Seeing the attack, Max immediately used his Ten Directional Shield and formed 10 hexagonal shields stacked on top of each other, glowing with a distinct hue.

He then activated the Omni Guard skill, enveloping himself in a green-colored protective sphere.

Lastly, he used the Eternal Bulwark skill, summoning an ancient shield between him and the ten hexagonal shields.

"No amount of defense can save you from my attack!" Veylin shouted.

At that moment, the lightning dragon broke through the first hexagonal shield.

In the next instant, the second, third, fourth, and all the way to the eighth hexagonal shield were shattered in mere seconds.

It finally struck the ninth shield, which showed some resistance, but the result was the same. It, too, was destroyed, leaving behind only one hexagonal shield glowing with a red aura.

The lightning dragon collided with the last hexagonal shield and broke through.

However, the Eternal Bulwark shield held firm. It didn't allow the lightning dragon to pass through immediately, putting up a fight.

Max's expression darkened as he faced his final shield. 'This one won't last long either,' he thought, his mind racing with ideas, but none came to mind that could protect him from a lightning dragon.

'What about runes?' Max's eyes brightened as he took out five rune papers.

"Is he trying to draw runes?" The man in the mask asked, his expression turning amused, but he remained on alert, ready to move.

Five glanced at him and said calmly, "Don't think of protecting him on my watch."

The man in the mask sneered at him but didn't respond.

'A few minutes more, and my Eternal Bulwark shield will go down.' Max assessed the situation and grabbed the brush. 'That means I have to draw two runes in a minute.'

After calming himself for a moment, Max began to draw. His brush moved with elegance on the papers, but to onlookers, it was a chaotic blur. Runemasters typically took their time to draw runes, but Max was the opposite.

A few minutes passed, and the Eternal Bulwark shield broke down.

The lightning dragon soon attacked his spherical shield. The pressure on the shield increasing with each passing seconds.

'I'm done,' Max thought as he completed the five runes and immediately slapped them onto the spherical shield.

He relaxed slightly after placing the runes. The five defense runes would definitely elevate the defensive power of the shield to another level.

As expected, after a fierce battle, the lightning dragon took its last breath before disintegrating into nothingness.

"He doesn't need my help," the man in the mask smiled, glancing at Five, whose focus was still on Max and Veylin.

Veylin looked at Max, seeing him survive the attack. "You truly are a cockroach," he smiled coldly, his expression turning cruel as he pointed behind Max at the sky. "Look there."

Max frowned and turned to see Jessica carrying two figures on her cube, causing his expression to darken. They were Anton and Alice.

'When did she leave?' Max cursed himself for being so careless about her. For some reason, he hadn't considered her a threat, and she had somehow escaped, rushing toward Anton without him noticing—without coming within the range of his Three Dimensional Body skill.

'Does she has a teleportation skill?' He wondered. That was only thing that could let her disappear without anyone noticing.

"You didn't accomplish anything," Veylin sneered. "You couldn't stop me, nor could you help that girl. You're simply too weak for that."

Everyone around them was shocked as well. They hadn't expected Alice, whom Max had heroically saved, to fall back under their control.

"This is bad," Nash said, his expression gloomy.

Erica nodded, her tone solemn. "We just don't have anyone at level 9 or 10 of the Adept Rank. Otherwise, things would be in much better shape."

"If my brother fights, he can buy us some time against Veylin, but he doesn't seem to be in the mood today," Elena said, her expression sad.

Nash sneered. "You'll have a huge surprise waiting for you when you get back home."

Elena glanced at him but didn't think much of it.

Meanwhile, the man in the mask smiled, watching the situation unfold. "The situation just got way more interesting."

'What should I do?' Max frowned, his panic rising. He couldn't fight against Veylin, and he couldn't surprise them again. What other choices did he have?

Veylin glanced at Max, his lips curving into a cold smile. "You know, based solely on potential, you're on par with that Voidwalker, if not higher. But sadly, you met me too early."

With those words, he arrived before Max, his spear crackling with lightning, aimed at Max's heart.

Max could barely anticipate the attack with his Three Dimensional Body, but he saw the trajectory of the spear.

Using the full speed of Dash, Super Dash, and Phantom Dash, Max just managed to sidestep slightly, dodging the spear by a hair's breadth. However, the momentum of the attack still pushed him to the side, and he was sent stumbling several steps.

"You're better at running fast," Veylin mocked, raising his spear again to aim at Max. But before he could strike, ten fireballs descended from the sky, surrounding him and encircling his body.

A lady with black hair, wearing a mask, appeared before him, blocking his path.

"You trash from the Black Lotus Guild are annoying," Veylin muttered, spinning his spear in a 360-degree arc, creating a surge of lightning that collided with the ten flames surrounding him, forcing them away. Find your next read on empire

But before he could do anything further, hundreds of small swords fell from the sky, their target: him alone.

"Nothing can stop me from killing you," Veylin laughed madly, thrusting his spear toward the incoming rain of swords.

A lightning dragon erupted from his body, charging toward his spear and the rain of swords, blowing them away and rendering them useless.

Veylin then pointed his spear directly at the lady in the mask, his intention clear. "You're going down."

The lady in the mask replied calmly, "Look around you."

Veylin frowned and turned around, only to see the black flaming spheres he had previously blown away now back, encircling him again.

"What are these things?" He asked in frustration, stabbing at each of them with his spear, but his attacks left no mark on the ten black flaming spheres around him.

The lady in the mask replied calmly, "You can't kill Max Morgan. Just leave with what you have."

Veylin's expression twisted in rage. "You can't stop me. Nobody can stop me from killing him today." He had seen Max's potential firsthand, and he understood the danger of someone with that potential. After all, the Monarch had suffered greatly at the hands of such a genius in the past.

He couldn't allow history to repeat itself.

Seeing the ten spheres blazing with black flames, Veylin realized they didn't seem to attack him, but there was something about them that made him feel a distinct threat if he chose to strike.

The lady in the mask spoke again, her tone calm. "Leave now. You can't stop the Black Lotus Guild. Nobody can."

"Heh," Veylin scoffed. "The Black Lotus Guild is just a lowly guild in the East Region. It's nothing compared to the Monarch or even the Royal Family of the West Region."

The lady smiled in response. "The waters run deeper in our guild than any other power in this world."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay