In one of the wide, open halls within the bustling Tower City, a group of young n and won leaned casually against the polished stone walls, their eyes still wide with disbelief and excitent.
They had just heard the news, and none of them could stay still. Faces filled with shock, yet smiles tugged at their lips. Whispers passed back and forth, but it was Jack who finally broke the tension, his voice loud and filled with emotion.
"Damn, I thought I'd never see him again after that," he said, a wild grin spreading across his face. "But he ca back — and not just anywhere. He ca straight to the Lost Continent. That's my rival for sure." He pounded his fist into his palm, his whole body practically vibrating with excitent.
From the side, Anton raised an eyebrow and let out a sneer. "Your rival?" he said with clear sarcasm. "I thought it was Aelric... Don't tell you change your rival every day now?"
Jack's head snapped toward him, his grin gone, replaced by a fierce glare. His eyes burned with pride. "Only the strongest deserve to be my rival," he said, his voice sharp and confident. "Aelric was my rival before. But now? It's Max. That guy crawled back from death and walked into the Lost Continent like it was nothing. That's the kind of strength I want to chase."
His fists clenched as his eyes lit up with a fiery determination, earning a few chuckles and nods from the others around him.
"You don't need to brag about it," Alia said calmly from the side, her voice cool and steady. She stood with her arms crossed, the soft glow of her polished white armor catching the light as she looked at Jack with an expression of quiet confidence. "You won't ever be able to catch up to him anyway." Her words cut cleanly through the noise in the hall, making a few others glance in her direction.
Jack imdiately flared up, snapping back with a glare. "What do you an I can't catch up?! Don't underestimate !" His voice echoed sharply, but before he could go on, another voice joined in — colder, sharper, and far more intimidating.
"She's right."
All heads turned toward the corner of the hall where Revenna stood, leaning against the wall with her arms folded, her long white hair swaying slightly as she looked at them with unreadable eyes. She had been silent all this ti, listening, observing, but now she spoke, and her voice carried weight. "If there's anyone who can reach his level," she said calmly, "then it's probably ."
A hush fell over the group.
"Last ti we fought, I forced him to use everything he had against ," she continued, her tone sharp with pride but not arrogance. "While the rest of you barely pushed him at all."
Everyone went silent at that. Her words weren't ant to mock, but the truth stung. They all rembered their battles against Max — how overwhelming he was, how it felt like no matter what they did, he was always one step ahead. Hearing Revenna say she pushed him to his limits… it wasn't impossible to believe. It was just hard to accept.
But she wasn't done.
"If we fought again now," Revenna added, her voice steady and clear, "I believe I would win."
That declaration hit like thunder. A few people even took a breath in shock, eyes widening. It wasn't that they didn't admire Revenna — they knew her strength. But to claim she could defeat Max, the one whose power constantly defied logic, whose combat ability was leagues beyond his current level — that was sothing none of them had dared to say.
It was too wild. Too baffling to even imagine.
Max didn't fight like others his age. He fought like a monster. Like soone who should belong to an entirely different generation of powerhouses. And yet, Revenna had said it without blinking. Without hesitation.
The room stayed quiet, the weight of her words lingering in the air like lightning just before a storm.
Alia glanced at Revenna and let out a soft chuckle, her lips curling into a playful smile. "Well, I'm confident in myself too," she said casually, her white armor gleaming faintly under the soft lights of the hall. "But until I fight Max with my own hands, I wouldn't be so sure. So what makes you think you can beat him?" she asked, her tone light but edged with curiosity.
Revenna didn't respond right away — instead, a rare smile tugged at the corner of her lips, calm and certain. "If we ever fight, you'll know," she said simply, her eyes gleaming with quiet confidence.
There was no arrogance in her voice, just firm belief in her own strength — a belief none dared to laugh at. But before anyone could say more, a voice echoed through the hall, cutting cleanly through the tension.
"I'm not fighting any of you," Max said, his tone calm yet sharp enough to silence the room. Heads turned in unison, and the entire group stared in disbelief as Max stepped into the hall, flanked by Alice and Aelric.
For a mont, no one spoke. Then, as the shock settled in, the collective tension broke — replaced by relief. Max was alive. Truly alive.
Many had feared the worst. After all, they'd all seen what happened — how Mark, with a simple snap of his fingers, had made Palace Master Hugh vanish into nothingness. The sa thing had happened with Max. He had disappeared just like that, without a trace.
Mark had claid Max had lost control — that he had given in to the evil sword and had to be trapped in the Pit of Mourning Depths. But most of them hadn't believed a word of it. To them, it had sounded like a carefully built excuse. A lie to cover the truth: that Mark had killed Max.
Yet, there were so — a smaller half of the group — who had believed. Who had held onto hope that Max would crawl out of that pit soday. That he'd return. And now, that hope had beco reality.
Max was here. Alive.
Standing before them. And stronger than ever.
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