The young woman smiled as she glanced at Max's frustrated expression and Allen's scowling face. "I understand now. You haven't told anyone about Max's real identity, have you?" She asked, her gaze shifting to Allen.

Allen glared at her but refused to speak.

Anton, however, was far less restrained. He shot a glare at Allen and pointed his blade at him. "What is she talking about? Answer me!" he shouted.

Allen remained silent, not even bothering to look at him.

Max, meanwhile, wore an increasingly grim expression after hearing the young woman's words. 'Does she know that I'm a Voidwalker?' he thought, his mind racing.

'But how?' he wondered, recalling her sister's words about making many enemies while searching for their parents.

His face turned pale as realization dawned. 'Could the enemies she's talking about be Monarch?' His eyes widened.

Everything began to click as he thought more about it. Why the Blades were after him, why Monarch was after him—it all made sense now.

Max took a deep breath, forcefully calming the inner turmoil and turned to Anton, who was still raging at Allen, but no matter how much he shouted, Allen remained silent.

"Hahaha, I see where this is going," Anton laughed maniacally. His eyes darted between Max, Allen, and the young woman as he raised his right hand.

Flames began to swirl and blaze in his palm, their intensity growing with each passing second.

"What are you doing?" Nash shouted, realizing Anton's intent.

Anton's laugh grew louder. "These bastards aren't taking me seriously, so I'll make them take me seriously." His voice was dripping with madness as he focused all his energy on the flames in his hand, slowly shaping them into a lotus.

A moment later, a perfect lotus made entirely of flames floated above his hand, radiating a fiery aura. It looked beautiful, but the expressions of everyone in the cavern told a different story.

They were all filled with terror, as if they weren't looking at a work of art, but rather a weapon of mass destruction.

'That's the World Destruction Flame Lotus!' Max thought silently. After defeating Killian, he had been given the Phoenix Order's technique, as promised.

The technique, Carefree Phoenix Tactics, consisted of three moves:

The first move allowed the user to conjure any type of weapon made entirely of flames, called the Flame Arsenal.

The second move, Phoenix's Wings, allowed the user to form wings made of flames, which could be used for more than just flying—they had many applications, depending on the user.

The third and final move was the World Destruction Flame Lotus. There was little known about the move, except for the method of training it.

To this day, Max had failed countless times to form the otherworldly lotus, but now, seeing it in front of him, he understood why.

'Previously, I thought it was because my Flame Aura wasn't strong enough to form the lotus, but now I see where I was lacking.' His eyes flashed, and a strong desire to try the technique surged within him, but he forced himself to calm down. 'I'll try this another time,' he thought, noticing the tense atmosphere in the room.

Everyone—Allen, Nash, the general, even the young boy and the young woman with green hair—became alert to the lotus in Anton's hand.

"What happened? Why the long faces?" Anton mocked, his eyes flicking between them. He turned to the young woman. "I'll ask you one last time. What is this all about? How is Max involved? Why my sister? Tell me everything, or I'll let this lotus fully bloom."

He sneered. "Do you know what this place is? I wonder what would happen if a bomb exploded underground. I'm very eager to find out."

The young woman sighed and looked at him. "Are all the people from the Phoenix Order so hot-headed? Can't you think calmly?" She shook her head as she spoke. "Max Morgan is Max Voidwalker, the brother of Freya Voidwalker. Do you need me to remind you what Freya did to the Phoenix Order?"

Anton's expression darkened at her words, and not just him—Nash and the general were equally shocked, their faces filled with disbelief.

Only Max and Allen remained calm.

Anton turned to Max and saw no reaction from him. Max stayed silent.

Max glanced back at him and facepalmed. "Are you going to believe her again?"

He turned to everyone—Nash, the general—and shouted, "Have you all gone insane listening to her? She's just trying to stir up conflict among us. What if her goal is to stall you here?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," the young woman sneered. "The duo responsible for capturing Alice left long before we came here."

She turned to Max. "The guy who attacked you just now must have recognized your identity and sent you here so I could capture you. Oh, he was one of the duo meant to capture Alice, and I believe they've already captured her by now."

Max's eyes widened as realization hit him. He had thought it was just a coincidence that he ended up here after being attacked, but now he understood. He had been sent here intentionally so the young woman and her accomplice could do their job.

"You still haven't explained how Allen and the Blades fit into all of this," Anton asked, his voice deathly calm.

The young woman glanced at Allen, then back at Anton. "We weren't sure if Freya Voidwalker actually had a brother. It was a tip from a mysterious source that led us to believe someone named Max, Freya Voidwalker's brother, exists in the world."

She turned to Allen. "But we needed confirmation. If he exists, we either needed him dead or alive, captured. That's why we made a deal with the Blades. If Max exists, they would kill him or bring him to us alive, in exchange for something they wanted." Your journey continues at empire

"I see…" Anton said think for a moment, then dismissed his attack, watching as the lotus disintegrated.

Flaming wings sprouted from his back as he took off, flying toward the tunnel Max had come from.

As soon as Anton left, vines sprouted from the ground and coiled around Max's body, capturing him.

"Haha, got you," the young woman laughed, turning to the general and the others. "I guess our battle is over," she chuckled, feeling satisfaction in having captured Max.

"Is this funny to you?" Max asked, his eyes filled with rage. Killing intent radiated from him as his entire body unconsciously activated the power of all 15 Draconic Scales, turning his skin a deep red.

The vines constricted around him, but they were instantly crushed into pieces by the raw strength of the Draconic Scales.

Just at that moment, Max's figure blurred as he appeared in front of the young woman, surprising everyone. Not many could follow his movements, and those who did were left in disbelief.

"You talk too much," Max said coldly, slamming his fist toward her.

The young woman reacted swiftly, summoning tens of thick vines from the ground to appear between her and Max.

But Max's fist obliterated the vines as if they were mere sheets of paper, tearing them to shreds. However, by the time he reached her, the young woman had already retreated, dodging his strike.

"You're lucky I'm in a hurry," Max said coldly, before taking off in the air and disappearing into the tunnel.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay