Ethan didn't linger.
He quickly gathered the spoils—starting with the gemstone the old man had handed over, plus a huge stash of energy ore they'd found down in the tribe's cellar.
The ore itself wasn't a big deal to him, not compared to what he'd seen lately. But it was more than enough to hand out as resources to his troops and push their combat power up another notch.
Once everything was packed, Ethan led the Emerald Castle squad out of the ruined village and headed straight for the Guardian land.
These natives weren't that strong, sure. But as one of this world's "core" pieces, they controlled a massive amount of energy resources. If Ethan didn't deal with them early, new Guardians would probably start popping up again soon.
And once a new Guardian rose…
The fallout would be impossible to stomach.
After a long, grinding march, the Emerald Castle army finally arrived at the Guardian land.
