While the soldiers were still in chaos and unable to mount an effective resistance, Maximilian made a swift move, appearing above as he closed in on Manifesto.
Manifesto launched several light spears toward Maximilian, but they were easily deflected by the shadow sword Maximilian conjured.
"Shit!" Manifesto blurted out in alarm as Maximilian entered lee range.
Despite the pressure, Manifesto, ranked as the number two hero globally—didn’t stay idle. He unleashed his trump card: bursting out a wave of hardlight like shrapnel, hoping to injure Maximilian or at least slow him down.
But Maximilian had already prepared. A shadow shield rose from beneath his feet, intercepting all the shrapnel before transforming into spears that pierced all four of Manifesto’s limbs.
"Arrrrrghhh!"
Manifesto cried out in pain as blood splattered across the concrete floor. Maximilian then controlled the shadow to form a collar, locking it around Manifesto’s neck and embedding it deep into the ground. The only way to remove it would be to dig out the concrete itself.
Once everything was secure, Maximilian turned away and walked off, leaving Manifesto struggling against the restraints.
"Wait! You think you can do this and walk away without consequences!?" Manifesto shouted.
Maximilian stopped and turned slowly.
"Heh! Do you even know who I am? Do you know what kind of connections I have? Gideon Voss, the UEC Chief Secretary, is my direct superior! I ca here under his—Urrrgghh!"
Before he could finish, Maximilian stomped on his stomach, cutting him off with a painful grunt.
"Does that an I only need to eliminate Gideon Voss, or whatever that guy is, to stop all this? Thanks for the information." Maximilian tossed out the remark coldly before vanishing into the darkness.
A few minutes after Maximilian’s departure, the pain slowly faded from Manifesto’s body.
"Shit! That bastard!" he cursed the mont he could speak again.
But before he could act, soldiers in different uniforms stord the area, led by none other than Theodore Monroe, the Fort Commander himself.
"Oh? What do we have here? Mr. Manifesto? Do you need our help?" Theodore taunted with a smirk. Normally, he wouldn’t mock anyone, but Manifesto had flaunted his authority earlier, and now that he was in a pinch, Theodore couldn’t help himself.
"You! Fort Commander! Help ! Nihilus attacked us! This is under your jurisdiction!" Manifesto shouted, trying to leverage Theodore’s duty.
But Theodore raised a hand, silencing him.
"Manifesto, don’t try to play that card with . You and your friends from the Central ca here without my approval. So how can I be responsible for your damages? I didn’t even know you were here until five minutes ago when we heard the explosions," Theodore said with a grin.
"You..." Manifesto was stunned. He had no retort.
Both of them knew Theodore was bullshitting, but the truth was: neither Manifesto nor the Central forces had inford him. That alone made it impossible for them to fault him.
Besides, all the Central soldiers involved were special forces, and if they claid the local enforcent should’ve known, they’d be admitting their own covert op had been compromised. That would only lead to more problems.
Thus, the Central’s attempt to pass responsibility onto Theodore had failed.
"But never mind that," Theodore said casually. "I’m not here to ddle in Central’s secret operations. I’m here on request from Mr. Strauss regarding you, the pri suspect in the assassination of a Level 9 UEC agent. Please co with us."
With that, he signaled his soldiers, who moved forward and placed EF-suppression handcuffs on Manifesto.
"You! You can’t do this to !" Manifesto protested.
"Trust , Manifesto. I can," said Theodore before leaving, letting his subordinates handle the rest.
anwhile, at Maximilian’s house, as evening fell, Atherna and Rebecca were enjoying their chat. They had grown close enough to call each other sisters.
Rebecca herself didn’t know why she felt so accepting toward Atherna. Usually, she wasn’t quick to trust new people, but sohow Atherna made her feel safe as if she could be trusted. It was strange.
"Becca," Atherna called out. "I have sothing to tell you. More like a confession."
"Huh? What do you want to tell ?" Rebecca asked.
Atherna gave a soft smile, cold yet laced with mischief.
"Maximilian and I are a couple," she began, her hand glowing subtly beneath the table. A golden light with a clock pattern slowly appeared.
"Yeah, I kind of figured," Rebecca replied as she nodded, calmly cutting the butter cake in front of her with her fork.
"Also... Maximilian is an only child. Max is just an identity he uses to fool the authorities and keep them from bothering him," Atherna continued. The clock-patterned light beneath the table began to intensify.
"What did you say?" Rebecca was startled. She wanted to stand up and demand an explanation, but instead, she felt more curious than angry. She couldn’t explain why.
Unbeknownst to her, the glowing clock pattern behind her head was becoming more visible.
"Listen to first. It’s not his fault. You t him when he ca to find you, right? That was because of his teacher, Blood Mongoose’s, last wish. If he went out using his real identity, it would have brought him a lot of trouble. That’s why he used a fake one," Atherna said, still maintaining control over the glowing pattern in her hand.
"But isn’t that..." Rebecca turned to glance at Max’s clone, who was still manning the counter.
"That’s just a temporary clone. It dissolves after twenty-four hours," Atherna explained.
"Then... was I... with the clone or..." Rebecca hesitated, trying to ask whether all her interactions had been with the real Maximilian or just the clone.
Seeing Rebecca’s reaction, Atherna smiled gently.
"No. Except for today, all of your interactions with Max... or rather, Maximilian, were genuine. He wasn’t using a clone, and his feelings for you are real," Atherna said.
"Also... I don’t mind sharing as long as you agree to one condition," Atherna offered, raising her index finger.
"What... what’s the condition?" Rebecca asked nervously. She felt like she was about to make a deal with the devil.
"Your body. Let use it for one year. I want to have his baby. During that ti, you’ll rember nothing. It’ll feel like you just had one good night’s sleep," Atherna said.
Rebecca frowned upon hearing this.
"Wait... your body can’t have a baby?" she asked, a pang of pity stirring in her heart as she looked at Atherna.
She then went quiet and thought deeply. "It’s... a lot to take in. Let think for a while, and I’ll give you my answer," she finally said.
Hearing that, Atherna gave a sweet smile and released her power. The golden light under the table vanished.
At this ti, Maximilian brought Ricardo in to rest and recuperate. He entered through the back door.
The mont the door creaked open, Rebecca ca to check and found Maximilian in his black armor, resembling the man who had attacked them a few nights ago, and Ricardo, now covered in carapace.
"Max!" Rebecca face blushedm she imdiately back away butstopped herself feeling abit awkward.
Seeing this, Maximilian removed his helt, revealing his face.
"Oh!... it’s... it’s you... um... sorry." Rebecca was startled. She looked awkward, glancing at Maximilian and then quickly looking away, blushing.
Seeing this, Maximilian frowned suspiciously but didn’t press her further, assuming it was just one of her usual antics.
"Ricardo, go hide in the basent first," Maximilian instructed. "I’ll have Max bring you a bedroll and so blankets. Stay here for 48 hours, your body will return to normal."
"Ah, thank you, Boss. I appreciate it," said Ricardo before heading down to the basent. Max, the clone, went upstairs to the second floor to fetch the supplies, followed by Rebecca, who went to help him.
At that mont, Atherna approached Maximilian and hugged him warmly.
"Welco back, Max," she said with a smile, planting a gentle kiss on his lips.
"Yeah, I’m back. Did you have fun today?" Maximilian asked as he stored his armor into his system storage.
"Yeah. I had a talk with Rebecca about a lot of things. She’s... surprisingly taking it like a champ. I thought she’d throw a tantrum or get angry at us," Atherna replied.
"Huh? What do you an?" Maximilian paused, recalling Rebecca’s strange reaction—how she had blushed and looked awkward after seeing his face. "Don’t tell ..."
"Yes... I told her everything," Atherna said with a mischievous smirk. "About us, about our plans... and I asked her too, if she’d be interested in sharing."
"Oh god..." Maximilian felt a headache coming on. "Okay... let’s talk. Tell everything, what happened from the start and how she reacted."
"Okay," Atherna said, pulling Maximilian to the front of the café as she began to explain everything.
After listening to Atherna’s explanation, Maximilian frowned.
"You what!? You told her the truth about Max and Maximilian being the sa person!?" Maximilian asked, incredulous at the revelation.
If it were him in Rebecca’s position, he would have already thrown a tantrum and stord off.
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