Chapter 282: An Ancient God's Fury

While Max struggled with his unfortunate predicament, the two sisters continued fighting with their lives on the line.

Antiope and Myrina moved like agile beasts, their bodies becoming blurs of green and blue as they exchanged one claw attack after another. Their movements were too swift for the naked eye to follow, and the longer their confrontation lasted, the faster they seemed to become, as though their bodies were only beginning to warm up.

Had Max witnessed their battle, even he would have hesitated before challenging either of them.

There was something ancient and savage about the way they fought, their movements resembling those of wild predators, with each attack flowing naturally into the next and their spectral claws leaving deep gashes in the trembling earth whenever a strike missed its target.

Yet despite their seemingly equal strength, there was one unmistakable difference between them.

Myrina’s blue claws repeatedly came within reach of Antiope’s vital points, but each time, her attacks strayed just enough to avoid dealing a fatal blow. She struck at her sister’s shoulders, arms, and legs, deliberately avoiding her throat and heart.

Antiope showed no such restraint, her green claws tearing through flesh whenever an opening appeared, each strike carrying the intention of ending her sister’s life. Blood stained the ground beneath their feet, and Myrina’s reluctance to retaliate with equal ferocity was gradually placing her at a disadvantage.

Their beastly roars echoed across the village, occasionally drowning out even the distant rumbling of the awakening Silver Crab.

The old shaman lowered her head upon hearing them, her expression growing weary. She made no attempt to interfere, however, for there were more pressing matters requiring her attention.

“Seems neither of them is ready yet,” she murmured, shaking her head. “Your daughters are still far too immature.”

Another powerful collision shook the village, followed by a brilliant eruption of blue light that sent violent gusts sweeping through the nearby streets. Loose timber and broken roof tiles were hurled into the air, forcing several villagers to shield their faces as they hurried away from the confrontation.

Even Max, who remained bound high above the ground, felt the sudden surge of power, his eyes widening as he turned toward its source.

“What the hell was that?!”

He had thought the enormous crab was terrifying enough, but the presence he had just sensed was astonishing in its own right. Although it lacked the ancient god’s incomprehensible magnitude, its sheer concentration was enough to make his two hearts beat faster.

Max searched for its source, soon noticing distant flashes of green and blue beyond the damaged houses. He had been so occupied with his predicament that he had almost forgotten about Antiope and Myrina’s confrontation.

“Don’t tell me…” he muttered, narrowing his eyes toward the battlefield.

For the first time since arriving in this village, Max stopped struggling against his restraints.

“Was I taking this place too lightly?”

He had spent weeks among these women, observing their customs and trying to understand their society, yet he had never considered what kind of strength they might possess. Even the old shaman standing beneath him had restrained him so effortlessly that he could scarcely comprehend the difference between them.

Max lowered his gaze toward her, finding the old woman already looking up at him. For a brief moment, neither spoke, although something about the way their eyes met suggested that an understanding had finally formed between them.

“Hey, old shaman,” Max called out, his voice calmer than before. “What’s the chance I’ll survive whatever you’re planning to do to me?”

The question brought a smile to her wrinkled face. She tapped her cane against the trembling ground and straightened her back slightly, considering his question.

“I’d say it’s more likely that a rabbit would learn to fly.”

Max stared at her before bursting into laughter.

“Not bad! Then today, you might actually get to see a flying rabbit, because I’m not dying here. I still have too many people waiting for my return, and I won’t die until I’ve given them a place they can finally call a haven.”

He lifted his head toward the rising forest, where the ancient creature’s movements continued to send clouds of dust into the sky. If surviving this ridiculous ritual was the only way forward, then so be it.

“So go ahead, old woman. Start whatever you need to stop that damn crab, and when we’re done, let’s have some stew. I’m starving.”

Max grinned down at her, seemingly having made peace with the absurdity of his situation.

“Big words for someone who has never experienced the wrath of an ancient god.”

The old shaman’s smile faded, her eyes growing serious. The sudden change in her demeanor made Max reconsider his earlier confidence, but before he could respond, a terrifying roar erupted from beneath the earth, shaking the entire village.

A strange silver mist began seeping through the cracks in the ground, struggling to rise at first, as though something was holding it back. Gradually, more escaped, spreading through the ruined streets until the entire tribe was enveloped in a pale, shimmering haze.

Max felt both of his hearts slow, their powerful beats growing strangely faint, almost as though they were attempting to conceal themselves from the unfamiliar energy.

Rage flooded him.

At first, it was little more than irritation toward his predicament. He hated being tied to this enormous dummy, and most of all, hated having his fate placed in the hands of an old woman he had little reason to trust.

But as the silver mist gathered around the wooden structure, slowly coiling upward like a serpent, his irritation grew into something far more vicious.

Memories he had desperately tried to bury resurfaced one after another. Faces of those he had lost, enemies he had failed to defeat, and the helplessness he had experienced when everything he had built began slipping through his fingers.

The rage fed upon those memories, twisting his grief and frustration into an overwhelming desire to destroy everything around him.

The pain soon followed.

It began deep within his chest before spreading through his limbs, setting every nerve in his body ablaze. His muscles strained against the ropes, his teeth clenched, and even the blood coursing through his veins seemed to burn with unbearable heat.

Max struggled to breathe as the silver mist thickened around him, its serpentine coils tightening around the dummy.

Through the agony, his vision darkened, and somewhere within that encroaching darkness, a pair of enormous crimson eyes emerged.

The same eyes he had witnessed before.

They stared at him from the depths of an endless abyss, their dreadful gaze threatening to overwhelm what little remained of his consciousness.

Max’s body convulsed, his fingers curling into trembling fists as the rage surged beyond anything he could contain.

A terrifying roar tore from his throat, reverberating across the village.

And for one horrifying moment, the voice that escaped his lips sounded exactly like the roar of the ancient Silver Crab awakening beneath the earth.