Chapter 13: The Queen of All Demons

Max finds himself inside a dungeon with Avery chained against the wall, unconscious, he breaks those chains in an instant and tries to wake her up; when Avery wakes up, she is shocked to find Max.

Avery: Max!! wha…what are you doing here, where am I, what is this place?

Max smiles and puts his finger on Avery's lips, then speaks in a soft whisper close to Avery's ear.

Max: Hush now, I'm here to save you, now c'mon.

Max pulls Avery up, breaks the dungeon doors with a kick, and runs up the long, seemingly never-ending staircase.

Avery (flustered): Mmax…I-i can walk by myself, pput me down.

Max (smiles): Nonsense, you haven't recovered completely, plus, this way, it's much faster.

Avery: Wwait, am I not too heavy?

Max (smiles): Ha, you're as light as a feather.

Avery looks at Max's determined face, she gets a sense of hope, a sense of security as she looks at him, Max notices her but Avery averts her gaze, turning red before meeting Max's who simply smiles; after reaching the end of the staircase they find themselves at a huge golden door, Max gently puts Avery down.

Max: Now this is important, whatever you do, don't look scared, don't do anything you wouldn't do in a ball, and DON'T look into the eyes of whoever you see.

Avery: Wait, what do you mean?

Max: You'll see, don't forget what I said.

Max holds Avery's hand, Avery braces herself for whatever lies behind those doors; once the doors open, Avery can't help but freeze at the horrific sight — a ballroom filled with the undead, these were people that Avery knew, her classmates, her friends at the band and even her sisters — Max tightens his grip on Avery's hand, with his usual smile plastered to his face, they begin waltzing as the music begins.

Max (smiles and whispers into Avery's ear): Calm down, this is all just your imagination, I'm here for you.

­Avery closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, everything around her disappears, but to her horror, Max had turned into an undead, she can't help but shiver with fear as she closes her eyes, everything around her reappears Max smiles and yells "WELL, PARTY'S OVER." once again, he carried Avery and made a run for the next door, dodging the undead, during the chaos he coughed up some blood and tries to ignore it but suddenly feels nauseous; back in the real world we see a conversation between Vernon, Louis and Amy.

Vernon (shocked): He's been there for about an hour and a half; a normal person would've died in half the time.

Louis: That's it, we gotta do something about this.

Vernon: We can't, if we sever the link now, we might lose them both.

Louis: We have to at least try.

Louis jumps into Max's confined barrier, Vernon rushes to stop him only to find Amy, already there in front of Louis.

Amy (sighs): I go to the restroom for one minute and things already go haywire.

Louis: THIS ISN'T FUNNY, Max could die, don't any of you care?

Vernon: Not really, I'm just curious to see how much blood an Oritsu has inside its body.

Amy (grins): Max has been through tougher scrapes than this.

Even as they try to reassure Louis, he ignores and rushes to Max's aid only to stop at the immense aura emitted by him, Vernon observes closely and is taken aback by the amount of aura released just by raising a finger, he looks at Amy who is simply grinning, this concludes their argument and they all return to the other space.

Amy looks at Louis and gives him a mischievous grin, she then holds Louis and tickles him.

Amy (grinning proudly): See, what'd I tell ya

Louis: Haha, wait, stop, hahaha.

Vernon (laughs): Well, that's what you get, maybe next time you'll listen to your elders.

Louis: Fine, Hhahah, lesson learned.

As they were all back to their usual selves the barrier behind them bursts open, they see the Guardians of Frostveil with another mysterious figure emitting a ton of bloodlust from behind them, none of the B-rank adventurers had seemed to notice this.

Atlas (shocked): Woah, what is this place?

Anna (stepping in cautiously): Don't get too close, dear.

Atlas: Wait! I know that kid, you fiends, you kidnapped him.

Vernon: Hold on now, I think we got off on the wrong…

Louis: HEY! WHO'RE YOU CALLING KID, THESE ARE MY FRIENDS.

Atlas (gasps): They have brainwashed the poor child, fret not, we'll save you from the clutches of evil.

Atlas leaps into the air with his sword and aims at Vernon who easily knocks him out, Amy swiftly knocks out the rest leaving only the enigmatic figure standing.

 Back inside Avery's head, her vivid imagination made things harder for Max, but he simply shrugged it off and made it to the last door.

???: Well, this is quite a surprise.

Max (smiles): I didn't wanna keep you waiting…Lilith.

Lilith: You're a fool to think you can defeat me, Luci; the girl's imagination only makes me more powerful.

Lilith attacks Max, but he dodges, he gently puts Avery down, away from the demon queen's line of sight.

Avery: I'm sorry Max, you shouldn't have come here, I'll kill us both now, oh no, I'm sorry.

Avery starts to cry from her despair but Max puts his hand on her shoulder and gives her a reassuring smile

Max (smiles): It's okay, Avery, I'm here for you now.

He holds Avery's chin and lifts her head up.

Max: Do you know why I chose you; it's because of your willingness to improve, now this may be your scariest fight but you don't have to do it alone, now you can come out when you're ready or you can stay here, it's okay.

He then leaves Avery and strikes Lilith she easily blocks it and attacks Max again, after a series of attacks Lilith stabs Max multiple times at each of his vital spots rendering him unable to move.

Lilith (smiles): It's all over for you, Luci.

Max (pants and the smiles): Is it…just me…or you're getting weaker?

Lilith (shocked): Impossible.

She looks behind to find Avery standing right behind her, her eyes carried a newfound spark, she had a determined look on her face, one to even scare of Lilith.

Lilith: FOOLISH BRAT, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?

Avery: Stay away from my friend, you monster!!