The 12 Noble Houses had already taken action to control the situation. People were panicking and a few old structures seemed to have collapsed as well.

On the other side….

The Lord of Edwinson House along with Lord Blackwood had already dominated the remaining trio. But they still didn't seem to have any plans of retreat.

'Are they trying to hold us back? Is there someone else other than them?' The old man's face turned grim.

The next instant, he felt a familiar aura approaching. It was the former Lord of Walker House.

The old man suddenly shot forward and the opposite trio attacked as well while making their retreat. But the White aura burst forth from his body repelling the attack as he rushed past them without turning around.

The group obviously weren't planning to let him go but before they could make any move, another person had arrived to take the old man's place…

"Zmm!"

A transparent beam shot right in front of the trio separating them from Max's grandfather and preventing any of them to give him a chase.

"He ran away?" The Lord of Blackwood House shook his head. If he really was in that much of a hurry, he should have killed them at least.

"You better not be thinking anything stupid, blackwood.."

The Lord of Blackwood House turned his head to look at the Former Lord of Walker house who had had transparent orb-like destructive energy in his hand.

…

Tempest Mansion, Capital.

The Lord had been pacing back and forth in his chamber for a while now. He hadn't received any news and all his messages had gone unanswered.

He knew that the four of them had entered a deadlock with the Lords of the other Houses from the information he had received. But the last one, he didn't know what was going on with him…..Besides, he couldn't even contact Bayu too….

It seems he couldn't take it any longer. The old man took his coat off the hanger and walked out of his chamber

…

Recycling District, Capital.

''Bang!"

The old man collided with Max once again. His body had become a bloody mess but Max was in a condition way worse than him. Bones were becoming visible on several parts of his body.

"What kind of sorcery is this? Who are you?" The Grand Elder spoke with a grim look on his face. Max had defied all the logic. Who could believe that such a young man was capable of dominating him?

Max could feel that there wasn't much time left, but there was still no sight of Bahamut. The guy hadn't even replied yet.

The situation seemed to have only angered Max even more. He didn't have much time. Besides, with this old man still on his back, he couldn't move freely.

The first thing he needed to do was kill him as quickly as possible….

Max shot forward as he brought his spear out. The old man seemed to have sensed the raging killing intent and immediately entered a defensive stance.

Max made a sweep with the spear and black sparks flew once again as a strange aura burst forth.

The old man's eyes turned grim as he felt himself losing all the sensation as if he had been cut off from the surrounding.

He could only wait and watch as he witnessed the spear move towards him.

As Max was about to pierce his chest, a sweet and mature voice sounded in his mind, 'Don't kill him.'

Max immediately turned the direction of the spear and pierced through the lower part of the chest, avoiding a fatal strike.

"Shnk!"

'We can use him, I have the ability to help….'

Max didn't have time for introductions and just rushed ahead to the topic, "How?"

'I can suck the life force, the life force of someone at his level might be enough if this is your first time breaking the law….'

Max didn't seem to understand her words.

'Is this your first time doing this?' The lady asked sensing Max's doubts.

'I have done it before in the trail...I mean in a separated space pocket…..'Max replied.

'It should work then…create a connection for me to the outside world….'

Max had tried this thing in the trial and had barely survived even though he had only done it on a tiny scale.

Max had named it Defiance…..Igniting his will to create something which didn't exist.

It all started with a basic experiment of trying to combine fire and water since Max could control both. This was one impossible thing to do as the two elements never existed together in their natural state.

Even though the concept was simple, this power wasn't. This wasn't the power of creation….but something else which Max came into contact with during the process….

It gave him the feeling of able to do anything he wished…..as if nobody could stop him…..but this wasn't the end….his condition right now was evident….this wasn't just a double edged sword...it was something which would kill you surely once triggered…..even if you could survived once with enough luck, there would never be a second chance….Max was sure about it… he could sense a consciousness in this black sparks…..he was well aware of it.....this wasn't something to mess around with....

'I will do it….but don't worry about me first. Take care of that injured lady...help her first…' Max said as the spirit energy began to revolve around his body.

'Leave her….she has a way too weak body….she won't survive….besides....'

Max frowned as he pulled his spear out and grabbed the old man by his throat.

'I don't wanna hear your opinion….'

'Let me complete....you will be killing her if you use this method on her…..unlike you, she has a weaker body….she won't be able to handle the burden with her body....I can't believe humans here are these weak unlike those above…'

'There has to be a way….' Max asked in frustration as his hands on the old man's throat began to tighten.

'Control yourself…..if you can survive there might be a chance to help her….it might not work….even if it did, she might not wake up anytime soon…..but even for that to happen, you have to survive….'

Max finally calmed himself down a bit and the next instant, his tongue along with his mouth fell off and disintegrated. He was reaching his limit, it would be bad if he lost his sight.....even though he could depend on his senses, it would be weaken without his eyes.

Suddenly, a white ray of light hit Max, severing his arm. The Grand Elder was released from Max's grasp and plummeted down to tye ground.

Max looked above and saw a familiar old man looking at him. It was his grandfather.

"You better not get in my way old man, I won't have a second thought about killing you…"

Max's warning didn't seem to reach the old man as he could only hear the growls of what seemed to be something which only resembled a human.