Chapter 596: Fighting Silus
Max stood in silence, Silus’s mocking words still echoing in the air like a foul stench. He stared at the man before him, weighing the situation in the pit of his mind like a blade balanced on a thread.
A part of him wanted to strike now, end this charade, end this so-called young master from the Xuan Family who thought the world was his chessboard. But another part of him—calculated, patient, cold—hesitated. Silus possessed knowledge. Knowledge about the citadel no one else did.
He had predicted the stages, escaped the maze first, and even knew which parts of the second stage held treasures before they’d stepped through the portal. Killing him now would mean losing all of that. It would mean walking blind into the unknown.
’Should I use Ashes of Insight…’ the thought crossed his mind like a whisper in flames. A power born of the Lantern of Purple Death. An ability that promised the impossible—memory extraction after death.
If he killed Silus, there was a chance he could burn through his soul and read the secrets carved into it. But that chance came with questions. Would it show him everything Silus knew? Or only flashes? Would it consume the soul in the process, or leave it fractured?
Max hadn’t used the ability even once. He didn’t know its limits. And he couldn’t afford a gamble this dangerous in a place like the citadel.
Still… the urge to kill surged within him.
He slowly turned to face Silus, his gaze hardening into sharpened obsidian. "What?" he said, his voice low, lethal. "Are you afraid now?" A sneer curled on his lips.
Silus’s smile faltered.
The hall grew tense. The air itself seemed to hesitate, caught between heat and steel. Klaus and Nortan instinctively took a step back, sensing the killing intent that was suffocating the space.
Max’s gaze turned cold, sharp like the edge of his sword, as he locked eyes with Silus. He had made up his mind. There would be no better chance than this. Silus was alone. The two level 5 Master Rank commanders wasn’t with him.
Klaus and Nortan were here, but they wouldn’t interfere. And if they did—Max was ready to cut them down too.