CHAPTER 83: ASHLEY AND HER PURE HAPPINESS

The broadcast only showed the top 100 guilds as a form of appreciation for their achievements.

For the rest, every guild outside the top 100 received a notification of their current rank.

Not only the players who participated in the event but also their guild leaders received the same information.

Luscho, who was currently in Porco City, was completely shocked to see Sword Liberation’s achievement.

"It seems what Ethan said was true. He really is fulfilling his promise," Luscho said.

Meanwhile, in Mavelard City, Ashley had just returned from her expedition inside the tower.

The beautiful woman with long curly black hair arrived gracefully, holding her mage staff.

She entered the LionArk headquarters feeling exhausted, her MP drained but not to a dangerous point.

"Did you manage to kill many monsters there?" Jill asked as she greeted Ashley.

"Pretty much. I’m glad we earned a lot of contribution points from the tower expedition," Ashley replied.

Ashley smiled softly and extended her hand to the side, giving her mage staff to Jill, who would later store it for her.

The two of them went up to the third floor of the LionArk headquarters.

Ashley kept asking about the progress of the Thousand Stars Event. Jill explained only what she knew.

"Today should be the day they broadcast the guild rankings," Jill said.

"Hmm... I see. I’m curious what our rank is."

Just as they were walking together along the third-floor corridor, their steps stopped when Leon came rushing toward them.

His breathing was heavy, and his face looked tense. Both Ashley and Jill immediately became curious about his expression.

"What’s wrong, Leon?" Ashley asked.

"LionArk’s rank... we’ve dropped out of the top 100."

"What?!" Jill gasped.

Ashley instinctively closed her eyes and took a long breath before slowly exhaling. Her hands clenched tight, and her heart was restless as worry filled her mind.

She was afraid LionArk had failed. She feared Mavelard would be taken over by Silver Star.

She dreaded the thought of having to marry the Vice Guild Leader of Silver Star.

"How many days are left before the event ends?" Jill asked.

"Ten days."

Ashley slowly opened her eyes and stepped closer to Leon with a faint smile —one clearly forced.

She didn’t want anyone to worry because of her. She didn’t want to burden her members with more stress.

"It’s fine. I understand," Ashley said.

As soon as she finished speaking, Ashley and Jill continued walking down the corridor, passing Leon.

Leon clenched his fists. He hadn’t told her earlier because he wanted to give Ashley a surprise.

"He... he’s there," Leon muttered.

Ashley’s eyes widened, and she instantly stopped walking. Her eyes were round and glossy.

She knew exactly what Leon meant because he had once told her that Ethan Arkwright was inside this game.

"Ethan?" Ashley asked.

"While you were on the expedition, I kept monitoring the team’s movements. Leni met with EthanArk," Leon answered.

Jill froze and turned toward Ashley, who looked equally shocked. Ashley’s heart pounded wildly, anxiety coursing through her hands and feet. But she needed to stay calm and focused.

"It’s not fully confirmed yet—"

"We caught a clear image of his face when EthanArk spoke with Leni," Leon explained.

Ashley’s emotions became a storm —joy, sadness, confusion all mixed together.

Seeing Ashley too stunned to reply, Jill spoke to Leon on her behalf.

"Take us to the monitoring room," Jill said. Leon nodded.

At first, Ashley refused to believe what Leon said because she had seen Ethan Arkwright’s body lying lifeless in his coffin.

It was impossible for him to still be alive when his body had already been buried.

This makes no sense.

The door to the monitoring room opened, revealing a space filled with people analyzing the Thousand Stars Event.

A total of ten staff members worked there, with Leon as the monitoring team leader.

Not only that, but a large holographic screen covered the wall, displaying a bird’s-eye view of Arkan City.

"Play the footage of Leni’s meeting with Ethan!" Leon ordered, and the staff obeyed.

The screen changed, showing a burned forest —the trees and ground blackened by a great fire.

There, Ashley and Jill saw a figure in the woods —Leni. Both of them recognized her instantly.

According to Leon, the man in a black cloak and white mask standing in front of Leni was EthanArk.

But since his face was hidden behind the mask, Ashley couldn’t yet tell if it was really Ethan or just an impostor.

"He didn’t take off the mask?" Jill asked.

"I figured you’d ask that," Leon said.

He turned to his team and told them to skip ahead to the part where Ethan removed his hood and mask.

Ashley and Jill watched the screen closely. When that moment came, Ashley’s heart raced uncontrollably.

She slowly stepped closer to the holographic wall to see better. EthanArk pulled down his hood and took off the white mask.

"That’s... Ethan."

Everyone in the room froze in shock. Jill was stunned too —even though she might’ve been the first person to meet Ethan when he was still in Nile City.

However, since Ethan’s status and identity were suspicious, she had chosen not to trust him. Still, she admitted his strength was terrifying.

Leon, on the other hand, felt proud for revealing the truth to Ashley and everyone else.

Ashley fell to her knees, covering her face with both hands as she cried loudly —not out of sadness, but pure joy.

"Ethan..." she whispered.

Jill crouched down and tried to comfort her, reminding her that Ethan might soon arrive at LionArk since he had already met Leni.

Ashley hugged Jill tightly and kept saying that her mission had succeeded.

"I’ve carried out my duty well. I’ve protected LionArk for him."

Jill smiled and gently patted Ashley’s back, agreeing softly with her words.

"What about them?" Jill asked.

"Unfortunately, they can’t communicate with us. But based on our footage and analysis, it seems Ethan is planning something," Leon said.

Ashley stopped crying, raised her head, and focused on the front screen. There, she saw the data and analysis gathered by the monitoring team.

Ethan was now part of the guild Sword Liberation, with a total of 52,386 Star Essences, ranking 17th among the top 100 guilds.

"Based on our analysis, Lara and the others don’t have the ability to collect thousands of Star Essences with their current capacity," Leon explained.

"Their levels are lower —much lower than LionArk’s team."

"So, you’re assuming that most of Sword Liberation’s Star Essences were earned by Ethan?" Jill asked.

Leon turned to Jill and nodded in confirmation. That was his current conclusion, based on how strong he knew Ethan really was.

"Gathering that many Star Essences? But how?" Ashley asked.

"I don’t know, but it looks like Ethan somehow managed to trick the event system," Leon replied.

"Do you know where Ethan is now?" Ashley asked.

Leon shook his head. The monitoring system could only track members of their own guild, so he couldn’t see Ethan’s location.

He could only assume Ethan was alive because Sword Liberation’s Star Essence count hadn’t dropped significantly.

"It’s important we believe Ethan is still fine. We can only monitor him through their Star Essence total."

Ashley nodded, relieved and happy that Ethan was alive and still fighting alone in the event.

After the event ended, she promised herself she would meet Ethan face-to-face —no matter what it took.

"What guild is he from?" Ashley asked.

"He’s from Sword Liberation," Jill answered.

"I’ll go there myself to meet the guild leader of Sword Liberation. I want to know Ethan’s real condition directly —I don’t want to rely on assumptions."