As long as the final boss of this first act is killed by himself, then of course he will prevent Squad 348 from killing the Judgement Knight Scone, and the consequence of their failure to complete the mission will naturally be annihilation!

William Ford also knew very well that no matter how much he tried to make a name for himself or train, it would be useless against this boss. This had nothing to do with intelligence, strategy, or adaptability in the face of the enemy—it was entirely a matter of overwhelming power, and he could only rely on external forces!

In this world, those who possess the power to defeat Scone would, of course, first bring to mind the three heroes from the storyline: Lancelot (the one in blue with a curved blade), Pusey (the one with the axe), and Arthur (the older man). But they are clearly on the same side as Squad 348, so they can be ruled out.

Therefore, this power could only be discovered and cultivated by himself, and it was very likely to appear in the town. Sure enough, after discovering the hidden storyline, William Ford sensed a glimmer of hope—this Marcy was probably the variable! Most importantly, even the requirements for the hidden storyline revealed a loophole: it only required helping Marcy meet Marina, without mentioning anything about Marina's life or death.

In fact, if William Ford did not kill Marina, the mission would end here. After seeing Marina alive, the person who took on this mission would help Marcy kill the mini-boss, the fiery red heavy-shielded giant hammer warrior, which would accelerate the arrival of the Judgement Knight Scone, and the village defense battle would begin early. The consequence would be that the town would be pillaged ahead of time, and when Squad 348 and the three storyline heroes appeared, they would be directly surrounded by Scone and his group, making things much harder for them.

But now, Marcy's mutation had pushed the storyline onto an extremely remote side path! This was a dangerous road, even a dead end, but William Ford was exactly the kind of person who liked to take risks and walk the unconventional path!

Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Without high risk, where would great rewards come from?

Marcy stood silently for a long while, Marina's blood dripping bit by bit down his armor, soaking in. His eyes were filled with dazed despair. After a long time, he finally said, "Alright."

As soon as he spoke, the nightmare mark on William Ford's chest grew hot again, and a prompt immediately appeared before his eyes: Hidden mission activated—assassinate the Judgement Knight Scone. Mission difficulty: A. Mission objective: obtain the head of the Judgement Knight Scone. Mission time limit: twenty-four hours.

After this information was displayed, William Ford received another prompt: Because the two waves of sub-bosses sent out—Silver Greatsword Warrior Ryan and Fiery Red Heavy-Shielded Giant Hammer Warrior Deacon—were killed one after another (since the protagonist had not learned the scouting skill, he could not identify the names of these two storyline characters), the Judgement Knight Scone was extremely enraged and would launch the invasion ahead of schedule, arriving at the town in twenty hours.

William Ford looked at this information, deep in thought. By now, night had fallen. He led Marcy back to a nearby ruined town. The two of them sat by a blazing fire. Marcy still held Marina's body tightly, unwilling to let go, even eating with just one hand.

At this moment, William Ford noticed that the warhammer in his hand had already been bent and damaged in the fierce battle earlier. Suddenly, he remembered that after killing Ryan, he had obtained a two-handed greatsword. He couldn't use this weapon himself, nor could he take it out of this world; it could only be exchanged for a small number of points. Now that he had some free time, he decided to use the True Severing Technique to enhance the sword.

So William Ford closed his eyes, lightly slashing the wood beside him with his dagger, recalling that peculiar feeling of chopping ribs in the real world. After a while, he suddenly opened his eyes, a ball of blue light appearing in his hand, and struck hard at the two-handed greatsword dropped by the swordsman leader Ryan!

The surface of the greatsword immediately softened, rippling like a mirror. The entire weapon was shrouded in blue light, and after a while, it finally settled, turning into a thick, crooked club, its black surface faintly glowing red.

However, William Ford let out a pained groan. He felt as if all his energy had been drained after that strike, his temples throbbing violently. After a long sigh, he discovered that his personal stats—specifically his spirit—had dropped to just 3 points! It was glowing bright red, as if sounding an alarm!

This situation made the headache-ridden William Ford nervous. He quickly consulted the nightmare mark and received the following answer: True Severing Technique mutation effect triggered, excessive use of mental power, immediate rest recommended to avoid permanent damage! Current spirit recovery rate: one point every twenty minutes. Full recovery after four hours of deep sleep.

Hearing this, William Ford was somewhat relieved. But suddenly, a loud "boom" sounded nearby. He turned his head and his eyes widened—Marcy had somehow already stood up, grabbed the newly forged club, and with a casual swing, smashed a nearby already-tilted house into collapse!

"Hey—" William Ford helplessly swallowed his question. Only after Marcy had swung his new weapon enough and started to pant slightly did he say, not too kindly, "Does it feel handy?"