Ethan reached the city center at high speed, but the moment he crossed into its boundaries, he felt the difference immediately, like stepping into an entirely separate world layered on top of the same city.

There were no ordinary people here.

Instead, the area was filled with sprawling villas and pristine streets, the kind of upscale residential district where every house was worth more than most people would earn in ten lifetimes, all of it sitting right in the heart of the city as if wealth itself had carved out a private kingdom.

He slowed, ditched the motorcycle without a second thought, and dropped low as he moved forward.

Panther Form activated, his presence fading as stealth took hold.

Stealth, as Ethan understood it, wasn’t true invisibility. It didn’t erase you from existence, but it turned you into something that blended so perfectly with your surroundings that you might as well not be there at all. His presence dimmed to nearly nothing, his body subtly adapting to the environment around him, shifting with the light, the air, even the faint humidity, like a living chameleon.

He had once wondered, briefly and with some concern, whether he would need to strip naked for it to work properly, but thankfully the technique warped everything about him, clothes included. Otherwise, it would have been an entirely different kind of mission.

Keeping low, he crept forward and scanned the villas until one caught his attention.

Every other property had visible patrols, members of the Divine Sea Temple stationed around the perimeter, but this one stood out for the opposite reason. It had no guards at all.

"Bingo," Ethan murmured under his breath.

He observed from the cover of nearby foliage, taking his time. If his instincts were right, this had to be where the Temple Lord was staying. The strongest person here wouldn’t need guards.

Carefully, he edged closer, and soon enough he felt it. Two powerful energy signatures pulsed from within the villa, distinct and unmistakable.

The Temple Lord... and the four-winged angel.

Ethan pressed himself against the outer wall, placing his palm flat against the surface as he began to climb. He moved slowly, deliberately, every motion controlled. This wasn’t an opponent he could afford to underestimate. One mistake here, and there wouldn’t be a second chance.

Normally, Ethan wasn’t this cautious. His usual approach was far more direct, kick the door in, deal with whatever came next, and figure out the consequences later. That had always been his style.

But the sudden appearance of that angel had changed things. He needed answers first.

Reaching the second-floor window, he avoided using his Soul Sense entirely. It was too risky. Instead, he relied on his hearing, his body pressed flat against the wall just beside the frame.

With his stealth layered together with his Soul Technique suppression, he was effectively invisible to anything short of direct sight.

Inside, the Temple Lord sat with his back turned, completely unaware of Ethan’s presence.

"Gould," the Temple Lord said, his voice cold and edged with hostility. "You came all this way just to gloat?"

"Gloat?" the angel replied, lounging casually on a couch across the room, legs crossed and posture relaxed. "No. I came to question you."

"Question me?" the Temple Lord scoffed. "You think I can’t handle them?"

"Them?" Gould’s tone carried a faint, mocking lilt, his accent rough and uneven. "Those US fighters are formidable."

"How I deal with them is none of your concern," the Temple Lord snapped. "Take whatever you came for and get back to Vatican City."

"Ah, so you do have it," Gould said, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Hand it over. As for your little problem here, I’m sure the higher-ups will be in touch. I hope you enjoy their... displeasure."

The satisfaction in his voice was unmistakable.

The Temple Lord rose with a low grunt. "Follow me. Back to the Temple. I’ll get your package."

Outside the window, Ethan’s eyes sharpened.

Vatican City. That explained where the angel had come from. And if Gould mentioned "higher-ups," then the Void Realm was involved as well.

That alone made this trip worth it.

He had just begun to consider whether he should test their strength directly when the Temple Lord raised his hand. Space rippled, and a portal shimmered into existence between them.

Ethan hesitated for a fraction of a second as both figures stepped through and vanished.

Gone? 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

No... not gone. The angel had come to retrieve something. They would be back.

’Ambush them when they return, or follow now?’

The decision flashed through his mind, quick and sharp.

Ethan moved.

He vaulted silently through the window and landed inside, his gaze immediately locking onto the waist-high portal still hovering in place. After a brief pause, he took a steady breath and stepped through.

If he could infiltrate the Divine Sea Temple itself and dismantle it from within, it would save him a lot of trouble later.

That was the logic.

---

In a vast, unfamiliar hall, two figures stood side by side, facing a crystal orb that floated at the center of the space.

Within the orb, Ethan appeared in perfect clarity, his figure shown in real time as he looked around in confusion.

"There really was someone," Gould said slowly, his brow furrowing. "Who is he? How did I not sense him outside my barrier?"

The Temple Lord let out a short, dismissive snort. "He’s strong, but he doesn’t know... I’ve been waiting for him."

Gould’s confusion deepened. "Who is he?"

"Ethan Caelum," the Temple Lord replied flatly. "An irritating little pest."

Gould’s eyes widened slightly. "That’s him?"

"You know him?" the Temple Lord asked, glancing sideways.

"He killed eight angels," Gould said, his gaze fixed on the orb. "They were only two-winged servants, but that doesn’t matter. No angel is to be desecrated. He’s already on our kill list."

For a moment, Gould simply stared, his expression flattening into something cold and calculating, as if he had already imagined Ethan’s death a hundred different ways.

"Two-winged servants?" the Temple Lord said with a faint sneer. "Weren’t you one of those once? Gained a pair of wings and forgot your roots?"

Gould’s expression twisted instantly.

"You—!"

His four wings snapped open, flaring with energy as he stepped forward, anger spilling over.

"In my domain?" the Temple Lord said calmly, flicking his wrist. "I am God here. You dare?"

A strange force wrapped around Gould’s body before he could react. In the next instant, he vanished completely.

Silence returned to the hall.

The Temple Lord turned back toward the orb, his expression settling once more. From the shadows behind him, a figure stepped forward.

It was a girl, short-haired and dressed in a simple white shirt, her figure deceptively ordinary.

Fiona.

The same girl from the night before.

Her eyes were completely black, devoid of whites or pupils, like empty voids staring into nothing.

The Temple Lord glanced at her and smirked. "Who would’ve thought those little ants I caught would have such useful memories?"

He folded his hands behind his back, his voice echoing faintly through the hall.

"Everyone knows the name Divine Sea Temple. Almost no one knows what it truly is."

"This place is a trial ground from the Mythic Age. The only way out is to clear the highest floor."

He paused, as if savoring the thought.

"So now that you’re here, take your time. Even if you manage to survive, by the time you reach the top, your friends will already be dead."

"And if you don’t make it..." His smile widened slightly. "Then enjoy eternity in the trial grounds."

With that, he vanished.

Fiona remained where she stood, unmoving, her hollow gaze fixed forward in silence.

---

Ethan stumbled as he emerged from the portal, the familiar distortion of teleportation fading as his vision cleared.

The transition had been short, nothing like the disorienting jumps across worlds he had experienced before, but something still felt off.

He looked around. There was no Temple Lord. No angel. Nothing.

A sinking feeling settled in his chest.

"Trapped?" he muttered.

Had they known he was there all along? Was this a setup? Questions piled up rapidly, each one more frustrating than the last.

Where was he?

And more importantly... how was he supposed to get back?

A dull headache began to form as he tried to piece it together. The Temple Lord couldn’t have known for certain that Ethan would follow. At best, it had been a calculated gamble, baiting him into stepping through the portal.

Maybe he didn’t want a direct fight. Maybe this was simply the more efficient option.

Either way, Ethan had been removed from the board.

He exhaled slowly and forced himself to focus on his surroundings.

Fog stretched out in every direction, thick and suffocating, until a faint glow appeared on the horizon. It rose steadily, like a miniature sun climbing into the sky, burning away the mist as it ascended.

When the light finally cleared enough for him to see, Ethan extended his Soul Sense instinctively.

It barely reached ten feet. He blinked, then tried again.

Ten feet, that was it.

A dry laugh escaped him before he could stop it. His Soul Sense, one of his most reliable abilities, had been reduced to something almost useless. It wasn’t weakened so much as... restricted, as if this place had rewritten its limits entirely.

"Another strange dimension," he muttered. "Please tell me I didn’t get thrown off-planet again."

Then he noticed movement in the distance. Four figures flew across the sky, each carrying something unusual.

The first wielded an enormous cyan sword, its hilt shaped like a dragon’s head, the blade stretching impossibly long, yet handled as if it weighed nothing.

The second carried a golden spear even longer, coiled like a serpent, radiating a sharp, oppressive presence.

The third held a radiant seal, light flowing from it like a living current.

The fourth... was the strangest of all. A simple brush, no longer than a foot, glowing faintly red.

Ethan stilled, watching carefully.

The four figures shot outward in different directions, positioning themselves around what looked like a vast basin. Then, in unison, they raised their weapons and drove them into the ground.

Light surged.

Energy poured both upward and downward, as if the earth itself was responding. They began to chant, their voices low and rhythmic, feeding power into the formation.

Ten minutes passed.

At the center of the basin, a purple vortex formed, slowly stabilizing as it spun.

The swordsman raised his hand, and a crystalline blade of pure energy appeared. Without hesitation, he dove forward and swung.

"Open!"

A massive crescent of light tore into the vortex, halting its rotation and splitting it apart. A crack formed, energy seeping out so densely that even breathing it made Ethan’s soul feel lighter.

The crack widened further.

"The second layer," the swordsman announced, his voice booming across the area. "All disciples, enter."

"Remember," the man with the brush added, his tone calmer but no less firm, "if you have the strength, push higher. Reaching the eighth layer means freedom."

"But if you’re not ready," the spearman continued, nodding once, "come back alive. Don’t throw your lives away."

A chorus of voices answered from all directions.

"Yes!"

Disciples emerged, most of them no older than sixteen or seventeen, gathering near the opening. They hesitated at first, staring into the unknown, until they were urged forward. One by one, they began to enter the vortex.

Ethan watched silently, weighing his options.

He could approach them, ask questions, figure out where he was. But before he could decide, the last disciple stepped through.

Four pairs of eyes turned toward him simultaneously.

"You’re not from here, are you?" the man with the brush said.

Ethan gave a slightly awkward smile. "Honestly, I don’t even know how I got here."

It wasn’t a lie.

The man laughed. "Then you’re lucky. You look young enough. Try the trial. Maybe you’ll make it to the third layer and earn your way out."

Ethan hesitated, then asked, "Where exactly is ’here’?"

"This is exile territory, more or less," the man replied. "You from the Ancestral Star? Ever heard of the Divine Sea Temple?"

Ethan’s eyes sharpened. "Divine Sea Temple? Yeah. The Temple Lord sent me here."

"That’s because this place is the Divine Sea Temple," the man said simply. "These are the trial grounds from the Mythic Age. What you’re standing on now is the first layer."

Ethan processed that, then gestured slightly. "And you?"

The man smiled faintly. "Our ancestors never entered the trial. They stayed behind. This first layer became our home."

Ethan nodded slowly as the pieces fell into place. He wasn’t just near the Divine Sea Temple anymore.

He was inside it. And apparently, it wasn’t empty.