NOVEL NEXT Chapter 161
Chapter 161: The Madness of Max
Max’s gaze was filled with madness.
Arthur’s eyes sparkled with interest as Po-ahim’s name unexpectedly popped up.
Miriam wore a slightly dazed expression, seemingly shocked.
These three gazes pierced at Lee Si-hyun simultaneously.
‘Damn it.’
From the moment I had to come here because of that man who claims to be a king, I had a premonition that my identity might get revealed.
But now that it was happening, my heart sank.
However, Si-hyun managed to maintain a calm facade.
Instead, he looked at Max with a face full of disbelief and said, “Who the hell are you? I’ve never seen you before. What nonsense are you talking about?”
In response to his bewilderment, Max stared intently at Si-hyun and then burst into loud laughter.
“Khukh… Hahahahaha!”
“….”
As the laughter suddenly erupted, Si-hyun stood there with a perplexed expression, causing Max to point at Si-hyun and say, “Kekeke, this is quite a show. The infamous Po-ahim is here doing such clumsy theatrics. I can’t help but laugh. I just can’t hold it in. Who in the world did you awaken with to end up looking so pathetic?”
“Who the hell are you to keep babbling nonsense? Oh, right, looking at you, you seem like a death row inmate… I guess you can’t be sane.”
Si-hyun nonchalantly shot back.
“Hey, crazy human.”
Arthur, who had been crossing his arms and watching the situation with interest, interjected.
“So you’re saying that crazy human is claiming that person is Po-ahim?”
“That’s right, but… who are you?”
Max opened his eyes wide as if they were big marbles.
“I’m the king.”
“King? Which king?”
“I have no obligation to tell you that.”
“Hmm. Anyway… I think I can guess. The only foolish king wandering around like you is the mad king Arthur.”
Hearing Max’s words, Arthur’s eyebrows twitched.
The title of the Mad King had been given to him post-mortem; it meant he had never heard such a thing while alive.
And Arthur despised that nickname with a passion.
“This is absurd. The crazy one is you, crazy human.”
A blade-like killing intent flashed in Arthur’s smile.
Max met that gaze with the eyes of a ferocious beast.
Then he shook his head and said, “…Anyway, I have no business with you, mad king. My only business is with one person.”
Max’s eyes turned toward Si-hyun.
“I have business too. Well… still, I’ll postpone it a bit. There’s something I want to confirm right away.”
Arthur’s gaze also followed to Si-hyun, and he asked, “Are you really Po-ahim?”
“Are you really going to trust a lunatic inmate’s words?”
“Well, alright. There’s a way to confirm everything.”
Arthur summoned a sword from his inventory and gripped it in his hand.
The sword’s sheath was adorned with various colorful gems, indicating it was quite a renowned sword.
As he drew the weapon, a finely sharpened blade made its appearance.
‘Damn, he pulls a sword out of nowhere.’
Si-hyun’s expression, which had been calm, suddenly frowned.
There was no wonder—it was an S-Class Awakened Being.
If he was caught off guard, he could die before he even knew it.
Si-hyun also pulled out a unique grade longsword.
It was one he carried for disguise purposes.
Although he had two better weapons, he couldn’t use them yet.
He hadn’t fully revealed his identity yet.
Revealing either Acureruts or Po-ahim’s Guard Baton here would be like confessing his secrets outright.
“Oh?”
As Si-hyun brandished the longsword, Arthur smiled with interest.
It was well-known that Po-ahim’s refraction was known as the Guard Baton.
But a longsword, huh.
He was growing increasingly eager to verify if this was the real deal.
“What are you doing right now?”
Miriam, who had been blankly watching the scene, finally chimed in when Arthur drew his weapon.
“What does it look like? I’m about to do this.”
Arthur drew a vivid red aura along the blade.
Then he swung it fiercely toward the cell door.
Bang!
The door, made of special high-strength material, couldn’t withstand the Swordmaster’s aura.
With a loud crash, the cell door was torn to shreds.
“Are you insane?!”
Miriam exclaimed in disbelief.
“What’s the problem? If we’re taking you, I need to break the door anyway, so I did it in advance.”
Arthur grinned and stepped into the cell where Max was.
He approached Max with a pleasant smile and said, “It seems that crazy human needs to confirm things personally.”
“I like the sound of that.”
Max grinned, revealing his teeth.
“Of course, we can’t do it empty-handed; we need to go somewhere together.”
“Whatever, let’s do it.”
Max nodded eagerly.
Right now, his only priority was revenge against Po-ahim.
For that, he wouldn’t refuse a request like this.
“Alright.”
Arthur grinned and swung his sword again.
The blade sliced through the air a few times, shredding apart the protective suit and guards that restrained Max into pieces.
Finally free, Max stood up and stretched his back.
He was a towering figure, easily over 2 meters tall.
The massive muscles hidden beneath the protective suit rippled as if waking up from hibernation.
“Hahahaha!”
Max roared like a lion, his laughter echoing through the ward.
He cracked his neck from side to side and strode out of the cell, glaring at Si-hyun.
‘He’s bigger than I expected.’
Si-hyun frowned slightly as he looked up at Max.
He could feel immense power and pressure radiating from him.
It was no wonder he had reigned as the terror of the desert for so long.
‘I can’t help it.’
At this point, hiding his identity, or anything else, was out of the question.
He had to defeat this guy with all his power.
That was his only path to escape.
Moreover, he couldn’t just watch as such a vicious criminal broke out of prison.
It wasn’t out of some great sense of heroism.
What these people were doing was obviously insane.
Especially for Si-hyun, a correctional officer to the core, it was an act that he simply could not condone.
So, if he couldn’t avoid a fight, he was determined to take him down to prevent innocent people from suffering.
‘I can do this.’
Si-hyun locked eyes with Max and thought.
If the guy claiming to be a king charged at him, it would have truly been dangerous.
That was what Si-hyun feared the most.
However, though Max was also S-Class, the circumstances were vastly different.
That guy was definitely stronger than him, who was B-Class. He also had a fame status that boosted his stats when facing Po-ahim.
Not to mention, being an S-Class, he undoubtedly had numerous passive skills enhancing his abilities.
But this wasn’t the desert, and he was a death row inmate.
Si-hyun was confident that he could take him down if he utilized the explosive power of the Iron-Blooded Guard against this lunatic death row executioner.
Si-hyun let out a smile of ambiguous meaning and took a step closer to Max.
He subtly leaked the aura of the Iron-Blooded Guard, but Max’s expression didn’t change.
Whether it was owing to his S-Class superhuman mental resistance, or perhaps the fame status that led him into a frenzy when facing Po-ahim, it seemed there was no easy option to subdue him.
Si-hyun opened his mouth while eyeing Max.
“You seem to be mistaken about something.”
“What is it? Are you still thinking of continuing your pathetic act?”
Max snickered.
“You probably thought it was a close shave when I first caught you, right? So you burned with a desire for vengeance. Well, maybe it really was a close shave. But not right now. This isn’t a desert; it’s a prison. And you are a death row inmate.”
Si-hyun straightened his shoulders and spoke with confidence in every word.
“This bastard! After a drunk night with a woman, thinking he’d sleep it off, I nailed him at the back of the head! And now you’re acting all high and mighty? What are you talking about, ‘close shave’ nonsense, huh?!”
Max’s face flushed with anger, and he clenched his rock-like fists tightly.
“….”
For a moment, Si-hyun stood there with a flustered expression.
Then, scratching the back of his head, he mumbled awkwardly.
“Oh right…”
Now he understood why he was dubbed ‘One Who Hates Po-ahim.’
“This damn bastard knows how to get people riled up consistently.”
Just when Max looked ready to pounce on Si-hyun with ferocity.
Miriam’s incredulous voice rang out.
“…Are you really the lord?”
Just as Si-hyun was about to reply, she continued.
“There’s no way. That’s impossible. So small….”
“….”
“My lord is not that small….”
“….”
Taken aback by her words, Si-hyun momentarily jolted.
In fact, Si-hyun was also 180 cm, so he wasn’t short.
But seeing as Po-ahim was such a towering figure, it seemed hard for her to believe that an Awakened Being could have such a physique.
“Speaking of which, Po-ahim, why the heck did you awaken to this size?”
Max gazed down at Si-hyun with an inquisitive look, as if realizing something from Miriam’s words.
“Pff, Huff! Hahaha!”
Arthur couldn’t hold back and burst into hearty laughter.
Si-hyun lowered his head, clenched his fists tight, and trembled.
“Yeah… I’m small! You bastard!”
In a rage, Si-hyun lunged at Max.
In a fit of excitement, it seemed he’d forgotten to draw his Guard Baton entirely, swinging his bare fists at Max’s face.
“Alright, let’s see what you got, you bastard!”
Max roared, pumped with adrenaline.
As he faced Po-ahim seriously, did he fall into a frenzy? His eyes reddened, filled with madness.
Steam like that of an angry lion billowed from his flared nostrils.
Whoosh!
Max also threw a punch.
He purposely did not block Si-hyun’s attack.
It seemed he was inviting Si-hyun to hit him square in the face.
Smack!
Pow!
Both of their punches landed squarely on each other’s faces.
“Ugh.”
“Huff.”
Max and Si-hyun staggered backward a few steps simultaneously.
Their faces hurt, and while it was stinging, Si-hyun felt he could withstand it.
So, he didn’t back down and charged at Max again.
“Let’s keep this going, you bastard!”
“Sure thing, you bastard!”
Max matched Si-hyun’s intensity and swung his fists again.
Pow!
Pow!
“This is nothing!”
“It tickles! Huh? Is that ticklish?”
Pow!
Pow!
Pow!
“Even a cat would hit harder than you!”
“You hit like a roach, you bastard!”
They continued to rain punches down on each other’s faces.
It seemed like they had made an unwritten pact that to retreat or strike elsewhere would mean defeat.
Their clash, which seemed to be on par for S-Class fighters, resembled a brawl between street thugs, leaving Arthur and Miriam with incredulous expressions.
“Is that crazy man really necessary?”
Arthur’s gaze turned toward Max.
“Well….”
“Is Po-ahim really like this? I’ve never met him in person.”
This time, Arthur inquired, looking at Si-hyun.
“That is….”
Miriam trailed off her words, turning her head away.
Meanwhile, Si-hyun and Max’s fierce fistfight raged on.
As the evenly matched battle began to tip, it was finally Max’s turn to falter.
Pow!
The moment Si-hyun’s punch struck Max’s face, Max stumbled and took a few faltering steps back.
“Ugh.”
Then he sank to one knee in defeat, his legs giving out under him.
“This can’t be! No way! I went first…? I went first, right?!”
Max shouted incredulously with wide eyes.
“Ouch, that hurts.”
Si-hyun spat blood-tainted saliva onto the ground.
“Ah, how humiliating. First bleeding from my nose, what’s going on here?”
Wiping his bloodied nose on his sleeve, he shot a scowl toward Max’s mess of a face.
It was all because of that guy.
If he had either blocked or evaded the initial attack, he would’ve naturally drawn his Guard Baton.
But with their faces wide open and trading blows, he felt a weird sense of pride preventing him from drawing his weapon.
He felt like drawing his weapon would effectively mean he’d lost.
That’s why he kept exchanging punches.
“You’re dead, you bastard! For real!”
Si-hyun tightened his fists once more and approached Max.