Chapter 171: The bullet!

"Let me borrow it," she said.

Without waiting for Ethan to answer, Laira hooked the Boundless Fishing Rod onto the edge of the Cataclysmic Thunder Gate, then grabbed the frame formed from lightning. Black-purple electricity instantly surged across her arm, but Mumu’s buff surrounding Laira flashed brightly, forcibly blocking most of the damage. She gritted her teeth and rotated the entire gate as though turning an enormous shield.

The lava spear slammed directly into the Cataclysmic Thunder Gate. A terrifying explosion erupted as lightning and flames intertwined, creating an energy wave that caused several nearby volcanoes to crack even further. But the gate did not break. Laira was pushed a long distance backward through the air, her feet dragging out two streaks of light across the sky, but she still held tightly onto the Cataclysmic Thunder Gate.

The moment the lava spear lost its momentum, Laira shouted and swung the gate violently forward. The Cataclysmic Thunder Gate was no longer a long-range attack skill. In Laira’s hands, it had truly become an enormous shield covered in lightning. Carrying the entire gate with her, she charged toward the Flame Bone Dragon and slammed it directly into the monster’s head.

The Flame Bone Dragon’s enormous skull was smashed violently to one side by the Cataclysmic Thunder Gate. Lightning erupted from the gate’s frame and poured into the cracks Laira had created earlier, shattering the black-purple crystals covering its head. The monster lost its balance, its enormous body spinning through the air before crashing heavily into the battlefield.

Laira did not stop. She released the Cataclysmic Thunder Gate and let Ethan withdraw the skill, then wrapped the Boundless Fishing Rod around the Flame Bone Dragon’s neck. Ruo Yan immediately brought both hands together as well. Soul Threads shot in from all directions, tightly binding the wings, legs, and tail of the falling Bone Dragon. The Undead Mage poured all of its deathly energy into the threads, preventing the monster from taking flight again.

The Flame Bone Dragon crashed into the ground, creating an enormous crater. The Burning flames on its chest continued spreading, preventing the pierced lava core from closing. The Void Eye in the sky also seemed to realize that the situation was turning against it. Its black-purple pupil contracted, while the spatial tear around it slowly began to close.

"Trying to run?"

Ethan raised his head, his gaze turning completely cold.

He had already allowed Ryan to escape from the Lava Sea once. This time, the Void Eye had appeared directly in front of him and even mutated the Flame Bone Dragon. Ethan had no intention of letting it leave so easily.

He raised his hand and opened the Cataclysmic Thunder Gate once again, but instead of placing it in front of the Flame Bone Dragon, he positioned it directly along the straight line between himself and the Void Eye.

The lightning within the gate stopped firing outward. Instead, it converged toward the center, forming a continuously rotating stream of black-purple energy.

Ethan stood behind the Cataclysmic Thunder Gate and slowly raised Realm Breaker.

All the remaining power in his body was drawn into the gun. Even the energy Mumu had just transferred to him was emptied in an instant.

Mumu noticed his condition and immediately returned to its small spherical form before clinging tightly to Ethan’s shoulder, trying to transfer even more energy into him.

Ruo Yan saw that his face had turned so pale that it was almost completely bloodless and wanted to say something, but when she saw that Ethan was still keeping the gun perfectly steady, she only tightened the Soul Threads further.

"Hold the dragon down," Ethan said in a low voice. "With this shot, I’m hitting the eye."

Laira was restraining the Flame Bone Dragon’s neck with the Boundless Fishing Rod. Hearing Ethan, she immediately pulled with all her strength.

Ruo Yan also controlled the Undead Mage to block the monster’s head.

Neither of them gave the Bone Dragon any chance to turn around and interfere, while Mumu desperately maintained the final stream of energy around Ethan’s body.

The Void Eye seemed to sense danger.

The spatial tear around it began closing faster, while the black-purple smoke frantically rolled backward.

Ethan took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

The instant the bullet left Realm Breaker and passed through the Cataclysmic Thunder Gate, all the lightning within the gate seemed to be drawn into the projectile.

The red-black bullet instantly transformed into a chaotic streak of light. Black-purple lightning wrapped around the outside, while the Burning flame created by Realm Breaker burned within.

It tore through the air, pierced through the rotating Magic Arrays in the sky, then shot directly toward the Void Eye.

The space along its trajectory shattered instantly.

Black cracks spread across the sky, making the entire Ember Battlefield look as though it had been twisted by an invisible hand.

Several nearby volcanoes exploded under the shock, lava surging upward into towering pillars of fire.

The Void Eye did not attempt to block the bullet.

Its black-purple pupil suddenly expanded, pulling the spatial tear in front of it open into an endless abyss.

Just as the bullet was about to strike, it was swallowed by the Void.

The violent streak of light vanished in an instant, as though it had never existed.

The Void Eye trembled violently. Several faint cracks appeared around its pupil, but it still quickly pulled all of its black-purple smoke and remaining energy into the spatial tear.

Before Ethan could fire a second shot, the enormous eye completely disappeared.

The sky immediately returned to its dark red color.

Ethan lowered Realm Breaker, breathing heavily.

He knew that the previous shot had not been enough to kill the Void Eye. The other side had used the Void itself to swallow the bullet, while Ethan currently did not possess enough power to force a projectile through an endless region of space.

However, the cracks that had appeared across the eye were not an illusion.

At the very least, this time it had not escaped completely unharmed.

After the Void Eye disappeared, the Magic Arrays around the volcanoes also began collapsing one after another.

The black-purple crystals covering the Flame Bone Dragon lost their energy source and began cracking apart before falling like hailstones.

The monster struggled several more times, but the Burning flames on its chest still prevented it from recovering.

In the end, it could only lie motionless inside the deep crater, while the flames inside its eye sockets gradually returned to their original white-gold color.

Laira exhaled and released the Boundless Fishing Rod.

"Next time you open a gate like that, tell me first. I think it makes a very good shield."

"I’ll consider it."

Ethan replied, then looked at Mumu, who had gone completely limp on his shoulder.

"But next time, don’t stand right behind me when I’m draining all of your energy."

Hearing that, Mumu only let out a weak cry before curling into a ball.

It was clearly too exhausted to argue.

Ruo Yan walked over to the Flame Bone Dragon.

She looked at the cracks across its enormous skeleton, then at the black-purple crystals gradually dissolving on the ground, her gaze becoming slightly serious.

"It was forcibly controlled by the Void, but its own energy core is still intact. If we leave it lying here, something else might use it again later."

Ethan had been thinking the same thing.

He looked at the remaining materials beside him. Most of them were monster bones, refined metals, and Energy Crystals he had decomposed from the battlefield.

Earlier, he had only used the most suitable portion to fuse with Realm Breaker, so a large quantity of material still remained unused.

His gaze remained on the Flame Bone Dragon for a moment before a slow smile appeared on his face.

"Then let’s not leave it as a wild dragon."

Ruo Yan paused slightly, then immediately understood what he meant.

The Soul Threads at her fingertips trembled, and an anticipation she could barely hide appeared in her eyes.

"You want to turn it into a puppet?"

"Its skeleton is hard enough, its lava core is still intact, and it can fly."

As Ethan spoke, he took out the remaining materials.

"If we rebuild the damaged parts and replace the Void crystals with a stable control core, it will be far more useful than the Undead Mage."

The Undead Mage stood behind Ruo Yan, the blue flames inside its eye sockets flickering repeatedly.

It looked at the Flame Bone Dragon, then at itself holding a long bone in its hands.

Its appearance resembled someone who had just seen the worker that was about to replace them at every job.

Ethan placed his hand on the Bone Dragon’s skeletal frame.

Decomposition separated the remaining Void crystals from its joints, while Fusion pulled the prepared monster bones and refined metals into the cracks.

The Lava Energy Crystals were ground into glowing powder that flowed throughout the entire skeleton like new blood.

Ruo Yan stood beside Ethan and controlled her Soul Threads, guiding each piece of material into the correct position, while Mumu, despite being exhausted, still forced out a layer of pale golden energy to help stabilize the process.

When the core inside the chest had been repaired, Ethan placed a fused piece of refined metal over it, creating a new control point.

Ruo Yan immediately sent her thinnest Soul Thread into the core, then slowly poured her spiritual energy inside.

The flames in the Flame Bone Dragon’s eye sockets went out.

One second later, they ignited again.

This time, the flames were still white-gold, but deep within them was a faint blue strand of light identical to Ruo Yan’s Soul Threads.

The enormous skeleton slowly planted its front legs against the ground, folded its wings, then lowered its head toward her.

Ruo Yan stood before it, still trying to maintain a calm expression, but her eyes had clearly lit up.

She raised a hand and gently touched the scorching bone on the Flame Bone Dragon’s forehead, then spoke very softly.

"From today onward, you belong to me."

Behind her, the Undead Mage looked at the new puppet that was dozens of times taller than itself, then slowly placed the bone in its hands onto the ground.

The blue flames inside its eye sockets visibly brightened.

Ethan saw its reaction and could not stop himself from laughing.

"Don’t worry. From now on, leave the large bones to it. You only need to handle the lighter work."

The Undead Mage immediately straightened its body.

The Flame Bone Dragon lowered its head toward the remaining materials scattered across the battlefield, then silently spread its wings.

Ethan looked at the enormous skeleton preparing to become their new worker, then at Realm Breaker in his hand after its completed fusion, and finally at the pile of loot they had not yet finished collecting.

He smiled with satisfaction and said:

"This kind of start is almost too good."