Chapter 49: Chapter 49: End of the Enterance exam (1)

’ Ethans POV ’

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The morning has come on deserted isle.

The sun blazed high above the deserted isle, casting long shadows through the dense canopy of trees. His white combat tunic, laced with gold trims his clothes—was splattered with monster blood and jungle grime. His chest rose and fell steadily as he finished wiping off his blade.

The soft crunch of leafs underfoot, the salty wind against his face, and the rhythmic crashing of waves against jagged rocks formed a strangely soothing backdrop as Ethan Williams cut down yet another creature.

The beast—a fanged lizard twice his size—let out a screech before it was incinerated in a blast of radiant light.

Golden light danced around Ethan’s palm as his light affinity surged back into a passive state. Another one down. He sighed.

“I thought this was supposed to be a challenge,” he muttered, brushing sand off his uniform.

The creatures of Isle Providence were supposed to be fierce and bloodthirsty.

The Zenith Enterance exam was hyped up as a true battleground to separate the wheat from the chaff. But so far? These peak-Intermediate rank monsters were about as threatening as oversized squirrels.

He didn’t even bother using Dawnbreaker Judgement.

He’d even encountered two Advance-rank monsters—one low and one mid-tier. While they had put up slightly more resistance, they still fell after three to four solid hits of focused light-blade strikes.

Ethan Clad in light-infused battlewear, his sword crackled faintly with golden energy. The Hero of Light, blessed by the Goddess herself, narrowed his eyes as another beast emerged from the undergrowth.

A hulking, obsidian-scaled rhino-beast with molten veins charged at him with fury in its amber eyes.

Ethan moved.

One blink—and he was gone.

In the next instant, he reappeared mid-air, glowing with radiant energy. “Holy Severance.”

He brought his blade down in a radiant arc, splitting the rhino-beast’s armor like paper. The monster roared in pain before collapsing into a pile of steaming, twitching limbs.

Behind it, three more emerged—just like him, their black skin brushing against the treetops.

“Good more points too farm.” Ethan smirked.

The first monster unleashed a breath of acidic mist. Ethan dodged gracefully, stepping through the attack with radiant movement techniques, leaving shimmering footprints in the air.

“Hallowed Burst.”

He thrust his hand forward, releasing a pulse of golden light that blinded the creatures and seared their flesh. Then he blinked forward again, blade flashing.

One head fell. Then another. The last monster tried to retreat—

“No escape.” Ethan’s sword extended with divine light, and the creature was cleaved in half.

50 seconds.

Three monsters.

The jungle was quiet again.

He flicked his EVOband on casually, eyes glancing toward the display.

Current Rank: 2 / 1,000,000

Points: 7410

Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Second?”

His mouth curled into a confused smirk. ” Even after all that famimg of points someone is ahead of me well that make it interesting i wonder who is it.”

He had cleared two Advance-rank beasts and fought almost nonstop for hours. To think someone was outperforming him despite that…

His brows furrowed, but before he could ponder further, a flicker of mana disturbance tickled his senses. Subtle. Almost unnoticeable. But not for someone like Ethan it was like announcing it.

He turned slowly and said aloud, voice calm but heavy with authority, “You can stop hiding. I already know you’re there.”

The brush nearby rustled. A tall figure stepped out, his pace unhurried, a polite—if forced—smile on his face.

Ethan’s gaze sharpened. “Elias.”

The young man from the Church of Lumina walked closer, robes pure white and adorned with golden thread that shimmered with faint enchantments. His silver hair was slicked back, his blue eyes mild and calculating. The holy sigil of the Church sat over his chest like a badge of honor.

Ethan observed the saint candidate carefully. He didn’t show it, but his mind sharpened like a blade.

That guy’s a snake.

He had met Elias a few times after being declared the Hero by the Church. On the surface, Elias was warm, polite, devout. But Ethan had picked up on the jealousy behind those fake smiles, the tension in his polite bows, the way his eyes narrowed when Ethan received praise.

The guy didn’t like him. That much was clear.

“Ah, Hero Ethan Williams,” Elias said, bowing just enough to show respect without losing face. “Chosen of the Goddess herself. It is an honor, as always.”

Ethan forced a nod. “Let’s skip the ceremony. Why were you hiding?”

Elias chuckled, brushing his hair back. “Observing, nothing more. It’s not every day you witness the brilliance of the Chosen One in action. I simply didn’t wish to disturb.”

Bullshit.

Ethan didn’t say it aloud, but his glare was enough to make Elias sweat slightly. He was clearly trying to gauge Ethan’s power. Possibly to report back.

But Ethan wasn’t stupid. He didn’t want drama with the Church—especially not because of some brat whose father held high standing in the In the church.

Still, if his father hadn’t told him to keep his interactions clean, he might have ’accidentally’ elbowed Elias into a pitfall.

Ethan was pulled from his thoughts as Elias began speaking again.

“Still, you’re truly amazing. All this strength… it must be such a burden. To carry the will of the Goddess and the hopes of the world. And yet, you make it look so effortless.”

He was laying it on thick.

Ethan didn’t respond. He just stared.

Elias’ internal monologue, however, was anything but reverent.

’ Why him? Why not me?’

He grit his teeth behind his smile. ’ I’ve trained under the clergy since I was ten. I’ve healed hundreds. I’ve memorized scriptures. I’m the future Saint. But no—

This muscle-brained sword-swinger got the title. And all because the Goddess smiled at him once.’

He forced himself to remain still. Ethan’s strength was terrifying. Even now, standing only a few feet away, Elias could feel the raw mana density around him. He wasn’t sure he’d even survive a minute if they fought.

Then, like a fool, his jealousy slipped out through his tongue.

“You seem to be getting rather close with that silver-haired commoner lately.”

Ethan’s gaze shifted.

“What was his name again?” Elias tapped his chin. “Alex Dragonheart, was it? Even the name sounds made-up.”

Ethan’s expression was unreadable.

Elias continued, oblivious to the storm he was stirring. “You should be careful, Ethan. People like that… they’ll use your name to climb. You never know when they’ll stab you in the back.”

“You should be extremely careful with People like that—they latch onto powerful people like leeches. They’re just waiting to betray you.”

He smirked. “They’re beneath us, you know? No matter how strong they get. They’ll never be worthy of standing beside people like us.

“And honestly…” he gave a fake sigh, “it’s such a shame. A hero chosen by the goddess of light herself associating himself with lowborn trash like that?”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence.

A pulse of pressure burst from Ethan.

The air shimmered around him. The light in his eyes intensified.

“Are you ordering me around, Elias?” Ethan said, voice cold.

Elias took a step back.

“You think I care what you or your holier-than-thou daddy think? Watch your tongue.”

“Ethan, I—”

“I’m not your church puppet. I don’t answer to you. So if you dare try to tell me again who should I associate with or not because it will not be good for you.

Listen closely what I do and whom I associate with is none of your damn business including the church.”

Elias wanted to argue at that but he knew better than too speak right now.

But ethan cut him off again.” I don’t give a damn who your father is or what title you hold. You may be the Church’s little lapdog, but I’m not one of your pawns.”

The ground around Ethan shimmered faintly with golden light. Birds took flight from nearby trees.

The killing intent had spiked.

” So this is my first and last warning to you never try to tell me what to do or I’ll make sure that you can never tell me anything.”

Elias flinched. His knees trembled slightly. His fingers curled. He wanted to shout, to curse, to scream.

But he lowered his head. “…Apologies.”

Elias said, though his clenched jaw betrayed his silent rage. ’ I’ll make you pay for this humiliation.’

Ethan stared at him a second longer before turning away.

Inside, Elias seethed. You arrogant dog. You’ll regret humiliating me. I swear it.

A moment later, an announcement rang out from the sky.

“Remaining Candidates: 2300. Once the number drops to 2000 the enterance exam will end, teleportation to Zenith Academy will begin.”

Both boys looked up at the sound. Then they felt it.

Another presence.

A young man rushed toward them, out of breath, his robes stained with dirt . “Sir Elias!” he shouted, panting. “We’ve spotted the silver-haired heretic! He’s moving eastward on the island!”

Ethan’s ears perked up.

His lips curved into a smile.

“So there you are.”

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