Divine Beast Ascension

Chapter 403: Ice Eagle vs Vant

Trotting in place, the bull snarled and dared the panther to strike first.

The panther bared its fangs and dashed toward the bull. Dazzling light filled the panther’s eyes, flashing brightly for the crowd and the bull.

In the middle of the daze, the panther struck. It flanked the bull and slashed from behind.

But blood still wasn’t drawn. Earth essence protected the Bull’s hide, and he was already turning around to skewer the panther with his horns.

The panther leaped to evade, clawing into the bull’s side while the opening was there. But, still, the panther failed to do any damage. They decided to cling to the bull and ride its back, feeling it was easier to attack while keeping the bull from charging into it.

In that mindset, the White Panther added more essence to their claws and dug them into the bull’s back.

“Hm!” Isla chuckled at the sign of blood.

.....

Treeda, however, wasn’t fazed at all.

The panther was excited to deal the first blow, feeling even more confident in their victory. That was until it tried to yank its claws out of the bull’s back.

Earth essence was hardening around the panther’s claws, as if trapping them in stone. At the same time, the bull chuckled and took off in a full sprint. Before the panther understood what was happening, an earthen wall jutted out of the ground and sharp spikes protruded out, sideways.

Frantic, the panther poured more and more essence into the bull’s back. It was finally able to deal some serious damage while under the essence armor. However, without the panther’s added physical strength and speed to the attacks, there was no way for the panther to damage the bull enough to stop the rampage.

The bull was grinning and chuckling as he leaped and flipped over, letting his back crash into the jagged wall.

“This is over!”

Slazza’s shout echoed as dust and rubble were kicked up from the collision. However, Slazza didn’t even wait for it to clear before declaring the victor. “It’s a draw! No winner is decided, so neither prefecture will count this match as a victory!”

The crowd was startled to hear that. But the moment the dust cleared, everyone sighed in agreement.

Slazza applied a healing salve to both of the unconscious contestants, waking them up. He softly repeated the result to them and sent them back to their seats.

“Still feeling cocky?” jested Treeda.

Isla didn’t reply. She only watched the arena, glanced at her sternly silent brother, and waited for the next match.

“That bull has great judgment,” Warak complimented. “It realized it was impossible to win, so he made sure neither of them did. Strategically, it was a brilliant move from Toxic-shadow.”

“Thank you, Warak.”

Adding to that, Warak asked, “So, Treeda, does that mean you’ve been talking with your contestants?”

“Nope. At most, I might consider offering them a few words of encouragement before they enter the arena, which is allowed,” reasoned Treeda, brushing off the question. “But I’m guessing that had something to do with my new instructor’s training.”

“So that’s what you meant? That was the result of his teachings?” Peimar chuckled.

“Oh no. That’s merely scratching the surface of his teachings. In this next match, we’ll get to see why I hired him.”

All the prefecture lords followed Treeda’s line of sight. They spotted the next contestant from Toxic-shadow presenting his paper with the number three.

“Since when did you train human candidates?” Isla scoffed.

“I’ll train anyone with the potential. And, sometimes, I’m blessed with some powerful humans,” stated Treeda. “His name is Vant. He uses wind and illusions.”

“Treeda? What are you saying-”

“Don’t worry, Warak, even if she warns her candidate, it won’t change a thing,” Treeda laughed. “In fact, based on how eager God Toseko was to test a certain candidate only days ago, I think we’ll all find this boy particularly intriguing.”

“Illusions? And he trained with the leopard?” Toseko asked to clarify. When Treeda nodded, Toseko leaned forward for the first time. “Then I’ll watch closely.”

Irked and angry, Isla stated, “He’ll need a miracle to face my Ice Eagle...”

The rest of the crowd had no idea what the prefecture lords were going on about. And neither did Slazza. All he did was follow God Toseko’s silent, subtle commands. “An Ice Eagle versus a human! Are you two ready? ... FIGHT!”

In that split second, the eagle dove into Vant. Wind and Ice blades slashed him to ribbons as the eagle breezed past the young man.

“HA!” Isla bellowed. “You call that-”

Slash! Thud, thud, thud...

“It’s over!”

Vant inhaled sharply and exhaled slowly. He swiped his sword through the air, flicking off the blood before sheathing his blade. Calmly, Vant picked up the disembodied wing with frosty feathers and handed it to Slazza.

Slazza accepted the kind gesture with a nod. Then, Slazza followed the skid marks in the ground to find the panicking eagle. “Calm down and stop moving, or I won’t be able to reattach your arm.”

The eagle complied immediately, letting Slazza’s light essence warm his feathers and body. In seconds, the wing was fully healed and the eagle was flapping again. “Remember to be careful. You had fallen for his trick before we even started the match.”

“I what?!” the eagle shouted in disbelief.

“I’m not revealing his trick. I’m only offering advice. Don’t be so arrogant. That’s all, now head back.” Ending the short conversation in disappointment, Slazza announced, “The winner is Toxic-shadow!”

“... Yes, I call that a rare talent.” Treeda finished the sentence Isla left hanging in the air. “What’s wrong?”

“Impossible...” Squinting, Isla shook her head. However, the moment Isla saw her brother’s face, she slammed a fist into her armrest. “Brother, from that look on your face, it seems you know something I don’t. Would you please share?”

Isaac was silent. He didn’t dare look at his sister. He was still trying to comprehend how a perennial was able to teach something better than he or one of his kings could.

Treeda raised a few fingers, remarking, “It’s simple. He’s merely learned true invisibility.”