Chapter 1407: How Did You Get In?

The moment Ethan finished speaking, the energy sphere shot toward the hollow.

A transparent glow appeared over the entrance.

A time barrier materialized out of nowhere, sealing the opening completely. When the white energy sphere touched it, it didn’t explode. Instead, its color faded as it rapidly shrank, vanishing into the ripples of time.

The impact left the barrier unstable.

Its transparent surface bulged outward, then contracted. Even the leaves around it kept speeding up and slowing down.

Ethan turned to the others.

"See?"

He pointed at the time barrier as it gradually stabilized.

"Vesperhart really doesn’t want us going inside. It even left this behind to keep us out."

With that, Ethan walked forward on his own.

He raised a hand and carefully reached toward the transparent barrier.

His fingertips passed straight through without resistance.

Ethan paused.

Something definitely wasn’t right here.

"Is this shield secondhand or something?"

His entire hand had already passed through, yet the barrier hadn’t attacked him. Ethan released white lightning from his palm, letting time power spread outward along the arcs.

A gap immediately opened in the barrier around his arm.

Ethan stepped through and disappeared to the other side.

Everyone outside stared at him in silence.

So there was a way in.

Why hadn’t he said so sooner?

Had he done that on purpose?

Ethan hadn’t expected it either. Apparently, Vesperhart’s barrier could identify different types of power. Anyone with time energy of the same nature would be allowed through.

From inside the barrier, Ethan gathered his time power again and projected a second barrier outward.

The two layers overlapped across the entrance, creating a stable passage.

Only then did everyone file through and gather in front of the hollow.

It was pitch-black inside. No one knew what waited beyond the entrance. After a brief discussion, the group reached a unanimous decision: Ethan would go in first and scout ahead.

Before he could object, they shoved him into the opening.

He immediately fell in.

The others followed, leaping into the hollow one after another.

The moment Ethan entered, a bone-deep chill swept over him. There were no sources of light anywhere, and the edges of the hollow had completely disappeared during his fall. Only an intermittent white glow flickered somewhere in the distance ahead.

He was about to inspect his surroundings when a rapid series of whooshes came from above.

Only then did Ethan remember how many people were coming in behind him.

The first person landed on his shoulders.

The second crashed onto his back.

Everyone else fell in right after them. The passage was too narrow to dodge, so they piled onto Ethan one layer at a time.

Auri came in last.

She landed on top of the heap and, rather than showing the slightest concern, happily bounced across everyone’s shoulders.

A black hand reached out from behind and rapped her on the head.

It belonged to Catheryn’s Umbral Servitor.

The Umbral Servitor was pulling Ethan out from the bottom of the pile, then removing the others one by one. Auri treating the whole thing like a game wasn’t making its job any easier.

While everyone struggled to untangle themselves at the bottom of the hollow, another conversation was unfolding deeper within the white light.

Vesperhart reappeared where it had been before.

It seemed to have revived yet again. None of the wounds from its battle remained. The clock around its neck swayed slowly, while the energy between its antlers remained steady.

A blurred black figure stood before it.

Vesperhart spoke calmly, almost warmly.

"Have you made up your mind? We—"

Crack!

A pitch-black spike burst from the ground and pierced straight through Vesperhart’s body.

Darkness swallowed its flesh and energy.

The shadow across from it began to distort. Its limbs stretched outward, and antlers grew from its head. By the time its form stabilized, it had become a stag almost identical to Vesperhart.

There was only one difference.

Its entire body was pure black.

The impaled Vesperhart disappeared, then reappeared nearby.

Without waiting for the black stag to speak, it hurriedly began again.

"Our terms—"

A massive black pillar dropped from above.

It struck Vesperhart head-on, smashing both the stag and the ground beneath it into a deep crater. The heavy impact made none of the noise it should have. The surrounding darkness trapped every sound within a tiny area.

The black stag looked down at the remains in the crater.

"Don’t interrupt me."

Vesperhart revived again.

This time, it behaved itself.

It stood at a distance on all four legs and looked off to the side, making no attempt to speak first.

The black stag slowly approached.

Black light rose beneath its hooves and circled Vesperhart again and again. The clock around Vesperhart’s neck was affected, its pendulum gradually slowing.

At last, the black stag spoke.

"You’re right."

It paused, and something shifted in its voice.

"But I think... I’ve changed my mind."

The black stag lifted its head, its pure-black eyes fixed on Vesperhart.

"I’m Vesperhart, aren’t I?"

The clock around Vesperhart’s neck lit up instantly.

A time laser shot from its face, aimed directly at the black stag’s head. The black stag leaned aside before it arrived, and the beam grazed its antlers before disappearing into the darkness behind it.

"You think far too highly of yourself, Noxhart!"

Vesperhart lowered its body as energy gathered between its antlers.

"And I’m not nearly as weak as you think!"

Noxhart didn’t answer.

It moved diagonally above Vesperhart and aimed its antlers downward. A sphere of dark energy formed between them, then broke free and shot in a straight line toward Vesperhart.

Ethan and the others had been watching from nearby for quite some time.

They hadn’t learned much from the conversation, but the two stags’ appearance and powers made one thing obvious.

Noxhart and Vesperhart were two sides of the same stag.

Ethan hurled an energy sphere, then led the group out of the dark passage.

"Noxhart. Vesperhart."

The white sphere flew into the battlefield and collided with the dark energy sphere in midair.

"Twilight fades into darkness, and darkness eventually gives way to light."

Ethan looked between the two nearly identical stags.

"You two really have a flair for the dramatic."

The energy spheres exploded simultaneously.

White lightning and dark power spread in every direction without making a sound. The space swallowed the entire blast, leaving only visible ripples of energy.

At the familiar voice, Vesperhart whipped its head around.

The moment it saw Ethan and the others, its eyes widened.

"How did you get in here?"

It backed away several steps, its voice full of frustration.

"I checked the barrier over and over before I left! How did you get through it? Tell me!"