One of the demons chuckled in human language.
Max looked at them and noticed that these demons were neither from the Bloodwing nor the Devil horned race he was familiar with.
They had green coloured skin that seemed to be covered in tiny triangular scales and they had green, vertical pupils, looking like humanoid versions of a snake.
"Demons from the green serpent race?" The Elvin team leader narrowed his eyes at them.
"Your eyes aren't that bad since you can recognise us, huh? That's right. We are from the mighty Green Serpent Race." The demon who laughed just now proudly stated, confirming the Elf's speculation about their identity.
"Damn it! Just how unlucky are we?" The Elvin team leader cursed while the elf who had mocked Max a couple of times — who was also one of the few unlucky ones to get seriously injured in the surprise attack just now — pointed at Max and angrily said,
"This must be because of him. He is a jinx. We shouldn't have brought him here."
"Heh, a jinx, you say?" Max couldn't restrain himself and said in a derisive tone, "If not for my warning, even more of you would've gotten seriously injured and you… you probably would be dead already."
He very well knew this wasn't the time to point their fingers at each other and they should be focusing on the demons in front of them instead, but this ignorant guy kept irritating him. So, he couldn't endure it anymore.
Of course, this wasn't all, and he had another motive behind it.
He knew demons had an innate sense of superiority and tend to underestimate other races often and if they saw them arguing amongst themselves, they would surely watch them in amusement and won't attack immediately, giving him a precious few moments to cast the [Calidus Brachium] at his current limit, which was: 9000 mana units.
He was well aware that other than him, only the five other guys who didn't get injured just now could fight, but even then, they would be overwhelmed by the numbers as soon as they clashed. So, he planned to take one down in his first attack and even out the playing field a little.
The Elvin team leader frowned when he saw Max and his companion argue while the demon laughed out loud, "Kekeke! How amusing! You are still trying to fight each other when death is upon you all."
Saying this, he looked at the Elf who was blaming Max and said in a contemptuous tone, "You are really useless. If I was your team leader, I would've eaten by you now. Kekeke!"
He then looked at Max, his green pupils narrowing. "Ant, how did you find out we were here?" He asked and then added, "You must have some high-grade sensing device, right? Because I don't believe a tiny three-star human ant like you can sense us when we were using our concealment ability."
"Oh? So you guys can use a concealment ability? No wonder these teammates of mine couldn't sense you." Max nodded in understanding.
Not answering his question, and asked, "Is it a bloodline ability? If it is, I don't believe all of you have awakened your bloodlines. So, this ability of yours must be an area of effect ability and can conceal others within a certain range of the caster, am I right?"
"Hmm?" The demon narrowed his eyes at Max when he heard this.
"So, I am right." Max nodded in satisfaction and then asked, "If you don't mind, can you tell me which one of you has awakened your bloodline?"
"Why do you want to know?" The demon instinctively asked.
"Nothing too serious." Max shrugged nonchalantly and said,
"I just like your ability and am thinking of enslaving that person so I can take advantage of it in the future. A concealment ability like this — although not much to people like me or to stronger people — is still quite useful to have in these chaotic times, don't you think so?"
Everyone, be it demon or Elves, was stunned when they heard this. Enslave them? Had this guy gone crazy?
'This bastard! Does he want to die sooner by provoking them?' The elf who didn't like Max thought.
Sure enough. As soon as they heard this, all eight demons were enraged while the demon who had been talking to him laughed out loud, his eyes narrowing into slits and the scales all over his body quivering.
"HAHAHAHA!!! YOU WANT TO ENSLAVE US? SO DAMN HILARIOUS!"
Whoosh!
Suddenly, he vanished from the spot and when he appeared next; he was already in front of Max, his hand forming a claw, and his dark green nails sticking out.
"Watch out! Don't let him graze you. The demons from the serpent race are feared because they can use highly toxic poison." The Elvin team leader shouted out.
Although this was the first time he encountered them, he had heard about them from the survivors who met them in the last week. Ryan had especially stressed that they should be careful when dealing with them.
Max didn't respond because he was surprised by the demon's strange movement technique. It was just like a snake's movement, strange and deceptive.
"…BUT YOU NEED TO DIE FOR SAYING THAT!" the demon said ferociously.
"Is that so?" The corner of Max's lips suddenly curled up.
"Mm?" The demon frowned and had a bad feeling about this and just then, he heard one of his companions shout out,
"Watch out!"
Hearing this call, the demon didn't hesitate and wanted to retreat.
However, it was already too late.
Swoosh!
Just as Max had spoken, a violent, crimson flame had enveloped his right hand which then flew toward the demon's head.
Whoosh!
As soon as the blazing fist connected to his forehead, his green scales on his head flickered with light and became thicker, wanting to protect him. If it was a normal attack, his scales, which had a strong defensive and reflective power, could protect him.
However…
Was a-9000-mana-unit powered [Calidus Brachium] some normal attack? Of course not.
BANG!!!
The fist connected, scales broke and were sent flying before the demon's head exploded into pieces, which were then burned by the searing flames.
Max swiftly moved his hand and caught his demon core, storing it away.
Then all of a sudden, he felt chills run down his spine and jumped back at his fastest speed.
