"Tch!" the Destroyer guild leader clicked his tongue in frustration.

He hadn't expected Ethan's strength to go beyond what he imagined. He was only seven levels above Ethan, but how could Ethan hurt him that badly with just one strike?

It made no sense to him.

"The Destroyer Guild is a member of the Black Cliff Alliance. If you attack us, you're attacking the whole alliance," the man said.

"Black Cliff Alliance?"

What's that? Is it a new alliance formed because of the situation in this game?

"You don't know? Figures! You're from a weak guild—you know nothing about the big guild alliances!" the man sneered.

Ethan narrowed his eyes. For some reason, that alliance name didn't sound new to him, like he had heard it before.

But the last time Ethan played, there was no such name.

"Who's the leading guild of the Black Cliff Alliance?!" Ethan demanded.

"Scavenger!"

Scavenger? The ones who manipulated Stephen and caused Eve and Juno's deaths.

Hearing that name made Ethan fall silent. The man smiled widely and laughed mockingly, thinking Ethan and his guild were done for since they had messed with Scavenger.

In Ethan's mind, there was still revenge to take for what happened to Eve and Juno.

Scavenger, one of the three major guilds, wasn't easy to deal with right now.

"Scavenger isn't here. Even if they were, I'd kill them myself!" Ethan said firmly.

His words were heard not only by Destroyer's members but also by Nuwa.

She knew about Scavenger—a big guild with powerful influence.

But Nuwa didn't know what made Ethan hate Scavenger so much. She had no idea what kind of past he had.

"You're proud of Scavenger, huh? But where are they now? They didn't come to save you!" Ethan said coldly.

The female priest stepped forward toward Ethan—not to support her teammates, but to continue the negotiation Ethan had asked for.

"Can we start talking about that negotiation?" she asked.

"Nath! Don't talk to him! I order you not to hand over your weapon!" the man shouted.

"If we don't, he'll kill us and ruin our mission in this event."

"How would you explain that to the Guild Leader if it happens?" the woman asked calmly.

"But—"

"We can buy new weapons in Arkan City. We can gather new Star Essences later—we still have time."

"Arkan City? You know where that is?" Ethan asked.

The priest nodded. She said Arkan City was to the south, and many players in this event were heading there.

What she said matched what Cersei had mentioned before. Both women said the same thing—a city in the southern region.

So there really was a city to the south.

"If we die, then all our effort will be for nothing," the woman explained.

This woman seemed much wiser than the man.

She was the first to hand over her weapon to Ethan. He checked it—an Epic-rank weapon.

Not long after, the other members followed.

What the priest said was true and smart—if they died, they would fail completely.

At least now they knew Ethan's power. None of them could take him down. It would take a much stronger force to stand against him.

One by one, they stepped forward and handed over their weapons.

In total, Ethan received six weapons—two Epic and four Rare.

Now only one person hadn't given up his weapon—the Destroyer team leader. He also held the Star Essences.

"You," Ethan called.

Not only Ethan but his teammates were watching him. Feeling the pressure, he had no choice but to do what Ethan demanded.

He stood up in anger, stretched out his sword, and handed over the Star Essences they had gathered.

Ethan accepted both items—the Epic weapon and 545 Star Essences.

"All right. I've got everything," Ethan said.

"You'll let us go, right? As we agreed in the negotiation."

Ethan nodded. He was a man of his word. He let them go.

The priest and her teammates walked south, most likely heading to Arkan City to shop.

Nuwa came closer with a puzzled face. She knew Ethan was strong, and it made sense to take their Star Essences—but why take their weapons too?

Ethan had once explained that taking away weapons was a preventive move, to stop them from attacking again.

But now that there was a city like Arkan, they could just buy new weapons easily.

Up until now, Nuwa still didn't really understand why Ethan had taken their weapons.

"Go gather some firewood. Night's coming. Looks like we'll camp here," Ethan said.

Nuwa nodded. She put aside her questions and focused on her task.

Within seconds, she disappeared into the eastern forest to collect dry wood.

Still at the waterfall, Ethan opened his notification panel and saw two new updates—Star Essence for the 1000 Stars Event and a Talent Quest.

[1000 Stars Event]

[Team Name: Sword Liberation]

[Rank: 19,580]

[Star Essence Count: 810]

Their rank had gone up a lot. Ethan saw his guild, Sword Liberation, sitting at rank 114,336 out of hundreds of thousands of guild teams.

That was a good improvement—even impressive for a D-rank guild.

But to reach the top 10, Ethan would need a lot more time, effort, and Star Essences.

He didn't have to rush. Besides Star Essences, his main focus was weapons.

Right. If I collect enough before twenty days pass, I'll get the Ashura Blood Sword Ver. 1.

[Talent Quest:]

[Number of swords: 11]

[Time left: 18:06:05:25]

Eighteen days left to collect them all. I need around eighty-nine weapons before the time's up.

That means five per day.

With his current strength, Ethan could probably manage it. But he had to target players from big guilds.

Most players from big guilds used Rare weapons—some even Epic. If Ethan fought them, it would cause big problems.

His name would become the most wanted in the event—by everyone, without exception.

Not long after, Nuwa came back carrying a pile of dry wood.

She approached the waterfall, calling for Ethan. Ethan turned after closing his Talent Quest panel and saw her struggling.

"Can you... help me, Ethan?" she asked.

Ethan smiled and stepped forward to take the firewood from her hands.

Day turned to night quickly, and Ethan easily lit a campfire with Jack's help.

"Black Cliff Alliance," Ethan said as he sat in front of the fire, roasting some fish.

Nuwa sat across from him, listening.

"Something wrong with that alliance?" she asked.

"Just a weak alliance full of idiots," Ethan replied.

"I don't think Scavenger's current rank came from idiots," Nuwa said.

"Do you support them?" Ethan asked.

"I don't know. I've always admired them because their guild is home to assassins like me."

Scavenger had long been famous for its assassin guild, while Sword Redemption was a warrior guild and LionArk was mixed.

Since then, Scavenger became the dream guild for assassins. Joining them brought pride—the guild's name alone was feared by many.

But to Ethan, they were sneaky and cowardly. The worst part was when they manipulated Stephen, making Ethan known as The Reaper.

They also killed Eve and Juno, just because they were close to him. Ethan didn't know why they targeted him, but he always stayed cautious.

The 1000 Stars Event was filled with the best players from every guild. Even the Guild Leaders outside the event used its results to plan their next moves, and other players waited to see which teams made the top ten.

There were still many things Ethan needed to do. The next step was clear—gather his team and head to the city.

"Get some rest, Nuwa."

"I'll wake you if anything dangerous happens."

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