Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

When Ethan began to feel his limbs getting heavier, his vision cleaned up a bit, and then he took a deep breath. The number of enemies around him had decreased a bit, and some of them even tried to move away from him. It looked like they weren't that braindead beasts… Considering what Hannah said, maybe the people that turned into those things still have some of their instincts even in that shape.

Still, all of a sudden, several of them jumped and dashed to attack Ethan at the same time. They didn't want to leave a single hole in their formation to give him a chance to escape… if they weren't being controlled, they sure were good at thinking strategically.

In the end, Ethan just jumped a bit and then used Blaze Enchantment, followed by Explosive Impact. When his sword hit the ground, it created a massive Shockwave of flames in the shape of a some that spread around and melted all the enemies nearby with their armor.

You obtained 150 experience points.

You obtained 30 coins.

You obtained 150 experience points.

You obtained 30 coins.

…

Ethan felt like sighing in relief, but his instincts told him that it wasn't over… at the same time, he felt some bloodlust coming from his front and his back. His first instinct was to swing his sword around as fast as possible. Still, he flinched for a moment when Ian suddenly appeared in front of him and swung his daggers toward his neck.

In the next moment, Ian disappeared again, and then Ethan heard the sound of metal colliding dozens of times in a few moments behind him… when he turned around, he saw Ian facing a weird individual wearing a long dark cloak. They passed Ethan the same vibes as the other guy he faced alongside Ivan and Anna.

"Did I scare you?" Ian asked while smiling. "This was kind of fun… anyway, who could have thought that the enemy would target you instead of Dante. Maybe they thought that you are the worst enemy… nah, they probably thought that you would be an easier target."

Ethan to kick that guy's back, but it wasn't time for that… numerous enemies were around, and they didn't have time for that. In any case, it looked like the enemy had some skills that were similar to Ian, and that was why Ethan only felt their approach at the last moment. Ian also mimicked the enemy's actions to remain in his blind spot.

"Move. I will slice that bitch in half," Ethan said.

"It is probably impossible for you," Ian declared. "That guy can also become intangible… you don't have the means to attack something that can physically disappear from a spot, can you?"

That spoke volumes of Ian's skills and why he didn't feel his presence until the last minute… Ethan recalled that one of the most powerful soldiers in the demon king's army had someone like that, and Ethan only managed to get rid of him in the last battle against the enemy's forces. It was annoying, but he was right… Moreover, as soon as Ethan thought of that, the enemy disappeared like the place they were in had distorted;

"Where are my thanks?" Ian asked after he turned around.

"Up your ass," Ethan declared and then assumed his fighting stance again, but then he saw the monsters retreating. "What the hell…"

"It looks like that guy was controlling them somehow…" Ian rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Ethan looked to the side and then saw the same thing happening with Dante's targets. He looked like the type who would chase the enemies, but Hannah didn't give the order, and he looked serious about following her lead.

"Hannah… what did you get from all this?" Ethan asked.

"That guy… his mana reading wasn't anything like I saw before," Hannah replied and then stayed silent for a while. "You said that you saw someone like that before?"

"It felt like the same type of person… that other guy seemed tougher, though," Ethan replied.

"Hmm… Anyway, protect the perimeter," Hannah said while she was checking the other areas. "Emily and Aline should head East and West to help the other battlefields with obstacles. Things are a bit under control, but that will help with damage control."

"Why not us? I didn't do much here…" Ian protested.

"Your skills aren't of much use when you don't want to use them. As for the other two, they stand out too much," Hannah explained. "Mages on the backlines won't stand out that much."

"You told us to fight without disguise… you need to decide if we want us to stand out or not," Ethan said and then sighed.

Hannah probably wanted to use them to increase the morale of the troops in case they were forced to fight soon. However, Ethan still was a bit too into fighting since he let his instincts run wild again. Nevertheless, soon he calmed down and retreated to one of the obstacles. Dante was already standing at the top of one of them, watching the enemies regrouping far beyond the city. At the same time, Ethan could feel Dante's gaze now and then… he looked puzzled since Ethan had achieved as much as him despite being weaker.

"... I have heard that you also have a leveling system, but I didn't imagine that your power could be that situational," Dante suddenly said.

"You, on the other hand, look like you are always at your peak," Ethan said after he crossed his arms.

"I suppose… Still, that kind of power-up without using proper skills and spells… how did you do that?" Dante asked, visibly curious.

Ethan wondered for a while if he should answer the question. It wasn't like revealing that would make anyone know a way to counter his ability. Still, revealing things for free wasn't something that he wanted to do.

"I doubt that you would be able to pull it off… even if you could do, how much do you want to pay for that information?" Ethan asked.