From the ruined building in the distance, the seven soldiers slowly lowered their binoculars.

For a moment, no one spoke.

One by one, they raised a quiet salute toward the battlefield.

"Godspeed, Scott."

"We’ll look after your little girl."

On the way here, Scott had talked about her nonstop—how cute she was, how she loved drawing, how she always waited for him at the gate.

They all knew how much he loved that kid.

And they all knew why he’d volunteered for this mission.

Scott’s final decision had saved their lives.

None of them would ever forget that.

As long as they were alive, no one would ever lay a hand on Scott’s daughter.

Nova City compound...

As Scott’s report came through the phone, Rowan and the others all went pale.

They’d known those red-skinned monsters were strong, but they hadn’t expected this.

Above Tier 15... what did that even mean?

As far as anyone knew, the strongest people in the entire Atlas Federation were the Fallen Star Squad. Rumor said their captain was already Tier 12.

That alone was unbelievable.

But these red-skinned monsters were far beyond even that.

And "Tier 15" was only the lowest estimate. The real number could be even higher.

The moment that thought settled in, despair spread through Nova City’s leadership like poison.

"We need to start the evacuation immediately," a senior official said, voice low and tight. "Based on their route, they’ll reach the compound before long."

Rowan didn’t hesitate. "Do it. Start moving people in batches."

The instant he confirmed the enemy’s level, Rowan had already given up on resistance.

"I’m contacting Atlas City."

Atlas City compound...

When Maxwell received Rowan’s message, his expression changed too.

Tier 15 and above...

That single line was enough to kill any thought of fighting.

"NOVA City... is finished," he said hoarsely.

Then he snapped into command mode. "Notify General Adrian Cross in Clearford City. Have him assist Rowan with the evacuation."

"Yes, sir!"

"General Kane," a soldier said suddenly, "if those Yamato Empire bastards can lure these things into the Atlas Federation, why don’t we do the same thing and lure them into the Yamato Empire?"

Maxwell shook his head.

"Setting aside how many lives Yamato Empire probably burned to drag them here—those red-skinned monsters aren’t idiots," he said coldly. "You think they’ll fall for the same trick twice?"

"Anything that reaches that Tier... its intelligence won’t be lower than a human’s."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" the soldier blurted, frustration spilling out.

"If we don’t solve this, they’re going to spread destruction everywhere. Even if Nova City’s people escape, those monsters will just go somewhere else next!"

"There isn’t a single compound that can stop them. Are we just... waiting to be butchered?"

His words dropped like a rock into the room.

Silence.

Everyone understood the logic.

But the answer was the same for everyone too:

Tier 15+ monsters—who could possibly stand in their way?

Maxwell’s eyes were dark. "At this point, we have one option. Abandon the southwest. Order the compounds in that whole region to relocate northwest."

"Buy time," he continued. "Level up. Build strength."

Someone swallowed. "General... a migration on that scale... the losses will be unimaginable. The number of survivors is already low. This could wipe out a huge chunk of what’s left."

"And what’s the alternative?" another officer snapped back. "Wait for those red-skinned monsters to come knocking?"

Maxwell didn’t answer right away, jaw clenched.

Then, from the side of the table, Gabriel Mercer—the current head of the Mercer family—spoke up.

"General Kane... I think you should contact Ethan. He might have a way."

Gabriel’s words clearly moved Maxwell. He pulled out his phone, hesitated for a long moment... then lowered it again.

"Ethan’s strong, but he’s only Tier 12. It won’t be enough," Maxwell said grimly. "He’s young and hot-blooded. I’m worried if I tell him, he’ll charge in on impulse. If that happens, I’d be the one who got him killed."

"General Kane, you’re underestimating him," Gabriel said without hesitation. "If Ethan were really hot-headed and impulsive, the Fallen Star Squad never would’ve made it this far. That kid’s sharp—scary sharp. If he doesn’t have confidence, he won’t take the risk."

"We’re not asking him to fight. Just tell him what’s happening and see if he has an idea."

Maxwell paused, then slowly nodded. "Yeah... you’ve got a point."

He raised the phone and finally dialed Ethan.

Fallen Star City...

Right now, almost everyone in Fallen Star City was busy.

Miles was swamped translating the books Ethan had brought back.

The Energy Absorption Technique was the easy one. It wasn’t much different from the version they’d gotten before—these things seemed to follow the same general template. Miles had it translated in a little over an hour.

But the Ritual Circle Compendium was another story entirely.

It was packed with obscure terms and concepts Miles had never even touched. Translating it felt like trying to read someone else’s dream.

In the end, he dragged every person in the compound who understood ancient language into a room. He even pulled Henry in—since Henry at least knew the basics of ritual circles. Then they locked themselves in and started working like lunatics, forgetting sleep and food.

Everyone else in the compound was just as slammed.

One group was building the Celestial Stairway according to Ethan’s specifications.

The rest were heading to Harrison City to start construction on a new compound.

A major compound meant to hold over a million people wasn’t a "project." It was a monster of an undertaking.

Fallen Star City basically mobilized everyone. On top of that, the Fallen Star Guard brought over more than two hundred thousand people from Stonebridge City compound to help build.

Vivian also sent over her own construction teams first to support the work.

Ironically, the freest people in the whole city were Ethan and his squad.

After walking around Fallen Star City all morning, they ended up at the arena.

Miles had specifically ordered it built so people could spar and build real combat experience.

Fallen Star City had more than one strong healer. Besides Henry, there was also Hannah—the one Ethan had found last time in Harrison City.

Her ability, [Mending], was insanely effective for fresh injuries.

With healers on hand, people in Fallen Star City fought in the arena without holding back.

Right now, though, the arena was empty. Everyone had work to do.

But Ethan and the others hadn’t come to watch fights anyway.

They were here to get used to what they’d gained.

The Celestial Stairway inside the Void Realm had boosted them too hard, too fast. They needed to adapt—stabilize their new strength. And they still weren’t fully familiar with some of their new skills. The arena was the perfect place to grind that in.

The squad members paired off and sparred.

Ethan was the only one working solo.

No choice—his strength was so far above the rest that nobody wanted to be his "sparring partner."

Besides adjusting to his explosive power growth, Ethan needed to get a handle on [Annihilation Strike].

This skill scaled with his strength.

Because it consumed mental energy—and after Tier 6, every Tier-up also increased mental energy—each jump made Annihilation Strike more terrifying.

Back at Tier 12, it could deal damage equal to five times his base strength.

Now at Tier 16, when he tested the feel of it, the multiplier was already over six times.

Ethan couldn’t hide his satisfaction.

It had taken him forever to find this skill, but it was absolutely worth it—something he could use for life. The stronger he got, the more monstrous it became.

Same with the Tier 6 skill he’d chosen: [Teleportation]. That was the kind of ability that never went out of style. No "power creep" could make it obsolete.

"With my current strength..." Ethan clenched his fist, eyes bright. "If I go all out with Annihilation Strike, I should be able to kill someone at Stage B."