"Why are they after Alice?" Max's mind raced as he flew toward the Rune Tower. The question gnawed at him, his thoughts spiraling in a whirlwind of confusion and dread.

He couldn't fathom the exact reason the Monarch had targeted Alice, but if he had to guess, it had to be connected to his sister.

She had betrayed the Phoenix Order guild for reasons still shrouded in mystery. Now, with the young woman with green hair so adamantly blaming him for Alice's kidnapping, Max felt a chilling certainty settle over him—his sister had done something deeply unfavorable to the Phoenix Order guild.

Her actions, whatever they were, must have triggered this chain of events, dragging Alice into the crossfire.

'I just hope I'm not late,' he thought desperately, increasing his flying speed toward the Rune Tower.

He guessed they hadn't gone far from there, and if anyone were to come for her, there would definitely be some sort of disturbance in the area.

Therefore, as long as he reached that region, he would know her location. But it would all be for naught if he were too late.

However, Max hadn't gone far when he sensed three figures flying toward him using his Three Dimensional Body skill. They were Allen and the duo of brother and sister with green hair.

Max ignored them, increasing the speed of his Float, Wind Float, and Sky Float skills, distancing himself from them.

But just at that moment, a silver sword came flying toward him.

Max saw the sword with his Three Dimensional Body skill. "Damn, Allen!" he cursed, using his Magic Sword Barrage skill. A sword with a blue glow appeared beside him.

Seeing the silver sword about to hit him, Max used his blue sword to intercept it, sending it flying away.

"Max, I've told you! There will be revenge for what you did in the Battle Realm!" Allen's shout reached Max's ears.

Max turned his head and saw Allen and the duo had caught up, now just behind him. 'They're fast,' he thought, focusing on Allen.

"Why don't you just admit that the green-haired lady must have offered you another deal?" Max taunted, his voice reaching Allen and the duo. "Let me guess—if you help her capture me, she promised you something, right?"

But no reply came after his words, causing Max to turn his head. It was then that he saw the ugly face of Allen, staring at him with hatred and anger.

"What? Don't tell me I'm correct?" Max laughed wildly at Allen. He had just joked about the matter to anger him, but who would have thought he'd hit the nail on the head?

"I will kill you!" Allen shouted, his voice filled with rage. He conjured ten silver swords and sent them flying toward Max.

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Max sneered as he used his Three Dimensional Body skill to dodge all ten swords, flying in a zigzag pattern—sometimes straight, sometimes curved—but dodging every sword.

"You'll never catch me," Max laughed as he flew off, not caring for them. His only goal was to find Alice. He didn't have time for them, otherwise, he'd love to try his hand against Allen and the duo from the Monarch.

"Coward!" Allen barked from behind, trying to provoke Max into fighting, but Max ignored him completely.

'I guess combining the max speed of Float, Wind Float, and Sky Float is way faster than I expected,' Max mused, seeing how Allen and the duo from the Monarch couldn't catch up with him after all this time.

Just like that, Max flew toward the Rune Tower, with Allen and the duo from the Monarch on his tail.

Along the way, Allen tried many ways to provoke Max into fighting, but Max didn't even glance at him. He flew as if no one was tailing him, completely ignoring whatever was happening behind him.

After some time, Max arrived near the Rune Tower and looked around while flying continuously.

Bang!

Just then, he heard the sound of battle coming from somewhere near the Rune Tower.

'Alice!' Without wasting any time, he flew toward the sound and arrived at the scene. But what he saw stunned him to his core.

An entire chunk of streets, buildings, houses, bars, and more had disappeared, replaced by a deep, pitch-black crater.

In the crater, he saw various figures—some were familiar, while some weren't.

But what he saw caused the blood inside his body to boil, and rage clouded his eyes.

He saw Alice, held captive inside a red cube. She had her eyes closed, her face pale, and her expression weak.

Seeing her like that, rage built up inside Max. 'No, this isn't the place to get angry,' he forced himself to calm down and quickly assessed the situation.

'I need a plan,' Max thought as his Three Dimensional Body detected Allen and the duo from the Monarch. 'They'll catch up in a minute or two.'

Aware of their approach, Max quietly backed away from the scene and hid on the roof of a building far from the crater, observing the situation.

At the top of the cube where Alice was held captive, a woman with deep red hair sat with a grin on her face. 'Is this the woman controlling the cube?' Max wondered as he continued observing.

Beside the cube stood the person he had fought not long ago—Five. He was still wearing his cloak, and like last time, his face couldn't be seen.

Next to him stood another man with messy black hair and eyes as dark as the abyss. He stood casually with a carefree smile on his face, but after seeing him, Max felt an aura far stronger than what he had felt from Five when he released his level 3 Sword Aura.

Moreover, despite appearing young—around 20 or so—this man's strength was clearly at level 9 of Adept Rank.

'Who is he?' Max thought, his expression grim.

They were surrounded by a group of generals from the Union Vanguard and some guild members from the Phoenix Order guild. There were also Lily, Erica and even Elena seemed to be on their side.

Some sort of argument was happening between Anton and the messy-haired man, but since Max was a little far, he couldn't hear it.

'If they were within the range of my Three Dimensional Body, I'd be able to hear everything,' Max thought, noticing that Allen and the duo from the Monarch had arrived behind him.

"What? Scared to reveal yourself?" Allen mocked, seeing Max hiding instead of joining the battlefield.

Max gritted his teeth and said, "It's none of your business."

Allen smiled calmly, looking back at the crater and Alice in the red cube, then at Max. "Ah, I see. You're afraid they'll capture you too, so you're hiding up here?"

"Well, no matter. Let's capture him fast," the young woman said eagerly, her expression turning strange. "I believe his earlier rise in strength was just a fluke. Nobody could be that strong at level 3 of Apprentice Rank and fight someone in the late stages of Adept Rank. That's impossible."

She added, "Either he used some kind of treasure, or it's some skill from his class, so we don't need to worry about his strength increasing. Such an increase in strength wouldn't be possible multiple times."

Allen frowned, his expression clouded with doubt. "You're right. He's strong for someone in his rank, but fighting someone in the Adept Rank at Apprentice Rank is just crazy. But let me test the waters first."

Five silver swords formed in the air around him as he launched them toward Max.

Gritting his teeth, Max used the Omni Guard skill, and a green sphere of force field enveloped him.

The five swords collided with the sphere, releasing sparks, but they couldn't break the protective barrier.

"Tch." Clicking his tongue in frustration, Allen conjured another fifteen swords around him and sent them flying toward Max.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay