Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 691

Chapter 691: Unconscious and Exposed

However…

This was Ethan’s Annihilation Tribulation.

These runes were fragments of the heavenly law itself. If the tribulation was defeated, they should have dissipated back into the world, reclaimed by the Path of Ethereal.

But Ethan had subjugated the Dragon of Consumption and stolen its primordial ability to Devour. Without it, he’d have had no way to wrest these thunder runes from the heavens themselves.

So, gritting his teeth against the agony and the fog of exhaustion clouding his mind, he continued his frantic harvest.

Suddenly, his face contorted. He vomited a great mouthful of blood, then another, and another. Inside his Energy Core, the previously docile sphere of lightning was expanding violently. Its rampaging power slammed against the confines of his body, threatening to tear him apart from the inside.

The runes from the destroyed Thunder Beast had caused the lightning sphere to grow explosively. The energy from the nine Thunder Whales he’d absorbed earlier was less than a hundredth of this. Now, the sphere was in revolt, fighting to break free from the prison of his flesh and return to the cosmos.

His body had become a cage, and the lightning sphere was a wild beast throwing itself against the bars.

“Damn it… cough…!” he spat, blood speckling his lips.

“You think… cough…!”

“You can… cough…!”

“Escape?!” he roared, the words a guttural struggle. “Stay… the hell… put!”

Each phrase was punctuated with another spray of crimson. But its violent resistance only fueled his own stubbornness. This had to be something incredibly powerful, something worth the fight.

He roared again, marshaling the dregs of his Soul Power and the pitifully small amount of energy left in his leaky, inefficient body. He poured everything into suppressing the rampaging sphere, trying to force it into submission.

But he was spent. The Metal Annihilation Slash had drained his Soul Power to the brink. Under different circumstances, he might have stood a chance.

Now, he could only watch in horror as his Energy Core was ravaged from the inside. The pressure was becoming unbearable.

“It’s over… My Core is going to shatter,” he thought with rising panic. If his core ruptured, he was a dead man. “Quintessence Bone, aren’t you supposed to do something?”

HUM—

A wave of green light finally responded. The Tree of Life, now finished purging the destructive lightning that had invaded his body, turned its attention to the internal war. A surge of life energy flooded his core, reinforcing the walls.

But the Tree, too, was exhausted. That single surge was all it could muster. The reprieve was momentary.

“Shit, this thing is too much!” Ethan knew he was on the verge of catastrophic failure. If he couldn’t contain it, he had to let it go. It was better to release it voluntarily than to let it explode and take his core—and his life—with it. He prepared to open the gates and tell the damn lightning ball to get lost.

Then, his attention snagged on the vortex of seeds swirling at the base of his core. He noticed a few of them had changed. They were glowing with an intense light.

Looking closer, he saw that within those seeds were tiny, perfectly formed thunder runes. These runes seemed to have been… digested. Their energy was far milder than the sphere’s, and they were gradually dimming, their power being assimilated into the seeds themselves. The seeds holding them were beginning to undergo a subtle metamorphosis.

A spark of desperate hope flared in Ethan’s eyes.

“HAH! Go on then!” With the last vestiges of his will, he gave the rampaging sphere a mighty shove, directing it straight toward the seed vortex.

But just as it was about to reach the edge…

Darkness swarmed his vision.

“Damn…” It was his last conscious thought.

His Soul Power was utterly depleted. He had nothing left to give.

His body went limp in mid-air and began to fall, tumbling toward the ground like a ragdoll. In this state, he was weaker than an ordinary man. The slightest impact could end him.

A silver-white blur shot across the sky. A mechanized arm shot out and caught him gently just before he hit the ground.

It was Lyla, piloting her silver combat mech. The rest of the group arrived moments later, touching down around them.

“Ethan!” Lyla’s voice was tight with worry as she carefully lowered his unconscious form.

CLICK-HISS—

The mech’s cockpit unfolded, and Lyla herself emerged, rushing to his side.

“Don’t worry, Boss Lady. I’m sure the boss is fine,” Micah said from behind her, his tone oddly casual.

“How can you possibly know that?” Blackie asked, skeptical.

Micah glanced around, hesitating.

“Well? Spit it out!” Blackie pressed.

Micah sighed, leaned in, and whispered into Blackie’s ear, “Let’s just say… certain parts of him are still standing at attention. Looks pretty lively to me.” He subtly gestured toward Ethan’s lower half.

Blackie followed his gaze and rolled his eyes so hard it was a wonder they stayed in his head. “What the hell kind of diagnosis is that?!”

Although Micah had whispered, his initial comment had drawn everyone’s attention. The men—Hank, Regis, and Jed—all glanced over, their eyes flicking down for a split second. They exchanged a look, and a collective, relieved sigh passed between them.

The women, however, blushed and quickly turned away. The Dragon Child fixed Micah with a death glare, looking ready to kick him into next week.

Lyla, now blushing furiously, finally noticed the cause of the commotion. The tribulation had vaporized everything. Every stitch of clothing, every single hair on his body was gone. His head was smooth as a river stone, and, well, so was everything else. She realized Micah’s crude observation was, unfortunately, accurate.

Flustered, she pulled a white bedsheet from the spatial pouch Ethan had given her and draped it over him.

“Uh…” The entire group seemed to choke on the same awkward thought.

“What?” Lyla asked, confused.

“Lyla,” Leo said, face-palming. “If you pull it up any higher, you might as well just cover his face completely and be done with it.”

“Huh?” It took her a second. Then she looked down. The pristine white sheet, combined with Ethan’s blood-soaked, unconscious, and deathly pale body, created an unfortunate and unmistakable resemblance to a shroud. “Oh,” she said, her cheeks burning with fresh embarrassment.

“Alright, looks like we’re camping here for now,” Williams said, stepping in to break the tension. He pulled a collapsible shelter from his own spatial pouch. “Let’s get a tent up.”

“Tent?” Micah chimed in, having wandered back, dripping wet from his swim. His eyes flicked to the sheet-draped Ethan and a shit-eating grin spread across his face. “Why do we need a tent when he’s already—”

“YOU! SHUT UP!” The Dragon Child finally exploded. Her leg snapped out in a blur.

WHOOSH—

Micah, who had been watching for everyone’s reactions, suddenly doubled over as her foot connected solidly with his gut. He flew through the air in a perfect arc, soaring clear over the edge of Ascension Isle.

SPLASH.

He landed in the churning ocean waters with a satisfying plop.