Chapter 812: Change of situation
For a long moment, silence hung over the grand gathering like a thick fog as everyone processed the revelation, countless experts staring at Max in utter shock, their eyes wide with disbelief, because of the accusations from the Thunder Monarch Hall and Void Soul Tower had swirled of a mysterious youth who had supposedly slain prodigies at the peak of the Legend Rank, and they had all imagined some secret monster in human skin, a youth whose strength was veiled and monstrous.
Yet here he stood before them, calm and fearless, revealing himself as nothing more than an 8th-level Master Rank expert—someone powerful by ordinary standards but still utterly incapable of slaying geniuses standing at the pinnacle of Legend Rank.
Whispers rippled through the crowd like waves cresting on a restless sea, as experts leaned toward each other, murmuring in confusion and shock.
"Damn, accusing a 1-star genius who’s only at the 8th level of Master Rank of killing a 3-star genius and a Heaven Grade genius is wild!" Someone shouted from among the sea of experts gathered before the swirling purple portal, their voice brimming with disbelief and carrying across the sky, sparking an immediate chorus of agreeing voices that rose like the roar of an oncoming tide, as all the tension and confusion that had simmered for so long finally exploded into raw, open outrage and incredulity.
Another expert, his eyes wide with exasperation and scorn, leaned toward his companion and barked out, "Right! I mean, seriously, what the hell were the members of the Thunder Monarch Hall and Void Soul Tower thinking? Are they idiots to blame the killings of a 3-star genius and a Heaven Grade genius on a mere 1-star genius?! Even if they wanted to humiliate the Great Ruler Empire, they should have at least chosen someone like Princess Lyra or even the First Prince to blame—people who might actually have the strength to pull off something that insane! But blaming a 1-star genius who’s only at the 8th level of Master Rank is just downright idiotic."
His words seemed to crack open a dam, because another voice, trembling with righteous fury, rang out from nearby, "What Thunder Monarch Hall! What Void Soul Tower! They’re nothing but shameless scum, to think they’d stoop so low as to blame the killings of their precious geniuses on a weak little 1-star genius who’s only at the 8th level of Master Rank—it’s utterly shameless and pathetic!"
His face was red with indignation, and his fists clenched as spiritual energy flickered faintly around him, unable to contain the sheer outrage swelling in his chest.
Yet another expert, a young woman whose eyes glittered fiercely, added in a voice tight with empathy, "No wonder Max said he didn’t understand anything. He was being blamed for something he hadn’t even done. Damn it all, just thinking about it makes me furious! If anything like that were to happen to me—if I were falsely accused of killing powerful geniuses—I can’t even imagine what sort of hell my life would have become. The shame, the suspicion, the pressure... it would crush anyone."
Her voice caught slightly, as though the weight of the very idea was suffocating.