***

The Next Day.

Ethan and Nuwa entered the eastern forest after breakfast. Ethan told Nuwa what happened last night, saying she needed to know so she could stay alert—at least for her own safety.

Their goal in entering the eastern forest was to meet up with Lara and the others. According to the digital map, their distance wasn't too far at the moment.

By Ethan's calculation, they'd meet around noon—if nothing went wrong along the way.

As they walked deeper into the forest, Ethan raised his guard even higher, suspecting that the big guilds had already started to move.

One example was the Destroyer Guild—the same one Ethan had defeated yesterday.

According to him, they counted as a mid-tier guild because they were part of the Black Cliff Alliance.

It wasn't easy for any guild to join an alliance. There were requirements that proved they were worthy of becoming members.

Only mid to large guilds usually had what it took. That's why Ethan believed those guilds had begun making their moves.

Their steps stopped when they faintly heard noises from up ahead. Nuwa and Ethan saw it clearly—a group was fighting another group.

"T-That's Lara!" Nuwa said sharply, recognizing one of the women.

Ethan looked in the direction Nuwa pointed. Indeed, three women were fighting against a guild team of five members.

Nuwa instantly recognized the three women as her friends, so it was natural she shouted like that.

Ethan, on the other hand, didn't remember them well—he'd only met them briefly before everyone was separated when entering the Thousand Stars Event.

Still, it was clear the three women were struggling to defend themselves against the relentless attacks of the five guild members.

Without waiting for Ethan's command, Nuwa ran out from the bushes to protect her friends.

Lara was thrown back and coughed up blood. She was exhausted and could barely keep up fighting all five enemies, especially since three of them were warriors.

"Die!" one of the men shouted.

Just as he swung his skill attack, Nuwa arrived in time, using her ability to block the incoming strike.

But Nuwa's weak power made it hard to hold on.

Her defense shattered—fragile—and she took a direct hit from the warrior's strike.

"Nuwa?!" Lara gasped, her face bright with surprise.

Not just Lara—Luca and Celica reacted the same way. It was a joy for them to finally see Nuwa again after being separated.

"H-How are you holding up?" Lara asked, worried.

"They're strong. We won't last long without help from him," Nuwa replied.

"Him? Ethan?"

Not long after, Ethan stepped out from the forest bushes where he had been hiding.

Lara's team immediately focused their attention on him, as did the five guild members attacking them.

"You?! Who the hell are you?" one man shouted.

"I'm their leader," Ethan replied.

He stopped in front of Lara and the others but didn't greet them yet—his attention was locked on the enemies in front of him.

From what Ethan saw, the five opponents had an average level between 35 and 40.

Only the warrior standing before him had the highest level—45.

"Tch! One more coward won't change anything!" the man barked.

The warrior gripped his sword tightly and swung it sideways, releasing a crimson slash—similar to Ethan's Skill 1.

After all, it was the default skill for every warrior class player.

Ethan saw the direction of the attack coming at him. He stabbed his sword into the ground, summoning his shield barrier.

The crimson slash clashed violently with Ethan's shield, releasing a burst of power—but it had no effect on him or Lara's team.

Within seconds, Ethan had completely absorbed the attack without taking a single scratch.

The enemy team was shocked—they couldn't even see Ethan's level.

"It's blocked?! Wait, how the hell did you do that?" the man yelled.

Meanwhile, Lara was amazed by Ethan's power.

She didn't know his exact level, but before the event started, she'd heard plenty of rumors about the strength and brutality of EthanArk.

Now, seeing it with her own eyes, Lara finally understood what those rumors meant.

"Is he okay?" Lara asked Nuwa.

"Don't worry about him. He can handle this easily," Nuwa said confidently.

Ethan pulled out his sword and began attacking them with incredible speed—too fast for Lara's teammates to follow.

"AGH!"

Several enemies were cut, stabbed, or kicked by Ethan. In no time, he had taken down all five of them, as if he were just sparring.

"W-Who the hell are you?!" the warrior groaned, his face swollen.

"Hissy."

Hissy crawled out from Ethan's sleeve and slithered across the ground, biting the legs and arms of the defeated players.

The Venomfang poison quickly spread through their veins.

They began convulsing, coughing blood, and weakening fast—the usual effects of Venomfang's poison. Panic took over their faces.

"P-Please, don't kill us!"

"W-We'll do anything... anything!"

"Anything?" Ethan said coldly.

"Your Star Essence and your weapons. Then I'll let you live."

"O-Okay."

Unexpectedly, they agreed right away—handing over their weapons and Star Essence without hesitation.

Ethan found it reasonable, considering how desperate they were.

Without treatment, they'd die and fail the event anyway.

Ethan held out both hands—his right received five weapons: four Rare and one Epic. His left received a total of 320 Star Essence from the guild team.

"Is it easy to get Star Essence?" Lara asked, stunned.

"That's why we've been getting so much of it," Nuwa replied.

After collecting everything, Ethan told Hissy to pull the poison back. Unfortunately, two of them died before the poison could be reversed.

Their bodies disintegrated into magical particles that floated into the sky—the same way monsters died in this event.

"Liam! Argus!" the warrior screamed.

"Too bad. They were too weak—their HP dropped too fast."

"What the hell did you do?!" he shouted angrily.

"I was going to save them. They just died faster than I expected."

Lara stepped closer to Ethan, sword still in hand, glaring at the three remaining enemies.

"You attacked us first, and now your friends are dead. Don't you feel ashamed?!" Lara snapped.

"If I were Ethan, I'd kill you right after you said that!" she added furiously.

Ethan turned his head toward her. Lara was the type who got angry easily—even over small things.

Her class probably matches her personality.

He calmed her down and told her to step back and heal. Lara followed his words, and with Luca's help, she slowly recovered.

"You're weaponless, and you've lost your Star Essence. I gain nothing by killing you," Ethan said.

"Leave before my friend gets angrier."

With no other choice, the three survivors left, healing themselves as they went.

Ethan opened his system interface and stored the new weapons and Star Essence.

The Talent Quest and Thousand Stars Event panels appeared, but only the Event panel was visible to the other Sword Liberation guild members.

[Talent Quest:]

[Sword Count: 16/100]

[Duration: 17:19:25:32]

After checking it, Ethan looked at the panel beside it—the Thousand Stars Event panel.

[Thousand Stars Event]

[Team Name: Sword Liberation]

[Rank: 17,813]

[Star Essence: 1,520]

"The rank barely went up, even though we just got 320 Star Essence," Lara said.

"Yeah. That tells us something," Ethan replied, glancing at her while she was being treated.

"What is it?"

"We're competing against B- or A-rank guilds."

"So our opponents are that tough, huh?" Lara asked.

"Yeah. With your current power, it'll be hard."

"That's okay. I'll help you all get stronger," Ethan replied.

Lara turned to Nuwa, confused and curious about what Ethan meant.

After all, she and Ethan had just met—not like Nuwa, who had been fighting by his side since the event began.

"How?" Lara asked.

"We're heading to Arkan City!"

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