"Enough of this nonsense!" A powerful aura came crashing down on Max but this only caused the latter to look toward its origin.
The jester had gotten to his feet and seemed quite incensed.
Cedric at the other end narrowed his eyes slightly as he sensed the aura that was supposed to be suppressing Max, but he was still fine regardless.
"I hope you don't mind, Sir but I would appreciate it if you can call this match over now," Max remarked.
The corner of the jester's mouth twitched after seeing that Max was unaffected by his aura. He could guess the reason why but didn't want to make much of it, thus, he sighed. "Why must you guys keep on breaking my rules? I just said that no one is to interfere during combat."
"I humbly apologize but I cannot sit still and watch an innocent take the fall in a grudge meant for me." Max slightly bowed as he spoke.
"That is none of my business. You have invaded the arena intending to disrupt an ongoing match. I will have to penalize you or at least the one you came to assist."
Max had no objections as he turned to face Laura. She was currently kneeling on the ground with third-degree burns all over her body.
Her breathing was ragged as she tried to push through the pain that was currently wracking all the nerves in her body.
If not for the Jester's timely intervention, Laura was sure she would have been cooked alive in the arena.
Closing the short distance between them, Max knelt before her and flashed a smile. "Sorry, you won't be able to get the Manastone any longer."
Laura tried to smile but the pain that accompanied such an action caused her to remain blank. "It's fine… it just means that I wasn't strong enough."
As Max and Laura were sharing a few words, the nobles in the audience were seething inwardly that someone dared to enter the arena to save that hateful bastard, Lloyd's daughter.
Those that were strong enough could just about make out that Ifrit's domain in the arena wasn't exactly a casual affair.
So not just anyone would dare to jump in, except they wanted to get cooked alongside Laura.
Yet not only did someone jump to her rescue, but he also seemed unaffected for the brief moment before the Jester interrupted proceedings.
They were curious to know just who could be so daring.
"Martha, who is that?" Naturally, since the audience was interested in Max's identity, Elena would be interested as well.
Martha did not respond immediately as she used her magic to probe Max. It only took a moment's length of time before she knitted her brows.
With a frown, Martha responded. "… Your highness, he is a cripple."
Elena was taken aback and even the governor could not believe his ears. "A cripple?"
Martha nodded. "I just probed his aura now and it's… normal."
"But that doesn't make any sense, didn't you see him plunge into Ifrit's domain?... I mean, he looked unaffected by the heat. I know if I were to go in, I would be scalded, pretty badly if I'm being honest."
Elena found it hard to take Martha's words to be true, but then again, would she have a reason to lie?
The governor chipped in at this point. "Maybe he is using an artifact to mask his aura from probing?"
Elena immediately nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that should be the case."
"I guess that's plausible." Martha shrugged.
With no more words spoken, they returned their attention to the happenings below.
"Does it hurt?" Max inquired with a solemn expression.
"Pretty badly," Laura replied.
Cupping her face, he pulled closer until their foreheads were touching. "I'm sorry I took too long to make my decision… You had to suffer because of me."
Laura felt warm, and no, not the warmth that was killing her skin cells at a rapid rate. It was more of a warmth that caused her pain to cease momentarily… or was it permanent?
She let out a sigh as a pleasurable feeling washed over her.
Unbeknownst to her, the burns on her skin were being healed at a rapid pace. Slowly but surely, her former beautiful appearance was making a comeback.
By the time she opened her eyes, her beauty had returned and what's more, it had an added luster to it.
"You can rest now. I'll take it from here." Max smilingly said.
Laura slowly nodded as a wave of weakness came upon her, making it difficult to keep her eyes open. "Are you going to fight him?"
"Mn."
"Be careful… and thank you." Laura fell forward and into Max's embrace. She had fainted.
Max closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Holding Laura delicately, he got to his feet.
Just then, Cedric's annoying voice was heard. "So touching. I almost shed a tear."
Max turned to face him with a cold glint in his eyes. "Why did you have to go so far?"
"You have the balls to ask me that now?... You know what you did and it's only right I make you feel the pain I felt after you disappointed father." Cedric angrily replied.
Max tried to speak, paused, and then continued. "No, that's not it. There's something more, what happened to you, Cedric?"
Cedric's facial expression changed.
Max noted this and pushed on. "Tell me why you are so angry?... It's not just me, it can't be."
Cedric quickly recovered from his initial pause as he snorted. "Enough talk. If you do not plan on keeping your lover aside, I would be willing to skewer both of you. I have no qualms with killing an innocent."
"… I see. So I have beat you first. Fine then, as you wish." Max said no more as he leaped out of the arena, dropping deftly into the audience, where Lloyd and Lara were waiting to receive him.
"She fainted. She should recover after sufficient rest." Max said as he handed Laura over to Lloyd.
"Mn, thank you… and sorry. I can tell you wanted to avoid this happening." Lloyd solemnly said as he cradled Laura in his arms.
Max shook his head. "It's fine. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I am the one at fault for trying to avoid this. He is my brother and I should take responsibility for his actions."
Lloyd nodded as he pushed away the hair stuck on Laura's cheek. "Teach him a good lesson. He seems to be lacking discipline."
Max replied. "Definitely."