The villagers had vanished. Max just wanted to thank them for their help, but instead they were gone. For the first time ever since he met them, they had shown emotions. Mostly something that resembled sadness and empathy. Max wasn't a great emotional judge, but that's what he felt.
Max: They are gone...
These words slipped out of his mouth as he wondered what they were. He knew they were human before, but now he wasn't sure if they were "just ghosts".
Albert: I think we should go...
The Samurai who was behind him stated the option of going forward with the mission they came to carry out. Max turned to the brown haired, blindfolded man and looked at his right arm, that was caressing the boulder. He had pushed it to the side, with his brute strength. And he had the audacity of saying all his strength came from the Blessed Artifact called the Excalibur.
Max bent down to see stairs in the ground. It led underground. It appeared dark at first, but there were hints that light existed on the other side of the stairway. They could see a slight illumination at the end of what looked like an underground tunnel.
Max: What do you think is down there...?
Albert: I don't know. But I think it's quite dangerous. I can sense a lot of powerful auras down there.
Max gulped. He had a tough time fighting even a single person. He had no chance in winning against a group of people, let alone a group of psychotic super powered people.
Albert looked at the expression Max had. Even though he was blind, he could sense the uneasiness emitted as a form of aura from Max.
Albert: Don't worry. Almost all of them are weaker compared to us.
Max: That's great then....wait!! Almost..???!?
Albert nodded in response.
Albert: There are two powerful auras that I don't think we can manage alone.
Max wondered if it belonged to porcupine man and the hulk ripoff, but he was terrified to face them nonetheless.
Max: Even you can't handle them..? I'm not a fighter you see.
Max was being completely honest with him. Max was indeed, not a fighter. He was trained in martial arts by his brother, but that was mostly for self defense, to protect himself from the bullies. Max had entered various martial arts competitions but he had lost every single one of them. There was no hope for him now too. Granted, he had superpowers now, but so did the enemies.
Albert: I may be formidable to you, but I don't think I stand a chance against an Ameliorate.
Max: What..? Even you can't?? Please let this be something like "you are too humble", because I don't like our odds of winning.
After procrastinating for a while, Max and Albert entered the hole. They descended the stairs as carefully as they can, looking out for traps. Albert had intended to go fast, but it was Max who had suggested the idea of traps. He had played way too many games to know that villains, are usually so petty.
When they reached the end of the staircase, they found a long corridor leading straight ahead. There was a red carpet on the floor, with golden embroidery on both sides. The wall was painted to be white, but had cracks everywhere. There were holes in the wall that had blocks of light. It was a cuboid structure that looked like a brick, but was glowing yellow, illuminating this pathway.
Max: What are these...?
Albert: Lightblocks. Someone with the Blessing of the Light God,, made these and sold worldwide. No one knows who that guy is though.
Max thought that without electricity, this is how these people work. He wished he could recreate electricity to show people how it works and amaze them, but he had no idea how to make electricity, so he gave up.
Albert: We need to be quick. I can sense their auras. They are fully intending to kill anyone who stands in their way. But, it doesn't resemble the aura that your friends gave.
Max: What do you mean..? You can't see the three of them here?
Albert: No. They don't appear to be here...do you think they are already-
Albert paused mid-sentence. He figured he shouldn't jinx it anymore. He thought it was better for Max to think they are still alive.
Max: You know...I'm ready for the possibility that they are actually already gone. I just don't want to accept it. As long as hope exists, I'm willing to fight for it. Every second and every minute. As long as they are alive, I won't run. I WILL save them, no matter what!!
Albert looked at him and stopped in his tracks. He was genuinely amazed by his words. Max also stopped a few steps ahead of him.
Max: What's wrong? Why did you stop??
Albert: Nothing. It's just...you sounded a lot like my Master right now..
Max: Stop it...don't creep me out here.
Max knew that he himself was not amazing in any way. He wasn't the hero he saw in the films. He was extremely selfish and was scared of a lot of stuff. He had betrayed his friends once, and suffered for it, internally. That was the onky reason he didn't like leaving anyone behind or snitching on them.
And even though he desired to be the hero, there were many times where he looked the other way when others were bullied, only because he didn't want to have a target on his back. He wasn't brave or strong. His desire was never enough to make him a hero. But now he had power to fight. He still lacked the courage to stand up to someone, but he would still try it.
Max: Come on, let's go!
Max started running ahead, knowing that he doesn't have time to be wasting here. If he was too careful about traps he might probably let them die, even though he didn't know if they were alive.
Albert followed him closely running as fast as he can. There were many twirls and turns in the same corridor, and Max was choosing them at random. And then they came to a clear area. Even though Albert knew the general direction they needed to go, he wasn't able to map out the entire place that looked like a maze.
Albert: I'm sorry for stating that they might be dead. I think they are alive somewhere, where vibrations don't reach me. The same happened to me at the entrance of this place. The same might happen inside too, as I can't see where we are supposed to go.
Max: You know, you can always remove the cloth ON YOUR EYES!!!
Max growled at him, cause he was mad. Mad at Albert for wearing the blindfold, as if giving himself an handicap. But it only made things worse with that.
They finally bad reached q place where they could find railings. They were above a huge castle hallway. Down there were chandeliers hanging mid-air. The chandeliers had candles all lit up on them. It suddenly felt like they had entered a gothic vampire castle suddenly.
??: Looks like we have some uninvited guests over here..
Max heard a voice echoing throughout the entire castle. They were on the fourth floor of this huge structure. The ground floor was a majestic hall resembling a Victorian castle, while every other floor, six in total looked like a gallery, all being able to look down at the hall. Max and Albert were on the edge of the railings in the fourth floor inward balcony, also known as a gallery.
??: Trespassers are punished with death...
And this mysterious voice, that Max recognized and deduced that it belonged to the Porcupine man, echoed through the castle again. But the person was not seen. His sentence was followed by a maniac- like laughter.