From Max’s left, Scott lunged, his spear wreathed in a swirling, inky aura that seed to corrode the very air around it, aid straight for Max’s ribs. Simultaneously, from his right, Josh exploded forward, his sword ablaze with roaring purple lightning, arcs snapping like angry serpents as he slashed toward Max’s shoulder.
Yet even as these two deadly attacks converged, Max’s face remained a cold mask, his pupils glinting with deadly focus as his Three Dinsional Body registered every motion in perfect clarity. His muscles coiled, ready to teleport away while executing the lethal twist to Julio’s neck.
It was a move he’d calculated in a fraction of a second—a single movent to escape, kill, and reappear elsewhere before his enemies’ blades could find his flesh.
But just as he shifted his weight, a ripple of raw danger exploded in the space around him, an oppressive force that prickled the hairs along his skin and made every nerve scream. His Three Dinsional Body flared in alarm as a new presence surged forward, impossibly fast—a blur of jade and pale blue that seed to exist half in reality, half in mist.
And then—BAM!
A fist forged entirely of shimring blue mana slamd into Max’s chest with thunderous force. The impact was so trendous that the air detonated outward like a shockwave, shaking plates off tables and rattling every window in the restaurant.
Julio flew from Max’s loosened grasp, dropping to the floor gasping, while Max himself was hurled backwards like a cannonball, crashing violently into the restaurant’s intricately carved wooden wall. The entire structure shuddered as splinters flew and a crater-like dent ford where his body struck.
A stunned hush fell over the room as all eyes snapped toward the source of the blow. There, standing where she’d appeared in a re flicker of movent, was June Andrews. Her green robes rippled gently around her slender fra, her expression as tranquil as a placid lake, but her aura was an endless ocean of power, radiating out in silent waves that seed to weigh on everyone’s shoulders.
Nobody—including Scott, Josh, or even Omar—had anticipated that she would intervene. Her level of power, towering at the 5th level of Legend Rank, was an entire realm above anything else in the room. Her presence alone silenced the chaos like a mighty hand pressing down from the heavens.
Max’s chest heaved where he lay half-embedded in the wall, his eyes narrowed and glimring with defiance even as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. And throughout the room, warriors and geniuses alike stared at June with widened eyes, their faces a mixture of awe, fear, and raw disbelief that the celestial genius of Void Soul Tower had finally chosen to act—and against Max, no less.
Josh and Scott both let out deep breaths they hadn’t even realized they were holding, the tension in their shoulders easing as they glanced at each other with silent acknowledgnt that—for a mont there—they’d thought they were too late to stop Julio’s death. Josh imdiately strode to Julio, who was still kneeling on the floor, his chest heaving, his face pale with lingering shock and pain. "Julio, are you fine?" Josh asked, his voice gruff but edged with genuine concern as he helped the younger man to his feet.
Julio coughed harshly, blood flecking his lips, but he forced himself upright, leaning slightly on Josh’s arm. "I... I’m fine, Senior Brother Josh," he rasped, though the tremor in his limbs belied his words. His eyes were wide and unfocused for a second, the mory of being helpless in Max’s grasp clearly haunting him as he swallowed hard and suppressed a shudder.
Josh gave him a firm nod, then turned to face June Andrews, his expression shifting from worry to solemn respect. "Thunder Monarch Hall is thankful for the help of Miss June," he declared, bowing slightly.
Julio, feeling the eyes of the entire room on him, stiffened his back and bent forward in a lower bow, his voice shaky but earnest. "This junior also thanks Miss June for saving my life..." His eyes darted toward the cratered wall where Max had been blasted, and he flinched visibly, as though even the mory of Max’s grip around his throat still squeezed the air from his lungs.
June waved a slender hand dismissively, her expression calm and detached, like ripples smoothing over a pond. "There’s no need for gratitude. Since it was I who called this eting, I intend to ensure that no one dies here before we set out for Lord Ko’s secret cave." Her tone was soft, but the quiet authority behind her words left no room for dispute.
Josh, Julio, and even Scott inclined their heads, murmuring respectful acknowledgnts, though Scott’s sharp eyes remained calculating as he glanced toward the ruined section of the restaurant. anwhile, Derek, slouched in his seat with a languid grin, barely bothered to hide his smirk. Inside, he sneered, thinking how deliciously entertaining it would have been if Max had actually killed Julio. ’Such a pity... The drama would’ve been magnificent...’ he thought, barely containing a chuckle.
But suddenly, a shift rippled through the room as every gaze instinctively turned toward the swirling dust and shattered timber at the far end of the restaurant. Footsteps echoed from the rubble—slow, deliberate, almost taunting. And then, erging from the drifting haze, ca a tall, lean figure.
Max.
As he stepped closer, eyes narrowed and fixed on the gathering, people gasped and stiffened. His entire body was now clad in a sleek layer of black scales that shimred under the light with streaks of molten gold dancing across them like veins of precious tal. The scales glowed faintly, emanating an aura that pulsed with raw, barely contained power. His hair whipped slightly around his face, charged with the faint static of crackling energy.
A small rivulet of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but his lips twisted into a fierce grin. His eyes glead like twin suns in the shadows of the room, locked on the group that had tried to take him down especially towards the graceful woman June Andrews.
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