Strongest Mage with the Lust system

Chapter 828: Exposed

Weng~

Immediately after the voice sounded out, the walls circling the town shone and a transparent dome covered the town.

Bang!

Just a few moments after the formation was up, the remnant energy attack swept toward the town, slamming against the dome, causing it to ripple violently.

Under everyone’s nervous gazes, after a few seconds, the dome became stable and the remnant energy attack flew into the distance, crashing into a forest far away.

While others heaved sighs of relief, the expressions of Emperor mages across the town, including Esme’s and Mr. Dylan’s, became grimmer.

Noticing this, Max asked, “What is it?”

Esme didn’t answer him. Instead, she turned to Mr. Dylan and asked, “What grade is this defensive formation?”

Mr. Dylan took a deep breath and answered, “Peak Grade Seven, just a half step away from quasi Grade Eight.”

Max’s pupils constricted when he heard this.

What did quasi Grade Eight signify? It signified that it was equivalent to a quasi Monarch-rank mage—had the defensive capabilities of one at least.

However, just a remnant attack, after having lost quite a bit of its power crossing the vast distance between the current battlefield of the Monarchs to here, managed to strain this formation.

This meant if the Monarchs were fighting slightly closer or this remnant attack was a bit more powerful, the formation would have shattered, and most of them would have become casualties.

“Just how strong are they then? High-Stage Monarchs?” Max couldn’t help but ask.

Esme hesitantly nodded, “Probably. However, the chances of them being mid-Stage Monarchs aren’t low either.”

Max was shocked, but after thinking for a few moments, he nodded in understanding.

He knew as one became stronger and reached higher realms, the difference between even the minor stages of a realm would only increase, which was also the reason why it was so difficult to make progress in cultivation as their cultivation realm increased, and this was also why fighting across realms became increasingly difficult.

All the Emperors continued watching the battle, and as time passed, their expressions turned increasingly ugly.

Max had initially thought that they were worried about the remnant attacks coming in their direction, but after watching the vague figures battle for a while, he realized the real reason, which was—one of the Monarchs—a Demon Monarch—was deliberately targeting them. He was constantly trying to move in their direction and was causing the remnant energy attacks to fly off in their direction.

Fortunately, the other Monarch wasn’t weaker than him and managed to stop most of his sneaky advances.

Max stared at the Monarch who was using lightning magic for a while and turned to Esme and asked, “That lightning user, could he be from the Thunder Family?”

Esme wore an amused expression as she shook her head and communicated through her Divine Sense,[It’s not just the Thunder Family or my Valiant Family that specialize in Lightning and Thunder elemental magic, though we are among the best.]

As she said this, she sighed, remembering the Valiant Family was no more. Then she continued,

[If I’m not wrong, he should be from the Purple Thunder Sovereign Peak, one of the seven Sovereign powers.]

[I see,] Max nodded.

While they communicated, Mr. Dylan looked at Esme with a scrutinizing gaze which was mostly focused on her black hair.

After a few moments, his eyes lit up, ’So, she is the woman the Thunder Family has issued a bounty for.’

Before entering the Central Plains, knowing the Thunder Family wouldn’t stop looking for them just because the war was ongoing, Esme and Gene had dyed their hair black—the most prominent mark of their Valiant Family lineage.

This had succeeded too, because the guards, who surely knew about the bounty, didn’t suspect them.

Now, however, Max’s careless mention of the Thunder Family had exposed her.

Esme furrowed her brows when she felt Mr. Dylan stare at her and turned to him.

Ba-Dum!

When she saw the hint of recognition in his eyes, her heart skipped a beat. Immediately, she realized why he was staring at her and couldn’t help but smile bitterly in her heart.

Turning to Max, she sighed, “You should have dyed your hair too.”

“Huh?” Max looked at her in confusion, not understanding why she suddenly brought up this topic.

Then, however, he also saw Mr. Dylan’s expression and understood what had happened.

’Fuck! I was careless.’ He cursed in his heart before quickly calming down and met Mr. Dylan’s gaze with an expressionless look on his face.

“What are you going to do now?” he asked.

Standing beside him, Esme slowly released her aura, staring at Mr. Dylan dangerously. If not for Max speaking to him, she would have attacked him and would have tried to leave the town by now.

His expression calm, Mr. Dylan stared at the duo in silence for a few moments before he shook his head and said, “Nothing.”

Saying this, he moved his gaze toward the ongoing battle, ignoring them.

Esme narrowed her eyes in response, clearly not believing him, but Max felt he wasn’t lying—he really didn’t plan to expose them.

Though he hadn’t used his bloodline sense because he knew it would be useless on an Emperor mage and would even alert him, he believed in his instincts. So, he communicated with Esme and told her to believe him.

Esme continued staring at Mr. Dylan’s back for a while. Then, she flew down with Max and entered the inn.

Max sighed, knowing she didn’t believe him and planned to leave the town as soon as possible. He didn’t get angry, nor did he try to stop her.

“Young Master!”

However, just as they entered the inn, Ling Han called out from behind, a hint of anxiousness in his voice.

Something told Max to talk to him, so he patted Esme’s hand and said, “You go and tell everyone to get ready.”

Esme glanced at Ling Han, nodded in understanding, and let go of him before rushing upstairs.

Max turned to Ling Han, “What is it?”

“You are leaving?” Ling Han asked.

“Yes.”

Ling Han’s jaw set, and his fists clenched tight.

A hint of surprise and curiosity flickered in Max’s eyes when he saw this, but he didn’t say anything and instead waited for him to speak.

Ha!

Ling Han exhaled deeply and bowed deeply toward him, saying, “Young Master, I need your help.”