CHAPTER 312: A FIGHT NO ONE COULD TOUCH

While Max and Chrono clashed at the center of the chaos, the sound of fighting around them was beginning to fade.

The Bloodline Group students had pulled back, catching their breath, as they let the Chalkline Boys and the Rejected Corps tear into each other. Whenever two of the rival gang members grew too weak or distracted, the students would swoop in, finishing them off together in one decisive strike.

Without orders from their leaders, without anyone left to coordinate them, the rival gangs had completely fallen apart. Their alliance had shattered, and all that remained was desperation.

Only one fight truly held the room’s attention now, Max versus Chrono.

No one dared to step in.

Max’s chest rose and fell with each breath, sweat glistening across his face. One of his eyes was slightly swollen, his body battered from the exchanges. But his fists remained clenched, his stance unbroken.

After Chrono’s elbow had been shattered, he had wasted no time, using the moment to drive his good fist into Max at close range. It had landed, but it wasn’t enough to put Max down.

And now, everyone around them knew better than to interfere. They could feel it, this wasn’t just another brawl. This was personal, a grudge deeper than anyone else could touch.

Max hadn’t rallied the entire Bloodline Group for no reason, and he hadn’t picked a random gang to go after. This was his fight, and his alone. Whatever had been taken from him, whatever he carried inside, this was where he meant to settle it.

"You little thief!" Chrono spat, fury twisting his features. "Do you have no shame? First you copy Na’s fighting style, and then you copy Dud’s as well! What are you trying to do, steal everything? Steal everything from me?!"

Chrono lunged forward, swinging his arm wide.

Max ducked low, slipping beneath the blow, and seized Chrono’s broken arm. With a sharp twist, he slipped behind him and drove his boot into Chrono’s back, kicking him hard to the ground.

"Me? Steal from you?" Max growled, his voice heavy with venom. "I hardly had anything. And it was because of people like you, people like Dud, that whatever I did have was stolen from me!"

Chrono scrambled back to his feet, his rage outweighing his pain. He swung again, but Max met him head-on.

This time Max’s fist slammed into Chrono’s stomach, a devastating strike that sent him flying across the floor. The sound of the impact echoed, and Chrono hit the ground hard, skidding across the bloodstained tiles.

The punch had carried all of Max’s weight, all of his fury, and all of his strength. To anyone watching, it was the kind of hit that could end a fight outright.

"I know how heavy his punches are," Rick muttered from the sidelines, watching intently. "They really hurt."

Chrono groaned, forcing himself up from the floor, his teeth clenched in defiance. "What do you mean by that?" he rasped. His body shook, but he wasn’t finished yet. Chrono had endured more than his fair share of beatings in his life, this wouldn’t be the one to keep him down.

Chrono’s breath was ragged, but his glare remained sharp. He thought back to the people who had once called themselves his superiors, those who had claimed the right to lead him. In the end, every single one of them had fallen. Chrono had survived, clawed his way out of those beatings, and proved himself by taking control. He had made it clear he wasn’t someone meant to take orders. He was someone meant to give them. That conviction had carried him here.

"Dud said you betrayed us!" Chrono snarled. "And now, with all of these people you’ve gathered, it’s obvious you were planning something from the start!"

"Dud said I betrayed you?" Max’s fist clenched tight, the veins in his arm visible. "It was Dud who was working with the Chalkline Boys! He’s the one who tried to have me killed! And do you know who died instead?" His voice cracked with rage. "Jay!"

The name cut through the restaurant like a blade.

The Bloodline Group froze for a moment, then anger rippled through them like fire in dry grass. Those who had known Jay, those who had laughed and trained alongside him, felt fury twist in their guts. Some lashed out at the men lying groaning on the ground, kicking them harder, venting their rage on the scum who had brought them here.

"What, what are you talking about?!" Chrono barked, his voice breaking with denial. "You’re just spouting lies!"

"Do you think I give a damn if you believe me or not?" Max shot back. His voice was raw, heavy with every wound he had carried. "The truth doesn’t care about what you think. Dud betrayed you. And when I ran into him by accident... I dealt with him."

Max’s chest heaved as he stepped forward. His voice rose higher, filled with grief and fury.

"But you couldn’t stop there. You couldn’t stop at one betrayal, one death. You had to kill Abby too! And for what?! For what?! Are lives so worthless to you? Are they so easy to throw away?!" Max’s eyes burned, his voice breaking into a shout. "We don’t get second chances!"

The frustration poured out of him like a storm breaking, each word striking harder than the last. And now, everyone in the Bloodline Group who had followed him into this fight finally understood. They knew why Max had gathered them here, why he had declared war on the Rejected Corps and Chalkline Boys.

"I didn’t know we were part of something this deep..." one of the students whispered.

"Jay was kind. Everyone knew it," another muttered, fists trembling. "And they killed the boss’s girlfriend too..."

"These people are filth," someone else said coldly. "They were roaming our streets like they owned them. If they could kill high schoolers so easily, who knows what else they would have done?"

A murmur spread through the Bloodline members. For the first time, their rage felt like something more, it felt like justice. A grim kind of justice, but justice nonetheless.

Max’s eyes never left Chrono. "I’m not going to let you rot in a prison cell," he said, his voice low, dangerous. "I’m going to end your life."

He stepped forward, and in that instant, Chrono’s hand shot into his jacket.

A flash of metal appeared as he ripped out a gun, leveling it straight at Max.