My Children’s Gifts Give Me 1000x Returns!

**ARC 2: COLLEGE DUNGEON TRIAL & ANCIENT CLAN AWAKENING**

The suffocating, golden light radiating from Gabriel’s spatial rift illuminated the dark, blood-red cavern walls of the mutated dungeon.

Around Ethan and Elena, the translucent golden barrier deployed by their Sovereign Teleportation & Protection Amulets hummed softly, completely neutralizing the chaotic spatial pressure and the venomous stench of the beast tide below.

"Dad!" Elena called out, her face lighting up with relief and pride.

Ethan lowered his spear slightly, staring at the colossal figure standing behind his father. "Dad... who is he?"

General Ignatius took a heavy step forward. His crimson dragon armor clanked with an ancient, terrifying weight that made the stone floor of the high ledge crack under his boots. The massive, eight-foot battle-axe resting on his shoulder pulsed with a blood-red Martial Grandmaster Domain, freezing the air in a hundred-yard radius.

Ignatius didn't speak to the twins. Instead, he dropped heavily onto one knee behind Gabriel, bowing his massive head.

"Clan Master," Ignatius’s voice resonated like deep, rolling thunder. "The beast tide below numbers over eight hundred Grade-3 and Grade-4 creatures. Shall your subordinate erase them from existence?"

Gabriel stood at the edge of the cliff, his dark dragon-silk coat fluttering in the violent drafts rising from the gorge. He looked down at the hundreds of roaring, blood-eyed monsters charging toward their ledge—Bone-Crushing Apes, Venom-Spitters, and mutated Shadow-Tigers.

"Ignatius," Gabriel commanded softly, his voice calm and unbothered. "Clear the field. Leave no trash behind."

"By your command, Sovereign Master!"

Ignatius stood up, his colossal seven-foot frame straightening. He took a single step off the edge of the cliff, dropping straight into the heart of the frantic beast tide below!

BOOM!

The impact of Ignatius landing on the cavern floor was like a meteor strike. A massive shockwave of pure, crimson Martial Grandmaster Qi exploded outward in a three-hundred-foot ring!

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

Dozens of Grade-3 and Grade-4 beasts caught in the initial landing blast were instantly flattened into blood mist, their bones and iron-like scales pulverized into dust before they could even let out a screech!

ROAR!

A massive, twenty-foot-tall Grade-4 Peak Bone-Crushing Ape—equal in strength to a top-tier Martial Scholar—lunged from the darkness, its boulder-sized fists coated in jagged earth armor as it swung directly at Ignatius’s head!

Ignatius didn't even raise his battle-axe to block. He simply turned his head, his cold, glowing eyes locking onto the giant ape through his dragon helm.

MARTIAL GRANDMASTER DOMAIN — ABSOLUTE CRIMSON WARLAND!

BZ—ZZZ-T!

A translucent, crimson domain sphere expanded from Ignatius's body, enveloping the entire subterranean lake and the surrounding tunnels.

Inside this domain, the laws of gravity and spatial pressure shifted instantly. The twenty-foot ape frozen mid-air, its body suddenly weighed down by the force of ten thousand mountains!

CRACK!

The giant ape dropped like a stone, its heavy body slammed face-first into the obsidian floor, its ribcage caving in under the sheer gravitational weight of Ignatius’s domain!

"Insects," Ignatius growled, raising his colossal eight-foot battle-axe with a single hand.

He swung the axe in a wide, horizontal crescent arc.

SWOOOSH—BOOOOOOM!

A three-hundred-foot blade of blinding, crimson domain energy swept across the cavern floor like a scythe cutting grass!

It tore through stone pillars, severed subterranean rivers, and completely vaporized over four hundred Grade-3 and Grade-4 beasts in a single, terrifying split-second! The entire underground network trembled violently, stalactites raining down from the high ceiling like iron spears!

Ethan and Elena watched from the cliff edge, their eyes wide with absolute awe.

One swing.

Over half the mutated beast tide was completely wiped out!

"He's... a Martial Grandmaster..." Ethan breathed, his heart pounding against his ribs. "Dad has a Martial Grandmaster as his personal general?!"

Elena looked at her father, who was standing beside them with his hands tucked casually into his pockets, watching the destruction with bored indifference.

In the entire Southern Territory, even the ruling House Valerius only possessed eight Martial Grandmasters—all of whom were ancient ancestors guarded like national treasures. Yet here was Gabriel, commanding a Grandmaster like a personal bodyguard!

Meanwhile, deep in the core cavern near the Spatial Core Anchor...

Kaelen Valerius and Garron Valerius stood on their high stone platform, waiting for the screams of dying students to reach them. The three blood-robed array masters were still channeling dark energy into the cracked purple crystal, maintaining the Blood-Sealing Array that locked the entrance.

Suddenly—

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The subterranean cave system shook violently. A wave of suffocating, blood-red domain pressure surged down the dark tunnels, snuffing out the array masters' sacrificial candles instantly!

"W-What is that?!" one of the array masters shrieked, falling onto his hands and knees, spitting blood as the ambient pressure crushed his chest. "This domain... this is Martial Grandmaster aura!"

"A Martial Grandmaster?!" Kaelen Valerius gasped, his face draining of all color. "Impossible! The entrance is sealed by the Blood-Array! No Grandmaster from the academy could have entered without breaking the seal from the outside!"

STEP. STEP. STEP.

Heavy, armored footsteps echoed down the dark tunnel leading into the core cavern.

Out from the shadows stepped General Ignatius, his crimson dragon armor dripping with dark beast blood, his colossal battle-axe dragging along the stone floor, leaving a deep, melted trench in its wake.

Behind him walked Gabriel, flanked by Ethan and Elena.

Garron Valerius looked at Ethan and Elena—unscathed, clean, and completely relaxed—and then looked at Gabriel standing beside the terrifying crimson war giant. His jaw dropped so hard his bandages tore open.

"Y-You..." Garron stammered, stumbling backward in absolute horror. "G-Gabriel?! How are you alive?! Who... who is that monster behind you?!"

Gabriel stopped ten feet from the platform, looking up at Kaelen, Garron, and the three trembling array masters with cold, pitiless eyes.

"So this is where House Valerius hides its rats," Gabriel said, his voice flat and echoing with absolute, terrifying authority. "You altered the spatial core. You trapped three hundred students inside a mutated dungeon to kill my children."

Kaelen Valerius gritted his teeth, pulling out a glowing red command token. "So what if we did?! I am Kaelen Valerius, a direct line scholar of the ruling Duchy! If you touch me, House Valerius will bring down the full force of our army upon your upstart House Sterling!"

Gabriel didn't even answer. He simply looked at Ignatius.

"Ignatius."

"Master!"

"Break their limbs. Leave the array masters alive to testify... kill the rest."

"NO! WAIT—!" Kaelen screamed, trying to ignite his spatial token.

FLASH!

Ignatius moved like a crimson phantom. Before Kaelen could finish his scream, a massive, dragon-scaled gauntlet clamped around Kaelen’s face, slamming him violently into the stone floor!

CRACK!

"AAAGH!" Kaelen’s limbs were instantly shattered by Ignatius’s domain pressure.

Beside him, Garron was grabbed by the neck and tossed like a sack of trash at Ethan's feet.

Gabriel looked down at Garron, who was weeping and vomiting blood onto the cold stone floor.

"Ethan, Elena," Gabriel said smoothly. "House Valerius sent these pests for you. Finish your business."