Two hours later, Max stood in front of the monolith with the blob of slime. A black door was visible on the surface of the monolith.
"Go on," the blob said, glancing at Max. "This door will lead you to the fourth floor."
Max glanced at the door before heading toward it. "The inheritance better be worth all of this," he said, looking back at the blob before disappearing into the monolith.
"The inheritance?" The blob shook its head upon hearing Max. "Even I don’t have access to the fifth floor, so I don’t know whether the so-called inheritance in that place is worth it for anyone."
It mused for a moment. "But I guess we will find out this time." With that, it disappeared from the fourth floor.
---
After passing through the narrow path in the monolith, Max found himself in a hall. There were eleven others already present.
A smile appeared on his face as Max sensed the strength of each of the individuals before him.
"Look, someone from level 7 of the Apprentice Rank has arrived!"
"Huh? Isn’t he the one who reached the top of the monolith?"
"It’s Max Morgan from the Phoenix Order guild!"
"What is Max doing here?"
Those from the East Region recognized Max at a glance, while several others recognized him as the figure who had ascended to the top of the monolith not long ago.
"Max! You dare to come here?!" Veylin’s shout reached Max’s ears at this moment.
Max turned toward him, a smile on his face. "If you can be here, so can I," he said, smiling.
A cruel smile appeared on Veylin’s face. "Last time you escaped, but this time you won’t be so lucky," he said, grinning.
"Lucky?" Max sneered. "I wonder who it was that got blasted into a building after my attack and didn’t come out for five minutes or more."
"We’ll see the result this time," Veylin said, his tone mocking.
Max smiled at him and said no more.
At this moment, everyone’s attention was on him, especially those from the other three regions. They were looking at Max as if he were some kind of prey.
"Where did this little shrimp come from?" The young man with black, spike-like hair arrived close to Max and observed him from top to bottom.
"Hmm, I don’t see any special qualities that would explain why you reached the peak of the monolith," the spiky-haired young man said after inspecting Max. "Say, how did you do it? How did you reach the peak of the monolith?"
Max glanced at him, his face curious. "You are?" he asked.
"Cough," just then, a young man with golden hair appeared before Max.
Max glanced at him, narrowing his eyes. "You must be the Crown Prince of the West, right? You look similar to your sister," he said, noticing the similar features between Princess Aveline and the young man with golden hair before him.
"Indeed, I am Aelric Dragomir of the West. You can call me Crown Prince Aelric or simply Aelric," the young man with golden hair introduced himself.
Max nodded, smiling. "The pleasure is all mine, Your Highness Crown Prince Aelric."
"You haven’t said how you managed to reach the peak of the monolith," the spiky-haired young man said, glaring.
"Cough!" Crown Prince Aelric coughed lightly. "Excuse my friend’s behavior. He’s like that with everyone," he said, a bit embarrassed.
Max glanced at him, sensing he was different from Princess Aveline. "Your Highness, you seem very casual, unlike Princess Aveline," he said.
Crown Prince Aelric sighed lightly. "Well, my sister has adopted my Royal Father as her mental model, so her every action exudes that prideful aura. But sadly, I don’t have any interest in those things."
’Not interested, and yet you’re the Crown Prince?’ Max thought to himself.
"Are you going to answer or not?" The spiky-haired young man became impatient when Max hadn’t given him an answer yet.
Crown Prince Aelric glanced at him and then turned to Max. "This is Jack, also known as the Mad Sword of the West."
Max was a bit surprised upon hearing the term "Mad Sword." He had heard of someone like that in the West—someone who feared little to no one.
Turning to Jack, Max’s expression grew serious. "The reason I was able to ascend to the peak while you lot couldn’t is simple."
As he said that, almost everyone’s eyes were on him, their faces extremely curious.
Max paused for a moment, his sharp gaze sweeping across the gathered crowd. His lips curled into a confident smirk as he broke the silence.
"Isn’t it obvious?" he asked, his voice calm yet brimming with an edge of superiority. "It’s because I’m better than all of you." His tone was confident.
His words struck like a thunderclap, causing the eleven geniuses standing before him to stiffen. Shock, disbelief, and irritation flickered across their faces as they processed his audacious declaration in their own ways.
Enjoy more content from freewebnovel
Some clenched their fists, their pride stung by his boldness. Others narrowed their eyes, struggling to suppress the surge of anger rising within them. A few, however, remained silent, their expressions unreadable as they scrutinized Max with newfound wariness.
The air grew heavy with tension, the unspoken challenge in Max’s statement echoing louder than any battle cry. In that moment, it wasn’t just his words but his unwavering confidence that made his declaration impossible to ignore.
Just as the tension reached its peak, the blob of slime appeared before everyone.
"Alright, the trial is about to begin," it said, glancing at Max and the others.
Almost instantly, a black cube slowly descended from the roof of the hall. Everyone was surprised to see the battle cube and gave way for it to land in the hall.
The blob of slime glanced at everyone. "The trial of the fourth battle will be held in the personal battle realm. Now enter at once."
"Better than everyone? I like your confidence," the lady with the mask passed by Max as she entered the cube.
Max recognized her voice and understood who that person was. ’She’s the one who helped me stall Veylin last time,’ he thought.
It was then that Max noticed several glances, many of which weren’t friendly, as the others entered the cube one by one.
Max’s eyes then locked with Five, who also passed by him. "You seem confident, but are you so sure you can defeat me?" his voice reached Max’s ears as he entered the cube.
Max smiled and glanced back at him.
"You’ve made almost everyone your enemy in just minutes after arriving here," the blob said, glaring.
Max shrugged. "They don’t like the truth; what can I do in that situation?"
The blob shook its head and pointed at the cube. "Now go and enter the cube."
Max nodded, glancing at it before walking toward the cube and entering, just like everyone else.
"Better than everyone? You better be," the blob muttered as it swiped its tiny hands, revealing ten screens displaying what was happening in the cube.
Just at that moment, outside the entry portal of the temple in all four regions—five if you included the central region—a screen appeared before them, displaying the blob with its wicked smile.
"Everyone from the Valora Continent, are you ready to witness the rise of the strongest genius of the continent?" the blob announced loudly on the screen. Another screen appeared before them, showing the live broadcast from the personal battle realm, with the twelve geniuses standing on twelve pillars.