On the main battlefield, all those endless control skills
did
affect Dopey.
Just... barely.
They couldnât stop him. They could only slow down how quickly they died.
In the face of absolute strength, every trick looked cheap. No matter what they threw at himâswamps, gravity, sandstorms, stone prisonsâDopey smashed through it all with raw force. Their skills bought seconds at best.
By now, out of more than twenty Stoneborn, only six were left.
The rest had been hammered to death.
The Stoneborn leaderâs expression was downright ugly.
Heâd come here thinking this was some low-tier world.
Andâno, it
was
a low-tier world.
The mutated humans, the mutant beasts, even these humans themselves... everything screamed "weak ecosystem."
So how the hell had a freak like
that
soulless thrall popped out of nowhere?
It made no sense.
He watched another companion die under Dopeyâs fist. Then his eyes flicked toward the edge of the fightâGravel and Boulder were still screwing around, somehow still not done killing that Tier 19 trash.
The leaderâs face twisted a few times... and finally, he forced out a single, unwilling word.
"Run!"
He turned and bolted immediately.
The remaining Stoneborn looked like theyâd been granted a pardon. They scattered in every direction without hesitation.
Dopey started to pursueâ
Then, as if heâd received a new order, he abruptly changed course and shot toward Ethanâs position instead.
Meanwhile, Gravel and Boulder were still locked onto Ethan, chasing him like wolves.
They understood spatial teleportation burned mental energy fast. There was no way Ethan could keep it up foreverâespecially after losing a foot and bleeding nonstop.
So they stuck to him, confident that sooner or later heâd collapse.
And they were right.
Ethan was in awful shape.
His mental energy was nearly empty. Even though he kept swallowing Tier 18 crystal cores, the recovery couldnât keep up with the rate he was spending it.
Physically, he was worse. He hadnât had a second to treat the stumpâblood just kept pouring out.
His face had gone paper-white. Dizziness rolled through his skull in waves, making every teleport feel like dragging his mind through mud.
Behind him came Gravelâs arrogant laughter.
"Hahaâletâs see how long you can keep running."
Ethan didnât even have the energy to talk back. He just clenched his jaw and forced himself onward.
Thenâ
A fast-moving figure cut into his vision, streaking toward him like a red-hot comet.
Ethan finally let out the breath heâd been holding.
The next second, his eyes rolled back, and his body dropped straight down.
"Hah! Still running? Iâll show youâ"
Gravel and Boulder shot after him instantly. An earth spike snapped up, stabbing straight for Ethanâs falling body.
Bang!
The spike shattered like it had hit an iron wall.
Dopey appeared in front of Ethan in a blur and caught him one-handed, lifting him off the fall like he weighed nothing.
Gravel and Boulder took one look at Dopey and went pale.
Then they turned and ranâfast.
Dopey didnât chase.
He just stood there, blank and still, holding Ethan in one hand.
His order was to protect his master. Nothing else.
A moment later, Fallen Star Squad finally caught up.
"Ethan!"
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
They rushed inâthen froze.
Ethan hung from Dopeyâs grip, face drained of all color... and missing a foot.
It was the worst theyâd ever seen him. Not even close.
They tried to move closer, but Dopeyâs cold gaze swept over them.
Everyone stopped instinctively, like theyâd walked up to the edge of a cliff.
Dopey only listened to Ethan. In its eyes, there was no such thing as "familiar faces."
Right now it was clearly in protection mode. If they rushed in, there was a very real chance theyâd catch a fist.
"What do we do?" Big Mike looked like he was about to explode. "If this keeps up, the captainâs going to die!"
The others were just as frantic, but nobody dared gamble. Dopeyâs punches werenât something you "tested."
For the first time, they all had the same ugly thought:
Sometimes having Dopey be
too
terrifying wasnât a good thing.
And thenâright when they were stuckâ
Dopey suddenly tossed Ethan toward them.
"..."
They scrambled and caught him, staring at Dopey like their brains had short-circuited.
"Uh... what the hell was that?"
Dopey just stood there, blankly watching them.
"Donât overthink it!" Mia snapped, voice tight with panic. "Save him!"
"Ohâright!"
Henry moved first, immediately treating Ethanâs missing foot. Emily latched on with
Energy Link
, pumping mental energy and stamina back into him.
With those two working together, it was basically a tug-of-war with the grim reaper.
A short while later, Ethanâs foot regenerated.
His mental energy and stamina surged back to full almost as fast.
But heâd lost too much bloodâhis face stayed pale as paper.
After what felt like forever, Ethan finally opened his eyes.
"Ethanâyouâre awake!" Relief crashed through the group all at once.
"Guess I made it," Ethan said hoarsely.
This had been the closest heâd ever come to dying. By far.
Stage A powerhouses were just... insane.
"Ethan," Mia said, eyes red, staring at him like she wanted to shake him. "Donât do something that reckless again, okay?"
Ethan gave an awkward cough. "Yeah. No next time. I underestimated what a Stage A fighter can do."
Heâd thought teleportation meant they couldnât touch him.
Turns out they could move way faster than heâd expected.
And the whole burrowing-into-the-ground thing? That had completely blindsided him.
"This time... we really owe Dopey," Ethan admitted, still rattled.
Big Mike looked like heâd been holding in a question so long it physically hurt. "Speaking of Dopeyâwhen it saw us, it suddenly threw you to us. Isnât it supposed to be mindless and only follow your orders? Did it... develop intelligence? Like it recognizes its own people now?"
"No way." Ethan rolled his eyes. "I already had it memorize your auras. Before I passed out, I told it to hand me to youâand not to hit you."
He paused, then added dryly, "Because with how reckless you idiots are, you wouldnât have enough lives for it to punch through."
"...Okay, yeah. Thatâs fair," someone muttered, embarrassed.
A second ago theyâd seriously thought Dopey had gained intelligence. The idea alone had given them chills.
Ethan chuckled, then stored Dopey back into his spatial storage ring.
With Mia supporting him, he pushed himself upright.
Heâd bled out hard. Even if his stamina was back, he knew heâd be weak for a few days.
When they returned to the battlefield, Ethan collected the Stoneborn corpses Dopey had left behind, storing them one by one.
To mutant beasts, this stuff was basically a super-supplement. One bite and theyâd probably break through on the spot.
"Seventeen bodies," Ethan said quietly, eyes narrowing. "Eight escaped."
He pulled out his satellite phone and called Maxwell.
The call connected immediately.
"Ethan!" Maxwellâs voice came through, tense and urgent. "Are you okay?"
"Weâre fine," Ethan said. "Iâll need a couple days to recover, but Iâm not dead."
He got straight to the point. "A few of the Void Realm creatures got away. Are you tracking them on your end?"
"We are. Weâve been tracking them the whole time."
"Good." Ethanâs tone turned cold. "Keep eyes on them constantly. The moment Iâm back to full, Iâm hunting them down and finishing this."
"Donât worry," Maxwell said. "Unless they go back into a Void Realm, they wonât shake the satellites. You focus on recovering."
"Alright."
Ethan hung up, then mounted back up with the others and headed toward Fallen Star City.
This fight...
Yeah. Heâd gotten wrecked.