"Huh? Aelric… it's really you?" Max blinked, surprised as he laid eyes on the familiar face of the Crown Prince of the Western Domain. While he'd half-expected to run into soone he knew, actually seeing Aelric here made him pause.
Aelric's reaction was even more stunned. He took a step closer, eyes widening as if trying to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. "Max? Is that really you?"
There was disbelief in his voice—understandable. The last ti he saw Max, it had been under circumstances no one could forget. He rembered it clearly: Mark had snapped his fingers, and Max vanished. Just like that. Gone in an instant, swallowed by so unknown power.
Later, Mark revealed that he had sent Max to the pit deep within the Mourning Depths—a place of chaos and tornt—because Max had lost control. Consud by the sword. Driven mad by it.
Then the days passed.
Weeks.
Months.
Four months, to be exact.
No word. No trace. Nothing.
So believed Max had been killed by Mark that day. Others chose to believe Mark's version, hoping against hope that Max would return, crawling out of that cursed place in one piece.
And now… here he was. Standing right in front of him.
Max grinned, lifting his arms in a dramatic shrug. "Of course it's . The one and only—Max," he said, flashing a cocky smile.
Aelric stood still for a mont, just taking it all in. Then he let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. "Man… I honestly thought we lost you after… well, after everything."
Max's grin didn't fade. "Yeah, I thought so too," he said, then waved the thought away with a flick of his hand. "But hey, who cares about that now?"
Aelric chuckled again, the relief in his eyes obvious. Max was alive. He looked good. Whole. That was all that mattered.
Then, Aelric's gaze shifted slightly—to the tall figure standing beside Max.
A female elf. Golden-haired. Regal posture. Eyes like the forest after rainfall. She didn't need to speak to command attention; her very presence radiated power and elegance.
Aelric blinked once, taken aback.
An elf? With Max?
Not just any elf either—she was… beautiful. Strikingly so.
He was tempted to ask but thought better of it. Whatever was going on between them, it wasn't his place to pry. He simply raised an eyebrow, gave Max a small smirk, then shrugged it off.
So questions didn't need answers.
"By the way…" Aelric said with a grin, eyeing Max up and down. "Looks like you just arrived, huh?"
Max nodded slightly.
"Well then, go get your Essence Stone from the human registration branch over there," Aelric continued, pointing toward a grand building near the tower's base, marked with the crest of humanity. "Once you have it, we can enter the Tower together. I bet everyone inside is going to be shocked to see you."
Max's smile faded. His expression turned a little stiff, his gaze shifting downward.
"Yeah… about that," he muttered.
Aelric blinked. "What's wrong?"
Max let out a slow breath, his voice dropping lower. "I might… be wanted by the humans of this continent."
Aelric's cheerful deanor vanished instantly. His brows furrowed. "Wanted?" he repeated, confused. Then a thought clicked in his mind. "Is this because of what happened with Envoy Lucas?"
Max hesitated, then gave a small, reluctant nod. He looked off to the side, clearly uncomfortable. "Sort of…"
Aelric narrowed his eyes, trying to piece together the events. He rembered the tension between Max and Lucas back in the Mourning Depths, but he had no idea it had escalated to sothing this serious. If Max was truly marked by the human faction here… that could complicate everything.
Max gave a slow nod, a sheepish look creeping onto his face. There was a flicker of guilt in his eyes, but he quickly masked it with a casual shrug.
He didn't explain further.
Didn't ntion what really happened between him and Lucas.
Didn't tell Aelric how far things had gone… what he had done when the sword had taken over.
So truths were better left unsaid.
'Small details don't matter,' he told himself, brushing the thought aside with practiced ease.
It wasn't a lie exactly. Just… an omission.
And if leaving out the part where he nearly killed the envoy while consud by madness kept things simpler, then so be it.
Aelric didn't press. For now.
"I didn't think it'd follow here," Max said quietly, forcing a half-hearted smile. "But I guess trouble travels fast."
Aelric crossed his arms, exhaling slowly. "Well… damn."
He looked over toward the registration building, his mind already running through possibilities.
This wasn't going to be as simple as walking in and saying hello anymore.
"Can people go register wearing a mask or sothing?" Max asked, tilting his head slightly as he glanced at Aelric.
Aelric thought about it for a mont before replying, "They can show up however they want—masks, cloaks, whatever. But when the ti cos, you'll have to show your face. It's mandatory."
Max's lips curled into a faint smile. "Good enough," he said. "Wait for here."
And just like that, he vanished.
With a flicker of movent, Max reappeared in the shadow of a narrow alley nearby. He glanced around, his eyes glowing faintly gold as he activated his Yellow Soul and scanned the surroundings with his Three-Dinsional Body. No one was watching.
Perfect.
From his spatial space, he pulled out a familiar object—a featureless, smooth mask, the very one he had worn at the Sun Palace during King Magnar's grand birthday celebration.
Back then, the mask had served several purposes: secrecy, anonymity, and more importantly, layered protection. It didn't just hide his appearance physically; it cloaked his very essence. The mask applied two layers of disguise—one external, one internal—shielding both his face and his soul signature.
He slipped it on.
Then, after throwing on a black robe that covered him from neck to boots, Max made his way back to the others.
When he erged in front of Aelric and Princess Lenavira, both of them stared at him for a mont—visibly taken aback.
Max spread his arms slightly. "So? What do you think?"
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