"Please, master," Vella said, her eyes searching his expression carefully while keeping her grip tight around his wrist, "you need to calm down, you have already won. This is not like you at all, it's just the residual mana twisting your thoughts."
For a few seconds, the alleyway went completely quiet while he just stared at her silently, the dark, hazy crimson in his eyes flickering for a brief moment.
His tense shoulders slowly dropped an inch as her words washed over him, making it look like he was actually processing what she was saying while the unhinged grin finally melted off his blood-spattered face.
It looked like she had gotten through to him, but out of nowhere, he ripped his wrist out of her grip, violently swinging his arm backward.
The back of his fist slammed directly into her face, sending her flying backward before she crashed heavily into the opposite wall.
