CHAPTER 680: THE SPARK THAT STARTS A WAR

High above the battlefield, Feylora slowly descended, her boots touching down on the shattered stone with barely a sound. Her shoulders rose and fell with quiet breaths, and behind her, the spirit bow unraveled into drifting motes of starlight, dissolving into the wind.

She lifted her gaze toward Ethan. Her eyes were still clear—like a lake untouched by the storm that had just passed.

Ethan’s lips curved into the faintest smile.

The battle was over.

Fires still flickered in the ruins, casting dancing shadows across the rubble. The air was thick with the stench of smoke and blood, swirling together in a heavy, metallic haze.

Atop the broken remains of the fortress, the Emerald Castle banner was raised high on the tallest tower, snapping proudly in the wind.

A wave of cheers erupted from the soldiers, rising and falling like the tide.

"We did it—we won!"

They dropped to their knees on the cracked stone, weapons raised to the sky, shouting with everything they had left in their lungs.

Ethan stood atop the highest fragment of the ruined wall, overlooking the capital city now bathed in the glow of firelight.

The wind caught his cloak, sending it billowing behind him. He raised a hand and pointed toward the smoldering wreckage ahead, his voice low and resolute:

"This place... it’s perfect. From here, it won’t be long before the entire Umbral Abyss belongs to us."

The words hit like the echo of a war drum, pounding in every soldier’s chest.

In that moment, morale didn’t just rise—it ignited.

The ground was littered with the corpses of the Obsidian Dynasty.

These traitors—once arrogant, once feared—now lay broken and still, with no chance of rising again.

Ethan had no intention of taking prisoners. He knew this battlefield had to be clean—no loose ends.

As he and the unit commanders moved through the ruins, inspecting the spoils of war, a faint, unfamiliar ripple of energy brushed across the sky.

It was subtle—fast, light, and deliberately suppressed. The signature of a high-level stealth technique.

Ethan’s head snapped up.

"There’s someone up there," he said, voice sharp.

Almost at the same time, Feylora vanished in a flash of green-gold light, streaking into the sky like a shooting star.

"Got you."

Just as the figure was about to slip into a spatial rift, a slender but iron-strong hand grabbed the edge of his cloak.

The portal shattered instantly, the backlash of broken space ripping through the air. The figure screamed as he was violently yanked out of the rift and hurled downward.

WHAM!

He hit the ground hard, his protective barrier shattering on impact. He rolled across the stone, coughing, dazed, and completely exposed.

Feylora landed softly nearby, her gaze sharp as a blade.

"Talk. Who are you, and what the hell are you doing sneaking around in our territory?"

A glowing sphere of energy spun into existence in her palm, gold and green light coiling tighter and tighter, humming with lethal intent.

The pressure was suffocating.

The man dropped to his knees, trembling uncontrollably.

"D-Don’t kill me! Please! I’m just a scout—I was only sent to gather intel! I’m with... I’m with the Kazzan Empire!"

His voice cracked, and he didn’t dare lift his head.

Feylora narrowed her eyes, the energy in her hand still pulsing.

"Intel? On what? Our strength? The city’s defenses?"

"B-Both... both, I swear!"

The words tumbled out of him like a dam breaking.

He confessed everything.

They’d been ordered to confirm whether the Obsidian Dynasty had truly fallen.

The Kazzan Empire had been watching Emerald Castle’s rise closely—too closely. They were worried this new power might disrupt the balance in the central territories.

And worse... they were already evaluating whether to launch a "preemptive purge."

Ethan stood nearby, silent, listening.

His brow furrowed, and he tapped the head of his scepter with a slow, thoughtful rhythm.

"Kazzan Empire..."

The name hit Ethan like a weight in his chest.

He remembered clearly—on the system map, the core of the Umbral Abyss was dominated by four major dynasties. One of them was the Kazzan Empire.

Rumor had it their strongest combatants had already reached mid-Tier 18.

If Emerald Castle ended up going to war with a force like that... they wouldn’t stand a chance.

A heavy silence settled over the ruins.

The wind whispered through the broken stone, carrying the scent of ash and blood.

Ethan opened his mouth, about to say, "Let him go."

But before the words could leave his lips, Feylora’s raised hand didn’t stop.

VMMM—!

The gold-green energy sphere shot from her palm in a flash.

BOOM!

The scout’s body was swallowed by light, disintegrating into ash before he could even scream.

Ethan’s eyes widened in shock.

He hadn’t expected her to just... kill him.

That guy may have been a spy, sure—but in a way, he was also a messenger from the Kazzan Empire.

Killing him was the same as declaring war.

And right now? War was the last thing they needed.

Ethan took a slow breath, steadying himself. Then he immediately ordered the Obsidian Dynasty’s capital defenses to be reinforced—doubling the shielding around the city. At the same time, he had the scout’s remains completely erased.

"No one speaks of this. Spread the word—everyone is to focus on getting stronger. We might be facing a real war soon."

The command rippled through the Emerald Castle ranks like a cold wind.

Tension gripped every soldier.

No one dared slack off. They immediately began scouring the Obsidian capital for Primordial Force, rare weapons, and anything that could give them an edge.

Even Ethan felt the pressure creeping in.

This wasn’t how he’d planned things to go.

After a moment of thought, he made a decision—and took Feylora with him straight into Kazzan Empire territory.

Compared to the Obsidian Dynasty, the Kazzan Empire was on a whole different level—more land, more power, more everything.

The moment the two of them crossed the border, alarms went off.

It didn’t take long before a group of grim-faced, battle-hardened men appeared, surrounding them with cold, suspicious eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" one of them barked. "What are you doing here?"

Ethan exhaled slowly, taking a few steps back as he let his energy seep out, subtly preparing for a fight.

The Kazzan Empire’s people had a distinct aura—something unique to their bloodline or cultivation path. They could sense each other instantly.

Ethan and Feylora didn’t have that aura. And the fact that they’d just strolled in like they owned the place? Yeah, that wasn’t going unnoticed.

As Ethan tried to figure out how to talk his way out of this—

Feylora moved first.

Her energy flared without warning, and in the blink of an eye, she conjured a massive sphere of raw power and hurled it straight into the crowd.

...