Chapter 1367: Leave Nothing Behind

The Ravager swung at the first Angel to reach it. Its fist tore through the apparition, blasting golden energy in every direction.

A second Angel immediately pinned its arm from the side.

Then a third joined in, followed by a fourth.

The Ravager kept throwing punches and knocking back anything that came near, but the endless stream of golden apparitions gradually overwhelmed it. Its knees began to buckle, and its body was forced back toward the ground.

Its arrogant laughter never stopped.

Neither did the sounds of tearing flesh from what remained of the Golden Crucible.

High above, Andona leveled her blade.

A violent wave of flame rolled over the edge, and sacred fire bore down from the sky. Beneath the Ravager, a golden judgment array appeared, its runes locking into place one after another.

"Judgment is upon you!"

Andona pointed her blade at the Ravager.

Golden light pierced heaven and earth, illuminating the entire gray-white forest. The Ravager disappeared inside the pillar of judgment as its skin and muscle steadily disintegrated.

Yet its crazed laughter remained audible.

Andona raised her blade higher and continued pouring Divine Power into the array. The pillar thickened, forcing the Ravager back into the center of the Golden Crucible.

The infernal energy in Ataneya’s hand finally had a use.

She lifted a burning sphere and casually dropped it.

The infernal energy sphere passed through the golden pillar and fell into the cage. Fire spread in every direction, filling the entire space alongside Andona’s sacred power.

Sss—sss—

The sound of burning flesh came from inside the golden cage.

No one paid it any further attention.

At the lowest level underground, Ethan left his particle state and re-formed beside Shaela.

Shaela remained where it stood without reacting.

Ethan leaned in close to examine it, his gaze traveling from its massive muscles to its shoulders and neck. He showed no concern for personal space whatsoever.

The huge head finally turned.

Its clouded eyes stared straight at Ethan.

Seriously?

Shaela flew into a rage.

Both fists came at Ethan’s head from opposite sides. Its thick arms kicked up a powerful gust, blowing scraps of paper and dust across the floor.

Ethan casually ducked.

The two fists collided above his head with a heavy thud.

His hands remained in his pockets. He straightened, raised one leg, and kicked to the side.

His foot struck Shaela squarely in the waist.

The creature knew how to attack but not how to defend. Caught completely unprepared, its massive body toppled sideways and crashed onto the bloodstained floor.

Ethan did not follow up with a barrage of attacks.

This could hardly be called a fight.

It was a one-sided beating.

But the mindless Shaela refused to stop. Its legs kicked against the floor as it braced both hands beneath itself and tried to stand.

Ethan walked over and stomped down again.

Bang!

Shaela’s rising body was slammed back into the floor. The bloodred surface caved beneath it, cracks spreading rapidly from beside its head.

Ethan wasted no more time.

An energy sphere formed in his palm, then shot in a straight line toward Shaela’s head.

Bang!

Its head exploded in a burst of light.

Without a head, however, the rest of Shaela’s body only became more troublesome. Both arms detached at the shoulders and began climbing Ethan’s legs, several fingers catching hold of his clothes.

One severed arm even crawled onto his face.

Ethan pulled it off with a helpless look and tossed it aside.

His eyes turned pure white.

His consciousness followed the residual energy into Shaela’s body and began making minor repairs. The scattered body parts came under his control and stopped crawling all over him, then dropped neatly to the floor.

"And here I thought it was something serious."

Ethan gave the arm beside his foot a disgusted kick.

"If you’re going to be an experiment, then act like one. Who can put up with this nonsense?"

He turned and returned to the long table holding the bird-beaked masks.

All five were still neatly arranged where he had left them. Ethan gave them a quick look, saw nothing had changed, and prepared to leave.

As he turned away, one of the masks suddenly awakened.

Its long beak lifted from the tabletop.

The next instant, it lunged at Ethan.

The mask shot off the table, its pointed beak aimed straight at his face.

Ethan neither turned nor dodged.

An energy sphere formed in his palm. He slapped it into his chest, and white light spread outward along the contours of his body. A moment later, he disintegrated into countless tiny particles.

The bird-beaked mask passed through the cloud and hit nothing.

It stopped in midair and swung its beak from side to side, clearly unable to figure out where its target had gone.

At the same time, white light appeared beside the group outside the laboratory. The scattered particles gathered together, and Ethan stepped out unharmed.

Everyone stared at his sudden appearance in surprise.

Ethan offered no explanation for what had happened underground. He simply looked at Kaelira.

"Kaelira, blow this place up."

His voice was calm and decisive.

"Leave nothing behind."

Kaelira glanced at the laboratory behind them, then back at Ethan before nodding.

No one else objected.

Nearby, the Ravager remained trapped inside the Golden Crucible, pinned down by Andona’s Divine Power and Ataneya’s infernal energy. With Ethan’s return, the golden light contracted further. The Ravager’s arrogant laughter finally stopped, and its massive body went completely still.

Seraphina returned to her dragon form and lowered herself to the ground.

The others climbed onto her back one after another. Once the last person was seated, she spread her wings and carried them into the sky, continuing onward.

Inside the laboratory, all five bird-beaked masks had awakened.

They hovered above the long table, tapping their pointed beaks together as they mumbled among themselves. Their voices came in broken fragments, too indistinct to make out.

A torrent of flame descended from above.

It poured through the ruined dome and swallowed the five masks first, then spread throughout the laboratory. Tables, chairs, equipment, zombies, and the surviving War Machines all disappeared beneath the flames.

Energy compressed deep underground for a moment.

Then it erupted.

Boom—!

A circular crater replaced the entire complex.

The central building and surrounding mechanical factories vanished, along with the section of gray-white forest around them. The blast wave swept outward across the ground, toppling trees and boulders in its path.

But as the shock wave reached the perimeter, a barrier that had been raised in advance flared to life.

The transparent screen absorbed the spreading energy and confined the destruction within a perfect circle. Once the flames and dust gradually cleared, the untouched forest beyond the barrier fell quiet once more.