I Am a Hero With A Hundred Abilities
Chapter 97 - 97: Ch 96. Genesis Ritual

Ethan stood—bloodied, shirtless, and shaking.

His chest heaved with every breath, the skin torn and bruised, crisscrossed with wounds that bled freely. The air around him still humming from the clash with the masked man's devastating Serpent's Maw. But despite everything—

He was still standing.

The arena fell into stunned silence.

The masked man stared at him, frozen in disbelief. His voice broke the quiet, an unconscious whisper.

"How… is he still alive?"

Behind Ethan, Sophia stared at his torn back, his shredded body shielding her from death. Her eyes widened, a mix of awe and guilt twisting inside her.

"This is all because of me…"

"If I were stronger… he wouldn't have to suffer like this… not alone…"

The other contestants, each of them powerful in their own right, looked on with widened eyes and stunned expressions. They had seen Ethan fight, seen him take on challenges with reckless bravery—but this?

This was madness.

And yet… he endured.

Among them all, one truth had become undeniable—

Ethan was the strongest.

But inside Ethan's mind, things were far less heroic.

"Fuck… fuck… FUCK. It hurts… it hurts so much…"

His body screamed. Every nerve was lit aflame. He had never imagined he could run out of meta essence—but it had happened. He had spent everything. Pushed his body beyond its design. His legs trembled, his vision blurred.

"If he attacks now… I'm done. I can't move…"

Then—

Something stirred.

Deeper than Tenebris. Deeper than his connection to Gray.

A pulse in his core.

A whisper.

A pull.

He had experienced it before a trigger. The moment where a hero transcends. The moment when survival isn't enough and when the impossible is made real.

He had done just that.

He had stood against an Overlord and survived.

If that wasn't Worthy a trigger… nothing was.

Without hesitation, Ethan grasped the pull—

—and pulled the trigger.

The effect was instant.

A shockwave of energy rippled through the arena. Pure, unfiltered meta essence surged into him like a flood.

His wounds glowed with light as the energy rewrote his body—reforging it, making him stronger, faster, better.

The masked man felt it.

"Impossible…"

He moved instantly, trying to strike before the transformation was complete.

But it was already too late.

Ethan's meta essence reserves were restored.

He activated Vital Bloom, his body erupting in vibrant life energy. Every wound sealed. Every bruise faded. His strength returned—greater than ever before.

The masked man approached like a blur but Ethan met him head-on.

This time, not as a battered Level 3 warrior but as a newly ascended Level 4 Elite.

The two forces collided.

Their collision was cataclysmic.

Lightning exploded around Ethan. The arena trembled under the force. And in that moment—

Ethan's fist crashed into the masked man's face.

The power of Tenebris the raw force from his fusion with Gray, and the strength of his new level all coalesced into a blow that could shatter mountains.

The masked man flew backward like a broken kite, his body crashing into the arena wall with a thunderous BOOM.

Dust clouded the air.

Ethan stepped forward to follow up, but he stopped.

His eyes locked onto something that made his breath hitch.

The masked man's mask had cracked.

And then, piece by piece, it fell.

The mask hit the ground.

And for the first time—

The identity of the masked man was revealed.

****

The moment Ethan confirmed that Alex Tusk was behind the ambush at the bar, he didn't waste time reacting emotionally. Instead, he went to work.

He didn't have the luxury of inherited memories from the previous Ethan of this world. That meant every name, every history, every enmity had to be discovered, not remembered.

And luckily for him, digging into Alex's life wasn't difficult. In a world driven by power, politics, and legacy, the Tusk name came with an abundance of records.

It didn't take long for Ethan to uncover the truth.

Alex Tusk was the son of Lyon Tusk—the Vice Clan Leader of the Green Serpents.

That revelation made Ethan pause.

Not because it was unbelievable. No, Natasha had already warned him about Lyon Tusk. She told him to stay away from that man if he wasn't ready to get swallowed whole. But now? Staying away wasn't an option.

As he pieced together more fragments of Lyon's involvement in his predecessor's past, Ethan felt a burning sensation in his chest. It wasn't from fear.

It was rage deep, bitter, all-consuming rage.

The man tied to the death of this world's Ethan's parents was still breathing.

That knowledge alone made his blood boil.

Still, Ethan took a deep breath and calmed himself. He couldn't afford to be reckless. He needed answers.

When he found out that it was Lyon who was behind the mask, slumped and injured after his earlier devastating blow, he didn't strike again immediately.

He approached him calmly.

Lyon sat slouched against the wall, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth, his breathing shallow.

He didn't move. He couldn't. One look at Ethan's eyes told him this was no longer a confrontation. It was a sentence.

Ethan crouched down, getting eye-level with the once-powerful man.

"I'm going to ask you some questions," Ethan said, his voice like steel. "And you're going to answer truthfully. Is that clear?"

Lyon remained silent.

Ethan's expression didn't change—but his hand moved, delivering a brutal slap across Lyon's face. Blood splattered against the wall.

"I said…" he repeated, "…am I clear?"

Lyon's cold stare didn't waver.

Ethan's grin turned twisted.

"So, you're stubborn? Good."

"That'll make it so much more fun when I break you."

And he did.

Ethan wasn't just a warrior he was a tactician, a tormentor forged by countless rebirths and hard-earned pain.

Using Vital Bloom, he kept Lyon conscious, even as he inflicted torment no human or hero should ever endure.

With surgical precision, he destroyed Lyon's resistance, his body, and most importantly—his pride.

By the end, Lyon's face was swollen, his shirt gone, his blood-streaked torso marred with deep bruises and lacerations.

His arms trembled, his lips muttered incomprehensible words—until finally, a plea broke through.

"Please… no more… I'll tell you anything…"

The defiance was gone.

Ethan smiled.

"That's what I want to hear."

He leaned forward.

"Now tell me… why did you come after me?"

Lyon struggled to speak. His jaw was nearly broken, but when he saw the cold, merciless look in Ethan's eyes, he forced the words out.

"It's… because of the Genesis Ritual…"

Ethan didn't speak. He let the silence force Lyon to continue.

"Your father… he was given a mission. To find it…"

That part, Ethan already knew. Natasha had told him the story of his father's mission—of how Lyon may have had a hand in his parent's deaths.

What he needed to know now—was why.

"What's so special about the Genesis Ritual?" Ethan asked, cutting him off.

Lyon hesitated.

His lips trembled before he gave the answer that made Ethan's heart nearly stop.

"It's… because of the access it gives…"

Ethan's eyes narrowed.

"What access?"

Lyon's next words came like thunder.

"Access to the core of the Universe…"