14 Win or Lose (1/2)

”Forcefully turning the wolf into a phantom beast... distortion of the rules...Scepter Level?”

Rain Artist covered his fatal wounds. He looked as if he was both crying and laughing. ”You have already reached this level? How old are you? Twenty-four? Twenty-five?”

”Twenty-three.” Wolf Flute wiped the blood off his face, coldly sneering. ”So how about it? Are you feeling hopeless seeing the difference between geniuses and mortals?”

”Twenty-three? I am already forty-seven years old,” Rain Artist mumbled to himself in shock. ”I have paid so much, and have even become a believer and follower of Hyakume. I've spent more than a decade to do so. But someone like you, why did you get to this level first? Why?!”

Rain Artist raised his head stiffly. He was screaming, ignoring his tragic injury, ”I've given up so much! So much!”

”I've already said so,” Wolf Flute smiled fiercely like a wolf. ”Because I am a genius.”

He hid his own flute where Rain Artist could not see. Wolf Flute's face was blank. His fingers caressed the crack of the flute, but with twitching distress.

Sure enough, he had tried too hard.

”Are you?” Rain Artist stared at his eyes, then sneered suddenly as if he had seen the reflection of a man in his pupils. Then he realized and said, ”What an honor! I thought the genius had no weakness.”

Wolf Flute frowned indifferently, his fingers gently tapping. The silver wolf shouted under the moonlight and suddenly disappeared! The silver wolf snuck into the air, biting at the enemy's throat.

”Over there!” Rain Artist suddenly threw out an exploding iron. Blood aura mixed together with the iron in his hand so that the iron issued a terrible scream. Strong water vapor whistled out from the exploding iron but in the direction the opposite of Wolf Flute!

It was not trying to hit him, but in that moment, Wolf Flute felt rage burst from his brain.

The exploding iron was directed towards the white-haired teen who laid unconscious in the corner!

Rain Artist said he found Wolf Flute's weakness. Indeed, he had found it.

Wolf Flute sighed with his eyes closed and waved.

The silver wolf appeared from the air in a flash, and stopped in front of the juvenile. Grains of iron sand instantly crashed into its body. Silver blood burst out as the wolf screamed in agony, its eyes becoming crazier.

Wolf Flute's body shook a bit.

The wolf frantically rubbed its four claws, wanting to tear that damn enemy, but another burst of exploding iron hit its body like falling meteorites. Debris flew everywhere, scratching its eyes.

Wolf Flute's body shook again.

”Mr. Genius, you should not look over there. You have looked so many times. You are very concerned about him, huh?” Rain Artist laughed hoarsely until he could not breathe.

He knelt down on the ground, coughing. He was in obvious pain but his voice remained condescending, ”No one would believe that a Discipline musician who could kill anyone without blinking an eye would care about a child's life? Haha, a genius like you should be a shame among Discipline musicians!”

”Are you afraid that your bet is wrong?” Wolf Flute's face was gloomy.

”But what if I win? It is fate.” Rain Artist picked up the instrument in the pool of blood. After experiencing the overclocking load, the instrument which had accompanied him for years actually overheated.

Ignoring the burning temperature, he grasped it, releasing another burst of exploding iron.

Bam!

In the wheelchair, Wolf Flute's body twitched, unable to move.

Rain Artist looked back at his enemy. ”It's also my luck to meet a fool who bound a consumable like a phantom beast to his life.”

Wolf Flute could no longer speak, and lowered his head. Thick blood dripped from his wheelchair, converging on the ground in a puddle.

”I won,” Rain Artist announced in a cold voice.

Sensing its master dying, the alpha wolf angrily got up from the ground. Despite the immense trauma to its body, it rushed toward Rain Artist.

”Three bursts of exploding iron could not solve the problem. Phantom wolves are really too troublesome.” Rain Artist frowned and put the clarinet to his lips.

The sharp, high-pitched voice caused the fog to spread out. Countless mournful roars synchronized with the terrible performance. The sound was like a long knife painfully scratching one's eardrums.

In the madness of the fog, the blasting resulted in condensation again--one, two, three... six!

Six bursts of exploding iron released hot red, lethal light that could make anybody's scalp go numb.

Then…Boom!

For a short moment, Rain Artist could not hear anything. His vision turned dark in front of his eyes; only a vague ray of light could be seen.

He moaned in pain. Lowering his head, he looked at his hands--they had been broken by the clarinet's explosion. Blood dripped from the broken wrist emerged.

He looked up at the moonlight, revealing his torn face, his jaw hanging on his neck, and blood dripping. Amongst the bloody flesh, only a withered eyeball remained, blinking in a daze.

The wolf which rushed to him earlier had disappeared without a trace. It had long been dying but had fought until the very last moment.

Rain Artist sharply screamed, ”Wolf Flute!” He roared, ”Wolf Flute!”

”The error of the instrument leads to the error of the control,” a husky voice whispered amidst Rain Artist's roars. ”And the error of the control makes the aether uncontrollable. When the aether is out of control, it will bring devastating consequences. What Wolf Flute said was correct.”

The white-haired teen who had been unconscious opened his eyes, quietly staring at Rain Artist with bloodshot eyes.

”You lost,” he said.

---

Feeling faint, it was difficult for Ye Qingxuan to open his eyes. His skull felt like it had been hammered and was buzzing.