"Hehe, you will know soon." Max grinned.
Billy's eyes narrowed at Max's smile as a bad feeling rose in his heart.
Swish! Swish! Swish!...
Almost instantly, the blue dots of light shot toward the five members of the Bouncer Squad, resembling an unending barrage of bullets. They rained down on them relentlessly, piercing through their bodies and leaving gaping holes in their wake.
It was a merciless assault, as the sheer volume of the dots of light, like lasers shooting at them, was overwhelming and inescapable.
One by one, the blue dots of light struck them like bullets, relentlessly piercing through their bodies until they were riddled with holes.
The onslaught continued for what felt like an eternity, but in reality, it was only a few seconds before the final glowing dot descended, marking the end of the relentless barrage.
"You..." Billy's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Max, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he and his squad would meet their end at the hands of a mere kid.
His body was riddled with countless holes, each one bleeding profusely, turning the ground beneath him into a crimson pool.
Thud!
A moment later, he fell to the ground like the other four, unable to even put up a fight.
Just like that, the infamous Bouncer Squad was no more.
"What the freaking hell was that?!" Alice exclaimed, her eyes widening in astonishment. As she replayed the scene in her mind, a surge of excitement coursed through her, and the hairs on her arms stood on end—not from fear, but from sheer awe at what she had just witnessed.
She couldn't even count how many times she'd been struck with shock and astonishment today, and all of it came from just one person.
"It's a secret." Max made a finger-on-lips gesture before he walked toward a certain direction where he shot the runestone with his magic bullet.
Though he had to take each step slowly, using all his strength as the force from the runestone was still acting on them.
A few minutes later, he reached there and saw the runestone lying there.
Picking it up, he inspected it for a while when he felt a very familiar aura from it, though he couldn't recall sensing or even seeing this runestone before. 'But why is there this sudden urge to devour this thing?'
Max shook his head and quickly went back. "I have the runestone... How do I stop it? How do I stop the force affecting us?"
Alice sighed. "You can't stop it," she said dejectedly. "Runestones are not meant to be used like this. Once activated, they can't be stopped unless all the energy inside them is used up. And this runestone, I'm afraid, has been powered by the blood essence of someone at the Adept Rank, so it will take a while before its power wears off."
Max frowned, pondering her words. "Let me try something," he said, turning around and showing his back to them.
"What are you doing?" Alice asked.
Max didn't respond. Instead, he focused on the runestone in his hands, letting the urge to devour it take over.
In an instant, black flames erupted from his hands, wrapping around the runestone. The fiery tendrils consumed it, and within moments, the flames vanished.
The runestone then crumbled into fine dust, leaving nothing behind.
Thud! Thud!
Just at that moment, Max heard the sound of two figures falling, causing a smile to appear on his face.
"What did you do?" Alice asked once again, surprised.
"It's a secret." Max again gestured with his finger on his lips.
"Humph, keep your stupid secret with you." Alice stomped her feet in anger and turned to Amy.
Max shrugged before thinking of something and turning to the both of them. "You two have to keep my strength a secret from others especially to the guild," he said seriously.
Alice snorted. "I know that, you fool."
"Hmm, good." Max nodded, though he wondered why she called him a fool.
"Why didn't you use your blue light bullets at the very start?" Alice asked suddenly, her curiosity piqued.
Max chuckled at her question, sensing the suspicion in her tone. "Haha, well, I wasn't sure if they had any more tricks up their sleeves, so I figured the first thing I needed to do was get the runestone away from them. And that's exactly what I did. You saw the rest unfold after that."
"And what were those blue dots of light?" Alice continued with her questioning.
'That was what a level 100 Magic Bullet skill looks like,' Max thought in his mind but didn't say out loud.
Seeing Max silent, Alice sighed. "Fine, I don't care what you used, but I am grateful for your help this time."
"I know, and when I enter your guild, you will have to repay me," Max said with a smirk.
"W-We'll see when that time comes." Alice's face turned slightly red as she quickly shifted her attention away from the topic. She cleared her throat and then pointed toward the door leading to the boss chamber. "Let's go and kill the boss monster."
Max smiled as he stared at Alice a bit too long, his gaze deepening. "Of course," he replied unconsciously.
'Damn, what happened to me? Why am I staring at her like an idiot? Am I falling for her? No, that can't happen! I'm only 15!' Max mentally scolded himself, quickly shaking off the thoughts as he refocused on the door to the boss chamber, trying to keep his composure.
He then saw Alice and Amy disappear into the boss chamber.
"Hehe, now let's have some talk... shall we?" Max then chuckled strangely and looked towards a certain corner of the canyon. "You are very good at hiding almost invisible but it's a pity that I am around" He said shaking his head.
His expression became sharp as he added coldly. "I don't know who you are but I noticed you have your eyes on Alice too since the moment we came to the Storm Canyon. However, it's good that you haven't made your move yet otherwise you would be a corpse like them."
A silence followed Max's words before a chuckle came from somewhere in the canyon.
"I don't believe that's the only the reason you didn't kill me." A voice sneered. "It's because you can't kill me and you can't kill me because I am not simply here. You can't kill something that isn't present...hehe."
Max frowned. "So, that's why your presence is always fading." He then aimed towards the direction where he could barely sense a presence there.
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
But everyone of his bullets only hit the wall of the canyon.
"I told you, you can't kill someone who isn't physically present," the voice mocked, its tone dripping with amusement. "But you, my friend, are something else entirely... Killing those at level 10 as if they were mere vegetables while being only at level 5? Now that is the most interesting thing I've ever seen in my life. But alas, I must take my leave."
The voice lingered for a moment before delivering its parting shot. "Oh, and one more thing—I know your secrets. Be scared. Be very scared."
Then, silence.
'He vanished...' Max sighed feeling his presence gone. 'Who was he?' He wondered. 'This person knows I killed the Bouncer Squad...' He felt slightly regretful that he couldn't kill it. 'If only he had confronted me directly...' He shook his head in pity.
'Whoever he was for some reason he exuded a very familiar aura to me.' Max pondered not understanding how he could sense something like that.
It was then he recalled something. 'Oh, right!'
"Something should have changed when I devoured the runestone right?" Max muttered as checked his status.
---
[Max]
– Rank: [Novice]
– Level: 5
– Class: [Dimensional Keeper]
– Physique: 6.5
– Soul: 7
– Energy: 10
– Skills:
—» Class Skills: [Three Dimensional Body, Dimension of Time]
—» Acquired Skills: [Magic Bullets (Lvl-100), Basic Sword Arts (Lvl-100), Swift Dash (Lvl-100), Flurry Strike (Lvl-100), Flame Creation(Lvl-1)]
—» Comprehensions: [Sword Aura (Lvl-1)]
– Bloodline: [Black Dragon Chaotic Bloodline]
—» Draconic Essence: [10]
—» Dragon Scales: [2]
-—
'Dragon Scales increased from one to two!" Max was surprised. Though he didn't know what its used for at the moment, he was glad that he at least knew how to increase their value.
'Now I just have to find out how to increase the Draconic Essence and the use of Dragon Scales.' Max mused.
After that he too touched the door to the boss room, disappearing from there.