While Ethan was busy playing tag with a sea of red birds, Chris and the others ducked into a rocky burrow—one Garrick had carved out himself.
The moment they saw Ethan drag the whole flock away, Chris didn't hesitate. He slipped into invisibility and sprinted back to the battlefield.
The ground was littered with bodies—over a hundred of the red birds Ethan had just dropped.
Chris pulled out his dagger, let that dark glow wrap the blade, and went to work. Quick, clean, practiced—cracking skulls and pulling crystal cores like he'd done it a thousand times. His hands moved so fast it was basically muscle memory.
One core after another disappeared into his pockets.
There were Tier 15, Tier 16, and Tier 17 cores mixed in, but Ethan had clearly been picking targets on purpose. Tier 15 made up the bulk.
When he'd stripped every last corpse, Chris bolted back to the stone hideout.
Everyone swarmed him the second he ducked inside.
