After hearing Lyra speak so grandly about the Hundred Battle Regions, painting them as a chaotic land filled with hidden fortunes and deadly opportunities, and especially after the warnings she carefully laced between her explanations, Max finally let out a long breath and sighed.
He knew she wasn’t exaggerating. A place where countless geniuses gathered, fought, and fell... it was bound to be dangerous beyond reason. But Max had always sought places like that—places where strength was the only currency, and progress could be made through sheer will and power.
Still, he had his concerns. His gaze slowly drifted toward the five geniuses seated at the opposite side of the room—each of them radiating pride, confidence, and the kind of arrogance only the powerful could afford.
"Alright," Max finally said, his voice calm but firm. "I’ll team up. But would they?" he added, glancing directly at the group with a faint, almost indifferent smile.
Lyra caught the aning in his eyes and smiled faintly in return, her arms crossing behind her back in a relaxed posture. "You don’t have to worry about them," she said confidently.
Just as she opened her mouth to elaborate, one of the five geniuses, a young man with short silver hair and a sharp jawline, leaned forward from his seat. He wore a dark blue robe lined with lightning-shaped embroidery, and a thin, amused smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"What tasks does Leader Lyra have for us this ti?" he asked, a faint mocking tone beneath the surface of his question. He was Arlen, known for being quick-witted and unpredictable, but also fiercely loyal to Lyra’s faction.
Max caught a flicker of amusent in his eyes—he was intrigued, perhaps even excited, and certainly not hostile.
Lyra turned her smile to Arlen now, acknowledging his willingness to cooperate with a satisfied nod. She had known Arlen would be the first to speak. He was always the one to break the silence and test the waters when things got tense.
"There are basically two tasks I want you five—including Max—to complete during your ti in the Hundred Battle Regions," she began, her tone now more formal and composed.
At her words, even Max leaned forward slightly, his curiosity piqued. He hadn’t expected her to assign missions so soon, but it made sense. If they were to work together, they needed a shared goal.
"What?" he asked, his voice firm but attentive, his eyes now locked on Lyra. He could feel the atmosphere in the room shift slightly—the five geniuses, who had previously been skeptical and dismissive, were now paying full attention.
Lyra’s expression shifted the mont she began speaking. The warmth in her voice vanished, replaced by a deep, solemn gravity that imdiately silenced the room.
"There’s only one thing I want from you six," Lyra began, her voice calm but carrying weight. "And that is to increase your strength—no matter what. I don’t want you to aim for small victories. I want you to rise above the crowd of so-called geniuses that flood the Middle Domain every day. And to do that, I’m going to show you the way."
She paused for a second, scanning their faces one by one. Then her next words ca slowly and clearly: "Have you all heard of the Hunter Association?"
Max nodded quietly, recalling the ntion of the na in the old, weathered diary the Old Saintess had once entrusted to him. It had spoken briefly of an organization tied to the eradication of dark forces that road the world, one that operated outside the political powers and sectarian interests. It was a group shrouded in mystery but united in purpose.
The other five geniuses nodded as well. Unlike Max, their faces darkened and then shifted subtly—one clenched his fist, another’s lips curved in a grim smirk, and the last two showed a hint of battle thirst. Clearly, the Hunter Association wasn’t just a na to them—it was sothing personal.
Seeing this, Lyra gave a slight nod of approval. "Then you should also know this," she continued, her tone firm. "Our world has one enemy that no empire, no guild, no overlord force has been able to fully eradicate. An enemy so dangerous, even the strongest forces of the Middle Domain can’t fully eliminate them." Her violet eyes narrowed. "I’m talking about the Nulls."
Max’s eyes narrowed slightly at the ntion of the word Nulls. A strange silence buzzed in his mind, and his thoughts drifted involuntarily.
’Speaking of Nulls... what is Mark doing right now?’ he wondered. ’He should be chasing after the second part of his soul in the Tower of Truth... but ever since that strange manipulation, guiding like a puppet to carry out his sches, he’s been quiet. Too quiet.’
Max frowned, a faint ripple of unease curling in his chest. Mark wasn’t the type to vanish without a purpose. If anything, his silence ant he was busy pulling threads elsewhere—shaping pieces on the board that Max hadn’t even seen yet.
Just then, Lyra’s voice drew him back to the present. Her words sliced through the air like sharpened blades, cutting away the haze of his thoughts.
"Nulls are dregs," she said flatly, her voice laced with disdain. "Never-ending demonic beasts—you can call them that. You kill one. It returns. You burn them, shred them, erase them from existence itself... and yet, sohow, they co back. From where? No one knows. Maybe from the void beyond our stars. Maybe from the gaps between dinsions. Maybe from inside the souls of humans. But they always co."
She paced slowly now, her cloak brushing the polished floor of the luxurious ninth-floor hall. "And that’s why the Hunter Association was ford—countless years ago, by powers who saw what others didn’t. It is the only group in this world whose entire reason for existence is to combat the Nulls. It doesn’t care about forces or status, lineage or wealth. If you can kill Nulls—you’re in."
Max saw the five Champion Rank geniuses straighten in their seats, their previous arrogance replaced with seriousness. So of them had clearly dealt with Nulls before.
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