Chapter 1184: Crimson Counters Violet
Ethan sensed something wrong immediately.
The power on this guy was... strange. It wasn’t ordinary ore-vein energy, and it wasn’t the Infernal Abyss power Ethan had just come into contact with. This aura felt lighter, more active—brimming with fierce vitality, yet carrying an oppressive pressure that made your chest tighten. The second it appeared, the flow of energy in the surrounding air started tilting toward his position, like everything nearby was being forcibly redirected.
Ethan rose into the air at once, locking onto him.
The purple figure didn’t even acknowledge the stare.
He simply lifted his hand, palm facing down, and pressed lightly.
In the next instant, a flood of violet energy burst from the gemstones embedded across his body and poured toward the mountain range below. It didn’t scatter. It gathered into a single colossal vortex suspended between heaven and earth.
The vortex turned slowly, its center collapsing inward again and again.
The moment broken rocks on the ground were swept up, they were ground into dust midair. A few chunks of ore that hadn’t been collected in time got dragged along the vortex’s edge—then shattered into fragments within a handful of breaths.
Ethan’s brows drew together.
He could feel exactly how lethal that vortex was. Anyone caught inside would be crushed layer by layer by overlapping energy pressure until flesh, bone, and even the energy core were pulverized together.
"Who the hell are you?" Ethan’s voice carried a hard edge of anger.
"And what are you doing here?"
As he spoke, a massive translucent lightning sphere was already forming in his palm. Arcs rolled violently inside it, while golden runes wrapped around the outer layer—ready to fire at any second.
Still, the other man didn’t answer.
The purple figure lifted a finger and tapped the air.
Space instantly blossomed with swirling whirlpools.
One vortex linked to the next. Purple lines of light darted back and forth, knitting into an extremely stable spatial corridor. The moment the corridor formed, a heavy metallic roar rolled out of it.
And then—warships began to float through.
They were enormous. Their hulls were studded with the same violet gemstones. Each ship radiated an oppressive energy surge, and whenever the glow at a ship’s prow flared, the surrounding space shuddered in response. One after another, they emerged, spreading out until they covered a huge stretch of sky above the small city and the mountain range.
Ethan’s gaze went ice-cold.
At this point, he didn’t dare be careless for even a heartbeat. He led everyone back, slowly, keeping formation. At the same time, he lifted his hand and opened a summoning channel—calling out every Sky Fortress at once.
One Sky Fortress after another rose into the air. Thick defensive barriers unfolded in sequence. They hovered in front of Emerald Castle’s army, their energy cannons pivoting and locking onto the warships that had just emerged from the spatial corridor.
The energy between heaven and earth went completely berserk.
The aura from the purple warships collided with the defensive power of the Sky Fortresses, forming visible ripples that spread across the air in rings. Neither side had even fired yet, and the space above the battlefield was already starting to crack under the pressure, hairline fractures spidering open again and again.
The purple figure at the front spread his arms and stood before the fleet, as if looking down at a swarm of ants that had just crawled to his feet.
His eyes settled on Ethan, contempt curling at the corner of his mouth.
"You’re nothing but some guy from a low-grade Plane World."
His voice carried across the entire sky.
"And you still dare ask me a question like that?"
He tilted his chin up. Every violet gemstone on his body lit at once.
"Let me tell you something. We’ve been watching the power here for a long time. You don’t have the right to own any of it."
Violet energy gathered in his palm, condensing rapidly into a dense, brutal sphere.
"So be good... and hand it over."
As the last word fell, he raised his arm and hurled the violet energy sphere down with savage force.
Ethan drew a sharp breath and retreated half a step. At the same time, he hurled the translucent lightning sphere in his hand.
The two energy orbs streaked toward each other through the sky—one a storm of clear lightning, the other blazing with violet radiance. Wherever they passed, the air was crushed into long, jagged fissures.
Then they collided.
Ethan’s lightning sphere held for only a single breath before the violet power forced it apart. Translucent arcs exploded outward, but before they could knit together again, they were swallowed whole by the purple light.
Ethan’s pupils tightened.
The enemy’s output was even stronger than he’d anticipated.
And just as that violet orb kept bearing down—
Ataneya rose into the air.
She slid in front of Ethan, twenty tails snapping open behind her all at once. Each tail was wrapped in fiery-red energy and a dense shadow aura. The tips swayed lazily, and every small motion sent rings of distortion rippling through the surrounding space.
The man leading the purple fleet saw her and his eyes lit up.
He raked his gaze over Ataneya from head to toe. The contempt on his face thinned, replaced by obvious satisfaction.
"Little girl... that power you’re putting off is no joke."
He chuckled.
"I’m willing to take you in as my subordinate. Interested?"
Ataneya narrowed her eyes.
In the next instant, her aura detonated.
Fiery-red light and Shadow power surged upward together, condensing into a massive fox phantom between heaven and earth. The fox crouched in the high sky, twenty tails spread behind it—each one like a burning, dark-crimson whip.
Ataneya had already acknowledged Ethan as her master.
In this lifetime, she would never betray him.
For this man to try and recruit her right in front of Ethan—there was no bigger insult.
The fox phantom lunged.
Its claws tore through the lingering violet glow. Fire-red pressure rolled across the sky in a straight, crushing line. Across from her, the man’s expression finally changed. He clearly hadn’t expected Ataneya to explode with this level of power. He immediately fused his aura together, condensing a huge purple energy sphere in front of him.
He shoved both hands forward, sending it smashing into the fox phantom.
But just as the purple sphere was about to make contact—
Cracks appeared across its surface.
They spread from a single point to the entire orb. Then the sphere collapsed in midair, shattering into a cloud of violet dust and light—completely devoured by the fire-red aura.
Ataneya’s power, in a way, naturally countered his.
The energy rolling off her was tyrannical. Even a trace of its might was enough to pin his violet power down. His aura was strong—no question—but the moment it brushed against Ataneya’s crimson flames, the internal flow turned chaotic. Even the light of the violet gemstones embedded in his body flickered, briefly losing rhythm.
Watching it, Ethan felt a jolt in his chest too.
Ataneya had only just fused with the Infernal Abyss power, and she was already suppressing an enemy this terrifying in a real fight.
While he was distracted for that split second, the system notification chime rang out in quick succession.
At the same time, the other guy’s data panel surfaced in Ethan’s mind.
Ethan’s eyes swept over the key entries, then paused on the attribute line for magical power.
So that was it.
The aura pouring off that bastard... was pure Sylvan Magic.
And the flame Ataneya was releasing right now was exactly the kind of power that could counter him.