In the house of mysteries, Kael and Maxwell were fighting in the large open garden. However, surprisingly, it wasn't even a proper fight because Maxwell was getting overwhelmed by the sheer number and power of Kael's attacks. In fact, throughout the entire fight, Maxwell wasn't even able to land a single hit.
"How did he get this strong in such a short amount of time?" Maxwell thought, who soon got launched by Kael with a powerful punch, causing him to fall to his knees. "Impressive for someone like you," Maxwell said, standing up.
"You have already surpassed the speed of sound," Maxwell added, adjusting his glasses. "However, you aren't relying on your abilities that much. Instead, you're only relying on your raw strength and speed."
"Still actin' tough after I beat your ass?" Kael said with a slight smirk.
"Don't get too full of yourself, I barely tried," Maxwell said, his eyes narrowing. "My ability may manipulate only lightning but I have trained myself to go at the speed of light. You only fought against me at the speed of sound."
Kael scoffed, cracking his knuckles. "Be at any speed and I'll still kick your ass."
"I see," Maxwell said, his eyes sharpening and his body turning into lightning, causing him to move extremely fast. So fast that Kael couldn't even see Maxwell yet alone the attack. In one second, he went from standing to being buried in the wall. "What...?" Kael said slowly, his eyes widened and his mind still processing what had happened.
"Almost no person can move at the speed of light," Maxwell said, appearing in front of him. "Except that barber and your father. Maybe even Alex."
Kael's eyebrow slightly twitched. "So basically everyone except me, huh."
"However, you will soon surpass them if you train for a month or so," Maxwell said, adjusting his glasses once again. "So get up."
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Meanwhile, outside the fourth branch, Lucius had both of his arms cut off by Lucia and was heavily injured. "I am surprised you managed to last this long," Lucia said, though her face remained stoic. "But this is as far as you will go," she said, about to finish him off with the final blow.
"There is such a fun fight...without me?" Justin said with a smirk, appearing out of nowhere. "Lucia, you can rest easy now because I'll take care of this guy."
"Don't interfere. I was just about to kill him," Lucia replied, a bright light coming out of her palm, which was aimed towards Lucius. However, before she could launch the light like a laser, killing him, Justin interfered and grabbed Lucia's hand. "I said that I'll do it," Justin said in a slightly threatening voice, his face darkening and turning more serious.
Though, this didn't faze Lucia at all. She simply cut off his hand by summoning her glowing yellow sword and swinging it with one smooth and quick motion with her one hand, causing Justin to scream out of pain. "You...bitch!" Justin screamed, taking a few steps back. However, Lucia didn't just stop there but she cut off his head in the very next moment.
But surprisingly, his head and hand regenerated. Muscle, bones and everything else quickly made itself as if nothing had ever happened. "Just kiddin'," Justin said with a slight smirk. "Well whatever. I'll be sure to make you my bride the next time we see each other," he said, turning around and waving, disappearing instantly in the next second.
But as Lucia glanced over her shoulder, she noticed that Lucius was gone. However, instead of getting annoyed and moving on, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Did...Justin distract me so that he could run away?" Lucia thought, though, she quickly rejected the idea and started to head towards the second branch as if nothing had happened.
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Meanwhile, Todd was staring at the second branch's entrance, a casino. "I don't think the Avarien Kingdom allows gambling," Todd said with a slight smirk. "They hunt down criminals but earn money through illegal ways...how very interesting."
"I am surprised that this isn't taken down. They must have paid the government," Todd said, slowly approaching the casino. "However, if my suspicions are correct, there's something deeper within the casino, a dark truth they have been hiding," he said, calmly entering the casino.
"Now then...where is that dark truth hidden?" Todd thought, his eyes narrowing to an isolated door. Though, upon closer look, there was a small text that said "Employees only". And not only that but there were two guards standing near the door.
"I am sorry sir but this is employees only," one of the guards said, a black, muscular man about six and a half feet tall. "You are not allowed to enter."
"I see," Todd said, turning around and leaving the casino so that no one would be able to see him.
"Time stop," Todd said, a gigantic clock appearing behind him, causing everything in a fifty meter radius to freeze, not even particles were moving. Everything, even the clock's needles and people stopped moving, which Todd took clear advantage of by casually entering the casino again, taking his sweet time.
And once he had made his way to the door, he simply opened it and entered it, closing the door behind him. "Resume,"Todd murmured with his hands in his pocket, causing the clock to disappear.