I Siphon the Dead to Become the Strongest

Ethan groaned, a long, rattling sound that sounded like a bag of nails being shaken. He slowly pushed himself up from the dirt, shaking a stray leaf off his visor.

”Well...” he muttered, his voice raspy but smug. ”Plan worked successfully. I’ve officially confirmed that the way to an Orc’s heart is through a very detailed critique of their nasal anatomy. I’ll call him ’Snot-Face the Irritable’ in my memoirs.”

He rolled his shoulders, feeling the Heavenly Demon’s armor humming beneath him. The Orc had certainly landed some heavy hits—his ribs felt like they’d been used as a xylophone—but the armor had taken the brunt of the impact. Now that he was no longer tied up like a holiday roast, the playing field had changed.

”Alright, you overgrown booger,” Ethan whispered, a predatory grin forming behind his mask. ”Now that I can actually move, it’s time to show you what happens when you mess with—”

Suddenly, the sun vanished.

A massive, suffocating shadow loomed over him. Ethan froze and slowly looked up. He wasn’t looking at one Orc. He was looking at two. Two massive, bloated, green-skinned behemoths, their bellies hanging over their belts and their eyes bloodshot with ancestral rage. They looked like they had spent the last decade eating nothing but rocks and anger.

”Oh... you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Ethan sighed, his voice dripping with disappointment. ”It’s a family reunion. Why is it always the fat ones?”

”GRRRRUUUUAGH!”

The two Orcs didn’t waste time with dialogue. With a synchronized roar, they leaped into the air, their massive feet coming down like two falling skyscrapers, intending to flatten Ethan into a very expensive, armor-plated pancake.

BOOM!

The ground shattered, dirt and stone erupting upward in a violent spray. But Ethan wasn’t there. He had leaped forward in a blur of motion, soaring just over the impact zone, his cape fluttering behind him. He landed lightly on his feet, his posture shifting into something far more dangerous.

”You know,” Ethan said, his voice suddenly losing its playful edge and becoming cold, sharp, and focused. ”While I was flying through those nature-stabs back there, I actually had some free time to think. I managed to review about twenty or thirty skills from my stolen ability list.”

He slowly raised both of his hands toward the sky, his palms open.

”And I’ve decided,” he continued, a dark chuckle echoing in his helmet, ”that you two are the perfect test subjects for a live demonstration.”

ZZZZZZT!

Suddenly, the air around him began to ionize. Violent, jagged sparks of white-blue lightning began to dance across his forearms, snapping and popping with a deafening intensity. The electricity didn’t just glow; it screamed, the white-blue bolts arcing between his gauntlets and the ground, turning the surrounding grass into instant ash.

Ethan’s eyes glowed behind his visor. With a sudden, violent motion, he slammed both of his hands down toward the earth.

KRA-THOOOOOOOM!!!

Two colossal pillars of divine lightning descended from the heavens, striking the exact coordinates where the two fat Orcs stood. The sound was a physical blow—a thunderclap so powerful it likely shattered everything within a short radius.

The flash was blinding, a searing white light that bleached the entire forest for a split second. When the light faded, the after-effects were catastrophic.

Two perfectly circular craters had been carved into the earth, the soil turned into jagged, glowing red glass from the sheer heat of the strike. The two Orcs weren’t just defeated; they were charred husks, their skin blackened and smoking, their eyes wide in a permanent state of ”what just happened?”

Small sparks of electricity continued to dance across the blackened remains, the smell of ozone and burnt monster filling the air.

Ethan stood in the center of the devastation, a few stray sparks still dancing on his fingertips. He exhaled a long breath, a small cloud of smoke escaping his visor.

”Now that’s what I call a power trip,” he whispered.

Ethan stood amidst the smoking remains of the two fat Orcs, the ozone still thick in the air. He slowly turned his head, his visor locking onto the distance where the original Orc—the one he had affectionately dubbed ”Snot-Face the Irritable”—was standing.

The change in the monster was pathetic. Gone was the sadistic bravado, the arrogant sneering, and the desire to use Ethan as a stress-ball. The Orc was trembling, its massive jaw hanging open in a state of pure, unadulterated terror. It looked at the charred craters, then back at the armored man who had just summoned the wrath of the heavens, and it realized it had made a catastrophic mistake in judgment.

‘Wow,’ Ethan thought, side-eyeing the beast. ‘Where did all that energy go? You were so bold when I was a metallic burrito in chains, but now that the playing field is level, you’ve suddenly developed a passion for athletics?’

The Orc didn’t wait for a second invitation. With a terrified squeal, it turned tail and bolted, its massive legs pumping as it tried to vanish into the dense foliage.

”Seriously?” Ethan called out, his voice echoing with disappointment. ”You’re just going to turn tail and run? After all the time we spent bonding over your nasal cavity? That is a total letdown, Snot-Face!”

Ethan didn’t just chase him; he prepared to erase the distance. He bent his knees, leaning his body forward in a low, aggressive crouch. The armor on his legs groaned under the sudden tension, and as he shifted his weight, small, jagged yellow sparks began to dance around his boots.

BOOM!!!

The moment he launched, the ground beneath him didn’t just crack—it exploded. A shockwave of pressure scorched the earth, leaving a blackened crater where he had once stood. Ethan became a golden streak of light, a living railgun projectile cutting through the forest at speeds that blurred the trees into a smear of green.

The Orc didn’t even have time to scream. One moment it was running for its life; the next, a metallic fist had already buried itself deep into the center of its back.

The impact was catastrophic.

The punch didn’t just stop at the surface; it penetrated forward, unleashing a howling torrent of yellow thunder that erupted through the Orc’s chest. A massive, crackling bolt of electricity roared forward from the point of impact, shredding the air and blowing back the surrounding trees in a perfect circle of destruction. The Orc was lifted off its feet, its eyes rolling back as it was essentially turned into a living lightning rod.

Ethan remained there for a heartbeat, his fist still embedded in the monster’s spine, the yellow electricity still dancing violently between them. He leaned in close to the Orc’s ear, his voice a whisper of pure, sarcastic menace.

”You know, I call this unique skill ’Mia’s School Fees Shock’... because the cost of education is absolutely brutal.”

He paused, a small smirk forming behind his helmet.

”Nah, I’m just kidding. It’s actually called True Thunder.”

KRA-KOOOOOM!

A final discharge of energy blasted the Orc forward, sending it skipping across the ground like a flat stone on a pond until it slammed into a rock wall with a final, definitive thud.

Ethan slowly retracted his fist, shaking off the remaining sparks. He looked at the devastation he’d caused and sighed.

”Man, I hope Germaine didn’t see that. She’ll probably call me a show-off... and then ask if I can pay for her ramen.”

---

Hey everyone!

I know things have been moving a little slowly around here lately, but guess what? NEXT WEEK IS DO-OR-DIE TIME! 🔥

That’s right—starting Monday to Friday, I will be posting CONTINUOUS DAILY CHAPTERS all week long!

Now, look... I say ”do or die,” but let’s be honest—I’m way too lazy to die like Ethan, and I definitely don’t want my last words to be ”I died writing a web novel.” So I promise I’ll survive it! 😂

Prepare yourselves for non-stop action, chaotic comedy, and more high-tier ridiculousness every single day next week. Set your alarms, drop your comments, and get ready for the hype train!

See you all on Monday! 🚀✨