CHAPTER 538: SO THAT’S IT...

This place was a desolate valley—utterly lifeless and soaked in decay.

All around him, the air was thick with Death-Aligned Power and dark energy, swirling like a toxic fog. These forces gnawed at Ethan’s body, trying to corrode him from the inside out. If he hadn’t already absorbed similar energies back in the Citadel of Shadows dungeon, he’d probably be melting into the dirt by now.

He glanced around.

Everyone was gone.

Separated.

It looked like the portal had scattered them randomly across the map.

And then—something changed.

Suddenly, a string of system notifications rang out in his ears.

Ding!

"Warning: Player Valkarion, you have entered the Realm of the Dead. All non-undead entities will be afflicted by the Curse of Death Magic."

Ding!

"Warning: Player Valkarion, you have entered the Realm of the Dead. All non-undead entities will be afflicted by the Curse of Death Magic."

Ding! Ding! Ding!

And then came the worst part—a flood of death notifications.

"What the hell?!" Ethan’s face went pale. "They’re all dying?!"

The troops he’d brought with him—his elite forces from Emerald Castle—were dropping like flies. If they were wiped out here, the loss would be catastrophic.

And it wasn’t just the regular units.

Even his Hero Units—his strongest lieutenants—were bleeding health at an alarming rate.

"Shit... this is bad," he muttered, panic creeping into his voice. He blinked forward, trying to locate his forces, desperate to regroup before it was too late.

But then—something strange happened.

The health bars that had been plummeting... suddenly stopped.

The death alerts? Cut off mid-notification.

"What the hell...?"

Before he could make sense of it, several figures swooped down from the sky—his Angels of Death and Divine Angels. Their wings spread wide, glowing with radiant energy as they unleashed their powers, forming a protective barrier that pushed back the death and darkness saturating the air.

The moment they did, the oppressive aura around him lifted.

Ethan blinked, stunned.

Then he raised his hand and activated his own Sacred Realm.

A wave of holy energy burst out from him, and instantly, the corrosive death magic vanished from his body.

"So that’s it..."

It all clicked.

The Sacred Realm—along with the divine powers of the Angels—could neutralize the death magic curse of this world. That was the key to surviving here.

"Good. That’s a relief."

He finally let out the breath he’d been holding.

But there was no time to relax.

His top priority now was to regroup with the rest of his forces.

...

Without wasting another second, Ethan took to the skies, flanked by his Angels of Death and Divine Angels, flying off in a random direction in hopes of finding his scattered allies.

But then—another twist.

BOOOOM!

Without warning, a violent surge of energy erupted from beneath the ground. A massive tentacle shot up into the sky, wrapping around Ethan’s body like a snake.

"Goddamn it—what now?!"

"A soul beast?!" he growled, trying to make sense of it.

But something didn’t add up.

The tentacle was solid—physical. Not spectral.

And the system had already confirmed this world was populated only by spirits and soul entities.

So what the hell was this thing?

Before he could figure it out, his Angels were already on the attack, launching a barrage of divine strikes at the tentacle.

Ethan didn’t waste time wondering anymore.

He struck.

BOOOOM!

THUD!

BOOOOM!

One hit.

Just one.

And the massive creature—whatever it was—shattered into pieces, its body exploding into fragments under the sheer force of Ethan’s blow.

ROAR!

A guttural, rage-filled howl echoed through the valley.

From deep within a massive chasm in the earth, a monstrous creature emerged—an enormous, multi-limbed octopus-like beast. And unlike the other entities in this realm, this thing wasn’t a spirit. It had a physical form.

But that wasn’t the worst part.

This thing was SS-rank.

"Do I really wanna fight this thing?" Ethan muttered under his breath. SS-rank... Sure, with his current power, he wasn’t afraid of it. But taking it down wouldn’t be easy—it’d be a grind.

After all, he was SS-rank too.

Not SSS.

Which meant this fight would be long, messy, and a total waste of time.

"Forget it. Not worth it."

Shaking his head, he blinked out of the area, vanishing in a flash of light.

He started flying across the valley, scanning for any sign of his people. Time passed—he wasn’t sure how long—when suddenly, he felt a familiar energy signature up ahead. He froze for a second, then surged forward, excitement flickering in his chest.

And then—

He saw them.

A cluster of familiar figures came into view: Angel of Death units, Divine Angels, and at the center of them all, the Hero Unit and Queen of Angels herself—Andona.

They were trapped inside a massive barrier of swirling darkness and death energy. Inside the barrier, wave after wave of undead monsters were hammering them with relentless attacks.

And just outside the barrier—

A huge, translucent undead creature hovered in the air, clearly orchestrating the assault.

It looked intimidating, but Ethan could tell right away—it was just another SS-rank Crimson Ultimate hero. And since it wasn’t a living being, just a soul construct, its actual power was even weaker than its rank suggested.

It might’ve looked like it was holding its own against Andona and her forces...

But that was just surface-level.

In reality, it was already losing ground.

"Andona!"

Ethan didn’t hesitate.

He dove straight into the fray.

BOOM! BOOM! His power exploded outward like a shockwave as he plummeted toward the translucent creature. In a blink, he was right in front of it, his energy flaring violently.

"RAAARGH!"

A piercing shriek tore through the air as the creature’s body began to crack and shatter, piece by piece.

Moments later, all that remained was a single, glowing, translucent orb.

It pulsed with pure, concentrated energy.

The moment Ethan touched it, he felt that power surge into him, merging with his own.

"My Lord, you’re here!"

Andona’s voice rang out, full of relief. She flashed to his side, dropped to one knee, and bowed her head respectfully.

"I apologize, my Lord. We failed to locate you right away. That was our mistake."

"Don’t worry about it," Ethan said, waving her off. "No one could’ve predicted we’d get scattered like that. Random teleportation—what a pain in the ass."

He glanced around. "Any idea where the others are?"

"I’m sorry, my Lord. I haven’t been able to locate them yet..."

"Alright..." Ethan nodded, then turned to the Divine Angels and Angels of Death nearby.

"Start absorbing the energy from these undead creatures. It’ll help you adapt to this realm."

"Yes, my Lord!"

"Understood!"

Everyone got to work immediately.

This was a trick Ethan had figured out recently—if you couldn’t beat the realm, blend into it. Not that they couldn’t win fights, but by absorbing the energy of the undead, they could quickly acclimate to the environment.

And once they did—

The death magic curse wouldn’t affect them anymore.

After everyone had finished absorbing the energy, Ethan spoke again.

"Alright, let’s move out. We need to find the rest of our people. And while we’re at it, we’ll hunt down more of these undead. Their energy is unique—if we absorb it, it’ll give us a serious power boost."

"That would be a huge advantage for us."

"Yes, my Lord!"

"Understood!"

With that, the group sprang into action.

...