Max was poisoned and was losing control over key muscles fast, his vision was blurring and his breathing had become laborious, the poison seemed to affect his neurological system.

‘ Stay calm kid, control the flow of blood within your own body, completely stop the flow of blood to the linings of your stomach and speed up the blood flow process throughout the rest of your body.

Your kidneys are very potent, with enough blood circulation and repeated cycles they will clear out whatever little poison you have ingested ‘ Drax said in a calm voice as he instructed Max about the best course of action.

Max immediately began doing as Drax instructed him to, he stopped the flow of blood to his stomach lining, making sure that any more of the remnant poison in his stomach did not enter his bloodstream, while he began quickly circulating his natural blood throughout his body.

The moment Max willed both his hearts to work in overdrive, the poison already induced in his bloodstream quickly started reaching all parts of his body, as his vision completely blacked out and his thoughts and focus started to become hazy.

For Max, his head ached so much he felt like putting a bullet through it was the best way to get immediate relief, however, through grit and will he persisted in his endeavour of circulating blood throughout his body.

‘ Don’t give up now boy, you ain’t ever gonna become the vampire king if you’re dead, if your dreams are worth it for you then fight ‘ Drax said as he encouraged Max to keep circulating blood throughout his body, however, the old A.I. could notice that Max was losing pace fast.

Although in Max’s mind, he was doing his best to circulate blood, his heart rate had slowed down a lot. His Blood Manipulation was the only thing keeping his blood flowing in his body as his normal human heart had already failed and his Draconic heart was barely beating.

The poison was at its maximum effect, and it could only grow weaker from now, however this was the critical moment for Max where if he stopped his Blood Manipulation for even a second he would die.

” Push boy, keep pushing, you will never see your friends’ faces again if you die,” Drax said as he tried to use emotional baggage to see if it could push Max over the line, but it also failed.

Max was constantly losing blood pressure, as his skill was slowing down, at this rate his brain would go into coma and his blood manipulation skill would be forcefully deactivated and Max would die.

Drax panicked now, although the old A.I tried his best to remain calm and provide reassurance to Max as best as he could, panic seeped into his voice at this moment as he said “DON’T DIE ON ME BOY, YOU STILL HAVE TO AVENGE LORD AGNI FOR ME, DON’T YOU DARE DIE ON ME”

Drax’s voice was now trembling, he was practically shouting inside Max’s head to keep him focused and alive, however, Max felt like he was having his life’s worst migraine in every cell of his being as trying even slightly to defy his fate and maintain consciousness only worsened his pain exponentially.

” You have already died once boy, are you willing to die again? ” Drax finally said as something inside Max snapped at this statement.

Max vividly remembered the scene of his first death, the brutal murder at the hands of the werewolves who toyed with his body before sending him to the afterlife.

Even then, his body was mangled, his eyes were gouged out and he was in unbelievable pain, but back then he only had this one burning desire to cling onto life, one desire to save his nephew and niece and one desire to prove his worth.

In his final moments he had begged for a second chance, and by some incredible miracle he had received it, and since that day he had never looked back.

He had grown stronger than he ever thought would be possible, he had overcome his birth defect and controlled mana.

He had trained under the coward Kremeth and became the chosen of Angakok.

He was the rising star of the vampire clan and had strong ambitions to become a lord.

He could not stop here, could not let himself fail at this juncture knowing that his destiny was to become a monarch and sit on the throne on Ixtal.

He could not let his heart stop now, because if he did it would spell the end of the journey for him, it would mean that his second chance was a failure again and that despite coming this far, it was all for naught.

‘ NO! IF I DIE, IT WILL BE A DEATH LIKE MY BROTHER’S, THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE WILL TREMBLE AS THE MIGHTIEST GOD’S SCRAMBLE TO KILL ME, I REFUSE TO DIE IN THIS SMALL OFFICE, I REFUSE TO DIE BEFORE I’M KING! ‘ Max shouted in his mind as a rush of adrenaline pumped up his heartbeat.

Max pushed past his pain barrier and pushed his blood manipulation skill to the limit, forcing his blood to pass through his kidney filters as with every circulation, more and more of the poison was filtered out of his system.

Max had no idea about the sense of time or pain anymore as he just kept pushing and pushing like a madman, until several hours later his vision started to eventually return.

Slowly, the black spots that had covered his eyes were clearing as the world around him seemed to slow it’s fast spinning down.

Max could feel the expansion and contraction of his lungs as he felt the fresh breath of air touch his burning throat.

‘ I’m alive! ‘ Max thought as he continued cycling blood throughout his body and slowly gathered his thoughts.

Although he had just been through a near death experience, his eyes looked sharper than ever as a result of his sufferings, because it reminded him of his purpose in this life.

———–

/// A/N – Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target good job everyone ///