Edward and Lisa had shocked expressions on their faces.

Perhaps it was because of their extreme state of weariness, or perhaps because the enemy's prowess was simply too great, they didn't even realize when this person had appeared behind them.

Out of sheer instinct, they hurriedly tried to retreat from this orc, however, they were far too weak at the moment. After having fought for hours, they were already dangerously low on mana and stamina.

Before they could even take a step, two more orcs appeared behind them, grabbed their heads, and viciously slammed them to the ground.

As for Johnathan...

He lowered his head in confusion. It took a while for him to register the sensation of pain that started to radiate throughout his body, but when he did, his eyes flashed with shock and fear.

Blood involuntarily spurted out of his mouth as he lowered his head and glanced at the two curved daggers jutting out from within his chest.

Then, he heard a cold voice from behind him.

"What goes around, comes around."

In the distance, when Adam witnessed this scene, his body trembled. The next moment, he was overcome by unprecedented rage as he shot forward.

"John! No!!"

"Uh-uh-uh," Gorgo's lips curled up into a smirk as he retracted one of his daggers and brought it before Johnathan's throat. "You move, he dies."

The following moment, the orcs that had pinned down Edward and Lisa brandished their own weapons and pointed at the couple.

Gorgo added, "You move, they die."

Adam froze in his footsteps, his face completely drained of any color. Never in his life had he felt so helpless.

He opened and closed his mouth many times, but no words came out.

He clenched and unclenched his fists several times, but couldn't take action.

He felt weak.

He felt powerless.

The youth slowly raised his hands in a show of surrender. He glanced at Gorgo and spoke with a trembling voice, "I-I will do anything... anything! J-Just let them go."

Seeing Adam in such a miserable state, Gorgo grinned from ear to ear and he couldn't stop himself from bursting into a loud peal of laughter.

"Hahahaha!"

He laughed so hard that his eyes started to tear up. He glanced at Adam and taunted, "Where's all that arrogance I saw back in the secret plane? Look at how weak and pathetic you are!"

Adam ignored everything the orc said. He clasped his hands and pleaded, "L-Let them go... They have nothing to do with this."

"Let them go, huh?" Gorgo's eyes gleamed with a cruel and sinister light as he glanced at Johnathan.

"Fine, I'll let him go."

SLASH!

With a swift motion, Gorgo slit open Johnathan's throat.

"Kuackk!" The burly youth immediately clasped the deep cut on his throat, trying to stop the warm blood from flowing.

But no matter what he did, the blood loss just wouldn't stop. Soon, his knees buckled and he weakly fell to the ground. His body slowly turned lifeless as he felt death whispering into his ears.

"Johnny!!"

"No!!"

Edward and Lisa, who were the closest to him, were thunderstruck by this sudden turn of events. Everything had happened so quickly that it took them a moment to realize.

Tears started to well up in their eyes as they saw their childhood friend slowly bleed to death.

Meanwhile, Adam felt like everything had gone blank. All he could see was Johnathan lying down in a puddle of his own blood.

The youth dropped to his knees and reached out for his friend. "J-John... no..."

"Hahaha," Gorgo laughed maniacally. Seeing Adam break down completely made him very satisfied. "There, I let him go Kahahahaha!"

The light in Johnathan's eyes slowly began to fade, and so did all the noise around him. With the last vestiges of his life, he thought to himself in sadness, Felicia, I

I feel so cold

The light in his eyes finally dimmed as he embraced death.

Edward and Lisa couldn't stop crying when they realized that their friend had died. Despite how hard they tried to reach out for their deceased friend, the orcs that held them down wouldn't let them budge an inch.

"It's a pity that young man had to die, though," said one of the figures standing atop the Town Keep.

"At this point, it doesn't matter," replied the other, "the reason why we chose Johnathan was so that Adam would let his guard down and easily trust his teammates, Elvlin and Dudley."

The first person glanced at him and chuckled, "But you never expected Adam to be so distrustful of them, eh? The boy was very vicious, instantly deciding to kill them at the slightest hint of any suspicions."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Anyway, let's wrap this up. We can't leave behind any evidence. Shall we go down now?"

"Yes," replied the second figure.

Adam knelt on the ground surrounded by the shredded corpses of the beasts he had just killed.

His eyes glazed over and he shifted his consciousness to the mysterious space inside the white lotus. There, he saw a small orb of light materialize near the boundary.

The youth levitated before it, his face expressionless. Tears trickled down his face as he muttered under his breath, "John"

He suddenly heard the sound of footsteps and immediately shifted his consciousness back to the outside world.

The scene that greeted him next caused him to lose all hope.

In the distance, three figures slowly walked toward Edward and Lisa.

One of them was Morden Gracie.

While the other two

They were Rank 2 Magi, Oswald Gracie and Professor Hemingway!

These two mighty Rank 2 Magi didn't speak a word. They simply watched everything unfold with indifferent expressions, as if they were mere spectators.

But unlike Professor Hemingway, Oswald's eyes flashed with hatred when he glanced at Adam. Despite that, he didn't make a move.

It was beneath him to deal with Rank 1 Magi whom he considered to be mere insects.

Morden stepped forward and coldly glanced at Edward and Lisa who had been bound by the orcs.

The middle-aged man's gaze paused on the blonde young lady for a moment longer as he muttered, "You filthy whore. After I'm done with you, I'll slaughter your mother and brother."

Without casting another glance at her, he looked toward Adam with a wide and evil grin.

"Tell me, Adam, did you ever think things would come to this when you murdered my son in cold blood?"

Adam remained silent, his gaze fixed on Johnathan's corpse.

"Answer me!!" Morden roared in fury.

Still, he received no response.

The next moment, he thought of something and his lips curled up into a devious smirk. "You care a great deal for your friends, don't you?"

Adam's eyes rippled with emotion and he shifted his gaze from his friend's corpse to Morden.

Having finally elicited a reaction from the youth, Morden's eyes flashed with a cruel light. "Fine, I'll be the bigger man. My enmity has always been with you and not your friends anyway."

He paused for a brief moment before continuing, his tone filled with evil intentions, "However, I will only let one live. So choose wisely

"Edward or Lisa?"