( The fiery pit of hell )
When Angakok said that the planet was inhospitable to most life-forms he was not kidding at all as the temperature of the planet was simply unbearable.
Max felt like he was in a perpetual sauna, breathing in hot-steam instead of air as his insides revolted against the high heat and it did not take him 30 minutes on the planet to develop sickness as he began puking his guts out.
From space the planet looked something like a black cracked mass of disjointed land and lava, but the surface of the planet was even worse with the only rocks in site being obsidian and basalt which felt like superheated cooking surfaces to touch.
The local life included, phoenix's , flying magma hounds, Flame Lions, Lava slugs, Butterfly looking creatures with flaming wings and Earth Komodo Lizards.
According to his initial observation, the phoenix's were the apex predators, killing everything they fancied while the Lava Slugs were the bottom rung of the society which seemed to be the local herbivores deriving energy by diving into pools of lava for sustenance.
Apart from these, the Komodo Lizards seemed to be the only creatures that were not completely fire type beasts and did not possess any fire based attacks.
Max was not at all happy that he was thrown on this abnormal planet to hunt by Angakok, as no matter which beast he looked at, none of them were an easy target for him to kill.
Although he had experience killing Flame Lions prior to this excursion, the flame lions on this planet were absolutely unlike any beast that Max had ever encountered before.
The flame lions on this planet looked nasty, having builds over 9 feet long and ripped muscle frames that put their vascular veins on full display.
The flaming manes covering their head were nearly a metre in length and the flamethrowers that these lions threw out were absolutely nasty and capable of melting down even volcanic rock.
To make matters worse they were pack hunters, hunting their prey in small groups of 3-5 lions making it even more impossible for Max to pick them on as his targets.
Max saw them as they pack hunted a Komodo lizard and was forced to shut his eyes close as he saw them rip the poor thing apart limb for limb in a one sided slaughter fest that lasted 20 minutes.
' Nope, not going after them today ' Max thought mentally as the coward within him kicked in and told him to stay away from these beasts until he got a better hang of his surroundings.
In the end, Max decided to go hunting for the Komodo Lizard too as he identified it as the easiest target that was worth some EXP, while Angakok made a make-shift residence for himself and secluded himself inside it.
[ Earth Komodo Lizard ] ( Lv 430 ) ( Tier4 ) : A part of the lesser dragon species, the Earth Komodo Lizard is a specialist in digging through rock and hunting its prey via ambush.
Note : Beware of its sharp claws and poisonous teeth.
Max inspected an Earth lizard that was stalking a lava slug as he wondered what the best course of action to take it down would be.
On one hand, the Komodo Lizard had no long-range attacking capabilities and mostly relied on ambush hunting to take down it's prey, it was also a very proficient digger and if Max failed to isolate it from the Earth or one-shot it, chances were that it would dig and run-away in a long range battle.
Grabbing the Goldmans Sword, Max prepared to launch a sword slash laced with sword intent to distract the lizard while he quickly circled around and chopped off its head, however before he could ever let-out his first attack, his [ Way Of The Wind ] senses went into overdrive as he detected an ambush.
' Fuck ' thought Max as he ducked, narrowly dodging the paws of the Flame Lion who had managed to sneak-up on him.
Max thought he had great senses, but he never detected the pack of 4 lions sneaking up on him while he was so focused on killing the Komodo.
[ Summon Netherbeasts ]
[ Giant Summoning ]
[ Buddha's Avatar ]
Max wasted no time in turning the numbers advantage to his side while he went into his defensive mode by activating Buddha's Avatar.
15 Netherbeasts and 3 giants soon surrounded a golden Buddha avatar of Max as he commanded them to take the lion's down.
Since he was dragged into this fight, he was now going to make sure it was going to be the last one these damn lions ever fought.
********
( Meanwhile Cervantez )
" It's official father, The night king has defected, the green, yellow and white dragon's have declared a rebellion against Monarch Dragoon and the mercenary king has refused the invitation to the upcoming council of monarchs, which only confirms our fears that he might be on the verge of defecting himself " Prince Aman said as he reported grim news to his father
For the last 1.5 year ever since Shakuni's death and the fall of the Thunder nation, the balance of powers within the light faction had broken and Cervantez had foreseen the advent of war.
He and the Won Knights had started to expand their military explosively and started stocking up on weapons and critical supplies before all things went to help, but with the defection of the Night King becoming official, it was sure to cause a shit-storm to stir at the upcoming council of monarchs in 7 days time.
" So the rat has decided to show his true colors, I knew he was a spineless coward but never thought he would fall to the depths of becoming Lucifer's Lackey.
I expected more from Avans, but in the end there is only so much that you can expect from fucking mercenaries whose morals are bought and sold by gold.
Prepare the army son, increase patrol at our borders and be ready to head into war.
Increase the taxes on the locals by 5% and make military service compulsory for all males 18 years and above for 3 years.
The chaos in the universe has resurfaced after 5000 years of peace between the two factions.
But the light could have never coexisted with the dark, this war was bound to break out one day or another, but one thing is for certain that at the end of this great-war, there will be but 1 faction left standing " Cervantez said as he clutched h
is fists and mentally prepared for the storm that was to come ahead.