Chapter 942: The Sixty Percent Gamble Turns Desperate

Ethan attacked like a man who had already accepted the cost.

There was no rhythm, no restraint, just a relentless surge of soul force crashing forward again and again as if he meant to burn everything he had in one go. Yurix met him head-on, his own power rising to match, and every collision between them sent violent shockwaves tearing through the confined space. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Energy scattered wildly with each clash, splintering into fragments that should have lingered, should have been reclaimed, but Yurix didn’t notice what was happening to it.

The moment that scattered energy touched the inner walls of the woven sphere, it vanished.

Ethan saw it clearly, and his eyes lit up with something sharp and eager.

Outside the sphere, though still within Ethan’s mindscape, everything had already begun to change. Yurix couldn’t see it through the dense lattice of branches, but the entire space had transformed.

A thick mist now filled the mindscape, heavy and slow-moving, rolling like clouds trapped in a sealed world. It drifted downward in layers, gradually condensing into droplets that fed into the Source Energy lake below.

Even so, the lake was still shrinking.

The mist hadn’t fully settled yet, and until it did, Ethan couldn’t draw from it directly. Still, the total amount of energy in the mindscape had grown tremendously. Part of it came from Ethan himself, but a large portion belonged to Yurix. Every clash between them shed soul power, and Yaya’s prison expelled that excess instantly, pushing it out into the wider mindscape where it could no longer be reclaimed.

Yurix was fighting blind.

Even with that advantage, Ethan was reaching his limit. Soul exhaustion was far worse than physical fatigue. It hollowed a person out from the inside, leaving nothing behind. His Source Energy lake was nearly drained, barely holding together despite the slow replenishment from the falling mist.

Within that dense, swirling energy, the Tree of Life drank greedily, its presence expanding as it absorbed everything it could. The Four City Lord Seals had abandoned their human forms, their true shapes spinning like whirlpools, pulling in energy with increasing intensity. As spirit artifacts, they required enormous amounts of soul power to grow. Ethan had always fed them carefully, never allowing them to take too much.

They had never dared to take more. Now, they did not hesitate.

This was their opportunity, and more importantly, it was the only way to resolve the crisis in front of them.

There was no drawback anymore, because there was no alternative left.

This was the first time Ethan had encountered such a vast concentration of soul energy tied to a single, bodiless being. If he could break Yurix down and absorb it all, the rewards would surpass anything he had gained before. Greater than the Tree of Life, greater than the seals. His soul power would leap forward by an entire level. At the very least, his senses would no longer betray him so easily, something that had plagued him until now simply because he wasn’t strong enough.

As for Yurix, for all his overwhelming power, that was all it was, power. He had devoured countless spirits, but true mastery of that energy would take years.

"Stop—"

Ethan’s voice rang out suddenly.

At some point, Yurix had shifted completely from defense to offense. His attacks grew sharper, heavier, forcing Ethan to spend even more energy just to keep up. Inside the mindscape, physical strength meant nothing, and Ethan was being pushed back purely through soul force.

Yurix saw it.

Even as Ethan shouted for him to stop, the old monster pressed harder, sensing weakness. Ethan’s form, once solid and defined, had begun to fade at the edges, turning faint and translucent.

One more push. That was all it would take to shatter his consciousness.

And once that happened, Yurix would take the body. After that, the strange tree outside wouldn’t matter at all. Just something the boy had cultivated inside his mindscape, nothing more.

"I’m done playing," Ethan said suddenly, his voice steady despite the strain. "Time for a break."

His form flickered backward.

The woven vines parted for him as if they were never there, allowing him to slip through effortlessly. In an instant, he was outside the prison once more.

"RAAAGH—!"

Yurix’s fury erupted.

His entire form surged as he condensed his vast soul power into a single, terrifying construct, an enormous blade that pulsed with destructive force. He raised it high, intent on cleaving the prison apart in one strike.

Before it could fall, four shrill voices rang out. The children who had done nothing until now finally moved.

Light burst from their small forms as they unleashed their abilities all at once, their attacks streaking toward the descending blade.

Aqua struck first, summoning a massive water dragon that roared forward and slammed into the blade. The impact echoed like thunder, and though the dragon shattered instantly, it halted the blade’s descent for a brief moment.

Gale followed, sending a razor-sharp wind blade crashing in from the side.

The collision rang out like metal striking metal, sharp and clear despite the immaterial nature of both attacks.

Then Beastie transformed, his small body swelling into that of a massive white tiger, eerily reminiscent of Ormund. Beside him stood Oblivion, his form like a mass of blackened muscle, his skin gleaming with a metallic sheen.

Without hesitation, the two charged.

Ethan’s heart lurched at the sight. That blade was no mere construct anymore, it felt solid, like a divine weapon forged from pure will. And they were running straight into it.

"MOVE—!"

Oblivion’s deep, blunt voice boomed as he raised his arm.

Only then did Ethan notice the weapon in his grasp, a translucent staff that shimmered faintly.

The material looked unmistakable.

Diamond.

Oblivion leapt, bringing the staff down with all his strength. A sharp, almost delicate sound rang out.

Then the massive blade shattered.

It didn’t split, it dissolved, bursting apart into raw soul energy that scattered in all directions.

Oblivion dropped like a stone.

Beastie twisted midair and caught him, but the force of the collision drove both of them downward at terrifying speed, slamming toward the ground below.

"I see..."

Yurix’s expression darkened.

He watched the remnants of his shattered attack, the energy he had intended to reclaim, disappear completely in the blink of an eye.

Now he understood, he saw through the plan. They weren’t trying to overpower him, they were trying to drain him dry.

"Clever," Yurix muttered, his voice low and dangerous. "But this prison..."

His eyes narrowed as both his arms ignited, engulfed in deep purple flames that burned with an unnatural intensity. These were not ordinary flames, but soul fire born from the energy of countless fallen spirits.

"Fire consumes wood. That’s a law nothing escapes. Go."

The flames shot forward, streaking toward the woven ceiling of the sphere.

"No... that’s Karma Fire!" Yaya’s voice rang out, sharp with alarm.

Ethan felt it too. The moment those flames appeared, he knew he had no way to stop them.

"SECOND!" he shouted without hesitation. "What are you waiting for?"

A figure appeared instantly above Yurix.

Radiant, overwhelming energy burst from his body, splitting into two streams that intercepted the incoming flames head-on.

"What?" Yurix’s composure finally cracked. "Another one?"

This presence was different. It wasn’t a spirit, not entirely. It had a body, strange and unnatural, but undeniably physical.

Ethan’s core avatar.

He had refined from the Tree of Life and the countless treasures within his mindscape, its existence alone defied logic. A physical body moving freely inside a mindscape should have been impossible.

Yet there it was.

And more than that, it had stopped the Karma Fire.

Those flames were no ordinary attack. They existed somewhere between energy, soul force, and true fire, something said to burn even through cause and effect itself. Yurix had only managed to create them by merging the power of countless devoured spirits. It was his trump card.

And this thing had blocked it.

The avatar stood there, its body blazing with radiant energy, like a figure forged from light itself. But as it held the flames at bay, that brilliance began to fade.

Its true face became visible.

Yurix’s eyes widened. "Impossible... there are two of you?"

The resemblance wasn’t just physical. As a soul wielder, Yurix could read the essence of a being, and this one carried the exact same signature as Ethan. Same frequency, same aura, the same core existence.

They were identical.

"You’re the second. Call me that again and I’ll chop you up!"

The avatar didn’t even look at Yurix as it spoke, its tone sharp and irritated. Its attention was fixed entirely on Ethan.

Ethan ignored Yurix as well, staring at his own creation with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance. "Shut up. If we don’t kill this old bastard, neither of us is walking away."

"You made the mess," the avatar shot back. "Now I have to clean it up? Honestly, if he kills you, maybe I just take the body."

Ethan blinked, momentarily thrown off. His own avatar was threatening him.

Yurix caught that exchange and immediately tried to exploit it. "You—"

He didn’t get past the first word. The avatar dropped straight down and stomped on his head.

The impact rang out like a physical blow, carrying a weight that didn’t belong in a mindscape. Ethan felt a strange sense of familiarity in that movement. That style... it was his.

What came next left him completely speechless.

The avatar launched into a series of attacks, rough and imperfect, yet strangely fluid. Ethan recognized every single move. They were the same techniques he had used before, the ones he had relied on to survive at the bottom of the chasm.

Now they were being used against someone else.

Clumsy, but effective. Elegant, in a crude sort of way.

At first, Yurix was forced back, caught off guard by the sudden shift. But it didn’t take long for him to adapt. A slight tilt of the head, a small shift in position, and he began to evade the attacks with minimal effort.

"HAH! I see now..." Yurix laughed, confidence returning. "This is the Trifurcate Spirit technique, isn’t it?"

Recognition lit his eyes.

"Heaven truly favors me. You’ve collected quite the treasures, boy. I’ve decided, before I take your body, I’ll read your soul first. A divine technique like this... you’re clearly someone blessed with great fortune."

His earlier frustration vanished completely. There was no need to rush anymore.

He had lived for centuries, waiting a few more hours meant nothing at all.