Tak Jung-Hwa had no idea how long they had been going at it. The entire world seemed to have faded away and what remained was only the man in front of him, whose katana sliced through the air in such fluidity akin to flowing water, nimble and deadly.

He could not believe that this was the same man who had been sitting on a wheelchair a few moments ago. But just like the saying went, ’once bitten twice shy’, Tak Jung-Hwa dared not underestimated him after the bitter lesson he had received more than seven years ago, even when beads of sweat started to roll down Luo Xuan’s face, even when Luo Xuan’s complexion was getting paler each passing second, even when—

Another collision of their blades sent a surge of numbness up his arms. And judging from how Luo Xuan tried to stifle a groan, Tak Jung-Hwa guessed that he did not fare any better either. He gritted his teeth, the muscles on his biceps contracting and with a loud roar, he finally managed to tackle Luo Xuan to the ground for the very first time!

"Ha... hahaha!" Tak Jung-Hwa stabbed one of his daggers to the ground beside Luo Xuan’s head while the other was pinning Luo Xuan’s katana. Utterly breathless, he barked out a gleeful and booming laughter. "Look at you..." he gazed at the man beneath him, his eyes glowing in a manic light. "It’s been years and our position is finally reversed! How is it? Hmm?" He slowly dragged his dagger closer to Luo Xuan’s neck and watched as a bead of blood oozed out, the crimson color a stark contrast to the pale skin. Tak Jung-Hwa clicked his tongue, undeterred by Luo Xuan’s cold eyes that was transfixed on him as if seeing a corpse. "Why have you become like this? So weak and delicate..."

He had no idea what he was doing right now, taunting this omega with his words. He should have taken his cuffs out and put them around Luo Xuan’s wrists. He should have incapacitated the omega lest he would come up with any dirty tricks. However, he just could not help himself especially when he looked at Luo Xuan’s expression that remained unchanged since the start.

This must be his Alpha that wanted to return the humiliation, he reasoned. This must be his Alpha that wanted to tear this person’s calm façade apart and force him to admit that he had lost. To admit that he, the Big Boss of Xuanlong, had been defeated under Tak Jung-Hwa’s hands and no one else.

Luo Xuan’s chest was heaving arduously and every breath he took seemed like a wheeze, as if he could not quite catch his breath. Another deep inhale had him coughing softly and Tak Jung-Hwa was stunned when he spotted red staining the omega’s pale lips. "You—"

"I am dying," Luo Xuan said calmly. "It’s no wonder that I, as you state, have become weak and delicate."

Tak Jung-Hwa narrowed his eyes in doubt. He could not read Luo Xuan at all and hence he could not ascertain whether the omega was saying the truth or not. But he would be an utter fool to take Luo Xuan’s words at face value. He sneered, "Save your bullshit for—" He abruptly froze when he sensed another source of overwhelming pheromones coming from... behind!

Different from Luo Xuan’s pheromones that made the hair on his body stand on its end, this new surge of pheromones managed to send chills down his spine. His Alpha was growling, snarling and snapping its teeth at the provocation.

Another Alpha, Tak Jung-Hwa noted. And he was shocked to discover that he could smell the faint smoky and biting scent even with the scent filter mask on his face. It was absolutely impossible for the mask to malfunction and hence, there was only one explanation – the pheromone was so powerful that it exceeded the maximum capacity of the filter. If he could already smell it now, what if he were to take off his mask?! 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Most importantly, how could another person give him a feeling so similar to Luo Xuan, yet more oppressive and ominous at the same time?! Who was it—?!

Entirely by reflex, Tak Jung-Hwa whipped his head around to look. Wrong move. Luo Xuan seemed to have anticipated it because as soon as Tak Jung-Hwa tore his gaze off him, he exerted strength on the hand that was holding the katana, overthrew Tak Jung-Hwa’s curved dagger and stabbed the tip of the blade into Tak Jung-Hwa’s shoulder with all of his strength!

"Fuck...!" Tak Jung-Hwa keeled over in pain and Luo Xuan took the opportunity to kick Tak Jung-Hwa’s heavy body off him and rolled to his feet, coughing all the while. Lips curving into a smirk, he stepped on Tak Jung-Hwa’s chest, eliciting a breathless gasp from the latter. Tak Jung-Hwa swore he could hear his ribs cracking and coupled with the katana that had gone right into his shoulder blades, he was in so much pain that black rapidly dotted his vision!

"My bad," Luo Xuan said, not sounding apologetic at all. "I am too weak and delicate to play fair."

Then he turned to gaze at He Juan who was struggling to deal with Wu Yuan who had suddenly gone feral due to entering the rut for the very first time. "We are such unique creatures, don’t you think so?" He murmured to no one at all. "We can bring the best out of others, but more often than not, it will be the worst..."

A few meters away, He Juan vomited another mouthful of blood as Wu Yuan’s pheromones rammed into his body, wild and uncontrollable. Even then, he did not let go of his grip around Wu Yuan’s wrists lest the teenager would try to claw at his own skin again. "Wu Yuan!!" He cried out, trying and failing to get Wu Yuan to come back to his senses.

Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong with Wu Yuan’s state.

He Juan had never seen such a violent rut before and he was certain that the first rut was not supposed to go like this!