Max glanced at Veylin and thought to himself, 'I can only trap him there for so long.' He understood that his Celestial Tempest skill was incredibly strong, but he couldn't use it to its full potential, as he hadn't reached level 100 in that skill yet.

Moreover, with his level 3 Apprentice Rank skill, he could only maintain the skill for a few minutes if he pushed himself hard.

"We meet again." Five's voice reached his ears at that moment.

Turning his head to him, Max mocked, "You said your life's greatest wish is to fight against the strongest, but now you're taking orders… I don't know what to say."

Five shrugged. "You won't understand me anyway, so let's fight again. But this time, I won't hold anything back."

As he said that, his body began to release a red glow, and a sharp aura took over the entire battlefield. A moment later, red light surrounded his body, and the pressure in the air increased tenfold.

All the generals were fine, but weaker people like Lily and some others felt the sharp aura press down on them, causing them to feel slightly suffocated.

However, that was far from over. Veylin, who was struggling against the never-ending wind blades, also released a pressure equal to Five's.

His body began to glow with a vibrant blue aura as streaks of blue lightning crackled and danced around him. The electric currents surged wildly, gathering above him, coalescing into the majestic shape of a dragon's head.

The dragon's form shimmered with raw energy, its fierce eyes crackling with lightning as it roared mightily.

ROAR!

The thunderous sound echoed like a storm unleashed, shaking the very air. A devastating shockwave rippled outward from the dragon's roar, obliterating Max's tempest of wind blades in an instant.

The wind blades were blown away, leaving behind only gusts of wind.

"Level 3 Aura of Lightning?" Max's expression became incredibly serious. He had never expected that even Veylin had mastered an Aura to level 3. 'This is bad,' he thought his face turning dark. He could handle one of them, but if Veylin joined the fray, he would be smashed left and right for sure.

"He got away." Veylin muttered, his face dark as he turned to Max. "You've made the most regrettable mistake of your life."

Max frowned at Veylin and glanced at the man in the mask. "This guy wants to kill me. A little help here?"

The man in the mask chuckled. "Heh, things really became complicated too fast." His body began to release dark flames, covering his entire form.

Almost instantly, an aura of the same level as Five and Veylin's released from him.

"A level 3 Flame Aura…" Veylin frowned as he saw that. "Are you really intending to interfere?" he asked solemnly.

The man in the mask spread his hands wide. "I don't have much choice here. My Black Lotus Guild already took the money, so we should do our task as well."

He added with a sneer, "After all, nobody wants to do business with a guild whose track record is bad."

Veylin glanced at him and then turned to Five. "Handle him. I will take care of the Max kid."

Five gazed at Max. "It looks like our battle will be postponed for now."

"Is it? Then I will wait for the next time," Max sneered. He had a feeling Five showed a different personality on the outside, or maybe he couldn't understand him.

"There will be no next time." Veylin flew toward Max as Five and he exchanged positions.

Max chuckled. "My only task was to free Alice, and now that she's gone, do you think I care about anything happening here?" He laughed as his sword began to glow with both red and blue light.

"Most importantly, the Monarch failed to complete their mission because of me." Max taunted Veylin as he activated his Abyss Coating skill on his hand and on his sword. "Isn't this an honor? To stop the bad guys? Haha!" He smiled wildly as he tapped into the power of 12 Draconic Essences.

Veylin glanced at his sword and smiled coldly. "You're no Voidwalker, but your talents are similar to a Voidwalker I encountered in the past."

Max sneered. "Don't tell me you got your ass kicked by a lady?!"

"No," Veylin replied calmly. "But I couldn't kill her. However, you are different." As he said those words, he appeared before Max with his fist covered in lightning.

Max anticipated the attack with his Three Dimensional Body skill and swung his sword using Intermediate Sword Arts.

Bang!

But the result was shocking enough.

He found his body hurtling toward the ground like a rocket shot from a launcher, crashing into the earth.

"An ant should stay like an ant." Veylin said coldly and turned to look around for Jessica, only to find she was nowhere to be seen. 'So she had indeed gone after Alice.' He nodded with satisfaction.

"You think I'm done here?" Max shouted as he climbed out of the small crater he had created upon crashing. His clothes were now even worse for wear.

Veylin looked down at Max, his expression full of disdain. "No matter how many times an ant rises, it will always remain an ant."

Max smiled coldly as he activated the power of all 15 Draconic Scales. A raw energy began to rampage inside his body. His 5 Dragon Scales barely held that power in check, but not for long.

"Again!" Max flew back at Veylin and swung his sword with his Barrage Strike skill.

Hundreds of sword shadows condensed together and shot at Veylin.

"Weak! Too weak!" Veylin said as he punched downward again with his lightning-charged fist.

Bang!

Sword and fist collided with a resounding boom, sending shockwaves in all directions. The fight happening around them came to a halt as everyone was affected by their clash.

"This kid intentionally lured me and Allen to attack him?" Abby came to a strange realization, her expression turning dark.

On the other hand, Nash was stupefied to see Max holding his own against someone at level 9 of Adept Rank.

"Damn, he's a complete monster," he laughed.

Five's attention was also on the battle between Max and Veylin, his expression turning strange. "He was holding back against me," he muttered in realization.

"This kid is indeed as mysterious as someone had notified me months ago," the man in the mask muttered, his thoughts unknown.

Veylin frowned, seeing Max with his level 3 Apprentice Rank holding his ground. "You have a bit of strength, but that's all."

A lightning dragon crawled out of his body, coiling around his fist before attacking Max.

Bang!

The result? It was the same as before. Max was blown away and crashed into the ground once again.

'Damn, the difference in Aura levels couldn't be bridged by the mastery of skills,' Max cursed. At this moment, he realized the importance of having a powerful technique.

'Should I try using the World Destruction Flaming Lotus here?' Max wondered, shaking his head. There were too many people here for him to risk using such a destructive technique and most importantly he didn't know how successful he would be on that move.

'I need a sword technique here.' He sighed and climbed out of the crater.

Veylin sneered. "You're like a cockroach that refuses to die."

Max shrugged. "Maybe it's your attacks that are too weak." However, he regretted opening his mouth just after saying those words.

Veylin smiled coldly at Max and slapped his hands together, forming a small dragon that intertwined between them. "Let me show you an attack that will kill you."

With those words, the lightning dragon hurtled toward Max, its aura sharp made everyone felt a chill run down their spine.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay