CHAPTER 260: SUSPICIOUS THREAT

Magus Arch raised the knife made of light and thrust. There was a burst of golden light as a streak of straight piercing light shot forward at incredible speed.

Vacuse did not even try to block it with his umbrella. He was already on the move by the time the Magus attacked. His umbrella collapsed as he saved the energy of using it.

Then both the draconic and void energy ended up on his feet.

He shot forward like an arrow, his speed just as fast as Magus Arch’s own. The ground beneath him cracked with each step, and within a few steps, he was already angling to his opponent’s side.

Magus Arch had not expected Vacuse to actually come towards him, but his surprise did not last long as he himself burst forward, a sword of light appearing in his hand as he ran to meet him.

But something worried the Magus. Where exactly was Vacuse’s weapon? Was he trying to fight barehanded?

He soon got his answer.

Just as the two were about to collide, a pool of darkness suddenly unfolded beneath Vacuse, and something shot out from it.

Time seemed to slow.

It was sudden, the appearance of... the creature. And yet Magus Arch’s reaction was just as sudden. He changed direction as he realized the new source of danger that was even more dangerous than Vacuse. Far more.

Without even thinking about it, he activated his strongest spell.

Pillars of light appeared around him, brewing with flaming brilliance. The pillars of light collapsed and turned into a sea of heat that suddenly crushed down to destroy his opponent.

And if one could see deep into the sea of light, they would realize that the sea was made up of countless tiny swords.

This sea of tiny light swords crashed into the creature.

Instinctively, both Vacuse and Magus Arch began to retreat as if they knew something was about to happen.

They were not wrong.

Apart from the ground that was destroyed by hundreds of tiny swords eating into it, the temperature in the training ground instantly rose to an all-time high as black flame roared to life, burning high into the sky and devouring the sea of light.

The shield around them flickered wildly, and cracks began to appear all around it.

Within a blink of an eye, the sea of light was gone, and what remained was a sea of black flame that was melting the ground at an alarming rate.

Magus Arch stared blankly at the creature that was holding three spears of black flame in three of its four hands, and he shuddered. "How?"

His sea of light was his strongest attack that could wipe out a battlefield, countless swords cutting into opponents as one, not to talk of the heat that would burn them into pure ashes.

But it seemed there was heat even hotter than his own. Not to talk of the fact that the creature was still holding three black fire spears.

Magus Arch licked his dry lips, unable to admit defeat. "Do you think you can hit me? I am still incredibly fast. I still have enough magic to run from you. Those spears won’t hit me."

Vacuse smiled and gestured towards the man’s feet. "How many seconds will that take to get out from?"

Magus Arch looked down, and his face fell. One of his legs, his left leg, was caught between the snout of a dark shadow. If he wanted, he could rip it out, but just like Vacuse asked — how many seconds would it take?

And would the spears of black flame hit him then?

Magus Arch stood there in disbelief and then sighed. "Alright. You win."

Vacuse straightened. He gestured. "No, no. Go on. You can try to run and let’s see if I’ll hit you or not. I’m also curious about it, to be honest."

Magus Arch actually hesitated, but then he sighed, and the light armor around him dissolved. This time, his voice was louder as he shouted, "You win!"

Vacuse finally retreated, feeling disappointed. "Well, that was interesting. Thank you, Magus Arch."

The snout holding his leg disappeared, and the void creature, Sivan, retreated as well, leaving only the two of them standing in the training ground.

Those beyond the shield still could not believe what they were seeing. The strong and powerful Magus Arch actually... surrendered? How? Why?

He was actually beaten.

Their bets! It was then that they realized that almost all of them had bet against their leader... right, their leader! Who else would deny him the right to lead them? He might be young, but his powers were undeniable.

After that initial battle, the shield disappeared, and the organized hunters rushed around to discuss the spar. Vacuse returned to his attendants and smiled. "What do you think?"

Kagerou scowled. "I thought I’ve finally caught up with you! And when did you turn into a necromancer?"

Vacuse laughed. Indeed, he had missed his attendants more than he expected.

"To be very frank, my lord, I’m also interested in that answer. I did not know you could do something like that," Captain Amros said.

"I did not know I could do it as well, but it turned out that SSS Dragons always have things up their sleeves. But what do you think, Captain Amros, can you overpower me?"

Captain Amros hesitated, then he replied slowly, "My lord, I believe a battle between us can’t be accurately measured unless we’re both fighting for our lives."

Vacuse snorted at that. "Indeed. I remember the first time we fought when I newly broke into stage two. You were holding back a lot then. But no matter, we’ll have lots of spars once I break into the third stage."

Captain Amros chuckled and laughed nervously. "I don’t think I’m looking forward to that."

"My lord, I finally thought we caught up to you," Harkon said, looking a tad sad. "How did you get even more powerful?"

"Getting enslaved will do wonders to your body, if you do not die too early to disease and malnutrition. Anyway, come on, guys, let’s have our spar!"

Kagerou and Harkon flinched and took steps back.

Harkon grimaced. "My lord, why did that sound so much like a threat?"