Accius looked at the mess before him and exclaimed in his heart.

‘So this is Locke’s true strength!’

Hathaway looked at her lover’s valiant and heroic bearing and felt an endless sense of pride in her heart.

It was as if she was shouting to the world, “That’s my lover.”

After defeating the city lord, Locke returned his Divine Dragon and his fused beast into his system space.

At this moment, Accius came back to his senses and immediately walked to Locke’s side. He said with a serious expression, “Are you the culprit behind the Daemons attacking Mountain City?”

Locke frowned slightly before answering, “Before this, you helped me and said that you wanted to seek an explanation for me. That’s why I went along with you. Now, in the blink of an eye, you’re asking if I’ve harmed the citizens of Mountain City?”

“Before this, I couldn’t sense any aura related to the Daemons from you, so I concluded that you weren’t the person who plotted the invasion. However, after witnessing the city lord fight you to the death, my faith has begun to waver.” Eckstedt said sadly, “Because the city lord will never do anything to harm the people of Mountain City. I’ve been with him for more than a decade, I’m certain of this.”

“I said it wasn’t me. If you don’t believe me, feel free to duel me then,” Locke said calmly.

He was not angry at Accius.

After all, as both of them were on different sides, Locke had never fully trusted Accius.

“No, it’s not that I don’t trust you. I only wish to get to the bottom of this.” Following this, Accius then summoned his Battle Beast to go after his lord.

Locke did not stop Accius. After all, Accius had shown no malice towards him.

Before long, Accius had made it all the way to the outside of the city.

“There’s a pit there.”

He immediately ordered his Battle Beast to land.

Upon arriving at the pit, he sensed his city lord’s aura.

“Where… Where’s the city lord?”

Accius looked around.

The city lord had been heavily wounded by Locke. As such, it was impossible for him to disappear without leaving a trace.

Nevertheless, even after a thorough search, Accius could not find any traces of anyone leaving the scene.

“This isn’t right.”

Accius was extremely puzzled by this.

“What are you looking for?”

Suddenly, a sinister voice sounded from behind him.

This made Accius’ expression change. Cold sweat immediately broke out on his back, wetting his clothes.

However, he felt that the voice was somewhat familiar, and thus, he turned his head to look.

Meeting his gaze was Asgela with a sinister smile on his face.

“Why are you here?”

Accius asked coldly.

“If you can be here, why can’t I be here?” Asgela answered casually.

However, the smile on his face gave Accius a very dangerous feeling.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Accius shouted, “Speak, why are you here!? where is the city lord?”

“Hahaha!”

Asgela laughed crazily, as if he had lost his mind.

“Why shouldn’t I be here? Then. by what right are you supposed to be here?”

As he spoke, he slowly approached Accius.

Accius’ gut had told him to run.

He shouted sternly, “Don’t come over, or don’t blame me for harming my colleagues.”

“Have you really treated me as your colleague before?” There was an endless gloom in Asgela’s words.

Accius circulated his mana and said, “If you take another step forward, I will attack!”

However, as soon as he finished speaking, his expression suddenly changed, and his eyes were filled with shock.

“I can’t channel my mana??’ Accius mentally exclaimed.

With a sinister smile, Asgela said, “Looks like you’ve already noticed it.”

“Are you the one causing trouble?” Accius looked at him in shock and anger.

“That’s right, it’s me. There’s a magic array set up here that can restrict everyone’s mana. As long as you’re not a Stage 4 Beastmaster, you won’t be able to overpower this restriction,” Asgela said with a cold smile. He slowly walked up to Accius, “But I’m not restricted, so you are at my mercy.”

“What are you doing?” Accius attempted to retreat, but he realized that no matter how hard he tried, he could not take even half a step back. It was as if he was bound by something.

“Don’t waste your energy. The array restricts even space! Only death awaits you!”

Asgela condensed his mana into a dagger and stabbed it fiercely into Accius’ heart.

“Pfft!”

Blood splattered in the air, causing Asgela’s face to turn red.

However, he did not feel guilty for killing his companion.

On the contrary, he enjoyed the smell of blood in the air.

“Since you’re going to die, I’ll tell you everything.”

Asgela whispered in Accius’ ear, “I was the one who tempted the city lord to invite the Daemons into Mountain City. It had nothing to do with Locke and Hathaway. I just needed their blood. I would charge him with a false accusation, and the imperial guards would kill him without hesitation. Who asked you to meddle in other people’s business?”

“I didn’t think that Locke would be so powerful. As such, I have no choice but to use your blood as well as the city lord’s to complete my blood sacrifice!” After saying that, Asgela suddenly pulled out his dagger and caused Accius’ blood to flow out of his heart like a waterfall.

“You…”

Accius gradually lost consciousness, and the power in his body also gradually dissipated. His body slowly fell to the ground.

His eyes were filled with unwillingness, regret, and anger…

If he could muster up a bit of strength, he would definitely fight to the death with Asgard.

Plop..

After Accius fell…

A magic circle that flickered with red light appeared on the ground.

The magic circle absorbed all his blood, leaving only a dried corpse.

“Hahahaha! ! !”

Asgela laughed maniacally, and his eyes were filled with uncontrollable excitement.

“Finally… Finally, I’ve completed the blood sacrifice!”

Black fog emerged and wrapped around his body.

Asgela disappeared from where he was.

The next moment, he appeared in a cave.

The altar in the center of the cave was consuming the pool of blood around it, and it was emitting a dazzling scarlet light.

The altar exploded with mana, shaking the entire cave, and causing rocks to fall from time to time.

Asgela walked forward and stood in the center of the altar.

As he chanted, mana exploded from the altar like ferocious beasts, crazily rushing into his body.

“Ah!”

Feeling the expansion of the mana in his body, Asgela felt that his body was about to explode.

However, his scream was not that of fear. Instead, it was filled with excitement.

“I’m going to advance to Stage 4! Hahaha!”

His shout spread throughout Mountain City.

Even Locke and Hathaway, who were thousands of miles away, could hear it.

“Who is it?!”

They suddenly turned their heads and looked in the direction of the cave.

They saw a blood red cloud condensing in the sky.

An unimaginable amount of mana was condensing on that spot.