Chapter 98: Another Monster!

Long, dark-silver hair fell around the man’s face, framing his features as though an unseen wind had caught every strand at the perfect moment. His crimson eyes narrowed as they locked onto Ethan, and the dark, heavily accessorized coat-like vest he wore only added to his intimidating appearance.

Ethan stared for a moment.

The man looked like a demon.

A breathtaking demon straight from hell, except his aura was somehow even more terrifying than that of the twins.

Not that Ethan had time to admire him.

The next second, a powerful hand closed around his throat.

Ethan’s eyes widened as the stranger lifted him slightly, his grip tightening until white spots immediately danced across his vision.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" the red-eyed stranger demanded.

Ethan’s lips moved, but no sound came out. His throat felt as though it had been damaged from the sheer force of the man’s grip, and before he could even attempt to answer, a deafening roar suddenly exploded from behind him.

The man’s crimson eyes changed instantly.

For the briefest moment, they turned completely black before returning to their original red.

Then, just as suddenly as he had grabbed Ethan, the stranger released him.

Ethan stumbled forward, coughing as he instinctively reached for his throat, but he immediately sensed it.

There was something terrifying behind him.

He didn’t wait to find out what it was.

The moment the red-eyed stranger released him, Ethan’s gaze darted around and landed on a metal pipe lying near the corner. Without wasting another second, he grabbed it and immediately channeled his spiritual energy into the metal.

Then he spun around and drove the pipe straight into whatever had been approaching from behind.

Bang!

The force of the impact sent the enormous creature staggering backward.

Ethan’s eyes widened.

A huge monster stood before him, its body covered in thick, twisting vines that crawled across its dark, rough hide like living veins. Five massive horns protruded from its head, each one jagged and uneven, while the vines wrapped around its limbs and torso, constantly shifting as though they possessed a life of their own. Its mouth opened wide, revealing rows of sharp teeth as it released another furious roar.

Ethan slowly lowered the metal pipe.

Was this how serious the unstable rift situation had become?

Monsters could simply appear out of nowhere in a supposedly civilized area now?

If that was possible, then nowhere was truly safe anymore.

Ethan immediately stepped backward when he noticed that the monster hadn’t died from his attack.

That wasn’t good.

Not good at all.

If a monster could withstand a direct spiritual-energy attack like that, then there was a very real possibility that it was an S-class monster.

His gaze shifted toward the man standing behind him.

The red-eyed stranger looked completely calm and composed, as though the appearance of a five-horned monster in the middle of the facility was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

Ethan’s eyes traveled over his build again.

He definitely looked like a Sentinel.

Everything about him, from his physique to the terrifying spiritual pressure surrounding him, screamed Sentinel.

But what rank was he?

S-class like Drey?

A-class?

Or something even higher?

More importantly, was he actually strong enough to deal with this monster?

Ethan wasn’t completely panicked yet. If things became too dangerous, he could always retreat into his dungeon.

At least, that was the plan.

However, before the thought could fully form, a resounding collision shook the area.

Boom!

Ethan’s eyes snapped toward the battlefield.

The five-horned monster had been pushed several centimeters backward with nothing more than a flick of the red-eyed Sentinel’s fingers.

Ethan’s mouth parted slightly.

What the hell?

The Sentinel calmly stepped toward the monster as it struggled to regain its footing.

Ethan immediately moved to the side, putting some distance between himself and the battlefield. He decided to watch the fight first and see exactly what this man was capable of.

The moment he did, his eyes widened.

The Sentinel’s crimson eyes darkened as an enormous amount of spiritual energy surged from his body. Strands of red and black energy twisted together, circling around him before shooting toward the monster like living threads.

Then, in the blink of an eye, figures resembling the Sentinel himself appeared around the monster.

One.

Then another.

Then several more.

Ethan’s mouth fell open.

What kind of Sentinel ability was this?

The shadows moved simultaneously.

One raised a hand, and violent arcs of electricity erupted from his fingers, striking the monster with enough force to make its entire body convulse.

Another shadow gathered blazing red energy around his arm before launching a concentrated blast that tore through the vines covering the monster’s shoulder.

A third moved with terrifying speed, appearing directly beneath the monster before driving a spiritually reinforced fist into its abdomen and sending its enormous body flying backward.

Another shadow wielded a long blade formed entirely from condensed spiritual energy, slicing through the thick vines before they could regenerate.

Yet another manipulated the shadows beneath the monster’s feet, causing them to surge upward like restraints and pin its limbs in place.

And the remaining shadows attacked with overwhelming physical strength, their movements so precise and coordinated that Ethan couldn’t even tell which one was the original Sentinel anymore.

The monster roared furiously.

Then something even more unbelievable happened.

Its body began to multiply.

One monster became two.

Then three.

Then several.

Within moments, the battlefield was filled with enormous five-horned, vine-covered monsters, each one roaring and attacking the shadows surrounding them.

Ethan’s eyes widened further.

It could multiply too?

The situation had just gone from insane to completely ridiculous.

But the red-eyed Sentinel didn’t appear concerned.

His shadows multiplied as well.

Every time another monster appeared, another shadow seemed to emerge to confront it.

The battlefield became an overwhelming clash of red-and-black spiritual energy, violent lightning, blazing attacks, devastating physical strikes, and sharp spiritual blades.

The shadows fought each monster differently, switching between abilities with frightening precision. Some struck with elemental bursts that exploded against the creatures’ vine-covered bodies, while others moved at incredible speeds, cutting through limbs before disappearing and reappearing elsewhere. Some used raw spiritual force to crush the monsters from a distance, while others fought at close range with enough strength to shake the ground beneath their feet.

Ethan could only stare.

He had been around powerful Sentinels before.

Drey was an S-class Sentinel, after all, and Ethan had witnessed just how terrifying an S-class could be.

But he had never seen anything like this.

The sheer number of abilities this man possessed was ridiculous.

And the way he controlled every single shadow as though they were extensions of his own body was even more terrifying.

Was this man an S-class like Drey?

Or was he actually a rank above Drey?

Ethan didn’t even know if such a thing was possible.

His attention remained fixed on the battlefield as the monster’s numbers gradually began to decrease.

One after another, its multiplied forms were defeated until only a few remained.

Then those few slowly became one.

The original five-horned monster staggered beneath the relentless assault, its vines torn apart and its body covered in wounds.

The red-eyed Sentinel’s shadows closed in from every direction.

One final coordinated attack struck.

Boom!

The monster was slammed into the ground.

Dust and debris scattered across the area as its enormous body finally stopped moving.

Ethan stared.

It was over.

The red-eyed Sentinel calmly turned away from the battlefield and dusted his hands together with a casual clap, as though he had just finished dealing with an irritating chore.

Ethan was still trying to process what he had just witnessed when the supposedly dead monster suddenly moved.

Its enormous body violently rose from the ground.

Before the Sentinel could even turn around, the monster released a powerful burst of corrupted energy directly toward his back.

The attack struck him instantly.