NOVEL NEXT Chapter 65: Dead?
'Mana Manipulation…!'
The next instant—
The air around him shuddered.
A faint swirl appeared—
Natural mana, drawn from the world around him,
converged on him like a tide.
It rushed into him.
His depleted reserves—refilling at once.
His body, which had been running on fumes,
suddenly flared back to life with surging power.
At the same time—
He forced the mana within him to circulate.
Faster.
Harder.
Pushing it through every inch of his mana circuits.
A red glint flickered in his eyes.
His breathing steadied.
"Let's do this…"
His voice was low.
Cold.
Like a blade drawn from its sheath.
His grip around his sword tightened.
His blood boiled.
His spirit blazed.
The first to make a move were the Skyrazor Crows.
A sharp, commanding caw! split through the air—
And then, they descended.
Multiple Skyrazor Crows dove at Ethan from above,
their eyes glinting with crazed ferocity,
their black wings slicing through the air like blades.
Ethan gritted his teeth,
his muscles tensing as he swung his sword with everything he had.
Clang-!
Shhk-!!
Slice-!!
He deflected the first wave of claws and beaks,
his blade already glowing faintly—
imbued with his mana,
making every slash razor-sharp, deadly.
One crow fell.
Then another.
Then three more, their black bodies tumbling lifelessly from the sky.
But for every one he struck down—
ten more took its place.Their numbers were endless. Their shrieks tore through his ears as they swarmed like a living storm.
Ahead of him— the ground trembled.
The wolves were closing in.
Fast.
Very fast!
A pack of Bloodhowl Wolves— so massive in numbers they made the ground quake beneath their paws.
Ethan's pupils shrank.
They were everywhere.
Surging like a black tide,
their numbers easily surpassing a thousand.
Their Alpha; the true monster leading this pack—
had yet to show itself. But Ethan could feel it;
Its oppressive presence lurked behind the mass,
silently issuing commands that made the pack move in perfect unison.
His situation was dire.
Beyond dire.
Forget the wolves.
Forget the crows tearing at him from the sky.
Above— high up, circling like vultures—
the Thunderwing Drakes loomed.
Their huge wings stretched wide as they rotated in slow, deliberate circles, their reptilian eyes watching the chaos unfold below.
Observing.
Waiting.
Ethan knew—
the moment those Drakes decided to dive in—
the moment they made their move directly—
it would be over.
Utterly over.
No tricks, no resistance.
A single bolt of lightning breath from them—
and he'd be turned to ashes.
His heart pounded.
His grip around his sword tightened until it hurt.
This was the brink.
The edge between life and death.
And he had no choice—
but to keep swinging.
To keep fighting.
To keep surviving.
Unknowingly, as he cut down more and more ravens— while the wolves rapidly closed the distance— Ethan's Fatebreaking points had already surpassed a hundred.
But he didn't know that.
Right now, he wasn't thinking about points.
He was trying to survive.
'They should be close enough now…'
While it seemed like he had completely ignored the wolves, his sword only dancing against the crows.
But he hadn't. Not for a second.
His mind stayed locked on the Bloodhowl Wolves too. He didn't dare forget. Didn't dare ignore them.
His sword began to hum, a low, dangerous vibration— the mana pouring into it had reached a tipping point, like water ready to burst through a dam.
"Mana Slash!"
—Swoosh-!!!!
A brilliant blue arc of mana erupted from his blade,
slicing through the air like a crescent of pure destruction.
It flew out in a straight line—
sharp, fast, unstoppable—
like a flash of lightning tearing through the storm.
And when it hit the wave of wolves charging at him; It was like a scythe cutting through a field of grass.
Flesh split.
Bones shattered.
Dozens of wolves—more than fifty—were cleaved apart in an instant, their bodies thrown aside like rag dolls, blood spraying in great arcs across the ground.
The charging wave of black fur and fangs—
was instantly cleared out, as if an invisible giant had swept his hand across the earth.
For a brief, precious second—
the ground in front of Ethan was empty.
Silent.
That was his chance.
His moment to breathe.
He didn't waste it.
Without pause, he shifted his stance,
his sword moving in a blur as he deflected two ravens diving at his head.
Their bodies split mid-air, black feathers exploding everywhere.
He gritted his teeth—
fueling more mana into his blade.
More.
Faster.
With Mana Manipulation already leveled up to Level 4, Ethan could keep fighting—
even as his personal reserves drained.
Because now, he wasn't just using his own mana.
He was directly drawing in the natural mana from around him, feeding it into his sword,
strengthening his strikes, powering his attacks.
His breathing was rough.
His heart was pounding.
But his sword— his sword burned brighter.
And he was far from done. He wasn't going to go down easily.
With Mana Sense active, his superhuman reflexes sharpened to the limit, and the speed boost from his active Mana Boots— Ethan was able to handle the chaos.
For now, at least.
The Rank 2 elites among the Skyrazor Crows and Bloodhowl Wolves hadn't made their move yet.
So his situation wasn't completely desperate.
But it was still dire— because Ethan knew—
even without the Thunderwing Drakes descending… just a little pressure from the true powerhouses hiding in those flocks and packs…
And he'd be dead.
His heart thudded harder— because deep down, he knew his fragile balance could snap at any second.
And then— it happened.
Suddenly, a low rumble shook the air— followed by the sharp, crackling hiss of building electricity.
Ethan's instincts screamed — his Mana Sense flared.
Something was coming.
Fast.
Unbelievably fast.
His eyes barely caught it— a spear of blinding lightning cutting through the sky like a divine judgment, hurtling straight at him.
Even with his insane reflexes, even with Mana Boots burning at full force— he knew.
He couldn't dodge it.
Death—
was less than a breath away.