Chapter 403: Building shadow army again

Chapter 403: Building shadow army again

Ethan’s clone vanished from the world in complete silence.

At the same instant, Ethan’s true consciousness descended on it.

The clone’s body stiffened briefly, then relaxed. When the eyes opened again, the gaze within them was no longer that of a mere extension. It was deep, boundless, carrying a weight that belonged only to the original.

Ethan had arrived.

He stood within a vast, ancient forest. Towering trees stretched endlessly in every direction, their trunks thicker than mountains, their canopies blotting out the sky. The air was dense with primordial energy, so pure that even breathing it felt heavy.

This was not a place meant for weak beings. It was a sanctuary chosen by a primordial creature to survive in isolation from the rest of the Origin World.

The moment Ethan appeared, the forest reacted.

Leaves trembled. The wind halted. The spiritual veins beneath the earth shuddered faintly.

And then the bird looked at him.

It was enormous, its body covered in dark feathers streaked with faint crimson lines. Its wings were folded tightly, yet the pressure it emitted alone distorted the space around it. Its eyes, ancient and sharp, locked onto Ethan with visible confusion.

This human felt familiar.

Not just familiar. Connected.

The bird could feel the same aura that had intervened earlier, the presence that had shattered the Alucard seal binding its bloodline and freed it from a fate worse than death. At the time, the power had been distant and overwhelming, like a god reaching down from beyond the heavens.

Now that same aura stood before it, condensed into the form of a young human.

The bird did not attack.

It did not flee.

It simply watched, cautious and alert, its instincts screaming warnings even as its bloodline resonated faintly in response to Ethan’s presence.

After a long moment, it spoke.

Its voice echoed directly inside Ethan’s mind, deep and rough, tinged with restrained fear.

"Are you the one who helped me?"

The question was careful, measured. If this human truly was the one who had destroyed the Alucard seal, then this was not a being it could afford to offend. That seal had been left behind by a power far beyond its current realm. To erase it so casually meant this human possessed strength that could erase its existence just as easily.

Ethan met the bird’s gaze calmly.

He nodded once.

"Yes."

The single word carried certainty. No pride, no arrogance. Just fact.

The bird’s pupils constricted. The pressure around it shifted slightly as its heart raced.

Ethan continued speaking, his tone even and composed.

"You should become my familiar. I can help you evolve. In return, you can serve as my transporter. Of course, this is your choice. I will not force you."

The words were simple, almost casual, but to the bird they carried the weight of destiny.

Ethan was not bargaining.

He was offering.

He felt something toward this creature that he rarely felt toward anyone else. It was not affection born from companionship, but something deeper. Because he was born inside the bird’s world. In a sense, its existence was tied to his own. It felt closer than an ally. Closer than a subordinate.

It felt like family.

That was why Ethan wanted to protect it.

The bird did not respond immediately.

Its massive body shifted slightly as it lowered its head, eyes closing halfway. Its consciousness raced, calculating possibilities, weighing survival against freedom.

This forest was safe, but only from weaker races. It was isolated, but isolation did not mean invincibility. If one day a Genesis Realm monster passed through and felt hungry, what could it do? If an Eternal Sovereign decided to hunt here, what chance did it have?

None.

And yet this human stood here calmly, as if those existences were no threat at all.

More importantly, the bird could feel a connection to him. A resonance in its bloodline that responded instinctively, as if acknowledging a family member.

Finally, it opened its eyes.

"You said you can help me evolve. How far?"

Ethan smiled faintly.

"There exists an original race known as the Phoenix race. One of the primordial ancestors of avian beings. I will evolve you into one of them someday."

He paused briefly, then added with quiet confidence.

"And perhaps even beyond that."

The effect was immediate.

The bird’s eyes ignited like twin suns. Its breathing grew heavy, its heart pounding violently. The Phoenix race was not just a legend.

It was the dream carved into the deepest layer of its bloodline.

Without hesitation, without doubt, it bowed its head deeply.

"I agree."

It did not ask for proof. It did not question his words. Something within its instincts told it that this human did not lie.

"Very well," Ethan said.

He raised his hand and released a single drop of blood.

The drop glowed with a terrifying density, containing unfathomable power. As it entered the bird’s body, reality itself seemed to pause.

Ethan had decided.

This creature would become his second general.

The concept of the Five Generals was something tied directly to his Omni Bloodline. When he had created it, he had gained an additional trait.

He could create five absolute subordinates, beings whose loyalty would never waver, whose potential would grow endlessly alongside his own.

They were not slaves.

They were extensions of his destiny.

If he lived, they would live.

If he fell, they would fall with him.

The moment the blood merged, the change was violent.

The Omni Bloodline surged like a tsunami, forcing its way through every vein and cell of the bird’s body. Its cultivation realm shattered instantly, leaping directly into the Axiom Dominion Realm without resistance.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed in surprise.

This reaction was too intense.

Just like Ragnarok, this bird possessed a special original bloodline of its own. In truth, all races originated from the Three Thousand Original Races. Their descendants carried diluted bloodlines, usually too weak to ever awaken.

But Ethan’s bloodline was different.

It did not strengthen bloodlines.

It awakened them.

It surpassed all bloodlines in quality, authority, and depth.

Boom.

The forest trembled violently.

The bird screamed as its very existence began to change. A terrifying suction force erupted from its body, pulling everything toward it. Trees uprooted instantly. Mountains cracked. Rivers reversed their flow.

Everything within a radius of one million kilometers was dragged toward the epicenter.

"A devouring bloodline," Ethan muttered calmly. "The Devouring Eagle original bloodline. Not bad."

But then his expression changed.

He turned his head toward the west.

Powerful auras were racing toward this location. Dozens of them. No, more.

Origin Paragon monsters.

Eternal Sovereign beings.

They had sensed the awakening too.

"We need to leave," Ethan murmured.

But even as he said it, he knew it was already too late.

For beings of that level, millions of kilometers meant nothing.

Ethan expanded his Ultimate Domain instantly, enveloping the bird completely to protect its evolution. Then he reached out and summoned his weapon.

The Sword of Infinity appeared in his hand.

The moment he grasped it, his presence exploded.

His strength surged, forcibly stepping into the level of an Eternal Sovereign realm.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Space shattered as twenty figures arrived.

Seventeen Origin Paragons.

Three Eternal Sovereigns.

They were divided into three factions, their hostility toward each other barely concealed. Yet the moment they saw Ethan, their gazes filled with contempt.

"What is a filthy human doing here?"

"And where is the creature undergoing bloodline evolution?"

In the Origin World, humans were nothing more than livestock. Playthings for higher races. Their existence itself was considered an insult.

Ethan smiled coldly.

"Sorry. Wrong place. Wrong time."

He did not wait.

"Infinity Slash."

He swung his sword once.

One million times amplification erupted instantly.

The world screamed.

A cataclysmic force engulfed everything. The forest region ceased to exist. Space collapsed. Time distorted.

The twenty beings did not even understand what had happened.

They died without a scream.

Even the Eternal Sovereigns.

Silence followed.

Ethan raised his hand calmly.

"Arise."

Dark shadow energy swallowed the corpses. Moments later, twenty supremely powerful shadow soldiers knelt before him.

Without hesitation, Ethan issued his orders.

"Spread out. Hunt Axiom Dominion negatives or Origin Paragons. Anything is acceptable."

They vanished.

Ethan stored the evolving bird within his inner dimension and moved.

He slaughtered hundreds of Progenitor and Primordial beasts along the way, expanding his shadow army relentlessly.

Finally, he emerged from the forest.