Chapter 81: Half the thunder wings
Ethan looked at her injured wing.
Laira immediately tucked it back, her voice hardening.
"Don’t look at me. I don’t need it."
Ethan didn’t respond. The Eye of Truth focused on the torn membrane, the damaged tendons, and the bone that had taken too much impact force.
[Wing injury.]
[Chance of full natural recovery: 22%.]
[Recovery time: Cannot be determined.]
[Chance of permanent damage: 47%.]
[Chance of partial loss of flight capability: 31%.]
Ethan closed the information.
Laira was still trying to convince him, her expression completely serious.
"I’m a Red Dragon. My wing will heal on its own. It might take a while, but it won’t affect me that much."
"Won’t affect you?"
"Right."
Ethan looked at her.
"Then open it."
Laira fell silent.
"Laira."
She frowned, but in the end she still opened the injured wing.
That single motion was enough to tear another small line through the membrane that had just been closed. Blood ran along the red scales and dripped to the ground.
Laira immediately folded the wing back.
"It’s just a small wound."
Ethan turned to the Thunder Wings, his voice still perfectly calm.
"I don’t need a complete pair of wings."
Laira stepped in front of him, her composure starting to crack.
"But this is a Mythical treasure. If you absorb all of it, your speed, defense, and survivability will be far greater."
"I know."
"The entire world is hunting you. You need it more than I do."
"I know that too."
Laira clenched both fists, her words coming faster.
"Then don’t split it for me. I can still fight. I can still fly. I just need more time, and my wing will..."
Ethan cut her off directly.
"I don’t want you to keep suffering just so I can have an extra half-pair of wings."
Laira went silent at once.
Ethan looked straight into her orange-red eyes.
"You used those wings to carry me out of the Abyss Tower, helped me escape the ones hunting me, and blocked hits for me more times than I can count. That wing was hurt protecting me. I can’t see a way to heal it and pretend I don’t know."
Laira’s breathing slowed.
She didn’t know how to keep arguing.
Ruo Yan stood not far away, quietly observing the two of them.
Her former master used to calculate every single crystal spent on her. He logged the energy she consumed, compared it against other Partners, and reached the conclusion that keeping her wasn’t worth it.
And here Ethan could take an entire Mythical treasure for himself.
He didn’t have to share.
No one was forcing him.
Even Laira herself was actively refusing.
But Ethan still chose to give her half.
’It’s not that he doesn’t know the value of the Thunder Wings.’
’He just considers Laira more important than that portion of power.’
Ruo Yan looked at the Soul Thread connecting her to Ethan. The last trace of worry that had lingered after the bond slowly faded away.
Laira stared at Ethan for a long time, then asked softly, "You won’t regret it?"
Ethan answered, "I’m still getting half."
Laira shook her head.
"You know that’s not what I’m asking."
"No."
Just one word, but Laira didn’t need any further answer.
She leaned down and pressed her forehead gently against his. Her orange-red eyes slowly closed.
"I won’t let this choice of yours go to waste."
Ruo Yan folded her arms and turned her face away.
"Are you two done? The ones behind us are almost here."
Laira opened her eyes but didn’t immediately pull away from Ethan. She glanced over at Ruo Yan, the corner of her mouth curving up.
"Jealous?"
Ruo Yan answered flatly, "I just don’t want to die standing around waiting for you two."
Ethan turned his attention back to the Thunder Wings’ core.
"It can be split, but the two energy streams inside have to stay balanced."
Ruo Yan stepped closer. Through the Soul Thread, she could feel part of the structure Ethan was seeing.
The two streams inside the core weren’t two completely separate parts. They spiraled around each other, jointly sustaining all three thousand feathers. If the cut was made in the wrong place, the entire Thunder Wings would instantly lose control.
Ruo Yan raised both hands, her expression turning serious.
"I can keep the feathers from scattering out of formation, but the lightning is too strong. The Soul Thread can’t touch the core directly."
Laira placed her hand on the Solar Flame Seal.
"I’ll suppress the lightning."
Ethan nodded.
"When I give the signal, both of you move at the same time."
Ruo Yan directed the three wooden puppets to fall back around Ethan. The Necromancer stepped forward to guard the room’s entrance, the green flames in its eye sockets blazing bright.
Then hundreds of Soul Threads shot out from both of Ruo Yan’s hands, wrapping around the feathers layer by layer.
A hundred.
Five hundred.
A thousand.
By the time all three thousand feathers were connected, Ruo Yan’s face had turned deathly pale.
Laira simultaneously released her flames. The Solar Flame didn’t burn the Thunder Wings but instead enveloped the lightning core, gradually forcing the chaotic bolts into stability.
Ethan stepped up to the core.
The Eye of Truth opened fully.
A razor-thin seam appeared between the two energy streams. It was the only point where the split could be made without destroying the structure.
Ethan raised his left hand. The Primordial Armor lit up, red vein-like patterns gradually spreading outward.
"Hold tight."
Ruo Yan gritted her teeth and pulled every Soul Thread taut.
Laira also intensified her flames.
Ethan placed his hand on the lightning core.
"Decomposition."
Boom!
The entire room shook.
The two energy streams inside the core immediately separated. All three thousand Thunder-Iron Feathers broke free from their positions at once, forming a metallic storm that engulfed the chamber.
Ruo Yan raised both hands high, directing the Soul Threads to keep the feathers from crashing into each other. The backlash sent blood streaming from the corner of her lips, but she didn’t let go.
Laira stepped forward. The crimson flames erupted at full force, splitting the electrical storm into two halves.
Ethan continued maintaining Decomposition.
The final connection between the two cores slowly severed.
[Thunder Wings have been separated.]
[Part one: One thousand five hundred Thunder-Iron Feathers.]
[Part two: One thousand five hundred Thunder-Iron Feathers.]
[Independent rarity: Legendary.]
[Resonance state: Mythical.]
[The two parts maintain their link.]
One half of the Thunder Wings immediately flew toward Ethan.
The Primordial Armor on his left hand opened up like living metal. Fifteen hundred feathers shrank one by one, slipping into the red vein-like patterns before vanishing inside the armor.
The remaining half flew toward Laira.
Before she could react, the lightning core had already touched the base of her injured wing.
Boom!
Laira clenched her teeth hard.
Fifteen hundred metal feathers latched along the wing bone, burrowing between the layers of dragon scales. They didn’t replace the entire wing but formed a new framework, pulling the torn tendons back into their proper positions.
The membrane was still there.
The dragon scales hadn’t vanished either.
But between the damaged sections, deep silver Thunder-Iron Feathers had appeared. Purple lightning ran along them, binding bone and membrane back together.
Laira slowly opened her wing.
For the first time in days, the injured side didn’t send that tearing sensation through her.
She looked at the metal feathers interlaced among the dragon scales, then turned to Ethan.
But Ethan was no longer standing.
Purple-silver lines of light were crawling from the Primordial Armor up his shoulder, then spreading deep into the Heavenly Gate within his body.
Notifications appeared in rapid succession.
[Beginning Thunder Wings fusion.]
[Primordial Armor is restructuring.]
[Detected: User’s body is currently injured.]
[Current Heavenly Gate: Bronze tier 5.]
[The fusion process cannot be interrupted.]
[Estimated duration: Twelve hours.]
[During fusion, the user’s consciousness will be sealed to protect the soul.]
Ethan’s entire left arm immediately went numb. Right after, a powerful electric current surged into his Heavenly Gate, and his legs buckled.
Laira rushed forward to catch him.
"Ethan!"
He fought to keep his eyes open, but his vision was already going dark.
Ruo Yan also ran over quickly.
"What’s happening?"
Ethan managed only three words.
"Twelve hours."
Then his consciousness sank completely into darkness.
Laira caught his body before he hit the ground. She knelt down and laid Ethan in her lap. The fifteen hundred Thunder-Iron Feathers on her wing were still self-adjusting, but she paid them no attention at all.
"Ethan, open your eyes."
He didn’t respond.
Ruo Yan placed her hand on Ethan’s neck, then focused on the Soul Thread between them.
"The bond is still stable. He’s only lost consciousness during the fusion process."
Laira looked up at her.
"Twelve hours."
"Yes."
Ruo Yan answered while turning toward the entrance.
Footsteps were echoing from the metal bridge.
Not just one person.
Many.
She stood up and directed the three wooden puppets to spread out around Ethan. The Necromancer also stepped forward, the green flames in its eye sockets flaring bright.
Laira carefully set Ethan down behind a boulder, then slowly rose to her feet.
Her uninjured wing spread wide.
The damaged wing also extended outward. The Thunder-Iron Feathers clinked against each other, purple-silver lightning running between the layers of red scales.
The fusion wasn’t complete yet.
But at least that wing no longer dragged her body down.
A figure appeared at the entrance.
Aldren stepped out first.
His cloak had been sliced in several places by spatial wind, and the green stone on his forehead now had a crack across it. Behind him came Brakk and the surviving Beastkin, the Elf contingent, and a handful of creatures from the smaller groups.
Korr and the Stoneweavers stood at the rear of the formation. He hadn’t drawn a weapon, but he hadn’t left either.
Aldren’s gaze swept across the room, passing over the spot where three thousand feathers had once been, then stopping on Laira’s newly formed wing.
Finally, he looked at Ethan lying unconscious behind the two women.
The familiar gentle smile had vanished completely.
"The treasure was split in two?"
Laira didn’t answer.
Aldren looked at the Primordial Armor on Ethan’s left hand, where purple-silver lines of light were still flickering continuously.
He understood immediately that Ethan was in the middle of fusing the treasure.
Which also meant the only person who could see the labyrinth’s rules was currently unable to fight back.
Brakk stared at Laira’s wing, his breathing growing heavier.
"That’s at least Legendary."
Aldren corrected him coolly. "Before the split, it was Mythical."
Everyone behind them went quiet at once.
Before long, greed appeared in most of their eyes.
Ruo Yan raised both hands. The Soul Threads connecting her three wooden puppets and the Necromancer all pulled taut simultaneously.
A Bone Shield instantly formed in front of her.
Laira stepped forward, placing herself completely between them and Ethan.
Aldren looked at the two of them, then slowly released Gold-rank tier 8 energy.
"He opened the path, led us here, and found the treasure. His usefulness is over. Hand over the Thunder Wings."
Laira looked straight at Aldren.
Crimson flames slowly erupted around her body, merging with the purple-silver lightning running along her new wing.
"Take one more step."
Her voice wasn’t loud, but the killing intent pouring off her raised the temperature of the entire room in an instant.
"I’ll kill you."