Ethan remained perfectly still, his breathing slow and measured, maintaining the terrifying facade of a supreme tyrant who was simply bored of the slaughter. Yet, behind his closed eyelids, his mind was fighting off an overwhelming wave of dark, heavy unconsciousness.

"You do not need to do anything for me, really," Ethan murmured, his voice dropping into a barely audible, intensely private whisper that drifted directly into her ear. He paused for a fraction of a second, his internal reserves completely hollowed out. "Well... actually, if you want to help, do this. Stand directly in front of me. Block their line of sight, and do not let a single one of them catch a clear glimpse of my face."

Louisa blinked, her breath catching in her throat as she noticed a tiny, almost imperceptible twitch in his jaw.

"The truth is... I am at the absolute, breaking edge of fainting right now," Ethan confessed softly, his tone completely calm despite the terrifying reality of his words. "But I must maintain this facade and act as if everything is perfectly fine. Just stay close and guard me. If my mind slips and I fall asleep, and you see anyone—anyone at all—trying to approach or look too closely... wake me instantly. I cannot allow them to try anything foolish while my core is empty."

Hearing his secret vulnerability, a sudden, massive surge of fierce, protective instinct completely overrode Louisa’s natural fear. She looked at the youth who had consistently been their shield against the horrors of the world, and her resolve hardened into solid iron.

"I understand, Ethan," Louisa whispered back with absolute devotion, her cheeks flushing a beautiful pink as she immediately stood up.

Positioning her body perfectly between Ethan and the clearing, she spread her small feet apart and tightly gripped her hunting dagger. Her delicate frame became a solid, unwavering shield, completely masking his resting face from the terrified glances of the hundred surviving mercenaries.

As she stood there, her mind raced. If she just stood like a rigid guard, the cleverer mercenaries might suspect something was wrong or that Ethan was incapacitated. She needed to make her presence look entirely intentional.

"How do I make this look normal?" Louisa thought frantically. "If I look like I’m protecting him, they’ll know he’s weak. I have to make it look like he’s just being pampered."

Spurring herself to action, she decided to play the part of a devoted maiden catering to her supreme master.

"Yes, Master," Louisa said aloud, her voice carrying across the quiet parts of the clearing. "I will do exactly what you always require of me."

It sounded a bit strange and forced, but she bit her lip, forcing down her embarrassment to ensure she didn’t look unnatural to the watching eyes. Dropping to her knees in the dirt, she carefully guided Ethan’s heavy head down, letting it rest comfortably across her lap. Reaching out, she grabbed a large, clean palm leaf that had been clipped by a stray blade of light.

Holding the leaf gently, she began to softly fan his face, blowing away the humid heat and the scent of iron. To the surviving mercenaries looking over, the scene was utterly jaw-dropping. In the middle of a blood-soaked battlefield, surrounded by nearly a hundred fresh corpses, Ethan looked like an absolute king receiving luxurious treatment from his personal maid while his subjects slaved away in the mud.

The mercenaries who caught sight of this scene ground their teeth, a fierce wave of envy and jealousy striking their chests. "This damn brat," many thought, looking at Louisa’s delicate beauty and her devoted actions. "He slaughters half our army and then takes a nap on a pretty girl’s lap while we do the heavy lifting."

Despite their internal bitterness, the survivors kept their heads down and remained as quiet as physically possible. No one dared to complain. Driven by the terrifying image of the relaxed demon resting on a throne of velvet thighs, they pushed their bodies to the absolute limit, cutting branches and harvesting the spider carapaces twice as fast, entirely desperate to finish the task and escape.

A few yards away, Mary casually wiped a streak of green spider ichor from her cheek. She turned her head toward the great redwood tree to check on Ethan, only for her eyes to lock onto her daughter’s sudden, dramatic display of devotion.

Seeing Louisa sitting in the dirt with Ethan’s head resting squarely across her thighs, gently fanning him with a palm leaf like a pampered emperor, Mary’s lips curled into a broad, highly satisfied smirk. She gave her daughter a subtle, hidden thumbs-up from behind her longbow, her eyes gleaming with proud maternal validation. "Good girl," Mary thought, thoroughly delighted that her advice had taken root so quickly. "That is exactly how you claim your spot by a dragon’s side." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Turning back toward the shivering prisoners, Mary’s expression instantly hardened back into that of a ruthless frontier survivor.

"What are you lazy dogs staring at?!" Mary barked, drawing her bowstring just an inch to let the iron tip gleam warningly in the mist. "Keep your eyes on the carcass and your hands on the saws! Master Ethan is resting, and if your loud, clumsy movements disturb his peace for even a fraction of a second, I will personally let him know who caused the racket. Move faster if you want to leave this valley with your heads attached!"

"Yes, ma’am! Right away, ma’am!" a sub-leader shouted back frantically, his hands shaking as he secured another heavy spool of silver silk onto the newly built cargo sledges.

Driven by the terrifying image of the relaxed demon and the unyielding pressure of Mary’s bow, the hundred surviving mercenaries didn’t dare slacken their pace for a single moment.

-------------------

From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.

Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.

Body Refinement Realm

Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement

Spiritual Gathering Realm

Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation

Spiritual Core Realm

Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)

Spiritual Soul Realm

Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion

Golden Core Realm

Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction

Spiritual Sea Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Dao Manifestation Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Spiritual Transcendence

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??