CHAPTER 86: ETHAN VS HEAVEN SWORD FINALE

Veres’s aide had already sent a message to the Sword Team leader, asking them to come help Heaven Team defeat Ethan.

"They’re on their way," the aide said.

Ethan faintly heard the voice. He didn’t know what kind of power the Sword Team had, but if they were the second team, their strength probably wasn’t much lower than Veres’s main team.

Even so, fighting many people at once would be troublesome for him, especially since the Heaven Sword Guild had two teams.

Raphael could faintly hear what was happening with the Heaven Team. They had called for the second team to come and face EthanArk, the masked player dressed in black.

Even Lord Gilgamesh wasn’t sure he could defeat two S-rank guild teams alone.

So what makes Ethan so confident he can beat them?

To Raphael, what he saw here was very interesting—something that could surely catch Lord Gilgamesh’s attention.

Since the battle was about to begin, Raphael couldn’t leave before he saw who would win between Ethan and the Heaven Sword Guild.

Ethan moved fast, leaping forward from his spot to strike. Veres and the others saw his motion, and Veres quickly ordered them to fall back into a defensive formation.

SLAM!

He landed hard, swinging his sword in a spinning motion that created a circular slash around him.

[Passive Skill Activated: Intimidate]

Not only had his ultimate skill been triggered, but the passive skill was also active, affecting Veres and the others.

The female priest guessed that what was weighing them down was the Intimidate debuff effect. She lifted her priest’s staff and purified the debuff among them.

Even so, the physical power from Ethan’s ultimate skill was devastating—two out of ten Heaven members were killed instantly, their defenses shattered because they were standing at the front.

Veres saw the death of her two teammates. There was nothing she could do—their opponent’s strength was simply overwhelming.

The players who had mocked Ethan earlier quickly took back their words and regretted it.

They admitted Ethan was far stronger than they’d imagined. It now made sense to them why he could defeat so many guild teams even when fighting solo.

Ethan clicked his tongue again. Their defensive formation was annoying. His ultimate skill had only managed to kill two of them.

He jumped far back, narrowing his eyes and focusing forward. Ethan still wasn’t giving up. He refused to use Seraphelis.

Even if they defend, they’re still affected by my attacks. Their HP dropped a lot, though not enough to matter yet.

"Alright. Looks like I know what to do," Ethan said.

"Neryss. Jack!"

[Aggressive Mode Soul Servant]

[Neryss Abyssborn (Lv.1) || SR rank || Passive → Aggressive || 1000 MP]

[Jack Spearsun (Lv.1) || A rank || Passive → Aggressive || 250 MP]

Neryss and Jack flew forward, glowing blue and red as their bodies transformed into their adult forms.

Ethan stretched out his hand, signaling them to attack and break through the defensive wall. Neryss and Jack nodded.

[Duration of Aggressive Mode:]

[00:04:59]

They only last five minutes. I need to make the most of this.

As Neryss surged forward, creating a massive wave, Jack followed up with a fiery spear attack.

Ethan gripped his sword and swung sideways, releasing a crimson slash mixed with maroon lightning straight ahead.

The strike didn’t hit Neryss or Jack—it collided directly with Veres’s defensive wall.

The three powerful attacks combined, and Veres immediately coughed blood. Her HP dropped sharply, her body weakening.

"Hold on, Captain Veres!" Anggie shouted.

The crimson energy exploded, but none of the team members had fallen yet. Ethan clicked his tongue, waiting ten seconds for his Skill 1 cooldown.

He planned to keep repeating the attack until their defense shattered. After all, Skill 1 had the shortest cooldown time.

When the ten seconds passed, Ethan sent another slash forward.

The crimson strike hit their wall again and exploded. Three players were thrown far back, their HP draining completely until they died.

Veres grew angrier. She had failed to save her team members because she had to focus on defending against Ethan’s soul servants.

She had no other choice. Veres summoned her own soul servants—three in total: two rank A and one rank R.

So she has soul servants too.

All three of Veres’s soul servants were fire-type, drastically increasing their power. But Ethan didn’t flinch.

When the cooldown ended again, he swung his sword once more, sending another crimson strike—not at the wall this time, but straight at the three soul servants locked in battle.

BLAST!

The explosion hit hard. The other members were safe, except Veres, who dropped to her knees, clutching her chest in pain.

It was the feedback from her soul servants being instantly destroyed by Ethan.

"Captain!" someone shouted from the trees.

Ten more people arrived, standing in front of Veres. Ethan squinted. They were the Sword Team—arriving to protect the Heaven Team.

"Sorry we’re late," said a man Veres called Noah.

"It’s fine. Focus on taking him down. We must reclaim his Star Essence," Veres said.

Noah turned forward sharply, eyes locked on the black-cloaked, masked man. His name was EthanArk, but they couldn’t read his level.

"You... you’ve hurt our team guild captain. We won’t hesitate to fight you," Noah said.

He charged first, swinging his sword to kill Ethan. But Ethan dodged and parried his strike easily.

Slowly, Ethan noticed Noah’s HP draining—absorbed by Bloodblade Ashura’s HP Regen effect working perfectly.

Noah grew frustrated. His body felt heavier, and still, he hadn’t landed a single blow on Ethan.

Ethan saw an opening and kicked Noah back. He was thrown into his teammates and quickly healed by one of the priests.

"His strength is terrifying. Be careful," Veres warned.

"Yeah. He hasn’t even used any skills yet, but he’s not showing any sign of exhaustion."

"That sword... there’s something wrong with that sword," Veres said.

Meanwhile, Ethan stood silently, saying nothing. Neryss and Jack stayed beside him, waiting for his next command.

I failed to finish off Veres and the others in time. Their reinforcements arrived—it’ll be harder to win now.

Is it time to use Seraphelis? No. I shouldn’t.

"Neryss. Jack! Attack Veres and the Heaven Team."

"I’ll deal with the Sword Team," Ethan said.

Neryss and Jack understood instantly. They knew who Veres and her team were.

Both flew forward to face them, while Ethan raised his sword and leapt high toward the Sword Team.

They tried to block him, but his speed was unreal—too fast to follow. Some were injured before they could even react.

Ethan jumped high into the air again and dived forward—not toward the Sword Team this time, but straight toward the Heaven Team.

Veres was already under pressure from Neryss and Jack’s attacks. She was stunned again when Ethan appeared behind her two soul servants, leaping toward them.

"E-Ethan...?"

Noah’s eyes widened as he ran to the back, trying to get Veres to retreat—but it was too late.

If Veres ran, their defense would collapse, leaving Nana and Anggie open to attack. But if she stayed, Ethan’s strike would hit her full-force.

In the end, Veres chose to stand her ground.

SLAM!

Ethan landed hard, a circular slash erupting around him. Heaven Team’s defensive formation shattered completely.

Neryss and Jack focused on attacking Nana and Anggie, while Ethan charged forward and struck Veres. Her arm was sliced off by the impact.

He grabbed Veres by the neck and slammed her to the ground. Noah watched it all unfold in shock.

"ETHAN!" Noah shouted.

Ethan lifted Veres by the throat and kicked her fallen sword away.

Noah and the others froze, unsure what to do.

"You can stay alive in this event if you hand over all your Star Essence, Veres," Ethan said.

"I’d rather die than hand over my Star Essence," Veres threatened.

"You know, I could kill Noah and the others easily. In the end, your effort would still be useless."

"If you give it up, I’ll let all of you live for the next nine days," Ethan said.

"I won’t—"

"Ethan!" Noah called out.

Ethan turned and saw Noah holding a handful of glowing Star Essence.

It was what Heaven Sword had collected from monsters and other guilds.

"I’ll hand over our Star Essence only if you promise not to kill Veres," Noah said.

"NOAH! What are you—"

"If we all die, he’ll still take our Star Essence!" Noah snapped.

"In this situation, we’ve already lost to him."

Noah stepped forward, speaking firmly. Ethan cleared his throat and gave a small nod.

"Do we have terms?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah... we have terms."