Max narrowed his eyes slightly, his calm expression turning serious. The ground beneath his feet trembled faintly as he prepared himself, but before anything could happen, a confident and arrogant voice echoed through the air.
"Well, well. We meet again."
A young man stepped forward from the edge of the group, his stride confident and his face carrying an air of superiority. He looked barely older than Max, with sharp blue eyes that gleamed with conceit and a smirk that revealed how highly he regarded himself. His aura flared with divine light—the unmistakable power of a newly ascended Divine Rank genius.
It was Mike.
The golden-crowned genius whom Nero had mentioned to Max. The same one who had once ambushed him in the forest of the inner region and fled in humiliation after failing to land a single decisive blow.
