[Congratulations, you received a reward:]

[100x Star Essence || 2000 EXP || 2000 Gold || Seraphelis]

So, the ally they meant was her?

[Event: 1000 Stars]

[Team Name: Sword Liberation]

[Rank: 25,100]

[Star Essence: 215]

Ethan stepped out of the door with Sera following behind him. Since the first human who saved her was Ethan, she would follow him wherever he went as a loyal subordinate.

That thought was already engraved in her mind—to follow and obey the one who had saved her.

Even if Ethan told her to die, she would do it happily.

Of course, Ethan wouldn't take that kind of risk, especially since Seraphelis was one of the three goddesses that other players had to defeat in order to escape the game.

For Ethan, Sera's safety was a top priority. If she died, his own chances of survival would drop sharply.

Should I look for the other goddesses and gather them all with me? That way, I can make sure they're safe.

Even though the idea sounded good, the problem was that he didn't know where the other goddesses were.

Are they trapped in side quests too? I have no idea.

For now, Ethan planned to take Sera out of the black castle and find a safe place.

Staying here would be dangerous, especially with other players hunting her down.

If they found out that Sera was the Sun Goddess they needed to kill, things would get a lot worse.

They went down from the fifth floor to the fourth.

Unexpectedly, the players from another guild team had already cleared the monsters on the third floor.

Since the floor-four boss had already been defeated, those players no longer needed to fight it—besides, the boss didn't respawn like usual.

"Ethan?!" one of the players, a warrior, shouted.

"Looks like you made it past the third floor. I'm impressed."

Their attention shifted to Ethan, who was standing beside a beautiful woman in a golden dress. Some of them guessed that she might be Jared's daughter.

"You managed to save her. We got left behind," the warrior said.

"That's because you're weak and I'm strong. What would've happened if I let you fight the fourth-floor boss? You'd all be dead by now!"

"How about we make a deal?" the man said firmly, trying to negotiate.

"A deal? For what?"

"For your life... and your identity."

"If you hand over that girl to me, I'll keep your existence secret and won't kill you," the man said.

"Haha!"

"You're trying to kill me? Don't make me laugh!"

"Even if you all gave up your lives, I still wouldn't hand her over!" Ethan shouted.

The man's anger grew, veins bulging on his forehead. He pointed forward, threatening to kill Ethan if he didn't hand over Sera.

Ethan noticed their movements—they were getting ready, weapons in hand, preparing to attack.

He summoned his Fire-Pillar sword, and Sera's eyes immediately focused on it.

"You have a fire-element sword?" Sera asked. Ethan glanced at her and nodded.

"Then let me help you, Ethan."

"Help me? With what?" Ethan asked, confused.

Sera smiled gently, putting her palms together in front of her chest as if praying.

Her eyes slowly closed, reacting to the magic she was about to use.

Ethan stood there, watching her. The players in front of him did the same, curious to see what Sera was doing.

Slowly, her eyes opened again, glowing bright gold. She stretched out one hand toward Ethan's Fire-Pillar sword.

In seconds, Sera's figure disappeared—her body turned into particles of light that merged into Ethan's sword.

Ethan's eyes widened. He had no idea what was happening.

[Base ATK & DEF]

[ATK: 15498 || DEF: 15035]

[Buff: Base ATK and DEF boosted by Seraphelis's Blessing]

[Desc: A fragment of Seraphelis's soul merges with a weapon or item containing light or fire elements, granting temporary power.]

I didn't expect Sera could do something like this.

Ethan's sword now shone in a mix of red and gold—the fire element from the weapon and the light element from Sera's power blending together.

The power increase was obvious. The players in front of him could feel the pressure from Ethan's boosted aura.

With a base ATK of 15,000, they didn't stand a chance.

"Fifteen thousand base ATK? What the hell?!" the man yelled, shocked.

"Can we even beat him?" the female mage asked.

"No way! His base ATK and DEF are too high—the difference in power's insane," said the archer, who had just recovered from his injuries.

"Tch!"

Not wanting to lose their progress in the event by getting killed, they decided to retreat.

"Fine."

"You win this side quest, Ethan!"

Just as they started backing away toward the third floor, Ethan suddenly leapt from the fifth-floor stairs down to the third in one swift move. The players froze in surprise.

He landed hard, sending a gust of wind across the room. His stance made them nervous—especially since his PK status meant they couldn't trust him completely.

"What are you doing? Are you going to kill us?!" the warrior shouted.

"He probably wants our Star Essence," said the mage.

"If that's the case, we'll have to fight him," replied the archer.

Ethan raised a hand, telling them to stop talking. They went quiet, still tense and ready to attack.

"Tell me, are you willing to hand over your weapons?" Ethan asked.

"Weapons?" the mage asked, confused.

"I'll let you leave with your Star Essence as long as you hand over your weapons," Ethan said.

"I'm a mage. My staff's useless to a warrior like you."

"I'll be the one to decide whether it's useful or not," Ethan replied firmly.

The players were stunned. Usually, guild-versus-guild fights were all about Star Essence—but Ethan didn't care about that.

He wanted their weapons instead.

It was strange, but it was still an offer they had to think about.

"We're not giving up our—"

"Alright. As long as you don't mess with us, it's fine," the mage interrupted, surprising the others.

"You're giving him your weapon? How are we supposed to get down the mountain? There are monsters everywhere!" the warrior protested.

"Don't worry about that."

"I'll make sure you all get down safely," Ethan said.

The mage agreed and handed him her staff. Ethan checked it.

"Uncommon."

"I don't need it," he said, handing it back.

"Give me a Rare-ranked weapon," Ethan demanded.

The mage froze, not expecting him to reject her weapon. She looked at her teammates.

Among the four of them, only two had Rare weapons—the priest and the warrior.

Under pressure, they reluctantly handed them over. Both weapons were their main gear.

Ethan accepted them and stored them in his inventory—they were Rare-ranked and perfect for his Talent Quest.

[Talent Quest:]

[Weapons Collected: 5]

He asked again, but they insisted they had no more weapons above Uncommon rank.

Ethan sighed, slightly disappointed, but there was no point pushing them further.

"Alright. I hope none of you are hiding anything," he said.

He let them pass, walking behind as they descended to the third floor.

When they arrived, Ethan met Nuwa, who had been waiting for a while.

She looked surprised to see Ethan coming with players from another guild.

"Ethan?" Nuwa greeted.

"You actually made it," she said.

"You knew?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah. A reward panel popped up in front of me when the side quest was completed. Looks like the rest of the team got it too."

So that side quest counted as a guild mission? Lucky for them—they didn't even have to fight.

Nuwa glanced at the four players behind him and whispered to Ethan, "What did you do to them?"

"Just a little negotiation. Our job now is to make sure they get down the mountain safely."

"Our job?"

"Yeah, ours."

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