The A Rank Void Hornet made a flashy appearance.

One moment the shattered structure burned, fragments still collapsing into the void below, and the next it was there, cutting through the flames with such overwhelming presence that Ethan’s fire recoiled from its body.

The ravenous embers that clung to its chitin almost seemed alive, and yet they skittered away as if they feared being consumed instead.

That was the first time Ethan had seen his Cinder Wisp’s flames so easily extinguished.

Its wings vibrated with a low, ominous hum that drowned out the surrounding chaos for a split second. And worst of all were its compound eyes that scanned everything, cold and calculating.

In an instant, the beast that had been awakened from its slumber by the destruction of its nest locked onto the flaming man falling from the sky.

The one responsible for the burning of its eggs and the lingering destruction of its base.

Without hesitation, it moved.

There was no build-up or visible preparation.

It simply vanished.

To Ethan, it felt like the world skipped a frame, and suddenly, it was right in front of him.

The distance between was erased in an instant, its stinger thrust forward like a spear of absolute death.

Below, Elara’s eyes widened.

"Ethan!"

The name tore from her throat instinctively, but before she could dwell on the fact that she had spoken, her body reacted before her mind could catch up. Crimson energy gathered rapidly as she prepared to blink toward him.

Because this was not something you could survive.

If its stinger was even half as powerful as Darius and Liora described, then even a graze would be enough.

The Void Hornet did not simply pierce.

It erased.

Anything its stinger touched was sent into nothingness, devoured by the void itself. Lower-ranked hornets had weaker versions of this effect, but even those were enough to terrify seasoned Titled.

Who would willingly endure the attack of a Void Hornet?

No one sane, that’s for sure.

Well, not all the Titled in the clearing squad were, and the woman who made Ethan seem cautious in comparison couldn’t suppress her curiosity. He recalled spectating her laughing as part of her arm had quite literally begun to disappear, the flesh fading into nothing before her regeneration fought back against it.

But even she only allowed herself to be struck by the stinger once, becoming much more reserved and wary of them after.

That kind of damage was not something you could casually shrug off, even for her.

And now, that same ability was aimed straight at Ethan’s chest.

For a fraction of a second, it looked like he was done for, and even he felt the looming doom. Elara blinked forward, crimson light swallowing her form as she attempted to close the distance, but it was too late.

Or so it seemed.

’Variable Flare Drive!’

The thought was instantaneous, and the execution was even faster.

With his improved control of mana, Ethan created another skill without even thinking, and since Ember Pulse scaled with provided energy, why couldn’t Spark’s other skill?

That logic and quick thinking had literally just saved his life.

Fire exploded from Ethan’s body, in a wild burst as he unleashed over fives times the MP that the skill required.

Boom!

The sudden propulsion flung his falling body, and it was as though he had an invisible rope tied around his waist that had been yanked by a freak of nature like Titan.

Shing!

The stinger passed him by, so close that Ethan had felt it.

A cold, unnatural sensation that brushed against his skin like death itself, but he had narrowly avoided it thanks to his wit and...

Spark?

’It was like it helped me in that moment and guided my body.’

Ethan was surprised, but then again, he was literally fusing with the beast, so it was only natural it could have some influence on him.

And he definitely wasn’t complaining.

’That was a close one.’

He hadn’t felt that close to dying in a while, and as much as he chased a thrill, that was a little too much even for him.

But it had missed, so there was no point dwelling on it.

Elara suddenly appeared beside him a heartbeat later, her eyes sharp as she looked him over frantically, clearly concerned.

But then she stopped when she saw he was smiling.

"Aw," Ethan said lightly, as if they weren’t suspended mid-air above an endless void near an A Rank beast that had nearly killed him. "You wanted to save me."

She didn’t even respond to the teasing, and was just relieved he was in one piece.

That was until he made it worse.

"I’ll leave the A Rank to you," he added shamelessly. "It’s above my pay grade."

She blinked.

*What?!*

Behind them, the Void Hornet was already turning, its body rotating mid-air with terrifying precision as it prepared to strike again.

It wasn’t testing, observing, or hunting like it had been against Darius and Liora.

The beast was out for revenge.

Ethan knew that, which was exactly why he was leaving without hesitation. Flames surged around him once more, but this time, something was different.

There was no burst of propulsion, explosive moment, or skill activation.

Instead, the fire wrapped around him, thick and dense, consuming his entire form until only a silhouette remained.

His eyes burned through the inferno, bright, focused, and alive.

’I’ve been wanting to try this ever since I understood how that weirdo monk could fly.’

His mind flicked back to the first time he had used Partial Assimilation with Spark. There had been a strange sensation in which his body felt lighter and his feet lifted off the ground momentarily.

Back then, he had hesitated to push further and explore whether he could fly.

Now?

There was no reason to hold back.

Mana surged from his core, the centre of his power; then he pushed it outward, spreading it through his entire body, saturating every inch of himself with energy.

The sparks became flames, and the flames became something greater.

Something complete.

His body felt light, as if gravity had loosened its grip on him.

On second thought, this was different.

Ethan was already experiencing reduced gravity, and it was more so that he had become weightless and was no longer bound by the downward force at all.

He pushed a little further and slowly... he began to rise rather than fall.

It was like he had reached the biting point in a car, and once he found that sweet spot of mana output, he had done it.

’No way.’

For a moment, everything else faded.

The battle, the hornets, the chaos, none of it mattered.

’I’m...’

He tilted forward slightly, his body adjusting mid-air, before...

Swoosh!

Ethan blitzed through the air like he had always been able to.

’I’m fucking flying!’

A grin split across his face, wide and unrestrained.

The feeling was indescribable.

He was moving through the air as if it were just another surface, another space he could exist in freely.

It was intoxicating and dangerous.

But that’s when reality hit, and he remembered that his flames burned everything, including his clothes.

Ethan looked at his flaming form, and through the embers could see that he was bare. There was nothing except the association watch still strapped to his wrist, somehow surviving the flames without a scratch.

He hovered there for a second longer before slowly descending toward a nearby floating island, the flames dissipating as he landed. Despite being completely naked, no one had the time to react as the battlefield raged on around him.

Ethan scratched the back of his head.

’Well... that’s new.’

He glanced around.

Distantly, he could see Kaela mid-fight, still tearing through hornets like a lunatic. Liora was slicing another one in half with her constructs. Rowan and Seraphina moved in tandem, pulling down and finishing off another.

And lastly, Elara was already clashing with the Void Hornet he had left her to deal with, crimson energy colliding with black chitin in violent bursts.

They hadn’t noticed, at least not yet.

’Okay, good.’

He looked down again, amused by his odd predicament.

’Thankfully, even if they do see, I’m a shower and a grower,’ he thought, a grin tugging at his lips despite everything.

Then he immediately shook his head.

’Focus.’

Despite being well-endowed, or at least claiming so, he didn’t exactly want everyone to see his most prized attribute.

’That’s only for one special lady.’

He ran a hand through his hair, thinking casually and not bothering to curl up to hide.

"I really don’t want to fight like this," he muttered under his breath.

Because let’s be honest.

No one wanted to be the guy running around naked in the middle of a high-ranked gate while fighting for their life. And he also couldn’t sit around and hide either, as he’d miss out on all the fun and feel like an absolute loser.

A slow grin spread across his face as an idea came to mind.

And what Ethan went on to do was even more shameless than leaving Elara to face the Boss Beast in his stead...