Although he was covered in sweat, dirt, and blood, Ethan was feeling great. That state was really like a drug… addiction. It was only natural since Ethan felt like the things that happened in the past didn't matter anymore. He also felt free like never before. Currently, he even left his cursed sword on the ground and let the monsters bite his arms. When that happened, he grabbed the monsters' jaw from inside and began to use them like hammers and smashed other devourers. That was fun… it was fun, but… Ethan felt like something was missing. Like he had forgotten something.
"I can't stop to think… I have to defeat those monsters. I have to defeat all of them…"
Ethan wanted not to worry about anything, and yet, he couldn't just focus on the killing anymore. He was getting stronger, faster… that was satisfying, but it wasn't satisfying like he recalled. He couldn't understand what had happened. Then, Ethan recalled the moment he split the demon king in two, and he understood what was missing. His fights have finally reached an end there… no, the fights of the cursed hero ended there. He wasn't the cursed hero anymore. He wasn't a mad beast who was constantly fighting demons and seeking power endlessly without caring about anything. That person is in the past. The more Ethan thought the slower his movements got. However, before anything could happen, he recovered his sword and felt the weight on his back. His battlefield changed, and he couldn't go back to becoming that beast again.
Ethan's sight cleared, and he finally recovered his sanity… that was another way for him to break from his inner demons: he just had to use his head a little. However, that came with a price… his body was sore and itching all over. He didn't know for how long he fought, but the number of monsters around him was incredibly high.
"Now is the time I regret for thinking too much about things. This always happens when I let loose…"
Truth to be told, Ethan had no idea where he was. He couldn't even see the mountain where his camp was, so it looked like a few hours had passed since the start of the fight. So, to make things a bit easier, he allocated twenty points to speed and leveled up Explosive Impact, Heal, and Swordsmanship a few times. Those were the skills he would need most to fight his way out of that mess.
Although he did all that pretty fast, Ethan still got surrounded by some devourers. The damn beasts were smart enough to attack him all at the same time but not to block all the escape routes. In the end, Ethan jumped, and then the monster stopped at the place he had been before. He activated Explosive Impact and attacked them all. Naturally, his attack only wounded slightly, but it had been more than enough to give Ethan some momentum. While the beasts were stunned by his attack, Ethan had enough time to finish them off and jump again. This time he didn't hold back and reached fifty meters of height.
"Ah… there is our camp," Ethan frowned when he looked at the south. "Fortunately, I moved only toward the north."
Ethan didn't know how many hours had passed since the start of the fight, but the devourers still didn't manage to reach the top of the mountain, probably because of Ivan. Ethan could see something flying over the mountain, firing beams of mana and causing massive explosions and losses on the monsters' side. Regardless, Ethan began to run toward there, but he never showed his back toward the monsters, and whenever they got too close, he split them in two.
While Ethan was returning, he saw thousands of corpses around him, and by the look of things, he did all that alone. He wasn't the only one of the groups who were insane. Ivan, despite always looking deadpan, he also decided to leave all the enemies in that direction in his hands. It worked since it looked like Ethan killed more than half of their forces, but even so, there was only so much his body could withstand.
For some reason, the devourers had scattered quite a bit, but they never approached the mountain. Ethan noticed that it was thanks to the fact that he wounded them at some point with his charge. Although they were mindless monsters, they couldn't leave alone an opponent who wounded them. Thanks to it, Ethan returned to the base relatively fast, and he confirmed his suspicions. Ivan was wearing a suit of power armor, and he was firing beams of energy from his hands. He really looked like it. However, Ivan's armor was almost completely back, there were some light-blue lines here there around the armor, but those were just some microtubes that were used to make the mana flow.
"It looks like you regained your sanity," Ivan said through Ethan's wristwatch. "Return to our camp, and we will change our strategy now."
Ivan didn't even wait for Ethan to reply, and since that was an order from the commander of the mission, there was no other option aside from obeying. Ethan began to wonder if something had happened since Ivan decided to change his plans. He didn't look like someone who would change his mind often, after all. Unfortunately, Ethan couldn't see the other battlefields since they were happening on the other side of the mountain. Without wasting any more time, he headed toward the top of the mountain.
When Ethan returned, he was welcomed by no one. The mercenaries and the Clannian people were exhausted, even though Anna was restoring their energy constantly with potions. It was only obvious, but ordinary potions couldn't make their mental fatigue disappear. Despite that, they were constantly firing bolts toward the monsters. Things might take a wrong turn if things continue like that for long... still, their options were quite limited.
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