Chapter 980: A small wait

Max took a deep breath as his eyes swept across the vast chamber. The underground space stretched endlessly in every direction, torches burning with pale blue flames that threw twisted shadows across the walls.

He counted door after door, each sealed tight, each radiating a sinister aura that made his skin prickle.

"This should be their secret base or something..." Max muttered under his breath, his voice low and sharp. His gaze hardened as he pieced together the puzzle. "But why here? Why beneath the hidden city of Void Soul Tower of all places?"

The thought gnawed at him, more unsettling with each passing moment. Was the Void Soul Tower colluding with demons? Were the so-called geniuses and elders just pawns hiding a greater betrayal? And if the Thunder Monarch Hall also had ties to this... then the Middle Domain’s balance of power was rotting from within.

His fists clenched at his side as question after question rang through his head, every one heavier than the last. But the answer—he knew—was buried somewhere inside this underground chamber.

Just then, Blob’s voice resounded in his mind, weighty and grim.

"Max, I must warn you. If you push any further, you will be risking your life."

The words echoed like a hammer striking the still air.

"I don’t doubt your invisibility skill, but I also won’t underestimate these demons. They are not like humans. They are not like Nulls either. They are beings from outside this world—alien, unnatural. Their methods are strange, unpredictable. Detecting someone spying on them won’t be difficult for them at all."

Max froze mid-step, his expression sharpening. Blob was right—he wasn’t dealing with some other force members or corrupt elders anymore. These were the remnants of a race that had once challenged the entirety of mankind.

But even so, he could not turn back now.

He exhaled slowly, his mind steadying itself like a blade pressed against a whetstone.

’I’ve come too far to stop here. I can’t retreat now, not when the answers are within reach.’

Besides, it wasn’t like he was without support. He had Elder Liam monitoring his every move from afar, waiting for just one call to strike. If things spiraled out of control, Liam would descend with his terrifying strength.

And that wasn’t his only card—Max still carried the magic cube President William had entrusted to him, a lifeline that could summon the might of the Hunter Association’s leader at any moment.

And more than that...

Max’s senses brushed against the edges of the hidden city, and a faint smile touched his lips.

’Black Lotus Guild...’ He could already feel their presence, sharp and dangerous, pressing in from every angle like blades drawn from their sheaths. This wasn’t some ragtag squad either—the auras he sensed belonged to Divine Rank experts, figures whose mere existence could suppress cities.

The Black Lotus Guild wasn’t here by coincidence. They had already surrounded the hidden city, sealing every exit like a predator circling its prey.

With Elder Liam’s watchful eyes, President William’s cube, and the Black Lotus Guild’s presence lurking like wolves in the shadows—Max finally allowed himself a measure of courage. His heart steadied, his gaze sharpened, and his lips curved into the faintest smile.

’Fine. Demons or not, secrets or not—I’ll uncover what lies here.’ Max made up his mind.

His eyes never left the three figures before him—no, not demons as he had once thought, but twisted humanoid beasts wearing human skin as a disguise.

The illusion had melted away once their masks came off, their true forms grotesque yet disturbingly regal in their own manner. Burly bodies, fur and feathers, horns and claws—all merged into shapes that looked as if the wild itself had been warped into humanoid form.

They spoke among themselves in guttural tones, voices rasping with an edge that made Max’s bones itch. But his Three Dimensional Body, sharper than any ear, caught their words without fail.

He hadn’t missed a single syllable—even while speaking with Blob within the confines of his mind. Each sentence layered upon the last, painting the outline of something bigger, something darker than even Blob had warned of.

And yet, for now, they were idle. Their tone casual, their movements restrained, almost... bored. They were waiting.

Max understood quickly—this wasn’t just a gathering of three. They were a squad, one of many.

So Max waited too. He had no choice. He couldn’t force his way through the heavy iron doors lining the chamber without exposing himself. Even his invisibility would shatter the moment he made the smallest mistake.

If he tried to open one of those doors, every creature in this place would turn on him. His survival would become a gamble he wasn’t ready to take.

So he endured.

The torches along the walls burned with a dim, eerie glow, their bluish flames throwing monstrous silhouettes across the stone floor. The silence of the chamber stretched on, broken only by the occasional shuffle of the beasts before him.

Minutes blurred into an hour.

Then—movement.

The sound of boots striking stone echoed from the passage ahead. Max tensed instantly, sinking deeper into the shadows as his eyes snapped toward the sound.

Another trio entered. Their masks glinted briefly in the blue firelight before being cast aside. And just like the first group, their bodies warped the moment the masks came free.

Their human shells peeled back, their monstrous forms revealed in full: a wolf-headed brute with eyes like molten silver, a snake-haired creature with skin patterned like scales, and another whose entire body radiated a faint crimson glow, veins pulsing as though molten magma flowed beneath its flesh.

Max’s gaze darkened. ’They aren’t human at all... they’re a beast army hiding in plain sight.’

But the arrivals didn’t stop there. Three more groups came, one after another. The hall grew crowded with their presence, the air thick with their guttural chatter. Max counted them carefully—four squads now, twelve in total.

Each trio removed their mask, each one unveiling a body that resembled something between dungeon beast and man. Horns. Wings. Beaks. Scales. Fur. Every form of monster one could imagine from the wilds and beyond, given the shape of a warrior.