"What the hell are you?" Morghast roared, disbelief etched across his crumbling stone face. "How can you control the power of this place?!" He couldn’t wrap his mind around it—someone summoning an army right under his nose, in his own domain, like it was nothing. Ethan let out a cold laugh, eyes locked on Morghast with icy disdain. "You? You think you’re worthy of being the master of this place?" he sneered. "From now on, this temple belongs to me." A deafening rumble followed as a wave of raw, violent energy erupted from Ethan’s body, shaking the entire temple. But he didn’t attack. Instead, he kept summoning—calling forth more of his forces, reinforcing his control over the battlefield. Morghast was seething, his fury boiling over. But no matter how hard he pushed, he couldn’t break Ethan’s grip on the temple. All he could do was keep unleashing his power, trying to take down Elira and Ataneya before it was too late. But that was a losing game. The two women were now on par with him in both tier and raw strength—and right now, they had the upper hand. Even with the leyline’s power backing him, Morghast couldn’t overpower them. Just as Ethan was about to claim total victory— A strange figure suddenly appeared in the sky above. "Morghast, you useless sack of stone," the voice boomed, dripping with contempt. "Can’t believe you let a bunch of nobodies push you this far. Guess I gotta clean up your mess." The voice rolled across the sky like thunder. The source of thɪs content is 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱 Then the figure dropped down in front of Ethan. The thing was grotesque—its entire body covered in massive, bulbous growths, each one oozing a foul stench that hit like a punch to the face. Even Ethan wrinkled his nose in disgust. The creature’s power was just as nasty as its appearance. The moment it landed, a surge of thunder energy exploded from its body, rippling outward in a shockwave that instantly wiped out half of Ethan’s summoned units. Before the creature could strike again— Ethan vanished in a flicker of light. A glowing energy sphere shot from his hand and slammed into one of the creature’s grotesque flesh-orbs. The orb exploded, spraying a thick, toxic fluid in every direction. Turns out, those meat sacs were packed with venom—tons of it. The second they burst, the poison sprayed out like acid rain, eating away at everything it touched. "God, that’s disgusting." He took a step back, adjusting his breathing, trying to figure out his next move—when suddenly, Ataneya unleashed a wave of searing flame from her body, engulfing the creature in a blazing inferno. The sound of burning flesh filled the air, followed by the stomach-turning stench of charred meat. Ethan took another few steps back, waving a hand in front of his face. "Yeah, nope. I’m not standing in that." But even through the smoke and fire, he could see the creature’s flesh-orbs being consumed by the flames, one by one. It wouldn’t be long now. As the seconds ticked by, the last of the toxic sacs burned away, revealing the creature’s true form beneath. And what a surprise—it was a winged wolf. Its body was covered in strange, matted fur, each strand slick with some kind of oily secretion. The flesh-orbs must’ve mutated from those twisted follicles. But there was a catch. That toxic fluid? Highly flammable. Once the sacs were gone, the remaining poison ignited, flames racing across the creature’s body, wrapping it in a swirling inferno. It howled in agony as the fire consumed it, the blaze growing hotter and brighter with every passing second—until the winged beast was nothing more than a burning silhouette, writhing in its own venom-fueled demise. Ethan’s eyes lit up with excitement. Without hesitation, he charged forward, his longblade slicing down in a brutal arc—cleaving the grotesque creature clean in half. He stared in disbelief, stunned that the powerful ally he had summoned—his supposed trump card—had just been split in two like a piece of rotten fruit. But there was no time to dwell on it. Snarling, Morghast gathered a massive energy sphere in his hands, preparing to detonate it in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide. He never got the chance. Ethan had already moved—appearing behind him in a blink, one hand resting casually on Morghast’s shoulder. By now, Ethan had fully tapped into the temple’s energy grid. He wasn’t just controlling the flow of power in the structure—he was controlling the flow of power inside Morghast himself. "You know," Ethan said, his voice low and cold, laced with lethal intent, "you’re not weak. I’ll give you that. But you picked the wrong fight... and the wrong place. If you’d stayed out of this, maybe you’d still be alive." The killing intent in his tone was suffocating. Then, without unleashing a single outward attack, Ethan began manipulating the energy inside Morghast’s body. From the very beginning, Morghast’s power had been tied to the temple—and now that Ethan controlled the temple, he controlled Morghast. The guardian just didn’t realize it until it was too late. Morghast’s body began to swell grotesquely, bloating into a massive, unstable mass of flesh. His energy surged wildly, crashing against the limits of his physical form like a storm trying to break free. "This... this can’t be happening! How are you controlling my power?!" A flood of emotions crashed over Morghast as the shadow of death closed in. Ethan didn’t give him a second more. He clenched his fist. The energy inside Morghast detonated. In an instant, Morghast exploded—torn apart by his own power. Flesh, stone, and corrupted energy scattered across the temple in a violent burst. Ethan didn’t even flinch. He stepped into the center of the ancient temple, eyes calm, and extended his aura. The moment he did, the temple responded—power surged toward him like a tide, drawn to its new master. And that power began converting—into summoning energy. Hero units began appearing one after another, summoned effortlessly into the temple’s outer ring. Elira and Ataneya stood there, stunned. They’d seen summoning before. They’d done it themselves. But it always required massive amounts of energy, rare resources, and long cooldowns. Ethan was summoning like it was nothing. No delay. No cost. No limit. Within minutes, hundreds of hero units had materialized around the ruined temple. The strongest among them were at peak Tier 16. Even the weakest were Tier 15 elites. And there were a lot of them. "Master... how are you doing this?" Elira asked, eyes wide. "Is this place... a Hero Altar?" Ethan stretched his arms, then casually stepped out of the crumbling temple. "It’s more than a Hero Altar," he said. "This place is also a Creature Dwelling. I’ve already converted its core. Soon, you’ll both be able to summon your own forces here too." Ataneya’s eyes lit up with excitement. That changed everything. They wouldn’t need to return to Emerald Castle to reinforce their army anymore. They could summon fresh troops right here—on the front lines. Ethan took a moment to survey the terrain. Between this temple and the recently conquered Skyfang Castle, there were three more castles—each radiating a terrifying aura that darkened the sky above them. If they didn’t take those out, any attempt to summon a larger army would be met with heavy resistance. He took a deep breath, then locked his gaze on the central castle. It was massive—and fortified like a fortress from hell. The energy pulsing from it was overwhelming. According to the system’s analysis, it housed multiple Tier 17 entities. Ethan knew he wasn’t strong enough to take it down alone. Not yet. The other two castles were slightly weaker, but they were protected by powerful defensive magic arrays—traps that could slaughter invaders en masse the moment they stepped inside. After weighing his options, Ethan made his decision. He’d go straight for the middle one. He turned to Elira. "Go back. Bring reinforcements." Then, without waiting for a response, he and Ataneya walked straight toward the looming castle—bold, unafraid, and ready to make it theirs.