Xarion was both furious and anxious, so worked up he nearly failed to catch his breath.
Scam. This damned white tiger was absolutely pulling the sa shaless stunt as Vincent.
The more Xarion thought about it, the angrier he beca. He almost wanted to turn around and leave on the spot.
But when his eyes landed on the horrifying wound carved across Vangar’s back—and the blood staining the corner of his mouth—his concern ultimately overpowered his rage.
No matter what, that strike earlier had truly been a full-force attack.
If he had genuinely crippled Vangar, there would be no explaining it to Female Master later.
Thinking of that, Xarion stopped hesitating.
His enormous wolf form rapidly shrank away, returning to human shape before he flashed toward the crater in several quick movents and jumped down beside Vangar.
Walking quickly over, Xarion stared at the claw wound on Vangar’s back—deep enough to expose bone.
His thin lips pressed tightly together.
Without a word, he pulled out two of Yuel’s healing flowers from his spatial ring and rudely shoved them straight into Vangar’s mouth.
The petals dissolved instantly upon contact, and gentle life energy began repairing Vangar’s injuries.
Leaning weakly against the crater wall, Vangar gave Xarion a pale smile.
"Xarion... you won."
That sentence instantly detonated Xarion’s temper like a lit fuse.
"I won?"
He let out a cold laugh.
The silver-gray depths of his eyes filled with icy mockery, his voice sharp as poisoned icicles.
"Won? How exactly did I win? By you deliberately handing your back so I could hit you?"
Xarion’s chest rose and fell violently with anger. He grabbed Vangar by the collar and yanked him upright from the crater wall, forcing him to et his gaze.
Lowering his voice, he practically growled through clenched teeth:
"I fucking lost. I lost to your shaless tricks. You think I couldn’t tell what you were doing? You deliberately refused to dodge and took my attack head-on."
His grip tightened harder.
"Who exactly were you acting for? For Female Master? You wanted her to feel sorry for you, didn’t you?"
The more Xarion spoke, the angrier he beca. Even the hand clutching Vangar’s collar had begun trembling.
"Drop this disgusting act of yours. If we settle things between us, then we do it properly—with strength."
Right now, Xarion genuinely wanted to punch Vangar to death. Even if he technically "won," what was the point? There was nothing honorable about it.
Just as Xarion finished cursing Vangar out, another figure slowly erged from a nearby crater.
Vincent had already shifted back into human form.
His clothes were torn and ragged, his complexion pale. One hand pressed tightly against his right arm, where several shallow blood marks ran across his skin. Yet the way he held himself made it seem as though he had suffered so devastating injury.
His footsteps swayed weakly as he slowly approached.
Looking at Vangar, Vincent spoke softly, "Vangar... I lost."
Vanga and Xarion exchanged baffled looks.
The corners of both their mouths twitched simultaneously as they stared at Vincent’s outrageously exaggerated performance.
At that exact mont, Rory could no longer remain still on the observation platform.
Her figure flashed forward alongside Yuel and the others as they rapidly descended onto the battlefield, landing beside the massive crater.
"Vincent! Vangar!"
The instant Rory saw their pale faces and blood-covered bodies—especially the terrifying wound on Vangar’s back—her pupils contracted sharply.
Wasn’t this supposed to be a sparring match? Why were the injuries this serious? It looked like they had been fighting to the death.
Rory didn’t even have ti to ask questions. She hurriedly pulled out Yuel’s healing flowers and fed them to Vincent and Vangar imdiately.
Then she turned toward Xarion.
"Xarion, are you hurt anywhere?"
Xarion shook his head gloomily. "Female Master... I’m fine."
Xarion being completely unhard while Vangar ended up the most severely injured was the last thing Rory expected.
Earlier, the battlefield had practically looked like the apocalypse itself.
Flying sand, collapsing earth, ice spikes, flaming teors... She hadn’t been able to clearly see what was happening inside all that destruction. All she had heard were two enormous explosions.
Then everything beca buried beneath smoke.
And once the smoke cleared, Vincent and Vangar were both lying inside craters.
"Rory." Suddenly, Vincent lowered himself onto one knee before her.
That abrupt movent startled Rory—and everyone else present.
Everyone except Yuel. He looked as though he had already guessed what Vincent intended to do. He rely stood calmly beside Rory, watching in silence without saying a single word.
"Vincent, what are you doing?"
Startled, Rory imdiately reached out, trying to help him back to his feet.
But Vincent refused to rise. Looking up at her, his breathtakingly handso face was filled with unprecedented guilt and sorrow.
"Rory..." His voice was bitter. "I lost."
"It’s alright if you lost." Rory genuinely didn’t care about the outco. As long as he was safe, nothing else mattered.
"You’re only Rank Eleven. Losing to Rank Twelve Vangar isn’t embarrassing."
She tried to pull him up again, but Vincent stubbornly remained kneeling. He lifted his gaze to hers and spoke slowly, word by word.
"No, Rory... I lost to Vangar. And because of that..." Pain flashed through his eyes. "I no longer deserve to remain your first partner."
Then Vincent turned toward Vangar, drew in a deep breath, and continued solemnly,
"According to Imperial custom, since Vangar defeated ... From today onward... He should beco the first partner instead."
Rory’s hand froze halfway in the air. She stared at Vincent in complete disbelief, so shocked she almost couldn’t speak.
"Vincent! What nonsense are you talking about?!"
Panic crept into her voice. "I never once said I wanted to replace my first partner. Get up right now!"
anwhile, Vangar looked at Vincent kneeling there with tragic determination and nearly laughed from sheer disbelief.
Good lord. Absolutely unbelievable.
Now he finally understood.
The challenge... The so-called "test"... Everything had rely been setup from the very beginning.
Vincent had intentionally thrown the fight. That scam earlier hadn’t been about testing him at all. This bastard had been planning from the start to use the match as an excuse to dump the troubleso title of "first partner" onto soone else.
Previously, Vangar had always believed Yuel—the seemingly gentle and harmless vine—was the one with the most sches hidden behind his smile.
Who would’ve thought? Vincent was secretly just as terrifying.
The acting. The calculations. Every move perfectly planned.
What a brilliant strategy.
Retreat in order to advance. Shed the burden entirely.
He wanted to throw the trouble onto him?
Dream on.
Suppressing the pain tearing through his back, Vangar stepped forward two paces before dropping to one knee before Rory as well.
"Vangar, why are you kneeling now too?!"
Rory felt an imdiate headache forming. One Vincent was already hard enough to handle. Now Vangar had joined him, too.
Pressing a hand against her forehead, she felt her temples throbbing.
Looking at Rory, Vangar spoke in a voice even deeper and more pained than Vincent’s, filled with regret and self-reproach.
"Female Master, Vincent is wrong. I’m not worthy of becoming your first partner either. Because... I lost too."
As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward Xarion. "I lost to Xarion."
Rory: "..."
Vincent: "...?"
Xarion: "?"
Originally, Xarion had rely been standing there coldly watching the two n compete in dramatic acting performances.
But the instant he heard his own na, his entire body froze as though struck by lightning.
"What exactly are you two trying to pull?"
Xarion stared at Vincent and Vangar in utter shock.
Then suddenly... He understood everything.
Fuck. These two bastards!
Vincent had clearly planned this from the very beginning.
He intended to use this match as an excuse to dump the exhausting, thankless role of "first partner" onto soone else.
And Vangar?
That shaless tiger hadn’t deliberately taken Xarion’s attack just to perform so tragic self-sacrifice act for Female Master’s sympathy.
No.
He had already seen through Vincent’s sche long ago. He knew Vincent planned to use defeat as an excuse to toss away the burden of being first partner.
And since Vangar didn’t want the role either, he instantly turned around and dumped the responsibility straight onto him instead.
Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
Vincent dumped the burden onto Vangar.
Vangar imdiately turned around and shoved it onto Xarion instead.
One acted more convincingly than the other. One was more shaless than the other.
And after all that... Xarion realized he was the only idiot who’d truly been set up from beginning to end.
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