"Is there a need to keep on going?" Max asked as he watched Cedric slowly get back to his feet.
"I have to finish this. I can't stop halfway now." Cedric replied as he prepared to engage Max once again.
Without his Mystic arts, he could only rely on martial arts and his physical enhancement to take on Max. It wasn't much but it was all he had to go on.
Max bit his lower lip. "Fine then, whenever you are ready."
Cedric remained silent as he stared at Max, the latter staring back as well.
There were no words spoken but a message seemed to be shared between them.
"…Thank you," Cedric said.
"For what?" Max asked.
"For not killing me… even though I clearly showed killing intent, you never once showed it," Cedric explained.
Max smiled as he teased. "That's because Mom didn't want you to get hurt. You should thank your stars."
Cedric revealed a solemn expression. "So Lady Lara still thinks of me…"
Max furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?... She always took you as her son."
Cedric shook his head. "But I never respected that relationship. My mom programmed me to dislike her and it got even worse after dad transferred your responsibilities to me. She must have felt so bad."
Max did not immediately respond as he studied Cedric for a few seconds before walking up to him.
Cedric immediately put up his guard but was there a need for that?
Not at all.
Max covered the distance between them and pushed his arms away before enveloping him in a hug. "I understand what it's like to blame others for your misfortunes when you can't find a specific target for your rage.
"Maybe you should take a step back and figure out what you should be angry about. That way, you won't have to hurt those around you that care for you."
Cedric was stiff for a few breaths before he replied. "Do you have a specific target for your rage?"
Max sighed. "Yeah."
Cedric nodded. "Alright."
"In any case, I still have to dish out some beating now that you admitted to disrespecting mom." Max teased.
Cedric chuckled. "I won't go down so easily."
"I relish a challenge." Pulling back, Max took a few steps back and gestured with his arm, his staff flew into his grasp.
Cedric gripped Scorpion tail as well and after sharing a knowing look, they made their move.
Boom
Maybe it wasn't so bad to have a brother, he may be a dick but he wasn't a villain, just a kid that had to suffer because of his shitty fate.
Sure he did some bad things but was there anyone that hadn't done some bad stuff?... Thinking about this, Max had a smile on his face.
"I'm glad I don't have to kill you."
***
Meanwhile, outside the arena, most of the audience was left astounded by the proceedings of the current match.
Due to Max's peculiar methods, they were unable to keep track of the fight and were left to speculate about the ending of the match.
Elena was not left out of it as she gestured for Tanya. "Do you know anything about a Summoner making use of a frog?"
Tanya thought for a moment before replying. "None that immediately comes to mind but I do remember a particular instance."
"Tell me."
"I don't know if it would be okay to speak." Tanya looked unwilling as she gazed at the side profile of the ever-beautiful princess.
"Just tell me, what's the worse that you could say?" Elena casually waved it away.
Tanya sighed helplessly. "It has to do with the Beast Subjugation event from several years ago."
Elena suddenly turned quiet, her eyes unfocused for a brief moment before she responded. "What about it?"
"One of the three great heroes of that time made use of frogs and he was a Sage as well." Tanya quickly mentioned before moving away.
Elena slowly nodded her head as unpleasant memories came to mind. Biting her tongue, she managed to drive them away for now.
"Is it possible that Max is that great personage disciple?"
Tanya nodded from beside her. "Yes, there is a high possibility."
Elena said no more as she reclined back in her chair. So far she had gotten two candidates for what she had in mind for her plans but now there was a third one that gave her an odd feeling.
Something inside was telling her not to approach Max, yet for some unknown reason, she remained interested in him.
She couldn't quite lay a finger on it but one thing was clear, depending on the results of Cedric's battle with him, she would make her final decision then.
Right as she was done sorting out her thoughts, the fog in the arena had mostly cleared up to reveal the terrible state it was in with burn marks, craters, and even molten rocks all around.
It made one wonder if it was still a fight between teenagers.
Of course, at this point, Mal was nowhere to be found as he had already returned to Golden Clover to recover his burnt tongue.
Just then, there was a puff of white smoke followed by the emergence of a tiny green frog.
Everyone was aware that this was no ordinary frog, as it was the same one that had swallowed Cedric previously.
Its emergence filled them with anticipation for the final result of the combat exchange.
Ribbit
Gibby croaked as his eyes darted back and forth, surveying all those in the crowd before proceeding to open its mouth and puked out Cedric.
"Ugh." Cedric groaned as he dropped to the ground with a thud. From the way he was clutching his torso and the marks on his face, it was clear just how much of a beat down he received.
This caused most nobles to frown as they saw their strongest representative shoot out like a bag of trash.
Just as murmurs were about to fly around, Gibby opened his mouth again, and out walked Max with a casual expression and a cane in hand.
Looking at Cedric, he asked. "Had enough?"