But then, an intense clash of weapons against weapons shook his brain.
Dizzy, Max could only be awakened by words that sounded like a great waterfall crashing against rock.
"You have many openings," Ryan taunted. He used a thin-bladed sword to strike him repeatedly in seconds.
The first attack hit his right shoulder, the second his left. The third, with the same speed and power, struck his stomach.
Blood gushed out as Max was continuously pushed backward. The wound in his stomach prevented him from standing properly, but forced his body to defend itself.
Unfortunately, his body did not respond to what his mind demanded. When he thought he could finally do something, the sword in his hand was pushed dozens of meters away.
An unusual combat experience had struck him. In his mind, Ryan couldn't be so good at fighting.
Even so, his body soon fell backward, and he could only watch as Ryan casually walked toward him.
"It seems your dream of following Brandon will vanish," he said. "Now I understand—it wasn't that you suddenly became his subordinate, but that you always were..." Ryan shook his head, remembering the novel, and pulled out a poisoned dagger.
Max couldn't move. He stared at Ryan, hatred burning in his heart.
"You... you're not Ryan," he said.
"Haha, yes. I'm not Ryan. I'm not that useless old Ryan who fell before you. I'm not that old Ryan who blindly believes what people tell him. I've changed. I'm not that Ryan anymore." He plunged the dagger into his heart as Max had before.
He had to kill him in the same way.
"Buagh!" Blood swirled in his throat, and Max spat out a mouthful that ended up staining himself. "No... you... you're not Ryan... you... Who... the hell... are you?" Even though his life was slipping away, his gaze was fixed on Ryan.
But Ryan noticed something.
He wasn't looking at him.
He frowned. Instinctively, he looked behind him, but there was no one there. But suddenly, he heard a terrifying scream in front of him.
"AGHHHHH!" It seemed like a strange pain overwhelmed him, and Max wanted to escape. He hated Ryan with all his heart at that moment. He tried to attack him, to dismember him... or simply to run away.
His body twisted, and suddenly his heart exploded, killing him instantly. He died with a horrible expression on his face.
Ryan frowned. 'What did he see? My past lives? Or something else?'
Despite considering it for several seconds, he couldn't come up with an answer, other than knowing that Max had seen something terrifying that caused him to die with a horrible expression on his face.
He shrugged and grabbed his wrist where his sword was.
'The previous Ryan was really weak. Swinging this little sword with just a little force dislocated my wrist.' He shook his head.
Luckily for him, Max had the blue orb, the one he was missing. After killing him, it entered him, slightly increasing his mental capacity and intelligence.
He approached the body to remove the storage device from his waist. Since he had won, his belongings were now his.
Ryan suddenly turns his body before reaching Max and summons a shield out of instinct.
Then a powerful attack struck him right on his shield. He was thrown backwards as the shield shattered, and the attack continued until it pierced his side.
The pain of feeling something pierce his flesh and pass through him caused him to grimace in agony as his back slammed into the wall.
At the same time, he was struck; another attack fell upon Max's body, destroying his hip along with the storage device.
He wanted to erase evidence of something.
Ryan looked up. He didn't really need to do so to know who it was.
"Brandon."
Brandon walked slowly toward him, his rapier in hand. His look at Max was indifferent, while he looked at Ryan with interest.
"You don't call me big brother anymore? How disrespectful!" he said, speaking ironically.
"He who wants to kill me does not deserve to be called brother, even if he has my blood."
"Haha, well, you won't have any more chances to call me brother either."
His words were not finished when his rapier was already firing an attack at Ryan. It was a powerful attack, like a bolt of lightning.
'Spiritual Projection!' Ryan thought, moving instantly. Even so, this attack was not only fast and penetrating, it also had stunning capabilities, because it was an attack of pure electricity.
Despite how fast Ryan was, the attack still managed to penetrate his right arm and paralyze part of his body, fortunately, only his arm.
He rolled on the ground, under Brandon's surprised gaze. "You really managed to dodge that," he said.
Ryan stared at him with hatred.
"You dare to kill me without an edict from the King? You're breaking the rules!" he growled, his teeth chattering.
The hatred in his gaze made Brandon smile frantically.
"Being a disgrace to the family, I'm surprised you've achieved so much. But, considering you had help from that little bastard who refused to listen to my commands, I shouldn't be surprised." He took advantage of Ryan's inability to move correctly to get closer.
"Now, don't be surprised if I kill you without a royal edict declaring you a traitor. In the ruins, no one can know how someone died, so no one outside will know." He said, but when he saw Ryan trying to cling to something else, he pulled out a scroll.
"Besides, who says I don't have one?"
Looking at the scroll's contents, signed and sealed by the king as a secret edict, his teeth chattered. 'Bastard... You call this being a father!?' he roared in his mind.
Yes. The Scroll granted him full permission from the kingdom to kill him.
Now, why?
For dignity.
Being born into the royal family isn't always rosy. You have status, power, and money. But sometimes it's a curse that forces you to be someone you detest. Other times, you're forced to die in power struggles.
And on other occasions, they simply kill you for dignity's sake. Because the Kingdom cannot be ashamed before the nation on the other side of the continent, having a member who is a bookworm, whose talent is nil, and whose achievements are nonexistent.
Although he was furious, he realized that Brandon's proximity to him could kill him at any moment. He soon saw a glimpse of movement in his rapier, so he summoned his shield, bringing it to his chest immediately. He did so with his right hand, which meant his response time was much shorter. At the same time, a vial of poison appeared in his left hand.
Brandon's attack went for his chest, while the vial left his hand, aiming at a poorly covered area: his lower body.