"Y..You..", Derek stuttered at the sudden increase in Max's strength.

But before he could speak any further, Max had already closed in on him.

His eyes widened and his face began to get dark. Derek knew that he couldn't avoid the blow.

He immediately brought his sword in front of his body planning to block the attack.

But suddenly Max turned his wrist and in front of Derek's wide eyes, the incoming stab turned into a punch which bypassed his sword by an inch and hit his stomach.

"Bang!"

The sound of the impact reverberated in the entire street.

Derek felt a sweetness rise in his throat as he staggered behind.

"Splash!"

Finally, he couldn't hold it any longer and the blood rushed out of his mouth.

"Clang!"

He pierced his sword into the floor pavement and stopped himself from falling onto his knees.

…

Max finally had reversed the situation.

One more hit...One more hit…

He pushed myself and broke into a dash trying to close in on that guy for the final hit.

Max's time was almost over.

He needed to make it.

Only 3 seconds were left.

He could see the duration of the skill.

Damn it!

2...seconds…

He was finally in front of him.

Max could see the man face him without fear in his eyes. He didn't even flinch as Max swung his dagger towards derek's neck. There was pride in his eyes. He wouldn't show his back nor would he back down in fear.

I didn't know why but at this moment, I felt this guy was better than the earlier ones. At least he had his principles.

1..second…

Max's dagger was only an inch away from his neck. He had made it in time.

And 0….

The skill bar for the Blood Lust went gray.

While his dagger…. never made it.

Just as the blade of his dagger dug into the man's skin. Max felt a strong grip on his arm.

He couldn't even budge in front of the strong grip.

Max turned his head to see a figure who seemed to appear out of thin air.

There was nothing extraordinary about that blue-haired man. He looked like a scholar.

"Alciel..you..bastard.. move... it is my fight.", Derek said in his trembling voice.

"This is the reason, I hate you people from Pride¹. Acting tough in every situation. Besides, even though you are from a different branch and my Masters' guest. Don't forget who I am", the man calmly talked as Max started to lose all the strength in his body.

"Oh! my..how rude of me. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Alciel Rowen, the Vice Master of Greed Branch." He said while looking at Max and then further continued with a smile, "And I would like to apologize as you are going to die soon."

As soon as he finished speaking, Max felt a pressure slowly descending on him.

…

On the other side, Lisa's eyes widened on that new person's appearance.

She knew about him.

Not only her but many people know about him.

'Why?'

There were very few Master Level Mages on the continent.

And that man was one of them.

[¹ here refers to the sin of pride ]

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Hello guys, it's the author. I am writing this because I have seen my novel on a site which I have no idea about. So if you like my content, please read it on webnovel.