The Flamebirds descended together, talons striking the ground in a rolling thunder. Ethan and the Fallen Star Guard slid off their backs and landed in clean formation.

Ethan’s gaze swept over the Azure Nereid women, and he smiled.

"If you want to come in, then come in. We can sit down and talk."

"Oh?" The Azure Nereid leader looked genuinely surprised. "You’re not worried we might have other intentions?"

They’d all seen how tightly Miles had held the line a moment ago. And yet the second Ethan arrived, he was inviting them in like it was no big deal.

"Not really," Ethan said, tone casual. "If you actually try anything, I’ll make sure none of you walk back out."

A younger Azure Nereid behind the leader shot him a look full of disdain. "With what? A group of Tier 25 humans?"

Ethan nodded like she’d asked something reasonable. "That, and a few guys of mine."

"..."

The leader hesitated, then chose her words with care.

"Handsome... sometimes it’s better not to talk so boldly," she said gently. "We won’t take offense, but many powerful races from Eldoria have entered this world. Frankly, your strength isn’t anything special by Eldoria’s standards. If you offend the wrong race with words like that, it could bring disaster down on all of humanity."

Ethan shrugged.

"Just telling the truth. Yeah, you’re Stage S—but we’ve crippled Tier 33 before. Taking you down wouldn’t be that hard."

"..."

The women all shook their heads.

This guy was unbelievable.

Did he even understand what Stage S meant? A Tier 25 talking like he’d casually maimed Stage S... it sounded like pure nonsense.

"Alright." The leader clearly didn’t want to make Ethan lose face, so she smoothly changed the subject. "Let’s go in."

But it was obvious she didn’t believe him either. She treated it like boasting—an attempt to bluff them into caution.

And honestly, it was a childish bluff.

If they’d wanted trouble, they would’ve forced their way in from the start. They wouldn’t have stood here talking.

"After you," Ethan said, making an inviting gesture.

Fallen Star City’s people stared, eyes wide.

This was the first time they’d ever seen Ethan act this courteous.

Miles, though, understood immediately.

Humans were surrounded on all sides now, one bad day away from extinction. At a time like this, aside from raising their own strength, the fastest shortcut was finding allies.

But alliances only came when you could stand tall. If you looked weak, nobody respected you—so Ethan had started off hard on purpose.

Most Void Realm beings treated Earth’s natives like pests—kill them, enslave them, breed them, pen them up.

So when they finally ran into a group that seemed polite, of course they’d treat them well. Even if the attitude was an act, it was worth testing.

And with power like theirs, they didn’t need to act.

Which meant there was a real chance the Azure Nereids truly did have some connection to humanity.

Once Miles had that thought straight, he immediately signaled the others. The crowd split to form a wide path. People stood on both sides, watching in silence, giving the women the highest level of courtesy they could manage.

Since Fallen Star City had been founded, these Azure Nereids were the first outsiders to ever receive treatment like this.

The women, however, had no idea what kind of "honor" they were being shown.

All they felt were the stares—too many of them, lingering a little too long, a little too openly.

It didn’t make them feel like honored guests.

It made them feel like prey that had wandered into a den of hungry wolves.

Still, they trusted their own strength completely.

So none of them looked truly worried as they walked in.

Just then, a few Fallen Star Guard members came running over, each of them carrying a half-dead Umbral elite on their shoulder like a sack.

"Commander—what do we do with these?"

"Put them in the basement," Ethan said with a quick wave. "Have people watch them. I’ll deal with them later."

"Got it."

The guards nodded and hustled into the compound, hauling the broken Umbrals away.

"Umbrals!" The Azure Nereid women recognized them instantly. Eyes widened across the group.

"Those are Umbral elites... and they’re all Tier 29!" the leader blurted, staring. "How did they end up like this?"

Ethan didn’t even slow down. "We did it. You come to Fallen Star City acting tough, you pay the price."

"..."

One of the women swallowed. "They only sent... a dozen?"

Ethan glanced back, like she was missing the obvious. "No. There were over seven thousand. We killed them. These dozen are the ones I kept on purpose—I need them for something."

"..."

In that instant, every Azure Nereid powerhouse looked at Ethan differently.

If they’d suspected he was bluffing before, the sight of those dying Tier 29 Umbrals crushed that idea on the spot.

The Umbrals might not have been the absolute top dogs of Eldoria, but in the region the Azure Nereids came from, they were infamous—individually strong, with that corrosive attribute that made even higher-tier experts think twice before provoking them.

And now they were hearing that an Umbral vanguard force had been wiped out here... by a group of Stage A humans.

If they hadn’t already confirmed the Umbrals had come in a force of more than seven thousand, they wouldn’t have believed it—no matter how many crippled elites they saw with their own eyes.

The leader drew a slow breath, finally looking at Ethan like he was someone worth taking seriously.

Whatever method he’d used, the result was real.

That alone proved something.

"I didn’t expect you to have this kind of capability," she said, her tone turning formal with genuine apology. "I misjudged you. I was a bit... narrow-minded earlier. Please don’t take it to heart."

"It’s fine, it’s fine," Ethan said, waving it off. "Small stuff."

A race that might actually be an ally didn’t come along every day. Besides, they’d been polite from the beginning. They hadn’t really said anything ugly—just cautious.

He turned and gestured deeper into the city.

"Come on. Let’s head inside."

"Alright."

They moved toward the compound’s center. Along the way, the Azure Nereid women couldn’t stop looking around, faces full of open fascination.

Fallen Star City’s infrastructure was already complete. Most of the buildings you’d expect in the post-apocalypse were here—organized, functional, and oddly "normal" considering the end of the world.

To the Azure Nereids, though, it was all bizarre.

Every unfamiliar structure made their eyes light up again.

"Humans really are the smartest race," Nerissa said with a quiet sigh of admiration. "These kinds of things... only humans would think to build them."

Ethan smiled. "A lot of it’s just flashy and impractical."

After another ten-plus minutes of walking, they finally reached the compound’s central district.

Miles had already ordered food prepared.

There were close to six thousand Azure Nereids in total, and there was no way to seat them all in one place.

In the end, with Nerissa’s approval, the bulk of the Azure Nereids followed Aurora and the others to the main dining hall, while Ethan’s group brought several Azure Nereid higher-ups to the biggest private room in the hotel.

Nerissa didn’t seem worried about her own safety at all.

Even after seeing what Ethan had done to the Umbrals’ vanguard, she still led her people straight into Fallen Star City—and she was calm enough to let most of her women split off and go with the humans.

It wasn’t because she was stupid.

It was because the Azure Nereids were stronger than the Umbrals, and their survival methods... weren’t something the Umbrals could even compare to.