Chapter 1368: A Name Too Grand

By then, the group was already far from the blast zone.

Seraphina flew in their chosen direction for a long time. With nothing to do but sit on her back, everyone gradually grew bored. They tried several times to find a place to land and rest, but whenever they looked down, all they saw was an endless desert.

Yellow dunes stretched to the horizon.

No rivers. No trees.

They were beginning to wonder if they had gone the wrong way when a strange little bird flew toward them.

There was barely a normal feather on its body. Tumors of various sizes covered its skin, and several exposed lumps of flesh writhed with every flap of its wings.

It was revolting.

Ethan decided to protect everyone’s sanity.

He raised a hand, sending an energy sphere over the dragon’s back. It struck the bird dead center, and white light erupted from its body, consuming it along with every squirming lump of flesh.

Ethan then spread his palm and raised a barrier around the group, sealing out the lingering smell and debris.

Only then did he feel comfortable looking around.

A cluster of low buildings had appeared at the edge of the desert.

It was a small village.

From the air, the roads below looked completely deserted. There was no one between the houses, no smoke rising from chimneys, no sound of people working, and no children playing outside.

Seraphina changed course and descended toward the village.

Just before her claws touched the ground, she folded her wings. Her enormous draconic body rapidly shrank as she reverted to human form.

Everyone on her back dropped out of the air.

It had happened often enough that no one was surprised anymore. They adjusted their positions and landed easily on the sand outside the village.

The village seemed even more desolate from the ground.

There were almost no animals anywhere. Not even common insects buzzed through the air. Every door and window was tightly shut, and a thin layer of sand covered the streets.

But the doors weren’t still.

Several wooden doors trembled faintly, and muffled breathing came from behind the frames.

There were clearly people inside.

They were simply too afraid to open up.

Ethan walked to the nearest house and politely knocked.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Anyone home?"

He leaned a little closer to the door.

"What happened here? Why won’t anyone come outside? Is there something dangerous around? We’re really strong."

No one answered.

Ethan knocked several more times, but the people inside still refused to speak. The door was shaking harder now, dislodging dust from the cracks around it.

Their fear was answer enough.

An elderly voice came from behind Ethan.

"Young man, get out of here!"

The speaker kept his voice low, but his urgency was unmistakable.

"This place is dangerous!"

Ethan turned toward the source of the voice, darted across the street, and appeared outside another house.

An old man was hiding behind a half-open door.

Instead of barging inside, Ethan obediently crouched in front of the doorway and looked up at him like a child waiting attentively for an elder to speak.

His speed had startled the old man.

The man clutched the doorframe and watched Ethan warily. But faced with such an innocent, well-behaved expression, he hesitated for a long moment before opening the door a little wider.

Ethan followed him inside.

The moment he crossed the threshold, a foul smell hit him. The cramped room reeked of sweat, mildew, and stale air from being shut tight for far too long.

Suppressing his discomfort, Ethan sat down in front of the old man and listened carefully as he explained what was happening in the village.

A short while later, the rapid, synchronized pounding of footsteps came from outside the village.

The old man’s face changed immediately.

This village stood near the border of a kingdom.

No one knew exactly when it had begun, but that kingdom had become trapped in a brutal war. To keep fighting, it had been forced to mobilize its entire population.

Yet no matter how many people it conscripted, there were never enough.

So the kingdom began recruiting beyond its own borders. It also dispatched troops to the outlying regions, moving from village to village to seize every able-bodied man they could find.

The old man grabbed Ethan by the wrist, his voice full of urgency.

"Young man, you seem like a good person. Whatever you do, don’t go outside."

He opened his mouth, struggling with what to say.

"They’re not bad people. It’s just... they are bad. Ah..."

Ethan gave him a puzzled look.

The statement contradicted itself, but it made one thing clear: even the old man did not know how to judge the army outside.

The footsteps were drawing closer.

Ethan stood instead of continuing to hide. He nodded goodbye to the old man, opened the door, and stepped into the sand blowing through the village.

The yellow dust obscured the distance.

Through the shifting curtain of sand, an army could be seen approaching.

Andona had already led the others outside the village. When she saw Ethan coming, her lips moved, but she did not seem to know where to begin.

Ethan followed her gaze and quickly nodded.

Now he knew who had arrived.

Behind them, the army of Emerald Castle had already formed ranks. The soldiers gripped their weapons and stared ahead, hungry for battle.

The approaching troops wore uniform suits of armor.

The armor was predominantly black and yellow, fitted tightly over their bodies. It covered them completely from their hands to their heads, with almost no visible gaps at the joints. It looked as though it had grown directly from their flesh.

The army stopped outside the village.

Its ranks parted down the middle, and a tall figure emerged. One hand remained on the sword at his waist as his gaze swept over Ethan’s group, then the Emerald Castle army behind them.

"Who are you?"

His voice carried through the blowing sand.

"And why have you come to our Immortal Kingdom?"

The Immortal Kingdom?

Ethan had to admire the sheer audacity of that name.

Immortal was a realm everyone dreamed of reaching. How could it possibly be attained so easily?

Besides, if everyone in this kingdom was truly Immortal, why would they need to scour the land for soldiers?

"Immortal Kingdom?"

Ethan stepped forward.

"That’s quite a name!"

The towering commander did not argue.

He drew his sword and pointed it toward Emerald Castle’s army. The cold gleam of the blade cut through the swirling sand and fell across the soldiers in the front rank.

Ethan sneered.

Energy spread across his palm, rapidly compressing into a spinning disc. With a turn of his wrist, he hurled it at the commander.

The disc skimmed over the ground, kicking up twin waves of sand as its razor-sharp edge flew straight for the man’s chest.

The commander merely raised his sword.

His blade swept upward through the center of the energy disc.

The spinning light split cleanly in two. Both halves shot past him, one on either side, carving two deep trenches through the sand behind him.

The commander lifted his sword and turned toward his army.

"Soldiers!"

Every rank stepped forward as one.

"For the king—charge!"