Chapter 174: The Fall of the Pangolin and the Final Hunt

8:00 AM. Fourth Day.

Ethan had finally managed to get eight uninterrupted hours of deep sleep.

After three days of pushing himself almost constantly, he desperately needed the rest. Even with Debbie and Tessa helping him recover his energy reserves, the repeated, high-intensity use of his Space Ability had taken a heavy toll on his physical and mental state.

When he finally woke up and got out of bed, he felt considerably better.

Kate was already prepared outside, her wings neatly folded against her back.

The two of them left the Survival Space together, materializing back in the mountain forest.

They had barely emerged onto the damp earth when a tremendous, earth-shaking roar shook the distant mountains.

BOOM!

The ground trembled violently beneath their boots.

A second heavy impact followed immediately, sounding even louder and more destructive than the first. Birds that had been hiding quietly in the distant treetops suddenly burst into the sky all at once, scattering in every direction in sheer panic.

Kate turned her head sharply toward Eagle Beak Cliff.

"The fighting has started again!"

Ethan’s eyes brightened with determination.

Judging by the sheer intensity of the noise rolling through the valley, the battle was even more violent and desperate than before.

’Perfect timing.’

He immediately grabbed Kate’s hand.

"Our chance."

With a flash of spatial energy, they moved swiftly toward the nearest cedar forest.

Their teamwork and cooperation were almost flawless by now.

Ethan focused entirely on selecting and collecting the trees, while Kate hovered above him in the air, keeping a sharp watch for any approaching threats or stray beasts.

One cedar after another vanished into thin air.

The system panel continued updating in real time as the green coverage inside the Survival Space steadily increased.

They worked without stopping to rest.

Whenever Ethan’s spiritual energy began to run low, he briefly returned to the space to recover before continuing his work. Kate remained outside whenever possible, keeping her eyes fixed on the direction of Eagle Beak Cliff.

The fierce battle in the distance showed no sign of slowing down.

By afternoon, the ground was still trembling intermittently from the heavy, repeated impacts.

Then, at exactly 5:00 PM, Ethan removed the final cedar tree from the soil.

For a moment, he simply stood in the empty clearing, breathing heavily.

He opened the system panel.

The progress bar had finally reached its target.

A familiar, melodic notification rang clearly in his mind.

[Ding! The green tree coverage of the Survival Space has reached 5,000 square meters!]

[The ecosystem within the space has reached its initial stability. Oxygen production is now self-sufficient!]

[New function unlocked: Small Ecosystem! Low-tier Mutant Beasts can now be raised inside the Survival Space!]

Ethan stared at the floating system notifications.

Then his legs finally gave out.

He dropped straight onto the grass, barely managing to catch his weight with one hand against the dirt.

Four days.

Four days of relentless, exhausting work, repeated energy depletion, and pushing his spatial abilities far beyond their normal limits.

He had finally accomplished it.

The Survival Space could now produce enough oxygen to sustain itself independently. More importantly, the newly unlocked function meant he could eventually raise and keep Mutant Beasts inside the pocket dimension.

That opened up entirely new possibilities he hadn’t even considered before.

But for the moment, he was far too exhausted to think about any of that.

Kate landed gracefully beside him, her face breaking into a bright, relieved smile.

"Is it finally done?"

Ethan nodded slowly.

He wanted to answer her out loud, but even speaking felt like too much effort.

She laughed softly, clearly relieved by the milestone.

Then, suddenly, her expression stiffened.

"Wait!"

She spun around toward the northeast, her wings spreading instinctively in alarm.

"The fighting! It’s moving straight toward us!"

Ethan’s overwhelming exhaustion vanished beneath a sudden, sharp wave of adrenaline.

He forced himself to sit up straight.

"Back to the Survival Space. We need to recover our strength before anything reaches our position."

Neither of them hesitated for a second.

Ten minutes later, Ethan and Kate reappeared among the branches of the mountain forest.

His spiritual power and physical stamina had completely returned to their peak.

Using a quick application of Teleportation, the two moved quietly onto the thick, stable branch of a thirty-meter-tall cedar tree. They crouched low among its dense foliage and peered out toward Eagle Beak Cliff.

What they saw unfolding before them made Kate’s eyes widen in sheer astonishment.

The Eagle King was currently locked in a brutal, desperate fight with an enormous, heavily armored pangolin.

The creature was almost as large as a delivery truck. Its deep gray, razor-sharp scales overlapped tightly across its entire body, forming a thick natural armor that looked considerably harder than solid steel.

Brilliant blue-white lightning poured viciously from the Eagle King’s beak.

CRACK!

The thick bolt slammed directly into the pangolin’s back.

Sparks burst across its iron scales in a blinding flash, but the creature barely reacted to the massive voltage. It simply lowered its massive, armored head and continued pushing forward relentlessly, its heavy claws tearing deep gouges into the earth.

The Eagle King screeched angrily and beat its massive wings, sending another devastating wave of lightning crashing down from the sky.

Once again, the attack completely failed to penetrate the pangolin’s primary defensive armor.

"That’s a King-Rank Pangolin!" Kate whispered under her breath in disbelief.

"No wonder it’s been able to hold its ground against the Eagle King for this long. Its physical defense is completely ridiculous!"

Ethan didn’t respond immediately, his eyes narrowing as he analyzed the combatants.

Instead, his attention had settled squarely on the pangolin’s exposed lower abdomen.

Unlike the rest of its heavily protected body, that specific area lacked the thick overlapping scales. A massive, ragged wound stretched across its underside, exposing raw, torn flesh and allowing thick, dark blood to spill continuously onto the forest floor.

The creature was already severely injured.

And from the sluggish way it was moving, it was rapidly approaching its absolute physical limit.

A faint, predatory smile appeared on Ethan’s face.

’So that’s its fatal weakness.’

He had barely finished the thought when the giant pangolin let out a deep, guttural growl that rattled the leaves.

Its enormous body lurched sideways in a desperate maneuver.

The Eagle King swooped down from the air, trying to strike it again with its talons, but the pangolin twisted violently and charged away from the cliffside.

Its powerful claws tore through the earth as it fled.

Directly toward their hiding spot.

Ethan’s expression sharpened instantly.

The massive creature crashed heavily into the cedar tree beneath their feet.

BOOM!

The entire tree trunk shuddered violently.

Thick branches snapped, and the two of them nearly lost their footing in the canopy.

"Now!"

Ethan didn’t waste a single heartbeat.

He activated Teleportation and materialized directly in front of the charging pangolin.

The creature was so immense that its dark shadow completely swallowed him.

Its head swung heavily toward him, and its claws tore up the dirt as it tried to alter its momentum.

But Ethan was already moving faster.

He raised both hands forward.

Four distinct spatial distortions materialized instantly around the pangolin’s exposed, bleeding abdomen.

Then they snapped shut simultaneously.

Four Space Fissures tore through the air at once, converging precisely on the massive open wound.

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

The attacks struck the exact same vulnerable area with devastating force.

A geyser of black blood exploded outward from the wound.

The pangolin released a deep, muffled wail of agony. Its enormous body jerked violently several times before finally collapsing heavily onto the forest floor.

The heavy impact sent dirt, rocks, and broken branches flying in a wide circle.

For a moment, its powerful claws continued scraping weakly against the dirt.

Then they stopped moving entirely.

Ethan approached the fallen beast cautiously.

He didn’t let his guard down until he was absolutely certain the creature was dead.

Drawing his blade, he cut open the pangolin’s skull and retrieved a fist-sized, pitch-black Core.

Dense, heavy energy pulsed visibly inside it.

’Not bad at all.’

He quickly stored the valuable Core inside his Survival Space.

However, the exact moment he did, a furious, ear-splitting screech erupted directly overhead.

KREEEEEE!

Ethan snapped his head upward.

The Eagle King was descending rapidly toward him through the canopy.

Its physical condition was hardly any better than the dead pangolin’s. Thick blood covered much of its feathered body, and its left wing hung at an unnatural, awkward angle, badly mangled from the prolonged fight.

It had clearly paid an astronomical price to defeat its rival.

But the moment it saw Ethan looting the pangolin’s Core, its remaining shred of restraint vanished completely.

Its sharp eyes burned with pure, murderous fury.

Arcs of blue-white lightning gathered instantly around its razor-sharp beak.

"Watch out!"

Kate’s urgent warning rang sharply through the trees.

The Eagle King released the lightning bolt.

CRACK!

Ethan vanished in a bright flash of spatial energy just a fraction of a second before impact.

The lightning struck the ground where he had been standing, blasting apart the soil and sending burning rock fragments flying in every direction.

He reappeared safely several meters away.

At the exact same time, bright electrical currents gathered rapidly around his right arm.

A brilliant whip of pure electricity formed in his hand, its crackling surface illuminating the surrounding shadowed trees.

Ethan swung his arm upward.

The Lightning Whip lashed across the distance with incredible speed and struck the Eagle King’s injured left wing dead-center.

ZIIII!

High-voltage electricity surged wildly through its feathers.

The sharp scent of burnt flesh filled the damp forest air.

The Eagle King let out a piercing scream of pain and completely lost control of its flight path for a moment. Its damaged wing jerked violently, sending the massive bird veering sideways into a thicket.

It struggled frantically to regain its balance in the air.

For a brief moment, Ethan thought it might turn around and launch a suicidal counterattack.

Instead, the Eagle King seemed to finally realize just how badly wounded it truly was.

It screeched one last defiant cry, beat its working wing in desperation, and retreated swiftly toward the upper heights of Eagle Beak Cliff.

Ethan watched it disappear into the distance.

Kate landed softly beside him, her eyes following the fleeing creature.

The two exchanged a meaningful glance.

Neither of them needed to say much.

The Eagle King had spent days locked in a brutal war of attrition against the pangolin. It was deeply wounded, thoroughly exhausted, and now possessed a severe new injury on its wing.

This was undoubtedly the single best opportunity they were ever going to get.

Kate’s lips curved into an excited, eager smile.

"Should we go after it right now?"

Ethan looked up toward Eagle Beak Cliff.

A cold, resolute glint flashed across his dark eyes as he tightened his grip on the crackling Lightning Whip.

"Of course."

He took a firm step forward.

"We’re not letting this monster get away."