Path To Godhood Begins With Marrying Wife And Gaining SSS Rank Skill - Chapter 531:The Grim Outlook

“There is a big problem!”

The shout tore through the command tent and broke the calm atmosphere in an instant.

Ethan, who had just taken a sip of tea, almost

spat it out as he turned his head sharply, and a few drops nearly landed on Han.

Han immediately gave him a sharp side eye and wiped his sleeve with visible irritation.

“What happened?” Ethan asked, still holding the cup, although his expression had already turned serious.

Han clicked his tongue and glanced at Hale who brought the message “You are a Mythic rank knight, yet you are losing composure like a child,” he said in a low voice. “Have some shame.”

“Shame my ass… Read this first,” Hale said as he walked in quickly and slammed a sealed letter onto the table.

The wooden surface shook slightly under the force, and both Ethan and Han turned their attention to it immediately.

Han picked it up first and broke the seal while Ethan leaned closer. As their eyes moved across the contents, their expressions changed almost instantly.

Their pupils shrank.

“The shit is this?” Ethan muttered, his voice low but filled with disbelief.

The information written on the letter was simple, but it was enough to shake them.

The Orc Empire and the Beastman Royal Kingdom had formed an alliance with the Demon side.

For a moment, no one spoke.

A cold silence filled the tent, and even the air seemed heavier than before.

“Are you sure about this?” Han asked finally, his brows tightly furrowed as he looked at Hale.

Hale shook his head slightly. “Nothing is absolute, but informants have seen demon envoys visiting them,” he replied. “Nothing is set in stone yet.”

Ethan swallowed quietly and leaned back a little, and for once, he did not have anything to say. This was far beyond anything he had experienced before.

“Inform the General and await his orders,” Han said after a short pause.

There was no better option.They decided quickly and sent the report upward.

Days passed.

The tension did not ease, and the answer they received only made things more complicated.

They were ordered to continue the attack.

Ethan frowned slightly when he heard it, and he looked at Han and Hale with a hint of hesitation.

“With the way things are going, we have already been promoted to the vanguard,” he said slowly. “If this information is true, then pushing forward like this…”

He did not finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear.

Han exhaled and crossed his arms. “I understand,” he said. “But the order stands.”

Ethan was not fully convinced, so he sent another inquiry.This time, the reply was different.

The General himself would oversee the situation.

That was enough to silence further doubts.

With that, the vanguard of the Arcadia Empire continued advancing, and Ethan took the lead on the front lines.

Battle after battle, they moved forward.

The victories came quickly.

Under Ethan’s command and strength, enemy defenses were dismantled one after another, and the soldiers under him grew more confident with each passing day.

Thankfully, there were no sudden appearances from the Church of Darkness or the Abyssal Sect during this period, and that alone made things much smoother.

Ethan knew very well that if those people appeared again, things would not be this simple.

With the power of his family not present here, handling unexpected threats would become much more difficult.

Still, for now, everything was under control.

Within half a month of continuous battles, the Arcadia Empire had taken over six regions along the Demon Land border.

It was a huge accomplishment.

The morale of the army rose, and many people began to speak openly.

“If this continues… Marquise Ethan might become a Duke soon.”

“He is already among the elites.”

Such words spread quietly among the ranks, and although Ethan heard some of them, he did not react much.

He remained cautious.A single carelessness would cost so much.The army continued marching until they finally slowed down near a wide river.

Ahead of them stood the City of Haywire.

It was an important demon city, and its walls stood tall and reinforced, with defensive arrays faintly glowing along its surface.

Crossing the river and launching a siege would not be easy.If it turned into a prolonged siege battle, the losses would be heavy.

The higher command knew this as well.

So they were ordered to wait.

General Aaron would arrive with reinforcements before any major move was made.

The camp was set up along the riverbank, and the army paused for the first time in days.

However, Ethan was not someone who liked to sit and wait without understanding the situation.

That night, under the cover of darkness, he made a decision.He changed his appearance slightly, suppressing his aura and blending into the surroundings.

Then he moved.

Using the back channel of the river, where the current was slower and less guarded, Ethan slipped quietly into the water and began moving toward the city.

The cold water flowed around him, but his expression remained calm and focused.

If a war was about to change direction, then he needed to see things with his own eyes.

And so, silently and without drawing attention, Ethan entered the City of Haywire through the hidden river passage.

Ethan did not act recklessly as he approached the city, because he knew that even a small mistake here could expose him to powerful enemies.

Before entering, he took out the artifact that Kassandra had given him, which looked like a simple ring but carried a strange and quiet power within it. He slipped it onto his finger and, in the next moment, his entire presence faded away, as his body, aura, and even the flow of mana around him disappeared completely, leaving no trace behind.

“…Good,” he muttered softly, and then he moved forward without hesitation.

Using the hidden river passage, Ethan entered the City of Haywire quietly, and the moment he stepped inside, his pace slowed down as his eyes scanned the surroundings carefully.

What he saw was not what he had expected, because instead of a strong and organized city preparing for war, the place looked worn down and lifeless, as if something had drained the spirit out of it. The buildings were cracked, the streets looked dull, and even the air carried a heavy and suffocating feeling that made the entire place seem tense.

At the same time, there were soldiers everywhere, and groups of armed demon warriors stood guard at different points while patrols moved constantly across the streets, which showed that the city was still on high alert. Ethan glanced toward the city walls in the distance, but he did not move in that direction because he knew that powerful figures might be stationed there, and even with the artifact, he did not want to take unnecessary risks.

Instead, he chose to move through the commoner areas, where the situation would be easier to observe without drawing attention.

As he walked deeper into the city, the atmosphere changed further, and what he saw next made his steps slow down even more.

The streets were filled with demons, but they were not aggressive or hostile as he had expected, because most of them looked exhausted, broken, and overwhelmed by something much deeper than fear of war.

Some sat on the ground while holding their heads, others leaned against walls with empty expressions, and many of them were crying openly without caring about anything around them. The air was filled with soft sobs and broken voices, and the constant sound of weeping spread across the streets like a heavy weight.

Ethan frowned slightly as he looked around and murmured under his breath, “What’s going on?”

He continued moving forward and soon reached an area that looked like a medical district, where the situation became even more serious. Pharmacies were lined up along the streets, and long lines had formed outside each one, while demons stood silently with desperate expressions, holding bottles, prescriptions, or simply waiting without knowing what to do.

Inside the medical facilities, people rushed back and forth, carrying supplies and shouting instructions, while the number of patients kept increasing, making it difficult to manage the situation.

Ethan stepped closer to one of the buildings and looked inside, and the moment his eyes fell on the patients, his expression stiffened slightly.

The ones lying on the beds were not adults.

They were children.