Max's eyes swept over the group of demons, all of whom were now visibly trembling.

Their fear was palpable—etched into their snarling, twitching faces.

Just moments ago, they had stood tall, arrogant, mocking him. After all, demons were creatures of raw power, their bodies forged in war, their muscles bred for slaughter. A single human—a boy—should not have been able to kill one of them in a head-on clash.

But now?

Now they stared at Max like prey would look at a predator they never expected.

He exhaled, steam curling from his lips as his aura surged.

He wasn't just stronger than them. He was beyond them.

And in their eyes, it was no longer a battle.

It was a massacre waiting to happen.

Max took a step forward.

"Let's end this, shall we?"

And then—

BOOM.

He vanished, the ground beneath his feet shattering from the explosive force of his takeoff.

In the next instant, he appeared in front of the nearest demon.

The demon barely had time to blink.

BANG!

A single punch—raw, brutal, and unrestrained—obliterated the creature. Blood mist sprayed into the air. Bone fragments scattered like brittle glass. The demon didn't just die—it was annihilated, its body reduced to pulp in a heartbeat.

"RUN!" one of them screamed, sheer panic lacing his voice. "He's a monster!"

Chaos broke out.

The remaining demons scattered like frightened animals, dashing in all directions, abandoning formation, strategy, and pride.

But they weren't fast enough.

Max was faster.

Much faster.

With a thunderous leap, he shot through the air like a cannonball, closing the distance between himself and his next victim in a blur of motion.

Another demon turned just in time to see Max's knee drive directly into his chest.

CRACK!

The demon's torso caved in with a sickening crunch, ribs snapping like twigs, organs pulverized in an instant. He flew backward, slammed into a rock wall—and didn't move again.

Max didn't slow down.

His body zigzagged through the battlefield like a storm let loose, blurring between demons, closing the gap before they could even scream.

BANG!

A backhand crushed a demon's skull sideways.

BOOM!

A downward stomp reduced another into a twitching mass on the ground.

CRACK! BANG! SNAP!

Fists, elbows, knees—every part of Max's body became a weapon. The raw power drawn from his 300 Draconic Essences made his strikes apocalyptic. Bones didn't just break—they disintegrated. Flesh didn't tear—it was vaporized.

His physicality had surpassed what any Adept Rank should've been capable of.

To the demons, he wasn't human.

He was a living, breathing force of destruction.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang!

One by one, they fell.

Some tried to fight back. Others tried to flee.

It didn't matter.

Max caught them all—and none of them survived.

Within moments, the canyon was silent.

Only the howling wind remained, weaving through the rocks like a ghost.

The ground was littered with torn limbs, crushed torsos, and puddles of blood—nothing intact, nothing whole. The air stank of scorched flesh and fear.

Max stood in the center, his chest rising and falling steadily, his fists coated in demon blood, steam rising from his arms.

He hadn't used his sword.

He hadn't used skills.

No technique. No aura-infused arts.

Only his body. Only his strength.

And not a single demon remained alive.

He rolled his shoulder, letting out a breath. His eyes—still calm as ever—scanned the carnage around him.

'That's what 300 Draconic Essences looks like,' he thought, his tone flat and emotionless in his own head.

Max exhaled calmly as his Level 3 Flame Aura erupted around his body, crackling to life with a deep, radiant heat. Flames coiled around him like serpents made of light, dancing across his skin.

SHEESH!

The demon blood and shredded remains clinging to him were instantly vaporized, turned to ash and steam that drifted into the breeze. Not a trace remained.

His body was left clean, glowing faintly with residual heat.

Max rolled his neck and shoulders, loosening the tightness that had built up over the last two days.

"I feel good now," he muttered to himself, flexing his fingers.

Two days of immobility had left him restless. Caged. The sensation of freedom, of movement, made his limbs feel alive again. He could feel every fiber in his muscles thrumming with strength—dangerous, boiling strength.

But then, he sensed something—a shift in the air.

He turned his head slightly.

From behind the ridge, four more demons appeared, stepping into view with slow, measured strides. Unlike the ones before, their bodies were darker—deep crimson, almost black—glowing faintly from within like iron pulled from a forge.

Max's eyes narrowed.

Their auras were different. He didn't need his soul perception to know it—these weren't ordinary Adepts.

Seeker Rank.

Three of them pulsed with the strength of the 4th, 5th, and 6th levels of the Seeker Realm.

But the fourth…

His presence pressed against the atmosphere like a grinding mountain.

Peak Seeker Rank.

One of the demon stepped forward first—broad-shouldered, wielding a massive axe strapped to his back. As he unslung the weapon, he sneered, revealing rows of jagged teeth.

His strength was at the level 4 of Seeker Rank.

"Since when did a human become so rampant?" he growled, voice low and guttural, each word laced with contempt.

Max let out a soft chuckle and tilted his head.

"I don't know about the others," he replied coolly, "but yeah… I'm definitely more rampant than most."

The demon's sneer deepened. "Die!"

He lunged forward in a blur of movement, lifting the axe overhead and bringing it crashing down toward Max like a falling star.

BOOM!

The earth beneath Max's feet cracked and exploded outward in a shockwave as he caught the axe—with one hand.

The force of the blow was monstrous, splitting the ground into fractured veins. Dust and rock flew in every direction.

But Max stood firm.

His arm buzzed with the full might of 300 Draconic Essences, the tendons in his hand glowing faintly with internal force. It looked effortless—as though he were holding a wooden stick, not a demon-forged axe.

The demon's eyes widened, veins bulging from his forehead as he gritted his teeth and tried to press the weapon further. "What?! How—how are you this strong?!"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay