Ethan scrambled up from the ground after his resurrection. Without even glancing at Zhuoya, he continued his charge toward Leah.
Amons began pouring out from the wooden houses lining both sides of the street.
It wasn't just warriors anymore.
A wrinkled Amons elder rushed out from an alleyway, a harvesting sickle held high, his amber eyes filled with grim determination.
An Amons woman ran out of a house, clutching a sharpened wooden stake in her other hand.
An adolescent Amons youth leaped down from a rooftop, a slingshot in his hand and a pouch of sharpened bone fragments for ammunition.
"Protect the Young Tribe Leader!"
"Protect the Young Tribe Leader!"
"Protect the Young Tribe Leader!"
Shouts erupted from all directions.
Amons surged out from houses, alleys, rooftops, and cellars, clutching all manner of weapons.
Hunting bows, wooden spears, sickles, kitchen knives, sharpened stakes, wood-chopping axes, and stone-crushing hammers.
Some were even empty-handed, merely clutching two stones they had scavenged from the roadside.
They all threw themselves at Ethan.
Zhuoya's pupils constricted violently.
"Get back! All of you, get back!"
No one listened to her.
A one-armed Amons elder was the first to reach him, thrusting a short spear toward Ethan's chest.
Ethan raised his right hand. Emerald-green leaves shot from his palm, piercing through the elder's forehead.
The elder's body pitched forward, his momentum carrying him to the ground. The short spear flew from his hand, clattering twice against the stone slabs.
【Life Energy +2. Current Life Energy: 2044.】
"Grandfather!"
A young warrior lunged from the side, swinging a battle-axe toward Ethan's neck.
Without even looking back, Ethan flicked his hand. Three Flying Leaves shot out—one slit the warrior's throat, while the other two pierced his left and right eye sockets.
Before the battle-axe could fall, the young warrior toppled backward, crashing into the companions behind him.
"Fight him to the death!"
"Kill this outsider!"
"For the Young Tribe Leader!"
"For Green Das!"
The cries grew denser as more and more people rushed forward.
Ethan's hands rose repeatedly, emerald-green leaves pouring from his palms in a constant stream.
Each leaf precisely slit a throat, pierced an eye, or punched through a forehead.
Corpses piled up in the street. Pale blue blood flowed through the cracks in the stone slabs, merging into small streams that trickled toward the lower ground.
"Wow, I'm truly moved,"
Ethan's voice cut through the din of the slaughter with startling clarity.
"Throwing your lives away just to protect your Young Tribe Leader. Such loyalty, such courage, such a spirit of sacrifice."
He spread the fingers of his right hand. Dozens of Flying Leaves shot out simultaneously, pinning the five Amons at the front to the ground.
"What a pity."
Another wave of Amons surged from an alley—elders, women, and even children.
They trampled over the corpses of their kin, their feet stained with pale blue blood, leaving a trail of bloody footprints on the stone street.
"Your courage is admirable."
Ethan flicked his right hand, a Seed Bomb popping from his fingertip and landing in the middle of the crowd.
Emerald-green light exploded.
Wooden spikes shot out in all directions from the center of the blast.
An old woman was struck in the chest by a spike and sent flying, slamming against the wall of a wooden house.
A youth was impaled through the thigh. He fell to the ground, and before he could crawl back up, several more spikes drove into his back and neck.
A woman holding an infant was knocked over by the shockwave. The baby flew from her arms, landing on the stone ground two meters away and letting out a piercing cry.
Another Flying Leaf shot out.
The crying stopped abruptly.
"But your strength is pathetic. Utterly foolish."
Ethan retracted his hand and continued his charge toward Leah.
Zhuoya pursued him relentlessly from behind.
She no longer cared about the lives of her kin.
Green Light Orbs shot from the tip of her short staff, tearing through the charging Amons, through the wooden houses on both sides, and through the mountains of corpses as they rained down toward Ethan.
An Amons warrior was lunging at Ethan with an axe when a light orb punched through his back and exploded out his chest. He was vaporized instantly, unable to even scream.
An Amons woman was running into an alley with a child in her arms when a light orb grazed the top of her head and struck the house ahead. The entire building collapsed, burying her under shattered timber and tiles.
Zhuoya didn't even glance at her fallen tribespeople.
Her amber eyes were fixed intently on Ethan's back.
"Vile creature, you must die here today."
Ethan didn't look back.
"Old hag, you've said that at least ten times now."
Before he could finish his sentence, a massive Green Palm descended from the sky, striking him square in the back.
BOOM.
Ethan was slammed into the stone ground.
The earth exploded into a crater five meters wide, sending stone fragments flying in all directions. Ethan lay at the bottom of the pit, his spine shattered, internal organs ruptured, ribs broken, and limbs twisted at grotesque angles.
【Death confirmed. Consuming 1 year of longevity. Perfect Resurrection.】
Inside the crater, Ethan's eyes snapped open.
He pushed off the ground, his body springing up from the bottom. He kicked off the crater wall, lunging out of the pit to continue his pursuit of Leah.
The distance between him and Leah was shrinking rapidly.
One hundred meters.
Eighty meters.
Fifty meters.
Leah looked back, her amber eyes reflecting Ethan's rapidly approaching figure.
Her pale blue face was filled with terror.
"Grandmother!"
Zhuoya grit her teeth.
She slammed her staff onto the ground, and emerald-green light rippled out from the base.
The stone slabs beneath Ethan's feet suddenly bulged, and countless roots erupted from the earth, coiling around his ankles.
Ethan's body pitched forward as he began to fall.
He slammed his right hand onto the ground.
The ground exploded.
Dozens of wooden spikes burst through the gaps between the roots, severing every strand that held his ankles.
Ethan exerted force through his legs, lunging out from the mess of shredded roots to continue his charge.
Thirty meters.
Twenty meters.
Ten meters.
The warriors guarding Leah turned around, their amber eyes filled with grim resolve.
"Go, Young Tribe Leader!"
They lunged at Ethan.
Ethan spread the fingers of his right hand.
Dozens of vines shot from his palm.
The vines fanned out in the air, coiling around the ankles, waists, and necks of the three leading warriors.
They tightened, and the sound of shattering bones echoed in a single chorus.
The three warriors hung limp from the ends of the vines, pale blue blood gushing from their mouths.
The remaining warriors did not retreat.
They raised their battle-axes, spears, and hunting bows, charging at Ethan.
Ethan raised his left hand.
A Seed Bomb flicked from his fingertip, landing at the warriors' feet.
Emerald-green light exploded.
Wooden spikes shot out in all directions from the center of the blast. One warrior was impaled through the chest and sent flying backward.
Another was struck in the abdomen and collapsed.
A third was knocked over by the shockwave, crashing into the wall of a roadside house.
Only two warriors remained by Leah's side.
She turned around, her amber eyes reflecting Ethan's face as it loomed closer.
That face was smiling.
"Caught you."
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