Maximus Lonihor

Maximus Lonihor is the Animal Kingdom’s Head Disciple and its strongest D-Grade fighter in the constellation. His pursuit of Jack turns a factional capture attempt into a public contest of power and reputation; his angel battle form and formidable technique let him challenge Jack, but pride and overconfidence shape the fatal final exchange. (Chapters 279–302)

Biography

Pursuit of Jack on Hell

Maximus first appears as the senior fighter sent to stop Jack Rust, Shol Pesna, and Dordok from escaping Hell. He is already treated as a force whose arrival changes the odds: his winged knights break the trio’s coordination, and Shol and Dordok struggle to fight him together. The Sage’s intervention prevents Maximus from capturing them, and the escape leaves Maximus angry and personally invested in finding Jack. His response is not to retreat from the failure but to mobilize the Animal Kingdom’s D-Grades, suspend their other work, and order an exhaustive search. (Chapters 279–280, 285, 287)

That failure also exposes the personal and political stakes behind his pursuit. Maximus is Artus Emberheart’s nephew and can speak candidly with him in private; Artus is both the Warden of Hell and Maximus’s uncle. When Artus initially resists escalating the search, Maximus presses him, then accepts the order to enlist C-Grades and continues searching himself. He is therefore not merely following a faction’s orders: as Head Disciple, he wants to recover the honor and authority Jack has challenged, and he is willing to expand the operation to do so. (Chapters 289, 291–293)

A Battle That Forces the Public Duel

When Maximus catches the escaping group, Jack fights him while Shol and the Sage engage other opponents. Their combat is close enough that Jack believes he can match Maximus, but the clash remains unresolved when the Warden arrives. Jack turns that interrupted battle into a public challenge, using the projection stones and the audience’s view of their fight to make refusal look like fear. Maximus becomes the Kingdom’s chosen opponent in the duel, a role that carries the burden of restoring its public standing as much as defeating Jack. (Chapters 293–296, 298–300)

Before the duel, Maximus is presented as the strongest D-Grade in the constellation and Galicia Lonihor’s son. In the arena he treats the fight as a matter of supremacy and factional face, declaring that Jack’s defeat will end in suicide. He also uses the rules and audience to frame the encounter: he begins his transformation in a way that tempts Jack to attack prematurely, then waits for the full battle form rather than giving Jack an easy opening. That calculated display reflects both his political awareness and his belief that, once fully empowered, he cannot be beaten. (Chapters 299–301)

The duel proves his belief wrong without making him an unskilled opponent. Maximus matches Jack’s flight and teleportation, adapts his swordsmanship through repeated exchanges, and presses the attack with Heavenly Divide and then Final Heavenly Divide. Jack wins by anticipating the latter’s commitment and changing his own orientation mid-attack, striking down through Maximus’s slash. The blow shatters the light attack and crushes Maximus in the arena. His death is broadcast across the galaxy, leaving the Animal Kingdom publicly humiliated and giving the Warden a personal reason to pursue Jack. (Chapters 301–302)

Appearance and personality

Maximus is a leonine with a powerful aura and a self-assured, often openly arrogant manner. He can command a hall of D-Grade fighters through force of presence, and he treats deference as natural to his rank. In combat he is disciplined and exceptionally skilled, but his conviction in his own supremacy leaves him vulnerable to underestimating Jack and committing to a decisive strike. His four-winged angel form wears armor of light and carries a sword of radiance. (Chapters 280, 285, 294, 301)

Abilities and cultivation

Maximus is a D-Grade cultivator who combines the Lonihor family’s Dao of Supremacy with an innate physique to enter an angel battle form. The source establishes this as a feature of the Lonihor and Emberheart noble families, but does not spell out the innate physique’s mechanics or the form’s cost and duration. Maximus is identified as the strongest D-Grade in the constellation, and his demonstrated fighting skill lets him keep pace with Jack’s flight and teleportation during their duel. (Chapters 294, 299–301)

Dao of Supremacy and the Lonihor angel form

Maximus can call down golden radiance and manifest winged knights armed with heavenly weapons. During the battle on Hell, the knights attack from multiple directions and each is described as equivalent to a low D-Grade; Jack’s attacks disperse many of them, and when Jack threatens to turn on the approaching immortals, Maximus begins gathering the knights’ golden motes around himself for a greater display of his “supremacy.” Their independent tactical behavior is shown, but whether they are autonomous beings or constructs is unknown. (Chapters 294–295)

In the public duel, this radiance resolves into the Lonihor angel form: four feathered wings, armor made of light, and a sword of light. Maximus uses the wings for flight and sudden acceleration, reaching speeds likened to three times the speed of sound and combining that movement with teleportation to pursue Jack through the air. The form improves his mobility and gives his strikes exceptional reach and force, but does not prevent Jack from matching his movement or regenerating from wounds. (Chapter 301)

Sword techniques and combat skill

Maximus’s swordsmanship is a central part of his threat. His movements flow from one defense into the next, and he can redirect attacks while changing position through teleportation. He uses Heavenly Divide as a powerful descending light slash; Final Heavenly Divide is a more committed, high-energy version that leaves him with little room to retreat or recover if it fails. Jack reads the final attack and exploits Maximus’s expectation that his opponent will continue the apparent upward punch. Its known risks are the commitment required and vulnerability to a counter. (Chapters 301–302)

Relationships

• Jack Rust: Maximus’s adversary. He leads the pursuit of Jack on Hell and later represents the Animal Kingdom in their public duel. Jack kills him in the duel, turning their conflict into a public defeat for the faction. (Chapters 279–302)
• Galicia Lonihor: His mother and the planetary overseer. The audience learns she is Maximus’s mother during the build-up to the duel; she is later shown using the same family battle form with six wings, indicating a more developed version of the transformation. (Chapters 299, 321)
• Artus Emberheart: His uncle, the Warden of Hell. Their family relationship gives Maximus private access to Artus, while the failed pursuit and public duel intensify Artus’s anger after Maximus’s death. (Chapters 289, 291–292, 302)
• Shol Pesna: A recurring opponent during the escape from Hell. Shol fights alongside Dordok against Maximus and recognizes how difficult he is to match. (Chapters 279–280, 293–294)
• Captain Dordok: One of the companions Maximus tries to stop from escaping Hell; Dordok joins Shol against him in their initial clash. (Chapters 279–280)
• Sapasun: The Animal Kingdom deacon who fights Jack before Maximus in the public duel. Maximus follows the duel’s opening and Jack kills both opponents. (Chapters 299–302)

Items

No separately significant item is established as Maximus’s personal possession. His light sword and armor appear as parts of his angel battle form. (Chapter 301)