The team descended into the underground chamber, the air growing colder and heavier with each step.

The walls of the boss room were lined with strange, alien carvings that seemed to pulse faintly with a sickly green light. The chamber was vast, its ceiling lost in shadow, and the ground was covered in a fine layer of ash that crunched underfoot. At the center of the room still far from the group, stood the boss, Xrak, the alien reaper.

Jimmy, walking beside Max, glanced at his hand and noticed the strange ring with the mirror like gem. "Hey, Max," he said, his voice tinged with curiosity. "What's with the new ring? Didn't see you wearing it before."

.

Max smirked, his eyes glinting with amusement. "One must always be prepared when fighting a boss," he said cryptically.

Jimmy frowned but didn't press further, his attention quickly drawn back to the looming threat ahead.

The alien reaper stood tall, its slight metallic frame cloaked in what seemed to be a tattered space suit.

Its elongated skull glowed faintly, and its hollow eye sockets seemed to pierce through the very souls of those who dared to face it.

The moment the team laid eyes on it, some of them froze, their faces pale with recognition.

"That's… that's the reaper," one of Kane's nameless teammates stammered, his voice trembling.

"The alien reaper. I've heard stories… no one survives an encounter with it."

The reaper tilted its head, as if amused by their fear. Then, without warning, it vanished. A split second later, it reappeared behind one of Kane's men, its clawed hand closing around the man's head.

With a sickening crunch, the reaper tore the man's head clean off his shoulders, the body collapsing to the ground in a heap.

The team erupted into chaos. Julio's starfish pets shot beams of light at the reaper, but they were deflected by an invisible force, a perfect, 360 degree shield of telekinetic powers that surrounded the reaper at all times.

Nicholas charged forward, his flaming fists slamming into the shield, but the reaper simply teleported away, reappearing behind another of Kane's men. Another head was taken, another body fell.

Max hovered in the air, his wings beating slowly as he fired occasional shots from his pistols.

He made sure to keep his distance, his movements calculated and deliberate. He wanted the ones watching to think that he didn't want to draw the reaper's attention, not yet.

Plus from up here, he could observe the reaper's telekinetic Powers more clearly, it was strange unlike his own, it only extended to a maximum of half a meter from the Reaper, but it's applications were mind boggling like the teleportation, and the ability to apply sudden pressure to one's hands or claws, that pressure is strong enough to one hit anyone of the same rank.

' incredible.'

...

The others were struggling, their attacks ineffective against the reaper's telekinetic shield and its ability to teleport at will.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Leandro, the summoner from Max's group, tried to summon reinforcements, but the reaper was too fast.

It teleported behind him, its clawed hand slicing through his throat before he could even react. Leandro collapsed, his lifeless body hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Jimmy was next. The reaper appeared behind him, its clawed hand reaching for his head.

Jimmy's monkey pet leapt in front of him, taking the blow meant for its master. The monkey was torn apart in an instant, and Jimmy was sent flying, his body slamming into the wall. He lay motionless, his fate uncertain.

The fight was brutal and one sided. The reaper moved with terrifying precision, its telekinetic powers allowing it to exert immense strength and deflect every attack. The team was being wiped out, their efforts futile against the alien's overwhelming power.

....

Exactly ten minutes into the fight as if set by a clock, the reaper turned its attention to Arabelle. It teleported behind her, its clawed hand reaching for her head.

Max, who had been biding his time, acted. He flew forward, shouting something that sounded heroic but was mostly for show.

In all honesty he didn't kn5what he was shouting as He pointed the mirror ring at the reaper, and a green orb shot out from the gem, it's speed was terrifying.

Woooosh!

The orb struck the reaper and the stunned Arabelle with a deafening

K-BOOM.

The explosion was massive, engulfing the two in a blinding green light.

When the light faded, both the reaper and Arabelle were gone, leaving only a smoldering corroded crater in their place.

The survivors stared in stunned silence, their breaths ragged and their bodies trembling. Max landed softly on the ground, his expression calm but his hand now empty.

The ring was gone, shattered into pieces as if it had been a one time use item, of course it wasn't and Max just applied slight strength to it.

"What… what just happened?" Julio asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Max shrugged, his tone casual. "I told you, one must be prepared when fighting a boss."

The others exchanged uneasy glances, their fear of Max now mingled with a grudging respect. They didn't know what to make of him, but they were alive, and that was enough for now.

The exit gate opened, but the team didn't leave immediately.

They began searching the chamber for treasure, their movements slow and cautious.

...

Max, however, wandered off on his own, his mind already elsewhere. from Xrak He knew there was nothing of value in the chamber, but he needed to buy time.

Away from prying eyes, Max took out a mirror and pulled Lucy and Mok. The fairy and the crow looked exhausted, their small bodies trembling from the effort they had exerted earlier.

Max had tasked them with pulling his massive cannon into the mirror world and aiming it at the mirror in his ring.

It had been grueling work for the two, but they had succeeded. The cannon had fired exactly ten minutes after the fight began.

As for the paper, Mok pushed it to the mirror next to Xrak and it just informed him to target Arabelle exactly after 10 min from the start of the fight.

"Good job, you two," Max said softly. He returned them to his pet space, giving them the rest they deserved.

' can i use phone' asked Lucy hopefully.

'nope, but good try. '

Max ignored the grumbling at the back of his mind as For the next five hours, He wandered the dungeon, pretending to search for treasure. The others eventually gave up and waited for him, their exhaustion outweighing their curiosity.

As Max finally rejoined them, he was surprise by the fact that Jimmy survived, the others should of helped him out while he was strolling through the dungeon.

"Oy Jimmy, you survived! good for you."

"Thx, it's all because of you Max, otherwise I'd of died here."

"Don't mention it, sorry about you pet by the way." responded Max half heartedly.

"Don't be, It's a new pet anyway, my pervious pet died not long ago."

Max just smirked speechless.

"well it's time to say goodbye everyone."

Without waiting for a response Max walked through the gate.

.....

Outside Max didn't see Victor nor did he care to, as directly used [World of mirrors] and entered the mirror world through a tiny mirror fragmented placed in his boots.

From an outsider's point of view Max looked like he was being absorbed by the earth itself as he disappeared in an instant.

Max's number one rule is to avoid trouble as much as possible, at least in his current power level, so he escaped immediately even if no one was looking for him specifically.

The team that followed Max out was stunned by the fact that he was gone out of sight completely.

.....

Inside the world of mirrors, Max walked through a mirror he had placed before entering the dungeon, it was exactly at the maximum range of [World of Mirrors]. 500 m away from the dungeon gate.

Outside he fly up, making sure to fly at low altitude to avoid unnecessary attention.