Marcy's burly body suddenly froze. He stared blankly at Marina's pained, rigid face, and that deathly pale, drooping arm, swaying ever so slightly. In that moment, he forgot pain, forgot danger, forgot everything. In their place surged a tidal wave of overwhelming, raging fury!

At this moment, the nightmare mark on William Ford's chest suddenly gave a prompt: Hidden quest completed, gained 1 potential point, stage rating increased, Marcy has mutated from Iron Black Heavy Shield Warhammerer to Bloody Heavy Shield Warhammerer!

As soon as this prompt sounded, the previously dominant fiery red Heavy Shield Warhammerer suddenly grunted, staggered backward, and Marcy charged straight at him, lowering his head to ram into his chest. The remaining long horn pierced deep into his armor!

A gush of fresh blood poured out from the gaps in the armor, flooding everywhere. Marcy let out a wild roar, burying his head and ramming fiercely into his opponent's chest. Each savage impact punched out a gaping, blood-spurting black hole! You could even vaguely see the white bones inside. The blood splattered onto his armor did not drip off, but instead flowed into strange, bloody patterns, like the markings on a wild beast!

Watching Marcy's beast-like ferocity, William Ford was shocked in his heart. Even after his opponent had lost his life, Marcy continued to trample and attack madly, until the body was reduced to a pile of bloody pulp!

What finally calmed him was Marina's corpse.

William Ford silently placed the tragically dead woman in front of Marcy. The berserk giant instantly froze, collapsed onto the corpse, and began to weep bitterly. William Ford, meanwhile, was not idle. He noticed that the fiery red Heavy Shield Warhammerer's body was gradually turning transparent, leaving behind a bright silver key. He walked over, picked it up, and returned to the nearby church to summon a bright silver treasure chest. Upon opening it, the following message popped up: "Obtained Deacon's Crimson Blood Glove (Right): Green equipment, medium quality, must be soulbound before wearing, excellent quality, attack 47, comes with plunder effect, converts 3% of damage dealt to enemies into your own stamina. Note: Collecting a pair will trigger a special effect, displayed after equipping. Requires strength 10, stamina 9, unarmed combat skill level 5 or above, can be taken out of this world, can be exchanged for 700 points."

"Obtained twenty silver coins, valuable item: can be used in medieval scenarios, can be exchanged for 1000 points."

William Ford was considering whether to use his true cutting technique when suddenly, heavy, receding footsteps sounded from outside. He hurriedly chased after them. He saw Marcy's burly, heavy figure carrying Marina's body away. Frowning slightly, he called out, "Where are you going?"

Marcy didn't answer at all, just kept walking forward. William Ford rushed up to block his path, and suddenly caught sight of the eyes of this fierce man, wrapped head to toe in steel! Cruel, defiant, savage! He quickly leapt back, dodging Marcy's deadly downward strike. Dirt flew everywhere as William Ford urgently said, "Don't you want to avenge Marina?"

Only when he heard the name Marina did a trace of life flicker in Marcy's eyes. He replied in a ringing voice, "I've already avenged her!"

"No," William Ford said, feigning anger. "The real murderer of Marina is the Paladin Scone. If he hadn't tried to raid our town, none of this would have happened! If you truly love her, you should kill Scone!"

He deliberately stepped forward, lifting Marina's head to show her despairing eyes to Marcy, shouting, "Look at her eyes—she died with them wide open! And you dare say you've avenged her? Coward! You claim to love her, but in truth, you're just afraid!"

Marcy immediately howled in pain like a wounded beast: "I love her! I've always loved her deeply! I'm not afraid!"

"Then don't run away!" William Ford said coldly. "Scone will arrive in our area tomorrow. I'll go with you to kill him!"

This was exactly the result William Ford wanted! He had always kept his mission firmly in mind.

"Mission one: Enter the world of the Knights of the Round Table, familiarize yourself with its rules, and near the Village of Flames in Act One, kill seven masked servants and two heavy swordsmen, earning at least 300 points."

"Mission two: Prevent Team 348 from killing the Paladin Scone."

"Mission three: Ensure at least four members of Team 348 are eliminated."

"Consequence of mission failure: Erasure."

Although the first mission was not yet complete, the required number of masked servants and heavy swordsmen had long been killed, and even the points had been deliberately kept at 299. In other words, he could complete it at any time if he wished.

As for the second and third missions, William Ford had been pondering them. It seemed there was only one path: wait for Team 348 to enter the world, then secretly ambush and weaken them. Most people would think this was the only feasible method, but William Ford had been considering another route: "Kill the Paladin Scone ahead of time!"