With lips curled up while brandishing his dagger, Smiling Death continued to chase after Max, who was only doing his best to get out of the reach of his attacks.
Max looked to be losing, but he was only holding himself back from using his skills. The reason for that was he had some concerns on his mind.
Max was currently on his Shadow Thief disguise with a set of black clothing and a mask on his face. He had been wearing this even before they had made their way to this location.
Yu'er and Xue also have their own black clothing and masks to prevent anyone from identifying them. Another reason was to create a new identity. This identity will be for when they would have to accomplish some risky activities against others.
With all this, even the tiniest clues had to be hidden away. They couldn't let anyone associate this identity with their real ones.
There can be no mistake here, as this would be crucial in their future plans.
On the other hand, their real selves would be the ones who would act like normal Awakeneds doing normal things.
If one day, they were to find themselves bullied in multiple fronts, they could use this second identity to destroy all their enemies, and all that attempts to hinder their progress.
Max knew that even if he does not intentionally make any enemies, there will still be one day that formidable enemies would arrive.
If he couldn't control how and when it would happen, then he could at the very least make some preparations for it.
However, it wasn't only so that he could keep himself and the people around him safe. That was one thing, but the other was his understanding of what can keep him ahead of others, which can give him the most advantage.
Working in the dark would make everything a lot easier than using his real identity on various stuff he had to pull off.
On the outside, Max could be a powerhouse that other Awakeneds would have to be careful of, and in the dark, he could be an unstoppable figure that would come and go unhindered by anyone.
The Shapeshifting Skill that Max had also played a role in his disguise, changing his body shape, further preventing others from connecting it back to him.
Having all this in mind, Max's concerns was using his skills, such as the Purple Lightning and the Target Charm.
These skills could be associated with Layla and Lydia and in the worst case, would only bring them a load of unwanted trouble.
Not only that, they were only here because they saw the live broadcast of the bats taking over a secluded mountain village.
This meant that somewhere in this area, there was someone or something catching everything that was happening and showing it out for everyone around the world to see.
Until now, Max hasn't found where that location was. Yu'er and Xue also still seemed to be searching for it as if they have located it, they would surely notify him.
Having no clue where it was, the live broadcast could be anywhere around him. Being seen by countless Awakeneds using those skills, never a good idea.
Though the Target Charm was hardly noticeable with only a light pinkish glow surrounding the target, the Purple Lightning would definitely capture everyone's attention.
Layla and Lydia might also chance upon the broadcast, and since it was originally their own skills, they would surely be able to discern it with one look.
This, in turn, made it not good for Max to show his skills out, which made this fight a slight disadvantage for him. However, it doesn't mean that he had no way of countering back.
His only problem was the fiery flame that burned around the weapon. His senses were telling him that he had to stay away from it.
Smiling Death kept swinging the dagger, not giving him any second to breathe. There were only a few things he could do to beat this madman.
Sweat poured down his forehead as he sprinted away with a dagger-wielding man behind him.
Max wanted to prolong the battle to give himself some more time. In any case, when it comes to running, he was confident about lasting a long period.
While on the move, his thoughts quickly tried to come up with a plan against the constant assault targeted against him.
Max was headed towards where he came from, outside the eerie forest. He was aware that he might only be lost when he hastily went deeper inside it. At that time, even if Max were to shake off his pursuer, he might only find himself in a more serious situation.
Who knows where he would be then. Max didn't want to spend the night in this place. Given a choice, he would rather face this guy in a direct battle than to be lost in this lifeless land.
Occasionally, Max had to turn his body to avoid the deadly slashes coming from the man. No matter how hard he tried to think, he couldn't think of a solution.
This put him in a difficult spot where he might have to decide to use some items to counterattack. Max had no other choice since he had no way to defend the hits directed at him.
Smiling Death couldn't be more annoyed. He felt like his target was the one playing with him. Every time he got close, his target would suddenly accelerate, leaving him to chase once more.
Also, his dagger always missed. His target was like a fish in the water, jumping out of his reach the second he thrust his weapon out.
Even while he was annoyed, his face still kept its smiling expression as if he wasn't fazed by the numerous failures of his attempts, although his eyes say a different story.
Max kept looking back to react at the closing dagger instantly. He had been dodging away for quite a while now and was getting used to the man's movement and attack pattern.
No matter how much he thought about it, for someone who has such a fearsome weapon, his pursuer didn't look to be an expert capable of making full use of the weapon.
If the man didn't have that kind of weapon and had instead used an ordinary dagger, Max would have thought that he was only using it for the first time. His hold on the weapon looked somewhat strange. Max genuinely doubted whether the weapon was his property.
As he glanced back once more, his eyes suddenly landed on the ground behind the man. Max noticed a small detail he had missed.
Why was the ground trailing behind them undamaged? A moment ago, the terrifying flame's heat was enough to scorch the earth. Why wasn't it in effect now? Did the flame perhaps lose some of its power?
No! That wasn't it! The ground beneath the man clearly still had scorch marks on it. From his position, it seemed like it was burning from the heat generated by the flame.
After turning his head a few times more, Max discovered that the flame only affected the surrounding area around the man. Outside of that range, no damages could be seen.
Was it a trick all along?
