mousepad-d2 Chapter 317: Scam
Chapter 317: Scam
This time, Vangar moved.
His enormous body transformed into a streak of white lightning that tore through space itself, locking directly onto the firebird soaring through the sky.
His speed was terrifyingly fast. So fast that it seemed as though distance itself no longer existed.
In the blink of an eye, he had already appeared before Vincent.
"So fast—!"
Vincent’s phoenix eyes narrowed violently.
Vangar’s massive tiger claw descended with devastating force, metallic golden energy swirling around it like blades capable of tearing apart heaven and earth themselves.
The sheer pressure behind that strike felt powerful enough to rip open the sky.
If that claw landed directly, even a divine beast’s body would suffer catastrophic injuries.
Yet in that critical instant, Vangar’s movement faltered ever so slightly. Almost imperceptibly.
He intentionally slowed down, deliberately leaving behind an opening large enough for Vincent to evade with ease.
Because from the very beginning, Vangar had never truly intended to win this battle.
He only wanted to show Rory how strong he was. He had never once planned to genuinely injure her partners.
With Vincent’s combat instincts, the opening was as obvious as a beacon blazing through darkness.
Avoiding it would have been effortless.
But to Vangar’s complete shock, not only did Vincent refuse to dodge... He almost seemed to deliberately move toward the incoming attack instead, pushing one of his magnificent wings directly into the path of the tiger claw.
Deep within those burning phoenix eyes, there was even a fleeting flash of sly amusement.
"You—" Vangar’s pupils contracted violently.
In that instant, he understood exactly what Vincent was trying to do.
This bastard was trying to scam him.
Everything happened within a split second.
Vangar didn’t even have time to think.
He forcefully withdrew his power at the last possible moment, violently reversing the devastating divine strength capable of splitting mountains apart.
But the next second...
Rip.
The tiger claw still brushed Vincent’s wing. Fortunately, Vangar had already withdrawn ninety percent of the force.
The remaining power merely grazed the tip of Vincent’s wing, tearing away several flaming feathers and leaving behind a bloody-looking wound.
At first glance, it appeared horrifying. But in truth, the injury wasn’t serious at all.
With healing medicine, it would recover completely within a few hours.
The injury didn’t affect Vincent’s ability to continue fighting in the slightest.
And the moment Vincent saw Vangar forcibly withdraw his strength, a flash of satisfied amusement flickered deep within his firebird eyes.
Good. Vangar had passed his test.
Looking at him, Vincent let out a perfectly timed cry of pain. His magnificent body instantly seemed to lose all strength, falling backward through the sky like a kite with its strings cut.
The descent was both beautiful and tragic.
Meanwhile, Vangar—still suffering from the backlash of forcefully retracting his own power—didn’t even have time to cough up blood before he saw Vincent suddenly cry out and plummet toward the ground.
Vangar frowned.
Wasn’t this supposed to be a sparring match? This bastard had already pulled a scam move once—why was he pretending to die now too?!
"BOOM!"
The firebird crashed into the earth, smashing a massive crater into the battlefield.
Vangar stared blankly. The entire tiger was stunned.
What exactly was Vincent trying to do?
Before Vangar could even begin figuring out what kind of scheme Vincent was plotting, an overwhelming wave of glacial killing intent exploded from behind him.
Xarion’s figure blurred into an icy streak of lightning, his wolf claws wrapped in freezing laws powerful enough to tear through space itself as he viciously struck toward Vangar’s back.
Faced with such a lethal sneak attack, Vangar instinctively prepared to dodge.
With his speed and reflexes, avoiding the strike should have been effortless.
Yet at the very instant, his muscles tightened. Just as he was about to evade, Vangar’s massive body suddenly froze unnaturally in midair, as though some invisible force had locked him in place.
And just like that, he openly exposed his entire back to Xarion’s claws.
"RIP—!"
The razor-sharp wolf claws tore through Vangar’s seemingly indestructible hide without resistance.
Blood exploded into the air instantly, scattering into a dazzling crimson rain across the battlefield.
"ROOOOAR—!"
The searing pain forced a suppressed roar from Vangar’s throat.
His enormous white tiger body could no longer remain airborne. Like a war machine shot down from the sky, he lost all support and plummeted straight toward the earth below.
"BOOOOOOM—!"
The resulting impact was even more violent than Vincent’s fall earlier.
The entire battlefield shook violently as dust and debris erupted upward, forming a miniature mushroom cloud.
Beneath Vangar’s body, an enormous crater spread across the land. Far deeper, far larger than Vincent’s.
Hovering in midair, Xarion stared blankly at the heavily injured Vangar lying within the crater.
The silver wolf was dumbfounded.
Had he actually seriously wounded Vangar? How was that even possible?
Yes, his strike just now had pushed both speed and power to their absolute limit.
But against someone a full Rank above him like Vangar, that speed shouldn’t have meant anything.
Xarion was one hundred percent certain—Vangar absolutely could have dodged.
Not only that, he could’ve counterattacked without suffering even the slightest injury.
So why?
Vangar clearly knew Xarion had already committed fully to the attack and couldn’t stop in time.
Then why hadn’t he dodged?
Why had he deliberately exposed his back to the strike?!
Scam. This bastard was definitely pulling a scam too!
Xarion was furious enough to explode internally.
But despite that, he was genuinely afraid he might’ve accidentally killed Vangar with that blow. He immediately rushed toward the crater to check on him.
No matter how much he disliked Vangar, the man was still Rory’s official match now.
Xarion could never truly harm him.
"Cough... cough..."
Vangar endured the pain as he slowly climbed out of the crater, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.
Looking weak and exhausted, he spoke hoarsely to Xarion, who was rapidly approaching him.
"I lost."
Xarion’s eyebrows almost flew off his face.