CHAPTER 79: STAR ESSENCE HARVEST

Hearing Ethan’s threat made many players anxious and restless. They even shouted at the guild team leaders who had challenged Ethan earlier, demanding that they fight immediately.

Other guild members also yelled, forcing them to do so.

"Hurry up and fight! We don’t want to die because of your cowardice!" they shouted.

"I remember who they are. Should we drag them into the arena?!" others yelled.

Arnold and his guild team looked at the crowd. They were split into two opposing sides—one refused to fight, while the other wanted to see a battle.

Ethan turned his head toward Arnold, even though the man didn’t know Ethan was watching him.

"This is bad. Some spectators are starting to side with Ethan. They’re scared to die," one of Arnold’s teammates said.

"We have the most Star Essence. I’ll be Ethan’s last opponent," Arnold whispered.

As the area filled with the shouts of spectators, one of the guild team leaders refused to fight and chose to leave the field.

Ethan noticed him. His mind recalled that the man running away was one of the guild leaders who had challenged him earlier.

Not wanting to let him escape easily, Ethan gripped his sword and leapt high, leaving the arena behind.

The other spectators were shocked, and even Arnold looked surprised.

Ethan landed on the village road and saw the man running into the village.

With another powerful jump, Ethan activated his ultimate skill, landing hard in the middle of the village.

A strong gust of wind followed, destroying parts of the nearby buildings.

The man stopped moving, as did his entire team. He shouted at Ethan to cancel the fight, especially since it wasn’t an official one.

"You challenged me to a duel. You also insulted me and called me weak. How are you going to pay for your words?!" Ethan demanded.

"I take back what I said. You’re a strong and respected man—we’re nothing compared to you. Our guild is weak!" the guild leader said.

"Fine. Then what about the bet?" Ethan asked, holding out his hand.

"Bet? I didn’t fight you."

"So, you’re admitting defeat?" Ethan asked coldly.

The man clenched his fists tightly, feeling humiliated and belittled by Ethan.

Some of his teammates urged him to run—they had no chance of winning against Ethan.

"I’ll take it as you are surrendering by running away from the arena."

"Hand over all your Star Essence," Ethan demanded firmly.

"We won’t!" the guild leader shouted.

"You insulted me, challenged me to fight, and now you want to run away? I don’t think it’ll be that easy, sir!"

Ethan gripped his sword tightly, ready to kill the entire guild team in front of him.

The spectators ran toward the center of the village, eager to see what was happening.

Would Ethan really fight them even though the location had changed? None of the players knew.

But judging from the destruction when Ethan arrived, they guessed things would get worse if he decided to fight.

"You want to fight our leader? Then face us first!" one of the guild members shouted.

Ethan sighed softly, then dashed forward with a lightning-fast move that they couldn’t keep up with.

He swung his sword, delivering diagonal slashes and thrusts at all of them.

One of the warriors’ swords even broke when it clashed with Ethan’s blade.

At close range, Ethan pulled his sword back and thrust it forward again and again, using his second skill attack.

Slowly, everyone within Ethan’s attack range was injured. Their bodies were torn apart, their HP dropped drastically, and blood dripped onto the ground.

Seven people collapsed helplessly. Some managed to land hits on Ethan, but their attacks barely made a difference.

Their leader panicked, his hands trembling and face pale. They never expected Ethan to defeat seven of their members so easily using only one skill.

Ethan stopped when he reached a priest who was wounded and trying to reach her staff. She had the duty to heal her teammates.

Ethan knew what she was doing. He quickly stopped her and took her staff, leaving the female priest frozen in surrender.

"You’re the last one left," Ethan said, staring at the guild leader’s face.

Realizing he couldn’t win against Ethan, the man gave up. The safety of his teammates was more important than Star Essence.

If they died, their guild team would fail this event.

"F-Fine."

"I... surrender."

Ethan stood still, holding out his hand to receive their Star Essence. The man handed them over—7,575 in total.

Seeing their leader give up made the rest of the team lose hope. Ethan accepted the Star Essence and returned to the priest’s staff.

[Event of a Thousand Stars]

[Team Name: Sword Liberation]

[Rank: 3389]

[Star Essence: 21,689]

Ethan nodded, then turned his gaze elsewhere, signaling for the third challenger to prepare for battle.

Watching Ethan’s terrifying strength made many of the other guild leaders who had challenged him earlier start whispering among themselves.

They didn’t want to get hurt or hurt their teammates. If there was an option to surrender, it was better than fighting a battle they couldn’t win.

"Ethan," a man called out.

"What?"

"Your power is terrifying. I admit that."

"How about we negotiate?" the guild leader asked.

Ethan shook his head. There was no negotiation in the bet. Whoever lost had to hand over their bet.

"No negotiation. Do you want to fight or surrender?"

The guild leader spoke quietly with his teammates, trying to find a way to protect their Star Essence from being taken by Ethan.

But Ethan’s stubborn attitude made negotiation impossible. Even when they offered to sleep with him, Ethan refused.

They offered gold—Ethan refused. They offered weapons—Ethan refused again.

"Only Star Essence," Ethan said firmly.

After long consideration, they had no other choice. The man stepped toward Ethan and handed him their Star Essence.

"We can’t beat you. I don’t want to hurt myself or my friends," the man said.

Ethan reached out and accepted it. The amount was smaller than the previous two guild teams.

By giving up all their Star Essence, the guild leader was essentially withdrawing from the event.

Ethan didn’t kill him—because he had already surrendered.

[Event of a Thousand Stars]

[Team Name: Sword Liberation]

[Rank: 2389]

[Star Essence: 21,415]

"What about the others?" Ethan asked.

Three other guild leaders followed. They wanted to live. They didn’t want to die. They wanted Arco Village to survive.

Fighting Ethan was exhausting, and they had no chance of winning.

They realized their mistake in challenging Ethan from the start. If only they hadn’t, their Star Essence would still be safe.

All three handed over different amounts: the first team gave 6,145, the second 5,890, and the third 8,501.

In total, Ethan gained 20,536 Star Essence, which drastically boosted Sword Liberation’s rank.

[Event of a Thousand Stars]

[Team Name: Sword Liberation]

[Rank: 74]

[Star Essence: 41,951]

From rank 2300 to 74—it was a huge achievement for a D-rank guild.

Without the Star Essence Ethan had obtained, Sword Liberation wouldn’t have lasted long in this event.

After defeating six guild leaders, Ethan’s attention shifted to the last challenger—Arnold.

He stood among his guild members, looking both nervous and amazed. Doubt filled his heart about whether he could defeat Ethan or not.

"What about you, Arnold?" Ethan asked.

"You’re the only one left who hasn’t lost to me. Are you going to surrender like the others?" Ethan mocked.

"I won’t surrender like a coward!"

"I’ll prove that I can crush your arrogance, Ethan!"