After several hours of absence, Ethan and the others finally reunited with the remaining surviving hunters after successfully sealing the curse, making it safe for him to stay near them once more.

The moment they arrived, Ethan could clearly see the relief and happiness appearing on his companions’ faces.

Yet even that failed to hide the exhaustion weighing upon them after being trapped inside the city for over a month.

Aside from the Third Division, the First Division was the only group that had managed to preserve all of its members without losing anyone.

Every other division had been annihilated.

At minimum, each had lost one or two people.

And in total, fewer than twenty hunters remained alive.

Most were already injured.

As for those who still retained their strength—

Despair was plainly visible on their faces.

Gustav Heart and Moon were clearly acting as the leaders within the temporary hunter camp they had established inside one of the old crumbling buildings.

There was no one better suited than them to hear the plan.

The only method that could possibly guarantee their survival.

The moment he returned, Ethan wasted no time explaining the details of his plan privately to Moon Heart while Gustav remained occupied speaking with Jackson.

The First Division leader was visibly wary of the monstrous giant Ethan had brought back with him.

Leaving Jackson to explain the situation to the others, Ethan pulled Moon aside slightly away from sight.

The bearer of the Phoenix Blessing showed hesitation after hearing the plan.

A rare reaction for someone like her.

"If we do what you’re suggesting..."

"You’ll have to activate your curse every single time."

Moon spoke quietly while averting her gaze.

"I still remember what happened earlier..."

"How the monsters lost their minds as though the end of the world had arrived."

"I’ve never seen anything like that in my life."

"Neither have I."

Ethan answered with a strained smile.

"But we don’t have a choice."

Hearing that, Moon fell silent for a moment before letting out a faint sigh.

"I feel like I don’t know you anymore."

"Every time I see you, you’re drowning in your own blood while trying to spill even more of it..."

"But fine."

"I’ll go along with this plan of yours."

"Like you said... we don’t have any other option."

"Thank you."

Ethan closed his eyes briefly, deliberately ignoring the first half of her words.

He already understood that his relationship with Moon had never been normal.

It was deeply flawed and tense from the start, considering the previous owner of this body had practically been her lover.

Once they reached an agreement, an awkward silence settled between them.

Fortunately—

Luna stepped in and broke it.

"There’s no need to worry, Sister."

"I’ll handle his curse if things get worse."

"I’m more than capable of doing that."

"Yes... I’m sure you will."

Moon smiled faintly toward her younger sister.

While the two sisters exchanged words, Ethan quietly slipped away and approached Gustav and the rest of the hunters.

By then, Jackson had already finished explaining the truth behind Old Ashvarn.

A revelation that had shocked nearly everyone present.

"Humans are immortal inside this city..."

"And the only way out is to defeat its final ruler, whose power surpasses the King rank."

Gustav repeated Jackson’s words while clutching his head.

The news struck him heavily after realizing he had unknowingly led the hunters into nothing more than a death trap.

The moment they reached the cathedral—

They would have been slaughtered.

The only good news, perhaps—

Was Jackson joining their side.

A King-rank juggernaut.

His strength was no joke.

His presence alone was overwhelming.

And Ethan fully exploited that fact by having Jackson present the plan to the hunters himself while Ethan handled convincing Moon, who trusted him personally.

Coming from Jackson, the proposal carried far more weight.

Even Gustav was forced to take it seriously.

"You’re telling me we need to purge the entire city..."

"Just to send a single message?"

Gustav asked.

Jackson nodded.

"That’s right."

"We’ll need everyone’s strength."

"And Ethan Heart’s curse is essential too."

Gustav frowned deeply, unable to accept it so easily.

"Do you even realize how massive this city is?"

"How many monsters live here?"

"Thousands? More?"

His face darkened gradually.

"How long would it take us to clear a place like this?"

In response, Jackson answered indifferently, completely unconcerned about the timeframe.

"Maybe weeks."

"Maybe months."

"Who knows?"

"And who cares?"

"We still have time before the Mother Flame dies out."

"That’s all that matters."

It was an enormous gamble.

A plan with no guaranteed success that could drag on for an extremely long time. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Their situation was far from ideal.

They lacked almost everything.

Equipment.

Supplies.

Even food.

Recently, they had been forced to survive by eating monster flesh—

Specifically hunting creatures that had once been animals while avoiding those that used to be human.

Gustav wanted to object.

But he quickly realized he had no alternative whatsoever.

All he could do—

Was accept reality.

"We’ll need a miracle to make a plan like this work."

"May God be with us."

Gustav muttered while morale within the camp reached its absolute lowest point.

Jackson chuckled softly while his eyes gleamed faintly.

"You can pray if you want..."

"But I doubt your prayers will reach anything."

"This city devours everything."

"Even faith itself."

After that exchange, the hunters spent the next several hours discussing how to implement the plan properly.

Jackson pointed out the key locations and the safest routes to take thanks to his knowledge of the city’s secrets and hidden structure.

Ethan’s role proved far more important than many initially believed.

Not only would he act as bait—

He would also provide weapons to the knights.

Revealing a stockpile containing over a hundred weapons, Ethan possessed enough armaments to equip an entire army if he wished.

Aside from the Executioner Sword, Ethan was willing to hand over any weapon suited to them as long as they used his arsenal to slaughter the monsters.