The silence inside the cave stretched for a few moments, and the faint crackling sound of the crystals on the wall was the only thing that could be heard while the dim light flickered unevenly across their faces.

Ethan stood still for a moment, and his eyes moved slightly as if he was replaying everything in his mind, and then he finally spoke.

"Don’t you feel this is a ploy?" Ethan said after a careful observation, and his tone was calm but carried weight.

Hale, who was leaning against the wall with visible injuries, frowned slightly and turned his head toward him.

"What do you mean?" Hale asked, and his voice sounded tired but alert.

Ethan did not answer immediately, and instead he exhaled slowly while shifting his stance, and then he looked at Hale directly.

"See, the Emperor should have expected the interference of a few Divine Knights, but he just sent Aaron," Ethan said, and his brows furrowed slightly.

Hale’s eyes narrowed as he heard this, and a faint tension appeared on his face as he processed the words.

What Ethan said was quite plausible, and it did not sound like a baseless suspicion.

The Emperor and the Ministry of War were not fools, and they had overseen countless campaigns, so missing something so obvious did not make sense.

It felt like they were pushed into that situation.

"We didn’t lose because we were careless," Ethan continued, and his voice hardened slightly. "It’s them."

"Either it was a ploy or they were just careless."

Hale remained silent for a moment, and his breathing slowed as he thought about everything again.

Throughout the victories, Ethan had repeatedly requested for Divine Knight rank warriors to guard the troops, and those requests had been ignored again and again.

And now everything has fallen apart.

Hale clenched his fist slightly.

"This is bullshit," he muttered under his breath.

The anger was there, but it was mixed with helplessness.

"Now..." Hale said after a moment, and he lifted his head slightly. "What now?"

Ethan let out a faint snort, and there was a trace of coldness in his expression.

"What now?" he repeated.

The commander slowly straightened his back, and his tired eyes remained fixed on Ethan, whose faint grin had returned slightly, though it did not reach his eyes.

"...You seem quite relaxed," the commander said, and his voice was low but carried a trace of irritation.

Ethan did not answer immediately, and instead he leaned lightly against the stone wall while folding his arms, and his posture looked calm even in this situation.

After a brief pause, he let out a soft breath.

"Relaxed?" he repeated, and his lips curved slightly.

"I would not call it that."

Hale’s brows furrowed, and his fingers tapped lightly against his knee as he tried to read Ethan’s expression.

"Then what is this?" he asked, and his tone grew sharper. "We just lost a massive force, and you are standing there like nothing happened."

The injured man lying beside them shifted slightly, and his breathing grew uneven again, but neither of them paid attention to him now.

Their focus remained on Ethan.

Ethan lowered his gaze slightly, and then he looked back up.

"I am thinking," he said calmly.

"Thinking?" the commander repeated, and there was disbelief in his voice.

"I am thinking about the next step, whether we should fight and deal some damage or run," Ethan replied, and his tone remained steady.

His words were simple, but they carried weight.

Hale clenched his jaw slightly, and his expression darkened as he looked away for a brief moment.

He took a slow breath.

"...Everything collapsed. What could we do now?" he said, and there was a hint of frustration in his voice.

Ethan watched him quietly for a second.

The air around him grew heavier.

A faint pressure spread out, and the dim light in the cave seemed to flicker more violently.

Hale’s eyes widened slightly as he noticed it.

"...Ethan..." he muttered.

Ethan did not stop.

His steps slowed, and his shoulders straightened slightly as his presence began to rise.

The aura around him thickened, and it felt like something was building beneath the surface.

"You..." Hale started to speak, but his words got stuck in his throat.

The next moment,Ethan’s body began to glow faintly.

The light was not bright at first, but it carried a sharp intensity, and the energy around him started to surge slowly.

The cave seemed to respond to it and the ground gave a faint vibration.

Hale stared at him, and disbelief filled his eyes.

"You..." he whispered again, but he could not finish his sentence.

Because what he was seeing was not normal.

The faint glow around Ethan’s body did not fade, and instead it grew stronger with each passing second while the pressure inside the cave continued to rise steadily and pressed down on everything around them.

Hale could feel it clearly, and it was not just mana because it carried something deeper and heavier that made his chest feel tight.

His breathing slowed unconsciously as he stared at Ethan, and disbelief filled his eyes while he struggled to understand what exactly was happening in front of him.

"Ethan..." he called out again, but his voice came out lower and uncertain this time.

Ethan did not respond immediately, and his gaze remained calm while the energy around him continued to gather and swirl in a controlled manner.

Then, without turning his head, he spoke.

"Maverick," he said quietly.

A faint distortion appeared beside him, and a shadow-like presence formed briefly before taking shape, and Maverick’s figure emerged from the side while his eyes scanned the surroundings instantly.

"There is no figure within 500 kilometer radius," Maverick replied in a calm and precise tone, and his voice remained steady.

Ethan gave a slight nod.

"Good," he said.

There was no hesitation after that, and he took a slow breath while his chest rose and fell once before everything changed.

The aura around him surged violently.

BOOOM!

A heavy wave of energy burst outward from his body, and the entire cave shook violently as cracks spread across the walls while dust fell from above and scattered across the ground.

Hale instinctively stepped back, and his eyes widened even more as he raised his arm slightly to shield himself.

"What the hell..." he whispered, and his voice carried a shock.