Chapter 1344: Not Somewhere We Can Stay

After flying a long distance on their Flamebirds—and confirming that thing hadn’t chased after them again—the whole group finally let out their breath.

It felt like they’d just crawled back from the gates of hell.

"Holy shit!" Big Mike’s face was still pale with shock. "What the hell was that? That thing’s insane. We were that far away and one roar almost knocked people out!"

"No idea," someone said, still rattled. "But it’s definitely a Void Realm creature."

Nobody looked relaxed. Not even close.

"Boss," Chris asked, "what tier was it?"

"I don’t know." Ethan’s expression stayed heavy. "Yellow crystal core. I’ve never seen that color before. And the gap was too big—there’s no way to estimate."

"...Yellow?"

"So... stronger than Dopey?" someone blurted.

"That’s hard to say," Ethan replied, shaking his head. "Dopey’s a soulless thrall. You can’t sense his aura, so we can’t compare presence."

Big Mike’s eyes lit up anyway. "Then should we send Dopey in to test it? If Dopey can kill it, we hit the jackpot—"

"If Dopey can’t, you going in to save him?" Ethan shot him a look.

"Uh..." Big Mike’s excitement evaporated. "Okay, yeah. Never mind."

"That thing’s on Rus Federation territory. As long as we don’t poke it, it’s not a threat to us," Ethan said. "No reason to gamble."

His tone hardened.

"Dopey is our strongest trump card. We can’t afford any accidents. When the real disasters hit, what are we supposed to rely on if we lose him? Our confidence? Our good looks?"

"Boss is right," the squad said, nodding quickly.

Ethan exhaled once. "Alright. Let’s move. Get far away from here and scout somewhere else."

He glanced back toward the snowy mountains, eyes narrowed.

"That creature came out of the Void Realm. With power like that, the layer it came from has to be high. What I don’t know is whether it came alone—or whether there are more like it. If a bunch of them slipped through... Rus Federation won’t be livable. We’ll need to leave fast."

"Got it."

They swung their Flamebirds around and headed in a different direction.

This time, they hadn’t even been flying for thirty minutes when Ethan spotted several figures in the distance—closing on them at terrifying speed.

Ethan frowned and activated

True Sight

, focusing.

The moment he saw them clearly, his expression changed.

Humanoid bodies.

But each had a pair of wings spread wide behind their back.

Not human.

Void Realm creatures.

And they’d found Ethan’s group way faster than he expected.

A few blinks later, the winged figures were already in front of them.

Ethan’s group pulled up and hovered, watching.

Curiosity flickered through the squad—sharp and uneasy.

The winged beings looked them over in return, eyes cold and appraising, like merchants inspecting livestock.

"Interesting," one of the males said casually. "These natives seem stronger than the ones in those compounds."

"Yeah," another replied. "So they’re not all ants. With this level, they’re already around ordinary standards in our world."

"That’s perfect," a third said, almost pleased. "We need some presentable slaves. Bring them back, and Lord Aeralon will be happy."

"Mhm."

They chatted among themselves, not even pretending Ethan and the others were part of the conversation.

The worst part?

Ethan could understand every word.

So could everyone else.

Then the one in front finally looked directly at them and spoke in a commanding tone, like he was doing them a favor.

"Come with us. I’ll take you to meet Lord Aeralon. From now on, you belong to my

Winged Clan

as slaves."

"...."

Ethan stared at the self-important guy, genuinely speechless.

They really weren’t even pretending to take him seriously.

To be fair, the five of them

were

strong. The leader was Tier 26, the other four were Tier 25—every single one above Stage A. Against most people, that was a straight-up dimension gap.

But Ethan wasn’t "most people."

"You’re from which continent?" Ethan asked.

"That’s not something you’re qualified to know," the leader said flatly. "Just behave and follow us."

"No." Ethan shook his head.

The leader’s expression turned icy. "I’m not negotiating. I’m ordering you. Either you come with us... or you die."

"Yeah?" Ethan looked at him, calm as still water.

For an instant, everything around them went dead-still.

Ethan’s body flickered—

—and he was suddenly right in front of the winged leader.

The poleaxe in his hands flared with a dark, black light as he slammed it down.

BOOM.

The impact caved the man’s head in like a rotten melon. Flesh and bone burst apart, and the headless body dropped straight out of the sky.

Back when Ethan was only Tier 22, he’d chopped down a Tier 26 Stoneborn powerhouse.

Now he was peak Tier 23.

Killing a Tier 26 Winged Clan fighter? That was well within reach.

After the strike, Ethan flashed back onto his Flamebird like he’d simply blinked.

A breath later, the world "unfroze."

The remaining Winged Clan fighters blinked—and realized one of them was gone.

"Captain?"

"Wait—look! The captain’s falling!"

Their faces changed instantly. They dove after him and caught the body midair.

But when they saw the shattered skull, pure panic spilled across their features.

"What happened?! How is the captain dead?!"

"I don’t know—he was fine a second ago!"

"Is there a super expert nearby?!"

They whipped their heads around, scanning the empty sky like cornered animals.

"No need to look," Ethan said.

He brought his Flamebird down with the others and surrounded them in a loose circle.

"I killed him."

"You?" The Winged Clan stared at him, disbelief written all over their faces.

Then their eyes drifted to the poleaxe on Ethan’s shoulder—still wet with blood.

They didn’t want to believe it.

But their guts did.

"He’s not even Stage A," a younger Winged Clan fighter said, voice tight. "How could trash like him kill the captain?"

The older one’s face darkened as he studied Ethan. "It was him. He moved, and we felt nothing. That only happens with a space-time ability—he briefly locked time and space."

"Space-time ability?!" The others recoiled like the words burned.

"A human can awaken space-time?"

The older one nodded, grim. "Outside the very top-tier races, only the human race has a chance to comprehend an ability like that."

In that moment, the way they looked at Ethan changed.

Less contempt.

A lot more caution.

Ethan, meanwhile, was already having Emily restore his mental energy. He kept his eyes on them and asked, "Where did you come from, and how many of you are here?"

The Winged Clan exchanged looks. After a beat, the older one spoke.

"We’re from

Skyreach Continent

. More than five thousand of the Winged Clan entered this landmass."

"Five thousand..." Ethan’s expression tightened. That number hit harder than he expected.

The older Winged Clan continued, almost coaxing now. "I advise you to come with us. Your talent is good. If you do, Lord Aeralon may overlook the crime of killing our captain. You might even earn his favor and be put to use."

Ethan didn’t bite. "How strong is your Lord Aeralon?"

The elder’s chest lifted with pride. "Lord Aeralon reached

Stage S

decades ago!"

"Stage S..." Ethan’s stomach sank.

Then the thought came out, raw and honest, like a curse under his breath.

"Fuck. Rus Federation isn’t somewhere we can stay."