I Can Summon Legendary Figuress

"Honestly, kid, did you really have to do all of that?"

Standing quietly in the shadows of the Bastion's Great Hall, Ethen and Ulric spoke in hushed tones.

They were positioned at the very edge of the enormous, vaulted chamber to avoid the massive crowds.

The highly anticipated youth competition had already begun, but neither of them seemed particularly interested in watching it.

"You should see what my new evolution requirement is. You'd completely understand."

Ethen laughed softly, although there was a strange, incredibly dark expression resting on his handsome face.

Ulric raised a thick, scarred eyebrow in suspicion.

"What exactly is it?"

Ethen didn't answer the older man immediately.

Instead, his dark gaze slowly swept across the massive, crowded expanse of the Great Hall.

His recent, highly destructive activities in Dragon Ridge had become widespread knowledge.

Entirely too widespread.

He had single-handedly rekindled the bitter, bloody hatred between the Dragon Council and the Dragon God Clan with his wild antics.

He had ruthlessly slaughtered royal dragon princes inside a restricted Disaster Land.

He had mercilessly bombarded the fortified walls of Reverse Scale City with a phantom army.

He had completely robbed several ancient, heavily guarded clan treasuries completely blind.

He had secretly turned the arrogant Prince Ao Lorn into his loyal, mind-broken slave.

And, perhaps absolutely most importantly, he had openly mocked a God Almighty to his face before escaping right in front of him.

Ethen had caused significantly more political chaos in Dragon Ridge than most people could cause in ten lifetimes.

And he had done it all in only a ridiculously short period of time.

"You really did make quite a massive mess out there," Ulric muttered, shaking his head tiredly.

Ethen smiled warmly.

"A highly profitable mess, Senior."

Ulric just sighed heavily.

"You're completely impossible."

"Is that her?"

Ethen suddenly changed the subject, pointing subtly with his chin.

His sharp gaze shifted toward a young woman dressed in pristine, flowing white robes.

She was standing proudly beside Blazing Star on the elevated stone stairs leading toward the high helm.

Ulric followed his gaze across the crowded, noisy hall.

"Falcon?"

"Yes."

"That's her."

Ulric let out another heavy sigh, recognizing the danger in Ethen's tone.

"Why? You want to cause trouble for her too now?"

Ethen chuckled, leaning casually against the cold stone pillar.

"No."

"For some reason, I don't believe you at all."

Ulric's veteran expression became deeply bitter.

Since Falcon had returned safely to the Bastion from the front lines, she had purposely gathered classified information about Ethen.

At first, Ulric had assumed it was just simple, harmless curiosity about the faction's rising star.

It absolutely wasn't.

She had actively begun spreading highly damaging information about him through the noble factions.

She didn't use outright lies to smear him.

That would have been far too obvious and easily disproven by the military tribunals.

Instead, she masterfully used carefully crafted half-truths to paint a terrifying picture.

She claimed Ethen had brutally slaughtered an entire tribe of Lost Humans in the Demi-human territories.

True.

She claimed he had deliberately brought a God Almighty's devastating attention to the Bastion, causing severe collateral damage.

Also completely true.

She claimed he had carelessly worsened the fragile conflict in Dragon Ridge for his own selfish financial gain.

Again, entirely true.

But the vital, lifesaving circumstances surrounding each violent event were deliberately removed from her malicious stories.

The tactical reasons and survival necessities were completely ignored.

The political consequences were heavily exaggerated to make him look like an unstable, rogue asset.

And coming directly from a respected, legendary figure like Falcon, the toxic rumors carried massive weight among the elites.

The internal politics of the Bastion were incredibly vicious and unforgiving.

A person absolutely didn't need to lie to completely destroy someone's reputation in this place.

They only needed to tell the truth in the exact right, malicious way.

"I'm not interested in her petty games," Ethen said calmly.

"A lot of people are going to hate me very soon anyway."

Ulric's tired expression changed instantly, his instincts flaring.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

Ethen's relaxed smile faded slightly as a heavy, suffocating silence fell between them.

After successfully summoning Jormungander, he had immediately received a new, horrifying evolution requirement from the system.

And unlike all the previous, highly demanding ones, this one had genuinely shaken him to his core.

[Kill 20,000,000 enemies in under 1 year.]

Twenty million.

The sheer, astronomical number alone was completely absurd.

Ethen had personally killed plenty of people since arriving in this brutal, unforgiving world.

He had fought in bloody border wars.

He had ruthlessly slaughtered Demi Gods.

He had actively participated in the complete destruction of entire factions.

But twenty million souls?

In less than a single calendar year?

That was existing on an entirely different scale of mass slaughter and genocide.

And the absolute worst part was that he didn't know exactly who would be included in the system's body count.

Hostile enemies?

Definitely.

But what about the neutral factions simply trying to survive the crossfire?

What about the terrified soldiers who threw down their weapons and surrendered?

What about innocent people who were simply standing in the wrong place at the wrong time when he attacked a city?

And if the harsh requirement demanded twenty million deaths directly at his hands... could he even afford to care?

His gloved fingers slowly tightened into a hard, white-knuckled fist.

He absolutely hated the sick, overwhelming requirement.

But Adam was still lying completely comatose and fading in the Spirit World.

Every single passing day mattered.

If Ethen ultimately failed to evolve and heal him, Adam would die permanently.

That was absolutely all that mattered in the end.

"I have a lot of bloody work ahead of me."

Ulric stared at him closely for several long seconds.

He didn't know exactly what dark vision Ethen had just seen in his mind.

But whatever it was, the young man's chilling expression clearly told him that it wasn't something small.

Before the older man could ask any more questions, a highly familiar voice suddenly came from the side.

"Hey, Ethen. You're seriously not joining the big competition?"

A young man confidently approached them with a bright, bold smile on his face.

"Hmm?"

Ethen turned his head.

"Meng."

Sometime during his chaotic trip to Dragon Ridge, Ethen had completely lost all contact with the young monk.

Their magical communication lines had been entirely cut off, and even his attempts to reconnect had completely failed.

Loud rumors said Meng had been sent on a highly classified, suicidal mission by one of the God Almightys.

From what Ethen officially knew, it heavily involved the terrifying Demons of the Fall.

"You competing?"

Ethen casually glanced at the competition platform, then back at Meng.

"Not interested in playing with kids."

Then he smiled warmly at his old friend.

"You?"

Meng simply shrugged his shoulders, looking completely relaxed.

"Why not stretch my legs?"

Just by looking closely at his refined, condensed spiritual aura, Ethen could easily tell that Meng had already become a Demi God.

Ethen's dark eyes narrowed slightly in observation.

The incredible, overpowered perks of having a scalable S-Rank class, he guessed.

His own physical growth had been absolutely absurd since descending into this world.

Meng's growth rate was clearly no different.

"How about you step up?" Meng asked playfully.

"Still absolutely not interested."

Ethen turned completely back toward the center of the loud, cheering hall.

There was absolutely no way he was going to explain that he had also just obtained a new S-Ranked dual class.

That was a massive, lethal trump card that he fully intended to keep hidden for as long as possible.

Especially right now, with jealous eyes like Falcon's watching his every move.

"Is there absolutely anyone else willing to challenge me?!"

A loud, booming voice suddenly erupted from the center of the massive competition grounds.

Ethen's eyes shifted lazily toward the elevated stone platform.

A young woman built exactly like a heavyweight wrestler stood there with her muscular arms spread wide, loudly challenging the crowd.

Her heavy, suffocating aura violently rolled through the hall, pressing down on the weaker attendees.

She was a fully realized Demi God.

At this advanced level, battles were absolutely no longer simply about practicing basic technique or forms.

Which one of the Demi Gods in this room hadn't survived hundreds of brutal battles involving tens of thousands of enemies?

Which one of them hadn't fought through highly dangerous wildernesses or entered twisted Disaster Lands?

Which one of them hadn't spent countless, bloody years refining their raw combat instincts to a razor edge?

At the Demi God realm, the technical difference between ordinary combat ability became much smaller.

What truly, undeniably mattered now was raw, overwhelming power.

The muscular woman aggressively looked around the silent hall.

Nobody moved to accept her challenge.

"Cowards."

She sneered loudly, spitting on the stone floor.

"Well, if you won't do it, I certainly will."

Meng suddenly smiled brightly, rolling his shoulders to loosen up.

Before Ethen could say a single warning word, the young man stepped confidently forward.

His physical body rose smoothly from the ground like a light feather caught by a strong wind.

Then, he descended gracefully onto the stone platform with almost absolutely no sound at all.

The surrounding, veteran Demi Gods immediately turned their full, undivided attention toward him.

"Meng."

He bowed slightly, pressing his hands together respectfully.

"Air Nomad."

The giant woman narrowed her eyes and studied his slim, unassuming frame.

She clearly didn't recognize the name or his unique, flowing aura.

"Never heard of you, little boy."

A faint, highly dangerous smile slowly appeared on Meng's face.

"That makes two of us."

The woman's arrogant expression instantly darkened with fury at the insult.

"Take this!"

Her massive body exploded violently forward.

The compressed air directly beneath her heavy feet detonated like a bomb as she crossed the distance between them in an instant.

Meng's eyes narrowed sharply.

And for the very first time since Ethen had seen him again, the carefree, boyish smile completely disappeared from his face.