Chapter 204

18.

Max silently counted the remained number.

As Max counted, the situation was 18 against 1.

But it was clear that Max was the one dictating the flow of this battle.

The first engagement, which was the most important.

He had ended it with an overwhelming victory in an instant.

He had made it clear to the enemy that he wasn’t just a lone, insignificant opponent, but a formidable one.

Moreover.

Max’s continuous attempts to sow discord, coupled with the strange turn of events.

The effect of his discord was no longer just a ripple beneath the surface.

It was clear to everyone that it had reached the surface.

From the expressions and atmosphere of the dark mages.

“You damn son of a bitch from the religious order!”

Glick’s anger reached its peak.

His body trembled uncontrollably, unable to contain his boiling rage.

Just one person.

He, one of only two Masters of Dark Magic, was being toyed with by a single person.

It was an unbearable situation.

Unacceptable.

He had to kill him immediately.

“Kill him! Go and kill him now! Don’t let him live for another second!”

Glick shouted fiercely.

But.

“…”

The dark mages didn’t move, exchanging glances with complicated expressions.

Glick frowned.

“What are you doing? I said kill him now!”

“Master, I think we need some clarification…”

“Clarification? What clarification?”

“Shouldn’t you know better, Master?”

The pressure from his subordinates, who had always been at his beck and call.

It showed him.

That cracks had definitely started to appear in their tightly knit group.

Glick’s face contorted.

The situation he had wanted to avoid the most had come to pass.

And at a time like this.

It was all because of that damn bastard.

Grit.

Glick gritted his teeth and said,

“Clarification? Do you think we have time for that? We need to kill that dog of the religious order right now!”

“We need clarification to kill that dog.”

“What?”

“With all due respect… If what he’s saying is even remotely true, we’ll be walking into our deaths.”

The dark mage finally spoke words that were hard to utter, as if he had made up his mind.

But it was understandable.

This was an extremely important situation, with their thousand-year-old ambition at stake.

That’s why the atmosphere had shifted to one of protest.

“Damn it, I don’t even know that bastard’s face or name! And you’re doubting me?”

Normally, he would have slapped his subordinate.

But Glick suppressed his anger.

Because he knew that such an action would only lead to greater backlash.

In such a crucial situation, that kind of development would be the worst.

“Please understand, Master. Given the circumstances.”

“Circumstances or not, are you doing this because he knows my name? He must have tortured our comrades at the North Temple! Isn’t that the most likely scenario?”

The dark mages didn’t refute Glick’s irritated words.

Because they thought it was a plausible explanation.

But.

“About the Teacher…”

A dark mage spoke up with a stiff expression.

That’s right.

The most important thing, the decisive reason why they were harboring doubts.

It was about the Teacher, their elder.

Because it was top-secret information, protected by a forbidden magic that prevented them from speaking about it unless they were a traitor.

Even Glick had no clue about that.

Therefore, there was only one answer he could give.

“He must have just been guessing. Don’t fall for his tricks to sow discord!”

Glick shouted accusingly.

But before his accusation could take effect…

Max spoke again with a smile.

“Haha, Glick, your acting is truly unmatched. You’re the one who asked me about the heretic ‘Teacher’ who’s missing his left arm and right leg.”

At that moment.

The atmosphere turned ice-cold.

It was too detailed information to be dismissed as random guesses.

It was information that could only be known if there was a planted spy.

The moment they heard those words, the dark mages were convinced.

That there was definitely a spy from the religious order within their ranks.

A damn spy who had been pretending to be bound by the forbidden magic, feeding information to the religious order.

Glick also came to his senses at Max’s words.

It was a sense of impending crisis.

A serious crisis where if he didn’t act immediately, everything would fall apart.

His mind reacted instantly.

“A traitor! There’s a traitor! But it’s definitely not me!”

Glick shouted as if spitting blood.

There was only one way to deal with this now.

“The Teacher entrusted me with this mission! It’s a mission personally given by the Teacher! Are you doubting the Teacher’s judgment?! The traitor is someone else!”

Appealing to authority.

It was a tactic that was only possible because of the Teacher’s absolute position among the dark mages.

It was also practically the only way to quickly resolve the situation.

The dark mages couldn’t say anything to that.

Refuting those words could be seen as doubting their elder.

Seizing the opportunity, Glick shouted and gave an order.

“This is a serious matter, but we can’t deal with the traitor issue right now! The priority is to kill that bastard! This time, five of you go! Go and kill him for sure!”

Glick had successfully suppressed them with his authority.

But it didn’t mean that their suspicions had completely disappeared.

They would obey, but the doubts still lingered.

Max immediately exploited that point.

Tap, tap, tap, tap!

Five figures charged towards Max.

Max suddenly shouted in an excited voice, as if a golden opportunity had presented itself.

“Alright! Now’s the time, Glick! Activate the trap! Let’s take out these five for free!”

He didn’t know what the trap was.

But since he had figured out that there was a trap, he could use it to his advantage.

It was a high-level psychological warfare.

“That dog of the religious order is at it again!”

Just as Glick thought, ‘That bastard is trying to pull another trick!’ with a scowling face.

The five charging dark mages suddenly stopped in their tracks and scattered to the sides.

He knew about the trap that the enemy shouldn’t know about?

The moment that question arose, a sense of unease washed over them, and their bodies reacted instinctively.

They were already outside the range of the binding magic circle.

Instead of moving straight ahead, they awkwardly changed their course to the edges.

At that moment, Max completely understood.

‘Aha, there it is.’

The range of the trap.

He had completely grasped it.

Now that he knew how to avoid it, he wouldn’t fall for it.

A triumphant smile appeared on Max’s lips.

And.

“Ah! Too bad! You should have activated it right away! Are you having trouble making decisions, Glick?”

Max continued to sow discord until the very end.

There was no reason to stop.

Confusing their minds only benefited him.

On the other hand.

Glick, who was on the receiving end, was about to explode with anger.

Especially since he was being completely toyed with by a single person.

Grit.

“I’ll tear you limb from limb and feed you to the fish! I swear!”

A murderous aura emanated from Glick’s eyes.

If killing intent alone could kill, Max would have been torn into a thousand pieces.

But Max just smiled.

“Yes, yes, that’s what you want to do to all the heretics, right? I understand, I understand. Your faith is truly admirable, Glick.”

“Ugh… That bastard!”

Glick realized something.

That he had found the person he wanted to kill the most in his entire life.

That bastard!

Tap, tap, tap, tap!

Meanwhile, the dark mages who had scattered to the sides were approaching Max.

Despite the confusion and suspicion in their minds, there was one clear fact.

The man in front of them was an enemy they had to kill.

Max smirked.

“I only have one body, so I can’t handle both sides, can I? Come on, one of you brothers, step forward! Let’s take down these heretics together!”

At that moment.

Someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

It was Allen, who had been hiding with an Invisibility scroll.

Having observed the situation while invisible, he already knew what was going on.

“Another one?”

“Tsk, even if there are two of them, it doesn’t matter. Let’s kill them!”

The dark mages continued to charge, unfazed by the additional person.

5 against 2.

They believed that it was still a winnable fight.

“Brother Allen, the right side.”

Max said, winking.

Two on the right, three on the left.

He thought Allen could handle two of them.

“Got it, Bro… Brother Max.”

Allen said, putting on an awkward act, and ran towards the right.

Take them down before they join forces.

He understood that was Max’s intention.

Before moving to the left, Max said with a smile,

“You be ready too, Glick. Once I deal with these five, there are only thirteen more to go. Oh, excluding you, it’s twelve.”

Max was playing mind games again.

The effect was immediate.

The dark mages flinched at his words, as he knew the exact number, which they shouldn’t know.

Their eyes wavered uneasily.

Now, it was certain that the dark mages wouldn’t step foot within the range of the trap.

It meant they couldn’t join forces with their scattered comrades.

Max’s strategy had worked perfectly.

As soon as he finished speaking, Max moved.

This time, with his sword drawn.

Now that he knew the range of the trap, close combat was no problem.

Thud!

Max kicked off the ground powerfully and approached them like lightning.

The dark mages, who had been expecting arrows, looked surprised.

Because anyone would have concluded that he specialized in archery.

But.

It wasn’t a bad thing.

It was actually better if he abandoned his ranged weapon.

Because they could gain an advantage in a ranged battle.

As long as they prevented him from getting close, it was a winnable fight.

“Dark Arrow!”

“Dark Orb!”

Three Dark Arrows and two Dark Orbs flew towards Max.

The number alone showed that they were quite skilled mages.

Moreover.

Because they were in a narrow space at the edge, outside the range of the trap, it was even more difficult to dodge.

And the remaining one.

“Dark Root.”

He quietly chanted the trigger word and secretly planted dark roots in the ground.

He was planning to entangle Max’s legs with the roots the moment he stepped on them.

It seemed like a desperate situation.

But.

Max had a smile on his lips.

He had seen the dark mages’ magic so many times that he knew it by heart.

And if he knew the enemy’s attack, he could perfectly counter it.

– Net Slash Form.

First, defense.

There were no gaps in Baker’s ultimate defensive technique.

Especially if the sword wielding it was a peerless masterpiece.

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!

Max’s sword drew a dense net of lines in the air.

The magic collided head-on with the tight net of blades.

Boom! Crash! Boom!

The Dark Orbs and Dark Arrows exploded one after another.

But they had no effect on Max’s body.

They were all blocked and exploded before they could even reach him.

“I-It’s blocked?!”

“H-How is that possible?!”

The dark mages’ eyes widened in shock.

But time wouldn’t wait for them.

Max was already moving on to his next move.

– Flying Slash Form.

A single line cut through the air.

The line created a strong gust of wind.

The moment the dark mages realized it was sword wind, they panicked.

They hurriedly started casting their spells.

Meanwhile, Max moved again.

But.

‘Got you, bastard!’

A dark mage inwardly rejoiced.

It was the dark mage who had secretly planted the Dark Roots in the ground.

He was planning to entangle Max’s legs with the roots the moment he passed by.

‘Alright, now!’

The dark mage raised his hand and channeled his mana powerfully.

Crackle!

The ground cracked, and dark roots shot up.

A surprise attack that was impossible to react to.

…Or so it should have been.

But.

The timing was off.

“What?!”

The dark mage’s face contorted in shock.

What had thrown off the timing… was a single movement from Max.

Instead of continuing to charge forward, he suddenly spun around.

– Rotating Slash Form.

Max’s sword, having deceived the enemy with his movement and disrupted the timing of the magic, slashed through the thick roots with rotational force.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

The dark roots were easily cut down with a single swing.

It showed how powerful Max’s sword was.

“T-This can’t be!”

The dark mage, unable to accept the reality of his failed surprise attack, shouted in disbelief.

It was foolish.

Because his opponent wasn’t paying attention to such things and was already moving.

“Dark Wall!”

“Dark Wall!”

The two dark mages, who had finished casting their spells, quickly erected the same magic against the approaching sword wind.

Two layers of dark walls.

They intended to block the sword wind with them.

Crackle!

But the first Dark Wall cracked easily.

And finally.

Shatter!

The Dark Wall shattered into pieces.

The dark mages’ faces turned pale.

But it seemed like they had succeeded in weakening the power of the sword wind.

Crackle!

The next wall also cracked menacingly, but it stopped there.

The dark mages’ plan had worked to some extent.

They had stopped the sword wind.

However.

The distance between Max and them had already closed considerably.

Max leaped over the cracked Dark Wall.

The dark mages tried to prepare their magic, but…

They didn’t realize that Max’s attack had already begun.

– Falling Slash Form.

Whoosh!

Max’s figure descended in the blink of an eye.

His sharp blade ripped through the dark mage’s throat.

Slash!

Blood spurted out like a fountain as his head was severed.

“G-Gasp?!”

The blade extended towards his comrade, who was frozen in shock.

Thud!

The sword pierced his heart.

Only one left.

“D-Don’t come any closer!”

The dark mage screamed in terror.

A Dark Shield, desperately erected for survival.

But…

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Just three times.

Max swung the Turtle Sword like a hammer.

Crackle!

Shatter!

The Dark Shield shattered.

It was the power of the legendary sword made of Orichalcum, the hardest metal in the world.

“Ugh…”

The dark mage collapsed, his legs giving way from the approaching terror.

What awaited him was a cold blade.

Thud!

“G-Gah…”

His eyes lost their light as his vital point was pierced.

Max calmly pulled out his sword and smiled.

“That makes it fourteen now, Glick. We’re doing great, aren’t we?”

“Ugh…”

Glick’s body trembled, his face contorted in a grimace.

Crunch.

Blood dripped from his clenched fist.

Thud!

“Kyaaa!”

“Ah, thirteen now.”

Max said casually, watching as Allen finally finished off one of the dark mages.

Glick, trembling with uncontrollable rage, realized something.

That the magic circle trap was no longer meaningful.

Then there was only one thing left to do.

“Everyone, come out! Come out and kill them!”

Glick roared.

“