Max did not need to strike for them to survive, yet he intervened quietly at moments when a centipede would surface unexpectedly, his warnings made the group avoid the centipedes every time it appeared.

Each time Max gave warnings the group gained a few steps of safety, and with every detour the distance between Nina's team and the next swarm widened. The repeated detours planted a seed of curiosity in both Nina and Evan.

They compared notes silently in glances and in the way they adjusted their formations, and the same question pressed at the edges of their minds. How could Max, who ranked lower in cultivation according to the usual measurements, sense these centipedes long before anyone else did?

"The weight upon our body is kept increasing the more we walked." Max said to them looking at Nina and the fate compass. "It seems we are heading in the right direction."

Evan didn't say anything nor did Nina about Max's words.

Nina held her Fate Compass more tightly as they walked, its needle steady yet inscrutable in her palm. Evan watched Max with a hardness that did not soften even when he thanked the crown in his head with a just-visible nod of respect.

Both of them knew three things at once: Max had saved them more than once, Max bore the golden crown, and the crown carried influence that made others obey without second thought. Those facts did not erase their unease.

Curiosity finally pushed Max to speak, and he chose a casual tone to hide the intention. "So, what is this Fate Compass?" he asked Nina, as if the question had come from idle interest rather than calculated inquiry.

The question snapped the group to attention like the crack of a whip. Nina's posture stiffened and Evan's eyes sharpened. A thin wall of tension rose between them and Max as though his words had revealed a new possibility to be guarded against. They felt, with the blunt certainty of hunters, that his interest was not innocent.

Evan's jaw tightened and Nina's face turned guarded. They began to put pieces together in a way that made them wary. If Max knew of the Fate Compass already, then he had been following them for longer than they realized, and he might have tracked them precisely because of what the compass would lead them to find. The thought that he might covet the compass tightened the circle of their mistrust.

Nina's fingers tightened around the compass in her hand, her knuckles paling as she weighed her options. She could feel the weight of Evan's caution and the sharp attention of the others behind her, yet she knew she could not lie in this place. The wasteland itself seemed to press down on them, and deception would only make things worse.

"It is a treasure," Nina said at last, her voice calm but edged with restraint. She held the compass close to her chest, its faint glow reflecting in her eyes. "It comes from my world, and its purpose is to guide someone toward their fate. These compasses are rare beyond measure, and what makes them even more precious is the bond they carry. Once a Fate Compass is tied to a person's destiny, it can guide only that one person. Afterward, its essence scatters and vanishes forever."

Her words fell into the silence, and Max's mind began to move quickly. He studied the compass in her hands, and the explanation filled him with thoughts that refused to settle. According to everything he had seen in Acaris, such an object was impossible. He had never heard of anything remotely similar, not even in rumors passed through the ancient guilds or whispered by the oldest elders.

'This is a profound treasure,' Max thought, his eyes narrowing slightly as he considered the weight of what Nina had just revealed. 'If such a thing appeared in Acaris, humans, demons, and nulls alike would fight each other to extinction just to claim it.'

At that moment, a familiar voice echoed in his mind. "I believe this Fate Compass she speaks of is a treasure of the Divine Realm," Blob said, his tone measured yet solemn. "A treasure with the power to track fate cannot be created in the mortal worlds. Only a master of the Divine Realm would be capable of forging such an item."

Max's eyes flickered faintly as he listened, his mind aligning with Blob's words. He gave a slight nod to himself. It made sense. Fate was not an ordinary element or a path anyone could grasp so easily. The very idea of tracking someone's destiny in the mortal world bordered on the impossible. It was closer to magic than reality, something that transcended the ordinary laws of existence.

The glow of the compass reflected against Nina's face as she led them onward, but now Max's gaze lingered on it with a deeper understanding. What she carried was not just a guide—it was a mark of destiny, and one that hinted at forces far greater than anything this wasteland had shown so far.

Then suddenly sound of footsteps echoed faintly across the violet wasteland, crisp against the silence that stretched between Max, Nina, and her group. The rhythm of the steps grew clearer with each passing moment until three figures appeared on the horizon, walking directly toward them.

Their attire immediately set them apart. Each bore symbols, fabrics, and ornaments that did not match one another, clear proof that they hailed from different worlds. Their confident strides and the weight of their auras left little doubt that they were geniuses, chosen from their respective domains to walk this trial.

Nina's eyes flickered briefly toward the compass in her hand. Without hesitation, she quietly tucked the Fate Compass into the folds of her robes, hiding it from their sight. The glow that had guided them moments earlier disappeared into the shadows of her garment, her expression calm but inwardly cautious.

A sneer broke the air as one of the newcomers, a lean man with sharp features, pointed toward Max. "Haha, I knew it," he said with arrogant certainty. "That golden light shining in the distance could only have come from the golden crown. It belongs to one of the so-called top geniuses."

The second man stepped forward, his eyes narrowing as a mocking smile tugged at his lips. "You are right, Henry, but we have an opportunity standing right in front of us. Look at him. He is only at the sixth level of Legend Rank. No matter how talented he might be, his strength could never compare to that of a genius at the peak of the Mythic Rank. The crown must have chosen him because of potential, not because of power." His voice dripped with disdain as his gaze swept over Max.

The third man, broader in build and dressed in dark robes lined with silver patterns, let out a laugh that rumbled low in his chest. "Patrick, I never expected the geniuses of your planet to be so cunning," he said with amusement. "But if this is your plan, then let us try it. The worst that could happen is that we retreat. Even if his strength rivals ours, I do not believe he can kill us outright."

Their voices carried openly, not muffled by any attempt at voice transmission. They spoke as though Nina, Evan, and the others were invisible, as though the group had no presence worth considering.

Their words cut through the air without restraint, filled with arrogance and confidence. The mocking tones and dismissive laughter made it clear—they were not here to make allies.

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