Ethan walked past Keal and approached his mother.
Then, using his mana, he established a telepathic connection between himself and Keal’s mother.
"It seems your dear son was about to do something truly unforgivable to you, wasn’t he?" Ethan’s cold, smooth voice resonated softly inside her consciousness.
Hearing that sudden voice inside her head, the mother’s dark eyes widened in shock.
She struggled to turn her head, her gaze locking onto the mysterious, fog-shrouded figure towering over her. But bound by total paralysis, she couldn’t utter a single sound.
Undeterred, Ethan continued, his tone carrying a calculated authority:
"I am not here to ask you questions. Instead, I am going to offer you a choice. If your answer to what I propose is yes, blink your eyes once. If your answer is no, blink your eyes twice."
"You understand what I’m saying, right?"
Keal’s mother blinked once.
It was her way of saying yes.
"Do you want to free yourself and your daughter from this living hell?"
Ethan asked calmly. "If you wish, I can completely help you... I can even heal your broken body and cure your paralysis."
For a brief moment, a profound look of shock washed over the mother’s face, as if lightning had struck her soul. Her dark eyes widened, reflecting a sudden wave of disbelief.
But just as quickly, the shock melted away, replaced by a quiet, suffocating calm—the stillness of a drowning person finally seeing a hand reaching down into the dark water.
Realizing that a lifeline had actually been thrown to her, she didn’t hesitate.
She slowly blinked her eyelids once, giving a clear and resolute yes.
A faint, approving curve touched Ethan’s lips before he continued with his next condition, his voice dropping an octave in the quiet air of her mind.
"There is a catch," Ethan stated coldly. "In exchange for your freedom and healing, you must completely cut ties with and abandon your son, Kael."
Hearing those words, the mother’s gaze instantly snapped away from Ethan, her dark eyes shifting heavily across the room to land on Kael.
He was still standing frozen nearby, his trousers pooled at his feet, exposing his distorted, depraved nature.
Her heart was already completely shattered. She had spent the last year knowing that her boy had changed ever since he survived that near-death experience at age three—she had even harbored a dark, unspoken suspicion that the soul inside him wasn’t truly her real son.
How else could a four-year-old child possess such grotesque, filthy desires? How could he look at his own mother with such predatory, monstrous intent? The betrayal cut deeper than any blade.
With a heart bleeding from grief and disgust, she slowly blinked her eyelids once more—another absolute yes.
Feeling a dark amusement ripple through him, Ethan smiled inwardly. "Second condition," he continued smoothly.
"You must sign a binding soul-slave contract with me. Since I am taking you under my absolute command, I cannot afford even a shred of betrayal."
Kael’s mother fell silent, her mind racing as she weighed the heavy burden of servitude against the freedom of her daughter and herself. After a brief pause, she blinked once again in agreement.
Finally, Ethan delivered his ultimate, non-negotiable decree.
"Even if your husband should somehow return... even if your son tracks you down to the ends of the earth... no matter what happens, you will never betray me. That is what this contract demands. Are you prepared to accept this absolute loyalty?"
A fresh wave of shock rippled through the mother’s mind.
She could easily understand severing ties with a monster of a son who tried to violate her, but her husband? True, her husband was no saint—he was a cruel, indifferent man with multiple wives who had never once shown her genuine affection.
Instead, he had banished her to this miserable, rotting coastal house precisely so no one could ever find her, keeping her locked away like a caged animal.
But why mention him specifically?
Sensing her silent confusion, a dark chuckle echoed in Ethan’s thoughts.
"Actually," Ethan thought, "Kael’s father is also a Heavenly Chosen One. He didn’t die in that distant war; in fact, he is bound to return before long. Well, ’soon’ in the grand scheme of things—it will probably take him another ten to fifteen years to fully recover his peak powers. When the two of them eventually cross paths in the future, it is going to be an absolute masterpiece to watch."
Despite the lingering confusion, the mother realized she had nothing left to lose. She blinked once more, sealing her fate.
A dark, satisfied smile crossed Ethan’s face. He channeled his immense mental power, invoking advanced telekinesis.
Suddenly, the paralyzed body of Kael’s mother began to gently lift off the crude wooden bed, rising smoothly into the air as a thick, soothing shroud of swirling mist wrapped around her, hiding her exposed form from view.
With a casual flick of his wrist, Ethan guided her floating body forward, catching her effortlessly with one arm. Her soft, full curves brushed against his shoulder, and the mist gently cradled her as if she were resting in a secure embrace.
Without missing a beat, Ethan flicked his fingers toward the corner of the room. A second wave of telekinesis wrapped around the shivering two-year-old girl.
The tiny, emaciated child drifted gently through the air, floating right into Ethan’s other arm, where she rested safely against him, quiet and subdued.
Bound by absolute paralysis, Kael could only stand and watch in helpless, unadulterated horror.
His eyes bulged in sheer panic as his mind raced frantically: "What the hell is going on here?! He just took my mother... and now he’s taking my sister?! What is this guy planning to do with them both? Is he like me—just another depraved traveler chasing after pleasure and flesh?! Whatever he is, please, just don’t kill me... just take them and get the hell out of here!"
Without sparing Kael another word, Ethan turned toward the wooden doorway. But right before stepping out, he cast one final, chilling glance back over his shoulder.
His eyes narrowed. In that fraction of a second, an illusion of razor-sharp, lethal swords flashed within his pupils, radiating an aura of absolute slaughter.
The moment Kael met that piercing gaze, his very soul trembled violently. The overwhelming psychological pressure crushed what little sanity he had left, and his eyes rolled back as he collapsed straight onto the floor, fainting cold away.
"I am taking away the one of the most important compressed fortunes meant for you, your sister," Ethan thought coldly, a dark smirk playing on his lips as he walked toward the exit.
"But Not only, but I am also going to strip away that special Stonefish Body constitution you were supposed to stumble upon and awaken down by the ocean after escaping this house tonight. For that to happen smoothly, it’s best if you stay fast asleep and far away from the sea."
With the paralyzed mother resting securely in his grasp and the trembling little sister cradled safely in his arms, Ethan stepped out of the run-down house, vanishing smoothly into the swirling rays of the afternoon.