Chapter 86: An Unexpected Reward

The bloody hand turned toward Aria, its fingers spreading as it prepared to strike.

Ethan immediately sent his summons toward her. Hundreds of Shadow Wraiths rushed forward, forming a barrier around Aria, while the Solar Elementals gathered behind them.

"Hold it back!"

The summons attacked at once. Phantom Chains wrapped around the hand’s fingers, and Solar Rays struck its palm. None of their attacks could damage it, but they forced the hand to push through them before reaching Aria.

The hand slammed down, crushing the Shadow Wraiths in its path. The chains snapped, and several Solar Elementals were knocked away as the hand continued forward.

Ethan knew his summons couldn’t stop it. He only needed them to buy him a second.

He opened his inventory and took out the Mana Reservoir. With his own personal mana and the mana reservoir, he activated Divine Fire. A small flame appeared above his palm, no bigger than a candle flame.

The bloody hand was already breaking through his summons when Ethan threw the flame at it.

The moment it touched the blood, the fire spread across the hand. The blood began to boil, and the entire hand caught fire.

"What?! Divinity?!"

The voice sounded shocked. A moment later, a pained groan came from the burning hand.

"How can a human possess divinity?!"

Before Ethan could make use of the opening, the hand suddenly pulled back and plunged into the nearest pool of blood.

The flames followed it into the pool. The entire surface caught fire, and the blood began to boil violently. The flames spread across the pool, burning through the blood until the hand was no longer visible beneath it.

Aria finally let out the breath she had been holding. She bent forward, resting her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

"That was close..." she said between breaths. "I really thought I was going to die just now. I’ve never been that close to dying before."

She took a few more deep breaths before straightening up. Her legs still felt weak, but at least the hand was gone.

Ethan nodded. He hadn’t expected the Blood Monarch’s hand to retreat so quickly after coming into contact with Divine Fire. He’d only been trying to buy enough time to find a way to stop the hand.

Aria looked at the burning pool, then turned to him. "Why didn’t you use that fire earlier? You nearly got us killed!"

"I didn’t know it would retreat after being hit by the fire," Ethan replied. "I only found out when I used it."

Aria gave him a frustrated look but didn’t argue further. After what had just happened, she was in no hurry to face that hand again.

Ethan turned his attention back to the pool. The flames continued to burn across the blood, showing no sign of dying out.

’Divine Fire can affect the Blood Monarch’s power...’

His two legions had been unable to damage the hand, yet the moment Divine Fire touched it, the Blood Monarch had reacted with shock and pain before retreating. It was as if the fire were its natural nemesis.

’That’s useful to know. I’ll likely face more Abyssal creatures in the future. I should remember this.’

Just as Ethan finished that thought, a series of system notifications appeared before his eyes.

[Hidden Achievement Unlocked!]

[You have disrupted the Blood Monarch’s plans and prevented a major disaster.]

[Rewards Granted!]

[Reputation +500]

[EXP +5,000]

[Mana Capacity doubled!]

Ethan raised his eyebrows slightly as he read the final notification. He’d expected a reputation reward, but he hadn’t expected his mana capacity to double. Still, he wasn’t going to complain.

Before he could examine the changes, Aria’s voice interrupted him.

"We should leave. We’ve stayed here long enough, and I don’t want to find out what happens if that thing comes back."

Ethan nodded. "Let’s go."

He recalled the few remaining summons into his Legion Space. Thousands of Shadow Wraiths and Solar Elementals had been destroyed during the battle. Even so, he had gained more than he had lost.

With nothing else to do here, he and Aria headed for the exit portal.

They stepped through the portal and appeared at the Bat Cave dungeon entrance.

Several students nearby turned toward Ethan. The dark red energy covering his body hadn’t faded yet, making him stand out from the other students.

"That’s an Essence Orb effect, right?"

"Looks like it. But what kind of monster drops an orb like that in a second-order dungeon?"

"Didn’t they enter Hell Difficulty? Maybe they found something unusual inside."

"Even so, I’ve never seen an Essence Orb produce an effect like that." 𝔣𝖗ⅇℯ

"Could it be a rare variant? Those are supposed to be incredibly hard to find."

"Whatever it is, they must have killed something pretty powerful to get it."

The murmurs continued for a while, with several students stealing curious glances at Ethan.

Aria turned toward him. "Shouldn’t we report what happened to the academy staff?"

Ethan shook his head. "They should be here soon."

Before Aria could respond, several streaks of light appeared in the distance, rushing toward the dungeon entrance from different directions.

The surrounding students fell quiet as the figures drew closer.

Aria glanced at Ethan. "You really were expecting them."

Ethan nodded. He had suspected for a long time that the Order Academy had some access to the system. If he was right, the hidden achievement notification had already caught their attention.

The five figures soon arrived at the dungeon entrance and landed a short distance from Ethan and Aria.

One of them was Rolland. Another was the instructor who had stopped Kael and Gareth’s class near the dormitory.

The students immediately began whispering among themselves.

"Why are so many academy instructors here?"

"Did something happen inside the dungeon?"

"Wait, look at that guy. Could they be here because of him?"

Several students glanced at Ethan, their eyes drawn to the dark red energy still covering his body.

"Maybe he found something unusual in the dungeon."

"But would that be enough to bring five instructors here?"

"Maybe it’s not just the Essence Orb. Something else must have happened."

While the students speculated, Rolland and the others approached Ethan and Aria. Their expressions were serious, and Rolland’s gaze briefly settled on the dark red energy covering Ethan before he spoke. ℯℓ.

"Ethan, Aria. Tell us what happened inside the dungeon."