Chapter 1225: Master of the Guardian
Ethan clenched his teeth and hurled the energy sphere with everything he had.
Across from him, the Guardian God looked like he was having the time of his life.
He lifted one hand and gave the air a lazy little flick of his palm. All the ore-energy between heaven and earth answered the pull, rushing together in midair and condensing into a massive energy greatblade. The moment it formed, its edge forced the air apart to either side. Heavy, razor-bright light flowed along the body of the weapon like a living current.
The next second, their power slammed together.
Ethan’s energy sphere crashed into the greatblade as it came down. The instant they touched, the space around them shattered outright. Cracks spiderwebbed outward from midair in every direction. Even the ground split, fissures ripping open beneath their feet. The glowing patterns etched across the clearing flashed like crazy, as if the place itself was desperately trying to hold the area together.
Neither of them showed any sign of letting up.
Energy kept surging outward. The rifts tore wider and wider, and the air filled with that screeching sound—like broken space grinding against itself. If this kept going, it felt like they might rip the whole world apart.
The power pouring off Ethan hit its peak.
The breath of heaven and earth seemed to recognize its owner, streaming into him without end. Strength welled up from the ground, the rock walls, even the air itself, and gathered behind him—condensing into countless gigantic phantom silhouettes. Inside every one of them, world-ending might rolled and churned. Just the spill of their aura twisted the surrounding space until it barely looked real anymore.
The Guardian God’s eyes went wide.
The excitement on his face sharpened even further. He raised the energy blade high overhead, then chopped down with savage force.
"I haven’t met anyone like you in a long time," he shouted, voice bright with thrill. "This is too good. Today, we’re fighting until it’s satisfying!"
Ethan just curled his lip and didn’t bother answering.
He lifted his hand and shoved forward.
All those phantoms behind him pressed down at once. They tore through the warped air, dragging transparent lightning and heavy, crushing energy with them, and smashed straight into the descending greatblade.
Tyrannical power shook heaven and earth.
Both of their bodies rocked inside the blast, staggered again and again as repeated impacts drove them back.
Ethan’s breathing turned ragged.
The broken space around them kept expanding. The edges of the rifts crossed the air like jagged black knife blades. Every time a crack yawned wider, it spat out a ripping, chaotic current. When it scraped against Ethan’s protective energy, it screamed with friction. If he stayed here much longer, even with his tough body, he could end up ground into bloody paste by the shattered space itself.
His gaze swept the battlefield, mind already working—looking for a way to break contact and disengage.
But just as he was about to pull back, a bizarre energy appeared.
It didn’t come from any one direction.
It surged up from the depths of the entire space all at once.
The rifts stopped expanding. Then a faint layer of light washed over their edges, like an invisible hand smoothing them flat. The space that had been twisting wildly in the turbulence... repaired itself in just a few breaths, snapping back into a complete whole.
Right after that, the violent might Ethan and the Guardian God were releasing was forced down.
The transparent lightning faded in midair. The leftover edge of the energy greatblade was crushed into drifting shards of light. Even the aftershocks—still trembling and rolling—were erased outright by that strange power. The battlefield that had been moments away from tearing the world apart fell quiet almost instantly.
Ethan’s eyes widened.
He retreated several steps at once, landing solidly on the ground. The moment his feet touched down, he could feel it—an enormous, steady force flowing beneath him, like the entire space was rearranging itself, restoring the order they’d just shattered.
On the other side, the Guardian God drifted back as well.
He didn’t attack again. Instead, he stared at the now-restored space and threw his head back, laughing.
"Hahaha! Never would’ve guessed this," he said, voice booming. "Our fight actually stirred up the power of this world’s laws. Looks like you’ve been acknowledged by this world!"
Ethan frowned.
He didn’t know what this so-called "power of laws" even was. That force from earlier hadn’t felt like simple ore-energy, and it wasn’t normal spatial repair either. It felt more like the will of the world itself—something that, the moment it sensed the battle pushing past what it could تحمل, stepped in and suppressed everything.
Before he could sort it out, an intensely strange sensation rippled through his chest.
It spread outward from his sternum, flowing through his limbs, then surging from within his body into the space around him. Ethan lowered his head and looked at his palm. The power he’d burned through so heavily... had actually strengthened by a small but undeniable amount. Transparent lightning jumped again, smoother than before, and the sense of rejection between him and this space eased as well.
Seeing that, the Guardian God lifted a hand and struck his own chest once.
The motion carried a solemn weight.
Then he beckoned to the empty air beside him.
A low vibration rumbled through the clearing. From deep within the mountain, that snow-white glow was tugged outward. One ore after another surfaced—from empty air and from within the rock layers themselves—each piece carrying pure energy as it floated down into the clearing. Before long, a huge quantity of snow-white ore had gathered here, neatly spread across the ground.
Ethan’s eyes lit up.
This was more than enough to push Emerald Castle’s strength up another level. Every single piece of ore held pure Primordial Core energy. It could raise individual power—and it could support an entire faction’s growth.
Ethan didn’t stand on ceremony. He pulled out several spatial energy spheres.
With a flick of his hand, the spheres opened in midair, releasing a gentle ring of suction. The snow-white ores lifted one by one, sliding along the glow and disappearing into the spheres. Not long after, he’d collected every last piece.
This time, the Guardian God didn’t attack.
He sat off to the side, head lowered, repeatedly patting his chest. Every time his palm landed, the surrounding energy trembled softly, like it was responding to him.
Ethan found it... strange.
This guy’s combat sense and overall ability were beyond what Ethan had expected. The last two fights had been brutal, razor-close. The Guardian God hadn’t just survived—he’d patched his own flaws mid-battle, and he’d used the special nature of this place to keep improving as they fought. By all logic, someone like that would want to keep going.
But now he was just sitting there, resting.
Ethan was about to step forward and ask what the hell he was doing when the Guardian God suddenly rose to his feet.
In the next instant, he dropped to his knees in front of Ethan.
His aura erupted, heavy power blasting outward from inside him. As it spread, the restrictions in the surrounding space withdrew as well. The limitations that had been suppressing flight and power release slowly faded away, and the clearing opened up again—wide, calm, and still.
The Guardian God bowed his head. His voice came out steady and forceful.
"No one in this world has ever fought me to a draw," he said. "From this moment on, you are my master. I will follow you, serve as one of your generals, and wage war for you."
Ethan’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
He couldn’t understand what this man was even saying. They’d been fighting like the sky was collapsing—then, in the blink of an eye, the guy was kneeling and swearing loyalty. The switch was so sudden that even Ethan couldn’t process it.
Just as he was about to question him, Catheryn walked up beside Ethan, unhurried.
She glanced at the kneeling Guardian God. Her expression was noticeably calmer than Ethan’s.
"He’s the most special existence in this world," Catheryn said. "His level has already reached 36 Tier. But the power of this space is extremely unusual—it can drastically limit both a person’s physical attributes and their energy."
Comments