"No, no, we didn't kill them." One of the hunters gathered with Max and the others immediately protested.
"Yeah, in fact, some of us saw them heading towards the Storm Canyon with other hunters." Another joined in, a man in his late teens.
"Other hunters?" Nash repeated, his tone icy as he bent down, bringing his face closer to the man who had just spoken. His piercing gaze seemed capable of seeing through lies. "Tell me," Nash said slowly, "are those 'other hunters' present here?"
The man flinched under Nash's intense glare, visibly trembling as he shook his head. "N-No, none of them are here," he stammered. Summoning a flicker of courage, he added, "I saw almost twenty hunters accompany the Bouncer Squad toward Storm Canyon… but none of them are here now."
Nash stared at him for a moment before his fist moved.
Pang!
A punch landed squarely in the man's gut, crashing him to the ground.
"Do you think your plan is brilliant, or do you take me for a fool?" Nash growled, his voice dripping with menace. He bent down and grabbed the man by the neck, hoisting him effortlessly into the air.
"Some of you killed them," Nash snarled, his piercing gaze locking onto the man's panicked eyes, "and now you're spinning ridiculous excuses, thinking I'll believe them."
He punched again.
"Gghh!"
The man screamed in pain. "I-I am telling the truth."
Nash stared at him for a moment before sending him back toward Max and the others. "Just stand there. We will know the truth in a minute."
He then turned to the brown-haired lady beside him. "Erica, if you will," he said, glaring at her.
"Oh, it's my turn?" Erica giggled as she walked slowly toward the group and took out a lantern burning with purple flames.
Alice, who was standing a little distance away, widened her eyes in pure shock as she stared at the purple lantern. "That lantern… It couldn't be…"
"It's the Lantern of Purple Death." The old man standing beside Alice said solemnly. "Legend has it that those under the contract of the Lantern of Purple Death… their final moments can be seen in the purple flames if the killer's blood is mixed with it."
"Then… wouldn't the truth be revealed?" Alice asked, her voice trembling with concern.
The old man spoke calmly. "Don't worry… Your brother should arrive any moment now. Until then, let's see how things unfold."
Alice nodded lightly, though her face remained filled with concern.
---
Nash looked at the twenty or so people gathered before him and pointed at the purple lantern.
"Now, you must be wondering what this lantern is for, right?" He chuckled, seeing their fearful eyes, and continued. "For those of you who haven't done anything, you don't need to worry. But if any of you have blood on your hands concerning the Bouncer Squad, know that you are done playing."
He looked at them one last time before turning to Erica. "You can continue now."
"I will, but you just had to play with their minds even at the last possible moment," Erica chuckled, pleasingly at Nash as she appeared before one of the hunters gathered.
"It's just work and nothing else." Nash shook his head, declining her words.
Erica smirked at him, then focused on the hunter in front of her. "Show me your hand," she demanded.
The hunter, trembling, extended both hands in front of her.
'What are they doing?' Max wondered from the side.
"One will suffice," Erica said, as her hand began to glow with red light before she swiped it at the hunter's hand.
"Aggh!" A small cut appeared on the hunter's hand, causing him to grunt in pain.
What surprised everyone else, though, was that the blood dripping from the hunter's hand was drawn toward the purple flame on the lantern like a magnet attracting iron.
After five seconds, Erica looked at the hunter and said, "Huh, you are innocent."
The hunter sighed with relief, while the rest of the gathered people looked puzzled. They couldn't understand how Erica had determined his innocence.
'Could this be some sort of killer-identifying artifact?' Max frowned, his thoughts swirling with countermeasures against the purple lantern.
Many others were tested with the purple lantern, each proving innocent one by one.
But this only made Max's heart grow colder.
He didn't know how this lamp worked or what it tested to prove someone's innocence, but he understood one thing—if the lantern's true purpose was to find the killer, then everyone else but him would walk away from there.
'There has to be something I can do here,' Max thought desperately, examining each and every test that had proven the others innocent.
Others were tested one after another proving them innocent and it seemed as if God was him, he was ignored by Erica for others.
But his turn eventually came in the end as Erica appeared before him.
"Quite the bold person to go to an F-rank dungeon with your strength," she commented as soon as she saw him.
"I just wanted to try," Max said, extending his right hand.
"Try, you say?" Erica scolded. "You're just a kid, and here you are trying to kill yourself in an F-rank dungeon with your strength. Have some patience, grow a little stronger at your academy, and then try your luck, kid."
Max laughed embarrassedly. "I'll keep that in mind."
Erica nodded as her right hand began to glow with red light. "It'll feel like you've been stung by a bee."
With those words, she swiped her hand toward Max.
"Huh?" But then her expression suddenly shifted, a mixture of confusion and amazement flashing across her face.
Forget about her— even Max found himself staring at his hand in amazement. It was completely unharmed, not even a scratch on his skin. What stunned him the most was that he hadn't felt anything, not even the faintest sensation, when she had attempted to cut it.
"What? Did you find something?" Nash stepped forward, his sharp gaze piercing through Max like daggers.
"No, it's just that I failed to cut his skin," Erica said, frowning.
Nash shook his head. "It's because of this softness that I'm leading the investigation here." He sighed. "Do it again." Though he didn't think anything would come from the result.
"You have quite tough skin, you know that?" Erica said softly as she once again swiped her hand at Max's hand.
This time, she managed to cut his skin, drawing blood.
Max concentrated all his focus on the Three Dimensional Body skill, making sure every drop of his blood contained a wisp of black flame inside.
However, only two drops of blood were drawn toward the purple lantern before the wound on his skin healed completely, leaving no trace of a cut. It was as if the injury had never existed.
However what nobody noticed was that Max's attention wasn't on his own super healing factor but instead on the purple flames blazing on the lantern.
'This feeling…' Max appeared puzzled by something before a look of understanding dawned upon him.
"Fascinating!" Erica exclaimed, seeing Max's healing potential before turning her attention to the purple lantern.
Some distance away, Alice stood with her palms wet with sweat, anxiously watching everything.
"No reaction whatsoever," Erica said after five seconds, turning to Max. "You're good to go, kid."
Max nodded lightly, sighing in relief.
"So, what now?" Erica turned to Nash.
Nash stood with a solemn expression on his face. "It just doesn't make sense that the lantern didn't react to anyone here," he said, pondering.
"Maybe it was a suicide mission," Erica shrugged. "Those who killed the Bouncer Squad may have committed suicide inside the dungeon. That would also explain the missing hunters who never came out of the dungeon with the Bouncer Squad."
"Or maybe it's Alice." Nash said glancing at her direction.
"Now, you will charged guilty to your friend's sister?" Erica asked raising his brows.
"No I won't." Nash said shaking head. "Though you may be right about the whole thing. It might be a suicide squad whoever killed the Bouncer Squad," he shook his head in pity before turning his attention to the people he had gathered for the investigation.
"You are all dismissed," he said loudly.
Hearing that, everyone around Max sighed in relief. They had been on edge this whole time.
'It's finally over,' Max thought, sighing as he began to leave. He didn't want to stay there a second longer.
But as if fate had other plans, a huge silver sword descended from the sky and floated beside them.
'The Blade Family!' Max's eyes narrowed as he dashed toward the forests of the Outer Circle.