Chapter 199: Tier 13 Kirin ×2

Chapter 199: Tier 13 Kirin ×2"Oh?" Ethan’s eyes lit up with interest, a flicker of excitement flashing across his face. Whoosh! In the blink of an eye, his figure blurred—Holy Armament activated. Angelic wings burst from his back with a radiant flare, and with a powerful beat, he shot into the air like a missile, streaking toward the enemy ship’s deck at breakneck speed. Boom! Before Pirate King Draven could even react, Ethan landed right in front of him with a heavy thud. He crouched slightly, still towering over Draven, a half-smile playing on his lips as he looked down at him. "I hope what you’ve got to say is actually worth my time," Ethan said coolly. "Because if it’s not, killing you once might not be enough." Draven’s face went stiff. He clenched his jaw and blurted out, "It’s about the Creature Dwelling of a Legendary Unit!" Ethan’s eyes narrowed. "A Legendary Unit’s Creature Dwelling? You serious?" "Dead serious!" Draven said without hesitation. Ethan went quiet for a moment, then said flatly, "Everyone else, get out. He stays." "Yes, sir..." Draven nodded quickly and barked at his crew, "All of you, back to the hold! Now!" The moment the words left his mouth, the entire crew—soldiers and all—looked like they’d just been pardoned from death row. They scrambled to retreat below deck, not daring to look back. "Alright," Ethan said, his tone calm but firm. "Start talking. What’s going on?" Draven took a deep breath and launched into it. "My lord, you’ve heard of the Stellamaris Kingdom, right? Darek used demonic power to locate one of their Legendary Units—the Kirin’s Creature Dwelling!" "Who the hell is Darek?" Ethan asked, frowning. "And what’s the Stellamaris Kingdom?" "You don’t know?" Draven blinked in surprise, then quickly explained. "The Stellamaris Kingdom was one of the dominant powers in this sea thousands of years ago—rivaled only by the Crimsonstar Kingdom!" "They were insanely powerful, especially their navy. At their peak, they had two Creature Dwellings for the Legendary Unit Kirin, and nearly twenty 11th and 12th Tier dwellings for Naga Swordsmen and Naga Swordmasters!" "But after the Demon War thousands of years ago, they took massive losses. Their strength was crippled. Crimsonstar Kingdom took advantage of the situation, and eventually, Stellamaris collapsed completely. The Crimsonstar Kingdom and two other maritime empires carved up their territory." Draven paused, then continued, locking eyes with Ethan. "Thing is, back then, only one of the two Kirin Creature Dwellings was ever found. Crimsonstar took it. But the second one? It vanished. No one’s seen it since. It’s like it just disappeared off the face of the world..." "Disappeared?" Ethan’s brows furrowed. "You mean... a pocket dimension?" Exactly. A pocket dimension—an alternate space twisted off from the main world. It exists alongside reality but remains completely separate. If you don’t know where the entrance is, you could spend your whole life looking and never find it. And once you’re inside, you’re cut off from the outside world. No one can sense you, no one can reach you. "Yeah..." Draven nodded, eyes glinting with a strange light. "Some people have speculated that the last Kirin Creature Dwelling was hidden inside a pocket dimension, but no one ever found the entrance, so the whole thing just faded into rumor." He paused, then added, "But it turns out, that’s exactly what happened. The final Kirin Creature Dwelling from the Stellamaris Kingdom is hidden inside a pocket dimension. And get this—some of the Stellamaris people didn’t die in the war. The ones who escaped? They fled into that dimension and survived." Draven turned to Ethan, his voice lowering slightly. "The Darek I mentioned? He’s one of their descendants." "And he’s also a traitor to the Stellamaris bloodline." "A traitor?" Ethan’s brow furrowed. "So who exactly is this Darek?" "In the coastal waters near the Unicorn Duchy, there are three Pirate Kings. I’m one of them. The other two are Seyric... and Darek." Draven’s tone grew heavier. "Out of the three of us, Seyric’s the weakest. Darek? He’s the strongest by far. His naval power is so formidable, he could go toe-to-toe with the Unicorn Duchy’s official navy and not be at a disadvantage." He paused again, then continued, "But there’s more. Darek’s not just some pirate—he’s got royal blood. He’s a direct descendant of the Stellamaris royal family. He was born in the pocket dimension, but after losing a power struggle for the throne, he snapped. Tried to stage a coup. Got caught. And was exiled." "After being kicked out, he drifted across the seas, had some kind of lucky break, and eventually rose to become the Pirate King he is now." Ethan’s eyes narrowed, thoughts racing. So he lost the throne and couldn’t let it go... got exiled, and now he’s out here building power? Yeah, that kind of guy’s a walking time bomb. Should’ve been put down the moment he got kicked out. Letting him live was just asking for trouble. "What happened after that?" Ethan asked, his voice calm but sharp. Draven exhaled. "Once Darek became a Pirate King and built up his forces, he tried several times to return to the pocket dimension and wipe out the remnants of Stellamaris. But they saw it coming. They managed to forcibly shift the entrance to the dimension before he could get in." "Now? Darek has no idea where the entrance is anymore." Ethan blinked. "Wait—you can move the entrance to a pocket dimension?" "We can’t do it—but Kirin can!" Draven explained, his tone urgent. "Normally, rift entrances to alternate dimensions form naturally. So if you can alter the natural structure around them, you can shift the entrance—at least within a limited range." "I get it now..." Ethan’s eyes lit up with realization. "So Darek agreed to work with the Inferno Devil, using its mastery over spatial manipulation to track the dimensional shift and pinpoint the new entrance!" "Exactly!" Draven nodded. "A rift to another dimension is basically a type of spatial gateway. Every time it moves, it leaves behind traces—residual distortions in space. If you can detect those traces, you can roughly triangulate where the new portal is. From there, it’s just a matter of narrowing it down. It can’t hide forever." "But..." Ethan frowned slightly, skeptical. "Here’s what I don’t get. Based on what you said earlier, Darek isn’t even as strong as the Unicorn Duchy’s navy. And the remnants of the Stellamaris Kingdom have been hiding in that alternate dimension for, what, over ten thousand years? That’s a hell of a long time to grow and build power. Plus, they’ve got a Legendary Unit’s Creature Dwelling under their control. And yet they’re scared of some pirates? That doesn’t add up." "Ten thousand years is definitely enough time to grow into a formidable force..." "But, my lord, you’re missing one crucial detail," Draven said, dropping the mystery and getting straight to the point. "That alternate dimension might be safe—but it’s tiny. And tiny means no resources." Ethan paused, then gave a slow, thoughtful nod. Right. Resources and gold might not be as flashy as troops or hero units, but they’re the foundation of everything. Without them, you’ve got nothing. Whether it’s recruiting units, hiring hero units, resurrecting fallen troops, building castles, or upgrading structures... Every single aspect of development needs resources and gold. Even the best Michelin-star chef can’t cook without ingredients. So even if you’ve got a Legendary Unit’s Creature Dwelling—hell, even if you’ve got ten or a hundred of them—if you don’t have the money or resources to recruit from them, they’re worthless. And the people of the Stellamaris Kingdom hiding in that alternate dimension? Their identities are too sensitive. They can’t just walk around in the outside world gathering resources or building influence. That would be suicide. If the Crimsonstar Kingdom caught wind of them, they’d launch an investigation immediately. And once that happens, it’s only a matter of time before they’re found. "Also," Draven added, "I remember Darek mentioning that the Kirin’s Creature Dwelling in that dimension has already fallen into ruin. It’s been so long that a Soul Sentinel has spawned there." "Ruined?" Ethan blinked, surprised. In the world of Glory Lords X, if a Creature Dwelling goes too long without being used to recruit units, one of two things happens: either it decays and loses its recruitment function entirely, or it spawns a Soul Sentinel and reverts to a wild Creature Dwelling. "Yeah, so now Darek’s invited me and Seyric to launch a joint attack on the alternate dimension," Draven said slowly, locking eyes with Ethan. "If we pull it off, that place becomes our base. From there, we can break off, crown ourselves kings, and build a pirate nation." He leaned in slightly, voice lowering. "My lord, if you’re willing to let me go, I can take you there. All you’d need is a disguise—nothing fancy—and you could slip in without anyone noticing..." Ethan fell silent for a moment, then asked quietly, "The two Kirin in your ship’s hold—who do they belong to?" Draven’s pupils shrank. He gave a bitter smile. "I bought them in the Crimsonstar Kingdom. But I only purchased their soul ownership. If you want them, my lord, I’ll hand them over." "I want the Kirin. I want this warship. And you’re taking me to the alternate dimension," Ethan said without hesitation. "Do that, and I’ll let you live." "The w-warship?!" Draven’s face twisted in pain, his eyes wide. "My lord, this is my only Tier 2 warship..." "You think I’d want it if it wasn’t Tier 2?" Ethan replied coolly. "I... I..." Draven trembled with rage, but he knew he had no choice. He was completely at Ethan’s mercy. If he played along, maybe he’d survive. But if he was stupid enough to resist, he’d die—horribly. With a heavy sigh, Draven muttered, "Fine." There was no winning this. Only compromise. That was the smart move. And it was that exact mindset that had helped him survive countless battles and climb to where he was now. To him, short-term losses didn’t matter. As long as he wasn’t completely crushed, there was always a way back. With that, he didn’t waste another word. He transferred the soul ownership of the Legendary Units—the two Kirin—over to Ethan. Ding! A new line appeared in Ethan’s system unit panel: Tier 13 Kirin ×2 ROAR! ROAR! Suddenly, two thunderous roars echoed from below deck! The massive beasts burst from the ship’s hold, their crystalline blue bodies shimmering like sapphire under the sun. The two Kirin stood before Ethan, their huge, lantern-like eyes glowing with shifting light as they stared him down. They had clearly sensed the change in their soul contract. But they hadn’t submitted—yet. As Legendary Units, they had the right to choose whether or not to accept a new master. Every time ownership of a Legendary Unit or higher changed hands, the creature had the final say. Submit... or reject. It was entirely up to them. ROAR! ROAR! Just then, two more roars rang out! Whoosh! Whoosh! Like streaks of light, Cicero and Auremax appeared in front of the Kirin in an instant, their eyes cold and sharp as blades. The air around them shifted, their presence exploding outward like ancient beasts unchained from the abyss. The pressure was suffocating. It radiated from them like a tidal wave, raw and overwhelming. The two Kirin froze, their expressions shifting instantly. They stumbled back, eyes wide with a mix of shock and fear. They recognized them. Crimson Ultimate heroes. Mythic-tier special units. Beings of that caliber absolutely had the power to command their respect—and their loyalty. The Kirin let out low, uneasy cries, then slowly dropped to their knees, lowering their heads before Ethan in a gesture of submission. "That’s enough. You can get up now," Ethan said, reaching out to gently touch their foreheads. At the same time, the Kirin’s stat panels appeared before him...