Chapter 980: The Rainbow Glow
"I actually came back earlier, but I wasn’t strong enough to save you. Then somehow I got teleported to a place called the Dragon God Domain. Turns out the Divine Realm wiped it out a thousand years ago. I got lucky there, raised my rank a bit, then forced my way back here through the spatial barrier."
Ethan summed up everything he had gone through in a few short sentences.
"The Dragon God Domain? So there are worlds bigger than this one?"
The old city lord leaned back slightly as he spoke, clearly deep in thought.
Ethan nodded before asking the question that had been bothering him ever since he arrived.
"How did you escape? Vatican City looks completely destroyed. Was that your doing?"
That was the real reason he had come here.
The underground city beneath the ruins was empty, and judging from the damage above, a massive battle had taken place.
Regis let out a slow breath before explaining.
"It was strange. Jed and I weren’t even close to ascension level, but the tribulation lightning marked us anyway. We already knew you weren’t strong enough to save us yet, so the four of us decided to gamble everything. We triggered our tribulations together and figured we’d either survive or die there."
He paused briefly.
"The tribulation itself turned out easier than expected, but after we passed it, nothing happened. No ascension and no transfer to another realm. We stayed right here."
"Then that feathered freak attacked us again, and the battle wrecked the entire place."
Regis frowned slightly as he continued, still sounding confused by what had happened.
"The weirdest part was that the world recognized us after the tribulation. We were marked for ascension, but that creature wasn’t. It was powerful, but it had no tribulation mark at all, like the world itself rejected it. Because of that, Jed and I were actually able to fight it head-on while the Dragon Child and Hank rescued everyone else."
"We managed to escape together. I used the Seal of the World and tore off one of its wings. Jed used Rear-Guard Lance and took one of its arms. We were about to finish it when a milky-white light suddenly descended from the sky. The thing vanished inside it, and no matter how hard we searched afterward, we couldn’t find it again. After that, we came back here, set up formations, and prepared in case it returned."
Ethan stared at him for a moment, visibly surprised.
"So you passed the Ascension Tribulation? Doesn’t that make you gods now?"
His understanding still came from Earth’s system. In his mind, ascension and godhood were closely tied together.
"Gods?" Regis laughed and shook his head. "Not even close. Honestly, it feels more like someone opened a back door for us."
"A back door?"
Ethan immediately became interested.
Regis nodded.
"Before our tribulations, the Energy of this world still hadn’t fully returned. If we had ascended back then, our growth probably would’ve stopped there permanently. But after the Energy came back, Jed and I realized something strange. Even though our ranks had already reached their limit, we could still absorb Energy and continue getting stronger."
Ethan silently spread out his senses. He couldn’t feel any Energy in the surroundings that he could absorb anymore.
At first, he found it strange, but the answer quickly became obvious. His current rank had already surpassed the limits of this world.
After all, he had already stepped into the Divine rank.
Of course, Jed and the others still saw him as an ordinary person. Their levels simply weren’t high enough to sense what he had become.
Earlier, when they felt that terrifying pressure descending from above, it had only been a tiny trace of aura leaking from Ethan’s movement technique.
Still, none of them questioned it. Ethan had always been abnormal.
No one would believe he had reached Divine rank this quickly anyway.
"You said that feathered creature escaped?"
Ethan changed the topic and returned to the part that concerned him most.
Regis nodded again.
Ethan immediately expanded his Soul Sense across the entire planet, but found nothing. N
There was no trace of those creatures anywhere.
Originally, he had planned to hunt every last one of them down and rip out their feathers himself, but it looked like that plan was over before it even started.
Still, that wasn’t the only reason he came here. For the first time since arriving, Ethan hesitated.
Regis noticed it immediately but didn’t interrupt him. After several seconds, Ethan finally spoke.
"The Second Universe is gone. The Umbral Star too."
Regis’s expression shifted slightly, but only for a moment. Soon enough, his usual calm smile returned.
"I’ve already been here for over a year. Julian and the others would’ve been gone long ago anyway."
His tone was calm, almost peaceful.
Ethan looked at him for a moment and realized there was no point dwelling on it further.
Time in the Second Universe flowed a thousand times faster than it did here. One year in this world meant a thousand years there.
Without reaching true godhood, the maximum lifespan was only around two hundred years.
Ethan had no idea how far Julian had progressed before the end, but realistically, he was probably long dead by now.
At this point, the destruction of the Second Universe no longer carried much meaning for Regis. Ethan had only come to tell him the truth.
Since the old man had already accepted it, there was nothing more to say.
"I should get going."
Ethan stood and prepared to leave. Lyla had mentioned some kind of system notification earlier, and he wanted to check what had changed in Ethereal.
The next moment, he stepped out of Regis’s room and appeared in another part of the building.
Victor and the others were all gathered there.
Rows of VR capsules lined the room, and Leo’s group was already inside, clearly playing together.
Ethan decided to join them. He pulled out his own capsule, opened it, and climbed inside.
The others already knew he had returned since they were connected through the game.
The moment Ethan logged into Ethereal, notifications flooded his screen. Most of them came from Victor and the others, but mixed in between them were several crafting completion notices.
Before leaving, Ethan had handed all his equipment to his Avatar for upgrading. Looks like the upgrades were finally done. A complete Dark Gold set.
Even Ethan felt excited seeing that.
He had gone through countless battles, crossed worlds, and even stepped into the Divine rank in reality, but in the end, he was still a man in his early twenties.
In his previous life, this game had destroyed him. In this life, it had become the foundation of everything he had gained.
No matter how much changed, his love for gaming had never disappeared. A full Dark Gold equipment set was still enough to make his heart race.
He opened his inventory and a burst of rainbow light exploded across his
vision.
Ethan froze, then stared in complete disbelief.