Edward had long since noticed what was happening to Adam. He witnessed with his own eyes his friend being attacked by the Mana Core cultist, then immediately restrained.
However, there was nothing he could do about it. Not for the lack of trying, of course. It was because of the simple fact that he was too far away from Adam.
When the raven-haired youth put away his staff and donned his gauntlets, he went on a diabolical killing spree, creating a macabre death zone around him. Even his own allies were scared to get near him, and so they stayed away from him.
Only the cultists dared to enter the death zone, and then… they became part of that death zone. Due to that reason, there was a large stretch of land around Adam, strewn with nothing but corpses.
So when Daggett appeared behind him, none of his allies were able to make it in time.
