CHAPTER 75: NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN GUILD ALLIANCES

***

Five days later.

Central forest area.

The woman had no choice but to obey whatever Ethan said. Her magic staff had been taken, and she was completely powerless against him.

If she tried to fight back, Ethan might kill her. She had to stay alive to help the Sacred Hall guild team survive.

Ethan didn’t take her to a cave or a cliff, but instead, he and Luna brought her to the Divine Altar.

When they arrived at the golden altar, the woman’s HP started to recover.

Her wounds healed, and even her severed right arm slowly began to regenerate.

He could’ve taken me somewhere and locked me up... so why did he bring me to the Divine Altar?

She sat on the grass with Ethan and Luna on either side of her.

There was something Ethan needed to ask her, and he believed she was the only one who might know the answer.

While her HP continued to heal, the woman smiled and nodded slightly.

"Sure. If you want to talk, then I’ll talk."

"Tell me, where is Uruk City?" Ethan asked.

"About one or two days’ walk from the Divine Altar," she replied.

One or two days, huh? Guess it’s not that close after all.

"Is it true there’s a Northern Guild Alliance there?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Wait! Did you just find out about it? Are you a player from Arkan City?"

Ethan nodded, and the woman chuckled softly. Most of her wounds had already healed, but her golden magic staff was still in Luna’s hands.

No matter what she tried, she couldn’t hurt Ethan or Luna while inside the Divine Altar’s zone.

"Let me tell you something," she said.

"The Redemption Sword Guild will reject anyone from the south."

"Because they think southern players are weak?" Ethan asked.

"That’s right."

This would cause another conflict between the two guild alliances.

The difference in strength between the Northern and Southern Guild Alliances was the reason Redemption Sword refused to let any southern players join them.

Only those who were considered strong enough were allowed.

Sacred Hall was one of those few well-known guilds that qualified.

"Do they judge based on individuals or guild teams?" Ethan asked.

"Guild teams."

So that’s it. Sword Liberation is a D-rank guild—there’s no way I can sneak into the city.

There’s only one way to weaken them without entering the city—launch a surprise attack in the forest near it.

After all, they still need Star Essence from monsters, and those monsters can only be found in the forest.

"Who are you, really? Why do you want to enter the city so badly?" the woman asked.

"You don’t need to know. All you need to know is—there’s a team I have to kill there."

The woman went silent. She couldn’t see Ethan’s face because of the white mask he wore, and she couldn’t tell if he was serious or not.

"I’ll figure out a way later," Ethan replied.

Ethan sighed. The information the woman beside him gave was useful, but he needed a second source.

Information from one person could be misleading, and it wasn’t wise to trust it right away.

It was better to gather more data from different people, so he could figure out what was true and what wasn’t.

Ethan led the woman out of the Divine Altar area, with Luna following behind.

The Divine Altar’s blue panel vanished, meaning they had officially left the golden altar zone.

Luna handed the magic staff back to Ethan, who held it and showed it to the Sacred Hall mage.

"You can go back—as long as you don’t follow me again," Ethan said.

"Can I see your face for a moment?" the mage asked, curious.

"No."

The woman felt honestly disappointed. She wanted to know what EthanArk’s face looked like.

Is he a handsome guy worthy of being a husband? Or just some loner normie? Or maybe an older guy with an ugly face?

Those thoughts kept spinning in her head. But there was nothing she could do except obey what Ethan said.

She took her staff and said goodbye. Ethan stayed silent, then walked with Luna in another direction, heading north but not the same path as the woman.

Luna nodded, walking beside Ethan while holding his hand tightly.

They moved through the forest, stopping whenever they met monsters—and killing them right away.

At first, Luna was scared each time Ethan fought a monster, but after seeing how strong he was, killing them so easily, she stopped being afraid.

In total, Ethan killed around seven Star Essence monsters, each dropping different Star Essence amounts—from 25 to 125.

The total amount of Star Essence Ethan gained reached 350.

He immediately input it into his Star Essence system, and the number increased.

[Thousand Stars Event]

[Team Name: Sword Liberation]

[Rank: 12,388]

[Total: 6,686]

Not only Ethan was collecting Star Essence; Lara and the others were doing the same.

They had become more productive, and their results kept growing.

Some of them probably wondered why Ethan kept adding more Star Essence to Sword Liberation’s total.

Besides Star Essence, killing those monsters also gave him EXP and Gold. Ethan kept hunting while mapping the northern area.

Since his digital map wasn’t synced with the maps of the others in his team, Lara and the rest couldn’t match their map data with Ethan’s.

Their exploration stopped when night began to fall. During their final scouting of the day, Ethan faintly heard one of the guild teams mentioning a place called Arco Village.

They said they were heading there since it was closer than Uruk City.

For resting purposes, Arco Village was the best choice for players nearby.

Ethan followed them quietly, with Luna trailing behind him. In front of them, they saw a lively village with glowing lights brightening the streets.

Many players came there to rest, relax, or trade with each other.

Ethan smiled and looked at Luna.

"We found a village. We’ll stay there for the night—you can sleep comfortably, Luna," Ethan said.

"Of course. I can’t wait to do that," Luna replied.

Ethan led Luna out of the forest and into the village. They walked along the main street, crowded with other players.

Many of them stared sharply at Ethan because of his PK status, but Ethan didn’t care.

He was stronger than every player in that village. If he ever felt threatened, he could wipe the whole place out with ease.

That’s why Ethan didn’t feel intimidated at all—because he was powerful.

"What’s with those people staring at us?" Luna asked.

"Just ignore them, Luna. Ignore them."

"If anyone scares you, tell me."

"I’ll kill them right away."