It was obvious—painfully obvious.

These creatures, twisted and malformed from years of living in the toxic mists, were hideous beyond belief. Their faces were warped, their bodies bloated and discolored, the poison having long since eaten away any trace of humanity or grace.

Disgusting.

And now? One of their own—Feylora, who had once looked just like them—had transformed into something breathtaking. Ethereal. Alluring. And worse yet? She'd pledged herself to an outsider.

That stung.

You could see it in their eyes—the bitterness, the jealousy, the sheer disbelief. They were rattled. Shaken. Some of them looked like they were about to snap.

"If I'd known this would happen, I would've agreed back then…" one of them muttered, regret thick in his voice.

They all wore the same expression—regret, frustration, envy. They knew Feylora wasn't weak. Having her as a subordinate would've been a massive asset—powerful, beautiful, and now free of her curse. She was everything they weren't.

But they'd turned her down.

And not without reason.

In this world, giving away your blood wasn't a small thing. Blood could be used in sorcery—dark, ancient curses that could bind, torment, or even kill. No one in their right mind would hand over their blood so easily.

No one… except Ethan.

And now he was reaping the rewards.

But Ethan wasn't thinking about any of that. His mind was locked on one thing—Seraphina and Elira. He could feel them. Their presence was close, pulsing faintly from within the cave ahead.

He didn't have time for this bullshit.

"Let's go," he said coldly. "We're going in."

But just as he stepped forward, a group of marsh lords moved to block his path.

"Hold it right there!"

A hulking brute with a face like a melted toad stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "Back off, outsider. The ones in that cave? They're our prey. You and your little pet better turn around and walk away—unless you're looking to die."

His voice was low, threatening, full of venom.

Ethan's eyes narrowed, a flicker of cold fury flashing across his face.

Prey?

They were calling his people prey?

That was it.

That was the line.

"You think you're gonna threaten me?" Ethan's voice dropped, ice-cold. "You think you can stand in my way and walk away from it?"

He took a step forward, his aura flaring.

"Fine. Let's see who's really not being polite."

BOOM.

The moment the words left his mouth, a wave of raw, violent power exploded from Ethan's body. The ground cracked beneath his feet, the air rippled with force, and the toxic mist was blown back like a curtain in a storm.

SSS-rank power.

And it hit them like a freight train.

The marsh lords didn't stand a chance. The weaker ones were obliterated instantly—blown apart like paper in a hurricane. The stronger ones—S-rank and above—were thrown back, screaming, blood spraying from their mouths as they crashed into the swamp.

"You… you're…!"

"No… this can't be!"

The survivors stared at him in horror, clutching their wounds, stumbling back in disbelief.

They hadn't expected this. No one had.

Ethan wasn't just strong—he was on a completely different level. SSS-rank? That was the stuff of legends. And now he was standing right in front of them, pissed off and ready to kill.

The ones who'd been barking orders just moments ago?

They were the first to back off, faces pale, eyes wide with fear.

A path opened.

"Get the hell out of my way," Ethan growled, his voice like a blade of ice. "Useless trash."

And with that, he stormed forward, not sparing them another glance.

He didn't stop.

Didn't hesitate.

He ran straight into the cave—toward Seraphina and Elira.

Meanwhile, deep inside the cave, Elira and Seraphina were silently enduring the relentless assault of the toxic miasma seeping in from outside.

"Seraphina! Elira! Are you two okay?" Ethan called out, his voice tight with worry as he rushed toward them.

But the scene that greeted him was… unexpected.

Elira was clearly injured, sitting against the cave wall, her breathing shallow, her body trembling slightly as she tried to recover. But Seraphina—she was in a completely different state.

She wasn't just enduring the poison.

She was absorbing it.

Seraphina sat cross-legged, her eyes closed, her body surrounded by a swirling vortex of green mist. The toxic energy in the air was flowing into her like a river, merging with her body, her soul, her very essence.

And her power… it was rising.

Ethan stepped closer, eyes narrowing. He could feel it—her strength was climbing steadily, her aura growing denser, sharper. She was already at SS-rank Crimson Ultimate… and now, she was pushing toward SSS.

"She's… evolving?" Ethan muttered, stunned. "Looks like Seraphina's luck finally turned. If she keeps this up, she might actually break through… become another SSS-rank like Andona and Ataneya."

He let out a breath of relief, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

But then he turned to Elira—and that relief vanished in an instant.

Her condition was bad. Really bad.

Her body was riddled with poison—far more than what should've been possible from just the ambient toxins outside. Her veins were dark, her skin pale and clammy, and her aura was flickering like a dying flame.

"What the hell…?"

Ethan's brows furrowed as he knelt beside her. "This isn't just from the swamp. The poison out there isn't strong enough to do this to someone like Elira."

She was one of his strongest. A powerhouse. There was no way she'd be brought this low by environmental toxins alone.

Which meant…

"There's something else going on here," he muttered, eyes narrowing. "Something I don't know yet."

But before he could dig deeper—before he could even think about how to help her—

ROOOOOOAAAAARRRR!

A thunderous roar shook the cave, echoing through the stone like a shockwave.

Ethan's head snapped up. "What the hell was that?"

He bolted outside.

Hovering in the air above the swamp was a monstrous figure—hulking, grotesque, and radiating an overwhelming aura of venomous power. Its body was covered in thick, green fur, its skin slick and glistening with poison. It looked like a nightmare stitched together from every toxic creature in the marsh.

"Virelgar!" Feylora gasped, her voice trembling with something Ethan hadn't heard from her before—fear.

"You know him?" Ethan asked, eyes locked on the floating beast.

Feylora nodded grimly. "Yes, My Lord. That's Virelgar—one of the Overlords of the Veilmarsh. They call him the Sovereign of Venoms."

"He's one of the most dangerous beings in this entire region. His body contains every known toxin in the Veilmarsh. His blood alone can kill even the strongest warriors."

Ethan's eyes narrowed. "Every known toxin, huh…?"

A thought struck him.

If Virelgar's body could contain all those poisons… then it had to have a way to neutralize them. Otherwise, he'd be dead from his own venom.

Which meant—

"He's not just a walking plague," Ethan murmured. "He's the antidote."

If he could get even a drop of Virelgar's blood, it might be enough to purge the poison ravaging Elira's body.

"Perfect," Ethan said, his voice cold and sharp. "Then I'm taking it."

Without another word, he launched himself forward.

BOOM!

The air cracked as Ethan's fist collided with Virelgar's chest, unleashing a shockwave that shattered the silence. The Sovereign of Venoms was sent hurtling down like a meteor, crashing into the swamp below with a deafening CRACK, the ground splitting beneath him.

"YOU DARE?!" Virelgar roared, his voice shaking the trees. "You dare strike the great Virelgar?! I'll tear you apart! I'll poison your soul and feast on your bones!"

He was livid.

He hadn't come here to fight. He'd heard rumors of outsiders in the swamp and thought he might be able to extort something from them—maybe a little blood, maybe a little power.

But instead, he got sucker-punched by a lunatic with SSS-rank power.

...