Chapter 23

Ethan looks at the vampire lying pathetically in a crater he has created. His body was nearly fully crushed, and blood was everywhere. He walks into the deep crater and pokes him. To see if he was alive. Seeing he wasn't moving at all. He doesn't have any breath, and his skin is nearly grayish-blue. "That's dead enough," he said.

He flies out of the crater and goes to jump on Taegen, hugging him like a koala. He then proceeds to hit his forehead against Taegen's. "And that's for not letting me come," he said, getting off Taegen, then rubbing his head, pouting a bit. 'That hurts,' he thought, but he didn't say anything.

Taegen grabs him and holds him down in a chokehold, ruffling his hair.

Ethan huffs before laughing out loud. No one is dead. He looks over to the side to see Hadrian lifting an elf and a fairy with ability, and he runs to him.

"Nobody died!" he exclaimed excitedly to Hadrian, jumping around, smiling happily.

Hadrian smiled as well. "You are so cute," he said.

Ethan froze. "Eh," he said. He heard cute from Hadrian's mouth. He points to himself. "Cute? Me?" he said. Hadrian laughs at Ethan's behavior.

"Sure, you are cute; I'm sure Emily would agree as well," he replies casually.

Speaking of Emily, she was carrying the reincarnation of her idol on her shoulder. "What are you doing with that, Emily?" Ethan asked, looking at the boy on her shoulder, believing Emily had already killed him and was carrying his corpse around.

Emily rolls her eyes. "He's not dead," she said. "Also, this is the reincarnation of my idol, the Seventh Star of Nox," she said.

Ethan looks at her suspiciously. "Don't look at me like I'm about to do something nasty!" she exclaimed.

Ethan shrugs. "You are weird; who knows what you might do next?" he said, embarrassing her.

"I hate you sometimes," Emily said in frustration.

"Don't worry, baby girl, the feeling is quite mutual," Ethan replies, winking at her, making her gag.

Hadrian watched the two bicker for a few minutes. If he were a stranger, he would think Emily and Ethan hated each other. But he knew better. Emily would kill for Ethan, and Ethan would do something drastic before killing whoever he needed to for Emily.

"Hadrian!" He heard Emily shout his name. "Tell the idiot that I'm not going to do something drastic to the boy on my shoulder," she said, pointing at Ethan.

"Don't bring him into this, Emily!" Ethan shouts at her.

Malekith and Jedidiah flew to them. "Hello," Malekith said to the three of them with a soft smile on his face.

"Are you alright?" Ethan asked him. "You looked like you struggled a bit."

That would be an insult considering Malekith's position, but that would be hypocritical because he wasn't lying about his struggles.

"I'm alright," Malekith responds.

Reginald and his team came out of the forest, and he ran to Taegen almost immediately. Taegen hugs him tightly, covering him up.

"I told you we would make it out alive," Reginald said, snuggling softly into Taegen's chest.

Taegen kissed his hair. "I'm glad you are okay," he said.

Reginald looks at him mischievously. "Did you think I wouldn't be able to win?"

"You two are in love; we get it!" Ethan exclaimed, sounding annoyed.

They both laughed at Ethan's outburst.

The barriers around the school had already been put down, and every injured person was carried there.

"This calls for a celebration!" Emily said happily after handing over the boy on her shoulder to one of the teachers.

Ethan rolls his eyes. "We have to return to the new school," he said, Emily's joy turned to sadness. "I'm sure everyone is scared about what happened and would want an explanation."

"Ethan is right," Taegen said. "Also, I didn't pay for you guys to ditch school just to come here to fight," he said.

"You are welcome," Ethan said.

"Just go!" Taegen shouts.

In the Dark Realm...

"We were defeated," Claude said emotionlessly, watching them rejoice in joy.

The Master wasn't enraged by this. "It seems like it," she said. "I suppose, it's my fault for not giving you instructions to choose stronger opponents," she said, looking at the elders, whose heads were down with cold eyes.

"It seems like it's time for me to go for plan two," she said, standing up. "When I return, I am going to be training our warriors."

Just as Ethan, Emily, and Hadrian were about to leave, It became very windy. The sea began to rise, and the moon was blocking the sun, making it appear black and turning the sky red. A woman appears before them. She was wearing a black dress, and her head was covered, making them unable to fully see her face.

Everyone was ready to fight again. Hadrian noticed something about the woman. She has bright midnight blue eyes. "That's the woman from my dream," he whispered.

Emily, who heard Hadrian whisper, was surprised. "Is she your crazy ex?" she asked.

"What? No," Ethan and Hadrian said at the same time.

Ethan stared at the woman coldly and said, "She must be the Master."

The Master doesn't say anything to them. Instead, she just raised her hands, pulling Ethan toward her and grabbing his face. This surprised Ethan; he had no time to think about when this happened.

Everyone saw this and attacked almost immediately.

The Master glanced at them, and they all froze in the air.

Ethan struggled to get out of the woman's grip. But failed. He hears her huff. "You are still too weak," she said in annoyance, throwing him harshly to the ground.

A crater forms around him, and Ethan gasps in pain when his back hits the ground. He feels blood flowing from his head. He struggles to get up, but she walks up to him and breaks his legs. Ethan wants to scream in pain, but he never does.

"You've gotten weaker since the last time we faced each other," she said.

'Combination Third and Second Rank: Black Hole.'

Ethan creates a small black hole and shoots it at her.

The Master didn't dodge this attack. Instead, she grabs the black hole and holds it in her hand before destroying it like nothing.

She looks at Ethan as if she's looking at a disgusting beggar. She finally notices the Gem of Nullification around his neck.

"I see the problem now," she said. Ethan floats, and he looks pale from the pain he's in. She grabs the gem.

"Don't!" Taegen screams.

She glances at him, annoyed. "Who are you to tell me what to do?" she said. She flicks her wrist, and Taegen's heart gets ripped out.

"NO!" Reginald screams.

"Mr. Sontar!" Emily shouts.

They were released, and Reginald goes to hug Taegen.

All this happened in slow motion in Ethan's eyes: the Master shattered his nullification gem, and Ethan's vision blackened.

The atmosphere becomes dark, and the Master smiles and releases Ethan, disappearing.

Darkness surrounds Ethan, clinging to him like a second skin. This happened until he was completely covered in darkness. His eyes were white, and cracks were forming around them. His aura spread around him. There were hints of red and white in his black aura.

The ground beneath him begins to break and split apart under him.

Emily knew that Ethan's vision was about to come true. Something she never thought would have happened.