Chapter 92: Fighting the city lord.

The silver aura radiating from Ezekiel suggested reason had already departed the conversation.

Footsteps echoed across broken stone as Ruan and Zhao approached. Both generals had sensed the monkey’s death—the sudden absence of that overwhelming presence that had dominated the battlefield.

They arrived to find their City Lord radiating barely controlled hostility toward the anomaly who had saved them on multiple occasions.

This is not good.

“My Lord?” Ruan ventured carefully. “Is there a problem?”

Ezekiel didn’t turn, eyes locked on Ethan. “This… individual refuses to explain his capabilities. Claims to be a simple citizen despite demonstrating talents that defy anything we’ve encountered before.”

Here we go again.

The thought flickered across both generals’ minds simultaneously. They’d witnessed this pattern before—whenever someone displayed power that threatened Ezekiel’s authority, accusations followed.

Then convenient deaths.

General Morrison, who had a C- Rank talent, had been “discovered” as a traitor.

All threats to the established hierarchy were eliminated without question.

“Sir,” Zhao attempted intervention, “perhaps we could discuss this after—”

“He’d better explain. Now.”

“I won’t tolerate foreign agents operating in my city.”

Foreign agents.

Ruan’s stomach twisted. Once that accusation was made, there was rarely any coming back. The City Lord’s paranoia had already decided Ethan’s fate.

Yet neither general could openly challenge their superior. Ezekiel’s power exceeded their combined capabilities by orders of magnitude.

Opposing him meant death.

Ethan studied the three figures before him—one radiating lethal intent, two trapped by political necessity despite obvious reluctance.

He’s not trying to listen at all.

He had tried to think that the city lord was being paranoid about him being a spy.

But that was a lie, he wasn’t trying to investigate either. It was a predetermined execution masquerading as justice.

Noah’s expression finally relaxed.

“None of your business.”

The words dropped like stones into still water.

“Do something about it if you’re so worried.”

What?

The air turned arctic as Ezekiel stopped his advance. Silver energy compressed around him until everyone around him felt the pressure.

“What did you just say to me?”

Before Ethan could respond, the City Lord vanished.

Danger cascaded down Ethan’s spine like ice water. He activated every defensive talent simultaneously—Crystal Hardening for protection, Enhanced Speed for evasion, Wind manipulation to accelerate his movement, Protective Shield as final barrier.

The attack materialized from empty air—Ezekiel’s axe descending with force that the very air seemed to split.

The weapon carved through Wind barriers like tissue paper, shattered his Protective Shield on contact, and punched through Crystal Hardening with contemptuous ease.

The impact launched Ethan across the battlefield, his body carving a furrow through broken stone before slamming into a collapsed building. Debris rained down as the structure partially collapsed from the impact.

Nearly as strong as the behemoth’s attacks. Even after my defences had taken the strongest part of the attack, the initial one.

Blood ran freely from the gash across his chest, Crystal Hardening having prevented disembowelment but not injury. Pain lanced through damaged ribs as he struggled to rise.

“So… you chose to die… huh?” Ethan muttered, spitting some blood onto the shattered pavement.

Ezekiel approached with predatory eyes, his axe dripping with Ethan’s blood.

“What did you say to me, you little shit?”

Ethan met those cold eyes without flinching

“I said… You talk too much. Someone should shut you up…forever.”

It’s good that I wasn’t naive enough to remain under his mercy. Killing the monkey was worth the risk.

<Transformation Active: Lazy Monkey (Peak-Silver)>

Power erupted around Ethan in cascading waves of silver energy.

His frame expanded, his muscles swelling with supernatural strength while his aura blazed with intensity that matched the fallen monkey’s previous might.

The transformation completed in seconds, revealing a figure that radiated the power of those at the Peak of silver.

Ruan’s sword clattered from nerveless fingers. “Impossible…”

Zhao staggered backwards, lightning flickering weakly around her spear. “That aura…Those looks..it’s identical to the monkey’s.”

How?

Ezekiel’s eyes widened with shock that transcended mere surprise.

The energy signature was perfect—not similar but identical to the creature he’d just finished battling to exhaustion.

“What are you?” The question emerged as a barely controlled whisper.

Ethan’s response came as he retrieved the monkey’s fallen staff from where it lay abandoned.

“Like I said, none of your business.”

The staff extended to its full length with a thought.

“Impossible,” Ezekiel breathed. “Transformation abilities don’t work that way. You can’t just copy—”

The staff struck his axe mid-sentence, impact sending shockwaves across the ruined district. Both weapons rang like bells.

“Apparently they do.”

Ezekiel’s shock transformed into rage.

His axe work intensified, each strike carrying the precision of decades spent perfecting his craft.

This was the weapon mastery that had secured his position, refined through countless battles into his own art form.

The staff met every attack with grace. Ethan moved like water made solid, defensive patterns flowing into offensive strikes without conscious transition. The monkey’s combat experience had integrated perfectly with his own enhanced capabilities.

This feels so natural, just like muscle memory.

Their weapons danced in deadly harmony—axe and staff creating patterns too complex for those around them to track.

Each exchange sent sparks across broken stone, silver energies clashing with force that made nearby buildings tremble.

Ruan and Zhao retreated to a safer distance, neither capable of intervention in combat that exceeded their power.

“He’s matching the City Lord,” Zhao whispered, awe overriding fear. “Strike for strike.”

More than matching. Ruan thought grimly.

Indeed, Ethan’s movements carried efficiency that Ezekiel’s couldn’t quite achieve. Where the City Lord relied on overwhelming power backed by perfect technique, Ethan employed supernatural understanding that anticipated attacks before they fully formed.

The staff found gaps in Ezekiel’s defence that shouldn’t have existed, striking his shoulder, ribs, and thigh.

Usually, those positions would be guarded by Ezekiel’s stance, but due to his fatigue from fighting the Monkey, Ezekiel was no longer able to maintain his guard at a hundred percent.

Ethan pressed his advantage without mercy.

Ezekiel stumbled backwards, his silver aura weakening as the fight continued.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep