When they saw that huge mass of figures sprinting over, the fighting in the field paused for the moment.

More than eight thousand Mightkin had charged in.

Now only a little over five thousand remained.

In just that short stretch of time, three thousand had been killed.

Most of them had died to the three soulless thralls. Ethan and the others, combined, hadn’t even hit triple digits.

Everyone stared grimly at the Void Realm creatures racing toward them.

And the remaining Mightkin, the moment they recognized who was coming, all had their faces sink.

The newcomers moved fast. In no time, they’d reached the battlefield.

They were the complete opposite of the Mightkin—tall and thin, all sharp angles. Every one of them stood at least six feet, with long, narrow faces and an almost delicate, eerie prettiness to them. There were more than seven thousand.

As soon as they arrived, they swept their eyes across the scene, then locked onto the Mightkin trapped in the center. Surprise flickered across their features.

"Well, well. Look what we have here," the tall leader said with a mocking smile. "If it isn’t the little runts of Eldoria. What happened? I thought the Mightkin weren’t afraid of anything. Since when do humans beat you this badly?"

The Mightkin didn’t answer.

Running into your nemesis at your most pathetic—there wasn’t much to say. They just stood there, swallowing it in silence.

"Enemies?" Ethan asked, glancing at the Mightkin leader.

"Hmph." The man snorted, refusing to explain.

But Ethan didn’t need the words. The expressions alone made it obvious—these two races hated each other.

The tall leader turned to Ethan and the others. "Humans. If you can beat these little dwarves into this state, you’ve got some skill. But let me warn you—the Mightkin aren’t weak. When their real powerhouses arrive, you’re finished."

"Ah!?" Ethan’s eyes went wide, his face instantly full of panic. "Then what do we do? We’ve already offended them!"

The Umbral leader’s smile deepened. "Kill them all, humans, and the Umbrals may allow you to stand beneath our shadow. With us sheltering you, the Mightkin won’t be able to do a thing."

He’d just scanned the humans. Their strength didn’t look impressive. The strongest ones only seemed to be at Stage A.

He genuinely couldn’t figure out how a group like this had beaten the Mightkin so hard.

So he threw them the order. Two birds with one stone—he could watch what tricks these humans were hiding, and at the same time use their hands to clear out a rival.

As for "standing beneath the Umbrals’ shadow"...

Slaves stood there, too.

Ethan gave him a half-smile that wasn’t a smile at all. He understood the play immediately.

Then Ethan leaned toward the Mightkin leader and spoke quietly. "They’re trying to get you all killed."

"Hmph. Those skinny sticks have always been mortal enemies of the Mightkin," the man said through clenched teeth. "If their Decay abilities weren’t so damn annoying, we would’ve wiped them out long ago."

Ethan tilted his head. "Then you can take them trash-talking you like this?"

"Can’t take it, so what?" the Mightkin leader snapped. "You gonna let us go so we can kill them?"

Ethan’s grin widened. "Actually... yeah. I can."

"!!!"

The Mightkin leader jerked like he’d been struck. "For real?"

"For real."

"...Why?" His voice dropped, suspicious and sharp.

Ethan shrugged. "Don’t like them."

The Mightkin leader stared at him for a long beat, searching his face, then shook his head hard.

"Forget it. With just the people we’ve got left, we’re not their match."

"Maybe not," Ethan said, still casual. "But you can at least take some of them with you."

He flicked his eyes toward the Umbrals. "Look at them. They’re humiliating you, and you don’t even dare talk back."

Ethan’s voice stayed low, but every word bit. "And if we wipe you out in a second, you really think they won’t stand there clapping?"

Ethan’s words stabbed the man right in the soft spot.

The Mightkin leader’s gaze slid to the Umbrals nearby, who were watching with open schadenfreude. Rage surged up so hard it almost made his vision blur.

He knew exactly what the human was doing—trying to pit the Mightkin and the Umbrals against each other so Ethan could mop up whatever was left.

Even so... he still chose to fight.

Either way, they were going to die.

If they fought, they could drag a few of those Umbral bastards down with them.

If they didn’t, they’d just get laughed at while three soulless thralls beat them to death. There was no universe where he could swallow that.

Those Umbrals thought they had these humans locked up and figured out.

They had no idea how freakish those three soulless thralls really were.

And once the Umbrals and the Mightkin tore chunks out of each other, the humans probably wouldn’t let the Umbrals walk away either.

With that thought, the Mightkin leader looked at Ethan. "I know what you’re trying to do. We’ll fight—but I want one condition."

Ethan frowned, but he still asked, "Let’s hear it."

"When this is over," the Mightkin leader said, voice thick with hatred, "I want you to kill those assholes too. Every last one."

"That I can do." Ethan nodded without hesitation.

He’d been expecting the guy to beg for mercy.

If the Mightkin leader had asked Ethan to spare them, Ethan wouldn’t have agreed—no chance.

But this? This was basically a freebie.

"What are you whispering about? Why aren’t you attacking?!" The tall Umbral leader barked when he saw Ethan still talking to the Mightkin.

"Heh," Ethan said lightly. "We’re moving now."

He flicked his hand.

"Spread out."

The Fallen Star Guard instantly peeled back, stepping away in a coordinated wave and opening a clean lane through the encirclement.

Before the Umbral elites could even process what that meant, the Mightkin warriors surged through the gap like unleashed beasts.

"You skinny sticks!" the Mightkin leader roared, eyes bloodshot. "Who gave you the nerve to mock the Mightkin?! I’ll crush you!"

"Damn it!" The tall Umbral leader’s face twisted as he finally realized he’d been played.

He hadn’t expected two sides that were just killing each other a second ago to suddenly let each other through.

He snapped his hand down. "Hmph. With this few of you, you think you can fight us?"

"Move! Wipe them out!"

The Umbral elites struck first.

Streaks of black light knifed through the air, slamming into the Mightkin.

The attacks didn’t break their defenses.

But the moment the light clung to their skin, it started to rot it—decaying flesh in ugly, spreading patches.

The Mightkin warriors clenched their jaws, brows knotting with pain, but they didn’t slow. They barreled straight into the Umbral formation anyway.

The Umbrals’ expressions changed instantly.

They knew better than anyone how terrifying Mightkin strength was up close. Trading punches with them was suicide.

They scattered in a rush, and in the same motion, black elemental weapons formed in their hands—Blades of Decay—then slashed out at the charging Mightkin.

But the Mightkin were already past caring.

They fought with the mindset of men on the gallows: kill one and break even, kill two and come out ahead.

Eyes wild, they tanked the Blades of Decay head-on and threw their fists anyway, smashing them into Umbral bodies with murderous force.

Thump thump thump...

Low, heavy impacts rolled across the battlefield.

One Umbral elite after another got pulped—torsos caving, bones turning to powder—dropping on the spot.

But the Blades of Decay still landed.

That sick power sank into the Mightkin’s bodies, seeping deeper with every cut. Flesh started to blacken and crumble. Muscles softened like wet paper. Their bodies began to rot from the inside out.

Decay like that was horrifying.

Once it got into you, you could basically call it—death was guaranteed, and it didn’t come quickly.

It came screaming.

And yet the Mightkin didn’t stop.

They didn’t even hesitate.

The second one enemy died, they lunged for the next, dragging their dying bodies forward with sheer spite.

As long as they still had breath in their lungs...

They were going to take as many Umbrals with them as they could.