"You think a little power-up is enough?"

Evan's voice echoed, distorted, inhuman.

The blackened void that was now his face remained unreadable, but his tone carried a sneer—mockery, disdain, an overwhelming certainty in his superiority.

But Max—

He only grinned.

A spark of excitement flickered in his eyes, a wild thrill coursing through his veins.

"We will know."

His voice was steady, but inside—inside, something stirred.

Something only he could feel.

A power that didn't just surge through him.

It remade him.

Lightning.

Pure, untamed, roaring lightning.

It wasn't just energy—it was alive.

His entire body crackled, wrapped in a storm of purple arcs, each bolt dancing wildly across his skin.

His muscles clenched, denser than ever before, as if they had been reforged from lightning itself.

His nerves buzzed, moving at speeds that should have been impossible, each impulse sent faster than thought.

Even his organs pulsed differently, no longer working at human levels.

Each heartbeat was a drum of war.

Thud. A surge of power.

Thud. A storm roaring inside him.

Thud. Pure, raw lightning, untapped and limitless.

The energy wasn't just contained within him—

It became him.

Max's entire existence had transformed.

In First Gear, his body had already adapted to lightning, each of his attacks enhanced, his speed, strength, and reflexes pushed past human limits.

But in Second Gear?

Everything exploded past its peak.

His body felt weightless, yet at the same time—unbreakable.

Every movement flowed with crackling force, as if he wasn't just faster—

He was beyond physical limitations itself.

Even without techniques, without activating any skills or martial arts, he knew—

He could fight Evan head-on.

Not just Evan.

Evan in his Full Null Form.

And that—

That was insane.

---

The moment Max's Second Gear fully activated,

Everyone felt it.

The sky crackled.

The ground hummed.

The very air itself trembled, unable to contain the sheer power surging through him.

"What… is this?"

Ralph frowned seeing the power surging through Max.

"Lightning… Wild, untamed lightning..."

Kate's eyes widened.

Aurelia's fingers clenched tightly, her breath unsteady.

"One would need a very high level of technique and control to do something like this..."

Envoy Lucas's grin widened, a flicker of amusement and intrigue in his gaze.

"Well now… that's interesting."

Even Evan, standing amidst his roaring abyssal storm, tilted his featureless blackened face slightly.

He could feel it.

The shift in power.

The sudden, terrifying change.

Max's gaze flickered to Evan.

"Let's continue."

His tone was calm.

Evan tilted his featureless black face, as if observing something foreign.

"You're like a cockroach that refuses to die."

Max shrugged.

"Maybe I am."

Evan didn't respond.

He just moved.

A fist tore through the air.

Fast. Too fast.

If not for Second Gear, Max wouldn't have even seen it coming.

A flicker—

Then, impact.

A blow that could tear through steel.

That could pulverize solid rock.

A strike that should have landed.

But—

Max moved.

Lightning coiled around his body.

Tendrils of crackling purple arcs surged through his veins.

Black flames twisted along his arms—hungry, alive, burning.

He didn't think.

He didn't hesitate.

He struck back.

BANG!

The moment their fists collided—

The world erupted.

A shockwave detonated outward.

The air twisted violently, torn apart by the sheer force.

The ground split open, cracks webbing out like a shattered mirror.

The very atmosphere screamed, distorting from the clash of forces.

Max and Evan—

Neither moved.

Neither flinched.

Fists locked. Power clashing.

Purple lightning crackled violently, tendrils lashing in every direction.

Black flames coiled, surged, feeding on the chaotic energy.

The very sky above them churned, dark clouds swirling, spiraling like a vortex drawn by their battle.

Then—

Five full seconds passed.

Neither budged.

Neither backed down.

Then—

BOOM!

The force finally erupted between them, sending both warriors reeling backward.

They skidded across the battlefield, leaving behind deep trenches in the ruined ground.

As they came to a stop, the air was silent.

The onlookers—

Speechless.

Just a simple clash between them caused such level of destruction.

They couldn't imagine what would happen if they used their full strengths?

"It's time I end this."

Evan's voice echoed, no longer fully human.

His white glowing ring—that eerie, unnatural ring on his featureless blackened face—suddenly turned blood-red.

Then—

A small red dot appeared just in front of the ring.

At first, it was tiny, no larger than the tip of a needle.

Then—

It grew.

Slowly. Methodically.

Hunger radiated from it.

It wasn't just accumulating energy.

It was feeding.

The very air shook violently, as if space itself was being siphoned into the red sphere.

Max's eyes sharpened.

'This attack...!'

A deep, instinctual warning screamed inside him.

He tightened his grip on his sword.

His body tensed.

He knew—this wasn't an attack he could simply counter.

The onlookers also felt it.

And they were terrified.

Even the strongest warriors of the Five Great Guilds and Four Super Families—the most powerful figures in the East Region—felt an unnatural coldness seep into their bones.

"That's…"

Kate's voice was barely above a whisper.

Aurelia's face hardened.

"A true Null attack."

Envoy Lucas's eyes narrowed.

"Abyssal Supernova... I haven't thought I would see a human using this move let alo-"

He didn't finish.

Because at that moment—

The sphere reached its full size.

A colossal red orb the size of three footballs, pulsating like a living heart, radiating waves of absolute devastation.

The very space around it twisted unnaturally, bending under its sheer presence.

"That thing…" Ralph Thorne swallowed hard. "It's erasing everything around it!"

BOOOOOOM!

A sudden shockwave burst from the sphere, shattering the ground beneath Evan.

And then—

He released it.

Abyssal Devastation was unleashed.

The red sphere shot forward, moving at a terrifying speed, consuming everything in its path.

The air collapsed inward, as if being pulled into a vacuum.

The earth split apart beneath its trajectory.

The Villa in the distance shuddered violently.

The sky dimmed, as if all light was being drained toward the sphere.

Even from a distance, the spectators felt like their very existence was being pulled toward the attack.

"That's not an attack…"

"That's pure annihilation."

And it was heading straight for Max.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay