Chapter 141: The Price of Mercy

The adventuring party, seeing Hill and Drokh incapacitated in seconds and Hans barely holding off the knight, realized their fatal miscalculation. Panic replaced greed.

"Wait, stop! We yield!" Hill choked out from the ground, raising a trembling hand. "We made a mistake! A terrible mistake! We’ll leave! Please, just let us go!"

Hans disengaged from Seraphina, leaping back with his daggers raised defensively. "We apologize! We were just talking big! We didn’t mean it!"

Fia lowered her staff completely, the glow fading from her crystal. "The bounty is yours. The Princess is under your protection. We overstepped. We beg your forgiveness."

Adam stared down at them, his crimson eyes devoid of pity. "Time to end this," he stated, his voice flat and final. Dark energy began to coalesce around his hand.

"Adam, wait!" Elise cried, stepping forward, her face etched with conflict. "Don’t kill them!"

Ignis, whose flames were still roaring, looked at Elise in confusion. "Why not? They were gonna kidnap and rob you! They’re trash!"

Adam turned his head slowly, his gaze piercing. "Hey, Elise. I thought you were the rational one. What’s with this? They’re a threat. Letting them go is like planting a seed of trouble that’ll grow into a forest of problems."

Elise met his gaze, her own filled with a pained but stubborn resolve. "Killing them in cold blood now, when they’re defeated and begging... that makes us no better than the monsters. We are trying to find a place in this world, not just burn a path through it. Mercy... has to start somewhere. Even if it’s a risk."

Seraphina, breathing heavily, sheathed her sword slightly. "I... agree with Her Highness. We are protectors, not butchers. We are not a cruel band."

Hearing this, Hill saw a sliver of hope. "Yes! Exactly! We’re not worth it! We’ll never speak of this! We’ll leave the territory and never—"

"Silence," Adam commanded, and the word carried such oppressive force that Hill’s voice died in his throat. Adam looked at the pathetic group, then back at Elise, his expression one of profound frustration. "This is a bad decision. There will be consequences."

He then heard Lilith’s voice, a cool, psychic whisper meant only for him. ’Let us indulge their naïve morality, Adam. It will please the Princess and keep the knight compliant. I will... take care of the loose ends afterward. They will not trouble us.’

Adam understood immediately. Lilith would ensure these adventurers never talked, one way or another. Perhaps a psychic compulsion, a hidden tracker, or a far more permanent solution once they were out of Elise’s sight. He let out a long, weary sigh, the energy around his hand dissipating.

He looked at Elise, his voice heavy with resignation. "Fine. I’ll defer to your judgment. This time." He turned his deadly gaze back to the adventurers. "Disappear. If I hear even a whisper about a princess in the Howling Crags, or see your faces again, there will be no discussion. Only extinction. Now. Get out of my sight."

The adventurers didn’t need to be told twice. They scrambled, dragging their injured, and fled into the maze of canyons without a backward glance, vanishing from sight within moments.

The amphitheater was quiet again. Elise let out a shaky breath. "Thank you, Adam."

Adam didn’t reply, simply shaking his head. Ignis huffed, letting her flames die out. "They better hope they run fast."

Lilith merely smiled, a small, chilling curve of her lips as she watched the direction they fled, her crimson eyes holding a promise of silent, inevitable judgment.

Seraphina immediately rushed to Elise’s side, her face etched with concern. "Your Highness! Are you hurt?"

Elise offered a weak, grateful smile, leaning slightly on her knight. "I am unharmed, Sera. Just... weary. Using the Gravity Anvil and maintaining focus during that... confrontation... it took more from me than I realized."

Seeing an opportunity to regain control of the situation, Adam spoke up, his voice calmer now. "Then we should rest here for a while. Everyone needs to recover their strength. We’re in no shape to fly back or face anything else right now."

Ignis, who was practically vibrating with leftover energy, tilted her head. "Hmm? Rest? We can just rest on my back while I fly! I’m not tired at all!"

Adam fixed her with a flat, meaningful stare. Ignis blinked back at him, utterly confused.

’Play along. Act tired. We still have... unfinished business here,’ Adam’s mental voice pushed into her mind, laced with clear intent.

Ignis’s eyes widened in understanding. She immediately slumped her shoulders, letting out an exaggerated groan. "Ahhh... you know what? Now that you mention it... I am exhausted. It just hit me. So tired. Need to sit. Right here." She plopped down onto a nearby rock with a dramatic sigh.

Elise watched the exchange, a flicker of amusement touching her lips despite her fatigue. "Rest is a good idea. And... I am sorry. For my actions earlier. Revealing myself was foolish. I put us all in greater danger."

Adam waved a hand dismissively, sitting down himself and leaning against the cool stone wall. "Don’t worry about it. I’m too tired to scold you properly anyway." He closed his eyes, but his senses remained alert, subtly tracking a particular absence.

Seraphina, having ensured Elise was settled, finally scanned their immediate surroundings. Her brow furrowed. "Where is Lady Lilith?"

Adam didn’t open his eyes, his voice casual. "She had something to take care of. She’ll be back."

The statement hung in the air, simple and ominous. No one asked for details. Seraphina’s lips tightened, but she said nothing. Elise’s smile faded slightly, a shadow of doubt crossing her features. Ignis just nodded, playing her part of the weary warrior.

Meanwhile...

The adventurers stumbled to a halt deep within a narrow, shadowed ravine, far from the amphitheater. Their breaths came in ragged, painful gasps. Drokh leaned against the rock wall, clutching his ribs with a grimace. Blood trickled from a cut on Hill’s brow, and his armor was still smoldering in places. Hans was pale, favoring one leg, while Fia looked drained, both magically and emotionally.

"Shit," Drokh growled, spitting out a mouthful of dust and blood. "They were strong."

Hans sank to the ground, head in his hands. "Just our luck. Should’ve known when we saw the state of the place. That was no ordinary cleanup."

Hill slammed a fist against the stone, wincing immediately at the pain. "Unlucky? We weren’t unlucky, we were idiots! What the hell was that group? That bastard moved like a horse, and the fire-girl hit like a charging wyvern!"

Fia sighed, rubbing her temples. "It makes a twisted sense. A princess from a foreign kingdom, traveling in these dangerous borderlands. Of course her escort would be... extraordinary. We let greed blind us to the obvious."

Hans groaned. "Who cares why they’re strong? All I know is we’re busted up, broke, and now we’ve made enemies of people who can squash us like bugs. What do we even do now?"

Drokh pushed himself off the wall, glaring at Hill. "We do nothing! Look at us! We can’t tackle a dungeon run like this! We need weeks to heal! And it’s all your fault!"

"My fault?!" Hill shot back, his face flushing with anger. "You were the one who suggested grabbing the princess! ’We’d be set for life,’ you said! If you hadn’t been so greedy—"

"You’re the leader! You’re supposed to make the right call! If you weren’t so weak, if you’d actually beaten that purple-haired punk, we would’ve won! You should stick to being a meat shield, it suits you better than thinking!"

"Hey! Enough!" Fia snapped, her voice sharp. "Fighting among ourselves won’t fix broken bones or fill our purses! We need to—"

"I’m done," Hans interrupted, his voice hollow with exhaustion. "I just want to go home. After this, I’m finding a nice, quiet job in a city..."

He trailed off. His eyes, trained by years of skulking in shadows, went wide. His body tensed. "Fia," he whispered, his voice suddenly tight. "Do a detection spell. Now. Something’s here."

Fia instantly raised her staff, muttering a quick incantation. Her eyes glowed faintly blue as she swept the energy around the ravine. She paled further. "There’s... someone. Close. Moving slowly. Deliberately."

The air grew colder. A figure stepped from the deepening shadows of a crevice they had just passed, silent as a ghost. Lilith stood before them, her elegant form looking utterly out of place in the rough ravine. Her crimson eyes glimmered with a faint, predatory light.

"My, my," she said, her voice a smooth, melodic contrast to their ragged panting. "You all still have the energy to raise your voices. How... impressive."

She took a single, graceful step forward, a smile touching her lips that didn’t reach her eyes. The four adventurers froze, a terror colder than any dungeon draft seizing their hearts. This wasn’t a confrontation. This was a conclusion.