Ethan stared at the corroding ground, stunned, and instinctively touched his chest.
The black fog had been cleared.
The wound itself wasn't serious.
But that power clearly wasn't a "normal" attack.
The earth suddenly bulged.
A skeleton—looking kind of stupid, honestly—climbed out of the black sludge.
First it shoved out an arm, then struggled to wrench free its skull and torso, and finally hauled up a battered longsword, wobbling on its feet as it faced Ethan and Seraphina.
This entire island was smothered in death.
The dead couldn't leave.
Souls couldn't enter reincarnation.
The black sludge drilled into the skeleton's frame like it was playing with whatever was left of the soul inside. The flame in its eye sockets blinked out, then was forcibly lit again, over and over, while its whole body trembled out of control.
It raised the sword and hacked at Seraphina.
Ethan already had an energy sphere formed—
