Imhotep's smile said it all, with almost no attempt to hide his thoughts.
When Ethan saw that smile, he knew a fight was inevitable.
He had already anticipated this situation. Holding the Book of the Living, Ethan could have cast a spell to strip Imhotep of all his powers, turning him into a mere mortal who could easily be defeated. However, doing so would mean giving up on learning anything from the ancient Egyptian High Priest.
It would be easy to kill Imhotep, but to make him willingly uphold his promise, Ethan had to demonstrate a level of strength Imhotep would respect. He needed to make the High Priest understand that Ethan was not some "inferior being" he could casually dismiss, but a caster with profound power, possibly even more powerful than Imhotep himself after resurrection.
Only by showing his strength and earning Imhotep's sincere respect could Ethan complete the deal they had made.
Imhotep slowly raised his hands. As he did, the sand in the stone chamber began to float up and surged toward Ethan, who was standing not far away.
The sand didn't primarily target Ethan. One part aimed for the Book of the Living in Ethan's hand, while another went after Logan and the others behind him.
Imhotep was trying to force Ethan to give up the Book of the Living. Otherwise, his companions would be killed.
But Ethan, who had long been on guard, was not unprepared. His spell had already been cast and was ready to go. The moment Imhotep launched his attack, Ethan released the spell he had been preparing.
A transparent wall, like glass, suddenly appeared between them as Ethan raised his hand. It perfectly divided the stone chamber in two.
The sand controlled by Imhotep struck the transparent wall, but it was like falling into a bottomless pool. Aside from a few ripples, it had no effect at all.
Seeing Ethan neutralize his attack so easily, Imhotep's expression shifted from relaxed to serious.
Ethan didn't stop moving just because Imhotep hesitated. He lightly waved his raised hand, as if making a beckoning gesture.
"Since we're going to fight, let's find a place with more room. It's too cramped in here."
As Ethan spoke, the glass-like wall suddenly split into two, surging toward Ethan and Imhotep respectively.
Imhotep, now serious, didn't know what Ethan was trying to do, but as an experienced caster, he didn't want to let an opponent's spell touch him.
But just as Ethan had said, in the narrow space of the stone chamber, the glass wall filled nearly the entire area. There was no room to dodge. Imhotep had no choice but to transform his body into sand, hoping to avoid the spell.
However, as the wall passed over him, Imhotep only felt a slight tremor through his body. Other than that, there was no damage. When he returned to human form and looked around, he realized he had left the stone chamber. He was now outside.
Yellow sand stretched endlessly, and Hamunaptra was not far away. The bright moonlight provided plenty of light. Opposite him still stood Ethan, prepared and calm. He had combined teleportation magic into the mirror-like wall. The transparent wall served not only as a defense but also as a teleportation device, making it a multifunctional composite spell.
This wasn't a newly developed spell, but a fusion of magic Ethan had already mastered. Casting it required precise control. Even with Ethan's mastery, he needed time to prepare it in advance.
Imhotep had no way of knowing this. Seeing the young man opposite him cast such a powerful spell so casually, he became even more cautious. It seemed this battle would be far more difficult than he had expected—especially since the young man still held the Book of the Living.
He had originally believed that, as long as he could seize the Book of the Living, the restraint on him would disappear, and it would be easy to crush this young caster with his powerful magic.
But reality had slapped him in the face. The young man who had awakened and resurrected him was a caster even more powerful than Imhotep had been in life.
Even so, as the resurrected Imhotep, he now possessed even greater power and a nearly immortal body. He firmly believed that the person before him would still fall to him eventually.
At this point, Imhotep understood that killing Ethan might be unrealistic. What he truly wanted was to showcase his own strength and make this opponent realize that Imhotep was not someone to be threatened or underestimated.
Ethan closed the two ancient books again. He found that he couldn't store them in his space ring—most likely because they were spellcasting tools imbued with divine power.
He removed the keys from them, then tossed the two books to the others behind him, asking them to keep the scriptures safe.
At the same time, Ethan activated the Mirror Dimension and sent the others inside. They could observe the battle between Ethan and Imhotep from within and would not be affected by the fight.
Only then did Logan relax slightly. He knew he had no role to play in the upcoming fight. Inside the Mirror Dimension, they were safe and couldn't interfere with the outside world.
After briefly explaining the situation, O'Connell, although still skeptical, had no choice but to believe that the spell could protect them. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break through the seemingly fragile "glass wall" in front of him.
"Can they see us from outside?"
"No. We're in a separate space. We don't exist in 'that world' right now."
Logan, who had spent a lot of time with Ethan and even studied Druidic knowledge, had no problem explaining the Mirror Dimension.
"But if we're in here, what if Ethan's in danger?" Evelyn was still kindhearted. After confirming they couldn't help Ethan, her first concern was that Ethan would be facing the terrifying newly resurrected priest alone.
"We can't help in the battle. Not getting in his way is the best help we can offer."
When Logan said that, even Ada couldn't fully grasp the meaning. Evelyn, Jonathan, and O'Connell, who had only known Ethan for a short time, certainly couldn't.
Ada, however, had spent a significant amount of time with Ethan. She had been with him for a year in the Resident Evil world and later followed him to the X-Men timeline.
But she had never directly witnessed Ethan's full strength. She only knew he was a mage with miraculous abilities, able to freely travel between different planes, and that he liked collecting magical items and crafting potions to enhance himself.
As for his combat ability? She had only seen his physical skills, gained through training with Loki. As for his magic, her impression was mostly that it was strange and hard to predict.
It had been a long time since anyone had seen Ethan fight using his full magical power.
Only now, seeing him fight seriously, did Ada realize Logan had been absolutely right. The battle outside was on a completely different level—something she, as a spy with a bit of enhancement, couldn't possibly interfere in.
After Ethan "gave up" the advantage of the two books, Imhotep was momentarily stunned. Then, an amused smile appeared on his face. He no longer found Ethan annoying. However, this didn't make him hold back.
On the contrary, Imhotep saw this as a great opportunity.
The High Priest, unleashing his full power, stirred up a storm of sand and dust. Nearly all the sand around them was mobilized, forming a massive tidal wave that surged toward Ethan. Even without any magic transformation, the sheer force of the sand crashing down could cause devastating damage.
Ethan, meanwhile, had already begun channeling his magic. His current magic reserves were vastly greater than before. All of it was magic he had cultivated himself, which made it extremely easy for him to control.
More importantly, this world was filled with abundant energy. As a mage, Ethan naturally knew how to use his own power to harness the energy around him. In such an environment, mages could cast far more powerful spells.
In an instant, vast energy gathered around Ethan and, under his control, transformed into blazing flames.
The powerful flames spun violently, forming a massive tornado of fire that shot into the sky. It swept across the oncoming sand waves, tearing them apart. Many grains of sand sparked as they were scorched by the intense heat.
Ethan would have preferred to wash the sand away with water. Wet sand is harder to control. But in a desert, water elements were scarce, and the ambient energy leaned toward heat. Transforming it into water would cost more magic and time.
Still, the outcome was the same. The fiery tornado didn't dissipate after neutralizing the sand. It spun even faster, gradually condensing into a smaller form. As it compacted, Imhotep finally saw Ethan standing at the center, surrounded by intense flames.
At this moment, Ethan's right hand was held flat. The flames swirling around him condensed into his palm, forming a long, rod-shaped fiery spear.
That wasn't all. A large amount of flame also gathered behind Ethan, forming a pair of massive flaming wings that lifted him into the air. He was preparing to strike from above.
His method of attack was the countless fiery feathers on the massive wings.
As Ethan pointed the flaming spear, the wings began firing a barrage of flaming feathers. Explosions echoed continuously from the area where Imhotep stood.
(To be continued.)
***
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