Chapter 331: Presence

The battle continued for hours and the twin moons slowly started to dip across the starry night sky.

Edward, Lisa, and Johnathan were in a perilous situation. There were mounds of corpses strewn around them. Despite sustaining heavy injuries, the trio continued to slaughter away.

They didn't have any other option. They knew that if they gave up, nothing was stopping them from meeting their ends.

Aquila and Ennea, who had to bear the brunt of the majority of the attacks, were so wounded that they could barely participate in the battle.

It had come to a point that they had now instead become a hindrance to the trio.

As for Johnathan's familiar, a Terra Bear, it had long since died at the beginning of the battle. This caused the youth to receive a severe blow, both physically and mentally.

After all, the bond between a Magus and their familiar was quite a special one. They were intrinsically linked to one another. If either of them died, the other would face extremely severe repercussions.

Thus, when Johnathan's familiar died during the battle, he felt as if he had lost his own life. This immediately weakened his fighting prowess to a vast extent.

Yet, he continued to fight the enemy. His heart was overcome by grief and anger at the loss of his familiar, but he didn't back down. He fought the enemy with even more resilience.

Lisa desperately swung her wooden staff and battled the beasts that were rushing toward her. She had already quit casting spells as it would require a large mana expenditure.

Having fought for so long, her mana reserves had become very low.

The blonde youth's emerald pupils darted around as she continued to fight the corrupted beasts. Fear gripped her heart as she gradually started to realize something.

This... The intel from Misken said there were less than a dozen orcs in this town and barely any magical beasts in the vicinity.

She suddenly crouched law, dodging the claw of a wolf. Following that, she thrust her staff toward the beast's chest, causing it to miserably fly off in the distance.

As she gasped for air, she couldn't stop her hands from trembling.

Something's wrong...

The next moment, the beasts started to attack her once again, not even giving her a few moments of respite.

Her heart sank when she thought of a terrifying possibility.

This is a trap! There shouldn't have been so many beasts in Omai. Their attacks also seem very coordinated. Someone's controlling them from the shadows!

It has to be the orcs... but where are they? I haven't seen a single one since I've arrived here—

The following moment, her thoughts came to a pause when she tripped over a small stone on the ground. She lost balance and her attack missed the boar she had aimed it at.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the corrupted beast bolted forward and stabbed its sharp tusks straight through Lisa's stomach.

"Aggghhhh!!" She screamed in agony as she fell to the ground.

Her eyes blazed with mercilessness as she grabbed the boar by the head, pinning it on the spot with her. This caused the boar's tusk to penetrate deeper into her stomach, but she didn't care.

She screamed, "Ennea! Now!"

The following moment, the white fox sprinted from behind. She opened her ghastly maw and bit a large chunk of the boar's head, instantly killing it.

With great difficulty, Lisa removed the twin tusks from her stomach. Blood gushed out of her wound endlessly as she grimaced in pain.

Meanwhile, Ennea stood before her, fending off the attacks from the rest of the beasts.

At this point, the fox's white fur had already turned a dark shade of crimson. There were all sorts of wounds, big and small, littered across her body. However, she didn't back down.

She continued to bite and claw away at her enemies with primal ferocity.

"Lisa!" Edward rushed toward her, his expression filled with panic and fear.

He hurriedly stood before her and fought alongside Ennea. As he stabbed his spear at the incoming beasts, he asked in concern without looking back, "Are you okay? Can you fight?"

Lisa chugged a healing potion, then took out another one and poured it on her injury. "Yes... I just... need a moment."

"Take your time." Johnathan also appeared beside her, his burly body drenched in blood.

His expression was twisted in extreme anger and hatred. The loss of his familiar had caused him to go berzerk.

Lisa weakly glanced at her friends standing before her and protecting her. Then she shifted her gaze toward Ennea and Aquila who were desperately fighting with their lives on the line.

Her eyes turned teary and she muttered, "Guys... we... we've fallen for someone's trap." Tears trickled down her face which was covered in dirt and blood. "I... I don't think we can make it out of this one."

"No!" Edward roared. "We will survive no matter what!"

"I will not rest until I've killed the one behind all this!" Johnathan screamed at the top of his lungs, his eyes gleaming with rage and madness.

Like this, another hour passed. By now, the trio and two familiars were already near the end of their ropes.

Their mana reserves were at an all-time low, and as for their stamina, it had long since depleted. At this point, they were merely relying on their instincts and forcing themselves to fight.

Despite the large number of enemies they had already massacred, the waves of beasts continuing to come at them seemed infinite.

Johnathan was the first one to lose consciousness and fall to the ground, extreme fatigue washing over him. Lisa was next, followed by the two familiars, Ennea and Aquila.

Edward was the only one on his feet. Like a madman, he continued to swing his spear and kill one beast after another.

But he too couldn't keep up for long.

Against his much reluctance, his hands finally gave in and the spear dropped to the ground. He couldn't hold on any longer. His eyes rolled back and he fell face-first.

Is this... the end for me? Lisa... Adam...

Just when the endless horde of corrupted beasts was about to devour him and his friends, suddenly, a white streak of blinding light originated from behind and flew over them.

Hand of Doom: Earthly Meteor!

BOOOOM!

A thundering sound echoed in every nook and cranny of Omai. Edward, Lisa, and Johnathan were jolted awake by this sudden loud explosion.

They opened their weary eyes and the scene that greeted them caused them to be shocked beyond their wildest dreams.

A rain of blood!

All the beasts that had been surrounding them were now reduced to mere chunks of flesh.

Severed limbs and other body parts descended from the sky after all the beasts had been taken care of by one devastating technique.

And the one that had executed this technique...

Adam was standing with his back tall a few dozen meters in front of the trio. His clothes were shredded, revealing his skin that was covered in after-burn marks and fresh injuries.

He took a deep breath and roared in fury, "Gracie! Show yourself, you coward!"

Edward, Lisa, and Johnathan were shocked to hear those words come out of the youth's mouth. They weakly got to their feet, their faces filled with disbelief.

"Did he just say..." Edward gulped nervously.

Meanwhile, Lisa's body shuddered in terror as she thought to herself, Gracie... It's them again!

Hearing no reply from his surroundings, Adam was about to call out once again. But suddenly, his pupils constricted when he sensed another presence behind him.

He hurriedly turned around, just in time to see a shadowy figure silently creep up behind his friends. Edward, Lisa, and Johnathan seemed to be completely oblivious to this new enemy.

Adam's eyes widened and fear gripped his heart when he identified this man.

It was a lanky orc with red and white war paint smeared on his face!

This orc soundlessly brandished his twin daggers and viciously stabbed the person right in front of him.

SPLURT!

Feeling the twin daggers pierce through his target's lungs, Gorgo's lips curled up into a sinister grin.

He then coldly glanced at Adam who was standing in the distance, frozen in absolute shock.

Gorgo's lips parted and he coldly muttered,

"What goes around, comes around."