Max had never been the intellectual kind of individual.
He had never wondered about things like cause and effect, or how he might be at the receiving end of some of the actions that he once inflicted on an opponent.
However, when Bavuma blasted open the time chamber with a powerful explosion and burst inside, Max who was peacefully overlooking the scenery with Neatwit could not help but wonder if this was how Angakok must have felt when he burst into his time chamber?
" WHO DARES TO INFILTRATE A TERRITORY GOVERNED BY THE TRUE ELITES? " Neatwit instantly burst with rage as he pulled out his sword and faced the intruder with rage.
Thousands of True Elite Guild members as well as the few hundred Bloodfall clan soldiers that were present within the time chamber all drew their weapons and prepared to fight Bavuma, who seemed unfazed at the quality of the opposition that he was facing.
" Who is incharge here? " Bavuma asked with an unimpressed expression on his face as he scanned the room to determine who was the strongest individual inside.
" I AM! " Shouted Neatwit, who was coincidentally also the highest levelled individual within the room as Bavuma turned his attention to him and unleashed his true aura.
" PAH! " Neatwit grunted as he fell to one knee, unable to withstand the strength that Bavuma was projecting outwards while Max barely stood upright while sweating profusely.
' It's him Max! He killed my master Agni! ' Drax exclaimed in Max's mind as Max etched the face of this opponent in his mind.
Max was wondering as to how his brother could not detect such an impressive figure in the council meeting, however, it seemed like this old freak was able to conceal his identity really well.
Even when Max tried to cast 'inspect' spell over his body in person, all that returned were a series of [ ???? ]
" Hand over the time seed to me without struggle, or else I'll butcher everyone in here this instant " Bavuma demanded as Max felt his chest tighten at this demand.
The time seed was essential to the future plans of the True Elites guild as well as his own growth and if possible Max did not wish to give it away.
However, it was clear by the attitude and aura of this particular opponent that he was much stronger than what Neatwit and Max could handle and hence Max wished to prioritise self-preservation first.
" Guildmaster, let's heed to his demands, brother will surely settle this matter for us later " Max whispered as he suggested to Neatwit to make concessions today.
Neatwit was naturally reluctant as well, however, he wasn't stupid.
He was not going to risk a fight against a potential monarch with so many guild members being around as he calmly accepted Bavuma's terms.
" Fine, but it's guarded by several formations and will take me sometime to retrieve, I hope you are patient till then " Neatwit said as it was indeed the truth.
To keep the security of the seed tight it was protected by several layers of high grade formations that needed to be disabled manually one at a time.
This was a time-consuming process and Bavuma needed to patiently wait until then.
" For every minute that you take, I shall kill one of your men with you yourself being the tenth kill for me-
Your time starts now! " Bavuma said emotionlessly as Neatwit instantly panicked.
" YOU MONSTER! " he exclaimed as he scrambled to get to the central part of the time chamber where the time seed had been placed.
For the first forty seconds, he scrambled to deactivate the barriers around the time seed, but then he realised that it was impossible to deactivate all the barriers within 5-7 minutes.
For the next ten seconds he contemplated his options seriously as his heart began to beat faster and faster.
Nervousness, panic, helplessness, anger all coincided as he fell into a moral dilemma over what to do?
Eventually, he sucked in a breath of cold air and silently recited the guild mantra
' One for all, all for one, go elites go- ' as he reminded himself that it was his duty as guildmaster to not let a single one of his men die if he could potentially help it.
If that mad bastard was going to kill him, then be it! However, he wasn't going to watch his men die before his very eyes as guildmaster.
Drawing his sword, he began gathering divine essence as he boldly looked straight into Bavuma's eyes.
" You are definitely not killing my people on my watch " Neatwit declared boldly as he went in for the offensive at top-speed.
" Foolish… " Bavuma said with a sigh as he prepared to strike back.
***********
( Meanwhile Rudra )
" I've grown too complacent…. " Rudra thought as rushed to open a spatial portal for the time chamber.
As soon as the queen notified him that Max's life was in mortal danger, Rudra glanced at what was going on and was shocked to see the elites and Max being attacked by an unknown assailant.
After becoming the strongest in the universe, Rudra had grown complacent thinking there was no one who dared offend his family anymore, however, he was wrong.
There were still old monsters in this universe that he had no idea about and although it only took him a moment's time to teleport from his location to the time chamber.
Unfortunately, time flowed differently inside the chamber from the outside.
What seemed like only a moment for Rudra, was akin to a few precious minutes inside the chamber as he could never be sure as to what went inside while he scrambled to arrive.
Coincidentally or not, the time chamber was one such location where the queen could not physically manifest her form and she too needed to first manifest herself on the outside and then enter the vicinity which was even slower than Rudra arriving personally.
However, all that did not matter as most likely the battle had already been decided by the time even Rudra entered the building.
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