Chapter 463: Max Enter the Battle
A total of around forty or so Expert Rank warriors from the Monarchâs army surged forward toward Maxâs position, their murderous auras pressing heavily against the air, causing visible distortions.
Yet despite the numbers, Max quickly noticed something importantâtheir strength, while formidable, wasnât the peak. Among them, a handful were at the 7th, 8th, and 9th levels of the Expert Rank, while the rest hovered at the lower end, sitting at the early stages like Level 1 and Level 2.
These werenât the true monsters of the Monarchâs forcesâthey were the vanguard, meant to overwhelm through numbers rather than absolute dominance.
The moment the attackers crossed the critical distance, Klaus moved with frightening precision. His dark armor gleamed under the flashing lights of battle, and with a sudden surge, black flames erupted from his body like a living inferno.
The fire wasnât wild or chaoticâinstead, it flowed around him like a controlled storm, tightly woven into his movements. He immediately picked out the highest threatsâthe Level 8 and Level 9 Expertsâand charged straight into them.
His black flames curled around his sword, coating it in a darkness that devoured even the light around it. With every swing, arcs of black fire swept out like grim scythes, slicing through techniques and barriers alike.
One enemy Expert Rank tried to block him with a heavy earth shield, but Klaus simply smiled coldly and thrust forwardâhis black flames seeping into the cracks of the shield before igniting it from within, causing it to shatter into dust.
Another enemy roared and charged with a lightning-infused spear, but Klaus twisted, black fire coiling along his blade, and severed the spear cleanly in half, the flames consuming the manâs weapon and arm in a heartbeat.
His control over the black flames was monstrousâevery flicker was purposeful, every eruption calculated to kill or cripple. Within moments, two of the Level 8 enemies lay burning on the battlefield, their bodies charred and crumbling to ash.
âHe is too strong. Letâs fight together.â The 9th level Expert Rank warrior shouted to others as they surrounded Klaus in the air.
Meanwhile, the silver-haired elven woman moved with graceful lethality, her body surrounded by shimmering silver magic that glittered with a cold, sharp beauty.
She faced the Level 5, 6, and 7 Experts of the Monarchâs army without hesitation. With a sweep of her hand, she conjured silver constructsâswords, shields, and spearsâappearing out of thin air like manifestations of her will.
A silver sword flashed out, stabbing through a fire userâs chest before another spear materialized midair and skewered a charging water elementalist without mercy.
Her magic wasnât just elegantâit was ruthlessly efficient, the silver constructs hard as divine steel, moving in flawless synchronization with her thoughts.
Around them, the other elven warriors fought valiantly. Each one specialized in a different element, creating a dazzling, deadly spectacle of elemental warfare.
Some elves hurled devastating gusts of razor-sharp wind that cut down their foes like invisible blades. Others conjured torrents of water shaped into serpents, dragging enemies down and drowning them midair.
Some fought with their weapons like swords, spears and so on.
Earth element specialists raised towering walls and spikes to block and impale charging warriors, while fire element users created blazing storms that turned enemy formations into chaos.
It was a perfect, shifting orchestra of elemental power, each elf finding their rhythm in the dance of death.
Despite being outnumbered, the defense around Max held strong, like an unbreakable fortress. The Monarchâs warriors had charged in with full confidence, believing they could crush a small group easilyâbut now they found themselves fighting a losing battle against black flames that devoured everything, silver constructs that struck like lightning, and an elven force whose mastery of the elements turned the very battlefield against them.
âItâs my turn,â Max thought, his eyes narrowing with a deadly glint as they locked onto one of the Monarchâs warriorsâa Level 1 Expert Rank cultivator who was busy supporting the others from a safe distance.
His aura wasnât strong compared to the others, but Max knew that in a chaotic battlefield, even one hidden enemy could tilt the balance.
Without hesitation, Max moved. His figure blurred, vanishing from the circle of protection the elven warriors had formed around him, moving so fast that even the silver-haired elf and Klaus couldnât stop him in time.
He reappeared right in front of the Level 1 Expert Rank warrior, so suddenly that the manâs eyes widened in pure shock. Before the warrior could react, Max unleashed the full, unrestrained power of the 300 Draconic Essences he had accumulated inside his body.
The ancient, savage force coursed through his muscles like a roaring flood, amplifying his physical strength to terrifying heights. Maxâs fist clenched tightly, his veins bulging with golden energy, and with a thunderous roar, he slammed his fist straight into the warriorâs chest.
Bang!
The impact was earth-shattering. The Level 1 Expert Rank cultivatorâs body bent awkwardly from the force before he was hurled downward like a broken comet.
His body hit the ground with such catastrophic momentum that a deep, jagged crater instantly formed, chunks of earth and stone exploding upward in a storm of dust and debris.
But Max wasnât finished.
As the dust rose in thick clouds from the shattered ground, Max lifted his hand without hesitation, summoning his next attack.
âMagic Swords Excalibur!â he roared, his voice crackling with fierce energy.
Above him, the sky split apart as an enormous golden sword materialized, four times the size of Max himself, gleaming with holy brilliance. The sword tore through the clouds like a falling star, its sharp edge humming with boundless destructive power.
Without giving the battered warrior a single chance to recover, the giant sword plummeted straight down, piercing the center of the crater with a deafening crash.
Boom!
The earth trembled violently, and a new craterâfar larger and deeper than the firstâblossomed outward from the point of impact. Dust and shattered stone erupted in a massive shockwave that forced nearby soldiers, both ally and enemy, to shield their faces and stagger back.
When the dust finally cleared, the spot where the Level 1 Expert Rank warrior had fallen was completely obliterated. There was nothing leftâno body, no weapon, no armor. Only a gaping, smoldering crater remained, a brutal result to Maxâs raw, overwhelming strength.
And soon, the towering golden sword of pure magic that had split the earth faded away, dissolving into shimmering motes of light that scattered into the wind, leaving behind only the massive crater and the utter devastation it had wrought.
The battlefield where Klaus, the silver-haired elven woman, and the other elves had been locked in fierce battle fell into an eerie, absolute silence. For a moment, it was as if time itself had frozen.
Every pair of eyesâally and enemy alikeâturned toward Max, who stood calmly atop the shattered ground, his figure bathed in the lingering golden glow of his own unleashed power.
Even the Expert Rank warriors who had been viciously clashing with Klaus and the elves stopped mid-battle, their weapons hesitating in the air, their faces twisted in disbelief.
âHe⊠he killed an Expert Rank warrior⊠so easily?â Klaus muttered under his breath, his voice cracking slightly as he stared at Max with wide, stunned eyes. His mind, trained and sharpened through countless battles, struggled to process what he had just witnessed. It wasnât just that Max had wonâit was how effortlessly he had done it.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!