Chapter 428: Ethan...

"What’s going on now?"

Kaela couldn’t help but be concerned as she watched both Mark and Ethan’s bodies shake and twitch.

The Blood Ritual seemed to be losing stability by the second.

Ever since Mark’s body had begun satiating itself with the living monsters Kaela had provided, things had changed. It had been siphoning everything; their life force, mana, and whatever else their bodies contained were being consumed to strengthen and stabilise Mark’s own body.

It was working.

But the sheer amount of power being forced through the ritual was becoming difficult to contain.

Elara could feel it more clearly than anyone.

She was still trapped inside her own body while the demon remained in control, maintaining the connection between Mark and Ethan’s minds. Through that connection, she could sense everything the ritual was doing.

And she could feel exactly how much it was straining her body.

’It can’t keep this up for very long.’

The amount of mana flowing through the ritual was absurd.

It felt as though the power of ten A Rank Titled had been poured into the ritual all at once, and somehow, the demon was forcing all of it through Elara’s body.

Yet neither Ethan nor Mark showed any sign of stirring.

Nothing.

Through gritted teeth, the demon finally spoke.

"That monster and the Lord’s Vessel won’t die here. Not until he pays me back my favour."

Its voice was strained.

For the first time since the ritual had begun, even the demon sounded uncertain.

Then everything changed.

The blood inscriptions covering the ground suddenly flared.

A violent pulse of dark green energy exploded outward, shaking the entire room.

Kaela instinctively raised her arms as the force washed over her.

The markings surrounding Ethan and Mark burned brighter than ever before, only to suddenly collapse inward. The connection between them snapped, and the Blood Ritual had ended.

Silence followed.

The demon staggered.

Elara’s body dropped to one knee, one hand slamming against the ground to keep itself upright.

For several seconds, the demon didn’t move.

It had used an absolutely ridiculous amount of mana to maintain the ritual, and even for it, the strain was immense.

"So..."

Kaela slowly lowered her arms.

She stared at Mark.

Then at Ethan.

Then back at the blood-covered room.

She had absolutely no idea what had just happened.

The demon wasn’t much better.

It stared at the two unmoving men, its expression unusually serious.

The ritual had ended, but it couldn’t tell whether it had succeeded. There was no clear indication that Ethan or Mark had changed.

That’s when Mark suddenly shot upright.

Kaela’s body tensed immediately.

Elara was in absolutely no condition to fight, and if Mark had returned in another rampage, there was no telling what would happen.

But Mark didn’t attack.

Instead, he looked around in confusion.

He looked down at his body.

Then at the blood inscriptions covering his skin and the floor around him.

His face twisted with disgust.

"Did I get summoned from hell?"

Mark immediately began wiping the blood from his body as he pushed himself to his feet.

Kaela stared at him.

Then her expression softened.

Before Mark could properly understand what was happening, Kaela stepped forward and pulled him into a hug.

"I thought you were-"

Mark didn’t even get to finish.

Kaela suddenly shifted her grip, turning her actions from wholesome to something not so much...

BOOM!

She threw him over herself and slammed him into the reinforced floor.

Mark instinctively grunted as his back crashed into the ground hard enough to shake the room.

Any ordinary human would have been killed instantly.

Mark simply stared at the ceiling.

Then he blinked.

He felt fine.

There wasn’t even a bruise.

Slowly, Mark sat up.

Then he looked at his arms.

’I’ve evolved...’

Kaela stared down at him, equally impressed.

She had expected Mark to be stronger after everything they’d done, but seeing him walk away from a suplex that would have crushed even B Ranks was something else.

Kaela smiled.

"I guess we’re due a rematch without you rampaging."

Mark looked at her.

Then at his own body.

For once, he didn’t feel the hunger.

He didn’t feel that violent presence clawing at the back of his mind.

The cycle that had plagued him for so long seemed to have finally ended.

It seemed as though the demon’s solution, combined with Kaela and Ethan’s efforts, had actually worked.

"My job here is done."

The demon’s voice came from Elara’s body.

"It seems like things mostly worked."

Kaela’s eyes narrowed.

The use of the word ’mostly’ was concerning.

But before she could question it, the demon’s presence suddenly withdrew. It burrowed deep within Elara’s body, disappearing from the surface of her consciousness.

Elara’s eyes widened.

Her body suddenly became her own again.

And then the fatigue hit.

It was unlike anything she had experienced before.

Elara had always possessed an enormous reserve of strength. Even after exhausting herself in battle, she had rarely felt truly drained. Now, she felt as though every ounce of energy had been ripped out of her body.

But she didn’t care.

Her eyes immediately found Ethan.

She stumbled toward him before collapsing beside his body.

"Ethan..."

Her voice trembled.

She reached toward him and checked his breathing.

It was faint

Shallow, and his heartbeat was weak enough that she almost struggled to feel it.

Elara’s expression changed.

’No!’

Her breathing quickened.

’Ethan...’

She checked again.

His heart was still beating, but he wasn’t regaining consciousness like Mark had.

Panic began to rise inside her chest.

After everything they’d just gone through, after everything Ethan had sacrificed to reach Mark, she couldn’t accept that he might have died at the end.

"Ethan..."

She leaned closer.

Then she noticed something.

His lips were twitching slightly, almost as though he were trying desperately not to laugh.

Elara stared at him.

Her expression went completely blank.

Then she slammed both fists down against her chest and pouted.

"You asshole!"

Ethan’s lips twitched again.

Elara let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding.

He was alive.

She immediately wrapped her arms around him, hugging her shirtless boyfriend despite the blood inscriptions still covering his body. For all the insanity they’d just endured, somehow, everything had worked out.

Mark had finally broken free from the cycle of losing control, and in the process, he’d become even stronger.

Of course, that victory hadn’t come without a cost.

Ethan could still feel the lingering pain throughout his body. It was almost spiritual in nature, reaching deeper than simple physical exhaustion. Every part of him felt battered from what he’d experienced inside Mark’s mind.

And there was another problem.

He owed the demon a favour, an ominous one.

Still, Ethan had no regrets.

’Another A-Rank-level freak around me.’

Ethan couldn’t help but smile.

He wasn’t complaining.

But he also had no intention of being left behind.

And Mark wasn’t the only one who had gotten stronger throughout that whole insane experience...