountain.

Ethan was hurled backward, his body flipping through the air before crashing into the sand with bone-jarring force.

...