Chapter 308: 308. Sometimes Pushing Hard is the only solution.

The more Erza and Victor listened, the darker their faces became.

As Orion finished explaining to Avia what had happened, a heavy silence enveloped the area.

"The worst part is that everyone else at the villa had already left, and when we couldn’t contact our guild, I saw some people leaving. I asked them to contact the guild when they were outside," Henry stated, looking at Victor and Erza. "So, I think we should wait here until help from our guild arrives."

Victor frowned and turned to Erza. "Is this what you were talking about?"

Erza shook her head, her expression solemn. "I’m not sure."

Orion sighed, then suddenly appeared behind Josh, his sword pressed to Josh’s neck. "Tell me what’s going on."

"Ray!"

"Ray! What are you doing?"

Shuna and Roman shouted as Orion placed his sword against Josh’s neck.

Orion glanced at them before turning his focus back on Josh. "I overheard an interesting conversation between him and his father," he said, pushing the blade closer. "If you don’t want your head to roll, you’d better spill everything about what’s happening here."

Josh trembled. "Ray, what are you talking about? Release me!" he shouted anxiously.

"Release you? Alright, just say everything your father told you to do, and I’ll release you," Orion sneered.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Josh said, panicked. "Just let me go, and we can talk."

"Do you take me for a fool?" Orion sneered again. "With your talent, it’s almost impossible to hit you, yet you’re asking me to release you? Spill everything you know."

Josh gritted his teeth, looking at the shocked faces of Shuna, Roman, Rudy, and even the usually quiet Reilly.

Victor, standing nearby, folded his arms and turned to Erza. "Are you not going to stop this?"

Erza didn’t reply, her attention locked on Josh. Victor shrugged in response.

"Are you telling me my two guildmates died because of him?" Henry shouted at the moment.

In the blink of an eye, Henry appeared in front of Josh, his sword flying through the air with deadly precision, aimed straight at Josh’s heart. Orion’s reflexes kicked in, and he instinctively began to retreat. However, before he could fully withdraw, a flash of purple lightning streaked across his vision, hurtling toward Josh with blinding speed—quicker even than Henry’s sword.

In a surreal moment, time seemed to stretch and slow for Orion. The scene unfolded with an almost eerie clarity: Henry’s menacing strike, the lightning’s furious advance, and the rapid interplay of events. Orion’s perception sharpened, allowing him to witness every fraction of a second with intense focus, as if the world had momentarily paused for him.

He watched in vivid clarity as Mark, bathed in a torrent of crackling purple lightning, calmly approached the scene. As Mark reached Josh, he locked eyes with Orion, a smirk tugging at his lips. Without hesitation, he reached out and caught Henry’s sword mid-air, stopping it just as it was about to pierce Josh’s heart.

For everyone else, the moment had passed in a blur. Henry’s attack, Mark’s lightning-fast intervention—it all happened in the space of a heartbeat. All they saw was a brief flash of purple lightning, followed by the sight of Mark gripping Henry’s sword with his bare hand.

"What just happened?" Roman asked.

Shuna shrugged, equally baffled.

Reilly’s face darkened while Rudy remained just as clueless.

"Henry, stop!" Erza said, gripping Henry’s shoulder and pushing him away from Josh. "Are you mad? You were about to kill him, and if Mark hadn’t stepped in, you might have succeeded!"

Henry’s voice rose in anger. "What do you expect me to do? It wasn’t your guildmates who died, so you don’t understand!" He glared at Josh. "If they died because of him, I will kill him."

After taking a deep breath, trying to calm down, Henry added, "Now will you tell us what’s going on?"

Orion pressed his sword tighter against Josh’s neck, causing blood to drip. "If I don’t kill you, there are plenty of others here who would gladly finish what I started."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

He continued coldly, "I’ll give you ten seconds. If you don’t come clean, I won’t kill you myself—I’ll hand you over to the Black Reaper Guild. Maybe they’ll knock some sense into you."

Erza stepped forward, her voice low but dangerous. "Josh, tell us what you discussed with your father. Otherwise, your fate will be worse than any criminal’s. You know how much I despise traitors. Even if your father protects you later, you won’t escape the consequences."

"Just say it," Orion demanded. "Time’s ticking."

"You see this sword?" Mark asked, holding the blade he had grabbed earlier. "I just saved your life, but I also know how to take it. So, if you don’t want to die, tell us what’s happening outside the villa."

Josh’s expression turned grim as he looked around. Every face glared at him with hostility. No one showed pity.

Blaming his father, Josh gritted his teeth. He had never wanted any of this and had warned his father that it was a bad idea. But, as usual, his words had been ignored. Now, the worst-case scenario had come to pass.

"Are you sure he’s the right person?" Victor asked Erza. "He’s not saying anything."

"Oh, he’ll talk," Orion said with a cruel smile, stabbing his sword deeper into Josh’s neck, the blood flowing more freely.

Erza frowned. "Don’t push too hard, Ray."

Orion shook his head. "You don’t get it, Erza. Sometimes you have to push hard to make people understand what they’ve gotten into."

With that, he pressed the sword further into Josh’s neck.

"Stop, stop! I’ll talk!" Josh finally relented, realizing he had no choice.

"Good," Orion said, his voice ice-cold. "Now tell us everything you know about the situation, or you know what will happen."

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