Chapter 2465

"The moon was clear in the sky just now, and there was not a cloud in sight. Where did this fog come from?" Maxim muttered as he pulled Thresmund along. They moved through the mist.

"Where is this place? There are trees all around us... But I remember the forest being in the opposite direction of our house. What's going on?"

At that moment, Thresmund pointed to the right. "Senior, look!"

Maxim turned his head and saw a faint light in the distance.

"It looks like there's a house over there," Thresmund said. "Senior, what do we do? We've lost sight of our master..."

Maxim thought for a moment and then pointed toward the light. "Let's head in that direction, where the light is."

Thresmund nodded in agreement. "Okay."

The two of them hurried toward the source of the light, but no matter how fast they moved, the light always seemed just out of reach, like it was impossible to get close.

Just then, Maxim felt a burning sensation on his chest. He quickly reached into his robe and pulled out the anti-magic stone. That stone was something Malior gave Maxim before his meeting with the other family heads.

It was originally meant for Maxim to safeguard temporarily, but since Malior had been in seclusion ever since returning, Maxim had not had a chance to give it back.

At this moment, Maxim noticed something unusual-when he held the anti-magic stone, the thick mist in front of them seemed to dissipate significantly. Using the stone to shield themselves, Maxim led Thresmund toward the light.

However, instead of finding a house, they found a cave. They spotted Malior's figure walking deeper into it and followed him.

Though the cave seemed small from the outside, it opened up into a huge chamber on the inside. A giant, glowing branch caught their attention. Thresmund stared in awe at the enormous branch. "W-What is this thing?"

Just then, Maxim heard a voice and quickly covered Thresmund's mouth. "Shh, look."

Thresmund turned to glance toward the branch, only to see several family heads standing there along with their master.

At that moment, the head of the Goodee family stepped forward and addressed the group, "Everyone, you've done well. Now, I must ask you all to die."

The people before them seemed to have lost their minds as they said nothing. The head of the Goode family continued, "After all these years, I finally found it— the perfect body for my lover's rebirth! Now..."

He sliced a branch of the Celestial Tree, gave a twisted smile, and commanded, "All of you, obey me! Step into the Celestial Tree!"

The tree began absorbing everyone around it. At that moment, Maxim and Thresmund rushed forward.

"Master!" Maxim yelled, throwing the anti-magic stone toward his master before using his true energy to shield himself and Thresmund.

The moment Malior touched the stone, he slowly raised his head. "W-What's happening?!"

"Master!" Maxim shouted again.

Malior quickly grasped the situation and retreated to a safer distance. "My disciples, are you alright?"

"Master, we're fine. How about you?" Maxim asked.

"I almost fell for that bastard's trap!" Malior cussed and shot a glance at the head of the Goode family.

The head of the Goode family glared back and exclaimed, "What?! Impossible! How could my Soul Remote Art fail?!"

Maxim looked to Malior, his eyes asking for an explanation. "Master, what's going on?"

Malior turned to the head of the Goode family and shouted, "It's no use! You can't bring the dead back to life!"