Ethan hadn't moved to fight them yet. His attention shifted to the side, clearly focused on Jill standing among the crowd.
Jill could feel Ethan's gaze on her, but she didn't know what it meant. Ethan's face looked cold and indifferent, yet his eyes carried a serious expression.
"I'll spare your lives if you surrender," Ethan said.
He sheathed his sword and crossed both arms over his chest. There was a clear "surrender" button on the lower right corner of their vision. They only needed to press it, and the fight would end.
"Life's more important than EXP," one of the players said, quickly pressing the surrender button.
Not only him, but his teammates also did the same. Panels appeared in front of Ethan, showing the names of the party members who had surrendered.
[DING! Congratulations, you've won the Team Battle]
[Reward: 5000 EXP || 5000 Gold]
[Rewards will be accumulated after all challenges are completed]
Ethan earned two rewards that day — the first from Party EthanArk Slayer, whom he had killed, and the second from the group that chose to surrender.
The advantage of fighting solo against a team was that all the reward money went directly to him. That's right — if Ethan won, he didn't have to share it with anyone.
"Next."
Jill's aide whispered something to her, clearly worried about Ethan's method of forcing others to either surrender or die in a Team Battle.
"This is bad. Half of the Team Battle participants are potential guild recruits. If they surrender, their EXP will drop and so will their levels," her aide explained.
"He's right, Miss Jill. Now Ethan's getting stronger from all those rewards, while the others are losing levels. I think they've fallen back to level 5," another aide said.
"This is ridiculous… and concerning. Miss Ashley will be furious if we don't return with more potential recruits," one of them added.
Jill fell silent, listening carefully to her aides' concerns. But there was nothing she could do.
Ethan's heart was as hard as stone —he wouldn't miss a chance to gain an advantage like this.
"We have to do something," one of her aides insisted.
"I know."
"Ethan!" Jill called out firmly.
Just before another party could be teleported into the arena, Ethan stopped his hand midair and turned toward Jill. He paused the next battle.
"What?"
"Your strength is terrifying. I admit that. But half of the parties challenging you are potential Lionark recruits."
"Are you asking me to let them go?" Ethan asked coldly.
"Yes, through an agreement."
Ethan narrowed his eyes, still standing on the stage with his attention fixed on Jill.
Not only him —many players from other parties looked at Jill with hopeful eyes.
Are you considering letting me join Lionark?
"What kind of agreement?"
"There are four parties mostly made up of Lionark's potential recruits. You understand how important members are for a guild," Jill said.
"I'll replace their EXP loss myself, as long as you don't take their experience points," Jill offered.
Wise move. But if you just let me join Lionark, I could've spared them all without any condition.
Such a shame, Jill. You care too much about them.
Ethan sighed, feeling a bit disappointed by Jill's deal. After all, even if he forced his way in, Lionark would reject him —they had to protect their guild's reputation from taking in a PK player.
"Four parties mean 20,000 EXP. Can you handle that?" Ethan asked firmly.
Jill's eyes widened in shock. Losing 20,000 EXP might not sound like much at her level 68, but leveling up at higher stages was far more difficult.
If she calculated carefully, she would drop down to level 65. At that stage, every level made a huge difference in strength.
In short, she'd grow weaker —Ashley would probably be disappointed in her.
"Well?" Ethan asked.
Jill's aides volunteered to help her, along with one of the high-ranking guild officers.
In total, four people would help pay the EXP compensation for their potential recruits.
After thinking for a while, Jill finally agreed. She accepted the challenge invitation and stepped up onto the arena platform. Ethan remained still, waiting for them to surrender.
"All right! I'll—"
"LET'S KILL HIM!" one of Jill's aides shouted, drawing his sword and rushing forward to attack.
Ethan looked shocked. He blocked the attack with his sword, but the force was strong enough to knock him backward.
The crowd cheered wildly around the arena. Jill turned sharply, glaring at her reckless aide.
"YOU?!" Jill yelled.
"It's better to kill a monster like him than let him become a threat to us later, Miss Jill!" the aide barked, glaring at Ethan.
"GOOD!" Ethan shouted back.
He stood up, wiping the blood from the corner of his lips, a killer smile forming on his face.
His eyes burned with deadly intent, sending a chill through Jill.
[EthanArk (Lv.?) || HP: 4550/6550]
Ethan summoned his sword and released a crimson slash forward —Skill 1 activated.
The attack targeted Jill's reckless aide, but the man was strong enough to withstand Ethan's crimson slash.
[NoahYork90 (Lv.45) || HP: 9783/11850]
High level, strong defense, boosted stats, thick HP.
It's been a while since I tried my skill combo.
"HAHA! That kind of attack doesn't even scratch me!" the aide shouted.
He dashed forward, aiming his thrust attack directly at Ethan —it clearly wasn't a basic skill.
Ethan moved fast, dodging in circles and blocking whenever possible.
He was pushed back again, his HP dropping sharply. Ethan had no choice but to use his combo and hope it could kill the man in one strike.
He gathered his energy into his sword, then jumped forward with a powerful stomp on the ground near the aide.
The man flinched as the area-of-effect attack hit, shocked to see his HP drop by nearly half.
[NoahYork90 (Lv.45) || HP: 5698/11850]
[Passive Skill Activated: Intimidate!]
Besides knockback and slow, the Intimidate passive left the aide's body frozen for a few seconds, making him unable to move.
"What the—"
"You'll die by my hand!"
Ethan thrust his sword forward, stabbing straight into the aide with Skill 2. The man screamed in pain.
"AAAAAAHHH!"
[NoahYork90 (Lv.45) || HP: 2357/11850]
"M-Miss Jill… help me!" he cried out in desperation.
Jill quickly raised her magic staff and cast a protection spell for her reckless aide.
Ethan reacted fast, jumping back to keep a safe distance.
He drank an HP potion to recover some of his lost health.
From a safer distance, one of Jill's aides came to heal the wounded man. Jill stepped forward and apologized for her aide's foolishness.
"He almost killed one of Jill's aides."
"Horrifying. He's like a god spreading death… a God of Death!"
Ethan nodded slightly. He realized that his Skill 1 was still on cooldown —even if it wasn't, he doubted it would be enough to finish the man off.
Luckily, Jill ended their fight. If she hadn't, Ethan might've been at a disadvantage.
"10,000 EXP. That's our offer," Jill said.
Ethan stayed silent for a moment, then sighed softly. He couldn't ask for more after seeing how strong Jill and her party were.
If he pushed too hard and made them angry, that would only bring trouble for him.
[DING! Congratulations, you've won the Team Battle]
[Reward: 10,000 EXP || 10,000 Gold]
Ethan accepted the notification, then allowed Jill and her group to step down from the arena.
He also released the four parties they had discussed earlier, but left the remaining two still bound to their challenge.
"You're not letting us go?" one of the players from an unreleased party asked.
"Your party isn't part of the deal."
"Now, it's your turn to fight me."