Max smiled at the cute girl before shifting his gaze to Elena. With a flick of his hand, he controlled the flames, letting them dissipate to reveal his face.
His voice boomed with sharp intensity as he shouted, "Listen up, you bitch. You came after me, attacked me without reason—just because your precious Blade Family said so. Well, let me make something very clear: if you think you can mess with me and walk away unscathed, think again."
A smirk crossed his lips, his tone darkening. "Don’t blame me when I hunt down every member of your Blade Family I come across—whether it’s you, your brother, your sister, or anyone else."
He continued, his tone dark and unwavering, "I’m a very reasonable kid, but when it comes to revenge, I make sure to deliver it a hundred times over. Until then, see ya."
"You think you can escape?" Elena sneered.
Max burst into laughter, his voice echoing with mockery. "Hahaha! Watch closely with your dog eyes, you bitch, as I disappear right before you!"
With those words, he spread his arms, fanning the flames that quickly consumed everything in their path. Then, with a defiant smirk, he leaped into the portal beside him, vanishing into the unknown.
As he disappeared, the purple flame tornado vanished too, leaving behind only a charred surface.
"He’s gone!" Erica uttered in shock. "He really disappeared."
Nash smiled lightly. "That kid is one mad kid. Giving such threats to the Blade Family is like asking for an early death from the god himself."
He added with a frown, "But how did the purple lantern get into his hands? And the purple flames... We have to find a way to contact him later."
"Hahaha, that was anticlimactic," Anton laughed wildly, turning to Elena with a mocking expression. "See you around, Elena."
Laughing, he headed towards his sister in great spirits.
Meanwhile, Elena stood there with a deep frown on her face. She had failed to kill someone at Level 5 of the Novice Rank—an easy target—and even let him get away. She sighed and disappeared into the white sword floating in the air.
A moment later, the huge sword took flight and flew away.
"Let’s go home," Anton said to Alice, arriving before her.
Alice nodded lightly. She recalled the recommendation she had promised for Max, and with the situation he appeared to be in, he needed to be in one of the five guilds to live safely.
’I will uphold my promise, Max... Just be sure to be there that day,’ she thought, lightly following her big brother.
Commander Ross stood there with a calm expression on his face, having seen everything. ’The tides have started to surge now that the contract has ended...’ he mused, disappearing quietly among the people.
Somewhere at the very edge of the area, a man around eighteen years old stood with a grin on his face. His entire body was covered in a black hood, and his eyes gleamed lightly. ’Max... just how many secrets do you have?’ he smiled sinisterly as he also disappeared into the forest behind him.
---
After going through the portal, Max found himself standing in a market—a street market with stalls and shops all around him. He put away the purple lantern and noticed this market very familiar.
’This is the market just around my home, Jane Market’ Max thought before noticing the figure tugging at his clothes.
"Help Mimi…" The little 10-year-old girl looked at Max with big, pleading eyes.
Max examined her closely and noticed that she was covered in dust. Her clothes were torn in places, and even her violet hair hadn’t been combed for days.
"Who are you?" Max asked softly, patting her head.
"I am Mimi," she said, pointing to herself. "Mimi wants help."
"Mimi… What help does Mimi want?" Max asked gently.
Mimi pointed at the shop in the distance. "Mimi’s friends were captured. Mimi wants Big Brother’s help."
"Friends captured?" Max frowned and held her hand. "Let’s go and see which friends you’re talking about."
Mimi nodded and led him to the shop. They stopped at a safe location, but their view of the shop was clear. They could see every item displayed.
"Mimi’s friends…" Mimi pointed towards the shop.
Max saw what she was indicating and was left in shock. A sphere held a fire fox inside, and another sphere contained a frost peacock. Mimi was pointing at these two.
"Are you talking about the two fire and ice spirits?" Max asked curiously.
"Hmm." Mimi nodded her head. "They are Mimi’s friends…"
Max frowned, seeing them in such a situation. "How did they capture Mimi’s friends?"
Mimi’s expression turned sad. "Mimi came to see Big Brother, but Big Brother was not there… Then bad people came and took Mimi’s friends away. They also wanted to take Mimi too, but Mimi ran…" Tears flowed from her eyes as she spoke.
"Don’t cry, Mimi." Max patted her head. "Now that Big Brother is here, he will help Mimi save Mimi’s friends."
Mimi nodded, wiping away her tears.
"Good girl," Max said softly, seeing that she had stopped crying. He turned his attention to the shop.
He inspected it and noticed it was one of the biggest shops in the market, selling everything from armor to skills, weapons, and cores. However, that also made it difficult for Max to approach and steal the two fire and frost spirits.
’If there’s a distraction and some chaos… I might have a chance,’ Max mused, planning a way to create a diversion.
It was then he recalled that Mimi could create portals.
"Mimi, Big Brother needs your help to save Mimi’s friends," Max said lightly.
"Mimi will help," Mimi said, clasping her hands together.
"Besides portals, can Mimi do something else to distract them so that Big Brother can save Mimi’s friends?" Max asked.
Mimi nodded. "Mimi can bring bad monsters here."
"Bad monsters?" Max laughed wryly and said, "Alright, Mimi…" He pointed at the shop and said, "Bring the bad monsters to that shop."
Mimi nodded and looked towards the shop.
Almost instantly, Max’s eyes widened in disbelief as he witnessed something utterly shocking. A portal, eerily similar to the ones leading to dungeons, materialized out of nowhere, right in the middle of the shop.
But the portal’s color was eerily red—a stark contrast to the usual blue.
"This... this is an unstable dungeon!" Max was shocked. He had read in the academy’s books that a red portal signified an unstable dungeon where the chances of a dungeon break were almost 100%.
The next moment confirmed Max’s suspicions.
From the portal emerged goblins, orcs, trolls, and a variety of other monstrous creatures, their guttural roars and shrieks filling the air.
Chaos erupted almost instantly as these creatures began rampaging through the market, overturning stalls, smashing buildings, and attacking anyone in sight.
"How could a dungeon outbreak occur here?"
"Damn, help… We need help!"
"Someone help! My shop is being destroyed!"
"We have to help ourselves before the guilds and Hunter Association arrive."
"Kill the weak ones first, and then we’ll handle the strong ones!"
Panic spread like wildfire as people screamed and ran in every direction, desperate to escape the onslaught. Many, however, decided to hold their ground and fight the monsters.
’Mimi can create dungeons!’ Max thought, his eyes widening in astonishment.
Looking back at the innocent face of Mimi, Max patted her head. "Wait here. I’ll come back with your friends."
Mimi nodded. "Mimi waits."
"Good girl." Max patted her head before heading towards the shop.