Adam waved his arm, causing the drops of blood to splatter across the cobblestoned ground. He slowly walked toward Elvlin, his expression twisted in anger and bloodlust.

From the moment they had left the eastern camp, he had already realized that Johnathan's teammates were suspicious.

Although they didn't show it, he knew.

Adam was highly sensitive to other people's emotions. More often than not, he could accurately glean their intent and sometimes even their superficial thoughts.

He could sense that these two harbored evil intentions toward him. No matter how hard they tried to conceal it, it was clear to Adam.

Immediately, he suspected that the Gracie Family was behind them.

He already knew that he was walking into a trap, but he also knew that this could be an opportunity.

An opportunity to get rid of his enemies once and for all.

Thus, he patiently waited for Elvlin and Dudley to make a move or even the Gracie Family Magi to appear on his long journey here. He even purposely showed many openings, but nothing happened. They didn't show up. Neither did these two attack him.

It wasn't until he reached the vicinity of Omai that he realized that this could very well be the place where his enemies must have laid a trap for him.

However, upon detecting his surroundings with his Sphere of Resonance, he found that no one was there. This caused him to be extremely apprehensive.

The fear of the unknown was overwhelming, after all.

Thus, with no other options, he decided to beat it out of Elvlin and Dudley, who, according to him, had great chances of working for the Gracie Family. He was certain.

Because at this point, there was no other personor family for that matterwho had an irreconcilable enmity with him.

There was only one.

As Elvlin watched Adam slowly walk toward him, his eyes trembled in horror. The murderous aura emanating from the youth deeply suffocated him.

It weighed down on him so heavily that his knees buckled and he weakly fell to the ground. "W-W-What's the meaning of this?!"

"Meaning?" Adam coldly sneered. "That's what I should be asking. Tell me what the Gracie Family is planning. I promise I'll make your death quick and painless."

Elvlin's teeth clattered in fear. "W-What you're doing is wrong! It's wrong! It is a crime to kill your allies."

"I'm past that point already," replied Adam as he looked down upon Elvlin. "If you're not going to answer, then just die."

With that said, he straightened his right palm and coated it with a layer of pristine white mana. Then, he viciously thrust his palm toward the middle-aged man's chest, aiming to kill him in one shot.

Elvlin's life seemed to flash across his eyes as he saw Adam's attack enlarging in his vision. With his back against the wall and nowhere else to run, in the end, he decided to spill everything.

"Wait, I'll tell you!!"

Adam's fingers stopped less than an inch before Elvlin's chest. He glanced at the man with cold eyes and ordered, "First throw away your holding bag."

Elvlin took large mouthfuls of air, his body trembling incessantly. His back was drenched in a layer of cold sweat. No, to be precise, his entire body was covered in sweat.

With trembling hands, he reached for his holding bag that contained every material component for his spells. Then, he threw it to the side.

He looked up at Adam and desperately pleaded, "P-Promise me"

"Shut your mouth," the youth cut him off. "Speak. What are those bastards planning?"

"N-No!" Elvlin nervously gulped. He gathered all the courage he could muster and muttered, "Promise me you'll let me go after I've said everything. P-Promise me you won't kill me."

Adam deeply looked into Elvlin's eyes. "I'll know if you lie."

"I won't lie!" Elvlin hurriedly spoke.

"Fine, I'll let you go." The youth lowered his hand and took a step back. He then signaled for the man to speak.

Elvlin's shoulders involuntarily relaxed when he saw Adam take a step back.

He took a deep breath and then began, "M-Morden Gracie approached me and" he glanced at his dead comrade's corpse and paused for a moment, terror flashing in his eyes.

Then, he continued, "H-He approached me and Dudley a few days before we left the camp. Our mission was to make sure you arrived at Omai"

As Elvlin continued to divulge the information, Adam's expression turned grave by the second. He thought to himself in alarm, Morden wanted me to come here? That can't be all.

"and when the battle began, we were tasked with f-fighting you after after you stopped paying attention to us." Elvlin chose his words wisely.

"What battle? How many of you are here?" Adam spat through gritted teeth, his eyes spewing anger.

"T-They are waiting for you here." Elvlin gulped. "I don't know how many Magi and beasts are here but"

"Beasts?" Adam's eyes narrowed.

Elvlin nervously nodded. "Y-Yes."

His eyes turned tearful and he begged, "I swear that's all I know. Now, please, you must keep your end of the bargain."

Adam lowered his head, his fists clenching and unclenching over and over again. Due to his hair covering half of his face, Elvlin wasn't able to clearly see the intense fury blazing in his abyss-like black eyes.

"Tell me," he asked, "what did they promise you in return for this betrayal?"

Elvlin remained silent.

"Answer me!" Adam glared at the man with his bloodshot eyes.

The middle-aged man couldn't help but flinch, his body trembling in horror as he blurted out, "P-Path to Rank 2! They promised us a place within their family ranks and a mana extraction method to advance to Mana Liquefaction Magus!"

Hearing his answer, Adam was stunned momentarily. Then, his lips curled up into a wry smile, "The things we do for the pursuit of power"

The next moment, his eyes narrowed and a vicious glint flashed in them. He raised his palm, coated it with mana, and struck toward the man's chest once again, taking the latter by surprise.

"You said you'll let me go" Elvlin screamed in grievance as he felt the clutches of death sinisterly coil around his being.

His words were cut short when Adam's palm stabbed straight through the man's heart.

The youth looked Elvlin dead in the eyes and coldly stated, "Yes, I did say I would let you go."

He retracted his arm and watched as the life in Elvlin's eyes slowly faded away.

"To the afterlife."

After making sure the man was dead, Adam hurriedly turned around and made his way toward his friends. He had already taken care of the minor problem.

This minor problem could have turned into a major one if he hadn't dealt with it beforehand.

Now all that's left is to take care of those bastards, the youth thought to himself.

But what did he mean by those beasts? I don't see any here. Could they be on the other side of the town? And how many?

He expanded his Sphere of Resonance to the maximum once again. But this time, when he did, he froze in his footsteps. His eyes widened in disbelief and terror gripped his heart.

"Impossible!"