Countless blades, big and small, darted toward the youth with blazing killing intent.

He was overwhelmed by such unimaginable pain originating from his soul that he didn't even realize this impending danger.

Not until he was completely drowned by the flurry of blades.

"Aaaarrggghhhh!" Adam roared in agony as the blades finally covered him.

Now, not only did he have to suffer extreme mental pain, but also physical pain.

His thoughts halted as the countless blades bore through his flesh from all sides. A deep sense of sorrow and resignation washed over him. He felt like he could no longer carry on.

Throughout the night, he had overcome innumerable hurdles and conquered every predicament life threw at him.

However, this seemed like the final straw.

He felt trapped and helpless under this storm of blades.

Pain.

Tormenting pain.

He lay on the ground as infinite blades came down on him, threatening to destroy every fiber of his being.

The blood-curdling screams originating from the center of the storm of blades caused even Oswald and Hemingway to flinch in unease. Yet, the grin on their faces widened.

Slowly, Adam's screams died down until it was no longer audible. By now, the blades had cut open the vast majority of his flesh.

Moreover, they continued to come at him with relentless fury, aiming to cut him into nothingness.

His eyelids felt heavy.

He had had enough.

He could no longer go on.

It hurts... He thought to himself in grief as he slowly started to lose consciousness.

I can't... take it anymore...

On the brink of death, just when darkness was about to consume him, he felt two gentle yet firm hands lifting him up from behind him.

Adam's eyes widened in shock, wondering just who could have made it through this tempest of cold blades and reached him.

He turned around in alarm. The sight that greeted him next left him filled with utter disbelief.

Two faint silhouettes slowly lifted him to his feet.

One was a burly youth with a toothy grin on his face. The other was a blonde elf with a cheerful look in her eyes.

It was Johnathan and Galriel.

"You guys..." Adam's bloodshot eyes involuntarily teared up as he glanced at his deceased friends. "How... is this possible?"

Johnathan and Galriel didn't reply to his question. Instead, they warmly smiled at him.

They pressed their hands against his back and gently pushed him forward.

'You can do it, Adam.'

Their voices echoed inside the youth's mind.

The next moment, they disappeared like wisps of smoke, their departing words echoing inside Adam's mind yet again.

'We believe in you.'

Adam, who had almost given into despair, now stood tall as the countless blades pierced into him. With great difficulty, he took one step after another and walked toward his enemies, his eyes blazing with firm resolve.

That's right! He screamed inwardly. How could I have forgotten so quickly?

One step.

Two steps.

Five Steps.

Ten steps.

Oswald and Hemingway were astounded by what they were witnessing. One moment they saw Adam on the brink of death. The next moment, the youth was walking toward them, tanking all the blades that were thrown at him.

Despite his flesh and muscles being torn apart, Adam continued to walk toward them. With each step, his momentum increased to unprecedented heights.

Adam's lips formed a devilish grin as he growled, "I've said it already... haven't I?"

Oswald and Hemingway's bodies shuddered in fear, listening to the youth's voice that seemed to have originated from the deepest pits of hell.

Adam slowly raised his hands and roared at the top of his lungs.

"I WILL NOT YIELD!!"

His voice deeply echoed inside the storm of blades.

The next moment, he expended an enormous amount of mana into his hands. Gradually, something akin to a singularity started to form in the space between his palms.

This vortex of energy started to swirl inward at its epicenter.

Oswald and Hemingway's hearts were gripped by horror when they realized that the gravity around them was drastically changing. Even the trajectory of all the blades was fluctuating.

The singularity between Adam's palm grew smaller and smaller.

All the blades that shot toward him now started to distort and bend around him.

The two Rank 2 Magi felt intense warning bells ring inside their minds. They knew that if they didn't escape now, they would be consumed by whatever the youth was planning to do.

However, because of the erratic gravity, they couldn't even move.

Finally, the singularity between Adam's palms gradually disappeared.

And then

Everything was covered in darkness.

Hand of Doom: Desolate Wheel!

BOOOOOMM!!!

Back in Omai, Edward and Lisa had finally finished cleaning up the battlefield. Everything that could point toward the existence of a dragon had thoroughly been extinguished by them.

Nothing remained. Not a single dragon scale, not even a drop of dragon blood.

Suddenly, the ground started to tremble intensely.

"W-What is happening?!"

"Is this an earthquake?!"

The couple started panicking. They looked around, wondering if this was some natural disaster or if they were being attacked by an enemy again.

"It's brother," replied Valerian as he glanced in a certain direction, his expression filled with worry.

For a while now, he could feel that Adam was in grave danger. Yet, he could do nothing about it. And this sense of impending doom was increasing by the second.

Suddenly, his pupils constricted and he dashed toward the direction Adam had earlier left in.

"We must hurry!"

Edward and Lisa exchanged nervous glances and immediately followed Valerian.

After leaving the boundaries of the town, the trio was shocked to see a gigantic black dome in the distance. The closer they got to this strange dome, the more intense the rumbling got.

"W-What is that thing?!" Edward blurted out in shock.

That gargantuan orb gave him a very dangerous feeling. A few minutes later, the trio finally arrived near the black orb. They were standing dozens of meters away from it.

"Is Adam inside?" Lisa asked softly, her eyes flashing with panic.

"Yes." Valerin solemnly nodded. "So are the other two."

The giant black orb stood standing for a long time. Then, it slowly started receding. The trio watched with bated breaths at this sudden change taking place, wondering what they would see when the dome disappeared.

As the area of the orb diminished, it slowly started to dissipate. What was left in its wake was an enormous crater with a radius of about a hundred meters.

And in the middle of this crater stood a lone man.

The ground around him was covered in blood. Every inch of his body was riddled with grievous injuries, so much so, that in some places even his bones were visible.

Yet, he victoriously stood with his arms crossed and his back as straight as a spear.

When the trio laid eyes on this man, they were shocked down to their very core, their eyes involuntarily tearing up.

This man triumphed over countless hardships and became a Rank 2 Magus at the mere age of twenty!

This man single-handedly defeated two veteran Rank 2 Magi as a newly advanced Rank 2 Magus!

This man was the successor of the white lotus!!

This man was Adam Constantine!!