Free Web NovelChapter 1362: A Miracle in Maxwell’s Hands
Ethan’s eyes flicked at Maxwell’s face, and something clicked.
Without another word, he reached into his spatial storage ring and dumped out several hundred Tier 22 crystal cores, pushing them into Maxwell’s arms.
"These are Tier 22," Ethan said. "If your numbers are right, that should be enough to threaten Tier 26 experts. This should cover a few shots."
His voice sharpened. "If anyone tries to run, you fire. Knock them out of the sky."
"Tier 22?!" Maxwell and the others stared like Ethan had just pulled out a miracle.
This guy’s "spare change" was other people’s lifetime dream.
Maxwell’s throat bobbed. Then his expression hardened with excitement. "Perfect. This is enough to fully load five laser cannons."
He spoke like a man swearing an oath. "I guarantee we won’t waste a single shot. Every shot will hit."
"Don’t talk like it’s absolute," Ethan said, frowning. "They’re fast. You might not land the shot."
Maxwell’s confidence didn’t budge. "You’re underestimating tech. Laser cannon velocity is basically the speed of light. No matter how fast they are, they can’t dodge it."
Ethan nodded slowly. "Hope you’re right. If you can drop five of them, our odds of keeping the rest here go way up."
So Atlas City’s research center wasn’t just dead weight after all.
Ethan turned toward the door. "Alright. Go set it up. I’m heading over."
"Got it."
In the compound’s central district, the Winged Clan had already reached "ten."
"Good," the leader said coldly. "Since you won’t hand them over, I’ll slaughter this compound and see if they still hide."
He raised a hand—
And then a voice cut in from the side, calm and clear.
"Looking for me?"
The crowd jolted.
Ethan drifted into view ahead of them, suspended in midair with a dagger under each foot like stepping stones, his posture loose but dangerous.
The moment the people recognized him, the compound’s mood snapped from despair to wild, desperate hope.
And the way he’d arrived—hovering on blades like it was the most natural thing in the world—hit like a punch. Girls stared with shining eyes. Even plenty of men felt their hearts kick hard in their chests.
In their darkest moment, he’d shown up like this.
It was impossible not to feel something.
Across from him, the Winged Clan experts narrowed their eyes.
"So you are here."
"Our guess was right," another said, voice sharp. "You’re with them. You’re one of this world’s natives."
"Natives," Ethan repeated, tasting the word like it was rotten. His gaze turned icy. "That’s a pretty disgusting way for invaders to talk. You really think you’re above everyone?"
The leader laughed, loud and contemptuous. "For weaklings like you? We are above you."
"Yeah?" Ethan’s mouth curled. "Funny. Then why did your race send a few hundred people to capture me, fail, and even lose your captain in the process?"
"You—!"
"Tell me," someone barked, barely containing himself. "Where is Captain Aerisara?! What did you do to her?!"
Ethan’s smile thinned. "What did I do? Heh."
His eyes didn’t blink. "She fell into my hands. What do you think—do you think she’s still alive?"
The Winged Clan’s faces darkened instantly, expressions turning ugly.
The leader’s voice dropped, dangerous. "You’d better pray Captain Aerisara is alive. Otherwise, Lord Aeralon’s fury won’t just be on you. Your entire human race won’t survive it."
"Is that right?" Ethan said softly. Then he tilted his head. "Too bad. I already killed her."
He let the words hang, then stabbed where it hurt.
"So tell me—when your Lord Aeralon finds out... do you think he’ll only blame me?"
Ethan’s gaze raked over them. "Because if you hadn’t been here partying and enjoying yourselves—if you’d found me earlier—maybe she wouldn’t have died."
For a split second, panic flashed across several faces.
He’d hit the nerve dead-on.
If that was true, Aeralon wouldn’t just punish them.
He’d make them wish they were dead long before they actually were.
"Don’t listen to his bullshit!" someone shouted, forcing the group back into line. "If he killed Captain Aerisara, he would’ve done it long ago. He wouldn’t wait this long. This isn’t on us!"
"Right!" another snapped, voice hardening into bloodlust. "Kill him. Take his head to Lord Aeralon!"
The Winged Clan experts locked onto Ethan like hounds.
"Tear him apart!"
At the leader’s command, cyclones erupted around them—winds screaming, dust and debris ripping off the ground.
The humans nearby scrambled back, faces white, eyes fixed on Ethan with raw fear and hope tangled together.
They’d already seen what these monsters could do.
Could Ethan really handle them?
Just as the Winged Clan were about to strike—
A figure appeared out of nowhere in front of Ethan.
The moment they saw her, every Winged Clan expert froze mid-motion.
"Captain Aerisara?!"
"She’s not dead?!"
"No—wait." One of them went pale. "I can’t feel her soul fluctuations. Captain Aerisara was turned into a... created soulless thrall!"
"Damn it!" The group’s expressions twisted in shock and rage.
"You actually dared to turn Captain Aerisara into a soulless thrall!" someone screamed. "You’re dead!"
Ethan laughed, like it was the funniest thing he’d heard all week. "So what? She tried to kill me—she should’ve been ready to die. I didn’t kill her. If anything, I’ve been generous."
"You’re finished," another hissed. "Your entire human race is finished. Lord Aeralon will wipe your whole species off the map!"
Turning her into a soulless thrall was even worse than killing her. They didn’t even want to imagine how furious Aeralon would be when he found out.
"Kill him!" the leader roared. "Take Captain Aerisara back first—everything else comes after!"
"Yes!"
They moved again—
—but Aerisara snapped her wings once and vanished, reappearing beside a Winged Clan expert.
A massive Cyclone Blade carved through the air.
He split cleanly down the middle.
"—!!"
"Captain Aerisara?!"
"Stop calling her that," someone barked, voice tight with panic. "She’s not our captain anymore. She’s his soulless thrall!"
He snapped orders fast. "A few of you, restrain her. The rest, with me—take down that man!"
"Understood!"
Several Winged Clan experts struck at once. Streams of Gale Bind whipped out, coiling around Aerisara and locking her in place, forcing her wings and limbs to go rigid.
With her pinned, the rest didn’t hesitate.
They surged toward Ethan—eleven of them—skills detonating one after another, pressure slamming the air itself as a storm of killing intent closed in. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Then—
Another figure appeared in front of Ethan, like he’d been there the whole time.
He took the entire volley head-on.
The attacks crashed against him, swallowed by sheer monstrous durability.
And in the next heartbeat, he lunged.
Before anyone could even process it, he drove a fist straight through a Winged Clan expert’s torso—punching clean through him.
Blood sprayed. The body locked up, then folded.
"It’s that terrifying soulless thrall!" someone shouted, voice cracking.
The leader’s face twisted. "Hold it down! Control it!"
But at that exact moment, Dopey whipped around and pounced straight at the leader.
The leader’s heart jumped. He beat his wings hard and shot upward, fleeing into the sky as he hurled a massive storm down at Dopey.
The others reacted instantly, throwing Razor Wind and more Gale Bind at Dopey, trying to pin him—
And that was the opening.
A spear appeared out of thin air.
It slammed into a Winged Clan expert’s head with brutal precision, punching through his skull in a single strike.
Dead on the spot.
At the same time, Ethan blinked into existence beside another Winged Clan expert. His poleaxe flared with black light as he swung it down like an executioner.
The Winged Clan’s attention was still locked on Dopey.
So Ethan and Chris hit almost simultaneously.
BOOM—!
The Winged Clan expert barely managed to throw up a Tempest Shield at the last second.
It didn’t matter.
Against Ethan’s poleaxe strike, it might as well have been paper. The shield—and the man’s head behind it—shattered together in one crushing blow.
The sudden deaths hit the remaining Winged Clan like a bucket of ice water.
Their faces warped in disbelief as they stared at Ethan and Chris.
"Wasn’t he supposed to be relying on soulless thralls?" one of them blurted, horror rising. "How are they this strong?!"
