At the foot of Mount Fuji...

Ethan’s group dug out all the Infernal crystal cores and stuffed the Stage B Infernal bodies into their storage rings.

Ethan’s ring was already packed to the brim with cores, so he couldn’t take many corpses—only the Stage B ones.

It was fine. There were still a few hundred bodies back in Nova City anyway. Flint and the others wouldn’t be going hungry.

The Infernals were way too strong for the birds to binge on, and they couldn’t eat much at once. Usually five mutated birds had to split a single corpse, and after that they’d need a few days just to digest.

A few hundred corpses would last them a long time. Later, Ethan could even bring some back for Goldie and the white-furred ape.

Infernal bodies were ridiculously effective as feed for mutant beasts—just look at how Flint and the others had been skyrocketing lately.

With the white-furred ape’s bloodline, its growth would probably be even more terrifying.

Once they finished cleanup, Ethan lifted his gaze to Fuji’s peak.

"Let’s go. Up top."

"Yeah."

They mounted their flying beasts and rose toward the summit.

Because the volcano was erupting, the peak was hollowed out—a gaping void, black as ink, with heat constantly breathing up from below.

Ethan activated True Sight and scanned the darkness.

No immediate danger.

He led them in, riding their mounts down into the crater.

The deeper they flew, the hotter it got. The air turned thick, like the mountain was exhaling.

But with their current strength, it didn’t really affect them.

After a few more minutes of descent, they reached somewhere around the middle of the mountain. Ethan lifted a hand, signaling everyone to stop.

"There," he said, pointing ahead.

Not far away, the air itself looked wrong—warped, twisted, like reality had been bent and left creased.

A Void Realm entrance.

"There really is one," someone breathed. "And in a place like this... if the volcano hadn’t erupted, who would ever find it?"

They were right. Every Void Realm entrance they’d seen so far was insanely well-hidden.

Ethan nodded. "Yeah. The eruption probably disturbed the Void Realm on the other side. That’s why those Infernals crawled out."

So far, every time something came out of a Void Realm, it seemed to be because something from Earth had triggered it first.

The white-furred ape was obvious—they’d dragged it out themselves.

Those ugly freaks from before... same deal. People from the Riverton City compound had gone in first, and then the creatures came out.

This time, it was probably lava or volcanic debris getting pushed into the passage and riling the Infernals up enough to climb out.

That pattern—Void Realms needing to be "opened" from Earth’s side—actually made Ethan feel a little better.

It explained why, after all this time, Earth hadn’t been flooded with Void Realm creatures yet.

If the passage were simply two-way all the time, some of the truly terrifying Void Realm species would’ve found it ages ago and poured in.

But if it had to be activated from Earth’s side?

That made sense.

And for Earth, it was genuinely good news.

Maybe some kind of rule—some protective force—was shielding the planet.

Otherwise, with how horrifying some Void Realm creatures could be, Earth might’ve been wiped out already.

Still... "good news" didn’t mean "safe."

All it would take was one unlucky idiot stumbling into a high-tier Void Realm and dragging back a pack of Stage A monsters.

And then everyone would be dead anyway.

Which meant one thing: while they still had time to grow, they needed to grow fast.

Ethan’s mind always ran long-term. Even though they already crushed basically everyone on Earth at this stage, he never loosened his grip. If there was a chance to get stronger, he took it—every time.

He stared at the shimmering distortion.

No hesitation.

He rode straight into it.

"I’ll go in first and take a look," Ethan said over his shoulder. "You guys come in one minute later."

Based on the Infernals’ strength, this Void Realm probably wasn’t too high-tier...

But "probably" wasn’t something Ethan trusted with his life.

A wave of dizziness hit.

When Ethan’s vision snapped back into focus, he was in a world soaked in dark red.

And his body was dropping—fast.

Below him was a churning ocean of molten magma. The heat rolling off it was terrifying, even hotter than the lava spewing from Fuji’s crater outside.

The Void Realm entrance was hanging right above that magma.

"Shit—"

Ethan teleported instantly, reappearing on a slab of red stone ahead.

He stared down at the molten flow, his heartbeat still a little too loud in his ears. If he fell in there... even he would pay for it. Badly.

He looked around.

Everything was dark red. The "rivers" were lava rivers. The ground was red-black stone. The air itself felt heavy, oppressive.

No wonder the Infernals were all red.

With no immediate threats nearby, Ethan turned and slipped back out through the entrance.

He needed to warn the others. If they came in blind and dropped straight into magma, it’d be a disaster.

Ethan popped back out into the crater, and everyone blinked at him.

Chris frowned. "That was fast. Is it dangerous in there?"

"Not immediately," Ethan said. "But the entrance opens over a magma river. I didn’t want you guys to come in and take a lava bath."

"I’m sorry—magma?" Big Mike stared. "That’s a brutal entrance."

"Good thing you went first," someone muttered, still shaken. "If we’d all come in together, we’d be swimming."

Ethan shook his head. "It’s not just ’swimming.’ That lava’s insanely hot. If you fall in, even if you don’t die, you’re losing skin."

"...Jesus."

"Yeah."

Chris exhaled through his nose. "Alright. We go in mounted."

"Yep," Ethan said. "Everyone on your birds. Tight formation."

They mounted up. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Ethan went first, slipping through the distortion again. One by one, the others followed on their flying mounts.

The second they entered, heat slammed into them from all sides—hotter than inside Fuji by several times. It wasn’t just temperature. It was like the air itself was burning.

Flint and the other birds steadied instantly, beating their wings hard to hold position, then carried everyone to the far side and landed on solid rock.

"This place is insane," Skinny Pete said, wiping sweat off his brow. "No wonder those Infernals are all fire-type."

Big Mike’s eyes shone. "Yeah, and I can feel it—the fire element here is way more active. My fire skills should hit harder in this world."

Chris shot him a look. "Why are you excited? That’s not a good thing."

"It’s a good thing for me," Big Mike insisted.

"It’s a good thing for the Infernals," Chris snapped. "Your fire doesn’t even work on them. This is their home field. If anything, their strength is probably boosted by, what—fifty percent?"

Big Mike’s expression stiffened. "...Okay, yeah. That’s fair."

Ethan cut in. "Enough. Stay sharp. Let’s scout first. I’ve got a bad feeling there are plenty more Infernals in here."

"Got it."

They took off again, riding forward.

The world was huge, but it all looked the same—dark red stone, molten rivers, heat waves constantly rippling the air. After ten minutes, the nonstop pressure started to make everyone irritable without them even realizing it.

Then—movement ahead.

A wide patch of the sky filled with red shapes. Winged monsters, swarming toward them.

Skinny Pete squinted. "Wait, there are other creatures besides Infernals?"

"Of course," Ethan said. "A whole world with only one species would be weird."

Sean leaned forward on his mount. "Captain—what tier are they?"

Ethan’s eyes flashed with True Sight as he tracked the flock. "Tier 15 up to Tier 17. Perfect for you guys."

"Seriously?!" Big Mike lit up.

The rest of them did too.

They’d been stuck in that awkward Tier 14–15 range. They had piles of Tier 16 and Tier 17 cores, even Stage B (Tier 18) cores—enough for everyone to hold one—but none of them could use those yet.

It was like having a vault full of sports cars and no driver’s license.

If they could farm Tier 15 cores here, they could push straight through and start climbing toward Stage B.

So yeah—Tier 15 mutant beasts sounded like a gift.

Then Chris’s voice cut through the excitement, sharp as a knife.

"Are you idiots celebrating too early?" he snapped. "Look at the numbers."

"And we’re in the air," he added, pointing. "Flint and the others are only Tier 12 or Tier 13. How exactly are you planning to fight a Tier 15–17 swarm while riding mounts that can’t even take a hit?"

The mood dropped instantly.

"..."