Jean had been methodically burning Sillad with controlled bursts of Phoenix Fire for several minutes—each flame carefully calibrated to cause maximum pain without actually killing him. The Frost Monarch's screams had become hoarse, his body covered in burns that his healing factor struggled to repair.
But Jean's expression had shifted from fury to something closer to frustration. She stopped her attack and turned to look at Ethan, who was busy creating something with matter manipulation.
"Ethan," Jean called out, her voice carrying across the mountainside. "Can you release him from the slave collar? This is getting boring. I want to fight him properly and make sure he learn his mistakes, not just attack a target that can't fight back."
Ethan had been using his matter manipulation to create a soft, comfortable bed out of thin air—converting atmospheric molecules into high-quality fabric, springs, and padding. He'd already placed Elizabeth's unconscious form on it, and Anna sat beside the sleeping princess, gently monitoring her condition.
"Sure thing," Ethan replied cheerfully before snapping his fingers.
The invisible enslavement runes that had been binding Sillad's body and will simply disappeared, dissolving like mist in sunlight. The magical collar around his neck—equally invisible but absolutely restraining—vanished as well.
Sillad gasped as he suddenly felt his power return, his will becoming his own again. For a brief, glorious moment, he considered fleeing—just running as fast as his Monarch abilities would carry him and never looking back.
Then Ethan's voice cut through that fantasy like a knife through silk, "Fight her properly, Sillad. Give Jean the challenge she's asking for. And if you try to run away..." His smile was pleasant, but his eyes were absolutely cold. "What I do to you will make the resurrection cycle seem merciful by comparison."
Sillad's blood ran cold at that promise. He remembered being destroyed and brought back over and over, the sensation of his consciousness being ripped apart and reassembled. Whatever Ethan considered "more cruel" than that was something he desperately wanted to avoid.
Before Sillad could respond, Ethan raised his hand and used Chronokinesis. Green temporal energy wrapped around the Frost Monarch, and suddenly all his injuries vanished. His burns healed. His exhausted mana reserves filled completely. His body returned to its absolute peak condition—stronger and more prepared for battle than he'd been in centuries.
"There," Ethan said with satisfaction. "Now Jean can have a proper fight. No excuses about being weakened or tired. Show her what a Monarch at full power can really do."
Sillad swallowed hard, his throat dry despite being completely healed. But he understood he had no choice. Between Jean's fury and Ethan's terrifying power, his only option was to fight and hope for... what? Victory? Escape? Mercy?
No. His only hope was to die with some semblance of dignity intact.
'At least I can do that much,' he thought grimly. 'I won't run. Won't beg. I'll fight with everything I have and face the end like a Monarch should.'
Sillad leaped backward with explosive speed, putting distance between himself and Jean. As he moved, his body began to glow with cold blue light as he accessed his full Monarch authority.
The temperature plummeted immediately. Frost spread across the ground from where his feet had touched, creating intricate crystalline patterns. The very air began to crystallize into visible mist, then into tiny ice particles that drifted like snow.
He didn't hold back at all. Couldn't afford to.
With sweeping gestures, Sillad summoned his arsenal—massive ice spears materialized in the air around him, each one the size of a telephone pole and sharp enough to pierce through mountains. Ice swords formed next, hundreds of them, all hovering in the air like a deadly constellation. Then came other weapons: axes, maces, chains, all constructed from his conceptually-enhanced ice that was far stronger than any natural frozen water.
He thrust both hands forward, and the entire arsenal launched toward Jean simultaneously—a devastating barrage that would have obliterated an entire city block.
Jean's eyes, still glowing with phoenix fire, didn't even widen. She simply looked at the incoming attack and... smiled.
Every single weapon melted before reaching her. Not because of any active defense she'd raised, but simply because of the heat radiating from her body.
The ice spears turned to water, then to steam, then evaporated entirely. The swords lost cohesion and became mist. The other weapons shared the same fate.
Within seconds, there was nothing left of Sillad's attack except humid air.
'The heat around her is too intense,' Sillad realized with growing dread. 'Close combat is impossible. I'll be vaporized before I can even throw a punch. Long-range attacks only.'
He began casting his most powerful long-distance techniques. With a roar, he summoned a massive blizzard—not a natural snowstorm, but a conceptual attack that embodied the very idea of "freezing death." The blizzard formed a wall of absolute cold rushing toward Jean.
Jean waved her hand almost casually.
A phoenix made of pure red fire materialized in front of her—not the massive manifestation she'd used to kill Querehsha, but a smaller, more focused construct about the size of a car. The fire phoenix screamed and launched itself at the blizzard.
The two forces met in mid-air with a thunderous BOOM.
For a moment, it looked like they might be evenly matched—ice and fire clashing in a spectacular display of elemental fury. Steam exploded outward, creating a massive cloud that obscured everything.
Then the fire phoenix won. It tore through the blizzard like it wasn't even there, vaporizing the conceptual cold and continuing toward Sillad.
He barely managed to dodge, throwing himself to the side as the phoenix passed close enough that he could feel his skin blistering from proximity alone.
'She's not even trying!' Sillad thought desperately. 'That was a casual wave of her hand, and it completely dominated my full-power blizzard!'
But he didn't stop. Couldn't stop. He summoned ice dragons—massive constructs of frozen magic that roared with voices like grinding glaciers. He created frozen tornadoes that would turn anything they touched into brittle ice. He even attempted his ultimate technique: Absolute Zero Field—a space where the temperature was conceptually reduced to the lowest possible point, where even energy itself should freeze solid.
Jean destroyed them all. The fire phoenix intercepted the dragons and melted them into puddles. The tornadoes dissipated when they encountered the heat radiating from her body. And the Absolute Zero Field? She simply walked through it, the Phoenix Force's life-affirming heat negating the conceptual cold like it was nothing.
All the while, Jean was counterattacking. Fire arrows manifested around her—dozens, then hundreds of them—and launched toward Sillad in continuous barrages. Each arrow carried enough heat to melt steel.
Sillad was managing to avoid most of them, thanks to his millennia of combat experience. He created ice barriers to intercept, used his superior speed to dodge, even created decoys of frozen mist to confuse the arrows' targeting.
But he was being pushed back. Slowly, inexorably, Jean was advancing while he retreated.
'I can't believe this,' Sillad thought as he desperately parried another fire arrow with a shield of conceptual ice. 'She has this much power in such a small human body? How is this possible? She's not even a Monarch, not even a Ruler! What IS she?!'
Meanwhile, several dozen meters away and completely protected from the battle's effects, Ethan and Anna sat on a luxurious sofa that Ethan had materialized out of thin air.
They were watching the fight like it was a sporting event, complete with a large bowl of freshly popped popcorn sitting between them. Ethan had also erected a powerful magical shield around their location—not just to protect themselves (they didn't really need it), but to ensure Elizabeth remained safe while she recovered.
The sleeping princess lay on the comfortable bed nearby, her silver hair spread across the pillow, her breathing steady and peaceful for the first time in decades.
"Nice dodge," Anna commented as Sillad barely avoided a fire arrow. She grabbed a handful of popcorn. "He's got good reflexes, I'll give him that."
"Millennia of combat experience," Ethan agreed while also munching popcorn. "You don't survive that long as a Monarch without learning how to read attacks and respond appropriately. His technique is actually quite impressive."
"But he's still losing," Anna observed.
"Oh, completely," Ethan confirmed. "Jean's not even using her full power yet. She's testing him, feeling out his capabilities, learning how Frost authority manifests in combat. This is educational for her."
As if to prove his point, one of Sillad's ice dragons managed to get through Jean's defenses and actually make contact. For a moment, it looked like a successful attack.
Then Jean simply grabbed the dragon's head with one hand, and it melted instantly. She crushed the resulting water into steam with a casual gesture.
"See?" Ethan said. "She's letting some attacks through just to study them. That's not desperation—that's curiosity."
Anna shook her head with amusement. "Poor Sillad. He thinks he's fighting for his life and also being used as a training dummy."
Meanwhile, the magically enhanced camera floated in the air, snapping pictures and recording the battle as it unfolded.
After several more minutes of one-sided combat, Jean suddenly stopped attacking. She hovered in the air, looking down at Sillad with an expression that had shifted from focused intensity to mild disappointment.
"I understand now why Ethan says you Monarchs are weak," she said, her voice carrying clearly across the battlefield. "If it was anyone else—any normal S-rank hunter, any regular army—you could kill them easily. You'd be unstoppable, terrifying, worthy of the title 'Monarch.'"
She slowly exhaled, and her expression grew serious. "But unfortunately for you, we are not 'anyone.' We're not normal. And against us, you're just... insufficient."
Jean's entire demeanor shifted. The playful testing was gone, replaced by absolute focus. "Since I understand you're strong by this world's standards, I'll show you respect by fighting with everything I've got too."
Sillad's eyes widened in genuine shock and horror. "You... you weren't fighting with all your strength? This entire time, you were holding back?!"
'She completely dominated me,' his mind raced in panic. 'Destroyed all my strongest techniques, pushed me back, made me look like a novice—and she was HOLDING BACK?!'
Ethan and Anna, still watching from their protected sofa, sat up with more interest.
"Oh, here we go," Ethan said with a smile spreading across his face. "Jean's getting serious now."
"Should be impressive," Anna agreed. "Pass the popcorn?"
Ethan handed her the bowl, and both of them settled in to watch as Jean's transformation began.
Her uniform—the blue and gold that she'd been wearing—began to shimmer and change. The colors drained away, replaced by pure, brilliant white that seemed to glow with inner light. The phoenix symbol on her chest transformed from gold to blazing white-gold, so bright it was almost painful to look at directly.
Her hair began to float upward, no longer bound by normal gravity but lifting as if suspended in water. Each strand seemed to burn with its own internal fire—white flames that didn't consume but instead purified.
Her eyes, which had been glowing with golden-red Phoenix Force, now blazed with pure white light. No pupils, no iris—just radiant, terrible, beautiful white fire.
Behind her, the manifestation of the Phoenix grew even larger. The bird of fire spread wings that seemed to span hundreds of meters, each feather a tongue of white flame that radiated heat intense enough to warp reality itself.
"SCREEEEEEEEEE!"
The Phoenix's cry was different this time—higher, purer, more primal. It was the sound of fundamental cosmic force given voice.
(Image of White Phoneix Jean Grey)
This was the White Phoenix—the power Jean obtained after fully merging with the Phoenix Force and gaining control over it. Even so, she could only maintain this form for a short period of time.
Jean looked down at Sillad, and when she spoke, her voice echoed with layered harmonics, as if multiple versions of herself were speaking simultaneously.
"I'll finish this with one attack. I wanted to hope you'd get a good next life, but..." She paused, and something like genuine sorrow crossed her features. "I know you won't. So please... just die."
She raised one hand and pointed directly at Sillad.
The fire phoenix behind Jean grew impossibly larger—doubling, tripling, continuing to expand until it seemed to fill the entire sky. Its heat was so intense that the very environment began to change.
The ice and freezing atmosphere Sillad had created throughout the battle vanished in seconds—not just melted, but erased, as if it had never existed. The temperature swung from arctic cold to volcanic heat in the span of a few heartbeats.
The ground beneath Sillad's feet began to glow red, then orange, then white as it heated beyond its melting point. Stone turned to lava, lava vaporized into gas. The very air became so hot that it was difficult to distinguish from plasma.
It was as if Sillad had been transported from a frozen wasteland to the surface of the sun.
He tried to run—survival instinct overriding pride and dignity. But Jean's telekinesis wrapped around him like invisible chains, holding him perfectly still. He couldn't move, couldn't dodge, couldn't even close his eyes.
The massive phoenix dove from the sky with wings spread wide, its cry shaking the earth and sky. It was beautiful and terrible—the embodiment of cosmic purification, of absolute endings and potential new beginnings.
Sillad screamed—a sound of pure terror as he watched his death approaching in the form of white flames.
At that exact moment, as the phoenix was milliseconds from impact, a small red portal opened directly behind Sillad—no larger than a fist, positioned right where his back would be.
Ethan's hand emerged from the portal. He was still sitting on the ground below, protected by his shield, completely unaffected by the apocalyptic heat Jean was generating. But his hand had crossed space through the portal to reach into the battlefield.
Ethan's hand plunged into Sillad's body from behind, passing through physical matter like it wasn't there, reaching for the Frost Monarch's core essence.
His fingers closed around the glowing blue-white orb that represented Sillad's fundamental authority over ice and cold.
And then he pulled.
Sillad's scream reached new heights of agony as he felt his very being torn apart—not just his body, but the conceptual essence of what made him a Monarch, ripped away in an instant.
Ethan's hand withdrew back through the portal, clutching the core. The portal sealed shut.
And then the white phoenix struck.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion was beyond anything previous in the battle. A sphere of white flame expanded outward from the impact point, consuming everything in its radius. The heat was so intense that it created a secondary shockwave—air expanding so rapidly that it generated winds strong enough to level buildings.
The light was blinding—bright enough to be seen from Seoul, dozens of kilometers away, like a miniature sun had just bloomed on the mountainside.
Ethan and Anna, still sitting on their sofa, calmly put on sunglasses that Ethan took from his Inventory.
The magical shield around them held perfectly, not even trembling despite the apocalyptic forces being unleashed just meters away. Elizabeth continued sleeping peacefully, completely unaware of the battle happening nearby.
Both Ethan and Anna began clapping slowly—a golf clap, really, the kind given at prestigious events rather than sporting matches.
"Magnificent execution," Ethan said approvingly. "Perfect timing, flawless power control, and the dramatic flair was excellent."
"Ten out of ten," Anna agreed. "Though I think she scorched the atmosphere a bit. We might need to fix that before it causes weird weather patterns."
"I'll handle it," Ethan assured her.
The white flames slowly began to fade, revealing the aftermath. Where Sillad had been standing, there was now just... nothing. A perfectly circular crater, glowing white-hot at the bottom, with the edges still dripping molten rock.
No trace of the Frost Monarch remained. Not even ash. He'd been completely consumed by the White Phoenix's flames.
Jean floated down from the sky, the massive phoenix manifestation behind her slowly fading away. As she descended, her clothing shifted back to her normal uniform—blue and gold, comfortable and familiar.
The white flames in her hair extinguished, letting her red hair fall naturally again. Her eyes returned to their normal green, though they still held hints of golden fire in their depths.
She landed gracefully and immediately walked toward Ethan and the others, a satisfied smile on her face.
Ethan disabled the barrier as she approached. He stood up, grinning widely, and immediately pulled her into a tight embrace.
"That was incredible," he said, genuine pride and admiration in his voice.
Jean laughed, still a bit breathless from the power expenditure.
He then kissed her deeply—a passionate, celebratory kiss that made Anna whistle appreciatively from the sofa.
When they finally separated, Ethan kept his arms around Jean and continued speaking, his tone shifting to something more intimate. "You know, watching you fight like that—all that power, that confidence, that absolute dominance—it's incredibly attractive. Remind me to show you just how attractive later tonight."
Jean's cheeks flushed pink despite having just vaporized a Monarch. "Ethan! We're in the middle of a mission!"
"A mission that's almost complete," he countered with a grin. "One more Monarch to go, and then..." He leaned in close to whisper in her ear, and whatever he said made Jean's blush deepen considerably.
Anna laughed from the sofa. "Get a room, you two! Or wait until we're actually home at least!"
Ethan reluctantly released Jean from the embrace, though he kept one arm around her waist. He raised his free hand, and green temporal energy began to flow from his palm.
"Let's clean this up before we attract too much attention," he said.
The green energy spread outward in a wave, washing over the devastated battlefield. Time reversed—not for living things, but for the environment itself.
The molten crater cooled and solidified. Then the solid stone reformed into its original shape. The scorched earth returned to normal. The vaporized trees regrew in reverse. Even the air itself was restored to its pre-battle composition.
Within seconds, the mountainside looked exactly as it had before the fight began. No craters, no scorch marks, no evidence that a battle of cosmic proportions had just occurred here.
"There," Ethan said with satisfaction. "No cleanup necessary."
Jean and Anna both turned their attention to Ethan as he stored Sillad's core essence in his inventory with the others.
"Alright," Jean said, her expression becoming more serious. "Antares is next. The Monarch of Destruction, the Dragon King, the strongest of them all. Are you sure you want to face him alone?"
Ethan nodded. "I need to deal with Antares personally. He's different from the others—more powerful, more dangerous, and... well, I'm actually curious to see if he can provide even a small challenge."
Anna frowned with concern. "We should go with you. Watch your back, provide support if needed. Even if you're stronger, there's no reason to take unnecessary risks."
"I appreciate that," Ethan said warmly, touching both their faces in turn. "But someone needs to stay with Elizabeth. She's going to wake up soon, and when she does, she'll be confused, traumatized, and suddenly aware that she's carrying Monarch powers. She'll need friendly faces, gentle support, and people who can explain what happened."
He looked at both of them meaningfully. "You two are perfect for that. Jean with her telepathy and empathy, Anna with her warmth and directness. Elizabeth will trust you."
Both women understood his reasoning but still looked reluctant. Ethan grinned and pulled out his enhanced camera—the one covered in magical runes that he'd been using to photograph their fights.
"Tell you what," he said while adjusting some of the camera's settings. "I'll use this to give you a live feed of my fight with Antares. You can watch everything in real-time, and I'll even record it so we can review the footage later."
Jean's and Anna's eyes lit up immediately. "A live feed?" Jean asked. "You can do that with the camera enchantments?"
"Added that feature yesterday," Ethan confirmed proudly. "Spatial link runes combined with dimensional transmission magic. It'll project everything I'm seeing directly into a viewing screen for you."
"That's actually perfect," Anna said, her concern fading into excitement. "We can watch you kick a dragon's ass while also being here when Elizabeth wakes up."
Ethan's and Jean's expressions suddenly shifted, their enhanced senses detecting something approaching.
"We've got incoming," Jean said, her telepathy picking up multiple minds heading their direction at high speed. "Hunters from the Korean Hunter Association. They must have sensed the energy signatures from our battles."
"Probably about twenty of them," Ethan added, his own senses confirming. "A mix of A-ranks and B-ranks, investigating what they think might be a dungeon break."
"They're going to be very confused when they get here and find nothing," Anna said with amusement.
Jean was already opening a red portal back to their home—their comfortable apartment in Seoul where they'd been staying during this extended honeymoon. "Let's go before they arrive and start asking questions we don't want to answer."
She used telekinesis to lift the bed with Elizabeth still sleeping peacefully on it. The bed floated through the portal smoothly, with Jean guiding it carefully to avoid disturbing the recovering princess.
Anna stood up from the sofa and stretched. "Come on, Ethan. Finish up your cosmic hunting trip and come home to us. We'll have the viewing party ready when you get to Antares."
Both women approached Ethan for goodbye kisses. Jean went first, her kiss lingering and filled with unspoken concern despite her confidence in his abilities. "Be careful," she murmured against his lips. "Even if you're stronger, don't underestimate the Dragon Monarch."
"I won't," Ethan promised. "I'll be efficient and thorough."
Anna's kiss was equally intense but more playful. "Enjoy yourself, darling. Show that overgrown lizard why you're the real apex predator. And make it look good for the camera!"
"Always do," Ethan replied with a grin.
Both women stepped through the portal with one last wave. Jean's final words before the portal closed were, "We love you! Don't take too long!"
"Love you too!" Ethan called back, then the portal sealed shut and he was alone on the mountainside.
After that Ethan took a deep breath, centering himself. Four Monarchs down, one to go. Tarnak, Yogumunt, Rakan, Sillad, and Querehsha (sort of—her power had been transferred rather than taken, but she was definitely eliminated). Only Antares remained.
The strongest Monarch. The Monarch of Destruction. The King of Dragons who commanded legions that could devastate worlds.
'Finally,' Ethan thought with genuine anticipation. 'Maybe—just maybe—he'll actually be interesting.'
He raised his right hand, and the familiar red locator rune materialized in the air before him. The complex symbol pulsed with power as it connected to Ethan's Genesis Telepathy, creating a sensory net that could track energy signatures across dimensional boundaries.
'Antares,' Ethan focused his intention. 'The Destruction Monarch. Authority over dragons and destruction. Where are you?'
His consciousness expanded outward, searching through dimensional spaces, pocket realities, the hidden places where Monarchs made their domains.
There. A surge of recognition as he locked onto a signature that was different from the others—larger, more violent, burning with barely contained aggression. Antares wasn't hiding. He was waiting, fully aware that someone had been hunting his fellow Monarchs and preparing for the inevitable confrontation.
"Found you," Ethan murmured with a smile.
He raised his hand and tore open a red portal, the other side showing a landscape of volcanic fury and draconic majesty. Without hesitation, he stepped through.
The portal sealed shut behind him, leaving the mountainside empty and peaceful—as if nothing had ever happened there.
.
.
.
Exactly two minutes later, a group of Korean hunters arrived at the location, led by Chief Inspector Woo Jin-Chul himself.
They'd detected massive energy fluctuations from this area—signatures strong enough to trigger every alarm at the Hunter Association headquarters. Ice magic on a scale that suggested a Frost Giant dungeon boss. Fire magic that felt like standing near the sun. And underneath it all, strange energies that didn't match any known mana signature.
But when they arrived, ready for battle with whatever S-rank or higher threat had manifested...
There was nothing.
Just a peaceful mountain landscape. Birds singing in the trees. A gentle breeze carrying the scent of pine. No monsters, no dungeon breaks, no damage, no evidence of any kind of battle.
"This doesn't make sense," one of the A-rank hunters said, his detection magic finding absolutely nothing unusual. "I know I felt ice and fire energy clashing here. It was enormous—felt like two S-rank hunters going all-out against each other."
Chief Woo frowned, his own enhanced senses scanning the area thoroughly. He was one of the strongest A-rank hunters in Korea, and his instincts were screaming that something significant had happened here. But there was literally no physical evidence.
"The energy signatures have completely vanished," he said quietly. "Not dispersed—vanished. As if they were never here. That shouldn't be possible."
He suspected it might be related to the Carter family, as they were the only ones capable of using special powers without relying on mana. He planned to meet with them and ask whether they knew anything about it. He doubted they would tell him, but asking wouldn't hurt anyone.
He looked at his team. "We report this as a strange incident—unknown energy signatures, no damage. We increase monitoring of this area and continue tracking any similar occurrences."
The hunters nodded and began taking magical readings, documenting everything they could detect (which wasn't much) and preparing their report.
None of them had any idea that they'd just missed witnessing the elimination of ancient Monarchs and the rescue of a princess from another galaxy.
And none of them knew that the final confrontation—the battle between a human who'd transcended mortality and the strongest Monarch in existence—was about to begin in a realm of dragons and fire.