Chapter 664: Progenitor Versus Progenitor [Part 4]
But, just before his consciousness fell into complete darkness, an amused voice reached his ears.
"Good job, it was very entertaining," a familiar voice said from within the deepest part of his mind. "I\'ll take it over from here. This Rat and I have a few scores to settle as well."
The Familiar Voice was soothing, making Ethan believe that everything was going to be fine, so he allowed the darkness to embrace him, and fell into a deep sleep.
"Your powers are minessss!" Erass roared as he was about to devour the young man whole.
Suddenly, Erass heard the teenage boy chuckle.
The Giant Rat thought that the boy had given in to desperation, and was simply ridiculing himself for challenging someone as powerful as him.
But, just as the Giant Rat was entertaining this thought, Ethan opened his eyes and glanced at his direction.
For a brief moment, time seemed to come to a complete standstill as Erass gazed at those purple eyes filled with mischief.
Eyes that were familiar to him.
"You did my boy dirty, Erass," Ethan said. "Time for me to pay you back for bullying this child."
As soon as those words left Ethan\'s mouth, he disappeared from where he was and reappeared above the Giant Rat\'s head.
Before Erass could even register what happened, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head.
After that, he found himself falling towards the ground, face first, making the ground quake and creating a crater that was thousands of meters wide.
The Giant Rat propped itself up from the ground before standing tall, glaring at the young man, who seemed to be busy looking at Ethan\'s hands.
"This vessel is simply perfect," Ethan commented. "The descent went smoothly, and didn\'t even need any sacrifices. Not bad."
Seeing that his opponent was ignoring him, Erass didn\'t hesitate to swipe at the teenage boy with his vicious claws.
However, Ethan only raised his hand and grabbed the tip of the rat\'s claws, without even bothering to glance at Erass, who currently had a dumbfounded look on his face.
"At least ninety percent," Ethan commented as he continued to look at Ethan\'s hand. "I can use ninety percent of my power in this body without problems."
Suddenly, ten black wings sprouted from Ethan\'s back, and two small horns appeared on his head.
"Y-Youssss!" Erass stuttered. "Impossiblessss! Howsssss?!!"
"That\'s not how you should greet me, Erass… especially when you\'re just an Avatar," Ethan replied, as he raised his hand that was holding the tip of Erass claw, and lifting the thousand meter-tall Giant Rat as if it was as light as a feather.
Without any warning, Ethan slammed Erass on the ground, making the Giant Rat spit out a mouthful of yellow blood.
"Despicable as always," Ethan chuckled. "You really have no delicacy, Erass. Nothing has changed. Not in the past, the present, or even the future."
"Damn youssss!" Erass cursed. "What are you doing here, XXXXXXX?!"
"You\'re lucky that this boy is already unconscious," Ethan replied. "If he heard my name at this point in time, he would definitely be wary of me. Ah, Sebastian, make sure to not tell him anything, okay? We don\'t want to impede his growth, right?"
Sebastian frowned, but still nodded his head to agree to the entity who had taken control of Ethan\'s body.
"Good, now where was I?" Ethan tilted his head to the side before clapping his hands. "Ah right, it\'s time to clean up the trash."
"Damn you, XXXXXXX!" Erass roared, ready to make his Domain implode in order to destroy the enemy before him.
However, Ethan only snapped his fingers, and the Domain shattered completely, making Erass\' thousand-meter-tall body crumble into a pile of dust.
Erass reverted to his hundred-meter-tall body, and found himself lying on the ground, and looking at his opponent with a gaze filled with hatred and unwillingness.
"Did you really think that an Avatar of yours was enough to defeat me?" Ethan asked in a teasing tone. "If you want to fight, bring your real body. You know where to find me. I\'ll even give you a handicap next time."
"XXXXXXX, I\'ll kill you even if it\'s the last thing I—Argghhhh!"
The Giant Rat was unable to finish whatever it was going to say because it was immediately consumed by purple flames, making its body burn in a blazing inferno.
"Talk is cheap, Erass." Ethan smiled. "If you want to kill me, you should line up. You\'re not the first, and not the last who wishes to kill me."
When the purple flame dispersed, not even the Giant Rat\'s ashes were left.
Ethan then glanced at the Slarka Swamp and arched an eyebrow.
He could easily purify the Slarka Swamp, but decided to not do anything. This was the vengeance of the Ratmen against those who had forced them to flee from their home.
Since it was their greatest wish to defeat the Lizardmen, Ethan decided to just leave the Slarka Swamp as it was.
"Not my problem," Ethan said before disappearing from where he was, and reappearing a few seconds later in the Cloudwall Mountains.
"Hmm… ah, yes. Over there," Ethan muttered before disappearing for a second time.
This time, he reappeared in the underground kingdom of the Ratmen, where their King, Keznir sat on a throne made up of bones.
"Who are youssss?" Keznir asked the moment a being who was emanating with a terrifying power appeared in front of him.
"I can\'t stay for long, so let\'s make this quick," Ethan stated. "Do you wish to live, or do you wish for me to wipe your entire race from the face of this world?"
Faced with a question of survival and extinction, Keznir clenched his claws so hard that they were making noises.
"We serve Lord Erass…," Keznir replied.
"I know," Ethan smirked. "You serve that weakling that I just killed, yes? So, do you want to die as well?"
"No," Keznir answered.
"Good." Ethan nodded. "From now on, you will be my subjects, and you will obey my commands."
Ethan snapped his finger, and a purple ripple spread across the entire mountain, dispersing the corruption that Erass had left behind for the Ratmen race.
"From this moment onwards, you will no longer be Rats that spread plagues and pestilence," Ethan stated. "From now on, you will be the Shadow Rats, who will report only to me."
Keznir, who had lost his former power, and gained another power, couldn\'t help but look at his hands in shock.
He felt more powerful than when he was serving Erass and, with the new ability that he and his race had gained, it was now nearly impossible to wipe them all out, even if they were surrounded by enemies from all sides.
"Well then, I\'ll wake up the owner of this body, so you and him can talk things out," Ethan said. "Remember, his words are my words. You will cooperate with him no matter what, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Your Excellency," Keznir bowed his head respectfully. "But, may I know your exalted namessssss?"
"If your contribution is high enough then I will let you know my name," Ethan replied. "Until then, you will serve this boy faithfully, and without fail, yes?"
"Yesss!" Keznir replied, making the being who had taken over Ethan\'s body temporarily, nod his head in satisfaction.